DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 May 24 - 05:36 PM

That is a great gift, Charmion! The friend staying with me spent her actual birthday last week down at Texas A&M to see her grandson graduate. Her daughter, the grandson's aunt, paid his way through (he also worked and had summer jobs). Graduating free of debt lets young people get on with their lives. (In the US the private college loan industry is a major scandal.)

Great news about the pants!

This morning I read about a new variant called "FLiRT" and from the Washington Post "The acronym was coined to describe a combination of mutations found in the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus."

Lunch was accomplished and tomorrow we will set chairs on the porch and await the UPS truck. They've rescheduled delivery for around noon. (Note to self - must get that doorbell fixed.)

Dog collars came in and were insanely huge. I ordered by the length of the collar, they fulfilled by the dog neck circumference. Those two numbers are not the same. Will try again tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 May 24 - 10:37 AM

I just heard the trash collection truck pass the house but a heavy thunderstorm is raging and I didn't wade through it to put my small bag at the curb. It can wait till Monday. This is one of those days that after dawn it managed to get darker and darker until the dusk-to-dawn porch lights came on again. I have to be careful where I walk so I don't trip over Pepper who lurks closeby during storms. (There was a terrific clap of thunder at about 3am; my guest said she got up to use the bathroom and Pepper was hunkered down in that bathtub.)

It is with this weather we are waiting for UPS to deliver the oxygen machine and my friend's daughter is supposed to take her to lunch then drive her to Dallas. I think some of those plans are going to be on hold unless she arrives by boat. This rainy spring has allowed the grass and weeds to flourish but kept the soil to wet to work with the tiller. If my garden was already in it would be glorious (if it didn't drown; I do raised beds mostly but some areas get real soggy.)

A dog bed foam core got a bunch of dish soap massaged in this morning and is now soaking in the other tub. The newest bed, an expensive one, was ground zero for Cookie's skunk rubbing when she first ran in through the dog door.

This is the week from hell that just keeps on giving. The background soundtrack is the blare of warnings from my new weather radio. (A bright spot appeared, however: a new-to-me quilting program showed up today on PBS.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 May 24 - 11:58 AM

I spent time viewing the new videos on YouTube and got an interesting tip (if I go try it a few times I might remember it) and helpful discussion of "negative space" to highlight designs, but most of the segments were in a direction I'm not interested in traveling, with high-tech computerized patterns, laser cutters and dies for fabric, and automated computerized quilting (the final stitching part all over the completed "quilt sandwich.")

A clear day after a soggy week means it's too soon for yard work. Today is for making a batch of hummus to deliver to a friend who had major dental surgery and soft foods are required. I offered to make this because the soft food defaults she suggested of jello and pudding have so much sugar they can contribute to any infection, to say nothing of empty calories. The chickpeas are cooked and cooled and I'll make the dip this morning to deliver later. Serve with soft pita bread.

The messy event today will be bathing dog. Pepper got one Wednesday night but still has skunk on her (regular shampoo can't cut it) and the skunk shampoo has arrived. Cookie also needs a bath and a clean collar. The skunked dog bed is almost finished. After spraying and soaping and soaking, it wasn't draining so I put it in the washer with some wet towels as counterweight and ran it on spin only. After a little more air drying I'll zip the cover back on. Fingers crossed no more skunks enter the yard.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 17 May 24 - 12:32 PM

Rain is coming down in stair-rods today, inconvenient but welcome because it's washing a powerful whiff of freshly spread manure out of the air. Monday is Victoria Day, which means this weekend will bring the summer's first major wave of tourists and theatre-goers. So easy downtown parking is over until the middle of October.

As of this morning, I'm down 4.5 Kg and a size in trousers. The property is tidier than it has been since Edmund died, thanks to the garden services company I signed up with in March. I am most delighted that their crew cleared away all the deadfall maple branches, including the great stack -- three winters' worth -- I had piled up behind the woodshed. In the house, I have made a tentative arrangement to be rid of the queen-sized metal-framed bedstead that is too big for either bedroom in this house, and to replace it with a Mission-style twin bedstead (currently stashed in the basement) that will do me fine for the foreseeable future.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 24 - 11:03 AM

Charmion, congratulations on the weight loss and the removal of the branches from the yard. I don't know if the extra protein affects things like hair thickness or skin appearance - but I do notice that I have to wash my hair a day or two earlier than usual (with long hair I'd gotten to where I could wash it every five to six days, now I can hardly stand it by day four.)

I started a pile of branches at the back of the yard for bulky waste removal next month and they serve a second purpose until then, that of high water early warning. If the creek rises they will float and I'll be able to see from the house.

Hummus delivered, then a gym workout and shopping trip accomplished. The too-large online order of collars delivered to the return dropoff point and a visit to the pet store bagged two collars and a leash for just under the same price (two of the items were on clearance). The dog baths were postponed till this morning. At least Cookie; I'm of a mixed mind about washing Pepper again. I have to check her neck for skunk - I have the proper product to spray now so may go with that and see if it is enough to kill the smell.

A new mop was picked up (Lowe's) and several refills (to be on the safe side). It has a lever to wring out the mop head that might be more efficient than the last one but it doesn't have a green (Scotch non scratch pad) scrubber edge. I'm going over the areas previously mopped to see if I can get more of the generalized smell that is still present in certain areas. There are no refills for the old mop handle so I think it will be headed to the dump. Alas. It served me well (I bought it when I moved in here in 2002). I wonder if I could convert it to some kind of a gripper for high-up items?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 24 - 04:21 PM

There has been a major amount of cleaning but also reorganizing dog world here. It had started in March with the loss of Zeke, but has accelerated now with replacing stinky stuff.

