First I just have to say THANK YOU for the amazing outpouring of support on yesterdays post, I am truly humbled .... and your reward ..... me getting straight back to normal and showing you the inside of my empty cupboard :-)
Nothing gets me down for long, and when you hit rock bottom the only way is up ... and if on the way you can clear out a cupboard and have a good sort out well so much the better. I think I only let the constant drip, drip drip get to me because I have been pretty poorly all through the Christmas break and beyond with a stonking cough/cold/general yuckiness and I just hadn't given myself time to just rest. I guess cleaning out the cupboards isn't resting, as my Mum will tell me, buts it's achieving something and that's as good for me.
So after a few months of slinging things in the cupboard willy nilly I decided enough was enough and that it was time to bring order to the chaos of my own making. So I hoiked everything out, played that annoying game of putting little containers inside bigger ones (I hated tidying up the stacking pots when my boys were little and quickly taught them to do it themselves), wiped out the cupboard and got everything back in nice and tidily.
Well that was the top shelf done!!
(Oh .. if you're wondering what that long silver thing is, it's the insulation around the flue pipe for the Aga, which runs right through the cupboards to the vent on the outside wall.)
Then I emptied out the bottom shelf, lots of alcohol ....
... and a few other bits.
It was all put neatly back in with things I never use at the back ....
"WHAT" .... I suddenly asked myself "ARE YOU DOING"
'things you NEVER use at the back' !!
Out everything from the bottom shelf came again ...
... and the offending items were retrieved, photographed for posterity and now reside in the car boot sale box ready for later in the year. I do love a bit of decluttering. The ravioli maker makes ridiculously small ravioli ... far better, and easier, to use my smallest round biscuit cutter, and the Bento boxes were used by Lovely Hubby when he travelled to work from home each day to contain his lunch, not as much use when you commute weekly, and on days out we take tupperware and pack everything into a big 'cool bag'.
Back tomorrow with what I did next :-)
Thanks again folks.
Sue xx
I didn't pay close attention to the top pic - I just thought it was a long roll of Bacofoil :)
ReplyDeleteI must admit, though, as I was reading the rest of the post, I was surprised when you sad you'd put everything back - I was therefore pleased to see you 'being you' in the next paragraph and finding something to go!
As the saying goes.... don't let the b***ards grind you down ;)
x
I had a good food cupboard clear out recently. I'm ashamed to say that I had to throw a lot of our of date sauces, etc. away (some were 2yrs over). I also have an addiction to plastic containers so some of them went too! Feels better.
ReplyDeleteHi, i don't think i have ever commented but have followed you for several years, blog wise not stalker lol! Sorry anyway, i just read your post today and yesterday and wanted to say don't stop , i love the fact you are normal and human and not being pretenious or patronising! So three cheers from me! ��
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you chirpy again!! I have a saying that is something that I read in a novel once years ago, when you have troubles get on and do some housework, at the end of the day you still have the troubles, but at least you have a clean house! So that is what you were doing, and bonus for you it seems to have cleared the troubles and the cupboard at the same time. Keep smiling!! xx
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike Sue. I am currently on a mission to declutter the kitchen and the nightmare plastics cupboard is about to meet it's match.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see so much support for you yesterday-x-
I' planning a full cupboard drawer clear out this year ! Sorry to read yesterday's post xxx
ReplyDeleteJoan here Sue's Mum'
ReplyDeleteThank you to all of you for the lovely comments you posted to my lovely daughter Sue yesterday.
I am so proud of what she and lovely Hubbie have achieved . through sheer hard work.
in a relative short space of time . She still visits on a very regular basis which I am very grateful for . Love you lots Sue. XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hi Joan,
DeleteNice to 'meet' you!
Sue shouldn't let the obnoxious twerps of this world upset her, but it's easier said than done.
All the rest of us did was offer a bit of support, bullying's not nice, no matter how it's done!
Take care. X
I thought it was a roll of tin foil - the things you learn each day! Glad your feeling happier xx
ReplyDeleteI did the same as you, only I could not find one plastic lid for the containers, they have all been re cycled. Glad you put the stupid people in their places; honestly what dick heads (Yorkshire saying). You carry on as you are, just as we all love you and yours. Love Andie xxx
ReplyDeleteThat ravioli maker seems to do well on eBay. Just a thought. Or am I guilty of telling you what to do? Sorry if it sounds so, just thinking of your challenge this year. I LOVE your blog.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with people giving me tips or hints or asking me about things, only when they tell me I should be doing things or angle the comments snidely.
DeleteI'll have a look on Ebay and see if it's worth my while putting it on there. Sometimes the postage, selling costs and hassle make it a bit of a chore but sometimes it's worth it, thanks.
Oh Phew! I've only just read yesterday's post and had a horrible feeling all the way through that you were building up to say goodbye. I'm so glad you didn't.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about all the things you do. Interesting to read that your solar panels power the Aga, how lovely. We have 16 panels on our south facing roof and they generate as much electricity as we use, plus, because we got in just before the first payment cuts, they generate a good income. They haven't paid for themselves yet, but they will
We fitted the new posh microwave yesterday, it's an oven too, so now there are a couple of gadgets that have become surplus and need to go. The Remoska is one, I haven't used it for at least a year, since we got the energy efficient new main oven
It's an electric Aga, so it, the whole house, garage and workshop are all powered by the solar panels. We have 45 panels on the roof of the garage/workshop, barely visible from the road as they are angled backwards to the main source of light. I think our income will be lower than yours, and of course we use so much power. But the cash coming in as well as free electricity for us will mean they pay for themselves in around six - eight years.
