Day 229: Dejunking My Mind, and Clearing the Clutter Castle By the Bed

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Sandra Madeira
My morning walk

Walking always energises me and clears my head, so as soon as I woke up this morning, I did my usual five minute stretch routine (don’t think I’ve mentioned that before) and then set off for a 30 minute walk taking in everything around me. Did you spot the squirrel and the cat in the photos? I googled what squirrels symbolise…

Squirrels symbolize energy, practicality, and playfulness. They teach us work-life balance by showing us how they playfully collect nuts, all the while keeping up with playful antics. A squirrel literally seems to be telling us, “You need to have more fun in your life!.”

https://www.worldbirds.org

Interesting! I don’t usually carve out time for fun.

When I got back my husband gave me a neck and shoulder massage because I still felt a bit stiff and headachy from yesterday, and it really helped.

After breakfast, I sat for a while in the spare room and thought about what area I was going to tackle today. I did consider not doing anything again and instead just sit and read and nap and think…. and then a book caught my eye in the bookshelf called Dejunk your Life by Helen Foster (I do love it now that I can actually see the bookshelf with all my books in it, rather than having to climb over things to get to it). I just need to tidy it all up and declutter each shelf of books (but that’s for another day).

I scan read a few pages from the chapter on ‘Dejunk your Mind’ (because that seemed the most appropriate to how I was feeling). I read something on creating a ‘want to’ list. The book then suggested going back through the list to “look at what YOU really want to do for YOU”, as opposed to what everyone else wants you to do. I sat back, took a deep breath and went to clear the space that I look at first thing in the morning when I wake up…. the clutter by the bed.

The clutter castle that I see first thing in the morning

About a month ago, I moved the bed and rearranged the furniture thereby creating more space in front of the window. I then kept moving stuff into that space and although I have cleared it a couple of times, it’s started to pile up again growing arms and legs in the process. It’s really been bugging me; however, because I’ve been drawn to decluttering other more important areas of the house, I’ve left it. This is mainly because I see if first thing in the morning when I’m hungry and want breakfast and then don’t see it again until I’m about to go to bed. It’s not in my visible path.

I’m sure I’ve read something about clearing the space where you sleep so that it helps you to sleep better, so today I thought that it would be a good area to tackle, and then change my habits to keep it that way. This is how it looks now (I’m too embarrased to show you the before photo. It’s worse than a few weeks ago on day 202). There are still a few things to sort through, but the charity bag you see in the picture is ready to go into the garage – I was very ruthless with some of the clothes that I put in there so I need to get it out of my sight quickly in case I take stuff out.

After clearing most of the clutter

Prompted by yesterday’s post and some very helpful comments from one of my lovely dedicated readers livingeveryday2017, I’ve made some notes today about lifestyle change and new habits. She’s made me think differently about the next phase of my life and how I’m going to try and change my habits to complement my 2020 challenge (my one time declutter year). I definitely need to change my mindset if I want to have more days where I can just sit and enjoy life a bit more and maybe have some fun!

Hope you’ve had a good Sunday everyone.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, Life, Wellbeing, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Day 228: I Took it Easy Today… Reading Through Old Journals and Notebooks From a Decade Ago

Posted on August 15, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I gave myself permission to relax today. I tried not to think of it as a waste of time, but instead treated it as time to rest my body and brain, and to try and recharge. I still did things that I love to do though…

I read through old journals and notebooks: I found a laptop bag with some books in it and came across lots of diagrams, drawings and notes.

It was very therapeutic to read through how things have (and on the clutter front, haven’t) changed over the years.

Everything that I read highlighted to me that I used to spend so much time planning these changes and writing about them, but I never really took action. At least I’m taking action this year. From other things that I read, it looks like I took control and improved my parenting skills and work life balance, but not the clutter. Here’s something I wrote ten years ago when I was answering a question on something:

Journal extract from Sept 2010

What’s scary is that is that I could easily write the same sentence now but instead of talking about owning a house for 20 years and dealing with the same clutter, I would be writing 30 years. I don’t know if it’s the same or different stuff that I’m sorting. If it’s different stuff then I had better have a plan to be continually decluttering after this year otherwise I’m thinking that it will just pile up again.

