2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

1. Daily To Do List - written the night before
2. Sort out sleep patterns - initial targets: bed by 03:00, up by 10:30
3. Don’t put it down, put it away + deal with mini tasks as soon as they are noticed e.g. refill olive pourer or salt cellar, stitch up a hole in a garment etc.
4. Commence ‘Operation Financial Frog Tickling’ using the acronym - I.R.I.S. (Identify, Research, Implement, Sign Off) - One per quarter
5. Continue to keep kitchen clean & tidy - before going to bed
6. Plan & Execute ONE Major Project - 2026 New Bathroom
7. Target 2026 items out

Wednesday is a brighter day than yesterday as the sun is managing to peek through the clouds. A forecast high of 14°C (feeling 3° cooler due to N wind) & a low of 8°C. Yesterday DH took down the empty bird feeders as per advice from the RSPB. DH has just changed the positions of the car & bike on the drive & cleaned the inside of the car. I received my TV licence renewal this morning. Now £180 but I still think it is good value as it works out at just under 50p per day.

Lovely to see you StickyTheStickInsect 👋  I can’t believe we are over a third of the way through the year already 😰 Poor DS1 😣 Seven dislocations/breaks in under 2 years is a lot 😱 Hopefully he will get a quick referral & can be started on the road to a proper treatment and recovery 🙏 Very pleased to hear that you are “doing things for yourself” That is a long time to be on a waiting list 😯 I hadn’t realised the WI is still so popular 😊 Excellent decluttering both at your home & from your dad’s house 👏I am especially impressed that you are tackling the storage container 👏 I will check my records as it is time to make some awards……….FIVE GOLD STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for the decluttering at your dad’s house  🤩🥳👏 +  I have made a note of the new target 😊 

GrannyKate, your quiet week before going on holiday sounds quite busy to me 😉 Excellent work decluttering & cleaning 👏 Very impressed that you have already packed for your holiday 🥳 DH & I always seem to leave our packing until the last minute 🙊 Poor Sox he obviously wants to come on holiday with you 😉

Really enjoying the conversation about cats food preferences & their little foibles 🥹

Great decluttering Floss 👏

vulpix, sounds like your cats are a perfect character match for you 🥹 Good news that you will soon have proper drainage 😊 Great work with the decluttering 👏 although a pity that MrV had a momentary memory lapse 🙊

Excellent decluttering of the wardrobes Willowtree222 👏 A medal🏅 is on its way 

Florenceem, a shame about the gloves 🙁 I am very sorry to hear that your run of pain-free nights has been broken 😔 Please remember to mention it to the doctor at your next appointment 🙏 Excellent work in the small RoD 👏 with some great decluttering 👏

Excellent decluttering & sorting TC77 especially your SABLE collection of cards 👏

Soontobeoap, well done on sorting out the frog before it became a cane toad 👏 Just wondering if your DH used an unofficial website hence the request for payment of a fee 🧐 Thank you for the welcome back 😊

suzeesu2000, great work sorting out & decluttering emails 👏 Reading about your cats made me smile 😃 Pepper was a cat after my own heart - ice cream & cheese and onion crisps 😋 although I prefer fried eggs 🙊 I agree with Yorkie1, very exciting to find a treasure trove of information for your family tree ☺️

Yorkie1, I laughed out loud reading about cat 🤣 Obviously a cat with good taste 😉

oceanspirit, definitely feeling better although the older I get the longer it takes to recover 🙁 Sorry to hear about the “overwhelm wobble” 😞  I always thought that technology was supposed to make our lives easier rather than stressed out ☹️ 

TC77, thanks for the reminder about coat hangers 👏 & thanks for the idea about clothing drawers 🙂

I have caught up a little so will see you later 👋 

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🙏💐💐🌟⭐️❤️💐💐⭐️💐❤️ ⭐️🎖️🥇 

DH Awards: 🏅🏅🏅🏅

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2026: 800/2026

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £165.11

florianatwobob

@Brie what a naughty moggy. I’d have cut round the cat bite!

I think it’s one of those things where you know where your cat (or dog) has been, what they’re habits are and you’ve probably swapped germs with them numerous times already!

Very little decluttering done however I signed up yonks ago to gift aid on donations to our local air ambulance shop. Our sporadic decluttering to them has made them over £350. Although they have to tell you how much gift aid they’ve received from the sales it actually incentivises you to keep donating to them.

