2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

Rosetta92

Thanks for all the suggestions for my old pots and pans. I had never heard of mud kitchens 😀

_Dolly_Rocker_

So kitchen is clean, just need to give the floors a clean. 

Managed to fill a bag with a few bits which I'm going to try and declutter to the dog walker. Some dog treats, stain removed x2 and a jar of pumpkin spice coffee that I don't like and had 1 cup out of. 

Also threw away a photo frame which was broken, a used up candle and a few clothes and holey socks. 

ruby_eskimo

I'm creeping back in after a few months away, mostly spent either on holiday or at the hospital with my dad.  He's ok, had his much aniticipated, quite major, surgery last month is on the road to recovery as we speak.  So that means limited time at home and the neglect is starting to show a little (although DH has been chipping in more than "usual" which is very much appreciated).

You have my uttmost sympathies @Mrs_Salad_Dodger with the dentist woes.  I had a check up with mine yesterday who is absolutely lovely but still get panic attacks on the way there.  Luckily she's given me another stay of execution on a root canal / some kind of surgical intervention for another six months so hoping it doesn't come to that.  Really hoping your treatment options are more straightforward than the prep appears to have been!

When we have been at home, we've almost finished decorating our hallway and landing.  Had to wait a while for the carpenter to come back to finish some boxing in etc. but now it's done and we only have a couple of sections of wall to paint (plus all the new dado rail).  Will probably be an early November thing so it's all done ready for Christmas - just need to save for the new carpets but we can live with the old ones for a little bit longer, or until we've had the 2 remaining upstairs bedrooms re-plastered and decorated. 

Still so many areas to declutter, reorganise and make more homely but learning to live the slower pace of life where it will all get done eventually!  Do have some new dining chairs coming on Monday that we've been saving for so need to pass on the old ones which we got third hand about 13 years ago!

Hope everyone's doing well, will try and be more active here in the run up to Christmas - I will definitely need somewhere to declutter all the treats to that isn't my stomach that's for sure!

Soontobeoap

Carpenter came today to take a bit off our I ternal door and hang my new mirror. He offered to take the 3 enormous loads of cardboard that were in my kitchen to burn so that has saved us a tip trip. He also took all of the bubble wrap to wrap his prized processions in his garage. Great for us! That's another 3 bagfuls gone. Now I am off to make a cup of tea and take the table in the shed to bits ready for the large item bin men on Tuesday.

Brie

Happy to rent myself out very cheaply to hand hold at the dentist.  I love the places - but it's little wonder given that dad was a dentist his surgery was a great place to play when I was young.  Ended up working with him part time when I was a bit older and years later set up an archive for the Ontario Dental Association.  I look forward to my semi annual checkups and the dentists are always surprised to see me as I have so few problems despite my complete lack of flossing.  I got the good teeth genes in my family, 2 of my brothers weren't so lucky.

But I do get the panic bit of when someone has too many fingers and other bits plus goop in your mouth.  

Going to ensure that all the dross is out of the fridge later to get binned as it's waste collection day tomorrow.  Am wondering what is going on with the pair of slippers OH has put in one of the inside bins.  Are they actually garbage or is he just tired of them?  And does this give me an opportunity of replacements as a present for him???

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Write a daily To Do list - only 3 tasks
2. Concerted effort to sort out sleep patterns - Realistic targets: bed by 2:00 a.m. & up by 10:00 a.m 
3. Continue dealing with mail & email on a daily basis
4. Don’t put it down, put it away + deal with mini tasks as soon as they are noticed e.g. refill olive oil pourer or salt cellar, stitch up a hole in a garment etc
5. Commence ‘Operation Frog Tickling’ using the acronym - I.R.I.S. (Identify, Research, Implement, Sign Off) - One per quarter
6. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed

Forgot to mention that once it started raining it didn’t really stop & continued to 04:45 when I went to bed. Forecast to stop about 10:00 Thursday is overcast with an expected high of 13°C which will feel a lot colder due to the strong chilly wind 🥶 & a low of 8°C. One unexpected declutter as I binned my slippers (1980) as the soles had come away from the uppers & I tripped on the stairs - fortunately as I was going up rather than coming down 😰 I have written a shopping list for DH & DSis who left at 14:00 & am now settling down to catch up with the cheerleading 🤞

