De-cluttering, still at it, still no end

I was just killing 20 minutes this morning, went through the trays and tins I keep in my oven and below the oven

Two big and pristine roasting tins are out for disposal. I remember buying them at TK Max. Nice to use but, honestly, far too big for one person. I am hoping someone can use them for Christmas cooking

I do unearth stuff, day by day, as if by magic

I dont tend to do much in the 3 months before Christmas.
Though I am never off the case so to speak.
Have done a few bits to loft while I have been up there,
And now finally have a strategy as to how I am going to tackle it.

I wrote elsewhere that I want garage shelving for Christmas.
That is how dedicated to the cause I am!

*Fancythat well done on that forward thinking. First thing I did in my new house was to put all the garage shelving up. It is all very sturdy and was tidy with the really useful boxes we accumulated over 15 years

I am not tidy now, all this war talk has made me reluctant to use up my food storage, in fact I have added tins and water plus stuff for my allotment resides in the garage after some allotment sheds were ransacked. At least my loft is always empty

CS was not taking any more donations, to be fair, the roasting tins are big. Sadly I have binned them and now my bin is very full. At least the metal will be recycled

I am enjoying my new empty spaces in the kitchen and being back into sourdough -making is uplifting, to me and my genes. Life goes on and cannot be devoid of simple pleasures and hobbies

Maybe try tackling one small area at a time—like a single drawer or shelf—so it feels less overwhelming and you can actually see progress quickly.

after some allotment sheds were ransacked

Not nice.

I think I’ve reached a point of being beyond help.

Simple stuff today. I will be disposing of several sistema plastic items, I have ordered a few glass replacements that I could use in the microwave but more sistema going out than glass coming in. That is a win situation for me

I continue with using whatever creams and oils that I want to use up, on my feet and legs. Anything will do, hair oil, face creams etc. I am determined not to waste them

A large unopened bottle of gaviscon went out yesterday. Use by date is long gone. I admit, it was a waste of money, has not been needed

Little tweaks but I need to continue

I’ve just discovered Mr Carringtons utube blog about decluttering ( I think he’s on either Sort your life out or Clean it fix it). So I’m going to watch it for inspiration. And the girl from Sort your life out was on This Morning ( which I don’t usually watch) so I’m going to check that out, too. Although I spend far too much time watching decluttering programmes and not doing anything. My current problem is milk as I have had it delivered since the pandemic. I don’t want the milkman to make the journey here just for one pint but I’m not using as much and the milk doesn’t keep as long as supermarket milk. I bought some Purition powder as a meal replacement to use it up but protein drinks don’t fill me at all. I’ve had to turn on a mini fridge in my utility room to store it. I have cancelled Fridays delivery, though. I also have duplicates of everything; lip salve, face creams, toothpaste etc. I need to make a point of using one thing at a time. A lot of it is due to me spending a lot of time at my partners and having stuff at both houses but that shouldn’t be an excuse.

Thank you Maybee Mr Carrington will be an easy and interesting watch on youtube. I will be subscribing. I could do with all the positivity and new ideas

My new tatay glass dishes have arrived, they have a vented lid so will be good in the microwave. I did dither today wrt my bigger sistema containers but had a flashback to the old days when I would happily make custard etc in a pyrex jug.

I have to do the chucking out while in the mood and without the dithering. I can easily make porridge in pyrex, no need for the sistema, I have pyrex mixing bowls and jugs

They were selling those glass storage dishes in Home Bargains and I really regret not buying some when I was shopping there recently.

We are decluttering, still loads to do and I hate it, have loaded several boxes and bags delivered to various charities and are now starting on my husbands workshop-come-dumping ground. Sadly my husband is now unable to use his workshop so it will all have to go.

I didn`t like the Mr Carrington youtube videos so I quickly unsubscribed. They are full of promotions

The tatay dishes are proving good in the microwave, I did a piece of salmon wrapped in greaseproof yesterday. It needed some more time, the glass takes more energy than the plastic. Veg have done fine. Bin day today and almost all the sistema will be gone, for now I am just keeping two veg steaming sistema in reserve, just in case

I have a lovely week ahead, entirely free from any appointments or visits, ideal time to do some of the difficult de-cluttering aspects and I am thinking trousers, all the lands end stretch trousers, not worn at all this winter as I am loving the OS (old style) skirts and tights. I need to keep 2 pairs for cycling on my hybrid or electric bikes, I wear lycra on my little road bike. For allotment I just wear old jeans

I also have legging and never wear them. I may well be able to empty a full drawer later today. Those leggings are brand new, unworn and from snag. I think I will wrap and post into the salvation army box. First I need to be certain and will test when I wear some new sweater dresses that I made

I am not obsessed by de-cluttering but sometimes get that sinking feeling, knowing that I am now using space and furniture that would have done for two of us, especially in the bedroom, I mean two large 5 drawer oak chest of drawers. We used to have one each, now I have two full ones. Tbh, it is scary

I finished that session in just an hour. Nothing I do now is really open-ended. wrt time I sorted my cycling kit, kept everything but put bundles of eg thin layers into lakeland zip bags, I `found` 25 of those bags today. All my cycling tops are far too long for me but they have full length zips and all I have to do is pull the hem up to my waist and voila, I have a suitable top for cycling layering

I did my trousers, got rid of two pairs but rolled the others up and somehow made more space without stuffing anything in, relics of Marie Kondo I think. I can wear any of the remaining trousers, if I need trousers

The small drawer for allotment wear is done, just a few rolls again. Jumpers done and all the good woollen ones are protected from moths. I did firstly empty a small drawer and then a large drawer so anything I needed to keep is now more spaced

There is hope, I saw a glimmer of that this morning

A bit more done yesterday, I never set out to do it but I did get rid on my oldest small air fryer, yes I know, silly me bought two while they were cheap. Plus I am slowly chucking out the sistema soup mugs after defrosting the soups in them.

