Day 308: Charity Bags Dropped Off, Clutter Sold and Tiling Started

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

After taking the girls to school this morning I loaded the car with the ten charity bags that I’d committed to take, and then just before lunch I went to drop them off. I turned up with two first and the lady asked me to bring the rest in an Asda shopping trolley right into the shop, as she said that it would make her life easier. I wasn’t quite sure that I would get the trolley in the tiny shop with shoppers in it, but said okay.

As I was getting one of the bags of clean curtains and cushions out of my car, the bag split and some of them fell on the ground in the dirt. I was so annoyed and tried to get them back in but the bag was in pieces. I was rushing because I had an appointment at the opticians to get my glassed adjusted, and so I stacked the other bags on top and started pushing the trolley into the shop getting a few strange looks in the process

Charity donations

The lady in the shop unfortunately wouldn’t take the coat hangers or the two bags of writing magazines (some of them still in their cellophane) so I brought them back. I said that I could come back with another couple of other charity bags later but she said that they had enough bags for today. Tomorrow they will be closing because of lockdown and then not reopening until December. As usual, I booked in for another 10 bags on 15 December.

So, now I’m left with about 60 writing magazines which I just can’t bring myself to throw away as they are in perfect condition and some of them are still in their cellophane. I’m never going to get round to reading the out of date magazines, so I’ll try and advertise them after lockdown for a few pounds to see if I get any interest.

Tiling has started

The tiler dropped the tiles off early this morning and went to buy supplies at B&Q. I double checked that they were the tiles that I ordered and was relieved when I saw them. We agreed which ones were going on which wall and which way they were going etc. I then left him to it. He completed about half of the bathroom by mid afternoon. Here’s a sneaky peak.

Tiling started

We’re really pleased with it so far.

Can you believe that I sold some more clutter?

More clutter sold

I almost took this toy shopping trolley to the charity shop today but glad I didn’t because this afternoon a lady enquired about it and picked it up this evening. That’s another £9.

I felt a little bit of an attachment to the toy trolley pram as it’s been a colourful distraction in my cluttered hideaway (garage) over the last few months. My youngest also used to have a lot of fun with it; however, the lady was so pleased with it and told me that it was for her grandchildren. I got a message from her when she got home to say how pleased she was with it which made me feel a lot better.

I thought back at the day that we sold the rocking horse and recalled that I haven’t really thought about that since so I’m probably not going to give the trolley pram a second thought.

I said that there might be more toys in my garage and she told me to message her if I find anything that might be appropriate for her grandchildren.

I got loads ticked off my list today which is good.

I’m really tired and have a long day tomorrow with a lot of driving. More on that tomorrow.

Until then…

Sandra

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Day 307: More Money From Clutter… It Feels Good When There’s a Constant Flow of Stuff Exiting the House

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Sandra Madeira
Ugg boots sold!

I’ve been trying to sell my daughter’s old sheepskin lined leather Ugg boots for a few weeks now and today someone came round to pick them up for £45 cash which was £5 more than I originally had them up for but I could see that there was a demand for warm boots. That’s more pocket money for my daughter to spend on her room so she’s happy.

A little part of me did think that I should have kept hold of the boots but I have absolutely no reason to have done this. Although they cost me a lot of money a few years ago, I knew I had to let them go. I just wish they fitted me! They are too small for my eldest and even though they probably wouldn’t have fitted my youngest, she said that there was no way she was wearing them. So, what’s the point of holding onto something that no one wants?

They’ve been sitting in the corner of the dining room along with three pairs of old curtains waiting to go to the charity shop tomorrow. I was going to sell the curtains as well but decided against it. Lockdown is getting nearer and I want to get rid of as much as possible in my quota of ten more charity bags tomorrow.

I’ve bagged up the curtains and cushions and they are by the front door ready to go into the car tomorrow along with the rest of the bags.

Charity bag ready to go!

It’s been a busy day – I’ve fitted in a whole day’s work and then at lunchtime I cleared out part of the wardrobe in my daughter’s new room so that she could start to put her clothes in there. I gave it a good clean a couple of months ago but then stored some of my jackets, dresses etc. in there which I’ve now moved to the study wardrobe (so, literally just had to swap between the two wardrobes).

