2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution

suzeesu2000

Loving the stories of the old minis. Anyone remember when you could get an Old Banger? In my brothers last year at school (late 1960s), the teacher got hold of a Jag that had seen very much better days. During their metalwork classes, the boys would set about repairing it. They sold it to a parent for a fiver! And it was a runner. It peaked his interest as he went on to join REME and then went to work for General Motors. Sad that young lads don’t have that opportunity any more.

All the gardens are looking lovely too, enjoying the pictures, thank you.

Today started wet and dark. Brightened up as the day went on and now the sun is shining. Nice nurse came to remove some of my blood.
Dinner was in slow cooker and tasty too with left overs now in the freezer.

Today’s job was moving all my reams of paper from a drawer into the small ottoman. Then my stash of candles fitted nicely into the drawers. I now have a place in the sideboard cupboard for all my family tree folders etc to live. The only things that won’t fit are the two big certificate folders I have. They are made specifically to hold certificates so are quite wide. I think the oldest one I have is 1888. They are precious.
This evening I plan on seeing to DHs cardigan and then back to family tree.

Have a lovely night all, sweet dreams xx

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

Monday is a damp, cloudy day with a forecast high of 17°C (feeling 2° colder due to a SW wind) & a low of 12°C with rain forecast until 15:00* Typically the BB chap who had a window of 08:00 to 12:00 turned up at 11:45 - rather annoying for DH as he had been up since 07:30 😞 although he did get to listen to the heavy rain 😉 The BB chap took about an hour to do the internal work but needed a partner (who turned up 12:45) to help to sort out the rather awkward outside cabling to the main junction box. After about 15 minutes of chat they finally agreed how to proceed. All sorted & finally left at 14:05. * rain started at 15:00 when the heavens opened but only for about 20 minutes. Dinner was a use up - chicken & boiled new potatoes for DSis, lo cheesy pasta for DH & lo cottage pie for me. Wudupa

964 - 965 Kitchen recycling, drinks cans - recycled 

966 Kitchen detritus binned 

Excellent decluttering of paperwork GrannyKate 👏 a medal 🏅 is on its way. Congratulations on being a published writer 🥳

TC77 good luck at your dad’s house 🍀 Hopefully you & your DB can get the final bits sorted 🤞

florianatwobob, great work clearing the ironing 👏 although it is a pity that your DSis couldn’t wait a while before doing more washing 😞 just so you could admire the empty ironing basket 😊 Hope the weather stays fine for your gardening 🤞

Green_hopeful, I would be more than a bit grumpy 😉 especially making changes to your delivery method 😖 Sounds like a nightmare to me 😱

regnbue, pleased to hear that you managed to find the elusive older shaped mini 😊 As I was reading I was imagining the music from a Benny Hill  sketch 🙊 I remember Chocolate Limes 😋 

Lovely to have you back Happy_Kitties 👋 Sorry to hear that you had to spend more time in hospital 😔 Please take plenty of time to recover especially as your DD is helping out 😊 I like the idea of you supervising your DD whilst she does the decluttering just until you are better ☺️ 

Florenceem, thank you for sharing such a lovely story 🥹 & such an apt description “lovely ladies who have an aura of gentleness about them.” Pleased to hear that you are eating well & that birthday cake sounds amazing 😊 It sounds like your decorating & rearrangement of rooms is almost complete 😊

Excellent work in the garden surprisinglynice 👏 & well done on combining environmental care with aesthetics to keep the neighbours happy 😉

QueenJess, great work sorting out your ever expanding family of houseplants 👏 & well done to your DD for her ongoing using up of pens & pencils 👏

Lovely cheerleading post dND ☺️ Very sorry to hear about your friend 🥺 I hope that the medical profession can find the issue & prevent it from happening again 🙏

Excellent work in the garden Floss 👏

florianatwobob, excellent work in the garden 👏 No ideas about the cat as we have at least 4 that come into our small garden 😖 

Green_hopeful, you definitely love your minis 😉 Maybe it will be 5th time lucky, once you decide to get shot of the Countryman money pit 🤞

Florenceem, what a great find 😊 Sorry to hear that you haven’t managed to put on any more weight 😔 although hopefully you haven’t lost any more 🤞 Also crossing my fingers that J is able to paint the ceiling over the stairs 🤞

suzeesu2000, a good day - a new cousin & an MSE solution 🥳 

Yorkie1, presumably it was the wrong sort of rain 😉 so well done on persevering with working at your allotment 👏

TC7, a successful day’s sorting at your Dad’s house 👏 a medal 🏅 is on its way.