I had a relaxing bath: I do like a nice bubble bath with candles and listening to spa music. I did some reading, as well as thinking about life and how grateful I am.

I ate loads: I do love my food and like to eat little and often. I had a slice of toast and cup of tea for breakfast, porridge mid morning, leftover roast for lunch, a chocolate biscuits for an afternoon snack, and then my husband cooked dinner this evening.

Teriyaki chicken with egg fried rice

I then made myself some strawberries and ice-cream. The only time I had to spend working in the kitchen today was to do the dishwasher.

I read some of The Stress Solution: I noticed that this book by Dr Rangan Chatterjee was on sale at £7 on Amazon the other day and opted for the ‘no rush’ delivery which gave me £1 off my next order. It arrived today which was a day earlier than expected! I’ve listened to it a couple of times on audible but wanted an actual copy for my collection of self-help books. I do like his mission and approach to combatting stress with simple and achievable steps to reset your life. I sat and read a few pages and flicked through the pictures. There was one in picture in particular which caught my attention where he is just sitting relaxing in a window seat reading a book. I would love a window seat. In his book he explains that stress shouldn’t be tackled from a single direction. He says…

“In this book, I am going to tackle psychological stress, emotional stress, dietary stress, physical stress, technological stress, life stress and much, much more”

Dr Rangan Chatterjee, The Stress Solution

I had an afternoon nap: I sat in the conservatory with my new book and after reading a few pages I nodded off for a while. It could have been 30 minutes, it could have been an hour… I have no idea. It felt good though.

I watched a movie: Finished off the day a movie and a camomile tea.

I had a headache when I woke up this morning but now it’s gone. Must be all the relaxing I’ve done today. I should be back on track tomorrow to tackle some more clutter.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, Life, Wellbeing, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Day 227: Stuck Behind the Clutter… or Not

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I know that one day I will be free of all of the clutter but today (on my day off) I started to feel like it was all overwhelming again and I ended up just shifting boxes of books that the girls don’t want anymore from the spare room and into the garage. This cleared the middle of the spare room. My husband was working in there and we starting talking about the large bookshelf and where we were going to store books when my daughter eventually moves into this room.

Sorting through books

My husband spent ten minutes going through his shelf of programming books and this cleared one half of one shelf of the book rack. I took the ones he didn’t want into the garage as well and then sat and looked at the garage and felt a bit fed up about clutter in general. I needed to be in a clear space to think, so I went back into the kitchen to make some clutter notes and scribbles.

Am I stuck behind a clutter truck?

Clutter scribbles. Who’s driving the car?

We have lot of creative minds in this house with lots of conflicting but good ideas of how we can make the best use of each room. I find it hard to contribute with my ideas because I’m stuck behind a truck load of clutter and can’t clearly see the path that they’re on. I can’t help thinking that I’m squashing all of their creativity by not clearing my clutter quick enough for us all to be on the same page. I do listen to what they have to say but I find it hard to make any decisions right now. I can’t help thinking that they would prefer me to overtake the truck load of clutter and maybe attach it to the back of my car and swing it off the nearest cliff…

Anyway, back to reality,.. they try to help me sort through and clear stuff but I’m too slow for them as I want to do it my way (even if some of the stuff is theirs and they’ve decided that they don’t want it). That frustrates them. For me, it’s very simple, I actually need to process it all and feel it going out of my life for my own reasons. I like to consider different option for discarding e.g. throw, sell, recycle. Maybe it’s linked to a condition of some kind, or maybe it’s just something I have to do for me, but what I do know is that I don’t like it the way it is and I’m so determined to change (as anyone who has been following me for a while will know).

I am moving forward every day

I’m not just spinning in place and hiding behind static clutter, rather I am chipping away at it every day and moving forward. Sometimes it feels like it’s taking too long and other times I achieve so much in one day. It all depends on how I’m feeling and how intense my work has been that day. Lockdown has allowed me to work from home, but work hasn’t slowed down for me so I’m still as busy as ever with that.