Then after work, I spent half an hour in the garage finalising the charity bag donations for tomorrow and then went round the house collecting rubbish as it’s bin day tomorrow.

So, the house and garage are feeling a lot lighter, which in turn makes me feel better. Still so much left to shift or put away though, but I know that I need to do one thing at a time.

Tiling tomorrow

The builder picked up our tiles today and will be starting on the bathroom tomorrow. I think the plan is to finish it before lockdown begins. Fingers crossed! I’m looking forward to seeing it taking shape and seeing how our chosen tiles look.

Self-care time

I am feeling quite tired now. I’ve run myself a bath and picked the Radox ‘stress relief’ bubble bath with rosemary and eucalyptus. It smells wonderful.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 306: The Clearing Path is Taking Me on a Journey

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I knew that listening to Your Spacious Self by Stephanie Bennett Vodt would make me feel better and it did. I need to keep reminding myself of the following:

The clearing path is full of unexpected surprises. It’s a journey that is nearly impossible to measure or describe…

Your Spacious Self by Stephanie Bennett Vodt

Even though I want to clear everything by the end of this year, I have no idea how long it will actually take or where it will lead me. My main aim this year is to declutter the living areas of the house and it’s going well. I will achieve my goal by New Year’s Eve but I’m half expecting to have to continue next year in the garage.

I am enjoying the clearing journey and learning lots about myself along the way. I’m well aware that clutter is a state of mind and I’m learning to detach myself from it… I will try to just walk past the clutter and say ‘I’ll get around to that at some point’, and hope that no one else trips over it all in the meantime.

I feel very pleased with myself today though. I was starting to feel a bit anxious in the house, so I decided to spend one hour in the garage. I set a timer on my phone, put the radio on and started clearing. I had to keep the door closed as it was raining and the wind was howling through the gaps around the garage door. I was so motivated that I actually ended up doing an extra 30 minutes.

I was talking to my mother-in-law on the phone this afternoon and mentioned that I had been in my garage bagging up more stuff to take to the charity shop. I said that I’d already donated 20 bags and had committed to another 10 and will be taking them into the shop this Tuesday. She seemed shocked and asked what sort of things I was putting in the bags. I said that it’s many years of clutter… including toys, clothes, books, curtains, kitchen stuff, and so on.

I told her that I’d also been selling some items on Facebook Marketpage and it gave her some ideas of things she could sell. She couldn’t believe that I had people asking me to post 50 wire coat hangers as they couldn’t collect (I didn’t actually do that by the way as I had two other people interested in them and were willing to collect). It’s amazing that the things we call clutter are so useful to other people.

Cooking and tidying up

I tend to cook roast on a Sunday which the girls really look forward to, and I use this time to also potter around the kitchen and dining room tidying up and putting things away. I still haven’t finished clearing everything but at least we were able to eat at the dining room table this evening.

Once I cleared up after dinner, I set the table ready for tomorrow which used to be part of my routine but has taken a bit of a back seat lately.

I’m pleased to say that this daily task will be back to normal now.

I cannot believe that it’s the end of the weekend already. It’s still really windy outside but I don’t think it will keep me awake as I’m very tired.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 305: A Day of Going With the Flow

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

It was really nice not having to get up to an alarm this morning or rush about and go anywhere. After breakfast, I took all of the cardboard and a few boxes of stuff into the garage so that we could actually move around downstairs again without knocking into packaging and charity bags. I haven’t completely cleared the dining room and kitchen but it’ll do for today.

I found some shoes in the corner that my youngest ordered and decided that she didn’t want, so I completed the returns paperwork online there and then and took them to the post office to get them out of the way. I did a quick bit of shopping in Tescos whilst I was out. It feels so normal now to just pop on the face mask when going into shops. I just keep a washable one in my coat pocket and then rotate it with a clean one now and again.

When I got home, I had a warmed up scone with clotted cream and jam that my husband made yesterday.