The Invisible Fence devices are each attached to new collars the dogs are wearing, but they also have a second collar that is the everyday one that stays on when we leave the yard for walks. That has the rabies tag and these girls both need new legible name tags. Times have changed - I look online and there are digital tags matched to types of phone, tags with QR codes, tags with Android or Apple apps, and lots of expensive collar gadgets that I expect these two would tear up in no-time-flat. So the embossed metal tag is fine, and I'll go make them at the local pet store. The new leash is a different color to make Cookie's gear easy to differentiate from Pepper's. I've always used what I had here, and they were all red, but then had to figure out which head collar was fitted to which dog (I use the Gentle Leader collar and it stays on the end of the leash when we return to the house.) Now Cookie has a pretty blue leash.

Cookie is clean and I smell like dog shampoo for all of the shaking off that she got away with (the remedy is to grab their nose or muzzle to stop it, because the shake always starts at the head end. Even knowing that trick, she still got me good the first time). That girl does not like a bath. I usually bathe them with a hose in the yard and they're fastened to a leash and can't get away. This was in the tub where they're pretty slippery. It's a good thing the strainer was in place because between them they'd have sent a major hair clog down the drain. They normally don't get baths often, usually spring and fall when the weather is good.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 May 24 - 02:06 PM

Lately I’ve noticed both cats struggling a bit to make the leap to the kitchen counter. Isobel teeters and makes a couple of false starts before launch but usually achieves the objective, but Watson — all nine kilos of him — sometimes misses the target entirely. I kept their water fountain on the counter to encourage them to jump, as well as because it’s easier to maintain up there, but today I moved it to the floor. Watson in particular needs easy access to water, and so far he has refused to learn to climb the two-step kitchen ladder. (Mystery — stairs are an open book.)

Of course, Watson will continue his counter-cruising ways, but I’m very aware that he’s coming up on his tenth birthday and showing evidence of arthritis in his lower back. When Bill was that age, he had trouble twisting around to wash the area above his tail and soon after simply stopped jumping any higher than the lap of a seated human. It’s quite a while since I last saw Watson attending to the fur on his lumbar spine, and now he’s not jumping as well as he used to …

And to those who disapprove of cats on the counter, just why do you think I buy Lysol?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 24 - 03:21 PM

Like you can control having cats on the counter? I have a large tea kettle of water that I always put over the last burner I used so there would be no accidental burned feet when I turned my back (I still do that, for general reasons now). We use Formula 409 around these parts. I give the dogs glucosamine and the friend I cat sit for gives her cats the same; it's inexpensive and it does seem to help with some of the arthritis onset or symptoms. (Hers comes in capsules that are pulled open and the powder sprinkled over food. The dogs get a treat-flavored tablet.)

Here's the ADHD circuitry when it comes to this year's overgrown garden areas: I have some cannas put in temporarily near the driveway (last year) needing to be moved to the other side of the house where I started a bed with some of them. That bed needs edging, and I need to get some stakes for the edging I have (stakes long lost or misplaced). I need mulch for the canna bed and for the garden. I get free mulch from a city park site (they call it compost though it is all wood chips) but I always overfill the bags and struggle to move them and don't use them easily so they sit in place (as I take a bucket over to fill from them) before they finally fall apart and the rest of the mulch goes into the nearest garden. I need to dig garden beds but the driveway cannas are in the way, etc. Most people see an easy starting point, but I can think that job in circles. This afternoon I decided to break the mulch part of the puzzle by taking a different tack and ordered a dozen burlap bags of a modest size (22" x 40") to use for the free compost. I put a tarp in the SUV to put messy stuff on and I should be able to fill a half-dozen or more of these bags and bring them home, all being a good size to carry without dragging or straining my back. No more large plastic contractor bags for now. I should also head to the local nursery and buy the stakes and stop bypassing that project.

I gave myself a break this weekend by deciding not to make the 2.5-hour round trip drive to the friend's birthday brunch. None of my other family members here were going to go (various health issues) and that drive all by myself - I have a lot of long drives on open roads left in me, but purposely spending a couple of hours driving around in Dallas traffic, no thank you. I sent her a note, she called, and she may be by tomorrow to pick up some flowers I picked that she wants to dry. (They're off of the elephant garlic - even in the trunk her car is going to smell like an Italian restaurant on the 5-hour drive west to where she lives now with her son. It beats the skunk we had in the house, though.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 20 May 24 - 11:02 AM

Now Watson is drinking from the glass of water I left on the counter beside the sink.

My intentions are irrelevant. Cats do what they please.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 24 - 11:38 AM

I woke one night to hear the gentle lapping of my cat drinking out of my bedside glass of water. After that I always covered it. (I am sure I've told this one before.)

This morning I am headed to the greenhouse to declutter. Before I go shopping for stakes for steel edging I need to retrieve what might be stashed (and long forgotten). There's also a spare plastic wading pool taking up space that needs listing on one of the donation groups.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 24 - 04:27 PM

So much going on in the greenhouse! I found the brush-cutter attachment for my gas trimmer that could get some use in the back yard beyond the fence. The manual is out now so I can see how to set it up. I also have the glue for the metal string guides to stay put in the regular line feeder cap.

While digging and weeding cannas yesterday I punctured the soaker hose so retrieved another as replacement. I'll be able to mend the cut one for someplace else in the yard. I have lots of mending kits, quick couplers, etc. around here to do with soaker hoses in the summer.

The cannas beds have been weeded and a few need transplanting (they always manage to pop new ones up outside of the metal edging where they're vulnerable to the trimmer.) The metal stakes for the edging haven't turned up yet, but I have a lot more of the greenhouse to clear out before I resort to buying new. I'll list the spare wading pool this evening (there's still one pool in the greenhouse that will be used again in the front yard for the little floating solar fountain).

I'm inside now because it is 93^o and I need to pace myself to get anything done out there. Drinking decaf iced tea to stay hydrated. Welcome to Spring in Texas.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 20 May 24 - 05:33 PM

Stilly, I've been thinking about your comment about changes after shifting to low-carb, high-fat eating.