Deep down I am a tidy and organised person; however, something has just happened to me over the years and I’ve stored things away instead of making decisions about them. It’s not all junk and clutter, I know that there are a lot of memories buried in there somewhere as well e.g. old photos, diaries etc. Maybe deep down there are things I’m hiding from and can’t face. Who knows?

My vision

I want to walk around the house proud of every room, with light shining in and everything tidy, organised and in its place. I also want somewhere quiet to put my feet up and relax so that I can regularly clear my mind.

I’ve lived a wonderful 51 years of life so far with a few relationships and many house moves. With four and a half months left of my decluttering challenge, it’s time to uncover everything in my life and set the things free that don’t belong here anymore. Just writing these words feels liberating. This should open up my life for improvements and new opportunities and maybe then I’ll be able to contribute to planning each room in the house and we’ll finally get things the way we want them to be.

My husband’s idea of decluttering is different to mine

Just like today with the books, on day 222 I found a way to work with my husband and let him help me dismantle an old cabinet in the garage and fix an old table that I now use in the conservatory. I recognise that our decluttering methods are different but by involving him in some of it without it negatively impacting the way I need to declutter, we can work together and spend time together at the same time.

Yes, he still does want to get a skip and throw it all away and occasionally gives me a deadline, but that deadline always passes and I still plod along at my own pace saying that ‘I’m working on it’. I don’t often think of him as a patient person, but writing the last sentence has made me realise that he actually must be, because he’s never thrown anything of mine away. Do you know that he doesn’t even know that I am writing a daily blog on decluttering and clearing space? He knows that I blog, but he doesn’t know what I blog about. Some may think that this is strange, but I need the time and space to myself at the end of each day to cement the day onto the page without any judgements as to whether it is or it isn’t a good use of my time.

Pushing the clutter truck

This year as part of my 2020 challenge, I am taking it upon myself to finally push the clutter to where it belongs. Most of it will probably end up in the recycling bin, a small portion of it will be sold, and as little as I can possibly manage will end up in the landfill via a skip or rubbish bags. I’d like to think that I’ve been as green as I can during this decluttering year so far.

Wish me luck!

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, Life, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Day 226: Disposal of Oil From the Deep Fat Fryer

Posted on August 13, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I couldn’t even seem to find five minutes to plan what I was going to declutter today because work was non-stop zoom calls and emails. Then the thunderstorms and rain were so loud this afternoon that I couldn’t hear what anyone on my call was saying. I had to type ‘I am going to close the call’ on my screen in order to communicate with my colleagues, and then move from the conservatory into the dining room for my next call. At least the dining room table was tidy when I needed to use it.

The evening

Whilst I was cooking spaghetti bolognese for dinner this evening, I thought about how annoying the deep fat fryer is just sitting out on the surface. If I could put one thing away in the cupboard it would be that; however, there are two reasons why this isn’t quite as straight forward as it sounds: (1) it’s full of oil from when my husband last cooked something in it, and (2) he likes it out on the counter top. I decided that straight after dinner I would pour the oil into a bottle and dispose of it, and then wash the whole thing in soapy water.

How to dispose of oil

I knew that I wouldn’t be happy unless I got rid of the oil the ‘right’ way, so I googled it. Apparently you can just pour it into a container, preferably non-recyclable, and throw it away with the normal household rubbish, which is what I was going to do anyway.

I didn’t have any non-recyclable large containers so I had to use lots of small plastic bottles with secure lids (why is it that oil never comes in a bottle with a secure lid?). As everyone in the house apart from me drinks water from bottles, it was fairly easy to find empty ones.

It was very satisfying filling up a bowl of soapy water and cleaning the fryer. I also managed to get oil all over the kitchen surfaces so I gave them a good wipe down as well.

Does anyone know of any different ways of disposing cooking oil?

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, Life, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Day 225: Making a Plan to Get Things Done and Sticking to it, and a Muti-coloured Manicure

Posted on August 12, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

Today I have created a decluttering project list that will move me forward a few notches on my 2020 challenge. I mean, I’ve only got 141 days to go so I need to make sure that I stay focused!

I started this challenge saying that I would do ten minutes decluttering a day, and now look at me. My list that I’ve added in the evening update section below adds up to 3 hours which is the exact number of hours until I have to start work this afternoon. Better get going.

