2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution

Brambling

I've done nothing constructive since coming home on Saturday. My boiler died before I left so I have declutterred my old one and lots of pennies this week.

I brought home a lot of sea glass picked up on the local beach, I'll need to plan something for it so it doesn't just sit collecting dust. I fell in love with a picture at a craft fare to go in my lounge once decorated, I like my current paintings brought from a local artist 30+ years ago but want a change. I also brought a small framed photograph for my lounge of Dunstanburgh castle at dusk, the colours will also work probuin the dining room.

I laid in bed last night, too many things going through my brain, mainly what needs to be sorted and declutterred before the decorators come. I'm not home much before Sunday so I'll have to stick to lists.

A old tee shirt was binned this morning, it was an old favourite but I found a hole. I finished a book last night and put it in the car ready to take to the bookshop today, if it went upstairs it may have gotten shelved!

GrannyKate

Hi all. Not done much today but decluttered money for shopping. I put washing out to finish off then brought some in that needed to go to DS2's . Fell fast asleep this afternoon - woke up when DS2 arrived - I had left back door open and kitchen floor was soaked as there had been heavy rain which I never heard at all. The remining washing was brought in and put through spin cycle again. Sox has stayed in most of the day - he didn't like the heatwave but he likes rain even less.

@ionafan - field fires were very frightening as there were breakouts all over the place. Local firefighters and farmers were doing a splendid job. DD lives on top of a hill with extensive views over towards Birmingham and you kept seeing plumes of smoke although far worse towards Stourbridge. Horse is spending his summer holidays (usually at Uni with DGD1) near Broom and fires were very close. I remember the fires on the South Downs in 1976.

I have not done much but have put luggage and items spread around the house away for which I am giving myself 5 points. Thinking of you @Florenceem.

807-811 Put random things away throughout then house and garden

812 Some things to DS2 which belong at his house.

Yorkie1

@Liverpool_Anne good luck with the dentist

@Willowtree222 sorry to hear about your rabbits

I had to buy a keyboard when I worked from my mother's house recently. Bog standard wired one from Argo. for just under £10. Works a treat. Or you could look for a wireless mouse and keyboard combo (they both work off the same bit which you plug into the laptop's USB slot).

When we first started working from home on 17 March 2020, I used two very large dictionaries for the monitor. But yes, a laptop riser is good - something lik this would be fine. It has adjustable angles so you can pick your height.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fellowes-Everyday-Laptop-Stand-Desk/dp/B0F4FFXRRP/ref%3Dsr_1_25?crid=1JXX5AM1J3IF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PQ-q98n29vEt_xfqTCjDwxsMsDBDZnIcJcKdIXEV7Nr2b7Ae7Vr2tLZkNzdJd6vKCx0wr4kUJIRQwrzjKcN4xdYvy7bRHyG3SSdcRBr2tOVyoQFx4EQTUTRjJlLfeq5JTsEFvKuGwlwpwS2JOZVjSzwLmMKBFJ2GZmtG0D37V2X41X4mQO4C--ruxDY6Cz7UMGuYXvharkDAPRPB2YhIB4Q_oQeCqI8lafhW8tL4vOKRN9DxHGscB8q7jpSjzbJPwaMoV7ZYjSjUnumqIq4T0VYrYaf1V45-Sq0wrBvAmU8.gEjNi7TeyX5Of3tEfwQSuHQ7yXijuOD6RU00E-iSZ8w&dib_tag=se&keywords=laptop+riser&qid=1787163820&sprefix=laptop+riser%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-25

As @Brie says, the advice is to try to have the top of the screen about level with your eyes.

My set up is like yours @florianatwobob I prefer to have the laptop screen immediately below the main monitor so I am looking up and down, rather than left and right. I don't really have the width on my home table for that.

