2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution

Florenceem

J arrived and got on with painting in the lounge. The new wood will need another coat and door furniture needs to be put on.

I had a call from the blinds shop - N will be here on June 10 to install my blind.

I decided not to walk into town today.

I popped to nearby Asd. for milk after daughter & granddaughter called here with my M & S goodies

I have been putting empty storage boxes outside - 3 have been taken.

Bestie's husband called here with a pot of risotto and daughter gave me LO cauliflower.

Decluttered - 3 bouncy balls, bundle of elastic, fabric, magazines, 2 bubble baths, polymer stamps in container, scissors, basket, conkers, pack of soap, blouse, envelopes, body lotion x 2, shopping bag, container, tin of tea lights, shower gel, curtains, cookery book, brown paper, sewing patterns, paper, body spray, notebook, gift bag, reel of sellotape, cottons, storage box, rug tool, needles, bag of baby knitteds, book, tub of beads x 2, bar of soap and packs of matches.

oceanspirit

Thank you for my medal, @Mrs_Salad_Dodger

Friend has been today so items for CS been taken away plus an old king size duvet with cover. Also big spider which has been in my bedroom for over a week was taken for a long walk and deposited into a hedge - hoping this will improve sleep quality.

Friend has taken a book that I finished reading yesterday.

Finished reading magazine so now in recycling.

Place feels so much better now that items ready to leave have gone. Now onto the next layer of decluttering, tidying and cleaning.

GrannyKate

Hi all. @vulpix - I am sure you will enjoy a trip to N LIncs. I am a Southerner (Surrey) who has been living here for 27 years now. It is surprising what you can find here. I had been planning to visit Buxton on a day trip 4 July but have had to cancel as visitors coming now. I did get my money back as they had a waiting list for the trip.

Very busy day and starting to feel the effects of physical effort. I carried on with clearing the rotten wood shelving in the potting shed of doom and smashing up the old kitchen unit. I went to the tip with a car load, got late lunch at a garden centre and bought a wheelbarrow, a lawn rake, tin of wood treatment and some runner bean plants (the seeds I planted have just rotted). I am going to make a wigwam for them in my fruit/veggie patch.

I still can't make the notifications work.

528 Car load of mixed stuff to tip

529 Dismantled cupboard parts, rotten wood, random shelf, old bench - all to wood recycling

530 Large metal fence post to recycling

531-533 Three bags of random general rubbish to tip

534 Large sheet of cardboard recycled

535-536 Two pots of builders rubble to tip

537 Smashed terracotta pot to tip

538 Large concrete plant standard - rather weird carving design - to tip

Car needs a valet again. May do it whilst I'm at quiz Thursday.

I took DGCs out for the day yesterday and they have gone to seaside with their dad today. I've had a nap so need to do a few more jobs before a much needed shower.

Green_hopeful

my step son who was buying his first house completed on Thursday. We were supposed to be on holiday from Wednesday but i knew my husband would want to help so we delayed leaving until Thursday evening. We said we would move the stuff from his storage unit as that was costing him money. on Wednesday morning we loaded up our car and camper van to the roof before it got too hot and parked them in the shade until Thursday afternoon. Well some sort of nonsense and the seller refused to give them access until 4 pm. We pointed out that they owned the house from 2 pm but apparently the estate agents wouldn’t give them the key.

We got there at 3.45 pm and she wasn’t there. We had planned to do several trips but in the end we only had time to pop the boxes down and dash.

We got to our campsite in York 30 minutes before closing. We visited a friend we haven’t seen for 8 years in York and then went to the Barnsley Folk Festival to see Kate Rusby. We love Kate Rusby. She sang loads of favourite songs. Its her home town so her kids and parents came as well.

Today we drove home and moved the remaining stuff from our house and the storage unit. We can get our dining room back and quite a few things from the garden. It was five loads in the camper van and my car. We were like the chuckle brothers because its hot and we are tired. My poor husband walked into a piece of wood in their new garden and I thought he was going to fall but he was just shocked and a bit sore.