I’ve also added a list of everyday things that need to be done in order to keep life moving which I will probably do later. In the project world at work, we call these types of tasks BAU (business as usual).

I think I’ve included more than enough to do today! I’m sitting out in the garden and it’s so hot and it’s only 10.45am. I think that the coolest place will be the garage so I think I’ll start there.

Evening update

Decluttering challenge list

  1. GARAGE (60 MINS)
    Objective: Spend at least one hour in the garage.
    Result: Done! I sorted out a few boxes and started tidying the area in front of the old bookshelf that I’ve piled up clutter in front of. Took out the empty boxes and flattened them whilst I was doing point 6 below. I had back and front doors of the garage open to let the air flow through. Spoke to my mum for some of the time I was in there until she had to have her lunch.
  2. WASH PAINTING SHEETS (20 MINS)
    Objective: Washing the rest of old sheets from painting as they are taking up a corner of the utility room. Wash, dry, fold and store in garage.
    Result: All done and my daughter helped me bring them in from the washing line and fold them up. I’ve stored them in a basket in the garage. Ideally these should be in a cupboard, but we don’t have proper storage in there yet. Just the thought of getting storage in there makes me feel excited as I can imagine it all organised and labelled.
  3. DINING ROOM (20 MINS)
    Objective: Clear corner of dining room and possibly move easel.
    Result: I spend the allotted time moving things from around the easel and other corner of the room but didn’t move the easel as my husband wants it left there.
  4. CLOTHES (20 MINS)
    Objective: Put baskets of clean clothes away that have been sitting in the bedroom for a while.
    Result: I mentioned this to my daughters when they wanted to know what I had left to do on my list this evening. They helped me sort it into piles and then put their own clothes away.
  5. SPARE ROOM (30 MINS)
    Objective: Spend 30 minutes in spare room to shift clutter castles that have built up.
    Result: In the allotted time I only managed to pile things up around the outside, although there is a pile that needs to leave the room. I’m a bit disappointed with myself for not focusing on this room much over the past couple of weeks, but I have Friday off work so I can do some of it then. My husband works in this room so it’s difficult when he’s on calls etc. so I may leave it until the weekend.
  6. RECYCLING (20 MINS)
    Objective: Flatten large boxes in the garden ready to be put out for recycling next week.
    Result: Flattened all but one box so that I could store all of the flattened cardboard in it.
  7. UTILITY ROOM (10 MINS)
    Objective: Spend 10 minutes in the utility room, tidying up and working out why it looks like a bomb has hit it again.
    Result: I just removed some recycling that had got dumped in there (need to remind everyone where cardboard goes!). I also put away some items that had been left on floor. I will maybe spend another 10 minutes on this tomorrow.

Everyday things list

  1. BATHROOM
    Objective: Quick wipe round of bathrooms (that I meant to do yesterday).
    Result: Done, and felt better for doing it.
  2. WORK
    Objective: As it’s Wednesday, I only need to work for half day (pm).
    Result: Done, and I kept to my hours and logged off on time.
  3. DINNER
    Objective: Cook dinner… probably stick a roast chicken in the oven as I can work whilst I’m doing bits and pieces with that.
    Result: My husband cooked the sausages and burgers that were in the fridge as we noticed that the date on them was today/tomorrow. They were ready when I logged off work, so we ate earlier than usual which was lovely.
  4. WASHING
    Objective: Normal washing and putting clothes away straight away once dried.
    Result: Did some white washing today and this all got put away when we were sorting through the baskets of catch up washing this evening. I do love it when it’s hot weather and everything gets dried on the washing line quickly.
  5. KITCHEN
    Objective: Kitchen duties
    Result: Just the usual – dishwasher, declutter dining room table, tidy and wipe surfaces, sweep floor

The whole day went according to plan

As you can see I did everything on my ‘decluttering challenge list’ and my ‘everyday things list’. It was much better planning what I was going to do rather than just decide after I’ve finished work as I have much less energy then. It’s also easier to move forward with decluttering when I don’t have to work all day.

