The minimalist quiche

[educatingarti]

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

I wonder if J K Rowling was inspired by a pesky younger sibling

Arti, my thoughts are with you and your family. What you don't need in times of ill health is extra stress. Horrible to hear this goes on.

I'm about to start packing for 2 weeks away visiting family. Minimising my life is so painfully slow. I had hoped maternity leave would afford me lots more opportunity than I have. Now I am away from the house for the two weeks where I am free from school and nursery runs and baby groups. I want a clutter free easy to clean existence. I find myself held back from decluttering by the tidying and cleaning I am hoping to free myself from! Ah well, summer holidays it will be then! I anticipate returning from hols with more well meaning gifts from family. I might spend the time drawing up a plan of action which might spur me on better than just doing it all piecemeal. DHs manic project should be finished soon so he can actually deal with the boxes of things I have left for him to sanction chucking out. Oh for a magic wand!

Hope you have a good trip hobnob

My OH arrived at the PIL's today, I'm just hoping he doesn't arrive home with armfuls of gifts.

I have sold three of the items I listed on the fb buy & sell group, so that's another £35 in the pot. It would have been four items, but a woman was supposed to come and pick something up tonight but decided to mess me about and then got arsey with me! But someone else has shown interest so fingers crossed. She sent some pretty aggressive messages though, so I was completely wound up. So when dinner ended up all over the kitchen floor it was pretty much the final straw and I ended up blubbing, and now just feel shitty and knackered, and I can't even hit the gin as I'm pg.

Masterchef is supposed to be recording, but we have a freesat box which is a bit temperamental with recording stuff, so I daren't touch it until the program has finished. Last time I was recording one thing and watching another, I turned over to the recording channel just as the end titles of the program were going up. When I went to watch the recording, it had only recorded the end titles, from the exact point I'd switched over! So if it hasn't recorded Masterchef it's going out the window.

Sorry for completely irrelevant rant / whinge. That woman really got to me.

So did the freesat box end up in the street?

Nothing like packing up your essentials, filling the boot of a people carrier and surveying your home to struggle to find any improvement to make you realise you have Too Much Stuff.

Thank you all for kind thoughts regarding my Dad. He is being much better cared for at the community hospital.

Mrs P - I wouldn't worry too much about irrelevant rant! I've been derailing the thread for the last week and everyone had been very supportive. I get those days too where the combination of events just means you feel awful! I hope today has been a better day.

Somme - Maybe J K Rowling was the pesky younger sibling!

OK - back on track

Latest decluttering news in the Arti household....

I have...

emptied the kitchen bin!

Still at least it will make all of the rest of you feel so much better about your decluttering efforts. I aim to serve!

Masterchef did record on Thursday, but not tonight! Stupid box. Watched it on i-player instead. Am really getting hacked off with that box, considering it cost about £250 and we cancelled Sky to get it, thinking it would be better value. (Not if it doesn't actually do what you want!)

Another item sold and collected, and one more sold but fell through. Not surprised as I had "you're not going to show up, are you?" vibes from the first email.

Well done on emptying the bin arti, sterling work there!

Morning. Momentum slowly creeping back. Got rid of my old bike from my parents thanks to freecycle.

Now have to do a kids clothes sort as I've had to buy bigger for the babies.

2 out of 4 children are currently with bug

Glad to hear your dad is getting on better at the community hospital arti.

Ugggh - well at least the recycling has been thrown as well as the kitchen rubbish. Struggling to do much

I think I'm going to make some notices for the big recycling bins that we share in the flats. People will put all sorts of stuff in them randomly - eg unwashed raw chicken meat tray in the paper recycling - I wouldn't be so bothered except the council refuse to empty them if they see the "wrong" item in the bins! Then everyone just dumps recycling around the full bins and it either gets soggy or blows around the courtyard!!!

Time for a primary school style notice I think! With pictures! ( we have a lot of Eatern Europeans renting flats and they don't all speak good English!)

Eastern - not Eatern!

Yeah, those Eaten types are real problem, aren't they

I've spent the last few days running around for/ with DDs and friends and am now too tired To do anything. All i will be recycling today is vino and chocolate after DDs are in bed. I put the dustbin out last night so as not To miss the binmen, been out To get puppy food and odd bits.

Arti that would drive me nuts! It was bad enough when I worked in offices, and tried to encourage people to use - gasp - both sides of a piece of paper before binning it. They'd just look at me with their mouths hanging open for a moment, and then say "but it gets recycled...." RAGE!

DDs have done a cupboard each this morning, lot's of recycling and two bags of actual geniune rubbish. Their bathroom cupboards are next on the hit list.

Understairs book nook is done! And they like it! Less success with the table of doom. I managed to clear it off, but just shifted most of it to the kitchen island for processing. Lost of paperwork / random bits that are renovation related. I'm gearing up to sort the papers back into one managable box and file / shred the rest. I do have another charity shop bag on the go and am decluttering a rug to the tip (I know, I know, but no one wants it!). I also have a box of kitchen stuff that I can see needs some serious decluttering. Waiting for DH to go back to work so he doesn't start freaking out about me getting rid of kitchen crap.

