2025 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN MrsSD - The Joy of Decluttering

suprisinglynice

@CRANKY40 so sorry to hear about your sisters grandson, scary times for all. We had a similar experience a couple of years ago BUT Santa came to visit the children in hospital and my Grandson treasures the gifts that were given.

I love the intact snowman, silly (to others) things that we do to keep loved ones with us.

daisy_1571

merry Xmas all

Ccharlie so sorry to hear about your furry companion, so very sad

Thanks everyone for all the photos, stories, inspiration, tips, company,  celebrations, sympathy and friendship this last year

Dxx

Wednesday2000

Sorry about your loss Charlie. We lost a cat this year on Halloween and lost another cat last year just before Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all.

I bought some angel cards recently and I picked out this card this morning. Clearly I need to do more decluttering next year.😳😜

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

                         Merry Christmas everyone 🤶 🎅 🎄 Cwtches for everyone 🤗🤗🤗🤗

suzeesu2000

Hope everyone has had a day of joyfulness. It’s been extremely quiet here, not heard anything or anyone at all. 

DH and I spent the day as always: just he and me. Frankie enjoyed a lot of gifts from my neighbours/friends and he had a special Christmas dinner for Cats meal for his tea too. 

Everything is put away, kitchen is sparkly clean, I even folded the Christmas bags and put them in the Christmas box for next year. 

We have a very small bowl of leftover veg, 3 pigs in blankets and some stuffing. Happy with that. 

Mums birthday is in April, so I bought her a dress in a sale yesterday. 

Have a lovely evening all. Sleep tight xx

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

Thursday aka Christmas Day 🤭 A bright dry & oh so very cold day 🥶 A high of  6°C (feeling 7° colder due to the bitter & strong ENE wind) & a low of 3°C 🥶.      I was up at 10:40 - relatively early for me - DH was up & had already had a bath. Whilst DSis had her bath, DH prepped all the vegetables. I was the last one to have a bath using the luxurious bubble bath I had treated myself to ☺️ We opened our presents about 13:00. I was very lucky as not only did my DSis give me lots of lovely presents see pic

The badger picture is woven in silk & rayon, the little Santa is a snow globe with a message inside ‘Merry Christmas Special Sister’ & the sheep faces & stands for toilet rolls had me in absolute stitches 🤣 The matching earrings, bracelet & necklace are beautiful - the picture doesn’t do them justice. DSis was pleased with her main gift of a Heather Gems highland cow necklace  & the matching brooch. DH received lots of little gifts from my DSis including a Harley Davidson shirt & tankard. He only received a box of biscuits & a box of Turkish delight from me 😞 but DH surprised me with a “bar of gold” 999.9 purity i.e. 24 carat gold 🤩 …… you will see from the picture that we are not talking gold bullion 😂 but in fact a rather lovely 1g ingot stamped with a Christmas tree 🥹 

Then DSis & I watched the 1951 Scrooge film. Started the cooking ……… I do love my warming drawer which means I can do the cooking in stages. DH cooked the venison & duck + the sprouts with bacon & chestnuts. DSis phoned our brother & her son to wish them a Merry Christmas. Her son had been to the cinema with his gf to see the 3rd Avatar film - not realising it was over 3 hours long 😧 We sat down to dinner at 18:30 - turkey with stuffing, venison, duck breast, roasted potatoes, parsnips & carrots, cabbage, sprouts, mashed swede & hm turkey gravy 🤤 DH & I shared a bottle of champagne whilst DSis had a snowball. The fairly inexpensive crackers had a proper ‘bang’ when pulled & good metal novelties - a small nail file, a page holder & a bottle opener. The other 3 crackers will be saved for next year 😉 DSis & I watched the 2023 Christmas special of Death in Paradise then DSis went to her room as she was feeling unwell - hasn’t been able to shift the cold she has had for over a week 😔 I did the wudupa. Plenty of leftovers for bubble & squeak on Saturday (DH & I are going to his niece S for Boxing Day) 

2364 - 2365 Kitchen recycling, champagne bottle - recycled 

2366 - 2367 Kitchen & gift paper detritus - binned

Lovely post Moorviews 😊 Hopefully there were still some cheese savouries left in the TLC Carriage 😉

London_1, what a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve - playing cards & listening to 60’s music 😊 I had forgotten that you had made a large number of sausage rolls for your visit to Kent on Monday - I think I would go right off sausage rolls after making 160 of them 🤩

CRANKY40, thank you for the lovely compliments 😊 Sounds like both your DS & the cat have had a wonderful day ☺️ So sorry to hear about your sister’s grandson being in hospital very Christmas 😔 Poor wee mite 🥺 I hope that he will soon be home 🙏

Lovely post surprisinglynice ☺️

Lovely post daisy_1571 ☺️

Wednesday2000, thank you for sharing the great photo of your Angel card & the explanation 😊 I see lots of decluttering in 2026 🙊

suzeesu2000 that sounds like a wonderful day 🥹 & well done on tidying everything away 👏

Another Christmas over, such a long build up & then all over in the blink of an eye 🥹 Sleep tight everyone 😴 

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

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

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 2367/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £677.00

London_1

Good morning chums, slightly less breezy here in Elmfield this morning and a bit grey looking ,but dry at least 
I got extremely spolied yesterday by the family. Eldest DD in her Christmas bagof presents was great, she had unearthed 8 of Ken Follett books I hadn't read. plus lots of other super stuff.