The Space Maker Method sounds interesting @QueenJess . I can relate to the overwhelmed feeling … and yes, mental overwhelm does impact on physical energy levels and motivation, I find too

I'd never thought about coreless raspberries but that is so true, @dND

Sorry to hear about the leak @Miss_BaLu . On the DIY board on here, it's often commented that although the water comes through at a light fitting, it's possible that the leak itself is somewhere else (i.e. not from directly above the fitting) and has just taken the path of least resistance to get out. I agree with you that it is likely to come from the flat above, unless you know for sure that your own pipes go through your ceiling void (unlikely)!

Glad to hear you've had a good trip and that the horses were OK, @GrannyKate

Hoping that the honey does the trick to start Mr V's wound healing

@ionafan what a worrying time for you. So sad to hear about those people who lost their homes. We had the very long North York Moors fire last summer, caused by a disposable BBQ. The farming community have done sterling, often unrecognised work. They repeatedly filled water bowsers for the fire brigade. Also, as you say, ploughing fire breaks in all the field fires this year too.

@Florenceem along with the others, also praying for you and your family. Not that you need permission for how you feel, but I think anger is an entirely understandable emotion along with the other grief emotions. I'm glad to read that your son is going to take your Bestie up on her offer to talk later on

I had been getting messages on my phone about my Google storage being fairly full (12.5GB out of max 15GB available). So I've spent some time going through old videos which were stored on there, saving them to my laptop and then deleting them from Google drive. I managed to lose 3GB, which should keep me going for a bit.

I've had a bad back for the last couple of nights, probably caused by staying in bed for most of Friday and Saturday, reading, because I couldn't really stir up the energy to get up. Luckily I had some unbranded ibuprofen gel, and while paracetamol isn't supposed to do much, I took that because I'm not sure about ibuprofen tablets with reflux.

Harvesting at the allotment / greenhouse has gone a bit bt the wayside recently, but hopefully there will still be some sweet peas when I next get down there to do more than just water.

We've had 1.5cm rain over the last couple of days and the ground is no longer parched. I'm wondering how long until the lawn stops looking quite so yellow.

suzeesu2000

oh we had rain🌦️it was wonderful. It didn’t last long but was a good rain, the sort that is gentle enough that it
doesn’t just flood and pour away. it was soaking into the ground. Then the sun came out but it’s been fresher.

Out went a big round oven pan that we have no idea where it came from. 3 big knives went too. Cleaned and relined the big cutlery thing that doesn’t hold cutlery. I have no idea what to call it. But it’s the same as a cutlery tray only much bigger. Anyway, all cleaned and what’s being kept is back in it. Quite a bit of rubbish has been put out in the bins so far this week, with extra care being taken on the black one as a false widow has taken up residence under the lid…and it’s a biggie! I don’t like arachnids but I can’t kill anything. And DH, being immunocompromised is not allowed anywhere near it. A friend of ours was bitten by a spider and died so we take extra care.

Dinner was freezer, still using veg from Easter’s 15p. The parsnips were really sweet today. Took some chicken out to defrost for tomorrow’s tacos, will use some frozen peppers too and frozen taco/tortillas. I’m really starting to see quite a few spaces now.

Hope everyone’s day has been decent. Have a good night all, sweet dreams xx

dND

@vulpix Poor Mr V; the older we get it seems the slower we heal. I've been really surprised at how long the graze on my knee has taken to stop hurting and to look as though it's healing. I do hope Mr V heals soon.

Unbelievably for south Wales the rain has been a tease; a couple of 1-2 minute light showers! But I did get out into the garden today and cut back the wildflower bit of the front lawn as everything I want to go to seed has done so. I also strimmed the back garden and started marking out the wildlife pond. I could only get the spade in about 2cm/less than an inch. 😮

I keep forgetting to post the successful decluttering I do. Monday, with DS1, the garage was cleared of all the old wood - it almost filled the back of my estate car (rear seats down). We also managed to squeeze in 2 buckets of broken glass from the garden and 4 mirrors that had been left by the previous owners. My garage is almost empty now. 😁😁

DS1 also felled a very tall cast iron washing line pole and even managed to get out the 2 ft of it that was buried in the ground. That's currently out at the front of the house waiting to see if one of the scrappies that circulate around here will stop and remove it, saving me a trip to the tip. That would be nice as being cast iron, even cut in half which DS1 did for me so I would be able to fit it into the car, I can only just lift it.