Scone with cream and jam

It was delicious with a cup of tea.

I thought about tidying up a bit more in the kitchen or working on my cluttered bedroom or study, but when my eldest asked if I wanted to watch a film with her in her bedroom lying on her new bed, that sounded like a much better idea. I’m very pleased that we haven’t taken the big TV out of her room yet.

New restrictions in England for next week

We’d been hearing all day that Boris Johnson was going to make an announcement and that it might involve a second lockdown for a month. Around 7pm he announced a four week lockdown in order to prevent another peak and will hopefully cause less chaos for the NHS. Restaurants, pubs, gyms and non-essential shops will be closed from Thursday. We must all stay at home; however, they are keeping the schools, universities and colleges open.

There shouldn’t be much difference for us as we’re still working from home anyway and I’ll still need to drive the girls to school every day so no change there. They’re going back on Monday.

This evening

I felt very tired this evening so made a quick and easy dinner of home-made burgers – I topped mine with fried mushrooms and onions and it was very tasty.

I am really looking forward to a relaxing bubble bath now… it’s become like a ritual for me every night. I love the way that this candle throws hearts around it in a pattern.

Hearts Candle

I also don’t have to get up early tomorrow, so I can have another lie in.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 304: After a Few Weeks of Building Work and Decorating… I’m Now in Need of Me-Time

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I’m really pleased with the progress of my daughter’s new room. I can’t believe how much has been achieved over the last two weeks. The plumber turned up this morning and finished off boarding up the walls in the en-suite and has cleared all the rubble and tools away. I said to him that it looked really good and he replied that it will look even better when it’s finished.

Bathroom ready for tiling

We’re now just waiting for the tiles to be delivered and then his tiler can make a start next week.

My husband surprised us with a lovely pic ‘n’ mix lunch today as he had the day off. He also made biscuits and scones. It was lovely.

Tapas type lunch

Not much else to report on today. My daughter’s Silentnight Ultrabounce pillows turned up… there’s nothing better than plump new pillows to replace tired old flat ones. I’ll be recycling the ones that have seen better days as there are only so many spare ones that you can store.

The two of us then popped to the large Next store to have a look at accessories for her room as she had some birthday money to spend. She bought some cushions, candles, candle holder and a large silver bowl for her chest of drawers.

New bedroom accessories

She still can’t put the furniture where it needs to go because the carpenter is waiting for the wood panelling to turn up. This means that the cupboard won’t be fitted out until the end of next week now, after the bathroom tiling has been done. It’s ok, it’s only one week away and then we can paint the cupboard and surrounding wall next weekend. I can then share some photos of the room.

I’m missing my me-time

Whilst I was eating dinner an overwhelming feeling came over me to spend some time by myself. I think it’s because I’ve been coordinating so much over the last few weeks and haven’t focused as much on me. I need to do a bit of self-care this weekend. I have a week’s holiday to take before the end of the year so I think that I will look to take that in November. I can then potter round the house putting things away and getting rid of things at my leisure.

We still have more work scheduled in for other rooms (spotlights, plastering, boarding loft and decorating) but looking at my project plan I can see a free week where there will be no one coming in. That’s the week I think I’ll take off work.

I have now shut myself away in the new study where I will stay until I’ve written up this post, relaxed for a bit and feel calmer. Then I’ll be ready to spend the evening with my family. Maybe we’ll watch a feel good film or something. My daughter is having a look for something on Netflix.

I’m looking forward to the weekend. I haven’t got anything planned as such apart from the usual decluttering and tidying up, but there’s no rush to get it done. I’ll just take it one step at a time. The house feels like a tip but I’ve just been ignoring it over the last week or so. It’s mainly packaging, paperwork and general bits and bobs lying around and there’s not much space to move downstairs and the dining room table is covered. I’ll feel more like tackling it in the morning.

I feel calm and relaxed now. Wishing you all an enjoyable weekend.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 303: Inspired by the Space in the New Study

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

The builders weren’t going to be round until the afternoon so my daughter was able to enjoy a bit of a lie in and do her homework in her room. I had a busy day at work but made myself have a break at lunchtime so that I could move some stuff around between rooms upstairs. It’s like musical clutter in this house; however, rooms are becoming defined and I can actually see things a bit clearer now that I have a room with space to play with.

