DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jan 24 - 02:22 PM

I'm back from Ottawa and more or less on top of the stuff I feel obligated to do. Note that does not include vacuuming the stairs, where cat hair is accumulating like desert sand in a ghost town. Cue the tumbleweeds!

It was a pleasantly low-key visit, free of drama and strife. The only thing I would have liked to change was the weather: truly dreadful, with constant rain and the sky so dark with cloud that I felt like an extra in Ridley Scott's "Bladerunner". I don't think I've ever seen the city look worse.

On the other hand, I got to ride the new light rail system (Tunney's Pasture to the By Ward Market in five minutes) and spend a day at the National Gallery.

More and more, I'm getting the feeling that I should start getting ready to move, most likely back to Ottawa (despite the winters) and into smaller, more manageable digs such as a condo apartment or townhouse. None of us is getting any younger, and I know -- as I know that the sun rises in the east -- that I want to get this done while I'm fit and capable. I shall not wait until something bad happens and I'm pushed.

Looking around the house, I see that more decluttering is called for. I spent Thursday rummaging around the dining room and the kitchen for items I don't use and can bear to part with -- i.e., not the early Victorian teacups that were my granny's favourites, but definitely the Bing & Grondahl coffee set that I acquired in a complex swap with an antique dealer who lusted for a certain occasional table with elephant legs. Rather a lot of the china that should leave is highly collectible Royal Doulton, so I'll be joining Stilly among the vendors on EBay.

The accumulation of CDs must be weeded again, to the benefit of Goodwill or, possibly, the church rummage sale this Spring. I'd like to cut the library back by another bookcase, and that seems the simplest way to do it -- and, besides, nowadays I listen most to satellite radio or Apple Music. Every one of those CDs was ripped to iTunes years ago, so I would be losing only the storage media.

The same goes for DVDs, except I'm morally certain that I'll never part with the complete Rumpole or "Jeeves and Wooster".

More daunting is the challenge of disposing of a perfectly good conventional queen-sized bed and a three-seater futon sofa that unfolds into another queen-sized bed. I cannot disassemble or move either of them by myself, and I don't know anybody who wants or needs them. Time for the freebie sites on Facebook, I guess.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jan 24 - 11:54 AM

Sandra, it seems that a good way to recycle furniture would be to disassemble it and send metal to recycling, filling to reuse or recycling, cloth to reuse of some sort (paper is made from "linen" which simply means fiber of many types) and wood to reuse, burn, chip, and do something mulch-like with it. Etc. Disassembling furniture would take a lot less time than building it. That said, there is probably no profit from it so an altruistic approach is my recommendation.

I picked up two chandeliers in the neighbor's trash a few years ago. Shiny brass, made in Spain probably in the late 1960s. Most of the prisms were intact. I got replacement prisms (perfect match) and sold the two on eBay, made $250 between them. People really are careless about what goes to the dump.

Declutter of a different sort: yesterday got a call about a cancellation on the calendar at the Gastro's office, so I'm scrambling to prepare for the once-every-five-years colonoscopy next week. It bugs me that they insist you stop eating the things that keep you regular so the prep "works better." All that low-fiber diet does is make the prep worse when it happens. At least it will be over with and I don't have too long to dwell on it.

Meanwhile, I've decided to take a new approach (for me) to cleaning: Dust before it gets so bad that the duster fills quickly and required many trips out. I started this in November before the holidays and have now been dusting every couple of weeks (instead of much longer intervals). Seems to be working. Housekeeping is not my long suit - the thing I do most often around here is sweep up dog hair several times a week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Jan 24 - 04:33 PM

The Land of Oz has had a lot of wild weather in recent years (see verse 2 of Dorothea McKeller's "My country" - droughts & flooding rain )

It was horrible to see huge piles outside flooded houses - everything was ruined, nothing could be saved - but the company taking them to the tip said they managed to dry out/repair 60%, so not everything went to landfill.

But far too much goes to landfill, I'm no longer amazed at what some of my neighbours put in our recycling bins cos they are too bloody lazy (or Very Important People) to take it to charity shops. Yesterday I gave a charity shop a bag full of fancy paper/cardboard bags from fancy shops that I rescued from the bins They might be paper but all of them had braid or twine handles that were not recyclable. One came from Chanel!! & I like to imagine someone down on their luck (or maybe just a wise shopper) carrying their bargain around the streets looking like they have spent zillions.