Redcurrant jelly and the blackcurrant syrup have also been finished and labelled. All(!) I have to do now is find somewhere to store all the jars and bottles. 🤣

My electric shower died last week and my friendly boiler service guy who was here for the boiler, had a look and said it was an electrical fault. He recommended an electrician that he trusts and that electrician is coming round on Friday to see if it is fixable or if it needs replacing. The boiler man is returning next week to fit a new radiator in the kitchen. I want a shorter one so I can have a worksurface installed over it at a later date when the kitchen is replaced. All in all, a lot of money is going to be decluttered over the next week.

Hugs to all who would like one and love to you all. Dxx

oceanspirit

Am way behind with reading the thread - will try to catch up soon.

A new ragbag started and first item put in - my finger went through my favourite summer dress which I had already earmarked for binning at the end of the season as the fabric had worn really thin. Another pair of undies also binned. A couple of rags too dirty and frayed to recycle also binned. More papers shredded and more food items uu. A large admin task started at the weekend and been working my way through it this week. Need to make a phone call this morning to keep things moving along.

Emails have crept back up and over 200 unread again. No time to deal with it at the moment as other things have a higher priority.

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

Forgot to post this yesterday 😬 
Wednesday: Forgot to mention that we had some proper rain in the early hours 🥳 & also forgot that last night DH noticed that a bulb in one of the car headlights had stopped working. This morning he went to order one but there are a dozen or so variants so he has removed the bulb & is ordering the correct one now. It is a mainly cloudy day with the sun putting in brief appearances.The high is 23°C with a light WSW wind & a low of 17°C. Our HH waste bin has not been emptied ☹️ DSis did last night’s wu & left to dry. I put away. DH finally managed to find a shop that had the bulb in stock, did a click & collect. Went out on the bike, got home & fitted it immediately.  I cleared a few more programmes. Dinner was sausages, mash, tinned tomatoes & baked beans. Wudupa.

1391 - 1396 Kitchen recycling, 3 plastic bottles, drinks cans, magazine - recycled 

1397 - 1398 Kitchen & DSis bedroom detritus - binned

Sleep tight 😴 

MrsSD Awards: 💐 🙏💐💐🌟⭐️❤️💐💐⭐️💐❤️⭐️🎖️🥇⭐️⭐️⭐️😇🏅💐🌻💐💐🌻🥇 

DH Awards: 🏅🏅🏅🏅⭐️ 🏅

DSis Awards: 🏅

Decluttering Target 2026: 1398/2026

1p Savings Challenge Running Total: £297.61

Florenceem

A did come here yesterday - she finished off the laptop set up. Then spent a while getting the headphones working. I have never used headphones and A had to show me how to wear them - I was putting them on too far forward.

I cut out fabric for the printer cover but then didn't do any more on it.

Today I have ordered a case for the laptop. I was thinking about a stand for the laptop. I saw a photo of a laptop on a stand and the person typing was using a separate keyboard as the laptop one was at an angle.

Heavy rain and thunder just now. A has been to school today and sent me classroom photos. A needs to laminate the labels she did on my computer - printed them at school as my printer is a laser black & white one.

I need fresh milk and hope to get some strawberries - I have my umbrella downstairs.

Post came today - a card from someone who was away for the COL She didn't know my address so had to ask someone. She included a separate note about my grandson.

My son B said he was angry and snappy yesterday - normal emotions. It was 4 weeks from J being killed. B saw someone from his school - superior to him and felt stressed. I said no need to feel stressed - you haven't done anything. I think B was thinking about the time he will have off work. Yesterday he went online to book a couple of nights down here in a hotel and booked twice - it was sorted okay. He is in no state to face a classroom of pupils.

I have started to sort a retro sewing box. I am going to donate it and cottons to the SA shop.

Willowtree222

After a really rubbish year, decluttered DD and I here.

Floss

Ooh that looks lovely!