For years, I have put up with lower-gut problems (diverticulosis) and minor gingivitis. Both are in abeyance -- not so much as a twinge from either end of the alimentary canal since about a week after I started this regimen. I haven't used shampoo for years as I don't seem to need it, and my hair is just as limp, fine and fly-away as it ever was, and no greasier. My fingernails also seem unchanged: as soon as they clear my fingertips, they chip and break. I keep them clipped down close to the quick, all the better for playing the mandolin.

I just finished an excellent book about ketogenic eating: "The Case for Keto" by Gary Taubes. I find it very convincing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 24 - 09:48 PM

I have an earlier book by Taubes; I poked around to find it in my Amazon orders. From 2008, Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health; I probably bought it after listening to an interview on a local NPR program (that is responsible for many of my book purchases over the years). This book ties in with the research I've done recently to do with Dr. Amen and his "brain types" - in general the reactions of the ADHD brain to different types of foods. I read some of the Taubes book when it arrived but didn't finish; it's now on the stack I'm working on at bedtime.

The greenhouse is looking much better, after the broad strokes of moving large objects (black plastic nursery pots, my burning barrel, a 10-gallon pot full of cedar shakes as fire starters, etc.) and sweeping. I found the steel edging stakes I need and I have organized some of the watering stuff (various sprinklers and attachments) and native tree trimming mulch barrels. Tomorrow I'll put in some of the edging around the new canna bed. The burlap sacks arrived today so tomorrow I'll go get some mulch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 21 May 24 - 10:33 AM

Decaf iced tea sounds like a good idea, I'll have to order some fresh and try keeping that around if I ever get a real kitchen. I dearly love seltzers and other fizzy but non-sugary non-caffeine things, but the usurous pricing is really getting on my nerves.

Went out yesterday to look at a house way outside of town, and I really liked it. Very wide-open-spaces top-of-the-world feel to it. Clean, airy, new appliances, would be move-in-ready once vacant, and the owners can leave whenever is in the contract, not contingent on finding their own place. Seems like they will be RVing!

So, its on to the prequalifying hassle, then I'd better do some water and land research before making an offer.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 May 24 - 11:11 AM

Patty, good luck with the house! Research is your best friend when you're doing this hunting and it sounds like you've got that routine figured out.

I wasn't giving up the caffeine in my tea without a fight (since by definition you've already removed a lot of the flavor). I won't list the ones I rejected, just the two loose black teas that IMHO are acceptable: Tealyra organic Decaf Orange Pekoe Ceylon (4 and 8 ounce packages), and Harney & Sons decaf Earl Grey (4 ounce tin and ziplock bags up to a pound). If I had to choose just one, I'd go with the Earl Grey. I've also started drinking the never-had-caffeine Rooibos (red tea from South Africa, technically a tisane since it isn't camelia-based tea). Straight Rooibos is nice, and Tealyra has an Earl Grey flavored Rooibos (Bergamot flowers are added) that is wonderful as iced tea. All on Amazon.

The burlap bags arrived with their usual burlap smell so they'll live in the garage for a while. Cookie goes to the vet today and on my way back I'll stop at the compost/mulch bunker and fill a few bags. (Cookie sits in the middle seat of the SUV with her leash tied to the headrest or she would be hopping in the front with me, so she'll be ok at the bunker.) The outer box of the bags parcel had "Heavy" stickers on each side. I need to keep those for when I list the White 1927 sewing machine on eBay. Now THAT is heavy!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 May 24 - 04:45 PM

The queen-sized bed will leave the house next week. On the same day, my grandparents’ butternut double bed will move to the guest room, and the new (to me) Mission oak bedstead will move from the basement to my bedroom.

All of this will be done by actual professional movers, guys with the right tools who won’t hurt themselves. Not cheap, until I consider the potential consequences of the alternatives.

The next thing on my agenda is shopping for a truly excellent mattress — the best I can find for my aging bones. I am delighted to note that the local mattress dealer (not a chain) now carries Tempur products, and promises the best deal in town.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 May 24 - 09:51 PM

Charmion, the big holidays, but especially Memorial Day and Labor Day in the US, are mattress selling nirvana. And there are a gazillion to choose from. Good luck with that! I need to decide what to do with the various antique bed frames I have here since I don't think my kids are going to want them. The sets in my room and my daughter's room are the most complete, the rest of the head and footboards I could offer individually for sale.

This evening I worked on the canna beds. The established bed beside the house near the back yard fence had some escapees that were transplanted back into the bed. They may not bloom this year but next year they'll be up to speed. The new bed was planted last fall at the front corner on the same side of the house; today I added a few that were moved from the driveway area where they were heeled in last fall. The steel edging will go in tomorrow.

Cookie was a good girl today (by default, since she survived the vet visit). She struggled so hard when the vet techs were clipping her nails that she broke off a dew claw, but since the vet was right there he treated it so it won't bleed or get infected. She got shots and tested for heartworm (negative - she gets the monthly treatment). I didn't realize she hadn't been in since four years ago but she's up to date now. She isn't a happy passenger in the SUV, complaining most of the way, but if I load the girls a few times and take them to walk in area parks she'll settle down.

On the way home from the vet I stopped to get a few bags of mulch. She sat in the cargo area (after hopping over the middle seat) and watched me work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 22 May 24 - 08:04 PM

I have ordered and paid the deposit on my new mattress. Canadian vendors don’t care about Memorial Day; they offered the price that’s on the website, no more and no less. That said, the price includes the base (not a box spring, but does the same job), so I’m not quite as stunned as I could be.

The last time I bought a Tempur-Pedic mattress, in 1999, it was the most expensive thing we owned that did not require either a licence plate or documentation at the land registry office. That’s no longer true, now that I possess a fine bespoke mandolin and a Martin guitar, but it’s close.

My wonky shoulder is especially looking forward to its arrival.