I'm always rescuing saleable stuff & we have large posters on the wall giving details of the council's collection services. We also have 4 charity shops within a short stroll.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jan 24 - 11:14 AM

A good interview this week with Chip Colwell on the problems of buying too much. An interesting point early in the program about hoarders: those who collect stuff that they can never seem to get rid of allow us to see the amount of stuff people can buy or collect, but they're not alone. It's just that most people throw out stuff they bought or collected and no longer want—if they kept everything they brought into the house they would also live in rooms with narrow paths through the piles. A fraction of what "normal" consumers buy then get rid of makes it to donation sites and thrift stores. People with clear houses but a big shopping habit are equally problematic as far as (in this example) the clothing ending up in dumps and increasingly in poor countries in Africa or Asia or South America. He also talked about a dump in Denver, CO, where an amazing array of things are visible. Sofas, mattresses, lots of furniture and other household items (there for future archaeologists to examine, once the methane problem has passed.)

You might’ve heard of the “slow food” movement – maybe it’s time to try the “slow buy” movement, too? Chip Colwell, lecturer in anthropology at the University of Colorado, Denver, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the pact he made with his family that they buy no more than five items in a year and what it taught him about consumption in this country. His book is So Much Stuff: How Humans Discovered Tools, Invented Meaning, and Made More of Everything.

The gift of buying less (podcast from KERA in Dallas).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Jan 24 - 01:07 AM

Some of my other season clothes live in my old suitcase under my dressing table - thermal tops & pants live in my wardrobe but many of my skirts & tops are worn all year. Sydney does not get as cold as the northern hemisphere!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Jan 24 - 05:53 PM

Actually got my tank tops/shorts/bathing suits piles into the closet with the summer hats, so I have room in the seasonal drawer for the winter leggings I was starting to amass too many of. Now they fit. In the drawer, I mean. Woot.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Jan 24 - 04:48 PM

Stilly, I write the dates I replaced bulbs on the box, it's always interesting to see how long they lasted. I also write the date on the plant fertiliser container & kept seeing 4th NOVEMBER, & finally gave my poor plants their spring feed in mid-summer, on New Years Day.

All fire alarm batteries in our building are replaced under contract, residents are no longer responsible for their own batteries.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jan 24 - 06:24 PM

An aha! moment today, when I was contemplating how to move around furniture in my sewing studio (and to move out the space-hog bed). It dawned on me that if I exert myself to list and sell the stuff in the front room I'll have all of that space to use for whatever - sew in there, dining table in there, extra bed in there. Right now it's an unattractive tangle of stuff (and I can't reach the books on the far wall). I think I've just issued myself marching orders for that space to make other parts of the house flow better later.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jan 24 - 11:55 AM

I've just noticed a couple of empty shelves on the small bookcase that now sits under the window in my office. I'll have to figure out what can live there.

For two days I've hunted for the box that holds the strings of C9 bulb holiday lights plus spare bulbs. These are pre-LED large bulbs that give off heat and are very bright. As I started to type that I remembered I took it out to the garage to pry the cover off of the fuse case on the plug of a string that stopped lighting. I got new fuses yesterday so I can fix that one then put the other strings in with it (after replacing burned out bulbs) then put them away for next year.

My house guest last week was talking about how well she likes using collagen and biotin to strengthen her nails. I nudged us onto another topic because it seems like she's never met a supplement she doesn't like. I tried Biotin a few years ago to little effect, and she says the two go together, but I am tired of adding pills to my daily routine. I have it down to a small number of supplements (multivitamin, fish oil, calcium) and a couple of things my doctor told me I should take. But gelatin works so I placed the jar of dry gelatin next to my tea setup to add to my morning tea.

Gelatin doesn't have a taste but it can be sticky and it needs to be moistened in cold water before dissolving in hot water. Meaning it can make my first cup of tea (I brew one cup at a time) a bit cool. I'll soften it in the tea cup with a small amount of water, then dissolve it with a little straight hot water, then I'll pour in some strong tea from a small pot so it can all mix. And my tea strainer that otherwise sits over the cup for a single brew won't get sticky from the gelatin. I used to put gelatin in smoothies, but I haven't had them as often lately.

