The minimalist quiche

[educatingarti]

This is a new thread to replace the minimalist journey one which is nearly full!

Sorry to hear about your dad arti, hope he's on the mend really soon. In the meantime take it easy!

Yes I hope arti's Dad and Lemon are both getting better.

Today I have managed to dispose of two pictures and I've had enquiries about two slightly incomplete but still playable kids games on the French equivalent of freecycle. I've never yet been let down by an enquirer yet so I'm considering them gone.

Plus DH and I have made progress on our future utility room which isn't going to help us be minimalist (we won't be getting rid of anything or buying anything fo it) but it will mean that it's easier to keep the house tidy when it's finished because the vacuum cleaner and ironing board will finally have a home and we won't have to have clothes drying on an airer in the living room.

That sounds awful arti I hope they get their act together and your dad is looked after properly.

Things have not really got any better. Even after trying to sort stuff out on Friday with the ward Sister and duty Matron, things were if anything even worse yesterday (new staff on ward of course!). Don't want to go into too many details ( though I feel like blogging it and tweeting it across the internet!) but think along the lines of inability to see he gets essential medication at key times (one member of staff suggested my Mum could ring in to remind them!!), lack of attention to his personal care and dignity (repeated, even after concerns expressed) to such an extent that his surgery wound has been put at risk of infection!

I was really ill with migraine yesterday (I'm sure it is due to stress and upset and barely suppressed rage) and still feeling sick and headachey today!
To be honest decluttering isn't on the agenda at the moment. Tomorrow will be trying to get essential work done and phoning the chief executive's office at the hospital. If that fails to get a satisfactory response it might be time to contact my parents' MP!

Oh dear. They suggested your mum ring to remind them to do their job? Unbelievable. (Yet somehow, sadly believable.) Sod the decluttering, it sounds like you have bigger fish to fry just now. Good luck with your phone calls tomorrow, I really hope you get somewhere.

Hello all, been reading but no time for posting in recent weeks as have been silly busy with work.

So sorry about your dad Arti, what a horrible extra set of stress when you must already be upset about the fall. I hope you have some good RL friends and support for you and your mum, and your dada gets better and out of there soon.

A few people have mentioned things like being busy and finding it hard to keep going, I found this article a helpful way to think about busy times.

For me the real beauty of this thread is in the title of the first thread - it's a minimalist journey and that's not just about decluttery, for me, but about making this a year where I simplify my life and try to loosen the grip 'stuff' has on me. Another blog with god ideas about making things simple when decluttering is not on the agenda. Might be helpful for jemster as you go back to work.

Right, am off to make my list for the week, back on the declutter wagon.

*good ideas!

Thank you all for your good wishes. I have phoned the chief execs office this morning but all the bigwigs are currently in a meeting!! The PA is going to speak to people as soon as they are out so I'm hoping for a call-back today before I have to go out and teach!

I agree to "sod the decluttering" for now Mrs P. Although I may at least have to take out the rubbish and recycling before my flat looks like a scene from extreme hoarders!!

OK - now somehow, I have to try and focus on work!

PS - well done to all of you who are managing to keep with the decluttering agenda. I have some time off work next week and hope to be a bit more proactive then if I don't just collapse into a little crumpled heap by that time

Hi All, not really done much over the weekend as my cold has really taken hold, just as I got over the fall. I had hope to get more done, but I did do a few little jobs.

Arti sorry to hear about the situation with your Dad. I'm quite certain that your headache will be from the stress.

I spent half of today sitting around in a hospital, so didn't get a lot done. I'm booked in for an operation in 2 weeks time, which israther sooner than I expected. It's only a small op but I can't lift anything much or drive for 2 weeks after wards, so that will slow me down on my journey.

Arti i'd say the headache is stress induced given the situation, so try To take things a bit slower than you normally would. I hope you get through To the CEO. Also hope your dad improves.

On the decluttering front, loads of stuff has been dumped in my bed side cabinet, so that needs clearing tomorrow plus moré recycling To take into town.

Oh arti! Is there a pals contact you could liaise with about your father? It's appalling they can't even give him medication properly.

Decluttering came to a stop when my washing machine packed up and I got hit by the bug too.

New washing machine arrived at 0655 yesterday morning though. And I can get a whole wash basket of clothes in in one go!

sokmonsta that is a very early delivery. But it sounds like you've got a good machine for your big family now.

I still have some things lying around the house from DHs old shop that won't fit in the new one. It is annoying me as he won't ever bother to move them, he will just leave them.

Somebody is buying some of it but hasn't collected yet because of the weather.

I really want to get on with my kitchen cupboard now. I did take out the brand new pasta maker to sell, although my phone is broken so I can't take pictures yet. I will have to wait for my replacement phone.

Arti How is your dad getting on? And you of course, I hope you've managed to shift that headache.

DD is at GPs today so I've been able to go round photgraphing things for sale, I've listed ten items on a fb buy & sell page and have a few more to upload yet. Hopefully they will get some interest and bring in a bit of cash. Feels nice to actually have something to report, on the decluttering front!

