Decluttering

I did say to him I’m not in the habit of giving work to someone who knocks on the door and I did knock him down from the original quote. Wouldn’t even consider using someone like that for any other kind of work. My only concern is that they might just dump the foliage in a ditch somewhere but his van had his name and telephone number on. Wasn’t the usual ‘ we just happen to be in your area, would you like your drive doing’ sort of bloke. I’m really pleased with it. Know what you mean, though.

Oh, and one, years ago, who fell in love with me

As long as you don't feel taken advantage of, then it really was like a fairy god mother.
Especially if he can do odd jobs, too.

I don't mean to patronise you, but just be careful, though.

I'd love to find a decent odd job man, but not had any luck with the few I've contacted.
Too busy, live a couple of miles away and don't drive, you name it, I've heard it.

Someone knocked on my door today to ask if I needed stuff cutting back in my front garden. I did. Lots of stuff and in the back garden too. I asked him to give me a quote. Whilst showing him around the garden I was impressed with his knowledge of trees and plants and he also seemed to understand how torn I was about cutting back or cutting down hedges and trees. In the end I got him to do all the work that needed doing. I was going to hack away at it throughout the winter but finding out that the brown bin was only going to be collected once a month swayed me. It was like a daydream I have of a fairy godmother coming to my house and sorting out every room for me at the snap of a finger. It wasn’t cheap but I feel as if a weight has been taken off my shoulders. It also means that, in future, I’ll ask him to come out and do any work that needs doing. I was going to ask my odd job man to do some of the work but he’s not very reliable these days and I still would have had a disposal problem. The garden is so much lighter and he also moved some very heavy plant pots around for me. I can now happily potter about in the garden without the pressure of looking at masses of work that I can’t keep on top of.During lockdown I bought lots of Photinia plug plants with a view to making a hedge in the front garden. In the end the garden self seeded with several trees which have shot up and are over the water supply. They’ve all gone and I can create my hedge now. I wish I could do the same with the rest of the house.

I've done nothing at all today; it's taken all of my energy to try get the flat clean (ish) and tidy.
With very, very frequent rests.

I'm hoping I might get a power surge this evening, and at least clean out a drawer or something.

I am in Christmas mode.
Cant see me achieving much more decluttering until after then.

Good luck to the rest of you!

I'm hoping to get some stuff sorted today.

The horrible deep cupboard with the saucepans in.
I need to fill some holes in there, and put mouse mesh over the airbrick. 😬
I'm dreading poking around in the depths of doom.

If you have solid walls it should be fine.
Ours are dry lined, we have to be careful.

I put up a picture above the bed where DGD sleeps with those special heavy duty picture hanging strips.
It fell down on her, luckily it was only a very light canvas picture.

(Well, I don't know if it just fell down or Little Miss had anything to do with it!)

You know, I’ve always called them raw plugs but never needed to actually look them up so didn’t realise they were called rawl! I did mean hooks attached to wood but don’t know what they are called. I have got some on the wall but two are white and one is pine and it really annoys me even though it’s usually covered with stuff. Just crossed my mind that when the blind man comes to fit the blind I could offer him a few quid to put the coat thing up for me. I’ve done that in the past.

Have a drop of whisky, that could kill off any germs on the magic mushrooms.

Instead of individual coat hooks, can you buy some attached to a sturdy piece of wood?

I'm not being pedantic or the grammar police but they're rawlplugs, in case you're doing an internet search and can't find raw plugs.

They’ve got to take a lot of weight eg coats so they will need raw plugs. I might ask my kids if, for a Christmas present this year they could spare some time to put some pictures and coat hooks up. If I go totally incoherent in the coming days it’s because I’ve just cooked and eaten some rather old dried porcini mushrooms and I’ve got ergot poisoning. I’m not even sure if I like them enough to risk it. They taste as if they’ve been grown in an old damp room that’s been draped in dust covers for decades. Bit like that peaty tasting malt whisky that some people like.

see if I can put some coat hooks up in the bedroom. I did buy a drill years ago but have never used it!