A colourful manicure

Trying out nail polishes

Has a bit of fun this evening after dinner. I found a container of old nail varnishes and starting painting each nail a different colour to see if they were good enough to keep. My eldest daughter joined in and she said afterwards how much fun she’d had. She took her varnish off and painted them all the same colour but I’ve left my multi-coloured nails just the way they are. I don’t think I have ever been that brave to have odd nails, but as I’m not going anywhere it doesn’t matter.

My new fan

Oscillating tower fan

My tower fan arrived today and I had it pointing at me the whole time I was working this afternoon. It was only a cheap one but it’s 50W output is quite good.

That’s it for today. Not too late!

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, Life, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Day 224: A Pause For Thought, and a Planned Day

Posted on August 11, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I woke up to the sound of rain and a tiny bit of thunder at 7am this morning, and I remembered that I’d left some gardening tools outside in a bucket so I popped out to bring it in and went back to bed. I then couldn’t go back to sleep, so just laid there thinking about things.

Thoughts

I need to recharge. I’m not feeling stressed as such, it’s just that my energy levels today aren’t able to keep up with the pace of my brain and the hundreds of things that I want to do. So, I won’t try and declutter today as it’s not a good use of my time. I’ll just tidy up the mess and overflow of stuff lying around from other decluttering sessions that I’ve been doing. This may take a couple of days because of the heat (which I think is generally slowing everyone down).

I’m fully aware that I take on too much as I declutter, and the reason for this is because I have good ideas about where things can go, and so I move them to areas that I haven’t fully sorted out yet, or I keep piles of things to sell (which is going well by the way).

So, to complement all of the decluttering, I need days where:

  • I’m tidying: Just tidying up after myself without having to make decisions.
  • I’m cleaning: Just doing some regular cleaning which makes everything look tidier anyway and clears my mind at the same time.
  • I’m being: Just being not doing (i.e. recharging in between the mass decluttering sessions even if I don’t feel like it)

Today’s plan

I am going to do things the other way round today – I’m going to list below what I want to achieve and then try to stick to that and not add anything else. This should make the surrounding areas clearer (that are starting to build up with clutter). Let’s see if it works. Here’s my list before I start my day:

  1. Put shopping away when it arrives
  2. Wash old sheets and towels (as mentioned yesterday)
  3. Put clothes away in my room (there are many baskets of them as I’m annoyingly behind with putting them away for some reason)
  4. Maybe tidy up the recent clutter that’s made its way into the spare room
  5. Read quietly in the conservatory (imaging that I have a new bigger conservatory with a foot stool so that I can put my feet up)
  6. Quickly wipe around the bathrooms
  7. Edit this blog tonight
  8. Read other people’s great blog posts for inspiration and entertainment
  9. Work (only half day today)
  10. General tidy up of the kitchen/dining room

Evening update

So, now it’s evening, I’ll go back over the list and see how I did:

  1. Put shopping away when it arrives. [Did at 10am]
  2. Wash old sheets and towels (as mentioned yesterday). [One load put in, one load ready to wash tomorrow. Extra load of dark washing put in as well]
  3. Put clothes away in my room (stacks of them for some reason). [Didn’t get around to it, but did add to the pile by doing some more washing! At least it’s all clean]
  4. Maybe tidy up the recent clutter that’s made its way into the spare room [I popped in there for five minutes and took out a few things that didn’t belong in there, and piled some of the rest of it up to clear some floor area]
  5. Read quietly in the conservatory (imagining that I have a new and bigger conservatory) [Didn’t get time, but did have a good chat with my daughter on the garden swing which is sooo much better. We also tried to plan how we as a family could benefit from the bigger conservatory space]
  6. Quickly wipe around the bathrooms [ahem… moved to tomorrow am]
  7. Edit this blog tonight [Evidenced by me typing this]
  8. Read other people’s great blog posts for inspiration and entertainment [Will be doing this as soon as I’ve pressed publish on this post]
  9. Work (only half day today) [I had three zoom calls this afternoon which I had to do in the conservatory as it was quiet… but soooo hot which didn’t help with my energy levels]
  10. General tidy up of the kitchen/dining room [Did that in between cooking jacket potatoes for dinner]

Extra things achieved that weren’t on the list

A tidy cupboard free from stickiness
  • Cleaning cupboard shelf: When I got jam and peanut butter out of the cupboard this morning to put on my toast, I noticed how sticky the cupboard shelf was. I couldn’t leave this another day… just the thought of all the germs and bacteria on the bottom of the jars left me with no alternative other than to wipe each jar and the shelf itself and put it all back.
  • Fan research: I spent ages researching fans so that I can have some cooler air in the conservatory whilst I am working. I’m very excited to say that it’s arriving tomorrow.