Afternoon everyone!

A quick note just before me student arrives.

Sokmonsta PALS were contacted by various different people last week. It didn't really make much difference. It seemed that the only way to solve the problem was for either my sister or I to phone the duty Matron every day to explain the problems that had happened and ask that they make sure his care was appropriate. Then every thing would be OK for that day, but you had to do it again the next day as it was different staff on and if you didn't, the problems would reoccur.

Anyway, the good news is that he has now been moved to a community hospital for rehab, where we hope appropriate care will be more the "norm". The bad news is that the community hospital he has moved to is 28 miles away from my Mum - the furthest one possible, but there were no beds at the others. I am hoping and praying that he can be moved to a more local community hospital soon, ideally before the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, but of course it depends on bed availability.

I am still quite headachey but am managing to stave off a full-blown migraine for now !

Thank you all for your concerns. I'm appreciating it!

Lemon I skim read your post as you wanting to take photos of you kitchen cupboard and was thinking "wow she must be really proud of how decluttered it is!" then I read it properly

Still haven't managed to even take out the rubbish! double

my student!

Arti good to hear that your dad has been moved, shame about the distance though. I'll keep my fingers crossed for a bed closer to home soon.

Well I never got that bedside cabinet done, but I did unload an entire car boot of recycling, not a small car either. I don't know how the recycling is in UK now but when I last lived there they weren't taking plastics, here the approach is if it can be used it can be re-used. So they take everything.

Tomorrow I really must get that cabinet done, I don't even know what's in it

That's shocking arti! I'm glad your dad has been moved now though, and hope he will be closer soon.

Not much done here at the moment. Dealing with the aftermath of illness still and not really feeling the 'get it done' vibe so stuff is building up again.

Have got a metal top from the old washer to dispose of, cupboard door to put in the loft and a whole heap if other things that really need doing. But momentum has just disappeared.

Adora - Wow you've done loads. Here they will take plastic for recycling as long as it is bottle shaped!
Sokmonsta - I hope you get back your momentum soon.
The community hospital sounds great - all that care should be. They've done basic things like weigh Dad and have found out he's lost about 2 stone so they've put him on fortified meals! They were lovely to my Mum and made her tea and sandwiches as well. Mum is exhausted afer just one day of travel though!
I still have a headache! - Hanging on until the weekend when I can just crash a bit!

Arti I'm glad to hear that your dad is getting proper care now, your poor mum is probably exhausted from worrying even without travelling. I really hope he can be moved closer very soon.

So, UK recycling not improved much then, still only taking plastic bottles. There's a man here, can't remember his name right now, who really opened up recycling in the last few years. He was on BBC World a while back talking about it. Last time I went they couldn't take fabric conditioner bottles, different type of plastic, yesterday they had 5 more bins accepting different plastics and 2 more for bottle tops.

Sockmonsta I hope you feel more energised soon.

I'm going to start on my cabinet after I've had breakfast, just back from the school run.

Arti - So sorry to hear about your Dad, though it sounds as if the move to the community hospital was a good one. I hope he is feeling better. It must be really hard on your family.

I took another large Ikea bag of stuff to the charity shop today. We are having some bookshelves put in (as I type!) so we should be able to unpack the boxes and boxes of books / records / office stuff by this weekend. This is going to make a huge difference in the house. I'm hoping to clear out as we unpack and get to grips with the space. I'm also very near to having my cleaning / tools cupboard done, which will enable me to clear out understairs for a reading nook for DCs.

Ooh, I would have loved an understairs reading nook when I was a kid.

I remember making a reading den under my desk and being so engrossed in a book that I forgot where I was so I bashed my head really hard when my mum called me downstairs.

I've started! Got everything out of that cabinet, 2/3 of the way through but I'm falling asleep standing up. Tremors last night kept me awake, nothing overly strong but one really jolted the house in the middle of the night. I don't like that because the big quake 3 years ago was at night, so I didn't sleep. Contents, surprisingly varied, of my bedside cabinet are on the kitchen table, crap is in the bin and recycling in an orderly heap on the floor. I'll get it finished tomorrow.

Coffee calls

Excellent progress Adora! I love getting though big projects like that - very satisfying.

Somme - I would have loved a reading nook as well! I'm quite excited about it and think it will be great to have a quiet area away from the playroom. What do you want to bet the kids either don't use it at all or just throw books about under there and slam in and out of the little door?

Somme I can remember looking at our cupboard under the stairs as a child and wanting to turn it into a little house, or a prison! (It had a ventilation grill on the door that looked like bars and of course it was quite dark inside). Thinking about it, persuading my little sister she could be the "prisoner" would have been quite fun!!!

Strangely my Mum was less than enthusiastic! (she would have had nowhere to store the vacuum cleaner, floor polisher etc - and even more strangely she probably wouldn't have wanted me to lock my little sister up in there - though I'm sure I didn't tell her that part of the plan! [evil sibling smilie] )