De cluttering and spring cleaning..anyone fancy joining me.

[Dowser]

Because we are away for more than half the week..a drawer and cupboard declutter and thorough house bottoming has not happened this year.

I’m not a clean freak, far from it but I do like neat and tidy and when things are falling out of cupboards it’s time to make a stand.

Last thorough declutter was 2.5 years ago for a rewire.

Soo, I’m breaking t down into bite sized chunks..a drawer or a cupboard at a time.
Today I tackled a drawer full of paperwork, bank statements etc. I don’t like to chuck them away in case there’s a problem..so I sorted that one today.

Anyone else?

That's a good way to look at it, BeyondMyWits. I'm doing a minimum purchase thing too. After years of mindlessly buying things I started to cut back 2 years ago and it's become quite liberating.

Hi everyone
Yes I ground to a halt because we went to our caravan from Saturday to Monday, then it’s been really busy, so did some paperwork..4 drawers done tonight and half a big white stack of papers belonging to my auntie when I had to see to everything when she got dementia

Course all the birth and death certificates surfaced so that took me ages reading through them all again
Going to write a page on each of my aunts, uncles, grandparents and great grandparents for posterity.

Picked up my g grandfathers death certificate today ..he was only 39 when he died.
Cause of death was pneumonia..very sad..he would’ve lived today with antibiotics but there was nothing like that in early 1900s
Left behind 8 children
He was only a year older than my son.

So onwards and upwards..won’t get anything done next week
We’re off to the lakes
But those drawers do look good..only about another 20 to go

Glad you've had some good caravan time. We call ours our escape pod.
That's a good idea to make notes about your family. It might be invaluable in years to come if you or a family member want to research your family tree.
I've done a bit more general tidying and it's nice to have clearer areas.

Ours doesn’t look much different because of the amount of storage / more places to cram things I have
Went through bed linen drawers tonight..if I to,d you how many sets I’d have to kill you..but it’s somewhere in the region of 30
Im getting rid of a flannelette duvet set...it doesn’t bring me joy and I haven’t needed to use them this winter..I’ll just keep the other one
A flannelette sheet is going to an animal rescue centre

Then I did 4 wire baskets..good clear out there..new undies..that just never worked for me..Unworn..so it’s time to say goodbye..and some shrug type cardis..that also didn’t work

Even though I’ve moved a fair bit of stuff out of the houses..I have masses and masses left..thank god im not moving home.
Being ruthless is not in my vocabulary..but at least some of the cupboards and drawers are breathing a bit better.

Just a tip for heirlooms that take up space but you don't really want. Photograph them, create an album, them get rid of the real thing.

I have this issue as my dad is ill and just downloaded a ton of stuff into me. I don't want Boer war medals. A few weeks ago I was happy not even knowing they existed.

I need to do a huge declutter. But I need counseling first, I have a sort of paralysis when it comes to getting rid of stuff. Even knowing it will go to good causes (it doesn't really, does it? It just clutters up a charity shop for years, making us feel less guilty, while charity shops multiply to fit in all our discarded junk).

Oh no..don’t get rid of the medals, someone might want to do your family tree in the future..they take up so little space

Well I’ve been going great guns..I’m here in the lakes on a four day break...but there’s 4 carrier bags of stuff waiting to go when I’m home.
I’ve done about 8 drawers in my walk in closet..I’ve loosened on my grip on some old fashioned skirts..so all good

Now not to buy anything in the lakes...that’s the difficult bit.

Where’s your escape pod late December
Ours is north of york.
We love it..but our heating went on the blink as we were leaving..so when we will be back I don’t know

No-one will want to do a family tree. There are, incredibly, no further issue after my generation.

Two of my cousin's didn't have kids, another one has turned out not to be the daughter of my uncle so she is not actually family (she has kids). My sister is not my dad's daughter, so not blood family (and not remotely interested, nor are her kids). I don't have kids. My brother has a two year old with a Russian woman 26 years younger than him who he met on the internet and since he'd been trying to have kids with numerous women for many years.....I'm assuming it's not his actual child (we don't speak and I'm not really interested).

But I can take photos of them, just in case.

Our escape pod is on Anglesey. Our sesaon begins again on the 1st of March and normally by now I'm counting down the days but this year I have the lovely distraction of us visiting our son who is studying in Adelaide for a year.
While it means I'm not currently doing any decluttering at home I am helping to keep it tidy by not buying lots of souveniers to take home. Yesterday afternoon I was in the gift shop of Adelaide Art Gallery and I spotted several things that once over I would have just bought on a whim.
Taking photos of things is a good idea!

Ah, sorry to hear that Van Gogh..yes it kind of makes sense .

How wonderful late December . I hope it’s hot.
We were in keswick on Tuesday and was a sunny and balmy 10 degrees. Decluttering means I too am not buying more clut.
I spent a total of £7 in the lakes for a book on healthy foods, written by a doctor and a Fleetwood Mac and queen cd for the car.
Visiting tourist towns when you’re decluttering puts the kibosh of buying and being gluten and dairy free means stopping for coffee and cake has lost its appeal.

We did enjoy the drive from Windermere to keswick though..it cost nothing and won’t clutter up the house.

Has zaphod moved in yet?
When my friends mil with dementia moved into a mobile home ( like a double caravan)..they brought everything..absolutely everything....boxes and boxes..I don’t think they were ever all unpacked.
Such a waste
Less is definitely more
Once unpacked..I’ll be back on the job.

Hello Ladies
Still here..still beavering away
I tackled the closet of doom on Saturday with the aid of my six feet tall grandson, handing all the high stuff down to me..so got a few more bags out and they went to the cat lady who auctions the stuff to feed the wild cats
Just gone through my essential oil drawers and put them back in alphabetical order and chucked out the empty bottles.
Also sorted out a bit more of my crystal collection
So not a huge difference
Girding myself up for the spare bedroom of doom..that’s a biggie and going to do it in bite sized chunks once again.

How’s everyone doing..are you still at it or stalled again
I’ve got till the end of feb and then we’re off on holiday
When we return I will be starting on the garden again
So I pretty much have two weeks to get the house finished.
Hope all going well with you