This seems to be a good time to do some general cleaning and this week I'll change the batteries in the smoke detectors. And make a note somewhere so I can remember that I did it now. Maybe I should write it on one of the detectors themselves as a note to my future self.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 Jan 24 - 02:57 AM

late last century I had a friend who spent his annual holiday overseas (our annual holidays are 4 weeks)

When he was away his cat either lived in their house with the 2 people she loved best after him, or spent the time at their house. When he got home she turned her back & totally ignored him for a month ...

Of course she ate the food he provided, after he moved away.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jan 24 - 09:11 PM

Good advice about the microwave - I try to never put plastic in (though I have a hard plastic lid that goes over plates to keep food on them from splashing when the microwave).

And good to meet the neighbors! I spoke with a woman a couple of weeks ago who hadn't met her next door neighbors and she had been there for several months! I sussed from seeing them working (and the pride flag at the front of the yard) that it is a gay couple. I'm planning to carry a loaf of my holiday bread and give them my card next time I'm out walking the dogs.

I took the 1927 White Rotary machine in today to the sewing center to have it converted from a knee lever operation to a foot operation. It weighs a ton (as far as shipping) but I'll probably sell it on eBay later. It's in clean condition and it came with some attachments.

I hope Charmion arrived home happy and healthy after her train trip and that the cats haven't mounted an insurrection in her absence.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Jan 24 - 08:34 PM

Dupont:

Re-organized the hall closet, enabling the clearing of the hall!

Only use (mostly) the anchor-hocking glass containers with plastic lids - keeping an eye out for opps to purchase new lids which do not last forever - but do pretty well. They stack nicely in one pantry closet, with a few of the better recycled plastic containers for taking elsewhere. Only ever use ceramic or glass in microwave.

found a test for my fitness - balance and such - totally in very bad shape!! But I did manage to get back up off the floor this am after I had to get down to unplug modem which apparently needed a break. I was well pleased with myself when I regained a vertical position! Keeping that "test" to work on...

For me "toxic stuff" includes my lack of social life here. I have started going to R's "Saturday BF" and, today, visited cross the street neighbour - first time and at her invitation when she brought us a box of Christmas goodies. Have a couple of social items lined up for next week. Otherwise, other than groceries, I am alone 10-12 hours a day! No snow yet but dank days do not induce going for a walk.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jan 24 - 12:27 PM

That's a great feeling, Sandra, finding a way to use recently cleared storage space. I'm looking at some heavy duty wire shelves where my bread pans and a few other things live; I might rearrange a couple of Pyrex bowls already on that shelf to make room for these. If they're in sight I'm more likely to use them and if they're at that level I'm less likely to drop anything when retrieving one of them.

That is also a good suggestion about the freezer for the plastic; there are some things I freeze that aren't suited to the FoodSaver plastic bags. The Rubbermaid boxes are translucent so I can see through to the contents.

Two boxes went out in today's mail, one an eBay sale and one a tardy gift to my son and his partner. (I see by Informed Delivery that he is sending two boxes my way today. Hopefully one will contain a commercial cover for my Little Chief smoker that has a crumbling box for now. I sent it to him a couple of years ago with a new smoker but at his new house they have an electronic one he's using instead.)

Cookie (the smallest of my three dogs) decided this morning to start raiding the compost pile (she jumped over the tall plastic side) since I recently emptied the kitchen waste bin out there without letting it rot in a big lidded bucket beside the kitchen door. There are two of those and they're full, so I was lazy and tossed old corn cobs that it seems Cookie loves. Last time I looked the old lab was out there eating one she pulled out. I've covered the compost pile container with chicken wire for now and must do something more durable soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Jan 24 - 05:13 PM

recently we've had articles saying how bad it is to microwave anything in the containers take-away food comes in! I still need my plastic containers for the freezer.

A couple of days ago I sorted the archival stuff sitting in a large box next to my desk. I've already scanned some (sandra pats self on the back) but instead of one box of archives with other stuff on top, I now have less in the box & more on the floor & desk & - mainly floor (gloom & desolation) Some of the floor stuff is waiting to be scanned, other items are waiting for a proper home. Last week I had a friend visiting, perhaps I need to invite her again as I had to clean up so she had a seat! Not a good idea if stuff just lands on the bed & comes back again.