We tried to carry a clothes rail with the clothes still on it, which ended with the clothes on the floor and the rail in pieces. No harm done but it was funny.

Its lovely they have a house but they also have a lot of belongings and i would fancy having to sort it all out.

Yorkie1

Wow, a busy time @Green_hopeful

It was the Pride march today - a march followed by a festival on the racecourse. It's such a joyous occasion and there were thousands involved. They were lucky with the weather!

Here's a picture of my bean frame 🌱

Soontobeoap

Wow @ Yorkie1 what a lovely garden. Slightly envious but a lot of work.

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

Saturday is gloriously sunny with a high of 27°C, a light SW breeze & a low of 16°C     I finished knitting another feather & fan stitch scarf & have started another one with the last ball of yarn I have downstairs. Once done I will be putting away my knitting bag. DH has strimmed the back lawn & given the hedge out front a mini haircut 👏 We are having salad again so the only ‘cooking’ I have done is to boil more eggs 😉

GrannyKate, you are NOT supposed to test the sharpness of anything, let alone secateurs, on yourself 😉 I do hope you are OK & will be more careful in future 🙏 Excellent work in the garden 👏 a medal🏅 is on its way. Good luck with the shed of Doom 🍀 Please, please be very careful working with asbestos 🙏🙏 Sounds like you are enjoying formulating plans for the garden 😊

Florenceem, sounds like the decorating in the new lounge is coming along very well ☺️ Lovely colour for the feature wall 😊

Lovely to see you Mrs_Money_Penny 👋 Wedding planning is so stressful 😥  Hopefully there is nothing much left to do & the big day will go off with no issues 🙏 I will keep everything crossed that the weather is kind - dry, sunny & in the mid 20’s 🤞 Meanwhile well done on keeping up with the decluttering especially the digital decluttering 👏 Your total figure of 5026 means that there are 3 Gold Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️  on their way 😊

Spiky_Hedgehog, sounds like you & younger son have had a good time volunteering at the County Show 😌 & I am impressed at how organised you were 👏 Pleased to hear that your elder son’s house purchase is going well 👏 Remember you  are allowed to count all his stuff when he moves out especially if it has been in your house for more than six months 🙊 Great work reproofing all the coats - a medal 🏅 is on its way.

Florenceem, the eating room colour is lovely as well 😊 Definitely eclectic decluttering 👏 Fingers crossed the delivery time for the sofa allows you to go for a meal with your bestie 🤞

Lovely post Floss 😊

WickedLady4, I see that remmie has confirmed that London_1 is OK 🥳 It sounds to me like the MSE update has proved a step too far 😞

Florenceem, must be a new girl in the CS 😉

TC77, pleased to hear that you are combining pleasurable activities with decluttering ☺️ Fingers crossed that you can get the council tax sorted out 🤞 not sure why they make it so difficult/complicated 😖 

Yorkie1, excellent work at both the allotment & in your garden 👏 

florianatwobob, pleased to hear that you finally got some rain 😊 We are still awaiting both the thunder & lightning & the rain ☹️ Of course, when it does arrive I will no doubt be complaining 😉 🙊 Weird chap 🤨 but at least the washing basket has gone.

Liverpool_Anne, a very busy Friday with some excellent decluttering, tidying & sorting 👏 Hopefully it won’t take too long to empty/sort the rest of the kitchen ready for the work to commence🤞

Excellent work QueenJess 👏 Pleased to hear that ‘Project Use It Up’ is working so well ☺️

Florenceem, pleased to hear that you have sorted out the optimal time to take your pain meds 🥹 Hopefully you are reassured by remmie’s post ☺️

vulpix, pleased to hear that you had such a good time ☺️ & very happy that you met some friendly southerners 😉 there are quite a few of us about 🤭 Hope you have a great lunch out with DS & family 😊