In other news, one can drink red wine without blowing one’s keto diet. Not much red wine, mind you, but some.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 May 24 - 11:41 PM

I tried adding wine and got the dermatitis thing again (sulfites), so if I do add it, it doesn't pay to finish a bottle over a couple of days. I would have to buy the little single serving bottles and have one very infrequently.

Congratulations on the mattress. I didn't think the Canadian stores would observe the US Memorial Day, unless you're close enough to the border that they'd get a lot of competition (but customs duty or taxes might knock out the savings). Are there any Canadian holidays that have the reputation for "white sales" and mattresses and more?

Humid today and more storms this evening. The new weather radio is startling when it goes off—a half-dozen times today, so far, and I'm tempted to lower the alert volume except it usually has news I need to hear, not ignore. My next door neighbors put a new surface on their brick driveway (something that keeps the bricks from fading?) and are supposed to wait 2 days before driving or parking on it, so they're using one car that is parked on the street during the day and up near my garage overnight (to keep it out of harm's way). Fingers crossed we don't get any hail before they can pull it back into their garage.

I have to turn off the computer and do non-screen time; I have a nice nightshirt from the thrift store (a man's size 3X shirt that on me almost reaches my knees) that has a kind of broad knit collar I don't like. I'll use the seam ripper to open that part of the shirt, remove the collar, and sew the edge back together. If I cut it off it would leave a kind of stuff rim in place.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 23 May 24 - 08:36 AM

Canada has no spring shopping extravaganza like Memorial Day. In Ontario, January is the traditional time for “white sales” — how’s that for an anachronism, in these days of multicoloured bed-linen? But American marketing patterns do affect us; we have Black Friday now, whether we want it or not.

Social media tell me that American veterans are as irked by the commercialization of Memorial Day as Canadians are by the encroachment of Christmas glitz on Remembrance Day (11 November). It’s yet another thing that serves to alienate some vets from the merry civilian world.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 24 - 12:51 PM

Charmion, our holidays are all kind of muddled. Memorial Day versus Veterans Day, and then the Fourth of July - all patriotic but were established for different reasons. Labor Day is my personal holiday (I was born on the first Monday in September and every few years my birthday lands on it.) Sales last for weeks or a whole month, and I'm not actually convinced that any prices are lowered. I think they're doubled on paper then marked as half-price, but that's me, always a skeptic.

The shirt transformation from a man's pull-over with a few buttons at the neck and a collar was successful and is comfortable once the semi-standing rib knit collar is gone. I'll have to look for another one or two next time I'm at the thrift store because a couple of my fairly worn night shirts are about to be retired. (In the cool months one can wear PJs or nightshirts several nights in a row, but in the hotter months, one or two nights are all you can manage if the house isn't super air-conditioned.)

This week an old friend from the university reconnected (through a mutual friend I ran into a few weeks ago) and in today's email we were comparing notes on thrift stores in that town (she still lives near the U). In answering her question about the thrift stores and warehouse food shopping and such I do I realized I was describing a decentralized form of commerce that works as long as you make a loop (don't waste gas) and are open-minded about what bargains you will take home to eat or wear or use in the house. Save the trips to the big box stores for the few things you have to buy new and repair parts, etc. I do order things online, but most is in person and is the luck of the draw.

The wading pool has been moved to a new home, and my greenhouse is much more approachable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 23 May 24 - 04:15 PM

I was born on the Saturday of the Labour Day weekend of 1954. "Saturday's child works hard for her living" -- did anyone ever say you were "fair of face", Stilly?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 May 24 - 12:46 PM

We are a couple of days apart only age-wise; Roz Chast did a cartoon in the New Yorker they called "A Nursery Rhyme from the American Psychiatric Society" I went looking for just now (Sept. 18, 2000, the back page, in the NYer archive):

"Monday's kid is passive-aggressive,
Tuesday's kid is compulsive-obsessive,
Wednesday's kid is hypochondriacal,
Thursdays kid is just plain maniacal.
Friday's kid is anal-retentive.
Saturday's kid is too non-attentive.
But the kid who's born on the Sabbath day -
defies diagnosis in every way."

They post the original in the poem in the description about the cartoon:
[Monday's child is fair of face/ Tuesday's child is full of grace/ Wednesday's child is full of woe/ Thursday's child has far to go/ Friday's child is loving and giving/ Saturday's child works hard for his living/ And the child that is born on the Sabbath day/ Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.]

I'll post the graphic on the shared FB page.

Imagine trying to live up to the hype of a nursery rhyme. It describes the stages of all of our lives. (That said, I suspect all of us, looking back at photos of ourselves years or decades ago must ask "I looked ok - what was I complaining about back then?)

Waiting on the mail carrier today to pick up another eBay box, as I slowly move that colorful glassware out of the house. It's an overcast day and I'm going out in a few minutes to do some trimming and mowing. Just a typical Friday. Not doing anything this weekend (Memorial Day was a holiday weekend I always dreaded as a park ranger - it's when the crowds descended on our parks, and they went from peaceful places to zoos of hot fussy people.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 May 24 - 11:53 PM

This week saw the slow untangling of garden chores as I moved the rest of the newer cannas from near the driveway over to the enlarged and now steel-edged bed on the south side of the house. I topped that with mulch (getting rid of the last black plastic bag from last fall) and tomorrow I can use the trimmer then run the tiller in the garden beside the driveway. This weekend is a big push to get some beds finally planted. Tomatoes and cucumbers and okra.

There were more carbs than usual today because I made myself a batch of pork and shrimp lomein. There is enough of the sauce/meat/vege for a couple of more bowls of noodles, that can be cooked later. I didn't make the whole large batch to make sure I stopped at one portion. I love the stuff.

Part of this eating healthier and more protein experiment also includes drinking more water. The rule of thumb about drinking eight glasses a day (what volume in that glass?) doesn't have a lot of science backing it up, but I'm reading about brain health and that being a bit dehydrated isn't good for it, so my consumption of decaf tea (hot or iced) and regular water has gone up.