As my last downsizing left me with 2 empty shelves in my 1920s dresser, I could put some archival material there & walk comfortably on my floor!! Oooh, how revolutionary, putting stuff away ...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 24 - 12:51 PM

Starting the new year after having had friends and family here during the prior week means that while today is simply Monday following Sunday, it is also a fresh calendar on the wall and point in time handy for measuring current status and planning forward movement. Today day is overcast but not particularly uncomfortable so I can step outside and remove some of the holiday lights, maybe walk two of the dogs, and head over to the gym. Stores are open, only the federal government (post office) and banks are closed. I'll ship a couple of packages tomorrow and put my holiday letters, now New Years letters, in the mail as well.

I dislike the idea of resolutions, for me it is a classic setup for something I will then resist doing. Things I want to do in the new year I was already doing in the old one, and case in point I was at the gym yesterday. I had also reduced the days in a week when I have a glass of wine. "Dry January" has become a thing and I've done them before (plus other months) as a reset, it helps keep snacks and sugar out of the diet. On Dec. 26 last year the Washington Post ran an article about Damp January but I'd already begun such a strategy back in October or November.

Damp January works for many people because it’s not all or nothing. If your goal is to reduce your drinking by 30 percent and you fall a little short, that still counts as a success. If you find even small reductions in your drinking are impossible then that could signal the need for professional help.

A glass of wine has been part of dinner a few times a week because it goes well with food and for mood improvement. Sugar (snacking) also can serve that purpose. But walking and the gym also help with the mood, so it is a combination approach to getting through the shortest darkest days without the SAD effects that come calling. My damp autumn is a pattern to continue with, weather dry or damp with the outcome being less snacking in the evening.

Now if I could just get past the winter allergies ("Mountain cedar" are juniper trees that release pollen this time of year, resulting in "cedar fever" or watery eyes, coughing, sneezing, etc.) It's a low-grade headache and watery eyes for me. I should wear a facemask when I walk the dogs.

In the simple housekeeping category, I've opened a gift given my by my neighbor - she loves the Pyrex food containers that have a sturdy plastic snap on top, and has swapped out most of her all-plastic containers for these. I am glad to have these but need to figure out where they can fit so they're easy enough to stack and reach when needed. There is no place available now, all of my cupboards are well organized, so this requires moving things around.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 23 - 08:37 PM

The other thread is closed to make the transition to this one tidier.

This evening a "ca-ching" noise on my phone was like a harbinger of things to come - an eBay listing sold. I'll mail it on Tuesday when the post office opens again. It is a tablet from Amazon (Fire) that I replaced during the year (Samsung is a regular Android device; anything from Amazon is kind-of Android-lite but difficult to use for non-Amazon purposes). I've trimmed down the number of devices I use by deploying things that are more versatile (the Samsung is more like a laptop and I have a bluetooth keyboard to use with it.)

There's a lot to clear out, so I'll be running the dishwasher to clean limestone from glasses I bought several years ago and other things stacked in that room. I have a lot of sewing projects to plan and deploy, and more. This will be a busy year.

Subject: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 23 - 03:52 PM

Time to start a new one. Housekeeping in public, a little corner of Mudcat where those of us who got here via music are sorting out all of the stuff we have in our houses, apartments, condos, dwellings . . . including the overage of musical materials.

This is going to be a toxic year, because it is a political year like none other in recent history. Do what you need to keep your mental health in good order by consuming healthy amounts of news and social media. Play and sing music, view other forms of art, and by all means make art.

My front room (the eBay stuff room) was crammed full of things moved out of the rest of the house during the holidays and now I need to start unstuffing it. This will be a major project this year, I've been aware of that for a while. As the rest of the house gets more organized, this is is the equivalent of Dorian's portrait in the attic showing the strain of not decluttering as much as I could have (and buying more things for listing on eBay than I've actually gotten around to listing).

Here is the 2023 thread. As always, a nod to Katlaughing who loved these and kept them going for quite a while. We've been here since before Marie Kondo and Swedish Death Cleaning. A nod to Don Aslett's Clutter's Last Stand. Do what works and share your successes or plans. And travels and cat and family news, and some cooking - it is a benign domestic space for 2024.