Work was very busy this afternoon so it was quite good that I had already written a list of what I intended to achieve rather than facing mess after work and not knowing where to start. I’m a list person, as mentioned previously, and I have lists for work and lists for other things I have to do, so adding in a list to help with my 2020 challenge project works for me.

I don’t want to make it too rigid and do daily decluttering lists or anything, it’s just that today was a day that I needed focus.

Hope you’ve all had a good Tuesday.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, Life, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Day 223: Rubbish, Electrical Items and Textiles Out, and Painting Finished

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

I am feeling really exhausted this evening so I’m looking forward to posting this blog early and getting to bed before midnight – let’s see if I can do it. I think that the tiredness is combination of things:

  • I did loads of decluttering and cleaning yesterday (massive steps forward)
  • I didn’t get much sleep as I woke up wide awake at 7am
  • The heat was more unbearable than usual today, and after I finished my last work call, I went to have a lie down… and nodded off… and felt better afterwards (well done me!)

The girls finished painting the room

I’m so proud of my two girls for doing such a good job of the youngest’s bedroom. The white walls make her whole room look brighter. They both cleaned up after themselves as well and moved around the furniture. Here are some photos of the walls.

A freshly painted room

The only thing I have to do is deal with the pile of old sheets and towels that they used to cover the carpet as they painted. I’ve dumped them near the washing machine ready to be washed tomorrow. I haven’t got the energy to do it today.

Maybe washing is the next thing that I’ll show the girls how to do. I haven’t been brave enough to delegate this task to anyone including my husband yet. I like to be in control of it. I suppose a good start would be old towels and sheets… what could go wrong?

It’s bin day today

I had lots to fill the bin with today so got that ready. At the back of my mind I recalled that the waste collection included small electrical items and textiles, so I looked it up. Tomorrow (black bin day) was the day that they take them, so I went for a hunt in the garage for something to recycle. I found an old broken video recorder and hairdryer so popped them in a bag next to the waste bin as per the instructions online. I also filled another plastic bag with old non-donatable clothes and placed it on top.

Rubbish, unwanted electronics and textiles

Food bin will also be collected tomorrow so that’s out. I do love getting rid of things the right way!

That’s about all I can manage today. I’m not even going to do the kitchen (although I might give in and do it before going to bed).

Added note: I popped into the kitchen to make a drink just before posting this (I like to give it so many final reads and edits) and my husband and girls had just finishing clearing and cleaning up (I could hear the the girls running up the stairs as I walked in from the conservatory). It made my day to see it all clear including a swept floor, I was so grateful.

I can now sign off and relax… and I’m posting before midnight.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, Life, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Day 222: A Productive Sunday For All of Us… Fixing, Dismantling, and Selling Clutter, and My Teens Did More Painting

Posted on August 9, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

It’s the best feeling ever when you wake up thinking that it’s Monday… and it’s actually still the weekend. I think that this was mainly because since finishing work on Friday I was so busy with the garden until late evening, and then yesterday was a long day too with the barbecue and everything.

I knew that today was going to be a productive day; I could just feel it. I threw on my clothes and went for a brisk walk to enhance the motivated feeling. As so much was achieved today, not just by me but by the rest of the family as well, I’m going to write it under four main headings, although so much more happened in between. It also seemed to be that every 20 minutes or so, someone would ask me where something was or if I could get some thing for them. It was like a test for me to see if things really are in their place… and they mostly were (apart from the painting clothes).