When does your new mattress arrive? You said there will be movers involved?

Linn, how is your declutter going? Any more sales of stuff from out of the basement? We haven't heard from Dorothy for a while about her latest adventures, and there are lurkers who we'd like to hear from. How is everyone spending this holiday (or not) weekend as we approach summer?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 25 May 24 - 09:53 AM

The mattress is due in mid-June, Stilly. “Two to three weeks”, they said.

The movers are due on Monday afternoon. First, they will disassemble the metal-framed queen-sized bed (a complex task requiring a ratchet wrench, two kinds of screwdriver, and much better eyesight than mine), and haul its components from the guest room to the garage. The mattress and its base are destined for the dump (at 25 years old , they rate high on the ick scale), and the movers will do that deed when they finish at my house. The metal bed frame will go to Habitat for Humanity, which picks up donations on Tuesdays.

Next, they will move my grandparents’ Victorian double bed from my bedroom to the guest room. This is a break-down-and-reassemble operation that Edmund and I could have done easily, but is out of the question for me on my own.

Finally, the movers will haul the Mennonite-built single (twin) bed frame from the basement to my bedroom and assemble it there. Made of quarter-sawn oak in the Mission style, it’s so massive that I cannot even pick up the headboard by myself, let alone carry it up two flights of stairs. The new mattress is for that bed, so I’ll have to sleep in the guest room for a couple of weeks.

Why go to all this trouble, you ask? The fact is that I would prefer not to sleep by myself — or even with the cat — in a big bed. With all that acreage, it’s always in the back of my mind that Edmund’s not with me, and not just storm-stayed in Newfoundland.

As for the queen-sized bed, it’s simply too big for the guest room. Also, I never liked it much; its only virtue was its low price when we needed a bed wide enough for both of us and long enough to keep Edmund’s feet in-board. I was forever bumping my hip on the sharp top corner of the footboard, and it’s a highly effective dust-catcher.

The concert choir’s last show of the season is tonight, so by tomorrow I will have 65 sets of music to sort and return to library storage. That project will choke the music room for a couple of weeks.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 May 24 - 09:11 PM

It sounds like your change of venue bed-wise is a sound plan (with so many moving parts!) That Mission style bed sounds lovely.

Today's activities started as planned; I mowed and trim the front yard early, then my ex came over and we visited our favorite warehouse store to load up on produce. The trip home was almost over when a Cadillac in the left lane a car-length in front of me decided to make a right turn onto the side street. Never mind there is no turning right from the left lane, they gave no signal, just POW! and there they were in front of me. I hit the brakes and swerved way to the right so instead of t-boning them it was a solid thud of their passenger side into my driver side. I pulled out of the traffic lane on the side street where I landed and looked back to see the Cadillac back up into the lanes we had been in and speed south, with no intention of sharing their insurance or checking on our condition. We are fine (the glancing blow wasn't the kind of thing to cause stiff necks, etc.)

The door is a mess (it doesn't latch completely) so I can't be sure it will work properly as far as airbags and sensors. I'll empty out my usual car stuff and take it in for an adjuster when my company tells me where. I refuse to buy a car now and have another loan when I'm paying off the heat pump, so I'll have to wait out the repair. (This also clobbered the resale value). I'll be stuck with a rental for a while, and who knows how long it takes to replace at least one door. I've written it up, made a couple of maps with diagrams, taken photos, and will file a claim this evening.

I think I'll go sew for a while.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 25 May 24 - 10:45 PM

Shit, Stilly! That Cadillac was a hit-and-run for sure, and I’d bet the driver was impaired. In Canada, the turn would be a Highway Traffic Act offence (probably dangerous driving), and the take-off would be “fleeing the scene”, a serious Criminal Code offence. All in all, you encountered a major asshole. It’s such a pity you were too busy not T-boning him and not running off the road to get his plate number.

Will you make a police report? Cadillac Guy needs to be caught, someday if not now. For sure he’ll do it again, or something worse.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 May 24 - 12:49 AM

In a city of nearly a million people, the prospect of police bothering to track down a new model Cadillac that happens to have damage that fits what happened to me is never going to happen. You're right, those same things are illegal here also, and that was a major asshole who decided that running was the thing to do. There wasn't anyone around who appeared to stop who got a license. I don't know what I'd tell the police that they could act on. If my insurance company requires a report I'll file one, but it is a formality. The drivers here are really terrible in the last year or two and I'm pretty sure it's because they had to remove all of the red light cameras. We need them put back in place.

I've emptied everything out of the SUV in preparation for the trip to the adjuster on Tuesday at the soonest. Since it needs to sit in a shop for ages waiting for a new door, I don't need my spare change or various small tools and devices pilfered in the meantime. (I did hand out $5 at one street corner during a red light on my way to the grocery. That's why the change is in there.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 May 24 - 11:55 AM

The insurance company claim person called this morning and had only a few questions - she liked my report that I attached to the online claim form yesterday. Only a couple of questions remained, regarding the road conditions (clear and dry) and nature of the trip (personal use). Each state has different rules and in Texas the uninsured motorist part of the policy will probably kick in so my collision coverage doesn't pay for it. This sounds like robbing Peter to pay Paul at one company, but on paper it means that my rates won't go up if the uninsured motorist claim is approved. (One can assume that the Cadillac either had no insurance or had it but was impaired or had so many accidents that one more was going to get them in really hot water).

The door doesn't latch very well so there isn't much driving until I take back roads over to the adjuster on Tuesday. The nursery is six blocks from here (I need to pick up some bedding plants). The mulch bunker is about two miles (I might as well work on the garden since I'm not driving to the gym or other places) and might be manageable. Both of these are accessible via surface roads, no freeway driving with a wonky door.