Whilst sitting on the bed in the new study, and looking out of the window, I came up with a way that we could have this room; a way that it would work as a TV/chill out room, study and spare room. I quickly sketched it out.

A quick sketch

I won’t be buying anything new for the room just yet, as I want to get a feel for the layout with our existing furniture. So, I emptied the drawers in the single bed, took off the headboard and mattress, and stood the base up on its side with the mattress propped up against it. I need a plan for what I’m going to do with the bed. My youngest might swap it with hers as the base is more sturdy.

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Day 302: My Decision About the Radiator, and Loads of Other Jobs Done

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

The builders were here for over ten hours today. They had a productive day doing various jobs, but then at the end of the day there was air trapped in the central heating system and they had to check all of the radiators. Here are today’s achievements:

The cupboard got completely boarded and plastered ready for the carpenter to build shelves in there tomorrow. I asked the plasterer to keep the back part open (behind the bathroom shelves) so that they could be used as little cubby holes – I think my daughter thought I was crazy, but storage is storage – we may as well use every little bit of space 😀.

New freshly plastered cupboard space
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Day 301: Electrics and Other Prep Work Done

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Our plumber is coordinating our en-suite project so well. He brought the electrician round early this morning to position and fit the rest of the spotlights and the extractor fan. They started chatting about the electrics going to the shower, and I mentioned that it was a shame that we didn’t have a socket on the other side of the wall in the bedroom.

They said that it shouldn’t be an issue, and asked if I wanted one there. I said that if they could do it that would be great as there is no socket that side of the room and any extension leads going to that area would have to go across a door or walkway.

The plumber went out to buy some supplies and picked up a double socket which also had USB chargers in it. Within a couple of hours, all the electrics were done including my new socket. I was so pleased that I mentioned it and it didn’t cost me anything.

The new cupboard

Another builder then turned up to help with the bathroom and by the end of the day, the rest of the cupboard was boarded up and boxed in apart from the bottom section.

Tomorrow they will finish that and then board up and plaster everything in the bathroom ready for tiling later in the week or next week.

The new study

I’m going to call the new spare room the study because there’s a desk in there, two cupboard/wardrobes and currently a bed (although I do want to put the old sofa in there… and eventually a sofa bed).

In preparation for the radiator being moved tomorrow, I decided to spend an hour moving all the games off the bed and into the cupboards which surprisingly nearly all fitted.

I feel really pleased with the progress that I’ve made today both home and at work, and I didn’t overdo it.

The builders have said that tomorrow is going to be really busy for them and they’ll be up and down the stairs a lot and the front door will open for some of the day. They will then be finishing a lot of the pre work in the bathroom, moving the tank in the loft and moving the radiator in the new study.

I’ve also received a two hour delivery window from Next for my daughter’s bed. She’s very excited about that. We need to shift things around a bit in her new room as there are still items in there that don’t belong, but there’ll definitely be enough room for the bed.

I’m really looking forward to relaxing now and getting a good night’s sleep. Hope you’ve all had a happy Tuesday.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Day 300: Shifting the Clutter and Creating Space… 66 Days to Go

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I feel that we’ve turned a corner today – clutter is still lurking around in the wrong rooms but I feel that things are slowly shifting into place. I’ve never seen my daughter so happy since she’s been in her new room. It’s like the space around her has given her some breathing space… time to think and time to be herself (although she did have to get up early and vacate it before the builders got here this morning 😀).

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Day 299: Sweet Sixteen Birthday Celebrations, and a Quick Tidy Up in the Garage

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

My eldest turned 16 today and she woke up happy in her new bedroom. She loved her ‘1’ and a ‘6’ balloon and all of her presents. After that, the the girls and my husband put the final piece of bedroom furniture together – a large 6 drawer chest of drawers. Unfortunately she can’t lay things out the way she wants them in the room at the moment because she can only use half of it until the en-suite has been finished.

Birthday lunch

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