Liverpool_Anne, a pity the builder couldn’t come on Tuesday but a silver lining is that you had an extra day to finish up clearing the cupboards & making decisions about items that could/might be decluttered 😉 Although I must say it sounds like you have done a really good job already & combined with the Tip run & dismantling cupboards 👏 is worthy of a Gold Star ⭐️  As to This “We also had a big container of medical stuff, plasters and flu drinks etc which I went through and binned lots of out of date stuff. The oldest being some gross cough medicine bbf 2007 I am ashamed to say. It really had a horrible taste which is probably why it was left unused for so long, glad to have an excuse to bin it….” No need to be “ashamed to say” as I can understand why you kept the cough medicine as it can be quite expensive & if it had been me I probably would have thought I would give it another try or just kept it for an emergency 😉 Good luck with the ironing 🍀

ionafan, you are most welcome 😊 How kind of you to help your friend 🥹 The feature wall paint colour sounds beautiful & I love how you described your new curtains 😻 

Welcome aboard the EDT Rosetta92 👋 Lovely to meet you at the start of your Decluttering Journey 😊 I can see that a couple of our fellow declutterers have come up with the same idea - “mud kitchen” which as I had never heard of I looked up & thought what an interesting idea 🧐 although sounds very messy 😉 Good luck with the decluttering 🍀 & I look forward to learning a bit about you as you post 😊

MadamMim2013, well done on decluttering the grass before the weather turned 👏 As to This “Nothing physically decluttered from the house.. I have an idea of places that could do with a purge, just haven’t got there yet.. 😬” it sounds like you are busy with outside work & doing jobs for your mum, so please don’t be hard on yourself 🙏 Good luck with “housecare day” 🍀

Excellent & eclectic decluttering Rootle 👏

surprisinglynice, good ideas for TC77 & her supply of buttons 😊

Excellent work sorting your ‘paperwork shelf’ Brie 👏 Please accept a Gold Star ⭐️ as I know you will finish the task very soon 😊 I think the underlined part of This “So I need to take another run through in the next few days to get things in date order and do the filing into the bill box properly.  I keep thinking I do this more often than I do - some of this was going back 2 years!” is just a sign of how quickly time is passing & how busy you have been doing other tasks 😉

Welcome aboard the EDT SpikyHedgehog 👋 Lovely to meet you 😊 Sorry to hear about your bad back 😞 Please be careful not to overdue things as I wouldn’t want you to delay your recovery 🙏 Your sons sound lovely ☺️ It is so gratifying when some notices the work you do 🥹 I did have to smile when I read This “Oh,  I mended 2 of Elder Son's jumpers the other day and put them in his room...  he asked me how long one of them had been with me for mending as he'd forgotten he had it!   It was after lockdown,  so not too long 😆” Your elder son sounds like a bit of a ‘cheeky chappie’ 🙊 I look forward to learning a bit more about you as you post 😊

Soontobeoap, great ideas for both TC77 & Rostta92 😊

Definitely ‘great minds’ oceandreamer 😊

Excellent decluttering suzeesu2000 👏 Sounds like the compost decluttering is going well 😊 Sorry to hear about the appallingly bad decision by Vinted 😞 😖 I was curious, so googled & it appears that customer service is no longer a consideration for them 😤 Hopefully if enough people shut down their accounts & impact their profits, the decision ‘might’ be reversed 🤞Well done keeping on top of your paperwork 👏 

Excellent decluttering Happy_Kitties 👏

daisy_1571, the dentist did mention This “….bone loss isn't necessarily an issue as they can build up the jaw bone fairly easily so you can get an implant.” 👏 but I scotched the idea as it is both upper six teeth that are missing & they caused no end of trouble with ear & eye infections & pain, so didn’t want to risk it. Also I imagine it would be rather expensive 😣 

ocean-spirit, excellent decluttering especially the emails 😊 A medal🏅 is on its way 😊