Otherwise, laundry is in, the kitchen is looking good, and I have a lot of eBay stuff pulled out of the front room to list. I topped $300 for my 90-day sales, hitting my $100 a month goal, but I can do better. I'll do my mowing and garden work in the mornings. And it's time to get out another jigsaw for evenings after screen time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 May 24 - 10:28 AM

Just another rainy Monday in Stratford, but off to a slow start because of a 90-minute power failure. By the time the gadgets came back to life, pool class at the Y was cancelled and the last vestiges of energy and ambition had seeped out of me.

I have four file boxes of music kits to check into the choir library database. That will keep me semi-busy until the movers show up.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 24 - 11:39 AM

With a nod to summer a wool bed blanket and a shawl that usually hangs on my office chair are airing in the dryer then will be folded and zipped into the under-bed holders for at least six months. The quilt will get a delicate wash and dry then go on a shelf in the closet. Summer-weight bedding is in full force from now on, as I begin the delicate dance of "do I want the ceiling fan blowing on me or not?"

While my tea brewed I started stripping the dried oregano leaves off of stems harvested a couple of weeks ago. Two new batches are drying on the front of the Kitchen Queen and later today I'll cut more and those will start out hanging over the kitchen sink. Harvesting now before they go into full flower is best. Once all leaves are separated from the stems they'll get a bit of a crush to reduce their size and be stuffed into canning jars with lids and a loosely placed ring on top. The trick using the FoodSaver canisters is that instead of using a $20 canister for one thing (to store all of my dried herbs airtight) I put the jar into the canister and use the canister to suck out all of the air from the jar. Remove the jar to sit sealed in the pantry for a long time. Repeat. You can also use commercial jars that have screw on lids with a rubber seal inside (like spaghetti sauce jars). Again, just lightly set the lid on, don't screw it tight so that the food saver can suck all of the air out to seal it.

I just heard the Navy jets flying in formation over the house. For most of the world it is Monday, here it is Memorial Day with the noisy jet demonstrations (usually offering the Missing Man Formation of one jet missing or leaving the formation to fly straight up and away. Quite moving.)

It's already hot but I'm going to mow the back this morning, then turn my attention to the gardens, where I can come and go to cool off as needed. This is one of two "do stuff around the house without needing to drive anywhere" days. The automotive place with the adjuster is open today but the Enterprise car rental office isn't, and the first adjuster appointment is Wednesday morning. One trip across town with a wonky door is enough for this week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 May 24 - 01:44 PM

The Great Bed Swap of Glendon Road is complete, and I just have to put the sheets back on the double so I have somewhere to sleep tonight. Of course, I also have rather a lot of drifting cat hair to vacuum up, and the innermost corners of the oak bed frame to dust while they’re still accessible. But that can wait.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 May 24 - 08:51 PM

dusting?

last week I noticed my cane cabinet similar to this without roof, & doors are made of cross hatched cane was very dusty. I attacked it with a stiff brush & ended up with a number of giant dust bunnies, but most of the dust stayed where it was. Vacuuming hasn't helped much - sigh

I also have lotsa' dust under my wooden bed that the vacuum can't reach, & more in odd corners (dust jut loves corners, doesn't it?), I really need a cleaner for such jobs as my sore bits limit me pulling furniture around & reaching such places.

My older neighbour has a cleaner every 2 weeks to do her vacuuming, Mr Huff'n'Puff (cos he does! & also moans about the condition of the world & other stuff) but I don't qualify for such an Aged Care Package. A few years back a friend found someone who wanted casual cleaning work on facebook, so I might ask her.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 24 - 10:48 PM

Sandra, I've had the same idea, several times. What holds me back is the thought of pointing someone at my house and then following them around to tell them where everything is supposed to go. I might as well do it myself. I need to establish a baseline of tidiness that a house cleaner could maintain. I understand about your hutch dust, I have a lot of tough dusty areas here also. I make a point now of going around a few rooms with the microfiber duster (looks like a big feather boa on a stick) at least once a month and that has helped.

I got part of the back yard near the house and under the trees mowed before a storm threatened to move in, so put the mower away. No rain, at least not so far. I fear we're about reached the second part of this process that we went through last year - wet spring, wretchedly hot summer. The back part of the yard has a groundcover I'm encouraging so I don't mow it very often (but when I do it spreads the seeds more.) This year I must use a sprinkler or soaker hose around the house to keep the foundation from cracking wide open.

I've made a transition around the house to summer conditions and after a shower this evening will put away the bedding described earlier. Tomorrow morning I'll get into the garden again and see about planting some hot weather crops (from seed). It's a bit too soon to harvest the garlic. I have some basil I can pick and dry, and more oregano (lots of that right now). The volunteer acorn squash are a lovely surprise and I'll start picking some of them soon. I thank my compost pile for that contribution, it's a seed that didn't break down like the rest and has risen, like a Phoenix, in my side yard with probably a dozen lovely dark green squash. Now it's time for okra and cucumbers. I really love the fresh pickles I can make from home-grown cukes.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 28 May 24 - 01:46 AM

My right arm is now decluttered of the heavy plaster it has been wearing since being broken six weeks ago.

I am a happy woman again!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 May 24 - 05:30 AM

YAH!!!!!

I assume you are eyeing your stash & the project/s that you were working on before The Plaster.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 28 May 24 - 09:46 AM

Congratulations, Jennie! Do you have a stretch of physiotherapy to get your strength back?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 May 24 - 12:28 PM

Ouch, Jennie! Many things will resume with the cast off, won't they? Showers, for one! Were you able to type with it on, or do anything else that stepped in as a short-term hobby?

Yesterday there were many startling blasts from the new weather radio telling me of storms in surrounding counties; today the alarm blasts started way before dawn to alert me to the rain and wind passing through here. I stepped onto the porch this morning to retrieve two large boxes of delivered dog food and noticed small blue flowers everywhere on the ground. My vitex tree has been slow to reach prime blue color, but the blooms are glorious today (very tall and at 22 years, quite old for one of these) and I hope the wind doesn't whip the tree bare of blossoms. Normally it looks this good for a couple of weeks.