Floss, your mini was a proper workhorse 😊

GrannyKate, brilliant work on your drive & garden 👏 Deserves a Gold Star ⭐️ which is on its way 😊

Great decluttering TC77 👏

I have caught up a little but will try harder tomorrow. Sleep tight 😴 

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

DH Awards: 🏅🏅🏅🏅⭐️

DSis Awards:

Decluttering Target 2026: 966/2026

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £226.61

BlueJ94

Good Morning all! I havent posted much but ive been reading away and keeping updated. I havent done much decluttering i just havent got the motivation 😅 i picked some strawberries from my garden last night so they are currently mixed in with my porridge this morning!

GrannyKate

Thankyou Mrs SD - a 🏅and a ⭐️. I haven't written any fiction in years - I don't have the drive to be a real author - guess I just wanted to prove I could do it and get something published. I wrote 'twist in the tail' short stories mostly.

I've not done a lot so far this week - yesterday afternoon was a guided tour of a local small town looking at its buildings and history and finishing up at the local church for tea and home made shortbread (yummy). I have got nothing in the diary now until Tuesday next week although I have school runs from this Thursday pm.

I have not got anything much to count today but I will update the 'big job' numbers to count the drive widening. I bought some small 'three for two' climbers at Mr M as I have a plan for an area at very bottom of garden and I think these could go in now. I have a peony to move but not sure where I can put it - they dont like to be moved as I recall. There is a silly narrow flower bed between the back lawn and a path - only about 12 inches wide. I plan to fill it level with lawn and just let grass grow over it. I currently have a large heap of spare earth on an old flower bed in middle of front lawn. That flower bed is also going to be grassed over. The previous garden design is a bit fussy for me with lots of artifical curves and random beds. The front garden has a pink, white, blue and mauve theme which I quite like so I will probably replace things culled by others in that theme. The lavender is unfortunately beyond doing anything with as it has never been pruned and centres are brown and rotten. It is four feet high in places - bees love it of course. There are a few smaller lavender plants which I may be able to keep and some other things buried under the woody bushes. I might nip to the garden centre and get a few lobelias to put along my new little wall at drive front and I have a hanging basket to do for which I only have a fuchsia at the moment.

It looked nice earlier but cooler now and my radiators have come on. I have paperwork to do but nothing much. I need some more plates for kitchen so may look for random ones in CS. Most dinner plates now are too large and you have to lie them down in dishwasher as they hit the arm if you stand them up. I have some oblong white ones which are great so perhaps I could hunt for something like those. I got some yellow sticker fish and gammon at Mr M which was actually half price rather than a very small reduction.

Sox is doing zoomies - he's bored this week as he hasn't seen DS2 (he always goes to treat box when he arrives) or DGCs. I had a small panic yesterday as Sox was seen about to disappear through cat flap with my hearing aid in his mouth. I grabbed it but then really worried as no sign of the battery - found eventually on hall floor. I did get a small wooden box out to put it in next to the bed and I must remember to do that as worried he would swallow the battery. The box is a wooden hat pin box of my grandmothers which I had kept. It is nice to have a use for it. There is a small burnt in design of hat pins on the outside of the lid.

568 Sorted through kitchen freezer to see what there was in there. A few small items that won't be used binned and food used up for tea. I will do the outside one today as well.

569 A random selection of email folders culled or deleted competely.

TC77

Mrs SD thank you for my medal! I still have to work how to put on my signature.