Rosetta92, me neither 😉

Excellent work in the kitchen _Dolly_Rocker_ 👏 Fingers crossed that your dog walker is happy with the ‘bag of bits’ 🤞 

ruby_eskimo, no need to creep back in 😉 it sounds like you have been really busy especially with visiting your dad in hospital 🥹 which takes precedence over anything & everything else. Very pleased to hear that your dad is on the road to recovery 🥹  A quick shout out to your DH as he appears to have surprised you by This “(…. DH has been chipping in more than "usual" which is very much appreciated)” 😊 Well done to your DH 👏 & hopefully he will keep up the good work & continue to chip in “more than usual”🤞 As to the dentist, I am not usually so bad but appear to have got worse as I get older 😞 I will keep absolutely everything crossed that the root canal/surgical intervention will NOT be required 🙏🤞 Excellent work with the decorating 👏 so I am awarding you & DH a Gold Star  EACH ⭐️ ⭐️ I am very impressed with This “Still so many areas to declutter, reorganise and make more homely but learning to live the slower pace of life where it will all get done eventually!” 🤩  It might be an odd thing to say but I do believe that with this new relaxed attitude you will get a lot more done 😊 I know it might sound counterintuitive but you will be less stressed & more likely to just start a task rather than worrying about how quickly it will get done 😊 I look forward to seeing you post a bit more often 😊

Soontobeoap, what a result with the carpenter 🥳 That is the sort of decluttering I would love - no effort for me 😂 I couldn’t see 2025 decluttering numbers in your signature 🤔 so am wondering what the 3 bags has done for your 2025 number?

Brie, I would take you up on the offer of handholding but the room struggles to accommodate 3 people let alone 4 🙊 as the Dental practice was set up in a 1920’s/1930’s house. Thanks for sharing your history & lucky you 🥹 Fingers crossed that you get an answer to the slipper conundrum 🤞

DH & DSis got home about 15:30 - both really annoyed that they were bag checked & that the person doing the checking kept bug..ring off to deal with other customers 😡 Anyway, most of the shopping has been put away. hope everyone is having as good a day as possible 😊 & I will see you later 👋 

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🌟 ❤️ ❤️ 🏅 💐 💐 💐 🏅🥉🏅 🎂 🌟⭐️⭐️❤️ 🍫🐾 😍🥇🥇 💐 🏆 ⭐️🌟💐⭐️

DH Awards: 🏅 ‘Squirrel Whisperer’ ⭐️🏅🏅⭐️😇🏅🥇 

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 1980/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £469.00

SpikyHedgehog

Decluttered several flower pots this morning - I took them to toddler group to plant bulbs in,  and 4 were used by the children,  so taken home full of compost and grape hyacinth bulbs.  But i don't know where the other 6 or so went! Which is mildly irritating as I was planning to use the leftover bulbs and compost at the wellbeing cafe which is after toddler group,  so other people could take home pots of bulbs.   Instead,  I've brought home 2 and a half bags of bulbs,  and compost.   Compost is mine so can go back in the shed,   but I'll be reimbursed for the bulbs so want them used for a church thing. 

2 bags of stuff remained in the car as it was pouring with rain this morning (which also meant not many families at toddlers therefore not many bulbs planted).  I've got to go into church to print stuff off later so will leave the bag of random craft stuff for youth group's arts  and craft night.   Random stuff for the bric a brac stall at the fair might go into church then as well. 

Not much else done today, though I washed up before leaving this morning.   Continuing works in progress completion, by working on a sock blanket while watching television with Younger Son. 

Oh,  dog was helping... by chewing up a pen that I'd left in his reach while we were out.   So pieces of broken pen removed from the floor and put in the bin. 

I'd found a fountain pen on the kitchen table yesterday,  that wasn't working.   So I removed the empty cartridge, soaked the pen pieces in lukewarm water and left to dry overnight.   Added full cartridge and reassembled,  and it's working again.   But still on the kitchen table...  I'm not sure where I would look for it,  so know Dana K White would suggest it leaves Casa Spiky!  I do have a desk,  but not a tray to contain pens best stored flat.   So it's probably heading for my bedside table where my other fountain pens live. 

Chieveley

Haven't seen Florencem lately? Hope everything is ok. Can't remember where to check when she was last online.

suzeesu2000

Floss said:

@suzeesu2000 There is a tracking ID in the body of the email from Vinted - you input that into the RM website and I think that can produce the label... maybe try with that sale you cancelled?

Thank you, I didn’t know that, I’ll go and see. x



just tried. Sadly no. I found the tracking number and went to RM website but only gives status. I tried using the collection service where the postage is already bought but still doesn’t allow printing. I’m really grateful for the suggestion though, thanks ever so much xx

oceanspirit

Thank you for my medal, Mrs SD.

5 more emails dealt with.  One of the two frogs mainly done - just waiting for someone to get back to me before I can tick it off the list.  Made a start on the reading pile resulting in some newspaper out.

A bit more done in the kitchen and 2 packs of ood food binned.