Indoor stuff today, and there is no shortage of choices in the declutter department.

I'm going to dedicate June to alternate day fasting, so I'll be getting a few foods ready for that (start eating that way now as much as possible as I go through current leftovers). The goal is to maintain a higher level of protein but get enough fiber to keep everything moving. And to go to the gym often.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 May 24 - 06:16 PM

I made a batch of my zucchini casserole (with onions, bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes and tomato sauce, a little sharp cheddar cheese and seasoned with Italian sausage). I didn't add pasta this time, to keep the carb count lower. This casserole is like a fancy marinara sauce and I'll probably eat it with roasted chicken or a pork chop, for more protein.

This afternoon I found the local police department form for reporting accidents, so I filed one, then sent a copy to the insurance company. Since it is illegal to file a false report I think this gives more credence to the accident account. With no one else stopping and no info on that other car I feel like I need to be as clear as possible that this was hit and run so I don't get penalized for the collision. (Wouldn't it be interesting if someone reading these reports sees a Cadillac report an accident with damage to their right side from the same time period? But then the PD would have to decide which version they believed, because the Caddy driver wouldn't be admitting guilt.)

We're under a hazardous weather outlook today and the forecast suggests thunderstorms are going to persist through the weekend. Good thing I have lots of indoor stuff to do. For right now it has cleared and I can go put up a piece of wire garden fencing to help prop up a couple of the new cannas put in last weekend. Two of them have toppled over and will get hit by the mower if I don't support them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 28 May 24 - 09:56 PM

I am now wearing a light brace, so am still limited with my arm - and as you can imagine, it is quite weak from six weeks of inactivity. Typing is still, therefore, slow and laborious with my left hand (I'm right handed) but at least the weight of the plaster is gone.

Physio with The Amazing Emma starts next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, my stash won't be going anywhere. It will still be waiting for me. Ukulele playing, however, hmmmm....might be able to strum.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 May 24 - 10:40 AM

Headed out in a minute to deliver the wounded Pathfinder to the adjuster and pick up a rental. The Pathfinder was emptied (last time something like this happened I didn't clear it out and had to lug all of the stuff from the lot where it was pronounced totalled, and I forgot my little stash of coins and a couple of the plastic lizards the kids gave me for dash ornaments.) I have the portable garage door opener with me (the mirror in the Pathfinder is programmable and is what I usually use). Have I thought of everything? Probably not, but I'll find that out when I get there. Now to get the door to shut and let me drive to that shop without a warning light on the dash.

More rain overnight, and I can see by the muddy footprints in the den that I need to sweep and mop soon. The consistency of the dog hair drifting now is much lighter than before, when it is just blue heeler unadulterated by the copious amounts of Labrador retriever hair. (Cue "Housewife's Lament.")

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 May 24 - 02:53 PM

Getting into the rental vehicle was interesting - my SUV is seven years old and this one is light years ahead with all of the screens and buttons. I sat in the driveway for at least 30 minutes reading the manual and adjusting a few settings, but still haven't found out how to activate the backup camera (it comes on automatically when the SUV is in reverse - nothing happens in this one.) I fear that someone played with the standard settings to turn things off, so I've brought the service manual into the house to read. I may have to pull up YouTube to learn about some of the adjustments available.

The basics are taken care of - the trip mileage setting is back to zero and I've set my two favorite radio stations. It looks like I can't use Sirius (just logging into my account would be easy - but Enterprise wants you to pay for the privilege.) They said no smoking (great!) and no animals. The girls will be fine with that.

This is a Wednesday that feels like Monday, so I expect the whole week to be a bit odd. For now, I'll take a nap.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 May 24 - 11:44 PM

A trip to the store and gas station this evening when traffic was moderate was a good first run in the rental. And I'm sold on the minivan vs SUV for the next vehicle. There are several hybrids to look into next year when I expect to be ready to make the jump. They're less expensive than SUVs (though there are fewer choices - and they're all V6, which is ok) and way less expensive than pickup trucks.

I was trying to program my garage door controller into the vehicle when there was a flash of black to my right and it seems Cookie has finally decided she can leap out of the dog stall from the top of the dog house. Next thing I know she's jumping at my door—a few hours in the garage and I almost have an animal in the vehicle. [sigh]. Return her to the yard, move the dog house so she can't make the leap again, and retry the controller. It isn't connecting so far, but in my experience it takes a couple of tries before it finally connects.

Tomorrow a push on eBay listings. I have to declutter that front room.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 30 May 24 - 11:10 AM

Well as long as we're discussing wireless electronics. I had to rent a storage space here in New Mexico for the next few months, while I wait for my house deal to close (yay!).

I dropped by the best local facility to check if they might have a unit. I was supposed to stand in the sun and crouch down to a small barred window to speak to the attendant. Who remained on the phone for quite a while rather than acknowledging my presence. So much for that dehumanization. Even if she did end her call, I'm not spending 20 minutes entering into a contract while crouching at a prison gate window.

My other choice? High tech dehumanization. The other place, now part of a national chain, had a decent office and polite young lady who signed me up with a minimum of grief. Then sent a text to my phone instructing me to sign up with google to download an app to be able to use the facility. So angry. Google Surveillance has to be involved with unlocking a storage shed, really?   Instead of actual locks we have (thoroughly hackable) electronic gates and doors, which rely on Bluetooth, which is flaky.   Nuts. I refuse to get a google account, so I had to stick the app on an iPad. No idea if the blasted thing will work when needed. And so excited about driving solo with a trailer while manipulating a touch screen.

But seriously. If there is one thing that did not need an app, it's a storage facility. I'll put up with it for a few months, then never again.