Sobering realisation that I am only scratching the surface in my decluttering. Turned my house upside down looking for the charger for my camera as meant to take it with me this pm after a year of not using. Nowhere - did the cat's eat it? or I gave it away with my old hoover (External one you put the battery in), threw it away or its still lurking. Lovely neighbour has lent me one luckily.

Out adhesive and paint, plastic packaging and paper, and another pen - 5 to add.

Working on like with like but still have all the bedding that a charity can't collect. Don't like to post another ask on our neighbourhood whatsapp but may depending how many trips I think I will need with my trolley ( at least 8 I think).

Hope everyone has a little sunshine today.

Listened to a decluttering webinar which kept saying how 15 mins a day makes a big difference - haha they don't live here! Of course, then trying to sell some scheme where they clutter your inbox …

Florenceem

Morning all.

BlueJ94 - Strawberries from the garden always taste so good.

My J is here and put a second coat of paint on the wardrobe door knobs. I asked him if he could manage to paint the ceiling over the stairs - he said he did it last time it was painted - I don't remember that - he would have been only 16. J has already put a coat of white emulsion on the ceiling.

I asked J to get the hammer out of the garden storage bin - so I can hang some pictures - if I can find the right ones. I have 2 pictures in my sewing room to hang but one is for the bottom hall so will wait until it is decorated. That picture has yellow in it and I am having yellow on some of the hall walls. The other picture will go in my bedroom as it has some green in it.

J is now clearing up leaves in the back garden as it only took him 30 minutes to paint the ceiling. He is a speedy worker.

vulpix

Joy! the weather forecast for us is dire but there are blue skies and fluffy clouds. I will get myself in the garden to see if I can finish off sinking reclaimed bricks into the soil for stepping stones. I did a couple of hours brick planting yesterday. I also moved some plants which had been planted in haste the other day. I despair, I am SO fussy. Everything is about how something looks for me. It's a curse honestly. I must get all the waiting plants in the ground before the upcoming heat wave. As you can imagine deciding their position takes longer than the planting!

Granny Kate, your front garden colour scheme sound lovely.

TC, I think 15 minutes with a timer everyday would make a difference and not feel overwhelming. In a year it's over 91 sneaky unnoticed hours. I would say I spend about 15 minutes a day tidying up and putting stuff away.Breakfast bar excepted.🤣

If it rains later I promise I will clear the breakfast bar.

Vx

Wednesday2000

I want to do a big declutter of my wardrobe. I tried on a coat I bought and it fits me now as I lost a few pounds so that will be kept. I decided to try on the clothes I don't like and see if they should be kept or not. I'm wearing a black and white dress today and then I will decide whether to keep it or bag it up.

vulpix

🤣 So my meteorological career is over. Within ten minutes of going outside it began thunder and lightening and hail stones. Ignoring Mr V I carried on until I was soaked and cold, about 45 minutes.I have come in, stripped off at the washing machine and now there are blue skies and fluffy clouds. I might have another go later if the puddles in the soil dry up. So after a coffee and a spot of knitting I can do nothing but have a go at the breakfast bar.

Forgot to say earlier, Sox is a little imp. My son was regaling me with his 3 mouse night. The saga of a nights sleeplessness due to his cat bringing him gifts every few hours. I think 3 mouse night sounds like a good book title.

Vx

Florenceem

I have to praise my J - two coats of emulsion on the ceiling and leaves cleared from back garden. Then he got the upright hoover and did the top landing. He came downstairs for the hand held cleaner and did all the stairs.

The table and lamp I ordered have arrived - J will put them together tomorrow as well as give the upstairs walls on the landing a coat of Timeless.

I went into town and took a trolley of donations to the charity shop. I decided to come straight home as it looked like rain again - I was wrong.

I had thought about going to look at lampshades for the stairs. I will go on Thursday when J is at work.

Decluttered - apron, hankie, vest, knitting dolly, plastic bags, fabric, 2 bags of beads, bag of shoe laces, pack of scissors, 2 pairs of trousers, 2 magazines, Easter chicks, sew on badge, cloth bag, sticks, baby knitteds,carrier bag of fabrics and 2 bags of leaves.