Florenceem

On my way to have my hair done I pass the SA - officer was outside - I went across as I had plenty of time before my appointment. He again said about meeting up - I explained that I can't face being sat next to the chair Mr F used. So now he said - that will not be a short time then. Is he getting it that I am grieving?

On my way home after having my hair done I popped into the hall - saw a few friends including the chap who had sent a missing you message this morning. I didn't look for the officer.

I have been taking boxes out of the large ROD and sorting the contents. Empty boxes are dusted and cleaned with a wipe. Fabric is coming down into my craft room. Yarn that I want to keep is going in boxes with a note of where.

I must be getting rid of lots as I have 6 large empty storage boxes. I have 5 bags of stuff ready for the SA charity shop and stuff ready for my daughter and granddaughter's schools.

After only popping down the road to the hairdresser - I have done 5500 steps - it is all the up and downstairs and in and out of rooms.

After I have eaten I will get back to my knitting.

Yorkie1

@Florenceem well done for having that conversation with the officer and for popping back in afterwards. Hopefully that will ease the pressure they put on you. I hope you like your hairdo!

@Moorviews very wise words about how to let go of items that have sentimental value. Something I struggle with.

I have started an Executors' file which I will eventually share with my brother and cousin (executors). I got the idea from a post on MSE, but I also note that Age UK have a similar document (their LifeBook) which is broader in what it covers. My version sets out things like the institutions where I have insurance, bank accounts, direct debits, standing orders, pensions, key contacts for my activities, location of will. Plus things like driving licence number. All that stuff which they would not have any idea of where to start looking. I don't live close to them (cousin has never been to my house, brother only a couple of times) and so they are not familiar with my mess … Must get on and finish it! (And then keep it up to date).

Willowtree222

Thank you for my other medal x

TC77

Mrs SD, sorting my bedroom , again at the even messier stage swapping things between drawers and putting surplus socks etc with winter stuff. I have e cleared the dressing table and have a mirror on it whixh should go elsewhere as the wrong height but you can see the upholstery. I have a vintage headboard with sliding compartments and one of the headboards is on the floor. The pattern on the stool looks a bit bright but I have something matching in my house!!! I prefer the section on the ottoman.

Florenceem

TC77 - love your stool and ottoman and the lovely dressing table.

Had a phone call from the blinds shop - the blind for the craft storage room can be fitted on Saturday morning. So now I must keep that room tidy as I sort stuff from the large ROD.

If I get enough sorted in the large ROD - N could measure up for a blind in there. No idea what I will choose until I decide on a feature wall colour.

So now I have a deadline to work to.

I have told J the builder that young J will paint the bottom of the outside house walls so I will let him know when he can come here to do the high up parts.

dND

Hello all, I'm still around and apologies for being away with the faeries for so long.
These days pass so quickly and all meld into one; I think it might have something to do with what I think will take 3 hours taking 3 days! 🤣 I have over 200 posts to catch up on so I'm sorry if I miss congratulations or condolences to people. 💕

@Dizzycap I'm still waiting for the mini ponds to fill - I'm in south Wales, I though I'd only have to wait a day or so. 🤣🤣 That's such good news about Babyface's blood results.

@Happy_Kitties Welcome back and my goodness, you have been lucky. Wishing you a speedy full recovery and no relapse.

@Florenceem Lovely gloves.

@TC77 I keep mislaying mine so I have G00gle Find my phone on my laptop. I can get it to play a sound so I can work out which heap it's under. 🤣🤣

@Yorkie1 From my experience of the online family trees, some are a little dodgy. 😁I know from my trees that relatives sometimes give a not very accurate recollection and that some people just add the first thing the AI search gives them with the same of similar name. My trees are wrong because of theat. I've already spent a year going through trying to verify everything. ~Like you i have a lot of agricultural labourers in the family too! Sorting it all out is going to keep me out of mischief for quite a few years. 🤣🤣

@GrannyKate Oh my goodness, that's a mindbender! I'm like you about the online trees. I have one on the site with an A but it's private as I don't want propagate the inaccuracies and I have a copy on L3gacy which is on my laptop and private as it has a lot of current data.

@suzeesu2000 Like you I go down the rabbit hole of genealogy once I start even trying to read Old English and Latin.😱 I like to think it keeps the grey matter ticking over. 😁

@weenancyinAmerica "Common sense does not seem very common these days" is a nice way to put it along with the little not at the bottom of the search page for Dorset info
Note: Users are encouraged to view the images, as some transcriptions are subject to interpretation.