Lovely cheerleading Moorviews ☺️ Good luck with your late spring cleaning 🍀

Thanks again remmie 👏 I had a feeling that London_1 was busy but of course worrying thoughts have a habit of intruding on the rational part of the brain 😉

suzeesu2000, what a great idea, thank you for sharing 👏 Good luck 🍀

Excellent decluttering Florenceem 👏 Pleased to hear that you took a day off from walking into town 😊 

Excellent decluttering oceanspirit especially the large spider 👏 Good luck with the next layer of decluttering, tidying & cleaning 🍀

Almost caught up with the cheerleading but am flagging. See you later 👋

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

DH Awards: 🏅🏅🏅🏅

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2026: 911/2026

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £226.61

London_1

Good evening all :) :) and no worries I am alive and well , just been super busy .I have shut my sitting room door and put a 'do not disturb' notice on it for half an hour :)

I don't know where the time flies to, I have been both decluttering (spare room ) as my youngest grandson Mikey is finished Uni in Essex and like a true frugler :) is staying in Halls until 27June as it when his rent runs out (well his girlfriend lives in Colchester) then DD is going to collect him and four years of accumulated stuff and bring him home How long he stays who knows :) He has been applying for lots of jobs ,mainly in London but I think a few weeks of home cooking to put some meat on his skinny frame may do him some good

We have just had his oldest brother Ben here for a week at half term, and he's not long gone back to London as his school starts back next Monday.

DD and my son-in-law are off to Devon on the 8th June with the two dogs for a week and I shall be at home making lots of teas for the builders who are coming for a fortnight to upscale the main upstairs bathroom ,basically ripping the lot out and replacing everything, plus my en suite. So again I shall be a busy bee

I think the weeks seem to fly at the moment and I'm no sooner up than its bedtime again :)

Socially I have U3A coffee mornings and lunches and games afternoons (I play Crib at a pub in Newport) I usually go on a Monday morning stopping first in Ryde for a coffee and croissant at the church there ,lots of interesting people to have a chinwag with , so far have met a chap who writes dreadful poetry and his wife hasn't got the heart to tell him how awful it is , and an ex-sea captain who spent an hour regaling me of his exploits in Gibraltar :) and some tales of royalty when Prince Phillip was based there :)

I then go on to Newport and have lunch and pop into the library as well before going to play Crib

I do meet some extraordinary people who live on the Island ,perhaps its just I like to listen to them .But really interesting as well .Everyone seems to have a story of some sort.

Wednesday is Stitch 'n'B**ch morning , which is great as there are some characters there as well. I've also been roped into helping a lady with some knitting for the Hospice at Newport, she's great fun as well and we get on like a house on fire.

Everyone is so friendly and chatty over here, I have a quiz night coming up that I go to once a month, we rarely get anywhere near winning but its a nice night out a at £2.00 a pop very reasonable :)

We had a whole room full of stuff to declutter to make room for Mikey's clutter :) So a good few trips to the CS and the tip.

Late afternoon today we went to Appley Beach, which one half is dog friendly, so my DDs two dogs had a great time running in and out of the low tide to cool off

I wandered along to Seaview which is a nice flat walk with a nice pub at the end. I don't drink at all because of medication, but a coffee went down well while I watched to boats out on the water, a slight breeze made it a very relaxing half hour and I chatted to two holiday makers who were saying how much they were enjoying their trip.

Came home and my son-in-law has just made a gorgeous chicken curry which also went down well. I have my feet up and listening to the wireless while I am knitting a border for one of the throws that will be sold at the IoW festival to raise cash for the Earl Mountbatten Hospice. A great local cause in Newport.

Tomorrow we may go to Sandown depending on the weather, as it's due to cool down a bit.

We have done a great deal of gardening this spring, and with vegetables planted hopefully we will have a good crop. So far four very big tubs of potatoes which are just starting to flower so we should be eating them soon, plus carrots ,spring onions, broccoli, lettuce, green beans, tomatoes and red onions

I grew some purple chillies last year, and it cropped very well and was harvested cut stripped and frozen and was used throughout the winter.