DeleteKeep up the good work! There will always be an internet dingleberry with a better way of doing things. The real question is, if you are doing it all wrong, then why are they here reading and not out doing it for themselves?
ReplyDeleteAll the Best
Fast-SoS
I feel the same as Lesley's comment as I to have only just ready yesterday's post. I have commented on yesterday's page. It's so lovely for people like you to share with like-minded people and judging by all the nice comments there are a lot of people out there thoroughly enjoying your blog and would be very VERY upset if you quit - keep up the good work - your blog is so ENJOYABLE. Regards, Louise S Cheshire.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that you're feeling better today Sue - if they start upsetting you again just tell them to bog off - your true blogging friends will understand - give Mavis a hug for me (I think she's lovely) xx
ReplyDeleteOooh I've been sorting cupboards too ready for our move, I do love it when they all look neat and tidy. Looking forward to see what you did next.
ReplyDeleteI'd just like to add that I'm pleased you decided to carry on with your blog because as I just read yesterday's post I was convinced you were going to stop. I love your blog and find it very informative and encouraging.
Jackie x
My top cupboard - hoards of random tins
ReplyDeleteBottom cupboard - various 1/3 bags of pasta
SEE OLD CHUM
ReplyDeleteTELL UNBELIEVERS TO FUCK OFF AND YOUR FRIENDS TURN UP WITH THEIR MIDDLE FINGERS RAISED,
hey ho
Glad you are feeling better. When you have been unwell it is particularly difficult to shrug off unkind comments. I must try tidying next time I feel down! At least I will get something out of it! Jackie
ReplyDeleteGlad you are on the up again Sue.
ReplyDeleteIf you need a seriously large dose of decluttering and feel that clearing someone else's clutter will help then there is a space for you here - I have a large scale de-clutterisation operation going on at present!
xx
I didn't get round to commenting yesterday, but I am pleased to see that your post got such an enthusiastic and supportive response. Your attitude to your blog is exactly right. You must keep on doing what you want! If you choose to write about it, so much the better. No-one has the right to tell you that you are "doing things wrong".
ReplyDeleteI didn't get round to commenting yesterday either but we fully support everything that everyone has said in support of you. You have a lovely blog, it's helpful, funny and honest. That's all we need in life sometimes. A good clear out does the mind as well as the cupboard, the world of good.
ReplyDeleteJanuary is my clean out the kitchen month. But with this ridiculous stinking hot weather my get up & go has got up & went! 43deg forecast for today.
ReplyDeleteSo good to see you back & on top, Sue.
I must be a half wit! I thought the insulation thingo was a very big roll of foil:)
ReplyDeleteI thought it was foil as well and thought it was an odd place to keep it!
ReplyDeleteGood for you!
ReplyDeleteI need to do that. (again :(
I enjoy your blog, it's very interesting!
I'm doing the same--de-cluttering and re-organizing...good to do when one is blue. Glad to see you back to yourself. Lovely comment from your Mum.
ReplyDeleteI love a good sort-out. Not only do I get a nice tidy kitchen again, I also get the joy of watching the husbands' face drained of colour because i've tidied "his" drawer. Hehehe, mean but funny.
ReplyDeleteI always find a clear our of cupboards therapeutic too - it makes me feel that I am in control of one thing when others in my life are not under my control! I love the feeling of opening the doors and seeing everything all neat and tidy. Glad your blues have gone/improved now - dont let the ****ers get you down I say!
ReplyDeleteGoodness Sue, I just had to read your last post, don't know how I missed it, but I'm glad I've read it now cos I love what you've written. I am one of those people who love reading about self sufficiency and while I do try to do small things like baking and home sewing, which I love, I would never be brave enough to go the whole hog like you. Bloody hard work by all accounts and I think you're doing a cracking job. So glad you have no intention of being brow beaten and made to give up your lovely diary. Good luck and big hugs for 2016. BTW knitted rats arses could be the next big thing lol!
ReplyDeleteHa I thought it was a roll of foil too. I have a hugely long roll of foil from Lakeland, which only comes out every two years to wrap up the Christmas turkey when it's my turn to cook - I just assumed it was one of those!
ReplyDeleteI missed your last post as well - I dunno who these people are who get you down, but as I'm sure lots of others have said, tell 'em to SOD OFF. It is so good to read about someone else's cupboard cleaning - saves having to face up to my own puts of horrors. One has Soy sauce that has leaked stickily onto the shelf - I am even too lazy to mop it up, so everything on the shelf is now sticky....
ReplyDeleteWow, a Raviolamp!!! I didn't think they still existed... when we were little children (and that about 60 years ago!) our mother used the same maker to make ravioli on special occasions, say Christmas. We were allowed to put the filling in the tiny spaces. It was really a treat.
ReplyDeleteI've never, ever made ravioli myself, nor home made pasta! (I'm Italian, by the way!!!)