So what's been going on here? Well, I'm still waiting for a pressure washer. I missed out on the one at L1dl so took a bit of time researching online and I've bought a Danish one for £10 more and it comes with a 10 year guarantee. The downside is that it's being transported from Denmark by UP5 😱 It was due to be delivered tomorrow but after reaching Essex it's now delayed due to 'operating conditions', whatever they may be. No current estimated delivery day and I have to be here to sign for it.

Yesterday, Tuesday, I spent 7.5 hours gardening! I was on a roll. I'm a Goldilocks gardener by choice, the weather has to be just right, not too hot and not too cold. 🤣 Add to that the soil has to be workable and the body has to be compliant as well so when all those line up I tend to go overboard to get things done. As this is a bit long already, I'll put photos in a second post.

My house insulation/upgrade saga continues: The modelling has been done and a package has been proposed. Unfortunately, this doesn't include new windows. I did have my doubts as replacing them all would have blown the budget and probably on it's own not have achieved the required improvement overall. I'm now waiting on a technical survey. I was supposed to get a call back within 5 working days which would have been Tuesday but nothing yet. I'll give until Friday because of the Bank Holiday. They are proposing insulating the loft along with air extractors, a heat pump and solar panels! Again dependant on the technical survey. It's an all or nothing package. I'm now doing my best not to stress on how I'm going to move stuff for them to work and keep the cats locked up and safe. I keep reminding myself that I did it for the builders so I can do it for this. 😁

I had a lovely visit from a good friend who holidays not far from me and we spent the day together. Probably a bit of a strange way to spend the day but we drove over to Aberfan. It's 60 years this October since the tragedy there and I remember it quite vividly as I was only a couple of years older than than the majority of the victims. I was a moving experience and I'm glad I finally paid my respects.

Unless UP5 suddenly decide they are going to deliver my package tomorrow, I'll be off to knit and natter. I've partaken of a lot of cake and biscuits there so I decided as part of my recovery day today I'd bake some peanut butter cookies - there's some in the TLC carriage too - I have to say that I've eaten far too many today which is why I don't bake often. 🤣

April turned into an expensive month what with NT and Which subscriptions, passport renewal, and new pressure washer. 😱 to cap it off I bought the H3nry Pet at L1dl as I needed a proper vac for downstairs. I've been using a garage on for the last couple of years and that's rather noisy and doesn't have the range of attachments. On the positive side I now qualify for 10% off my next spend so I'm now figuring out what non perishables I can stockpile. 😁

200 posts caught up but I've seen lots more added while I've been writing.🤣 A few photos to come once I find them on my phone.

Well done everyone, hugs to those who want and love to you all. Dxx

dND

Love the fabric @TC77

Photos.

The pampas grass heap is the pile behind the slate and trolly and actually extends to the bucket on the right.

And after - I'd also finished weeding along my 'orchard and put down some ground cover as a temporary cover until the bigger pond is dug where the pampas patch is now.

It included an ash tree which thankfully had grown over a thick load of plastic that was buried there otherwise I would never have got it out. Not sure if I said on an earlier post but there was a window buried along the treeline and I extracted rather a lot of large shards of glass from there.

I also spotted a newt. 😍😍

The other thing I spotted which is not so lovely is what I think is bootlace fungi, aka honey fungus. Friday, weather permitting and all the stars lining up etc., and I will be back out there trying to remove that which will entail lifting the weed matting path I put down and hoping that the fungus hasn't reached my fruit trees.

Dxx

TC77

@Florenceem thank you, sometimes its easy to forget how something bright can just lift your spirits abit like the lovely jug and table i remember you buying and posting. My aim is not to have them hidden under much less inspiring stuff!

@dND I remember seeing a documentary about the Aberfan tragedy. I can imagine it being very moving as such a massive impact on the community.

I didn't know you could do find your phone on Android so I will try and set it up.

Just done some ironing but leaving rooms in chaos as have all tomorrow to work on them.

10 lots of paper, 5 items dropped off for the donation hub including 2 jackets, make up item out, broken lever arch file, pen, receipts x 2 bundles, 2 textile recyling, 5 x bits of debris from cleaning , seat pad also to recyling. (30 total).

Feel if I keep going there will be a noticeable difference at some time ( not guessing when).