DD has planted some pumpkins seeds which are doing well for Halloween. We also have about 7 big sunflowers we are growing from seed which we will harvest for the birds .

The garden is a good size and the dogs love it out there .Stan the retired greyhound has his own mattress to lie on as greyhounds can sit down like a normal dog does so have to lie down on their side or sort of crouch its really weird to see .Teddy, the bossy Napolionic Westie is the boss, even though he is a little short lad he bosses Stan around dreadfully :)

DD and he OH took the dogs with them a few weeks ago when they went to a friends house for dinner She has three cats but she had locked them out in the conservatory.Somehow one got indoors and Stan being a rather dopey dog (imagine Shaggy from Scoobydoo ) thought he would give it a sniff as he had not seen a cat up close before

The cat bless her, took great exception to Stans long pointy nose getting anywhere near her and smartly whacked him with her paws and Stan took off at speed . How a little cat took on an 6 stone greyhound and won was a bit of a hoot. He legged it as quick as he could being chased by the cat :) :)

Ah well I think I've wittered on for long enough, it was only meant to be a quick heads up :) but you all know me for a natter

Take care everyone and I will, like General Patton return :) :) :)

Onwards and upwards

JackieO xxx

PS My youngest DGD who went through a traumatic marriage break up, has since got a lovely chap who she knew from when her brother was at school many moons ago, and they are getting wed next year :) I am so pleased for her as she really did have a rotten time for a long while, as her ex broke her little heart.

So a new dress and hat may be needed :) :) :)

oceanspirit

Tackled a corner of the bedroom that has been annoying me for months. Lots of old receipts shredded, a couple of things dumped into the bath ready to be cleaned tomorrow (one item can go to CS and the other repurposed into something I can use) and a couple of things cleaned and put away. Hoovered the corner and feel so much better now that it’s done.

A couple of frogs now in the diary for the coming week and another needs a phone call on Monday to arrange it, the information needed has been located so all set.

List written for tomorrow so I can get started as soon as I am ready.

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

Saturday continued - there has been barely a breath of wind & although it was very ‘close’ we had no storm & no rain 😞 I finally got around to descaling the kettle. Salad for dinner….. again. Wudupa.

912 - 914 Kitchen recycling, magazine, drinks cans - recycled

915 - 916 Kitchen & lr detritus - binned 

Excellent work GrannyKate 👏 you certainly had a very busy day & got a lot done 🤩 Shame that the seeds rotted 😔 good luck with the new runner bean plants 🍀

Green_hopeful, congratulations to your step son on his new house 🥳 Delaying your trip to help him move & then making so many trips when you returned was such a wonderful thing for you & his dad to do 🤩 Shame the sellers were so awkward 😬  I am awarding both you & your husband a medal 🏅 🏅 each & sending lots of positive vibes to your step son that whilst he is unpacking he will also do some decluttering 😉

Yorkie1, very jealous of your garden 😊 but agree with Soontobeoap that there is a lot of work to keep you busy 😧 Thank you for the photo of your  bean frame 👏 which I love. 

So lovely to see you London_1 👋 You certainly have been exceedingly busy & I am just wondering when you find time to sleep 😉 Talk about time flying, surely it isn’t really 4 years since Mikey started uni 😱 Love that he takes after his grandmother in being so MSE by staying in Halls until his rent runs out 👏 Your garden sounds marvellous & very pleased to hear that all your hard work will be paying off ☺️ Hopefully bumper crops of everything you have planted 🤞 Thank you for sharing the tale of Stan 👏 absolutely hilarious 🤣 & also great news about your youngest DGD 🥹 You definitely need a new dress & hat ☺️ It is so lovely to have you back London_1 🥹

Excellent work oceanspirit 👏 Good luck dealing with your frogs 🍀

Sleep tight 😴 

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

DH Awards: 🏅🏅🏅🏅

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2026: 916/2026

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £226.61