‘Fixing’ clutter (an old table)

My husband seemed disappointed that I was decluttering the garage this afternoon instead of spending time with him, so I said that I’d get a bit done and then we could do something together. I really didn’t feel like just sitting around in the lounge though as I was in a ‘decluttering’ mood. As I was moving stuff that I wanted to get rid of into a pile, I stumbled upon a old square table that used to belong to my mum and dad. We borrowed it from them, and one of the legs broke off so we never gave it back. I did apologise last year but my mum told me it was fine and to just get rid of it.

Anyway, I was about to put it in the ‘skip’ pile when I had an idea that maybe my husband could fix it and I could help him and that way we could spend time together. He was happy with that, and it was also good practise for me asking for help. (Can I just add a note here to say that he is always willing to help me in the garage, it’s just that his idea of clearing and decluttering is completely different to mine – he won’t mind me saying that he would literally just throw everything away, and as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not ready for that as I like to go through everything. That’s just the way I am – I have to process it all).

Back to the table… we took it into the garden and he fixed the edge that had come off by filing it. There was a bit of water damage so the wood had swollen a bit. He then used gorilla glue to stick the broken bit down as much as he could. Once that had dried, he made a hole a couple of centimetres towards the centre where the wood was more solid, and screwed the table leg in. He then made three other new holes for the other legs and moved them inwards to match. Within no time at all, the table was standing on all fours.

Fixing a broken table leg

He did an amazing job with the table. Unfortunately I forgot to take a ‘before’ photo, but the above photos show the ones I took half way through and at the end.

‘Dismantling’ clutter (a broken old kitchen cabinet)

After a quick break of tea and biscuits, I called my husband back into the garage to get his opinion on whether we should fix or dismantle the old kitchen cabinet that was filled with clutter (there were charity bags piled on top of it just before taking the photo but I put them to one side). The cabinet was missing a foot, a top and doors. We could have used it as shelving but decided against it as we thought it would be nice to get all matching shelving eventually. So, we opted for dismantling it.

I can’t actually remember why only one cabinet got left in the garage anyway, as the rest of the kitchen went into the skip three or four years ago. We dismantled it together and put the wood aside – some we’ll get rid of and some we’ll keep.

Dismantling an old kitchen cabinet

I was happy that we had some more space and my husband was happy that we’d got rid of something. It was a win win situation.

‘Selling‘ clutter

Whilst all of the above was going on, I advertised a few items on Facebook Marketplace. Within five or ten minutes of submitting the items for sale, a lady messaged me asking if the kid’s play tunnel was still available.

Selling a kid’s play tunnel to a dog owner

She came round late afternoon and picked it up. Apparently she’s going to use it to train her dog. She was happy with the tunnel, and I was happy that it was going to get used after all these years just sitting there. The £4 received is pocket money for the girls. Another win win situation.

My teens are motivated to paint again

Last night, my youngest daughter asked if she could paint her room white. I said that I was okay with that. She knew that I was probably going to be busy with other things and said that she would do it with her sister, and that she wouldn’t need any help from me apart from finding everything she needed to do the job. Today, the girls made a start by sanding down all the rough bits after my husband filled the holes from where she used to have curtains.

The painting began, and I literally left them to it and only popped up now and again when they called me, and to check if all was going okay. It was a hot day and I think they struggled to get a good air flow through the room, but they survived the heat. They will be painting a second coat tomorrow. Poor thing is having to sleep on the sofa tonight!

I’m a little bit tired now, but very pleased with today’s progress. One last job of dishwasher and kitchen and then I’m done for the day.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Household chores, Inspiration, Life, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Day 221: A Haircut (at Last) and a Social Distancing Barbecue With Family

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

When my phone rang 45 minutes before my hair appointment this morning, I thought that they were going to cancel it (I would have been devastated); however, they were telling me that they were running 15 minutes late. This worked in my favour because I hadn’t had breakfast, Tesco had just delivered my shopping, and I was still putting it away.

My first haircut in 7 months

Haircut at Saks

All masked up, I was excited to enter Saks hairdressers and it was lovely seeing the manager and my hairdresser Gina after all this time. They had very secure visors on which looked really comfortable. They sort of work like glasses but with the plastic visor covering the face. They took my temperature and I was shown to the room I was going to have my hair cut in. My bag had to go into a plastic box but I was allowed to keep my phone out. Apart from the hair washing part (where I got to put my feet up) I stayed in the separate room. A plastic cover (with an opening for my head) was put over me to completely cover my clothes, and the hair cut began.