Hopefully it will be handy not only for stashing stuff from Trip 1, but will allow me to pick up a piece of furniture or two before closing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 24 - 02:14 PM

Patty, congratulations! What can you tell us about the house (without jinxing the deal)? Property or house size, interesting location? How far will you be from amenities? Good luck negotiating the storage access. I used a storage facility in New Mexico for a couple of years in the late 1990s when I was planning to move there. Nothing high-tech about it. When I went to finally move that stuff out my ID was all I needed to get the guy to use bolt cutters on my lock because I had brought the wrong padlock key.

Family stuff moved down from the northwest was stored in Sedillo in anticipation of the settling there. I had a house lined up, a job offer and plans to pursue a PhD at the university, but my ex's divorce attorney dragged her feet so long that the whole arrangement collapsed (I couldn't buy the house by myself until the divorce was final). There is a coda: two months later I was diagnosed with cancer and I been in the new job, my insurance wouldn't have covered it. I stayed in the Texas job to keep my insurance after cancer. I left everything in NM storage for the time being (versus just moving to another storage locker in Texas.) In addition to that, I had a lot of stuff from the marital home that I put in pods when I moved out, so when I moved into this house I had the locker contents and two pods to move in. Two rooms here were packed full and unusable until I sorted it. Now only the front room is storage (though for quite a while it was in use as the library and watching TV). It is filled with the evidence of the Goodwill habit and family trunks and antiques I'm not planning to keep. That sums up the bulk of my current declutter challenge.

More thunderstorms today. I should dive into the contents of that front room and see what is easy to list next.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 May 24 - 04:31 PM

I just made a distressing discovery.

For a couple of years, I've had several hand-knotted Asian rugs stowed on top of the three-section IDEA storage shelving in the basement. They are rolled and tied, and wrapped in the plastic in which they came home from the cleaners. Now that the shelving unit is more than half empty, I hauled them down this afternoon to move them to a more accessible place. Two of them -- my favourites! -- are crawling with moths. I did not even open the plastic, let alone unroll them to assess the damage.

So tomorrow I have to call the rug cleaners.

Effing hell.

In other news, the ReStore guys from Habitat for Humanity have hauled away the excess bed frame.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 May 24 - 04:32 PM

IKEA. I meant IKEA.

But you knew that. I hope.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 24 - 05:56 PM

That is so disappointing! You don't happen to have a large chest freezer, do you, that you can quickly put them all into? At least stop the damage at this point in time. (That's my library response - wet books? Freeze them. Infested books? Freeze them. Mildew, etc. )

I have been puttering with the electronic equipment in my office to set up the double cassette player to start some of the conversion of my Dad's music tapes to digital form. Part of my clearing out the front room is putting equipment intended for this work in place. In the background MSNBC is playing, and I joined millions in listening to them read off "guilty" on all 34 charges. Sentencing happens on July 11.

Back to work. I baked some chicken and cut up and mixed it into my zucchini casserole made the other day. So good, and low-carb. I didn't miss the pasta that I used to put in it. Alternate fasting comes starting Saturday, and stepping back from carbs and sugar now gives me a head start on the adjustment period as you get used to fewer calories and less sugar. Except for terribly stormy weather today I would have headed to the gym. Maybe tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 30 May 24 - 11:08 PM

Stilly, that moving-and-storage saga sounds like quite a nightmare. I'll try to be more grateful I'm not juggling deadlines like that!

Well the house is a 2/1, stucco with newish tin roof, on a fenced acre out amidst cattle ranches. Tucked away on a long driveway off the little-traveled county road, so I won't be high-visibility, just a couple of near neighbors so not totally isolated. Has a well, new septic. View of the Cooke Range on one side and the Mimbres Valley on the other. Got renovated/updated in 2013, then got new appliances last year. High ceilings, airy, with 4 new mini-splits. Storage/mud room and small outdoor storage shed too. Slab from an old garage can either host a new tall garage or perhaps will let me enclose a teeny pool.

Sort of between Deming and Silver City, with an easy drive to both.   Not far from City of Rocks State Park. Access to remnants of the Butterfield Trail, a lot of mineral districts and 'the Gila' wilderness.

Perhaps not as convenient as in-town, but, serenity, privacy, dark sky, space, and quiet will be great. To find this, move-in ready (in July) without breaking the bank is miraculous. I suppose I will discover plenty of drawbacks, but for now it's all good.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 May 24 - 10:38 AM

Patty, I know that area, and have camped at City of Rocks State Park—it's an amazing formation. Lots of wildlife, beautiful sunsets, and so many stars at night. (And up the road from it is the unincorporated community of Dwyer, New Mexico. I noticed it on the map and had to drive past; as I recall all we saw there were a few mailboxes and an abandoned gas station on the county road.) I drove through Silver City and was interested to see the (at that time) old fashioned dirt roads and the little houses in the old neighborhoods, but then the big box stores that had all built up along the main drag. It's like a lot of small towns in the middle of seemingly empty landscapes - a magnet for shoppers in the surrounding region. I've stayed in Deming a time or two on road trips and it is a regular stop for food and gas off I-10. Deming has a tiny little old downtown area with the 2-3 story brick buildings and the rest of it kind of sprawls. I also went through one time to find Rockhound State Park for camping (we were there in cold rainy weather so didn't do any rockhounding ourselves).

I had to look up "mini splits," they sound interesting. I have all of the duct work of a heat pump here, but that sounds like it was easier to install around the house (retrofit) without ducts being added.

It sounds like you'll have a good time settling in once you take possession! Given time to get to know the area, if you decide it's time to move into town later you'll have an idea of where to go. (My friend who stayed recently moved to Arizona for about 15 years and lived in a retirement community, from age 70 to 85, made a lot of friends and was socially active. Four years ago she decided it was time for the next phase and has moved back to Texas where she lives with her oldest son. She visits the Arizona town where her sister still lives.)