Our Word of the Week is Declutter

With Spring well and truly here, everything looks brighter. That includes dust and clutter too. So this week, with it being brighter and also sunnier we took advantage of the good weather to declutter and make our home feel more like Spring.

It was so sunny this week that Leisa was even able to wash a rug that we keep in the laundry room that really needed a wash. We were waiting on the right weather conditions to guarantee that it could be washed and dried outdoors the same day. But what a mix of weather, too! It was mostly freezing every night but then bright and sunny throughout the day. One morning I went out into the back garden to water the plants and found that the hose was frozen solid! We were only able to water the plants later in the day when the water flowed again.

Anyway, each room had at least ten minutes of decluttering, cleaning and then organising. We got rid of bags of clothes and we still have a few books and miscellaneous items that we need to get over to the charity shop too. We got rid of at least 10 pairs of jeans! Honestly, we are not very fussy with jeans. It’s just that we always find that the lenghts are too short and even if we find suitable lengths, they normally shrink after the first wash. Anyone else finds that? It’s amazing how we hold onto stuff for years but never use nor even look on. They are shoved somewhere taking up valuable space and making our homes full, busy, dusty and cluttered. We hold on to things thinking that we would be wasting money if we get rid of them. No, that’s a myth. The money was already wasted (spent) when the item was purchased! Leisa made a short video addressing this and other myths this week.

The living room got a mini makeover too. Nothing new was purchased but we got to take out cushion covers and blankets that we put away for the season. Those we will definitely keep, as we use them year after year.

Leisa also decided to cut ‘bush’ and flowers in our community and fill the vases with them. The daffodils and tulips outside in our garden seem much less than last year so we didn’t cut any for indoors. We knew they wouldn’t last long indoors at all. The little bouquets Leisa made look cute and I think it’s a good idea. We are also thinking to put some Sping bulbs indoor next spring as plants, rather than just the flowers. I think they will last longer and especially if they are scented, would be lovely too.

My laptop was also in need of a declutter. I had too many tables open which made it difficult sometimes to find what I was after. I always keep certain tabs open as I think I will soon need them. More often than not, I never need them and they end up wasting my time (when I open them), or slowing the computer down. I found a way to delete cookies from my Mac as soon as I leave certain websites. I just need to remember to do it more often. Do you often delete cookies? Do you even shut down your computer each night? I don’t. But I do try to remember to do a back up of my computer every Sunday. It’s really due now as I forgot last week.

In case you are wondering, our no spend spree is going mostly well… but… I gave in to TikTok ads recently and bougt 2 sets of stainless steel containers for the kitchen. As soon as I clicked ‘purchase’ I felt really bad. I was definitely targetted as I have not seen the ads again since I made the purchase. They used to come up for me after every three or so videos and now, no more. Anyway, we might need to declutter a number of plastic containers in the kitchen and start using the stainless steel containers. I like that they come with lids. So they can be used in the oven (without the lids) and then the food can be stored in them in the refrigerator. I feel so silly because we already have glass containers that we use for that very same purpose. Anyway, I’m a fool sometimes, lol.

Hope you had a good week and good weather too.

Ps. The blood tests for my annual check-up were done on Monday and I had to have at least 10 stabs before they found a vein. Then by Thursday I got a call to say I needed to repeat one of them this coming week! That’s now booked for Tuesday. I have a feeling they’ve found something wrong but I’ll try not to worry. More on that when the test is done and the results come back.

Linking with Anne has been good and helps to keep us accountable, and grateful. Plus we are nosy and like to see what other people get up to too! 😜