Gina wasn’t as concerned about the condition of my hair as I had been. She just said that it needed about an inch off the length and a bit more than that off the long layers as it had lost its shape. This would give it a lighter feel and I could still keep the length.

We had a good chat during the cut and blow dry, and I walked out of there feeling amazing. I can actually run my fingers through my hair without it falling out! She put my mind at rest and said that we all lose about 100 hairs a day, and because I was trying not to brush it as often, it probably appeared that more were falling out than usual when I did brush it.

The family barbecue this afternoon

My husband did well with the barbecuing side and I prepared the salad and other bits and pieces. My girls managed to maintain social distancing with their five cousins and still have fun by playing games and going out for a walk.

I actually got to sit down and relax for some of the afternoon in between getting everyone everything they needed. We were lucky with the weather and we sat under the trees in the garden as it was too hot to sit in the full sun.

There’s not much clearing up to do either as we were recycling and throwing things away as we used them. The dishwasher is already full and switched on and I even included the two small grills from the barbecue. I couldn’t be dealing with burnt on food tomorrow!

A nice comment

One thing that really made my day was my mother-in-law’s lovely comment on how great the garden looked. She said that she could see how much effort I had put in. My youngest overheard her and said how happy she was that she’d said that to me.

I’m so pleased that there’s still one day of the weekend left.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Fun and relaxation, Getting organised, Inspiration, Life, Wellbeing, working mum | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Day 220: Tidying the Garden Ready for Family to Visit

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Sandra Madeira

We have some of my husband’s family coming over tomorrow: mother-in- law, sister-in-law and five nieces. I said that I’d prefer not to have to cook because a) I don’t really enjoy it (b) it’s going to be hot and (c) I’ve had a very busy week at work and I just want to relax tomorrow. My husband sad he’d cook and went out and bought a cheap barbecue. He eventually wants to build one in our ‘future’ garden but for now we thought we’d just go with something simple. My youngest went with him and they came back with a barbecue and two more rose plants, which is lovely as it will add more colour to the garden.

BBQ & roses

We have five roses plants in total now but they are all still in their pots.

After I finished work at 5.30pm, I started tidying the garden, particularly the little area near the back door. The weeds have been bugging me for ages.

Before weeding

Back in the Spring, I scattered some wildflowers seeds down there and although they looked nice at one point, they’ve started to look a mess now. I pulled the weeds out and then propped up the tall pink salvia plant that got damaged in the high winds last month.

My youngest then helped me plant the dahlia’s that we bought a couple of days ago. We planted them around the salvia plant along with two fuchsia plants that were in another part of the garden.

After weeding and planting

The other plant that I couldn’t remember the name of yesterday is called dianthus – small and cute pink flowers. I popped it in the middle of the red pot that I put the marigolds in last week.

Dianthus and violas

That all didn’t take long, but then I decided to mow the lawn (even though the others said it didn’t need doing). The weather has been dry and hot over the past week and the grass has suffered so much that it seems to have stopped growing; however, I could see lots of dandelions and other weeds poking up, so I gave it a quick mow.

Tidy garden

I was shattered by then, so after I’d put everything away, I had a bit of sit down on the swing seat admiring what I’d done so far. My youngest came out to join me and we were still sitting out there at 10.15pm. Although it was dark it was still warm and very peaceful. We had a lovely chat.

We’ve ordered a lot of food for the barbecue tomorrow. Luckily I had a grocery shopping slot booked for the morning so I was able to add everything onto there – tell a lie, I actually got my daughters to add quite a bit of stuff that their cousins might like e.g. meat, drinks, lollies, icecreams and fruit. I added the salady bits and everyday stuff.

My youngest has been a great help to me today and she is quite excited about helping to prepare the food tomorrow.

I’m more excited about having my hair cut in the morning – first time in 7 months! Cannot wait..

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

Posted in 2020 Challenge, decluttering, Getting organised, Inspiration, Life, working mum | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments