DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024

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.

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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 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: 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: 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: 07 Jan 24 - 11:55 AM

The process of finding another place to settle in crosses my mind also, but there's a big asterisk - the cost of living in the place I'd like to move to is way above the costs where I am now. It requires lining up a whole bunch of ducks; though I'm herding the barnyard fowl I'm not to the point of looking for that new home yet. The wildcard stream of income is eBay and it's also one way to declutter (especially if I don't bring in new stuff for eBay for the time being.)

In this post-pandemic world it occurs to me to test prior to the prep for the gastro visit. No point in torturing myself only to postpone things if I have a silent case. I doubt I have it, but best to be certain.

Some of the holiday lights are down and the last of them will be rounded up today. That lets me pick up a sturdy outdoor power cord on the lawn, giving safe access to the front with the mower. Yes. I'll be mowing the lawn and mulching in leaves in January. Some of this will be caught in the mower bag so I can drop it into the compost bin (on top of the contents of the two kitchen waste bins that are full.) I'll top that enclosure with a piece of chicken wire to keep Cookie out. She raided it last week for some corn cobs, so dog-proofing is back in use.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jan 24 - 06:05 PM

I use the library's digital materials most often these days, audiobooks and eBooks via Libby, and I do all of my shopping in that city so they get my sales tax, but I don't live in the boundaries so I used my PO Box for years to qualify. Now that is gone so I suspect the next renewal will involve paying a fee to keep using it. I'm ok with that, I looked it up, the cost isn't a deal breaker (in the past the fee was much higher). But I hunted around and have joined the Houston Public Library with an e-card and have added that to my Libby app. This concludes a research project that I started at the end of last year.

Another change from last year is my gym routine, expanding it to add another couple of devices in my gym visits, focusing more on weight-bearing exercise. The recumbent bike is great for my knees but doesn't strengthen my bones. I started using the treadmill, but am looking to stagger it with something else. A search brought up this NIH/National Library of Medicine Surgeon General Report article table with a simple list of gym weight-bearing exercises for adults. I don't need to fool with barbells, I'll add the step machine and go back to dancing. And this brings me back to the library card - the nearest recreation center and the library are in the same city, tied together with a common logon system, and I will have to actually use regular ID at the rec center to start up the dance classes I was taking at a private studio. She lost it during COVID and now teaches at the Rec Center. The change in information at the one place might flag info at the other, but I now have a backup library (and I will be a donor there, as I should be at the local one).   

The last of the outside xmas lights are down but I didn't mow. The grass is still wet from rain yesterday, making for a gloppy job (leaving wheel ruts and it looks like a bad comb-over as the grass lies down instead of getting cut). I will rake and move the leaves from the curb in the street onto the turf, then it looks like Wednesday or Thursday will be dry enough for mulching them into the lawn. This evening I'll pack up the decorations on the mantle and be finished with the holidays.

I have a date with eBay tonight, to start up listings. If I get far enough in the front room I can move the photo cube back in there and clear the dining table for laying out sewing patterns, or possibly using it to eat on.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 24 - 11:39 PM

I've already used my new library card. I'm working my way through the Louise Penny Inspector Gamache novels and there is one novella (6.5) that the local library doesn't have as an audio book, but Houston does. So I've put a hold on that (two weeks - and it is only an hour or so, very short) and then it looks like a three week wait for book #7 from the local library.

Clean bill of health today and thank goodness I can put that behind me. A-hem.

Time to sew a new cover for the small dog bed that was stashed in the front room after the stuffing was ripped out (I replaced and mended it). The extra cover is to try to keep Cookie from tearing it up (the covers on those things are easily shredded). Really cold weather coming this weekend and it will be one more spot for a small dog to hunker down and stay warm. I have an old bedspread from my dad's house (probably mentioned last year) that is essentially a nap-less chenille that is pretty tough.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Jan 24 - 06:47 PM

Congratulations, Stilly, on the happy outcome of that uncomfortable health procedure.

A rainstorm came through last night, and decluttered the area of most of the recent snow that fell less than a week earlier. Now it looks like "mud season" although it is months too early for it. Not to worry, there are more storms in the west-to-east pipeline, I'm sure, and some of them may have snow in them.

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

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.

Charmion - do a lot of poking around in the eBay listings before you start. As you search on specific pieces, always look at the left side and click on "sold" for true prices of what things actually go for. The general listing prices are wildly unrepresentational. Sometimes selling individual pieces is fine, other times selling parts of a set or an entire set is the best way to get it out all at once. But before you start all of that, look at Replacements.com. It can serve as a benchmark to consider (if you undercut them a little on your eBay listings you'll sell more) but you can also offer the set to them. They'll offer a wholesale price, but you can pack them all up in boxes inside boxes and get rid of it all at once.

Keberoxu, there is a storm headed your way, after bouncing around the country like a ball in a pinball machine. The outflow boundary wind caused a power outage today (just a couple of hours) that gave me a chance to pull out things I have in place since the 2021 outage, and be sure they work as planned. I tested the propane stove (works great!) and the Stanley battery pack thing. I need to make one more purchase as far as the compact power supplies for in the house. This Stanley one with USB and a cigarette lighter type charger is meant mostly for a car and can jump the auto battery, so it needs to stay in the car for the cold months. I can use it in the house, but not to plug in a radio or lamp, etc. Luckily I have great neighbors with a huge generator on their back porch and they always run a line across the fence so I can do a few things with the microwave, TV, laptop, etc. I also am better situated now with a regular sleeping bag and better bedding setup (I used mummy bags during the 2021 outage for 4 days and they're difficult to get in and out of). If you have to stay indoors but without power, do you have a way to sleep warm and stay connected? A down or low-temp-rated flannel sleeping bag and a smartphone with a battery backup as a bare minimum. Stay safe, friend!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 06:40 AM

Tomorrow a trolley load of vintage Christmas decorations heads out. A friend who has a very large collection of Christmas decorations could have had them before christmas if members of her family hadn't had health problems. The collection is held in 2 shoe boxes (sneaker boxes not wimpy little fashion shoe boxes!) with extra stuff that probably could have fitted in 2 or 3 more boxes if I had them! They had been sitting on my camping chair (I haven't camped for at least 10 years) but I kept the chair when I sold my gear & kept stuff on it. Don't need to keep stuff on it anymore, so I'll ask around - we're heading to a festival late next week, & someone might like it! It's a very comfortable chair.

Several shoe boxes of small & miniature decorations went to a charity shop a few years ago, & now all I have left is a small box of cross stitch decorations I made yearly from early 90s to a few years back, plus two 6" trees & a new 2 or 3" tree given to me at christmas. Well done me! The trees live permanently on my bookcase. The small box is a piece of nostalgia - the seniors among us might just remember PUNCH CARDS! When I started in the Federal public service in 1973 we had punch card operators & they sent their cards off to "The Computer" in Head Office in these boxes. Of course I long ago covered the box in Christmas paper, & I no longer display them, but it's not easy giving craft stuff away.

I recently went thru a very large box that holds my collection of vintage fancywork & pulled out about a dozen or so pieces I want to keep, the others will slowly go back to the charity shops I bought them from!

For a couple of years I've been working on vintage embroideries, all the "useless" domestic embroideries our mothers & grandmothers decorated their lives with. No surface was undecorated - one of my favourite items are sandwich tray mats - can't put sandwiches on bare china! & I've embroidered lots of doilies & other items like pretty little pockets to put match boxes in, or dainty little handtowels, & I'll be using them to make a summer bed cover, not a quilt. I can only find pics of quilts blocks made from damaged pieces, I want to use my complete embroideries.

sandra

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 10:02 AM

The pile of garments and household items ready for Goodwill has taken over the box room. It's obviously time to pack it up and move it out. In particular, I'm targeting the my collection of aspirational and relic garments: stuff I bought thinking it would fit in a few months but never has, and stuff I used to wear but doesn't fit well now. Non-clothing items are mostly kitchen duplicates. Why did I have three sets of measuring cups? Five pudding basins of various sizes?

It's finally snowing again in Stratford, though only God knows how long it will last. The news media tell me (and tell me and tell me) that large swaths of eastern Canada and the United States are struggling with the aftereffects of major storm systems, but for once Perth County seems to be exempt. Snow is normal in January. We like normal.

Stilly, I do check eBay prices religiously, and Replacements. I also follow a Facebook group for Doulton collectors that so far seems dominated by figurines and character jugs. I hadn't considered selling to Replacements because of the border thing, but I can at least enquire.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 11:42 AM

Charmion, at one time I was rounding out my collection of Russel Wright Melamine residential Northern plates and cups (a blue confetti pattern) and had searches set up on eBay for some of the pieces. I'll be reversing that routine one of these days because I ended up with more than I needed of somethings and some that weren't quite the right color.

I think Dorothy has driven to the border to mail things on occasion - I remember her mention of that a couple of years ago. I don't know how practical that would be if you ever find yourself headed that way anyway (and if you have a box packed and customs wants to take a look - oy!). Maybe not such a great plan.

Good work, Sandra! You're finishing crocheting those things? I have a bunch that my great grandmother and great aunts must have worked on, but they're so old fashioned and I'd never find the yarn or thread they used. I learned this week that my son's partner is trying cross-stitch and I pointed my phone at the bin of skeins of 6-strand embroidery thread that if she develops a real habit I can send her way. I'm not ready to part with it yet, I still use them for some things, but I can keep a few and send the rest.

I am considering getting the new tires sooner rather than later, with possible ice coming up. Everyone may have the same idea, but I'll check what's available today. Will declutter one thing off the list that the recent inspection said was coming up soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 02:36 PM

I have crossed the border with a parcel packed and wrapped for mailing only once, in 2008 when Edmund was deployed in Afghanistan with an American formation. Fortunately for me, the border guard I encountered that day was an Army Reservist who had returned from Iraq only a few months before. If he had not accepted my recitation of the contents — coffee, marmalade, evaporated milk, socks, peanut butter and a fruitcake — the parcel would have been confiscated and destroyed. I don’t think I would get such consideration today — not that I have any inclination to drive to Buffalo any time soon. That’s a three-hour trip from Stratford.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 04:11 PM

Maggie, for me doilies are embroidered items,I was surprised to see wikipedia etc. considered them only crocheted pieces. But lots of people on Etsy etc. know they are (also) embroidered. Amongst my family treasures is an unfinished mat made by my mother. She had run out of tan stranded cotton & did a very small section in a colour that did not quite match - I had a similar problem so didn't finish it off, picky, aren't we? I don't have any of her finished items.

I don't crochet, but I can put a 2 row, 5-chain edging on a small piece of embroidery!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jan 24 - 12:19 AM

Charmion, encountering sympathetic border personnel is a great experience. I had the SUV loaded with camping gear when I wanted to take my small children to meet a friend in Mexico. The border patrol in Mexico were going to make me unload the Explorer until I told them that I wanted to take my kids to meet Benny at the import store in town (Sonoyta, a border town in Sonora, just south of Arizona). They knew who I was talking about and let us through. Whew! (And the visit with Benny was wonderful!)

Sandra, I should photograph some of the pieces here and see if they appeal to you to embroider. :) From Ireland to Connecticut to Texas to Oz.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 12 Jan 24 - 01:03 AM

Sandra et al, I have some embroidered/crocheted edge doilies made by women in my family over the years, including me.....and some crocheted doilies beautifully made by Himself's maternal grandmother....and some tatting made by my mother's Aunt Laura, including an exquisite tablecloth with a linen centre and a wide tatting border. I do enjoy using some of the pieces, and when I am no more I hope they go to an op shop (thrift store, charity shop, depending where you are in the world) to be bought by someone else who loves them for the women's work they represent.

I recall those embroideries being called "fancy work".

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Jan 24 - 05:40 AM

fancywork it is Jennie.

One of the vintage pieces I'm keeping is the last piece I bought.
It's a willow pattern in fine blue backstitch, I'd never seen anything like it so I had to have it. It wasn't till I scanned it to send the pic to a friend that I noticed every stitch was precisely over one thread. It wasn't handkerchief linen, but it isn't a coarse weave. My friends praise my fine stitching, but only a few of my stitches are over 1 thread, most are bigger, & they are very uneven!   

Maggie I love to get pics of some of your embroideries, & could send you some of mine

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jan 24 - 09:17 AM

Sandra, I'll put a note to remind myself - much of that is in a trunk in the front room with the eBay stuff. That room is simply a place to store the trunk (I think the family brought it from Ireland in 1855, it's a huge wooden thing with a wrought iron hasp on the front). I have no plans to sell it; it is something I want to keep in the family, so I need to remind my kids what it is. And Jennie will be able to see these also if I put them on FB. We can compare notes on colors and styles.

Yesterday my daughter and I had lunch across the street from the rug shop where my large Persian carpet was cleaned in 2022. The man who runs it is from Iran and has what looks like a hoarder's paradise of rugs in there (piled deep with narrow paths) but he does a lot of business out of that store and knows what he has and where it is. I took her in to introduce them (my ex is friends with this guy and that's how I learned about getting my rug cleaned there). When we walked in he was repairing the edge of an antique tapestry and she noticed - the fact that her museum's next big show is to do with antique tapestries has wheels turning and connections being made. I love it when people meet and there are complex layers to their common interests. But also it means I'm going to take over a Navajo rug that the great aunt who gave it to me said was on the floor in the family house for years, and looks it. I finally remembered to ask him about it and he will see if there is any way to restore it.

I got the new tires - time and money well spent. The old ones were a problem especially when starting through intersections after a full stop at a light or stop sign - I always had to have a very light foot to avoid slithering, a classic sign the tires were at the end of their life. And I didn't reward the Nissan dealer by asking them to match the price of Discount Tire - they've done too much bait and switch lately. They're also a lot farther from the house. And contemplating some of the running I do, I realize I don't mind the idea of driving so far to the gym and such, I really was restricting my own movements because of the tires, so this is way past time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Jan 24 - 06:36 PM

WHere I am staying, the storm that just passed through
was a rain event with the last warm air we will have for some time.
The rain finished decluttering the snow we got earlier in the week.

Now for a cold snap -- days below freezing . . .

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jan 24 - 10:17 PM

There has been a rattle for a few days in the SUV engine compartment, coming on suddenly but not triggering any warning lights. Driving back and forth to the cat-sitting gig the last two days had me wondering if I should run by Nissan, but I decided not, to just keep to a few trips until Monday. Then this evening I turned off the A/C (it runs heat and cold) and the noise stopped. It's the fan in that unit and it will need attention, but the vehicle is roadworthy, nothing is going to fall off and leave us at a standstill somewhere in the cold.

Whew.

Heavy weather arriving overnight and lasting through Wednesday, and with sub-freezing overnights through next week on Saturday. I've done as much to set up ahead of it as I can think of, and we'll see how the old Lab does this week. Arthritis and really cold weather don't go together well.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jan 24 - 12:01 PM

The cat-sitting house is now set up for the cold - water dripping in bathroom and kitchen sinks, under-sink cupboards propped to let air in but knobs with sturdy rubber bands to keep cats from exploring those spaces. She flies back Wednesday from a diving trip in the Caribbean - home will be a stark contrast to that!

I have a stack of hats, scarves, and layers on the barstool at my kitchen bar/counter next to the tall seat where I always stash my handbag, so I can assemble the layers according to the trip. Normally I would leave this stuff in the hall, but that is a narrow passage right now since I haven't moved the extra bench out of the way. Not a problem for walking through, but sometimes the dogs lie down down in that hall and are tripping hazards.

The little dog Cookie is now zipped into her jacket and once in it she's happy (putting it on is a struggle). The other two have heavy coats and are fine on the various dog beds around the living room and one in the closet of my office. That closet is pretty much the year-round sleeping spot for my Blue Heeler.

I'm betting that heading to the museum for a 2pm tour will be a wasted trip; I can't imagine anyone voluntarily museum-hopping this afternoon, but I'm on the calendar so I'll go over. It won't be wasted for me, I can do some Archives scanning while I'm there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jan 24 - 11:52 AM

One person arrived for the tour yesterday and it was a pleasant walk-through conversation that hit all of the high points I usually aim for. With groups sometimes they steer things in different directions and you can't stay totally on topic. After that I spent a couple of hours scanning since I don't think I'll be driving over there tomorrow. It isn't supposed to warm until late Wednesday and there may be more snow to deal with. The museum is a lot farther than the cat house.

Snow on the ground today, probably an inch at the most. Effing cold out there, it was 11^o when I returned from feeding cats. And as I sat for a few minutes waiting for them to finish eating the smallest guy hopped into my lap for a cuddle. Whether due to affection or a warm lap is anyone's guess.

To avoid icy bridges I drove around the block to avoid the trestle that crosses the federal depot just north of my house, only to encounter the railroad crossing bars stuck down across the road as I got near the cat house. I had to go around, meaning I drove across the huge (several times higher and longer than the federal trestle) old bridge that goes across some switching tracks near the grain silos. That bridge is off the beaten path but near a hospital so it was salted. Another "whew." I stayed long enough to take care of the medication for two visits so don't have to drive back till dinner.

This feels like a good day to bake some bread and make a pot roast or beef stew. Chicken soup. Cold weather comfort food.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jan 24 - 05:53 PM

Today I made a major clearance in the box room, including garments of Edmund’s that I could not let go before. When I get some packing paper, I can make a similar dent in the basement clutter.

I’m striking for empty shelves.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 03:39 PM

The sunroom is set up for cleaning of some eBay items and I'll be using my new battery hand-vac. Part of that involved finding the label maker and filling it with a spare cartridge I located (in a logical place but one that had eluded me for a while. The label maker will go into the same place now.) I wanted two small labels with the year two new Ryobi batteries go into service for my various devices. The two old ones still work but don't hold a charge as long. So as you can see, I have been working backwards once I decided I wanted to use the vacuum in there.

Still in the teens temperature-wise today, but it ends after tomorrow. Cat sitting also ends tomorrow. This morning all of the cats dashed out of the bedroom where they usually lurk so I closed the door behind them. They'll stay in the rest of the house today (with water and boxes) because I retrieved a mattress cover draped over the bed pillows and put it into the wash. (There's another one over the mattress and bedding itself, a plastic and cloth combo.) The door will remain closed until it dries and is put back over the pillows, and this is a 3-visit operation. I'll let my friend know that it was washed today and if they spray it tomorrow during the day it's hers to wash. Those boy cats are incorrigible. They started this the day after she left but there was no way I was going to wash this every day. Each time they hit it I spritzed on the enzyme stuff that does a good job of cutting the stain and smell. #FirstWorldProblems

It's a bright cold day today and the two younger dogs are using their heat-seaking instinct: though it's about 20^o out, when they lie in front of the greenhouse (a windbreak) they can soak in the rays and nap. Me, I'm staying in the house, and when I do go out, thank dog for remote start on the Nissan so it's warm when I get there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 04:58 PM

Today’s run to Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity is completed, and another carload of clag has left the building.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 08:11 PM

applause, well done -

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 09:51 PM

Indeed!

After tomorrow I will have more time to address the buildup in the front room, so in addition to pulling a few things to list will again organize boxes saved for shipping. They take up so much less room once they're flattened.

I haven't delivered many things to Goodwill lately, instead offering things through Freecycle and the Buy Nothing page on Facebook, but small things have accumulated in the donation bin that will be dropped off soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Jan 24 - 10:39 PM

Dupont:

I have been doing the absolute minimum for ... No sense of time!
3X Saturday BF which have been fun. A couple trips down to see Geri and give support as someone hit her car broadside and we needed to determine whether an 18 year old car is worth repairing. No! but she can still drive it after R got a window closed - permanently! So the rain could not enter! We found a car she could have bought but I backed off and left it for her to do, or not. It was only about 3 blocks away. Also had a short visit with Rita and the bonus of her daughter and grandson arriving before I left.

All the house stuff is just fine - not terrific but fine! I read a couple terrific books. HAd a second visit with the neighbour. Today was too cold to bother going out the door.

Early this aft I was wondering why I felt lousy and kind of sick in a sort of way - and realized this malaise - about a week now - seems to have started with the new green tea from the Japanese market. I reverted to the previous and started feeling better. ????

Almost 11PM and no sign of R! I am hoping for a trip to Beaver this weekend - both of us so short!
Pick up mail! and attend a community social gathering. I can take a bunch of stuff for the "take what you want Table".

Check with Steve re plowing of Driveway - lots of snow up there! And maybe ask Larry to put a fire in stove.

Have to go down to the Little Green Library tomorrow to return books! And a visit with Geri; Rita if she is not busy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: harpgirl
Date: 17 Jan 24 - 11:13 PM

well SRS and meself still interact quite a bit on Facebuns but here’s today’s story. I found some girls interested in my kayaks so I offered three of them free. I’ve accumulated five over the years. They took a red, a yellow, and a green kayak. The green fishing kayak had a terrible smell. While strapping it to the trailer, they looked into the bow hatch only to find a dead and very smelly squirrel. The yaks had been up against my fence in the backyard for several years. I was very embarrassed but hey, three free kayaks? Just squirt it out! I swear I didn’t know about it!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 01:45 AM

Decluttering kayaks! That's one I haven't heard before! I've considered getting a kayak so I can putter around the pond in the creek in my backyard to grab the plastic trash lodged in roots and branches. It washes downstream every time there is a heavy rain. Why haven't I bought one? Because if I had to roll it over back there I'd hate to end up a body in my own backyard. I'll probably find a portable canoe instead, I grew up with those on the lake where we had a cabin when I was a kid. Anyway - if I'm remembering our FB names correctly, harpgirl does a lot of magnet fishing - and that would also be a great activity for my creek. Seriously. I've picked up some interesting things that have washed downstream on the small beach, but who knows what is under water? I know there are freshwater oysters, I keep finding the shells, but there is probably a lot of metal also.

Dorothy, I'm testing/tasting a half-dozen types of herbal teas (tisanes) sent at xmas by my son. Two of them so far are on my "get more" list, and as I try each I put them in a glass jar (he mailed them in ziplock bags with the name written in Sharpie). Have you ever bought tea from the folks in Seattle at Market Spice? It's one of the first shops you run into if you walk into the Pike Place Market from Pine Street (they are to the left of the big fish market, if things haven't moved in the last 10 years).

Dorothy also mentioned the green library - probably unrelated to the Little Free Library movement over the last 20 years, but I have more books to take to the little library my neighbor keeps in her yard. I just looked at the map - she has her library listed on the site. Maybe I should build one of my own. Related to this, I'm feeling quite rich with the doubling of the online libraries I have access to now. I could add a couple of QR codes to the case to share links to Libby (there are Reddit groups that actually have people sharing their library cards to get books across systems).

This evening has been a bit of a standstill - I visited gnu's Facebook account and did some wallowing, and grabbed a few of the photos he posted. So many times I was tagged in his posts, and now that has come to an end. He died Monday, according to his nephew. Since he was posting last week it looks like whatever killed him was fast. He was in palliative care for such a short time that I hope it was also peaceful. He was two years younger than me, which adds another perspective to his passing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 02:32 AM

today I bought an 800 metre reel of Guterman ecru sewing cotton, bloke asked if I wanted the 250M reel. I said I hoped I'd live long enough to use it up, dunno how long I took using up the last reel, tho I do know I run out of the black reel during lockdown but was able to do a click & collect sale as the craft shop was nearby. What is left of these reels will go to the craft charity shop along with all my other stuff!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 11:15 AM

Sandra, my daughter learned lots of sewing tricks in her years of studying costume design and construction. I showed her the tons of old colorful thread from my mother's house, but she unrolled bits of thread from the wooden spools and gave it a quick yank - when they broke easily it meant they were too brittle for sewing. That said, I listed all of those old attractive spools on eBay with the note that they were too old for sewing and someone still bought them. I went through my old thread then and discarded a number of less-charismatic styrofoam and plastic spools.

Yesterday I picked up a bottle of my favorite Scotch and toasted our late friend gnu, but since alcohol was a significant contributor to his health problems, I will acknowledge that by resuming a dry January. I also need to work on a clean January - the house is suffering from too much dog hair and sticks dragged in through the dog door and chewed to pieces. And my own problem of things on most horizontal surfaces.

This morning while searching a couple of my usual storage places for Costco bulk OTC medications (cupboard for small things, pantry for big things) I came across a few really old Rx bottles. I was certain I'd finally tossed the old stuff last year, but nope. These are from when the kids lived here (they're in their 30s now). Those will go in the Rx disposal bin next time I'm at the pharmacy.

The anniversary of moving into this house is Valentines Day, it will be 22 years. Last week we passed Zeke's "gotcha" date (when my friend was injured he moved in with us and never left.) The friend has made a substantial recovery (head injury) over those last 12 years and we've loved having the dog (he was too strong for her so this is a win/win situation). I should get things cleaned up and have her over to celebrate.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 01:16 PM

dupont:

SRS: a little free library seems a great idea for you. Rarely went to Pikes Market. Green tea is specific to helping me deal with the barometer dropping which used to involve raging headaches. The Little Green Library (LGL), funded by the adjacent municipalities and run by volunteers has a great selection of books (FR/ENG), movies, a children's program and a large room of books for sale. Top notch!

Today: So far I have managed to get out of bed and have porridge for BF, wrote a fairly long "spirit guided" message/poem? to a friend; trying to heal from meltdown resulting from birthday 87 when I was blindsided by the last 60 years of my life - not what I wanted! The Grief group on Monday got the full effect. How do we heal?

So I am in recovery. Which is not much different from the last months of doing nothing.I pat myself on the back each time I do a little something. And cancel that which will not help me feel better. A Louise Penny book would be helpful but I have read them all. MAybe I'll go to the local library. MAybe try St. John's Wort - it usually helps - I just have to think of these things! Too cold and windy for a walk.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 02:38 PM

Dorothy, have you read any of Laura Lippman's mysteries? She is known for the Tess Monaghan series, about a Baltimore private detective (who was a journalist first). The link is to information about her and it does help to read them in sequence. She herself was a journalist for 20 years before changing careers to write mysteries, and it's a family thing—her husband is David Simon who is famous for detective programs like The Wire. (I only saw a bit of that - it seemed to be really hard boiled and violent.)

Puttering so far has resulted in steamed vegetables for the dogs, a batch of Egyptian style lentil soup and much of the paper clutter in the kitchen shredded, recycled, or filed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jan 24 - 10:19 AM

Three 1-cu boxes of CDs and DVDs are in the boot of the car, on their way to Goodwill.

While clearing those sections of basement shelf, I found the lace-up Merrell boots that I thought accidentally-maybe-on-purpose donated to Goodwill last winter. I felt a pang of buyer's remorse for the new boots I bought this winter, but recovered quickly when I remembered how chilly the rubber feet of the Merrell boots are. All those Maine hunting shoe clones have the same fault: the leather uppers are great, but the rubber bottoms conduct cold in a way that makes them unsuitable for wear in temperatures below minus 10 Celsius.

My new winter boots (purchased in Ottawa) are leather all the way to the soles, and fully lined with sheepskin. In Stratford's wussy winter I don't need them often, but nothing else will do in that one week, maybe two, when the thermometer takes a deep dive even here in the peach belt.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jan 24 - 11:12 AM

That's always interesting, when you get to review your past decisions like that. Are they headed to the Goodwill again?

I have a pair of my father's neoprene Wellington boots that aren't a bruised or cold-feet problem because they're so large I can literally step into them wearing some of my own lightweight sneakers. I rarely wear them, but when I do they are absolutely the right boot for the job. The next few days are supposed to be cold and sloppy so this is their kind of weather.

More kitchen puttering and now the peninsula counter has only things on it that are supposed to be there; 2 large Sam Scott ceramic bowls for holding fruit, onions, potatoes, etc., and the cutting board. The tray with tea stuff is tucked beside the toaster oven, and a vase holding two bunches of roses ($5 at my discount grocery) is smack in the middle cheering the whole the room.

Vintage colorful Libbey glassware is making a couple of trips through the dishwasher (to remove any limestone scale) before listing on eBay.

It's time to plant potatoes, and I have a bag of the remainder of my last crop in the fridge. It looks like after next week's rain will be the time to work the soil and plant these. It's too damned cold right now. I'll plop the asparagus roots into a bed at the same time (they've lived in my wheelbarrow for several weeks since I dug them out of the front bed, they need to move now or they'll dry up too much to use.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jan 24 - 02:40 PM

No, the Merrell boots can stay for a while yet. Besides, I wear orthotic insoles in them and their original insoles are long gone.

But I am determined to continue the clearance of stuff that I don't use, an accumulation that includes rather a lot of CDs. True child of the aspiring artistic middle class, I grew up with the assumption that all the best people maintain large libraries of both books and recorded music But the fact is that my reading and listening tastes and habits have changed radically over the last 15 years, and that's okay. Cutting back the bookcases won't cost me my intellectual credentials -- and just might help me fit myself into a two-bedroom condo when I have to.

Recorded music is a particular case in point. I see no virtue in retaining CDs as objects on shelves when I have the entire collection stored on iTunes on my computer and backed up in the cloud. If Apple goes away someday and takes my music library with it, I imagine the world will be sufficiently screwed up that I will have more urgent problems to worry about.

Preparing to decamp from this house is an "eat the elephant" project: I have to do it one bite (or carload) at a time. Today it was three cubic feet of CDs I haven't listened to since the iPod came into my life.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, my wicker armchair is back from furniture rehab with beautiful new cushions custom-made for it by the upholsterer next door to the vet. That reminds me -- gotta book the cats' needle parade.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jan 24 - 08:05 PM

The books I buy these days are usually discussed on podcasts or radio shows, and sometimes purchases are simply in solidarity with the authors. Occasionally I buy on paper to read, but it takes me a while. I get most books via the library Libby app, and while I occasionally borrow their eBooks to read on a tablet, I most often listen to unabridged audio versions. I've thinned out my bookcases a lot in the last few years. (The ceiling fell in the office back before the pandemic and I moved so many books around before the repairs that I managed to sort and discard a lot.)

I reread your discussion of three cubic feet of CDs. That's a HUGE number of CDs! I bought a 33-gallon bin of CDs a dozen years ago (a story told several times on Mudcat) that might have been about half that amount - it was over 300 discs and took two people to lift into my SUV. (An estate sale bargain - all classical - purchased for $20 for the lot. A true windfall, and I still have most of those.) You bought a lot of music over the years!

Congrats on return of your chair - I have a Mission Oak rocker that needs a reupholstered seat and the back panel; last time I asked was told it would be about $750, so it will wait till another day.

Dorothy, stay warm and comfortable and I hope you find a good book!

Another cold blast is on the way so I made a batch of chicken soup tonight.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jan 24 - 10:33 AM

An afterthought: three 1' cubes of CDs isn't the same volume as a 3' by 3' by 3' cube. Exponentially the 3' cube is 9X the amount of three 1' cubes.

The dogs have got the hang of these mornings with the dog flap closed until 5am. No impatient barking in the den today and I woke a couple of minutes before the alarm (so I'm also growing accustomed to this early morning date at the fence for a dog treat).

Tons to do today, I have a list, but I'm happy to report one small chronic issue had a simple solution. My desktop computer hums along and the side panel of the case started an annoying vibration last summer. I reach out to touch it and it stops for a while. This week I finally put a 2" piece of Scotch tape across the seam at the top edge of that panel and it stopped. Now it all issues around the house were so easily solved. The rest of my list will take a bit more time and effort.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jan 24 - 02:23 PM

Indeed, Stilly. Those three one-cubes fit neatly into the car boot with the cargo lid down, leaving room for a load of groceries.

In fact, I have nearly nine shelf-metres of CDs still to cull, in the hope of cutting back to no more than 2.4 shelf-metres (arbitrarily selected quantity). This level of precision is possible because I keep them in two 60-cm IKEA Billy bookcases with inserts on the shelves to double their CD storage capacity.

Yesterday, I also parted with eight chardonnay glasses and six bottles of wine, soon to feature as lots in a silent auction fund-raiser for the concert choir. This week, I will compose another lot with four Danish porcelain demitasses and a Bialetti moka pot.

I’ve had a nibble for Edmund’s enormous futon sofa that has been in the basement since 2017. With any luck, I’ll be rid of that soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Jan 24 - 04:33 PM

Cleaning guy skipped this week so so did I...

Luckily I have a mah jongg game. THAT room is clean. Now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jan 24 - 11:47 PM

About 10 years ago I got rid of a futon that was well built and had a great full-size mattress - in hindsight, though it was large and in the way, I wish I'd kept it. I could cover it with a tarp and then rough blankets and use it for the dogs. That said, I was tired of stubbing my toes on it.

More eBay glassware is going through the dishwasher; I'll leave it in the top rack and run it a couple of more times to clear up any limestone that might have settled on them in their previous home. Then to list these. I'd used some of my canning jar cases to store them and ended up with no place for some of my canning jars, just in regular flats in the pantry. Perhaps I can streamline those now. Moving these cases from the front room clears the space beside the small table and I may soon be able to set up the photo cube and do some of that listing work in there again. Tomorrow: selecting boxes large enough to safely pack these glasses for shipping. There will probably be a half-dozen listings (I won't sell glasses individually, only in lots.)

I washed small area rugs and mats that have been in the dog crate today; tomorrow will be the covers of dog mats and gently washing the foam orthopedic fillers in the tub. When you have a couple of old dogs, this is a frequent activity.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jan 24 - 03:59 PM

Today's advance research shows no sales with large numbers of glasses going at once, they tend to be sold in lots of 2, 3, or 4; very few sold individually. The good news is that smaller boxes are easier to pack and ship. eBay gets a discount for sellers regardless of the shipper, and I usually ship USPS, but will keep similar sized un-branded boxes handy in case someone wants to ship UPS. (I offer both on my sales.)

I mentioned buying a bag of flour at the dollar store on xmas eve because I was almost out and would have no other time to shop before my family event; that flour was a help but I didn't use much. Since then baking with it reveals that it's pretty awful. Rolls don't rise as well, it's hard to mix into batter (lumpy) even after sifting. The final straw was a deflated batch of dinner rolls on Saturday—I tossed the rolls then tossed the rest of the flour and have Costco organic flour to make more rolls today. Such a disappointment (but the dogs got lucky and each ate a couple of rolls.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jan 24 - 10:51 AM

Snowing again — or still? — in Stratford. All the snow that should have fallen between Remembrance Day and New Year’s has arrived late and brought friends.

Another bag of Goodwill-bound clag will leave the house this afternoon, after the nice lad from Nick’s Snow Removal has cleared my driveway.

I swear that’s the best $650.00 I spend in any given year.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Jan 24 - 07:05 PM

Snow has arrived in southwestern New England as well,
and may turn to freezing rain (ugh)
as the temperatures rise in the next day or two.
At least we have temperatures above freezing now,
for a week or so it had been bitterly cold here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jan 24 - 09:48 PM

No snow down here, only rain, so no need for anyone to bail water out of my driveway. Has your cough cleared up completely, Keb?

On Thursday I'm going to restart dance class. The studio I went to before I retired closed during COVID, and I had knee issues so didn't try to find a new place. Last year the instructor moved to the nearby rec center two evenings a week. I've learned that my Silver Sneakers account gets me into the center free (no penalty for living out of the city limits and the class cost is modest). Thursday is when there are a back-to-back classes and I'll choose to either re-do Beginners or get back into the Intermediate group. Since I won't have an annual fee to join the center I put that money into some gear for the class. This center also has fitness rooms so I'll also start going there for the treadmill and recumbent bike. I'll still go to the other gym; it has the pool and a lot of other stuff, plus much longer hours, but I won't go as often.

There was good luck today with eBay research, the discovery that a $5 Goodwill find is a Sheffield silver plate tureen. Those stamped hallmarks are difficult to figure out and I had been looking at it upside down, but I found the exact maker. There is silver plate, and then there is Sheffield silverplate.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Jan 24 - 08:00 PM

I have yet to declutter myself of the cough.
It has subsided to be a mild annoyance.

I am hoping for the best over the next months;
I have spoken to so many people, a few of them physicians,
who testify to a cough that persists months after the rest of the symptoms clear.
But eventually the cough clears up as well, it just takes a long time.

So I am staying away from inhalers for now,
and nursing the cough with medicated cough drops.
It's worst in the evening,
and best in the morning.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 24 - 10:28 PM

This evening I signed up for a weekly class starting tomorrow evening. This rec center is an easy mile away and I may add a couple of other classes later. After I had signed up I stepped into the back room where a stretching class was going tonight, same instructor, and it was old home week - three friends from the old studio. This is going to be good socially as well as for exercise. (Interestingly, everyone has lost weight since we were last together - we all seem to have been working on our health and fitness despite the setbacks of COVID in recent years.)

The items now on eBay are packed for shipping and stacked on the sideboard in the den; tomorrow I'll get a few more boxes and add listings.

In dog world these days I'm walking out into the backyard two or three times a day, luring them out with peanuts or other treats, though usually they just follow me because that's what they do. The dog door is there but by the time the old guy realizes he needs to head out he doesn't always get outside in time. Yet another accommodation for a really old dog.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jan 24 - 02:27 PM

Class was . . . interesting. A community recreation center is a well-used space and trying to hold an evening dance class in a room with a clean floor is a challenge. Using the restrooms for changing is a no-go, so dressing for class at home and walking through the parking lot in dance gear is the best bet. And it seems this will only happen for another month or so, then will move to the next town over (where I used to work). The new location is a few miles closer than the university, but it is something to take under consideration (there is a lot of road construction making a detour necessary). It has been several years since I took the classes so I need to do a lot of review. The first class was a nice workout. And even if the classes move out of that facility, the fitness rooms are still there to be used.

Seeing movement on eBay; an item sold and ships today. It's one I revised a little and that was enough to attract interest. More listings going up later today.

Meanwhile, I've been watching the PBS sewing and quilting programs and one program offered an interesting technique for making the quilting part of a project look good, especially for beginners. Calling it "sloppy woppy" they use a backing fabric with an interesting pattern that can be followed (around the edges) using free motion quilting. The result is the bobbin thread ends up on the top and an attractive pattern appears in the quilting. To remember this technique I picked up a couple of yards of fabric that would work for this, and I'll add my note and the episode information. Something to follow up on.

Next door to the fabric shop is the liquor store, and I stepped in to ask about low or non-sulfite wines. They used to have a section of them, but had only one bottle now that has the claim that sulfites are removed. A very helpful staff member reminded me that in the US they add sulfites to wine as a preservative. All wines have some sulfites, but European wines aren't supposed to be adulterated; none are added. I used to know this. I'll look into the comparable levels and see if switching to European wines would solve the allergic reaction I think sulfites are causing. Stopping wine for now seems to help, so if the lower levels are still too much, wine will be infrequent on my menu.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Jan 24 - 10:16 PM

Sulfites can cause one to try to breathe but can't. A high dose will kill but low doses resemble mild asthma. Some preservative huh?

I won't be practicing every other day until a finger heals but it may take a long time. The first day of an injury doesn't tell me much except ow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jan 24 - 01:22 AM

Aw. Practicing what? What instrument do you play? (I play piano, and hate to try to remember the last time I sat down at the keyboard.) This account of sulfites is another dermatitis reaction; breathing isn't an issue. I'll have to backtrack to see why I was looking into it before, but it may turn out that I was not yet sure that coconut was my primary allergy problem. Sulfites are a sub problem.

NetFlix finally caught up with our family sharing plan today. Because of this I added a family member for $8, and now I can't see his named profile and he can't see mine, but he doesn't lose years worth of lists and viewing history on his profile. (Through high school he streamed various programs as he did his homework in his bedroom, then kept the account through college three states away - I asked NetFlix if this was ok and they said yes - and just for pure stubbornness we kept it up. He is almost 31 and still on my NetFlix account.)

We're nearing the end of January. What are our lurkers doing? Jon, we haven't heard from you in a while - how is your health, how are your parents, and what are you working on? Patty, where are you these days? In Arizona for the winter or some other southern state? Jennie and Maryanne and others - what's up?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Jan 24 - 11:40 AM

Things are actually pretty organized around here, so of course I spent a loooooong time today and yesterday looking for things.

Today I wanted a particular vest (I have many), and while I haven't been hanging them back in the closet while recovering from that neck surgery, they were almost all missing. Eventually remembered the (neat) pile of vests I'd collected from around the house, but not yet hung up, sitting in the clean laundry basket under other clean laundry folded but not yet put away...

Yesterday, could not find my phone. It had been RIGHT HERE before my shower, after, was nowhere. This is why I have a landline, but my ringer was off from work, earlier, so picture nekkidity in long wet hair (no hat) calling, then running over to sit on the couch, or the bed, or... to see if I could feel them vibrate. Eventually located in the pocket of my bathrobe. Sigh.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jan 24 - 01:22 PM

Mrrzy, that sounds like a classic senior moment (glad to read you're healing well). Too bad you didn't put on your robe while you made the search, you'd have saved a few steps! When I got rid of the house phone I ported it to a cell phone and then ported it to Google Voice (you can't go directly from landline to Google, they only port from cellular phone companies). I use the desktop or tablet's Chrome browser where Voice turns phone numbers on web pages into links it will call, forwarding it to my cell phone. As long as it is ringing on my phone the call hasn't gone through, so I find it, answer, then hang up immediately before it connects.

Despite it still being January it is time to declutter my bedding of the down comforter. It's too cumbersome, and now that it isn't quite as cold out, I overheat any time the furnace comes on during the night. Back to layers of blankets and the quilt.

It's time to do some planting. Potatoes can go in, and if I get an area cleared near the kitchen door, onion sets. (I usually put onions in the same general area as herbs and garlic. Garlic was planted last fall and there is year-round oregano and thyme in the ground).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Jan 24 - 02:36 PM

senior moment?? - I had 2 recently - gloom, desolation

I turned up 24 hours early for the first Craft group of the year, & a few days before rushed out for noon lunch - no time to get to the Post Office to post an urgent letter & of course no stamps in my wallet - & arrived 30 mins early. So I went to the Post Office the next day - no letter in my bag!! Finally posted it the following day ...

Sandra - closing in on Three Score & Twelve

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Jan 24 - 10:26 PM

I just noticed my class schedule was a week off from the catalog... going with the catalog.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jan 24 - 01:04 PM

Income taxes have been calculated, and once again I'm glad my past self went in and increased the withholding on the pension from the ex. The tax refund will be small, but most importantly, I'm not having to pay more out of pocket. I don't always calculate them this early, but with the pension finally landing in the bank in a lump sum I figured I'd better see what the tax damage was.

Today's goal is to clear the various colored drinking glass sets off of my kitchen counter. They need to be photographed. Where I have multiple boxes of identical glassware I'm color-coding the sets with some small plastic keychain things set in the background. Since my photos are part of the description on eBay this helps avoid a box mixup when I ship.

Great night's sleep last night in a bed with just blankets - and I am going to declutter my closet of the down comforter. It's too bulky, and the duvet magnifies the difficulties. I'll offer the comforter to my son in the colder climate, but if he doesn't want it, I'll look at my other options. The duvet is coming off and possibly taken apart (it is two large top sheets stitched around the outside edges.) I have another smaller down comforter in the guest room closet for really cold weather (but I also have down sleeping bags, so perhaps all down comforters should just go away.) Does anyone know how old is too old for down to still be up to the job? I've had these sleeping bags and comforters for decades (they've been cleaned properly on occasion).

I'm noticing pronounced improvement in the dermatitis after eliminating wine from the diet for a few weeks. A thought occurs - I had picked up boxes of wine lately, but I wonder if that storage method has more preservative than bottled? More research ahead.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jan 24 - 11:38 AM

Mrrzy, what is your class schedule? Taking or teaching? What is your subject?

Decluttered my schedule of a meeting this morning that was going to involve complicated parking and access to the building. This after I realized it was a follow-up lecture to an event that already happened. That opens up the morning for stuff in the sunny yard.

Time to test the new battery-operated rotating scrub brush. After a wet week the floor is caked with muddy footprints by the dog door.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Jan 24 - 02:26 PM

In this case, teaching, developmental psych, pitched to grandparents. I am glad I didn't book my trip to Europe as originally planned, I'd've missed my own last class!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jan 24 - 10:34 PM

I keep getting the same error message when I tweak and resubmit my taxes through the IRS Free Fillable Forms site. It is asking me to place numbers where the form won't let me put them. I'll look at it again in the morning then may simply print and mail it. Effing nonsense. There are free versions of TurboTax, but I don't want to use or support those companies that keep things difficult (lobbying the House and Senate and contributing to campaigns to keep the difficulty factor high so people use those services). I only get $60 back, I just want to be finished with this early.

The den floor is a thatch of chewed up sticks. I'm having friends over on the weekend, so I need to tackle dog world in a way to remove the sticks and keep up with washing bedding and rugs so it doesn't start smelling like dog world.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 24 - 12:00 PM

Yesterday may have been a lesson for future tax filings - I have multiple modest revenue streams and all four issue 1099s; this number of documents doesn't align with what the free fillable forms software knows how to work with. I also realized that the social security worksheet in the 1040 book is a bunch of hooey. Instead, look at the 1099 doc that SS mailed out - it has a simple formula - if your other income is less than X, half of your SS is taxable. If you make more than X, then 85% is taxable (thank you Ronald Reagan for that gift. We were already taxed on our earnings once, and here we are again.) Trump supposedly "simplified" tax forms, but all they did was remove deductions for charitable donations, meaning charitable organization incomes went way down. Just what he wanted. And as I mentioned before, the commercial tax preparation companies want taxes to stay complicated so people will turn to them. It's a billion dollar business.

Yesterday's little list had six items on it and only one got done. I'll work today to do stuff on my own behalf, with one small thing already - carrying pruners into the backyard to trim low branches off of the Mexican plum near the porch. The lower twigs tangle in my hair when I walk the dogs out at night. Not ordinarily a problem except that these plums have long sharp thorns.

Still working on switching to a high protein breakfast; it does seem to help control the urge to snack during the day. I don't want to go full keto, but rearranging what I eat when helps. A bowl of cereal for dinner is a better time to get that fiber and carbs.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Jan 24 - 04:54 PM

The weather continues gloomy and damp in Stratford; we’ve had less than five hours of actual sunlight in the last ten days.

I did the laundry — including bed linen and towels — and put it all away. The dishes are done and the groceries bought and stowed. Having achieved that much, however, I have come to a grinding halt despite the continuing presence of cat-hair-enhanced cobwebs garlanding the dining-room curtain rod. I also have choir board meeting minutes to write. But my get-up-and-go has got up and gone.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Jan 24 - 06:49 PM

My get-up-and-go hasn't even gotten up.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 24 - 11:56 PM

My get up and go fluctuates, but this evening my dander is up. For the second time in six months someone at my doctor's office called in the wrong prescription formula to my compounding pharmacy. After many years I switched the format from capsule to a topical cream, but whoever picked up my folder to renew it called in capsules. A 90-day supply will again be destroyed by the pharmacy and they'll compound the cream.

I dug out the doctor's fax number to send a letter with a photo of the label from the current (empty) tube. This way there is no possibility of misunderstood words or numbers in a message or phone call. The refill was ordered 12 days ago. I love these folks, but this is unacceptable.

Two boxes of glasses were listed on eBay this afternoon and another one is packed and ready to list once the photos are processed (download from camera and resize). There are three more sets to photograph and pack of that size glass. Dishes done, a batch of chicken and rice finished for the rest of the week, and the stovetop cleaned (chicken thighs sauteed before adding to the rice cooker splattered).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Jan 24 - 02:08 PM

I am trying to disembarrass myself of an excess Amazon account. It's not going well.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jan 24 - 04:04 PM

Grrrr. Twice in a week now I've seen friends or their relatives' obituaries in the hometown newspaper, and both times the estranged sibling has posted remarks in the comments that have nothing to do with the deceased. Most recently was a teacher I really liked in middle school; he piped up to say he knew her daughter in high school. I'd have liked to post and share a photo. A few days ago he was rhapsodic about the long-dead neighbor we all knew who was the aunt of the dearly departed (who none of us ever met.) I wouldn't post there but I was going to share it as a really interesting and detailed obit. Trying to prevent readers there, or in my online places, from making the family connection means I'm biting my tongue. He's toxic.

Gambling is an ugly addiction. A lot of family furnishings and heirlooms went to the pawn shop and last time I checked he lost two houses and a condo because of gambling debts. Again . . . grrrr.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Feb 24 - 11:20 AM

Amazon agony continues.

Yesterday, I tried to have my Audible account "migrated" (as they say) from the US Amazon system to its Canadian analogue. I initiated the process with the American side, not knowing any better, and the agent at the other end of an absolutely terrible connection seemed to have achieved the objective after what felt like hours of twiddling but was actually about 20 minutes.

Today, I have no Canadian Audible account, no credits, and no library. Over more than 15 years of dealing with Audible, Edmund and I accumulated more than 1,000 audiobooks, and they all seem to have vanished into the ether.

The Canadian customer service agent has a magnificent Jamaican accent. His American colleague is a mush-mouthed individual whose accent I can't place, and can barely understand unless he speaks very, very slowly.

I'm very tired of Audible's hold music, about 16 bars of a complicated piano concerto that requires at least another 16 bars to come to some kind of resolution.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, my bank has stopped communicating with Quicken, the money-tracking software I use.

I am very tired of the 21st century. I would like to go back to, say, 1981 for a nice rest.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Feb 24 - 11:54 AM

I've resisted Audible but I wish you good luck in restoring the account. (Why was the shift needed? Did the company offer or compel the move?) I have a few books on the site I read on Kindle, so I'm not free of those accounts, though I only read my own eBooks on the app or read their free stuff. My library also shares eBooks via Kindle that go away once they are due. I have the idea that I'd like my kids to poke through the physical copies of my books when I'm gone and maybe decide to read a few. The rest will go to Half Price Books. eBooks aren't transferable, but the only ones I have on my tablet are current topical books that will be out of date (hopefully) by the time they would look at them.

The Quicken problem is completely understood. I used Microsoft Money and preferred it, but the death knell came when they stopped supporting it. I get the cheapest Quicken Classic Starter edition every year - it talks to my bank (except when it doesn't - I feel your pain.) My local credit union is usually the one that crashes, and Quicken updates itself all of the time. Between the two I sometimes have to go in and add stuff manually until one or the other gets its mind back.

Here in the world of a credit card expiring in three months comes the first of the nags about updating it. This card is from a credit union that doesn't send it out way early, so I'll be watching the nags for the next probably 2.5 months before I get the next card. Back at the time of knee surgery I decided to set up most of my accounts to autopay, and so far they haven't gone crazy and racked up inappropriate bills. But they do need tending.

Lovely weather this week, meaning it is time to get into the garden. Meanwhile, a friend has sent his recipe for Cranberry Bread and it looks like a good one try this week. It's a small loaf with just 2 cups of flour at the base. Easily doubled to make in a larger pan or two small ones (I like to make a small loaf for now and put one in the freezer.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Feb 24 - 01:01 PM

In my private practice I only had two gambling addiction clients and both failed to improve. Today I would replace the dopamine high with Adderal and disincentivize gambling with PHS at trigger points. It has a biochemical component that is tough to break.

I'm cranberry crazy whether it's scones cupcakes or whole soft dried cranberries trail mix. Some like it at Thanksgiving but I like it year round. Since they grow in bogs so they make sodium benzoate to stay fresh.

My finger can already make a fist so I didn't tear ligaments like I thought. It isn't Bach-worthy yet but slow jazz like Natureboy is OK

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Feb 24 - 03:01 PM

Makes sense about the brain chemistry. And sociopath stuff doesn't help. That doesn't seem to be fixable.

The recipe is essentially the same as the one in the New York Times. Cranberry Nut Bread

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Feb 24 - 05:28 PM

Doing business with Amazon and its subsidiaries is easier if you keep it all in one country. When Audible first reached into Canada, one just used the American website and lived with the hassles of doing business internationally. That was back about 2008. When Audible.ca came along, a few years ago, I was too preoccupied with other things to concern myself -- and besides, despite their promises, I was fairly sure the transfer process would not be simple or easy.

But maintaining two Amazon personas became problematic with the advent of two-factor verification -- I have only one telephone number! So I decided to consolidate all my Amazon business on the Canadian side of the border.

And then one thing led to another.

The Amazon experience is designed for Americans. The rest of us may take part, but we have to accept that everything we do is an exception to a system built for the United States.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Feb 24 - 07:51 PM

Dupont:

Ok: So! we did go to Beaver - Left here about 8:30 am on Saturday and I drove. Stopped in Madoc and R begged to go to a thrift shop "I've never been to..." - "Only a few minutes!" Almost an hour, then we took time to stop for a "lunch" at a newish resto in the middle of nowhere. That was OK and I do try to make these quick trips a bit of an adventure for him.

He drove the last hour or so and we got home to a 4C house, thanks to neighbour who got the fire going!We perked it up, turned on the electric blanket!!!! YAY!! And went on to LAke St. Peter for the event which was well worth the trip - conversations, info, connections, chess... R had to be dragged away from the chess so everyone could go home! 8 pm - children and dark night and older folks - from almost newborn to my age or more.

Home was warmer and I popped into warm bed - happy to have seen a bunch of good folks! Quiet Sunday, mostly reading, I cleared part of path to wood and let R bring in enough to fill the bays for next time. BF was some bread bought at lunch stop - apple/cinnamon. "Lupper" at Curry House. R went to grocery for - something to do? and came home with some off-beat veggies and V-8 juice. We left without the veggies but neighbour Sue responded to texts and re-homed the fresh veggies. She was helping with the wood share program and asked someone, "Is there anything else you need?" "YES!- Food!" Community at its best!

R drove first part of trip home - his preferred route which I detest. Then I drove the second part - that he detests. We even managed to pick up some business related items. And got home in good time to a home meal.

HAve done very little since. A trip to bakery, library (LGL) and groceries - and sitting with computer - between emails/news based and FB - also lots of news. Apparently we had a minor earthquake about 9:30 this morning - We didn't notice. I see we are in the middle of the solar eclipse in April. I remember experiencing one in Cape May NJ in my teens. I think we used old negatives to protect our eyes.

The house could be vacuumed - if I felt like it. Otherwise things are OK. Or maybe I have just gotten used to - for example - piles of books everywhere. When I beg the right way, boxes full go to the basement, replaced almost immediately by more!

I am still suffering the travesties of Apple - my phone and computer seem to be different each day. Everytime I go to make a call, it is VERY carefully as things are never the way they were and I really have to struggle not to put my finger in the wrong place and "call" someone I don't even know. Today's fantasy is suing Apple for all the trauma and hours of time it is taking me to find what I really want - Siri be $%^&. I want my life back but that is not going to happen so I just muddle along. I even have to re-find the instructions that I was working my way through until they disappeared. ARGHHHHHH!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Feb 24 - 12:55 PM

Sounds like the drive worked out well, Dorothy, each driving your favorite stretch of road.

I switched over to the beginner class last night, it gives more exercise value because she's going through all of the steps in the repertoire; the intermediate class is meant to use a few of the steps to learn a particular dance. I realized over the course of the week in reviewing our work last Thursday that she was going to have to re-teach me every step. I'd taken that class because I had done the beginner class several times a few years ago and the dance that all of the beginners used to perform is a bit of an earworm. It turns out it is no longer part of the summer Hafla so I don't need to worry about that tune in my head for the next few months. My arms and shoulders are feeling the workout today.

Now is the beginning of clearing and cleaning for another of our university retiree group lunches soon. The horizontal surfaces are my first challenge. I need to move all of the eBay-destined glassware off of the kitchen peninsula.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 02 Feb 24 - 11:26 PM

Lurker check-in: Doing well this winter. Just concluded a little loop to San Diego County, California, to a mineral conference. Lovely weather (well except for the hurricane winds up on a mountainy mineral hunt), got to drive through some shards of remaining Old California at orange harvest time. Spent time swimming in mineral waters at Agua Caliente county park. Acquired yet another couple of boxes of specimens, and I have just got to get a home base, if only to stop rolling with 200 pounds of rocks.   

Quartzsite was the usual craziness, good to see old friends around campfires. This weekend I'll head east across the Tohono O'odham saguaro country, and on to Deming, New Mexico. Where the home base hunt resumes. I've found a few people I can sing and play with in real life who are living there, and real estate prices are not nuts. So we'll see. Probably in the next three days some corporate landlord will have snapped up what's available.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Feb 24 - 12:14 PM

I understand about the rocks, Patty! When I was in college I worked for the Forest Service and the job took us to interesting areas via logging roads with roadcuts and creek beds that revealed minerals and crystals and formations worthy of taking samples. At one point there were two of us interested in geology and I remember a day when a boss walked up to our crew carrier in the office parking lot, opened the door, and made some disgusted remark about all of the rocks on the floor of the truck. We always took them home at the end of each shift, so it had apparently been a good haul that day. :)

Thunderstorms overnight had the blue heeler drooling and cowering around the house. I mopped up a couple of puddles, and at one point had to go out to the breaker box and restore the switch for my office. I have to get an electrician out to replace that ground fault switch (from when this used to be part of the garage) to a regular breaker. Often times storms have this affect on it. The list of wiring things needing doing is almost long enough to make an appointment.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Feb 24 - 08:33 PM

Yesterday I finally got a COVID-19 booster shot.
After having COVID about six weeks ago,
better to avoid catching it again soon.

No negative reaction to the shot, either.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Feb 24 - 10:40 AM

Good for you, Keb! Are you all caught up on the vaccinations? RSV and pneumonia - I think we are many of us "of an age" when those all can be issues. Stay healthy!

It is early February and I have concluded it is time to mow the weedy grass on both front and back lawns. It's too wet today, but if no rain for a while then later this week. Before that I need to change the mower spark plug, change the oil, and clean the air filter. I promised myself I would do the tuneup before I started mowing again. (I need to figure out if the gap on the spark plug is set properly - I don't want to buy the whole gap tool just for this one. I bought it in the lawn mower section at Home Depot, so I hope so.)

I'm feeding cats for a few days, with two of them needing more medical attention this week. They need a probiotic (to prevent the trots) given without other meds within an hour before or after. I swing by to give it then head over to the gym and 90 minutes later return to feed dinner. It gets me to the gym more often.

Friends are coming over for lunch on the 11th - since none of us watches football it doesn't matter that the stuporbowl is sometime during the day with all of the festivities around it. A week to finish cleaning house.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 04 Feb 24 - 07:18 PM

As to vaccinations:
I'm caught up on pneumonia.
I still have not had the RSV vaccine,
and I need to take the second dose
of the shingrix vaccine against the shingles.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 24 - 03:12 PM

The Shingrix vaccination is the only one that had a noticeable side effect for me - I was achy for a couple of days.

My next door neighbor mowed his lawn this morning. I've already decided I need to mow soon but it was cold and clammy today. He got it out of the way and set it so everyone else will have to mow or look like slackers. ;-) Not a problem is much of the US this time of year.

On my way back from feeding cats I finally picked up a plank that I'll treat with wood preservative and cut a piece to fit on the front of a bay window that needs the siding repaired. I've put this off way too long. The store had the same material as what is falling off now, but too narrow. For this repair I'm better with one piece treated with preservative and glued and screwed into place than putting two pieces that might have a gap between them. (They could be put on with an overlap like shakes, but that would be the only place on the house with materials like that). I'll caulk the new piece edges then paint.

Have a good Monday, everyone!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Feb 24 - 07:09 PM

This is a busy week with running and calling and mailing and picking up, enough so that it is all down on the calendar to keep track of everything. I'm still planning lunch on Sunday so have to attack the clutter on the table and counter, for starters. Clean the hall bathroom, vacuum dog hair everywhere.

harpgirl, have you found new homes for any other camping equipment? Dorothy, have you found a new home for the extra kiln? The stuff from the mill? Charmion, how is the china redistribution coming along?

I'm still working on clearing glasses this week (for eBay), with an added push to have things photographed and in boxes to clear the counter in time for Sunday lunch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Feb 24 - 08:32 PM

Edmund’s futon sofa has left the building.

It was heavy and very awkward to move, but long enough for serious napping and remarkably comfy. It has gone to a new family that needs it far more than I do.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Feb 24 - 11:17 PM

It's sad to see a good nap surface leave, I still kind of miss my old futon. But good move finding a family that needs it.

I have the setup in the garage for treating the plank (with wood preservative) for the bay window repair; if I get it started tomorrow I should be able to finish over the weekend.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Feb 24 - 09:09 AM

That futon radiated guilt at me for the last three years. It became excess to requirements as soon as I had moved the television and the books out of the basement after Edmund died, and I should have rehomed it that summer. But there was so much else to do.

When I nap, I tend to do it in the comfy chair.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Feb 24 - 11:39 AM

Ah! The chair is enough to accommodate you and any cat cuddlers. The futon worked if I chose to take a nap in a room where there were dogs - because dogs liked to join me. When I try to nap in the recliner and Cookie joins me it is always a struggle for space and balance - her weight is enough that it tips the chair upright if she's not arranged correctly. If I'm in a mood to let Cookie join me I have to clear the flattened boxes off of the sofa and stretch out there.

Grass is still soggy this morning, maybe I can mow this afternoon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Feb 24 - 08:56 PM

Success finally in getting a compounded Rx filled and picking it up.

On a The Best of Sewing With Nancy today on PBS they illustrated how people with fancy embroidery sewing machines are using them for quilting - it was fascinating to watch, though I don't want to run out and get one. But what I do want to run out and find are the spools of embroidery thread; I have many skeins of thread for hand sewing but there isn't a good way to spool it for the machine and bobbin.

Wednesday I was in the town where I worked for 20+ years for some shopping. My daughter needed spices so when comparing brands in the Halal market I asked a young woman on the aisle if she was familiar with the brands I was looking at. She said she was shopping for her mother, and she pointed at the brand that is her mother's favorite. There were similar interesting conversations with a Kurdish stocking clerk from Turkey and the checkout clerk from Afghanistan. Incidental conversations such as speaking to strangers in the grocery store are apparently quite healthy for us.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Feb 24 - 12:00 PM

I spent 30 minutes yesterday before it got dark sweeping and scooping leaves out of the street and curb area (the post office vehicle runs over that strip every day so leaves are mashed and mulched and stuck in the spot). Some were hauled to a garden bed, the rest spread around on the lawn where they will be mulched in with the mower. I was going to do that today, but awoke to rain. (Time to leave a couple of the old towels next to the back door for periodic drying of wet dogs.)

The smoker had an ancient cardboard box cover that had been left in place as insulation (a traditional approach for owners of this type of smoker), but I replaced it with a new insulated cover made for the brand. The first test was to smoke a piece of beef sirloin steak, then making a batch of fajitas. The house now smells incredibly smoky from cooking with that meat.

Lunch with friends tomorrow, and chickpeas are simmering for a fresh batch of hummus. It freezes well so I'm making a double batch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Feb 24 - 07:43 PM

One day after the shingrix vaccine I find I am very tired:
taking a nap this afternoon felt really really good.
My arm is still sore.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Feb 24 - 09:59 PM

A good nap is a great side effect then!

On a local Buy Nothing group there was a request for a large stock pot. I have an extra one (picked up for soaking linens and I didn't want any possibility of food from one I use for cooking). I decided not to do the soaking so set it aside. Now the person who asked needs to return to the page and see the offer. I guess if she doesn't, I'll list it for everyone. That's another spot on the floor in the front room freed up.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Feb 24 - 05:58 PM

The stock pot will be leaving the porch soon, and it turns out she has the same use I did - to soak fabric in a large non-reactive pot. Sounds just about perfect!

Friends were over for lunch, comfort food today with a big batch of macaroni and cheese with steamed cauliflower as our veggie and banana bread for dessert. I was going to make hummus also but it was taking too long (once you start it's quick, but it was either make everyone wait 20 more minutes or just get on with the mac and cheese.) I'll do hummus tomorrow and then freeze most of it.

We enjoyed looking through old cookbooks from my mother's collection; this is about the only time they ever get looked at, and it is interesting. Recipes from the 1940s and 50s, suggested menus, and some of the frugal cooking of the war years are all there to examine. One friend also searched on a few and found them on eBay. I've already sold quite a few of them, figuring getting them into the hands of collectors who really want them is a good move (less fuss for the kids in the future.)

Laundry this evening will include towels used to dry dogs and several damp mats. This has been a soggy couple of days and the dog door area is covered with muddy prints.

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

For women who never watch football or championship games, Taylor Swift won the Super Bowl. (My regular show ended so I switched over to CBS and saw the overtime play). I never watch football or the Super Bowl, but I will enjoy seeing the fallout.

More trips to the gym this week because of a week-long cat-sitting gig that puts me halfway to the gym several times a day.

It's about time for another trip to Goodwill. I'll check the donation bin and see if I can fill it up first. With Charmion moving out something as large as a futon that's a lot of square footage to aspire to.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Feb 24 - 08:54 AM

For my next trick: a queen-sized bed. Whoever takes it will have to bring tools as well as a truck and a good buddy.

I also have the six-foot folding table full of pots, pans, pudding basins and other kitchen clobber I will never use again. It’s time to rehome the huge granite-ware preserving kettle and the small canner, as well as the extra-large Instant Pot and all its accessories. Oh, and Edmund’s much-loved 14-inch cast-iron skillet that I need two hands to lift.

I now have one empty shelf in the basement storage area. Going for at least two more by Easter.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Feb 24 - 10:20 AM

Two basement shelves cleared. I can haul another load to Goodwill as soon as I have acquired some fairly large boxes.

Come to think of it, the granite-ware and other light steel items could make the trip in a contractor-grade garbage bag.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Feb 24 - 10:51 AM

Since my dogfood arrives in gigantic boxes (relatively speaking - they aren't for moving a wardrobe but they do well for 20-35 pounds of dry kibble) I periodically offer them up, and I can also use them for Goodwill stuff, though usually the bin contents fit into grocery bags for handing over. I deploy reusable cloth bags when shopping but there is still a backlog of plastic.

When I eventually empty the front room I could move the bed from the sewing studio into there and put up draperies across the upper open area (this room has what my contractor called a "pony wall" along the hallway to the front door). It's the only room in the house with wall-to-wall carpeting, so I keep the dogs out. #FutureProjects.

Bright sunshine today but soggy turf still. Maybe by this afternoon it will dry enough to mow? It's a race to beat the code enforcement guy to the punch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Feb 24 - 06:08 PM

The front yard is looking green and trim now that I mowed all of the weeds. This time of year the Bermuda and St. Augustine mix are dormant and covered by cool season weed grasses, galium (bedstraw), dandelions, and lots of henbit. Daffodils are opening in beds and there are lots of leaves for later shows of color by iris, spider lilies, daylilies, and other stuff put there intentionally.

Before mowing I replaced the mower spark plug, checked the air filter, and cleared a bunch of dried grass from under the mower deck (I carry a putty knife in my gardening apron for this task) that I should have scraped out after the last mow (probably in December, it hasn't been a very long "winter" period of no mowing here.) I put two cheap spark plug wrenches into the donation bin after realizing those are crap with such a short bar for turning. I used the spark plug socket and handle from my socket tool set (much better leverage). Righty tighty lefty loosey was the mantra before starting that task (and then looking at the threads on the new spark plug, just to be safe).

The backyard will get mowed tomorrow and I'll bag some of that to drop into the location of the 2024 compost pile. Wet grass trimmings are the best way to kickstart new compost.

A long-unused expanding shoe rack has left the front porch, offered via the local FB Buy-Nothing group and claimed in under an hour. I'm still waiting on another note from the woman who wants the stock pot.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Feb 24 - 10:57 PM

Either my OCD is getting better or my mood is getting worse... I can haz mess again. Luckily (craftily?) people come Weds and Sun so I clean up for them...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Feb 24 - 01:27 AM

You mean people come to clean and you clean up so they can clean? I know a number of people who do that. :-)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Feb 24 - 07:56 AM

when we were young a neighbour was deserted by her husband, so cleaned for a few other neighbours to get some income. We learnt to put stuff away before she arrived or we'd never find it again! Or find it in some random cupboard.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Feb 24 - 01:22 PM

I experienced that years ago when I had someone come in every other week for half a day. It was a huge help to have someone vacuum, mop, and dust so I could do more of the rest (while in graduate school). We realized that things left out might be put in what seemed logical places to the cleaner but that didn't occur to us.

The rest of this week is busy enough that there won't be much in the way of transporting stuff out of the house, and this morning, a backslide. I drove past a garage sale on my way back from cat feeding and there were antique chairs in the yard, each $5. I picked up a sturdy small one with interesting features and a pretty little inlay on the top of the backrest. There are a couple of places in the house where a small chair would be useful, and once this is surface cleaned and the seat upholstery examined, I'll put it to use. More space will be occupied by the antique sewing machine (wired for a foot controller) that will go on eBay - the shop called, it's ready to pick up. Must list that soon (and will use one of those great big boxes for shipping).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Feb 24 - 09:28 AM

Two tours coming up today at the museum so I've researched a new installation I didn't know much about. Most of the museum is closed off for renovations this spring so we have about 1/5 the normal amount of material to cover, hence including this. I would have listened to the artist's video describing the assembly of this collection of pieces except the route I typically follow doesn't pass through this area. He calls it "a conversation between the pieces." (This could certainly apply to the assembly of items around my house, though cacophony is more accurate than "conversation"). He named the Nevelson Chapel as a particular influence. I could do this with the leftover materials out in my garage (move things to the walls instead of boxes and piles!)

Next week finally quiets down and I can get to my to-do list, projects where I can play an audiobook as I work and not have to stop and go back for parts I missed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Feb 24 - 04:06 PM

The guy who cleans is supposed to do floors, toilet, tub. I don't want him wasting time putting dishes away or folding laundry, so that stuff I do, if not regularly, at least before he appears.

Thu Sunday night mah jongg game requires only an uncluttered kitchen table. They don't roam farther into the house...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Feb 24 - 12:20 PM

In the "no good deed goes unpunished" department, an acquaintance is moving between subsidized apartments. She barters and buys used, and I'd offered to help her move a washer and dryer when she found a new place; turns out the new apartment comes with them. She found a bed in the next county, and has asked to transfer the offer to the bed, if my friend could help move that instead. Bigger job. We've got it set for next weekend.

The official last day of this cat sitting gig is today, but my friend is driving from Colorado in a snowstorm. I won't be surprised if she stops the night on the way and I do an extra morning run. No snow here, but it is too cold to comfortably mow the lawn or walk the dogs, both I had hoped to do today.

eBay listings it is then, with laundry on the side.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Feb 24 - 11:37 AM

The wait is over - the drain behind the washer overflowed last night, indicating that the roots in the lower end of the sewer line again need to be hit with the roto rooter blade to clear the line. It isn't a total stoppage, water drains through slowly, but there is no point in waiting longer. I've rootered out the line myself the last couple of times (the rental equipment is very heavy but I save a lot of $$). This time I have a home warranty that will participate in the process and a plumber will do the job Monday (no need for a weekend surcharge).

I'm looking forward to not going anywhere today, just puttering here. It's still too cold to enjoy mowing but I've mowed down dust in the bedroom (so far) with the duster and vacuum. The den is in full forest floor mode so sweeping is up first, and the yard is dry so I can scrub the muddy footprints with the new battery-powered scrub brush. Winter mud is the worst because the lawn is dormant and they track in really viscous mud. During the growing season the soil isn't exposed and their feet are cleaner. During the highest heat they track in dead grass and dirt but that can be swept up. It's all the same soil, there are different treatments depending on time of year.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Feb 24 - 04:39 PM

ah! the joys of being owned by dogs!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 24 - 12:18 AM

Sandra, with dogs we're roomies! With cats we're the staff. :)

Monday is a holiday in the US (Presidents Day); the main effect is no mail, no banks open, and everything else as normal, plus lots of sales of bedding and mattresses. I may finally mow my back lawn (the plumber has to come roto rooter the sewer line, but that won't take long so I can work around his service call).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Feb 24 - 06:08 AM

Mowing in Feb. seems alien to me. I get up at 5AM not because of will power but my staff job for the cats. They trained me by making the maximum amount of noise in ever more creative ways.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Feb 24 - 08:01 AM

What is most toxic to seniors are falls. That is because of muscle loss due to low protein intake and a lack of resistance exercise.
Seniors' need for protein goes up every year! Women are slightly more prone to falls than men because muscle mass may be lower to begin with. 9NPR)

So more important than cardio training is resistance exercise. More plant or meat proteins are needed with the increase in age.
Muscles- 'use it or lose it'. We have seen the last incident of catters have been falls or at least more frequent falls.
A simple solution is a 10 minute stair climb program. Impact with the floor is also good for bone density.

It sounds like this post can be ignored by Stilly. The protein thing surprised me.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Feb 24 - 08:12 AM

A warning sign- is one leg weaker than the other?
Tighten and release while sitting and do leg lifts in bed.
It takes a month to see a difference. Of course, long walks in the Spring is more fun.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Feb 24 - 10:19 AM

I finally told the concert choir president that I'm leaving Stratford in the near future, and I need to get off the Board of Directors at the end of this season. That's one down.

Today I'm fussing over the sale of a piece of rather nice furniture, a small walnut settee in the Danish Modern style. I posted it on Kijiji and immediately got a bite, but the potential buyer failed to show up at the appointed hour yesterday, and now has emailed me with a proposal for an essentially anonymous transaction by PayPal, with pick-up by a "personal freight" service. In his email, he mentioned a medical crisis with his wife and a doctor's appointment that could only have taken place on a Sunday ... Colour me skeptical.

I wrote back asking for a phone call and more information about him. I said I would do the deal by phone and Interac e-transfer, but not without that personal contact.

I wonder if I'm getting paranoid in my old age.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Feb 24 - 10:32 AM

Donuel, aging women lose muscle mass faster than men because we lack both estrogen and testosterone. The best preventives are resistance and weight-bearing exercise and, yes, a high-ptotein diet, but there is no magic bullet. Sarcopoenia is in everyone's future if we're lucky enough to live that long.

That said, the greater frequency of falls among old women is due mostly to weakness in the core muscles, which are critical to balance -- when you slip, it's your back and belly muscles that do the most to jerk you upright again.

Getting old ain't for sissies.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 24 - 12:22 PM

Charmion, I once had a classic response to a futon sale on Craigslist - an email saying "please take down your ad, I'll send you a check. Would you send me the change" crap. Just to waste his time I pointed out he was emailing from a UK account and he wrote with a different one. I told him to get lost. There has been a delay in my BuyNothing transaction from last week, where the woman who wants my stock pot still hasn't been by. That isn't a problem - no cash is exchanging hands, she seems to have caught a virus, but thinks she'll pick up the pot (still on my porch) this evening, if the bug doesn't kill her. Shit happens, but when there is money involved, trust your gut.

Don, I do eat meat but I usually use it as part of a dish. If I bake a chicken breast I'll use part of it to put on salad, I'll cut some cubes and add them to a bowl of spaghetti or ravioli with sauce, etc. This morning I had scrambled eggs and I have a rotisserie chicken in the fridge so I'll probably use some of it for lunch and dinner. I need to make protein more of each meal if I'm going to use it in smaller amounts. I use a compounded HRT with E2, E3, and methyltestosterone for the reasons Charmion enumerated. Since a hysterectomy (adenocarcinoma) in my mid-40s caused early "surgical menopause" my doctor put me on HRT. I tried a number of commercial versions and was unhappy (they had too much testosterone and not enough estrogen) until we compounded one. That's the Rx I was fussing about for the last few weeks. E1 is most closely linked to breast cancer, hence the choice of the other two.

The gym has a stair climbing thing that I tried recently, mostly I use the recumbent bike (for cardio and get my knees a range of motion) and the treadmill (weight bearing and cardio). I'll add the stairs more often, thanks for that reminder. I'll be mowing the backyard this afternoon, so that counts for weight bearing exercise today.

I pulled up the home warranty plan, it covers stoppages only within the confines of the building. Darn. I know it's tree roots. I just called the plumber, and it seems the service call is less expensive when I can tell them it's the sewer line. No detective work, no ladders, no camera down the line, no digging to find a leak, and easy access to the cleanout.   

Last night I thawed several containers of mashed pumpkin and sweet potato and made a quadruple batch of my favorite pumpkin bread recipe (one time I was short on pumpkin and made up the difference with sweet potato - it was so much better I always make it that way now). One loaf is on the counter, several are in the freezer, and I delivered one next door earlier. She was waiting for her husband to return from blood work and physical before fixing breakfast - and he arrived as we talked. They are having coffee and slices of that bread this morning. Nice!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 24 - 06:44 PM

It turns out the plumbing problem was both inside and out, but mostly within the house, so I called the warranty folks before the job was finished, he told them what the problem was, and they'll pay above the co-pay amount. The plumber didn't write that he also ran the line outside to the street so they wouldn't quibble (since I have to scan the invoice and send it in). Nice of him!

Now to mop the laundry room floor (I ran the washer as he ran the snake and it flooded again before the job was finished). A pro tip for future maintenance - he said run hot water in the kitchen sink for a few minutes then put a big squeeze (~ an ounce) of Dawn dish detergent in and let it run a little longer before turning off and letting it stand in the pipes for a while. The heat and the soap will keep a grease buildup out of the line. (Repeat a few times a year.)

The dogs were in the backyard for this service call, so as the work moved to the side of the house they could see us through the back gate and set up a ruckus. I explained to Randy the plumber that if we said hello they would settle down, otherwise they'd bark the entire time. They were thrilled to meet someone new, he likes dogs so gave a couple of pats through the gate, and they quieted. It's their job to watch the house and yard, so the courtesy of an introduction acknowledges their work and they know I'm safe.

Now I have some laundry to take care of.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Feb 24 - 06:49 PM

The weather is glorious today, in the mid-70s. What my fitness tracker interprets as a whole bunch of steps this afternoon was actually me chopping my way through a raised bed with a mattock clearing weeds to transplant some big gobs of asparagus roots that have languished in the wheelbarrow for about three months. A few of them are sprouting. I've put several large sets in that bed and have a few smaller ones that I'll plant in smart pots. It's a test to see if they can do well in that environment (pots tend to get quite warm and dry out in the summer, but these have handles and can be moved pretty easily).

Last month the tire store mechanic said I should have the wheels aligned, and recommended a place and has a $20 off coupon for the work. I pulled up the shop website and find they do a lot of other work and are a mile from my house. I'll ask what they think about the noisy fan in my air conditioning unit (a repair for another day). It's nice to find a place that isn't the bloated dealership for some of this work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 20 Feb 24 - 08:59 PM

Mid-70s?!
We were lucky, up here, to get up to freezing today, brrrr.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Feb 24 - 03:06 PM

In Stratford, we're having Fool's Spring Mk II, with sunny skies and balmy breezes. Any day now we're due for the massive dump of snow that means this is Ontario, dammit, and winter's not over, and we should not even think about changing our tires or taking the snow brush out of the boot of the car.

But I just spotted Ma and Pa Cardinal, residents of my back hedge, hopping around the yard apparently picking up twigs. And the sun is definitely yellower and higher and altogether more springy with every passing day.

Yesterday I told the concert choir president that I want to get off the Executive Committee -- no more board minutes or drafting contracts for this little black duck. I will continue to take care of the music library because, well, because it's a mess and I haven't finished tidying it up yet.

I seem to have spent the better part of the winter in a funk of anxiety over decluttering and moving house. This is not coincidence: whenever light levels get low, I will find something to fret about, and I'm capable of making myself really miserable. This week, I feel markedly better and -- amazing! -- suddenly the house issue is much less pressing and I can even think about something else.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Feb 24 - 08:58 PM

It'll feel good to hand over some of those jobs - you helped them a lot while you were there, and finishing the music organizing sounds like a great final act with the group.

My arms and shoulders are achy after chopping and digging. I did a little work today, refilling the 1 gallon gas can from the 5 gallon can I use to get the non-ethanol gasoline for the gas engines. The big can is too heavy to use directly filling the mower. I started the mowing in the back and have the wheelbarrow and shovel parked beside the compost pile I'll dig out tomorrow. Once there's room in that bin I'll set the mower on Bag and get some green gooshy goodness to put in the bottom of the pile. I don't need a whole backyard's worth of clippings, just a couple of bags full.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Feb 24 - 11:35 AM

My weight-related challenge this week (so far) was refilling the water softener. In these parts, salt comes in 20-kg bags. Twenty kilos is just about the outside edge of my deadlift capabilities in less than ideal conditions such as my laundry room, where I lack the space required to align myself and a bag of salt correctly for a heave in good form.

Nevertheless, I managed to pour 40 kg of salt into the device without doing myself a mischief. Next time, I'll wear my padded leather gloves to reduce the strain on my hands -- always my weakest spot.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Feb 24 - 04:29 PM

'it ain't for sissies' is the second time you've posted that. The first time was 10 years ago. I prefer 'nobody dies healthy'.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Feb 24 - 05:05 PM

My opinion on aging has not changed, Donuel. And victims of murder, warfare and accident often die healthy, but broken.

I finally got around to vacuuming the parlour rug and washing all the floors at ground level, leaving the upstairs for another day. I also dusted the walls and changed the furnace filter. I’m not sure what got into me.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Feb 24 - 10:34 PM

I was going to mow but ended up spending the afternoon writing and coding on a tangled part of a website I work on; the mowing will happen tomorrow since nice weather is forecast all week.

The dance class this month is a one-off as far as my participation in that program; the instructor is moving the class 20 miles from here and it would involve a rush hour drive, so I'm not continuing with it. Darn.

Dog beds need washing again, and I suspect dog hair contributed to the clog the plumber cleared out. I usually take rugs and beds outside to shake before washing, and now I'll be sure to.

We haven't heard from Dorothy for a while. I hope the arrival of spring (or faux-spring) isn't complicating projects at her various properties.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Feb 24 - 12:34 PM

Dog beds in the wash, set on ultra hand-wash to not beat up the zipper cover that goes over a big orthopedic foam mattress.

All parties are in touch and arrangements are set for tomorrow's bed retrieval.

Several projects await in the garage in addition to garden work.

It's glorious outside today and this weekend; Monday is forecast to hit 93^o. For any day in February that is startlingly high and unwelcome. I'm getting my wheels aligned on Wednesday and at that time I'll get a quote on the fan repair in my SUV cooling system. I'm going to need it sooner than I expected.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Feb 24 - 10:58 AM

Dorothy has spoken over on Facebook.

We followed LilyFestre's pain, lethargy, fear, diagnosis, surgery, follow-up treatments, adoption of Jeremiah, and triumphant return to life and work and everything else as seen in a thread started for her by the late great Katlaughing. This is Dorothy's choice, so I'll only share this link to the first set of remarks she posted yesterday on Facebook. She isn't shy about sharing struggles and progress and the first post makes it clear she's speaking for women her age who are too often rendered invisible or ignored in the health care world.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Feb 24 - 05:24 PM

rendered invisible - Here in the Land of Oz we have a huge housing problem as most are too expensive for poorer tenants, plus many rental properties are now AirB&B + many others are unoccupied. Older women are a substantial part of the people without secure accomodation. Some have cars & live in them - some car sleepers get woken by nasty locals telling them to park elsewhere.

State & Federal Governments are trying to encourage more housing, but lack of tradesmen, & NIMBYism & lack of proper planning (the recent plan to add 13,000 homes to a county town of around 1000 homes not far from Sydney without any infrastructure plans is not a sensible plan)

In 1981 I bought my apartment, I could have travelled overseas like my siblings & friends ...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 24 - 12:15 AM

More and different dog beds in the washer tonight. Rinse, repeat.

A friend drove by with a pickup and trailer and I rode with him to pick up and deliver a bed for a friend who moved (she bought this through the Facebook Marketplace); I may have mentioned this several days ago, I don't remember. It took a couple of hours because the bed was in the next county, but it was a nice setup with all of the linens and covers she needs. A sad task coming up this week, she can only have two pets but has four cats and has to send two of them to the city shelter. The Humane Society will do more to try to get them adopted, but there is a surrender fee. My dogs are not good citizens around cats even I wanted any; to them cats are just squirrels. I've sent a note to a friend to ask if he's ready for another cat, his died last summer.

This evening I did something I haven't in ages - I ran the dishwasher and the clothes washer simultaneously. No overflow. Exciting times here in North Texas!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 24 - 04:07 PM

I've moved several wheelbarrow loads of compost from an old bin in the backyard to one end of a bed in the front where potatoes will be planted soon. I have to finish chopping out the Bermuda grass roots then spread the compost and run the tiller through the beds. This afternoon the thermometer says 91^o so I'll wait till evening to do more, it cools quickly this time of year.

Charmion, did you ever resolve the communication and pickup problem over that walnut settee you were selling? I'm still envious that Canada has use of Kijiji (used to be part of eBay.) I hope it worked out. I've been reading about a furniture transfer problem as a friend tries to extricate family heirlooms from the hospice facility where his mother passed away last week. They were moved there with her when she left a skilled-care part of a facility that she originally moved into when she only needed assisted living. It seems the early-American furniture may be grabbed by staff instead of returned to the son, who lives 1000 miles away and arranged a for company to ship it to him. His townhouse is already quite full, so the arrival of more pieces will make it officially stuffed to the gills.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Feb 24 - 11:23 AM

It's February 27 but just like that! the heavy terry cloth long bathrobe is too warm for wearing even in the morning (after yesterday's high it was 68^o this morning). Today's forecast high is 89^o. I'm drinking my tea after breakfast then headed into the yard before it gets too warm to work. The robe is going into the laundry and then back into the closet and a lighter flannel robe will move to the foot of the bed. Wednesday and Thursday may be a little cooler (highs ~ 50) then the rest of the week in the 70s and 80s.

A few small items have been dropped into the donation bin, but I need to do more. I rearranged a table and chair in the den and repositioned the dog kennel; many of the items on the tabletop just collect dust so may be candidates (and if the dogs bang the kennel into the table they'll knock things off and break them). I usually offer collectible objects like these to the kids before selling or donating, but it means more clutter in their houses. I should break that cycle.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Feb 24 - 11:46 AM

The first Perth County Particular rainstorm of the year, complete with chain lightning and ferocious thunderclaps, has just rolled out of town. It arrived as I was driving home (due west) from the allergist’s office in Kitchener, so I watched it develop on the horizon — quite the sight, like the “Night on Bald Mountain” segment in Disney’s “Fantasia”.

But the last week of February is at least a month too early for this kind of weather.

Next week, the cats will go to the vet for their annual check-up. Lately, Isobel has been coughing almost as much as I do, and yesterday she was wheezing … These are not good signs in an aging pussycat. Watson seems to be in rude health, if a bit portly.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Feb 24 - 10:54 AM

"Rude health" describes the girls and actually is pretty much the state of the deaf old lab who staggers and bounces more than lopes around the yard (he moves his back legs at once, not one leg in front of the other any more, due to the arthritis).

Getting the wheels aligned today so I'll do a cursory cleanup of the inside of the car since I have to point out the buttons to press to get the fan to make it's broken noise. That diagnosis will be for a near-future repair (hot weather is almost here, the AC needs to be working.) Must take a book along to read while I wait, or maybe listen to my audiobook that I've been trying to finish for ages.

The back yard is looking good, the compost bin was emptied of the old finished compost and is now full of the bagged grass from that first mow of really tall weeds and grass (it will soon shrink down to nothing but it's a great kick start to the process of breaking down the year's weeds and clippings.) The yard always looks lovely when the weeds are still green and they are mowed. Front yard mow is this afternoon.

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

Wheels aligned; next up, AC fan and brakes, probably next week. It's always something!

Last night I pulled one of the blankets off of the bed because it was too warm after the high temperatures this week. So this morning it was down to 41. Ugg. I needed a jacket this morning and I might as well change into clean jeans because these grass-stained ones from yesterday won't be getting more grass stains today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Feb 24 - 01:36 PM

The thermometer has dropped some 13 degrees Celsius since supper-time yesterday, and now it's snowing sideways, driven by a truly ferocious wind. Just in case anyone got the idea that spring might be at hand.

The snow brush is still in the car, which is still wearing its winter tires. This is Ontario, dammit, and winter has another month to run.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Feb 24 - 11:38 AM

Bills. They come up every month, and sometimes every six months or year. I happened to glance at the statement for the auto insurance and realized the cost of paying monthly has climbed precipitously. If I pay monthly for five months on a six month policy, the total is $110 more than paying in a lump sum. It used to add $3 a month to pay over time, clearly that changed! Paying it in a lump sum basically saves the amount that I paid for the wheel alignment.

I also went in and cancelled the auto-renewal of a genealogy site that I joined last year (by mistake, I meant to try a month or two, but the fine print I missed meant I was stuck with a year). I'm not closing it so I can still look at the materials. They just offered a 60% off year that I may accept, but it's still steep. I need to finish gathering the information and move onto another hobby. It was my mother who was really engrossed in this, I just wanted to see if the Internet age could update her findings (instead, it seems a lot of people carelessly enter their information and I get several emails a week telling me of discrepancies, mine or someone else's.)

Rainy today and cold, so more indoor work. Recent eBay listings have had some looks but no sales so far; I'll switch to other items that tend to sell quickly. It's a hobby to post listings, but for real motivation they need to bring in cash.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Mar 24 - 09:11 AM

Rainfall yesterday wasn't measureable, but it was enough to generate more muddy footprints in the den. There was some snow and more rain than we got in the Texas Panhandle (400 miles northwest of here) that may have slowed the wildfires but the weather is supposed to warm and get windier through the weekend.

Dog food containers were both needing refilling this week so the large bags are no longer reclining on the couch (for lack of a better place to stack them this time.) Knock wood they leave the bags alone instead of chewing a hole (I seem to remember the cats doing that) but I still don't put them on the floor where it is an open invitation for mischief.

The new month in the Bullet Journal shows a robust list of things to do, starting with mowing this afternoon once the grass dries.

I hope we hear from Dorothy soon, and fingers crossed the health outlook is good. Same with Jon, and any other lurkers out there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Mar 24 - 11:23 AM

The cats have gone off their very expensive canned meat. Dammit. And Isobel (small, intelligent, suspicious and unscrupulous) has a vet appointment this afternoon at three o'clock, which means that every door in the house is closed to ensure that she doesn't take refuge in an inconvenient spot such as under the cellar stairs. Watson's date with the vet is next week, but he is no trouble -- putting him into the carrier is a matter of scoop and drop.

Tuesday's blast of winter has ended, leaving a layer of new snow that is rapidly vanishing in bright sunshine. On the whole, a sheepish entry to the month of March.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Mar 24 - 03:07 PM

Our big cat started meowing constantly yesterday.
Today the CO alarm went off. A giant lint clog fell down the chimney and opened a joint in the furnace flu.
We dodged a fatal bullet with our CO alarm which continued to go off 2 hours after all windows and doors were opened.
The gas company came within 15 minutes but the furnace people are not here yet after 2 hours. Yeah, I felt a definite brain fog.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Mar 24 - 03:10 PM

Yikes!

I have a day off. Am planning on -not actually doing, mind you, yet- putting all my clean laundry away. It's been weeks. There are multiple piles.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Mar 24 - 03:26 PM

Reminder: carbon monoxide is toxic, dirty laundry is fetid but not fatal.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Mar 24 - 05:22 PM

Clean laundry is good, even if you dress straight from the dryer, but best if it is back in the closet and dresser.

I dodged a laundry issue today. I showered when I got home this morning to wash the sticky oily goo and washable marker ink off of my scalp and hair. I was away overnight for a sleep study and they get you up at 5am - right when you're finally getting your best sleep. Duh. Anyway, after the sensors are removed one touch revealed the sticky stuff and there's no way I want that on my own pillow so I didn't go back to bed, I fed the dogs, drank decaf tea, then got into the shower. (You'd think that a medical person who spends their evenings measuring and marking heads before attaching sensors would know exactly what I was talking about when I asked her about her modern phrenology work. I had to explain about the early 1800s pseudo-science.)

This week I've made progress on the current jigsaw puzzle, promised to friends after I finish it, and I'd like to hand it over while they still remember the offer!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 02 Mar 24 - 04:23 AM

Yikes, glad you're ok, Donuel.

Stilly, I used to have a method, and am creeping back to it, where I made a table of all inevitable weekly and monthly and annual expenses, worked out how much each was per week, and transferred all direct debits into a separate bank account, with money automatically transferred into that account every week. It means that if a sudden €500 bill comes up, there'll be money there to cover it.
And the great beauty of the method is that if the money to cover these expenses is gone out of your main account, you don't really consider it yours any more. It's incredibly calming to do this. Even if you can't manage to put the whole amount aside every week, you can put in a basic amount, then throw in a bit extra when you have a "win" - an extra payment for something you do. It takes away that sub-panic of trying to have the money in your main account when a payment is due to trigger, and worrying that it'll accidentally spend itself!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 24 - 12:30 PM

Thompson, my Mom had a rule for herself that she instilled in us: to have a base amount in the checking account that you simply didn't go below. You teach yourself to unsee that amount. College years were hard on my checking account but once I was working regularly I've made it my policy. (Credit unions have a base amount in Savings accounts you're not supposed to go below - a puny $5 - but when using programs like Quicken I notice the difference between what Quicken shows and what the CU shows on that balance.) At one time the commercial bank I used had an arrangement so you could have a second checking account to use in the way you describe (I think the plan was to protect your main checking and savings account from being hit by hackers or fraudulent checks). But commercial banks charge fees for everything and it was annoying to watch them nickel and dime my accounts monthly. Once the kids were grown and on their own (they used to have accounts linked to mine so I could move money for or to them if needed) I cut ties and moved to the credit union. Another thing that needs periodic examination is the way bills are paid, which is why I noticed the gouging going on.

My electric company merged with another company early this year and the bills have shot up, but I have a contract for a relatively low rate, so I have to pull up records and see what is going on. It's always something.

Lovely weather today so there will be yard work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Mar 24 - 05:21 PM

Two huge boxes of excess cookware have left the building, gone to Goodwill. This lot included Edmund’s enormous cast-iron skillet that I need two hands to lift, an enormous preserving pan, a small canner (the size of a normal stock pot), and Edmund’s stack of spring-form cake pans. What’s left on the basement work table is more attractive stuff destined for the spring rummage sale at church.

Upstairs, I have started purging music and video that doesn’t need to take up physical space, and pruned the books again — novels that can also go to the church.

I’m not sure what end-state I’m heading for, but it will come with visible baseboards in every room.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Mar 24 - 07:30 PM

Declutter is one of the activities required of me now.

For four years I have put off decluttering my apartment (2Bd, 1Ba).
Now I'm getting started.
There is a lot of trash in the form of papers and old files,
so that is getting removed a little at a time.
The unneeded clothing is going to places like St Vincent de Paul,
Goodwill, or whatever drop-in box is convenient (other organizations).

The unneeded books are going to a place called More Than Words.
It combines the sorting and selling of second-hand books with
a mission for assisting disadvantaged high-school students.
I love driving a back-seat-load of boxes of books to More Than Words.
The students there are always ready to help unload the boxes and
to carry the books away to their own storage room.

The apartment still looks cluttered at the moment,
but I know what has been cleared out
and I can see the clear spaces that used to have piles or boxes stacked in them.
Eventually, though, I will have to clear out the file cabinets that have files I have not looked at, or needed, in years.
For now the cabinets can sit there while I get rid of the stuff outside of the cabinets.
I'll probably get rid of the cabinets themselves anyway, when the time comes.

Most likely I will have to downsize to a smaller space and so
eventually some of the furniture will have to go as well.
Then there is what is left of a cheap bookcase.
The bookshelves were made of particle board.
I loaded the shelves up with books, and one day they came apart
and the books spilled all over the wall-to-wall carpet.
Now the pieces of the shelves are waiting for me to
get someone to remove them as "junk".

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 24 - 08:43 PM

Keb, is where you are living now the apartment you describe, or is the apartment near the facility you have been a part of?

Two of the dogs and I took a quick walk this evening before dinner and enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the way back to the house. Much of this lovely day languished as I worked on computer stuff I need to finish. Yard work pushed to tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 10:49 AM

Stilly, I"m still living at the "facility" in question;
the apartment I describe is a little over two hours away,
and it is functioning as a very expensive storage unit at the moment.
I have been renting the apartment during my entire treatment.

A dental appointment had been scheduled for me last week, and so
I took advantage of the appointment to set aside some time
in order to start clearing out the apartment.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 11:31 AM

Starting on the apartment without a plan can set you back, moodwise. I hope you have a list to work from. It sounds like a nice-sized apartment, is it not someplace you want to live again? If the community has all of those thrift stores you name it sounds like a good sized community. One method that has come into vogue (and probably what I would use in my next move, if I make one) is to load up PODS containers and then have them moved to the next place you want to move into. Easier than living with the stress of a moving company (and all of the loss from casual workers lifting prime items or boxes with labels that suggest the contents are fungible (to pawn cash). If it can be dropped in a parking space near the apartment fill it and overnight put a padlock on it. When you finish filling it lock it and have the company pick it up to store and get the next POD to fill. Rinse and repeat until you have everything.

The breaker to the office popped again overnight, and there was no storm to cause it. I need the electrician out here to change that to a standard breaker so that chore goes higher up on my list of things to do this spring.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 02:28 PM

Best wishes on the project, keb. I like your approach of pulling out things for specific destinations and taking them there posthaste. I got a lot of good mileage out of that approach. So many tackle things as a giant sort-out that gets bogged down.

Stilly, I used a POD for 30 days, it did help me clear out rooms to paint and also help with the keep/purge process. But, cost was high and rising, I hope it's affordable.

Also, was shocked to find some clothing damaged. I had hung a lot of stuff high up in the unit, which had a translucent (fiberglass?) roof, some things got severely faded. Anything subject to heat/cold/light damage, be careful.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 02:38 PM

Patty is right -- whatever you select for disposal, get it out of the house as fast as you can. Otherwise you end up with what my mother called the "mobile muddle", an accumulation of stuff that never gets put away or rehomed, but just sits in one place or another in the house until everyone stops seeing it. This is Bad. Mobile muddles tend to grow and spawn, which is Worse.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 03:44 PM

I know what you mean by mobile muddles, Charmion!! I've got 'em!
And I am making dents in them as best I can.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 24 - 12:21 AM

Mobile muddles. I've never seen those words combined before but understand them perfectly and I have illustrations of the concept in many rooms in the house.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Mar 24 - 08:11 AM

I'm looking at my mobile muddles - official archival stuff with unofficial hobby suff on top. Originally 2 piles, then combined & parked on the scanner to get them off the floor, then I needed to scan ...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 24 - 01:43 PM

Heading down the GoodReads rabbit hole this morning had me sorting some of my recent virtual and physical book purchases and I've updated my list for the annual reading challenge. Keb and Charmion toting books off to the used book stores reminds me that I have quite a "want to read" stack.

When my calendar pinged an appointment notification yesterday I realized there was a funeral for a former coworker so I scrambled into more suitable clothes (no skirts or dresses, but the gabardine slacks looked good and there was no slogan on the front of my t-shirt worn under a linen 3/4 sleeve jacket). I sat with three former coworker friends and we had a good visit. Caught up on important stuff until the next funeral or university retiree dinner.

One of those friends has adopted the dog that belonged to a retired colleague who died last year. We discussed old dogs and I followed up by shopping for large dog pads to put on the bed in the crate in particular since the dog who most often sleeps in there is more likely to not wake when he needs to go out. This morning he got a good going-over with the furminator tool and his ears squirted with the cleaning fluid. There will be a bath one of these days; for now he gets an occasional spritz with the enzyme spray that breaks down the proteins in pee.

I tackled one mobile muddle today and filed bills and papers going back about three months (the stack kept moving from the top of my printer/scanner to the bookshelves behind my office chair. They're now filed in the office closet).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Mar 24 - 05:36 PM

I tackled one mobile muddle today and filed bills and papers going back about three months (the stack kept moving from the top of my printer/scanner to the bookshelves behind my office chair. They're now filed in the office closet). - you are talking about me! apart from the mention of stuff being filed.

I just moved the 3 or 4 bits of hobby stuff off the archival stuff & found the 2 envelopes of info about the upcoming festival & folklore conference & moved it aside. Well done, me!!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 04 Mar 24 - 07:16 PM

I love that 'mobile muddle' phrase too. And this mobile home has got some mobile muddles!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 04 Mar 24 - 11:05 PM

I have a lot of music which I want to organise, so my brilliant idea is to acquire a two - or three would be better - drawer filing cabinet and file the music in hanging folders. In alphabetical order, of course.

All I need is the cabinet....I have my name down at one of the op shops in case one is donated, I'm not going to pay full price......

When my heirs are going through my Stuff they can chuck the lot, cabinet and all, should they so wish.

At quilt group earlier today I managed to sew a round (can it be round when the quilt is square?) of diamonds to the central leafy block. It is looking gorgeously autumn-y. That could probably be looked upon as decluttering all those cut fabrics, they aren't clutter when they become a finished quilt, do they?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Mar 24 - 02:50 AM

well done, Jennie, downsizing fabrics is Good!

Now that you have a little bit of space, I have some new fabrics for you - a friend who used to teach & is now in a much smaller home is downsizing & the craft group went thru her fabrics. I didn't see anything I needed, but thought of you ...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Mar 24 - 08:47 AM

A flare-up of diverticulosis (-itis) has me grounded today. While one’s lower gut is engaged in prolonged misery, one would prefer to remain within easy dashing distance of one’s personal WC.

Meanwhile, Stratford is having another bout of nearly summer weather — yesterday’s high was 20° Celsius — so I shall cut back my stupid weeping mulberry. When I’ve done that, I can finish the minutes from the last choir board meeting. (Only three more and the AGM to go.) Also, my Trillium mandolin busted an E string last week and really needs a complete suit of new ones.

That’ll be plenty of thrilling activity. Whee.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Mar 24 - 01:32 PM

JennieG said That could probably be looked upon as decluttering all those cut fabrics, they aren't clutter when they become a finished quilt, do they?

I'm operating on the same wavelength - I've sorted fabrics and notions and batting and such and am going to learn to do some of the quilted projects, starting with scraps since I have so many. Having such a plan did involve getting a new sewing machine and doing a lot of rearranging - part of the long-range outlook for this hobby. And all I can say about Sandra's kind offer is that it's better she lives closer to JennieG than to me - receiving stuff from someone's stash is magical and yet it's also something to store and figure out if you can use. Good luck to the two of you in that handoff!

Charmion, that's such a misery, get well soon. I have neighbors who have ended up with surgery for that disease. I learned of their condition over the years when sharing garden produce, so try to offer things I know they can eat (if they love okra but only eat it fried, and that's a trigger, I don't offer okra, etc.)

I finally finished a jigsaw puzzle that has been set up way too long; since I promised it to friends I used that as the reason to make me finally finish it. The handoff will come soon, and another one I finished last year will be donated back to the thrift store where I occasionally buy puzzles. I find having a mix of small (300 piece) ones to work between the 500 and 1000 piece ones is a good way to pace myself (not just doing the big gazillion piece ones all of the time.) I need to find a couple of 300-piece puzzles to balance out all of the bigger ones people have given me.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Mar 24 - 04:20 PM

I just noticed that the room I've been sticking stuff into that doesn't go anywhere else is filling up. Hmmm. If things don't fit places, other things will have to go. But not today, Zurg!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Mar 24 - 06:38 PM

Mrrzy, we're all trying to stay well below the clutter threshold that makes us eligible for the many hoarder programs one finds on basic cable. Don't be the first!

I've processed images all afternoon, and it's amazing how you can't see the mistakes until you view the finished product. I can work on the original pieces and stick it back together again (I labeled it "proof1" for a reason). And automate the last step. Sitting in my chair all afternoon on another beautiful day blew my general plans for the yard, but I can recoup with a quick mow. I should have explained to the guy I work for just how big this particular project was, but it was kind of like one of those huge volumes Charmion edited a while back - you have to tackle it before you have an idea of how long it will take. This payday will cover a good chunk of the brake job I need to do on the SUV.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 07 Mar 24 - 09:58 AM

It's time I start spending more time again at Mudcat and contributing to this thread.

I'm still decluttering...I try to do a bit every day. I've got more glassware to take to Goodwill.(Don't argue with me; it's the most convenient place for me to unload cubic footage quickly.)

My comment for today is on my difference in energy level between yesterday and today.

Yesterday I just couldn't get going. Didn't actually get out of bed until 1:30. Didn't even go downstairs to boot the computer and brew coffee. Eventually got dressed and went downstairs to get together something for lunch. But while I was doing that, I sautéed some more greens to add to the stirfry I'd made the day before. (And, after it was done, I put it in the fridge — major physical accomplishment for the day.) I was probably depressed, but there was no trigger I could discern. It wasn't like what I call a "grief day", either. I felt like screaming...I felt like crying. Mostly I felt like either taking a nap or finishing The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. Maybe both. (I just finished the book and then went to sleep early.) I had to force myself to do absolutely everything.

Today, I feel fine...with my normal energy level. I've already medicated Rufus's ears, washed a sinkful of dishes, cataloged a couple new additions to my thanatolithogy library, brewed coffee...and posted several things here at Mudcat. Later I hope to finish a copyediting sample so I can return it to the publisher. Maybe I'll get the SIM installed in my new cell phone and set up the inexpensive light annual plan with US Mobile (where I also have a voice-only monthly plan for my flip phone — that's less expensive than one of those emergency buttons). Oh, and I'll do my daily exercises, too which I just could not force myself to do yesterday.

I DO feel like I'm juggling a lot lately. And I don't multi-task as well as I used to. And the weather hasn't really been cooperating (despite snowdrops blooming in the rockery and the daffs up about 3").

And the figurative logjam in the universe for so many of my friends seems to be loosening up...that's a good thing, too.

Anyway, I hope to be spending more time here again. Now...off to take coffee upstairs and do "morning" things on my iPad and Kindle.

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Mar 24 - 11:15 AM

Linn, no argument about the glassware from me. I have several beautiful pieces (picked up at Goodwill) that are relisting each month on eBay, but so far not moving. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Your energy level analysis is something I've subjected myself to for months; some days fine, other days I can't make myself leave the house. That "figurative logjam in the universe" is exactly what it feels like, where I don't discern a situational reason for low-grade depression (unless, of course, it is US politics. . . ).

Rain today but I have an appointment taking me onto the slick streets. While I'm out I'll get other things taken care of.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Mar 24 - 11:18 AM

Good to see you back on this board, Linn. I've been wondering how you're doing.

Is the reputation of Goodwill Industries different in the States from what it is here? I take stuff to Goodwill all the time; they seem to have ways to absorb even large quantities of books, which nobody else around here does, and I've never heard anything *bad* or even iffy about them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 07 Mar 24 - 05:59 PM

Charmion, it seems as if every time I post at Facebook about donating stuff to Goodwill, I get arguments from the peanut gallery about how they're not a true charity, that the profits don't get to the people who need it, how the CEO makes too much money, etcet etcet.

Charity Navigator gives most Goodwill Industries (maybe all) a four-star rating, but I still get a lot of negativity on Facebook.

I donate a lot to Goodwill because they are more convenient for me than Savers or Salvation Army. And I have objections to Salvation Army LGBTQ policy so tend to avoid them.

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Mar 24 - 08:48 PM

Goodwill isn't a charity, but that doesn't mean they aren't doing good works, and they do manage the churn of donated items that people can't use in their homes (and leftovers from garage sales and estate sales). There is a big training program for individuals with disabilities, veterans, formerly incarcerated, etc., associated with them (at least here in the states) and they hire and train a lot of people who have had trouble getting jobs otherwise. They sell high-end donations in a store in this area they named "GW Boutique" and it doesn't come up on the regular list of stores if you're looking for it. A friend took me to the one in Keller, TX, it's interesting.

The Salvation Army is more akin to a charity, but I find the religiosity of the group off-putting.

I've wondered about how Goodwill manages all of that stuff - perhaps I don't want to know - but mostly I do. If they have to send a lot to the dump it means some of us aren't doing a very good job of determining what is truly useable and what is trash.

I have a local thrift store that I like for shopping clothes (they are the recipient of items donated to several local charities - the thrift store buys them possibly by the pound or piece, and though the amount is small, it adds up for those charities that then don't need to run their own shops.) I mostly go to Goodwill for housewares, furniture, craft stuff, and lucky finds. Their clothes are more expensive than the other thrift store.

It is pouring cats and dogs here tonight; this provides the moisture I needed for garden work over the next couple of weeks but also makes more urgent a repair on the bay window where the plastic cover blew off and it is exposed to moisture. It needs to dry then be covered and sealed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Mar 24 - 12:57 AM

You can also shop at Goodwill Online and some of the finds there are high-end jewelry and such. I regularly end up buying books from Goodwill through Bookfinder.com.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Mar 24 - 10:30 AM

Linn, I think maybe fall-apart days can wind up being rest days that the body and mind both need. Perhaps it is in these unstructured hours that the mind purges and reorganizes. Often the best thing to do is nothing!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Mar 24 - 12:40 PM

When I have a fall-apart day, I usually find that there’s a task I’m avoiding or an issue anxious about, and everything else stalls until I identify the problem and deal with it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 08 Mar 24 - 02:02 PM

In my waging declutter battle — especially of the books that inundate me — I've "lost" this morning. And I blame Irene Saletan (one of the Kissoy Sisters). I'd posted a quote last night at Facebook from the Donna Leon Commissario Brunetti novel I'm currently reading and that incited a lively discussion in the Comments. Irene was the person who mentioned the new Donna Leon memoir Wandering Through Life so I HAD to check it out at Bookfinder.com and ended up ordering a copy. Alas, at the same time I spotted A Taste of Venice the Brunetti-themed Italian cookbook with recipes by Roberta Pianaro and culinary stories by Donna Leon. And Brunetti's Venice by Toni Sepeda. Yeah. Ordered.

It's a losing battle, I'm afraid. No matter how many books are in the pile at the foot of the stairs mostly earmarked for the Nottingham library sale in May, but some being handed off to friends. In the past couple years I've donated several duplicate gravestone books to be used as door prizes at Maine Old Cemeteries Association meetings.

No. Don't suggest I read books from the library. I usually want to OWN the book. Always have, from childhood on. And don't suggest ebooks — that's not as enjoyable reading experience for me as holding a real book in my hands. I need to see words on a page and be able to turn back or peek forward at will. I have a kindle and I have books on my iPad, but that's for traveling or if I'm somehow stuck somewhere without a real book. (When I habitually carried a purse that was small but large enough to hold a book, I had a paperback with me at all times. Now, because my preferred minimal purse is too small for a book, I still have one in the car in the pocket on the door.)

I also don't particularly care for audio books. Tom and I used to use audio books to fall asleep to and they were fine for that. But if I'm doing something else while listening to an audio book, I miss too much especially of the use of language, not just things that keep the plot going. I usually listen to music in the car — or NPR.


It used to be I "won" if, when I went to the library sale, I purchased fewer than I'd donated. (Most of the time I either "lost" or broke even.) I stopped actually going to the library sale a few years ago.

I doubt I'll have time for any actual decluttering today. I've got to review a copyediting sample I need to email back to the publisher and then I'm meeting a friend across the river in Maine to go first to a show opening reception at the Kittery Art Association and then on to the York Library for a performance by Jeff Snow.

But... This morning I had the brilliant idea of donating a machine that burns multiple CDs at a time (brought back, still in the box, from my sister's) to the silent auction at the Circle of Friends festival/gathering in May. That will make room for the digitizing turntable another friend is giving me (also still in the box).

It's hell to be literate...

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Mar 24 - 04:34 PM

You're in good company, Linn! I have all of the digitizing and media-processing stuff for working on my father's collection - and with the death of Bob Nelson I'm reminded all the more of tempus fugit. He set a good example of what to process. (As did Art Thieme with his collection - Bob's went to the Pacific NW collect at the U of Washington; Art's to the Smithsonian. I'll talk to the UW because Dad went to undergrad and graduate school there and they already have some of his stuff via Bob.)

I think I accidentally bought a second copy of a book I wanted because I didn't realize it was this small (truly a "pocket guide"). If I did get it already it's out of sight with a couple of other things ordered at the same time. Ever done that before?

I love audiobooks, but they get used for mindless things like an hour at the gym and long road trips. If I listen to them when I'm sewing it is on something so routine that I don't have to pause the book to think about what I'm doing (or go back for what I missed.) There are some books I have to read on paper because I end up having to go back and revisit things earlier in the text, almost impossible with audiobooks.

The house has the inside-of-the-goat's-stomach look so I have to spend time picking up.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Mar 24 - 10:24 AM

My 50-year accumulation of photos and negatives is the last stash of stuff in the house that remains so far untouched. Whenever I consider getting started on it, my heart sinks and I close the study closet for another stretch of months. I’m making real inroads on the basement storage areas — who knows, maybe this summer I will be able to get rid of an entire three-bay shelving unit— but the contents of the study closet feel inviolable for a while yet.

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

Good luck with those photos, Charmion. That is another of my big chores for the near future.

I detest the switch to daylight saving time. I've already started changing clocks as I go through rooms, save myself the scramble this evening. My watch and my phone make the change on their own, those are the two that matter the most.

The weather forecast shifted from "nice weekend" to "cool and overcast weekend." I'm back in my heavy terry cloth bathrobe and last week the bed started the spring phase, looking like a sandwich cut on the diagonal. There is a green wool blanket over the top of the quilt that some nights is tossed back so when I rise I see the quilt diagonal half I slept under and the green wool half over the rest of the bed but still anchored at my side foot. Spring is official when the wool blanket is aired and packed away in the zipper storage under the bed. (It is summer when the quilt is stored on the closet shelf and I use a light cotton cover to stay comfortable when the AC is on.)

Running around again today, and quiet tomorrow - alas, I was to be at the beck and call of three tiny kitties for a few days but one has become ill with a furball that seems unwilling to pass. When the last of my cats passed away I put in a flap for the dogs. Living next to the woods my cats were totally indoor creatures, but they would be able exit a dog door the way it is now. Too many coyotes, bobcats, and hawks for cats outside, so I get my dose of cat cuddles with those three.

The extra rain we had pushed tilling the garden back several days, but I can still do some decluttering in the greenhouse and set up pots and start some seeds that I would have planted directly in the soil. And there is plenty of decluttering to do in the garage and the sun room.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 24 - 10:33 PM

Knocked off a few small chores today and managed to stuff some clutter into the trash for tomorrow's pickup. Recycling was also dropped off (including some my daughter brought me that she hasn't found a way to recycle in her rural area.)

I've set up a new bed in the kennel and am trying an arrangement of large dog training pad tucked around it to see if I can figure out how much the Labrador retriever is leaking, and where. It isn't all of the time, but it's enough that I'm washing that bedding regularly. Perhaps the pads will reduce the amount of laundry. The first one was put down and soon torn up by Cookie; so the next one was sprayed with a bitter apple spray that didn't work well when she was a pup but seems to have the desired effect now. (I spritzed on my fingers and let her lick to see her reaction - even after washing it's durable and I've gotten it in my mouth also. Yuck!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Mar 24 - 01:12 PM

Well, that didn't work. The old lab slept on a different bed and left a large puddle in the middle of it. Decluttering the house of dog pee this morning, the bed and rugs are in the dryer now and I'll mop next. At this point I plan to split the difference. The dogs are in the yard today with the dog door flap covered and I've ordered disposable male XL wraps (he has a 28" waist) for nighttime. The diaper wrap will go on for overnight and nothing during the day when they'll stay in the yard, to avoid getting a rash from constantly wearing the wrap. Part of his problem is a fat mass in his belly putting pressure on his bladder when he is recumbent. A 15-year-old Lab doesn't survive any kind of surgery and despite the deafness and difficulty walking he is a happy dog. Inconvenience (the word I did intend to use) is not a good reason to euthanize an animal. We'll be there soon enough, appetite loss will signal that it's time.

On the upside a couple of eBay items sold over the weekend. More are ready to list today. The mail carrier picked up a box and asked if I had a bottle of water, he had forgotten his today (I keep a couple on a shelf by the door.) Glad to help! I find that small things can help my mood - the water today; yesterday in Lowe's I was pushing a cart but only had an empty bucket in it so asked a young man struggling with a 5-gallon bucket of paint if he'd like it. He and his father were pleased to accept. It's not like you can go looking for goodie-two-shoes things to do during the day, but small gestures of consideration that arise benefit both parties. It's part of why going out regularly is good for retirees who live alone.

In the muddling-along part of my routine it works for me to eat a high protein breakfast to reduce the impulse to snack later in the day, so I've flipped the meal plan and have dinner-type foods for breakfast and carbs in the evening. Charmion once speculated that whole milk might also have that effect, but it didn't work when I tried it (and the MyFitnessPal app kept scolding about the amount of fat). Lean lamb this morning with a cara cara orange on the side was a nice meal.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Mar 24 - 10:20 AM

When I go to the supermarket, I sometimes see a frail and/or heavily laden person waiting in the entrance area, presumably for a ride. If that person is still waiting when I have checked out and I’m headed to the parking lot, I will usually ask if I can help — nothing in Stratford is more than 10 minutes away. Old folks waiting for the bus (this town has lousy public transit) or an AWOL taxi will usually accept; I’m female and obviously not young myself, so I’m safe. My plan, of course, is to reap karma points when it’s my turn to dodder.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Mar 24 - 01:07 PM

That is nice! I rescued a woman at Costco a while ago, with the unfortunate "forgot my phone in my son's car and he was supposed to pick me up when I called" story. Like you say, it's easier in small towns to offer rides to strangers, but makes for good conversations when it happens.