I am hoping when this house finally gets finished and our stuff actually gets unpacked to where it is meant to live that I will discover we no longer have too much stuff. At the moment it just feels like I've been moving stuff around for months and I don't actually have any less despite my very serious minimising efforts. [exasperated wrist to forehead emoticon].

Well I haven't done much for ages it seems. So today I have finally emptied the box files of paperwork and restored the little that needed to be kept. The rest has been shredded. Who really needs gas bills from 2008?

My kitchen cupboards have been annoying me recently too. I figured that about 50% of the cupboard space is not used regularly. That can't be right. So today I have been through most of them and chucked out of date foods and tidied them up. I have also decided to sell some of our pans, bowls and colanders. I don't think any family needs 3 colanders.

I feel happier about those cupboards now. There is still the under sink cupboard to sort, bu that requires more energy than I have today.

Still waiting for my new phone to arrive so I can't take pictures of the stuff to sell which is a little annoying.

I think the sunshine today has helped. The miserable dark days we've had lately have not made me feel like doing a lot.

Lemon last year I found a TV licence, OH's from before we met I hasten to add, from 1984. I Kid you not.

I've been busy running round today so haven't managed any more decluttering, will get back to it tomorrow. I can't tell OH about DD1's little revelation, she's deliberately making mess so that we can't sell the house, he'd go ballistic.

Well done everyone.

Arti how's DF doing?

Another bag of sweaters from my wardrobe, plus 2 small chairs DDs have outgrown and numerous toys are all going

Hi there
Seriously zombified from a day trip to see my parents yesterday. Nearly 300 miles of driving. It was good to see dad though. He's in a pretty poor state tbh. Chair/bed bound and not really saying much. They are starting physio with him though and we are hoping he will recover enough mobility to be safe to come home. There's no guarantees though so we are all just having to take it day by day. He was very much skin and bone - he's lost nearly 2 1/2 stone since he broke his hip, and is finding it hard to swallow so it takes ages to feed him. Bizarrely he could remember who won the boat race on Monday and the name of the garage mechanic my parents use (I was telling him I'd noticed that Mum had a rear break light out on her car.) He was very pleased to see me though. During the time mum and I were there, his face seemed to relax loads and fill out and be less wizened! Felt quite upset after seeing him but have calmed down today

Decluttering - nil!
I've managed to do a load of washing today and empty the dishwasher!

Arti

I'm glad you managed to visit DF, but sorry you're worn out from the trip.

I've cleared a few more things, that furniture that was due to go a couple of weeks ago is now going this weekend. OH got his luggage yesterday, only 1 pack of tat for DDs from the ILs, we now have foam vases with flowers on the already over full windowsill in OH's study. Still, the house is in his name so it's him the estate agents deal with

Newbie here - I have a separate thread about my friend transforming my kitchen over the Easter weekend. I'm so excited, it's like the penny has dropped.

The Minimalist Quiche no longer scares me - HERE I AM A BABY MINIMALIST!!!

Three bags of baby stuff dropped to the charity shop today. three more bags at home waiting to go tomorrow.

I'm itching to get into living room now.

Welcome aboard BeCool I saw your kitchen thread sounds like a fab service your friend does.

Not much to report here, but have to check in to keep myslef on track. I can't seem to shake this cold and it has really wiped me out.

I do now have my new phone so will be listing things to sell. I will also take a picture of my cupboard in the kitchen before I properly sort it.

Also welcome becool, I saw your kitchen thread and am very jealous of you having such an amazing friend.

I've just read your thread BeCool and the enthusiasm was just what I needed (even though I've never had a problem with out of date tins and spices.)

The 'memento' = 'burden for your children' point speaks to me. Despite having gone through all the stuff I've inherited, I'm aware that there is still too much.

Life has been so busy recently I've barely had time to think. It's all good stuff (not emotionally draining events like those Arti's dealing with) but too much at the same time. A bit like chocolate at this time of year!!

So I've not had any spare energy to work on 'things out' although I'm in a good habit about keeping things from coming in.

I definitely need to find enough stuff to go from the kitchen to empty another cupboard because I store the baking trays in the oven and when I'm using the oven they have to sit on the side and then I need the workspace so they have to be shifted again. You get the picture.

And yes, I do have three baking trays but I use them all at once when I make cookies. Two roasting tins also 'live' in the oven.

somme sometimes you need 3 things like baking trays - if you are USING them then you need them. it's the stuff you aren't using that's the issue - get rid of that stuff and not only will there be space to keep 3 baking trays, but you will open your cupboards and be able to see all you baking equipment without having to rumble through a pile of stuff.

Friends came to visit last night - I gave them a tour of my kitchen cupboards I'm insufferable at the moment .

I've had a really busy week. Last night I shed just 5 facecloths - but it's something and it still make me glow with pride and feel fantastic. For me it's the flipping of a switch in my head that is so marvellous. I've tidied & "decluttered" fairly recently - but I was just finding a way to store everything we owned in a neater way. This time around my focus & eye is completely different - I'm actually looking for a reason to keep something (do I use it? do I love it? have I more than one?), rather than a reason to get rid of it - ie my default position has changed completely.

2 bags for charity shop in my boot again today.