You can get really good stick on hooks now - did do a link further up this thread but if you need it again just say

Oh that's good.
Sometimes it's better to just pay for the easiest option, rather than attempting to bridge things up, as shown by my little blind selection.

All bought with some plan in mind, and all discarded as not workable/doable.

I’ve gone with Hillary’s in the end. They didn’t have the choice that Blinds2Go had but the man who does odd jobs for me round the house isn’t as reliable as he used to be ( he seems to be working on bigger projects and I have to keep badgering him which I don’t like doing) and I’d need him to fit them. I did look at the blinds that just fit into the window without drilling. Hillary’s also send a fabric sample free of charge. I now need to see if I can put some coat hooks up in the bedroom. I did buy a drill years ago but have never used it!

MayBee, I've a couple of different window blinds, if they'd be any good for your bathroom.

The one I'm particularly thinking of needs no drilling or "fitting".

I just threaded it onto a spring loaded curtain pole, and it opens to different heights using magnetic "things".

My sales shpeil is marvellous, eh?

I had one and used it, and this one is unopened; still in the packing. Its from ikea.

You could mount it outside the window recess, or use the net pole, as I said.

Just a thought, and don't worry if it's not what you want.

Good job I checked the council waste collection site tonight. After November they’re only going to collect the brown bin once a month till next spring, so I cleared my freezer just in time. Worried about the ice, though. Mind you I’ve never de iced it since I bought it and that must be over thirty years ago.

Oh I’ve got some dry shampoo that I used to use to thicken my hair. Some of that is coloured. I stopped using though because I think it made me lose even more hair when I brushed it. The Regaine mousse that I use thickens it. Whether or not it helps with my hair loss I don’t know. I’ve got quite a collection of hair thickening stuff. More clutter…

Yes, I think no more nails would be good filler, as long as you scrape out the crumbly bits first, and fill the gaps a bit at a time, and ensure it's properly dry before starting the next layer.

During a little clear up, I found a colour spray for my hair, which is actually grey.

Usually they're to cover grey, but my hair is grey, and I got it to help disguise my bald patches.

Sprayed some on, and it's done a reasonable job at filling in all the partings I have.

I’ve got crumbly plaster round my windows that were replaced. Would no more nails help with that? I still haven’t got a blind in the bathroom because I can’t use the old one so I have to shower in the dark or put something across the window! And I have to fill and paint the recess.

Maybe the lorry driver will say he can't take the basket.
It's kind of you to part with it, when you've a use for it yourself.

I've been cleaning some furniture for British Heart Foundation to collect tomorrow. But one unit has an IKEA basket in the bottom instead of a drawer & although I use this basket in the wardrobe to stow my woolies in, the unit looks so much better complete with basket, & it is a charity. So now I have a heap of loose jumpers in the bottom of my wardrobe, but at least the furniture that I've been trying to palm off on people for the last decade, will be gone (unless theBHF lorry rejects them)

Oh well done, you, too!!
That's an awful lot you've done, and properly "done" too.

I've just been scraping around my bedroom window, where there are gaps, filled with No More Nails.

Am hoping to use yet another roll of tape, to try and neaten it up.

Well done you! I’ve just put loads of ancient lentils in the brown bin and am just about to go through the freezer to find old meat to add to it. I’m giving the dog the old mince as beef keeps for ages and she seems ok on it. When it’s done I’ll start freezing more food eg slice up red peppers and freeze them for smoothies ( I’ve just thrown out a red pepper that didn’t get used). I’ve already made some banana bread with some of the many bags of frozen bananas and I now have room to freeze a couple of loaves so I can just take out a few slices a day to use and I take a slice of tea or banana bread out of the freezer each day for late breakfast/lunch. Hopefully I won’t be wasting food in the future.

Brian has been tidied, if not decluttered.

I can see, and get to the Christmas tree, at least, for now.

The idea is that I can now take things out bit by bit, sort out, discard stuff, and put back in.

I can also fit my much hated walker in there, now (I think) that means i now need to wash the living room curtains as the walker was near them and has made the hemline dirty.