Meanwhile I am training myself to go back to the basic old way of steaming veg in my le creuset tri ply metal steamer, together with eg salmon wrapped in parchment paper. That set up consists of steamers over a casserole dish and I can make two steamer layers. That was very good so I can now get rid of two large sistema veg steamers, to the cs with those when I finally decide

Yesterday I made rice and beans and extra to freeze, the 400ml tatay glass dishes with lids are being useful. It is all about me turning the clock back a bit

I have been ignoring paperwork, not too high a pile and all safe. I am completely not in the mood for that. I will do it one day

That's an idea I'd not even thought of - ie steaming salmon in parchment paper. Tips on how to please? eg how long/how to ensure the paper stays wrapped round it etc.

Wrap the salmon in the paper as you might a present, tucking the ends underneath . They will stay in place without any problem.
Delia suggests the following cooking times
cutting the fat in your diet, steaming fish is definitely for you. You can use either a traditional fan or bamboo steamer. I think steaming – as oriental cooks have discovered – is particularly good for rolled fillets of plaice, sole or trout, as they retain their shape perfectly and remain beautifully moist. Add about 2 inches (5 cm) of boiling water to the saucepan, then fit the steamer over, making sure it doesn't come into contact with the water, and cover with a tight-fitting lid.
Steaming guidelines are

Whole Dover sole, lemon sole or plaice weighing 10-12 oz (275-350 g) will take 7-8 minutes
* Rolled fillets of the above will take 7-8 minutes
* Rolled fillets of trout will take 7-8 minutes
* White or smoked fish, steaks and fillets weighing 6-7 oz (175-200 g) will take 8-10 minutes

I don`t have much kitchen worktop space and do have a big chunky artisan kitchen aid kettle, 5 years old. On the spur of the moment, two years ago I bought a neat le creuset stove top kettle. meaning to use that instead

I am trialing that today, have put the overlarge artisan away for now in a cupboard. So far so good. I see a lot of extra worktop space but miss the convenience. I will need to measure water into the stovetop kettle

Another upside is much better energy efficiency with much less mass. Fingers crossed that the new system works for me

I cleared out a cupboard and loaded the boot to take to a charity shop in the next town where I can park right outside. Imagine my disappointment when they weren’t taking any donations. So frustrating as there is more than I can carry to the local shops.

I noticed that my local hospice shop was getting rid of neat bags of donations yesterday Cabbie and the other cs was full to bursting

It took me 3 years but *finally*, I did my paperwork today, two big zipped files and stored in a small suitcase. It nearly killed me, took over 5 hours and I was utterly shattered. I have used many more poly pockets and the indexes are working but I had so much out of date stuff

It will be a lot easier to file future paperwork. I now have a lot of paperwork to shred over the next week or so

I was dreading this job and with good reason

I tackled paperwork today. I always have in mind what my children will have to go through one day. It is a huge task.

We know *Cabbie*, what the children would have to go through while not knowing much about the ins and outs of our paperwork. It was a job done with a lot of love. I even made a list of any bank or building society that I use for savings even the dribs and drabs. I am storing a bit of cash too, enough to help with immediate expenses, having seen several people sitting in the registrars waiting room after bereavement. I bet some had to scrape the money together to pay for the certificates

I will start the shredding today. I felt much more at ease this morning, now that my case of files is done

The kettle, so far so good, the hob kettle has a loud whistle and is not wasting any energy. I will be putting kitchen aid kettle into the garage, out of sight, cleaned up as it still works well. I think it may go to an AC in due course. I am loving the extra kitchen-top space

Best of all I am seeing spaces appear, very slowly but nevertheless, they are appearing. This slow and steady is working

A new, much needed, long coat is ordered, very suitable for the mucky lanes here. One in-one out has to be my mantra, I keep reminding myself, difficult at time but far too easy for clutter to accumulate

I will be scouring wardrobes today. I think I have a candidate to go, a thick towelling dressing gown but to feel as though I really am de-cluttering, I need to find one or two more items. Got to be single-minded, so I can progress

Have spent quite a bit of time the last couple of days going through my box files of various paperwork.

Chucked out lots of birthday, mothers and Father’s Day cards, I’ve reduced them in the past, but have now thrown out nearly all of them. What’s the point in keeping them?

I now have a goodly number of the plain reverse of the cards, great for shopping lists. Enough to last me for years though.

Every little helps though in the constant declutter of life.

I've just delivered a heavy bag of 100
year old lace and other items to our local university textiles archive. They were so pleased, I am so happy. The students will grab anything not suitable. I'm now sorting out a box of ribbon remnants and early to mid century buckles. None of my family want them. And I so enjoyed watching the students going in and out while I was waiting for my contact . The charity shops don't want this sort of thing round here. They told me they just want household stuff

We try and do a car boot sale once a year. I am in the process of gathering up ‘stuff’ to (hopefully) sell.

Sorted through my jewellery box, several pairs of (cheap, fashion) earrings, necklaces etc. I think they might go, people seem to like stuff like that.

A few pounds and 50p’s here and there add up, and help with the decluttering.