Youngest DD treated me to a really nice pair of Sketchers (my old one virtually had no tread on the soles ) They are so comfortable I wear them until they are almost falling off

DD and two of the DGS Jack and Ben are going into Ryde this morning for a swim. I'll probably meet them afterwards with the other two DGS and the dogs for a walk along the front to blow the cobwebs away

I've already booked the tip run for tomorrow morning with all the recycling cardboard and paper wrappings (some of the xmas bags already folded and tucked away to be reused next year.
 Plus we have a bag full of empty beer bottles (4 young men who enjoy a budwieser or two, and one who likes his J2O) plusI can't be doing with bottle in black bags so I may nip ip to big Tescos ar Westridge to the bottle banks there.

Great day yesterday and the turkey was beautifully cooked by my son-in-law. DD had bought some boxed games as usual so we played Blankety Blank and Evil Uno.

Apart from the Kings speech we rarely watch tv on Christmas Day.We prefer to natter and play board games
DGS Jack and his three bothers and I played cards last night, while their parents relaxed after all the excitement of the day. We are all keen card players so Switch and Whist was played
I get to catch up on all their lives when card playing and we all have a jolly good natter as well

Its a really somewhat old fashioned Christmas Day, and the boys made great inroads into the sausage roll pile as we were playing cards so I think probably by either late tonight or definitely tomorrow they will all be gone  

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas Day no matter what you have been doing, it makes such a good break from normality. In a weeks time we will be in a New Year and relations and friends will be gone back to their lives and possibly winter will set in. January is such a loooong month

 I have had several nice jigsaws as presents that I will get stuck into, as I don't venture far if the weather is frosty or cold. With the wireless on in the background and a hot cuppa or three I am quite happy to spend the afternoon jigsawing
 DD often comes in to my sitting room as she likes to see if she can do some of it as well.

I have a drop-leaf table in there that I put up with my puzzle board on top so I can do a b it at a time when I feel like it. Its very relaxing

DGS Ben is going to dig over some of the garden tomorrow so we can decide what veg we will be growing this year. We both like to set out where and what will be done as the days get lighter although he will be back at work in London in the New Year we like to plan the garden out just after Christmas. I then text him and let him know and when he comes down at half term he knows what out objectives will be and we go to the local nursery for our seeds etc

Right well time to get a wriggle on as I feel the need for another cuppa coming on 

Have a good day chums what ever you are doing just relax ands enjoy it 

JackieO xxx

TC77

Morning, off to meet dd1 in town and have specific list of things i can buy. Dd2 coming home for a couple of weeks as desperately home sick and thinks she can't cope with another 6 months without being home. I have been using her room and her desk in airing room as another room of doom so need to focus. 
Quiet as just me yesterday so watched what I wanted and ate what I wanted and some decluttering.
Dismantled huge cat tree thing that we wombled a few years ago and was already  past its best, 8 bits in the bin and 2 more that won't fit in.
3 lever arch files - 2 out and 1 in bank of things bag
Hairbrush, pretty toiletry box I've kept for 15 years, dubbin which has oozed out in shoe cleaning box but won't open ( prob >15 years old), pillow, paper recycled.
New tights, flask and tea strainer thing in cs bag
Towel for animal shelter 
Surplus large roll cotton wool for donation hub
4 items for dd2's stocking for when she's back Monday from the shop of mum.
27 items to add

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

Good morning everyone from a dull & chilly East London. The forecast here is for a high of 6°C (feeling 4° colder  due to the ENE wind) with a low of 3°C. DH & I are heading to Kent in about an hour - having checked the weather app it so happens that the temperatures will be the same although there unlikely here there is some sunshine forecast. DH has already spoken to his niece S to apologise that there is no hm focaccia 😞 The lurgy that is going the rounds has struck me but only mildly so hopefully I will survive until tomorrow lunch time when we return home 🤞Here is hoping that all our Declutterati family have a lovely Boxing Day 😊

London_1 that sounds like a marvellous way to spend Christmas Day 🥹 I love that it was “somewhat old fashioned” ☺️ Although I am surprised to hear that there are still some sausage rolls left 😉 Enjoy your day with the family & your vegetable plot planning ☺️ 

TC77, sounds like you enjoyed your quiet Christmas Day & are looking forward to spending the day with DD1 🥹 Excellent decluttering 👏 A shame that DD2 is homesick but hopefully a visit home will recharge her & she will sail through the second six months in Australia 👏

DH is pacing around so I will post & run 😉 See you later 👋 

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

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

DSis Awards: ⭐️ ⭐️ 🏅

Decluttering Target 2025: 2367/2025

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £677.00

Wednesday2000

I have taken down the tree and decorations as I always find it depressing seeing Christmas decorations when it is over. I'm going to keep the artificial poinsettia up all year round, though. I threw away the end of a Christmas tree candle I burned yesterday and binned the bunch of flowers as they were on their last legs. It is nice to have things back to normal again as I put my tree up very early this year, the end of November, I think. I'm going to go out for a walk once my hair is dry.