Today I am solving the puzzle of diapering an escape artist Labrador retriever. He needs a band to collect pee when he's in the house, but two attempts of diapering him so far haven't worked. Last night he seems to have crawled out of it; I have mopped the spot on the tile where he slept. Reading Amazon reviews is helpful - I've decided to put a shoulder leash harness on him and will use a bungee or a band or something I make out of velcro to run from that to the top side of the band, and I've ordered a cloth diaper that I'll use as a cover over a disposable band. It seems the suspenders they sell for dogs are easily defeated by dogs. The dogs are spending another day in the yard and I got the sliding door track cleaned and moving smoothly since I have to be quick slipping through to leave them out there.

Amazon and Google aren't very discreet about shopping searches - my Instagram feed is already pushing out ads for doggie diapers and I only started looking yesterday.

Heading out soon, but forms came in from the sleep study place that must be completed first; it seems the wait is weeks to see the doctor in person so I'll do a telemedicine visit this week. These folks had me measuring my neck and head circumference a couple of times; the tape measure is out from measuring the Lab for his gear, so I'm set to also measure me if they ask. I've given it a quick rinse to remove any residual dog urine.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Mar 24 - 10:35 AM

It is 3:0 so far - three nights trying to put the band on the Lab and three nights he managed to walk out of it. Today's Amazon delivery should provide some assistance. I've realized that the new chest harness won't just help with stabilizing the band, it will make it easier to help him up and down, because pulling on his collar can put a lot of pressure on his throat so will be better even if I never keep another diaper on him. This is that expensive end stage in a beloved pet's life, when you can accommodate problems but they get more complicated quickly. (I fear this is the same stage for my friend with the three cats in my cat sitting side gig. The littlest guy is struggling.)

Heavy weather headed this way so I took the new heavy duty stapler out and attached a contractor-size trash bag onto the side of the house where the repair needs to happen. Why didn't I think of this before? I forgot the new stapler was here.

This week there has been a lot of racket from a guy clearing deadwood on the lot across the road from me. It turns out he's hauling those trees in pieces and chipping them on this side of the road on another wooded lot, and I can take my wheelbarrow around and fill it with mulch. The fastest way to get it into my yard is to follow the fenceline to the back gate and dump it in the compost pile area. If I piled it behind the fence it might wash away should the creek rise. The fence here and next door were put in about 20 feet above the creek bank to avoid washing out, but now it looks like we may need to move them closer to our houses. If I do that I may install a low concrete wall like the neighbor on the other side put in.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Mar 24 - 11:13 AM

It's a beautiful spring day in Stratford, but more snow is coming next week -- our usual equinoctial lake-effect storm. My daffodils will be in bloom by then, but they won't care. Daffs are tough.

Watson (cat) had his annual date with the vet last week. She prodded and poked him, remarked on his fine condition, winning personality and general air of confidence, but pointed out the nubbles on his lower spine that indicate encroaching arthritis -- "Is he jumping less?" Of course, the answer is yes. He still levitates with apparent ease to the kitchen counter, but not as often as he did in his younger days, and I can't remember the last time he flung himself straight up from the floor and into my arms.

Like many domestic cats, both Watson and Isobel have lost teeth to resorption disease, though they still have the full set of four fangs each. They are littermates nearly 11 years old, but Watson is showing more signs of age than Isobel does.

I have choir stuff to do -- the weekly email newsletter -- and the refrigerator is empty again. Heigh-ho, life goes on.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Mar 24 - 11:36 AM

Counter surfing was always a problem with my old cats though they usually didn't flaunt it in front of me. The Lab retriever was a classic sneaky counter surfer in his prime; turn your back and the roll you intended to eat went missing and he was back in the exact same position across the room looking innocent when you turned around again.

My friend with the cats gives them glucosamine in their food every day to slow arthritis, she gets it in capsules as Cosequin. Cats won't eat capsules but pulling them apart and emptying the dry contents onto the food and mixing it well works. My two older dogs get tablets of glucosamine that is beef flavored and they scarf it down with the rest of the food in their bowls. I don't know if it works, though a lot of people also use it. My mother was taking one of the forms of it and thought it was helpful.

I should mow today before the rains arrive overnight. The tree shredding guy is back at work this morning so I'll wait till after he leaves to go get mulch.

Allergies are making themselves felt.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Mar 24 - 12:18 PM

A Bose soundbar has replaced my stereo, giant speakers, and obsolete F connector plugs. I will only retain the tuner and turn table elsewhere just in case I ever play a record again.
The sound controls are now done with my phone.
I won't miss the earthquake deep subwoofers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 24 - 12:27 PM

I realized this morning before dawn when I had to get up to help Zeke off of the floor (he was doing his unhappy bark) to go outside that he wasn't his old happy self, and hasn't been for a while, so I made the call and took him to the vet this morning to euthanize. I let the next door neighbors know and they came over to say goodbye.

The universe spoke, in a way: as we drove off Beethoven's Ninth was just starting and was our accompaniment for the drive. I stayed with him till the end but wasn't there long, and when I left the Ode to Joy was just starting. Joy defined his life for almost the entirety of it.

Now to wash beds and rugs and floors and put the den into order. I can put furniture back where it used to go before I had a dark dog struggling through narrow passages (or sleeping in them - a tripping hazard of the first order). That harness I put on him yesterday was a huge help, we were able to move him through the clinic with some dignity and more comfortable for him. The rest of the recent purchases can be donated, and his senior dog food as well (the other dogs don't like it as well as their own.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Mar 24 - 03:55 PM

I'm remembering a friend's story of taking her deaf/blind/incontintent cat to the vet with her 16-year old twins when it no longer wanted to be cuddled ... I had tears in my eyes then & do now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Mar 24 - 04:56 PM

So sorry about Zeke, Stilly. Hard day for you.

Today, I have been preoccupied with an ailing furnace. I got up to a chilly house this morning, and by the time the nice technician arrived the thermometer was down to 16°C — too cold for typing, so the choir newsletter is still to do. The furnace is suffering from a common design problem that will eventually prove fatal, the only question is when. Oh, well.

True sign of Spring in Stratford: the Dairy Queen has opened.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 24 - 05:42 PM

Thanks, all. The vet bill is eye-watering also, but so much better for the dog there than at the low-cost Humane Society, and it was with people he knew.

My Ryobi scrubber brush is making quick work of the den tiles, as I do a section at a time then dump water. When that's dry I move to the next spot. Two batches of dog beds and floor mats have gone through the laundry so far.

Here we have the opposite of Charmion's cold weather, the humidity is 76% and the temperature is 76^o. Uncomfortable, with storms tonight. But didn't you get a new furnace in this house? Or am I remembering either your last house or someone else's furnace replacement?

Bummer of a day and I'm stalled on the New York Times Connections puzzle. I've solved the yellow and green colors and am clueless about the rest. I suspect clues from modern movies or television programs I have never watched. (At least Wordle was only 4 guesses).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Mar 24 - 07:36 PM

Condolences to you over the loss of Zeke, Stilly,
and thinking also of the two "girls",
especially when you have said that Cookie adored Zeke.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 24 - 09:05 PM

Thanks, Keb. It was odd at dinner - I always shook hands with Zeke before putting down his bowl, then I get a kiss from Pepper and set her bowl, and get a kiss from Cookie. Then they eat. Tonight they looked around, like "how do we do this now?" Decluttering a dog is a sad episode in the household, but now that the source of the lion's share of mess has departed, we can settle into a simpler routine, one that will start with more walks with the girls. That kind of activity will reknit our little pack.

Thunderstorms are passing through tonight, so my clean den will soon be muddy, but I'll be able to get it up easier now that underlying grime from the last few weeks was removed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 15 Mar 24 - 12:38 AM

Sorry to hear about Zeke, Stilly. Even when you know it's the right thing to do, you can't help having a pang or two.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 15 Mar 24 - 07:34 AM

I think of Zeke as top senior dog during the closet heat emergency.

My parents had a saying during below zero nights, "throw another dog on".
'



'

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 24 - 01:38 PM

You're correct about that, Donuel! He was a great thermal source that week! It's going to take a while for the mental map of the house to shift - I'd swear I saw him walking down a dark hall this morning, but Pepper emerged into the light. I've moved my tea cart back to its original position next to the kitchen peninsula and now have to return some things to it that moved to the peninsula for ease of use. Next decision: leave the wire crate out or not. I bought it to keep Cookie out of trouble overnight as a puppy but Zeke gradually moved in and spent most nights sleeping in there. The door is rarely closed. Also, there are too many dog beds here, but those that were repaired aren't very attractive. I should offer a few the cleaned ones (sent through the wash) on Freecycle. That would free up space on the floor in the front room where the eBay stuff lives and give me easier access to the piano (I haven't played in a long time and I miss it.)

More thunderstorms this afternoon, so this might be a good time to do something not dependent upon the Internet or electricity. Perhaps time to visit the piano.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 24 - 10:18 PM

When I packed the wire kennel flat and set it aside the girls seemed disturbed that it wasn't there, so after sweeping the whole area I put it back up. The newest beds have been put out again after the covers were washed and I'll stack surplus beds in one place and decide what to do with them. Some of them are stored now, others live in places where the dogs like to hang out around the house.

I have a small stack of finished jigsaw puzzles to donate back to the thrift store where I usually buy them. A new one was emptied onto the sunroom table this evening (1000 pieces) that is going to take at least a few weeks to assemble. The one I finished today was a 300-piece colorful view of a garden at the edge of a forest and was a good quick palate cleanser between larger puzzles.

Tomorrow is forecast to be another rainy day so I'll continue working in the house, but I need to get a lot of stuff ready to plant soon. My neighbor always prescribes to wait and plant tomatoes after Easter; that's two weeks away. I can keep putting seeds into pots for now. My squash Tatume seeds arrive this week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Mar 24 - 09:49 AM

I see that Donuel has made the leap to 21st-century audio with a Bose sound bar.

We bought a spectacularly expensive Bose “sound touch” wifi-equipped music player seven years ago, when we moved from Ottawa. I would never have considered such an expense if we had not been flush with cash from the sale of our previous house. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to retool (as it were), replacing our dust-collecting space hog of a 1980s-vintage stereo with a much smaller device that combines a CD player with conventional and internet radio, streaming services, and Bluetooth capability.

My aging ears do not perceive any loss of sound quality, and the machine sits neatly on a corner of the sideboard — a huge declutter in itself. I strongly recommend Bose equipment to anyone who has their recorded music collection stored in iTunes (Apple Music), and a not-insignificant lump of available money.

Right now, I’m listening to a Vivaldi mandolin concerto on SiriusXM. Aaaaahhh … delightful.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Mar 24 - 07:01 PM

I've looked at Bose - I could never persuade myself to spend that much for the various devices I've shopped. And it is remarkable the stuff that turns up at Goodwill - I have a high-end JVC receiver from the time when all of the surround speakers were popular and DVD at its height (it also has buttons for VHS and stereo turntable) - for about $25. I still have my father's really good speakers and a couple of others connected for TV viewing. I added a Bluetooth adapter so the Echo dot lives on top of the receiver and communicates audio content via the adapter. It sounds great to my ears.

Two days after losing the Lab and someone has already asked if I'm looking to expand the pack to three again and they have a friend with a dog that needs a new home. Nope. She apparently tripped on a dog toy and broke her wrist. (The answer may be as simple as to get rid of the dog toys, they don't need them.) No point in setting up her hopes; no more dogs for a while, at the very least, and if one is adopted, we make a connection on our own (even if it is at the shelter.) Right now we need to examine the hole left in our household and live with it for a while.

For spring I'm working on a list of projects that need to be finished. That'll keep me busy (the list and the projects) because there seem to be quite a few things around here lately that require the last step or two before I can put away the materials.

Dorothy, if you're reading along, I hope you're feeling better and R is still being a great help. And if Susan (WYSIWYG) still checks in have someone update us on your progress.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 17 Mar 24 - 05:03 PM

Good on you, Stilly:
your two dogs will still do the job you trained them to do,
and now they get to be closer to you at the same time.
Thinking of you as all of you grieve your loss.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Mar 24 - 06:56 PM

There is a sense of relief also when the thing you dread finally happens and you can move on. That old dog was a lot of work; the routine has suddenly simplified. I was shopping for fruit and veggies for three dogs (on top of their dry food), but with the big one gone I need half as much food because proportate to dog size, he got as much as the other two combined. When I tell them to eat I can step aside and sit on the arm of the sofa again; for months I've been propping up the back end of the old Lab so he didn't topple and knock over the contents of his bowl. (Oh my aching back!)

A goodbye lunch with a former colleague today; he's moving to Indiana to be near family and admittedly as a climate change escapee. He figures the summers in Texas aren't getting any cooler so he's moving while he can. After giving a tour at the museum I ran into another old coworker from the university who now works at a local public library. So much catching up with him and his partner; I hope to soon hear from a mutual friend of ours who I lost track of. So many stories from all of us. And the recommendation of a good auto repair shop and a couple of good restaurants.

I feel inspired to get moving with the eBay listings - my lunch friend did a lot of sales during COVID to clear out many useful but unneeded items. We concur that antiques aren't the valuable property now that they were when we were growing up or as younger adults doing our own collecting. Family heirlooms are harder to hand down to the kids.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 24 - 11:31 AM

I'm revising my little list routine; it's something I mentioned reading about last fall, a list of up to six items for the day, numbered in order of importance, crossed off when completed, transfer uncompleted items to the next day. When I remember to make the list it has been helpful, but some tasks need more discipline than just being noted and numbered. I've replaced the battery in a timer to leave in my office for some of the things that often take way longer than they should.

One of the dog items out in the Monday trash is a 4' scrap square of carpet. It was under a large dog bed, but as Zeke grew leakier it was hit many times and was never going to be truly clean even with the steam clean machine. (I sprayed it often with an enzyme solution meant to break down pet smells.) It was a surface that offered traction so he could roll over and stand.

It's gorgeous today, but the ground is too wet to work yet. It might be dry enough to mow the front this afternoon. After 2+ inches of rain we're verging on weeds tall enough for the code enforcement guy to get out his warning tags, so it's a race to beat him to it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 24 - 10:50 PM

Last week my pharmacy sent a text saying CDC is recommending another booter for COVID; I asked today when I was there and they said anyone over 65 can get another vaccination if it's more than four months since the last one. So I got it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Mar 24 - 12:10 PM

I haven't heard anything about new COVID boosters in Ontario. Time to look at the Ministry of Health website, I guess.

Today is Edmund's birthday, so I'm feeling a bit strange. I should be making a bang-up dinner to go with prezzies, but the fridge is empty (it's just another Tuesday) and my agenda is full of choir-related problems. It's also snowing -- perfectly normal for the March equinox but not cheery; the sky is leaden grey and the street is messy with slush. Roll on Spring.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 24 - 09:38 PM

This evening I made a dinner for myself that represents one of my son's favorite dishes (homemade chicken breast strips, breaded and fried in oil and butter). Since he is half a country away, I can't fix a birthday dinner for him but making it for myself is a nice reminder of his birthday (two weeks ago). I've made it three times this month (it is also a favorite of mine!)

After 22 years in this house with increasing mortgage payments every year, I had the pleasant surprise of reviewing the annual mortgage documents and seeing a decrease in the required escrow amount. Last year the state legislature passed laws to lower taxes for homeowners and it seems to have worked. The monthly payment will stay the same for the next year. (I could put the refund toward the payment and lower the bill each month, but at this point I'm not trying to hurry along the final payment, I have to get my ducks lined up for that first.)

My day has been achy, with a slight flu-like feeling after yesterday's vaccination. I took it easy, only pulling some large weeds and dropping them in place; tomorrow they'll be mulched in when I mow. Past side-effects were brief, so I expect tomorrow to be back to normal. I've also moved some of clutter in the front room and there's almost enough space in there to set up the photo cube and lights for eBay listings, letting me clear eBay stuff off the dining table in the den. Then I'll have that tabletop to put out my cloth cutting board for projects that can't be cut in the sewing studio.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 Mar 24 - 09:48 AM

Hit the ground running this morning after a tightly choreographed weekend and Monday and yesterday’s R&R with a friend (and her Cairn terrier MacTavish) in Brunswick, Maine. (Multitasked on the way home by dropping off two books — decluttered!) with Ranger1 in Freeport.)

Medicated Rufus’s ears (and gave him treats) and then went downstairs to organize coffee and boot the computer. (And throw a sheet in the dryer — it’s been lingering in the washer too long.) Also got a good start on the dishes in the sink while waiting for both the computer and the coffee.

Started to take said coffee upstairs but decided to traipse out to the car in my nightshirt (it’s a few degrees above freezing but going above 50°F by afternoon) to retrieve my Monday’s purchases from Big Lots — two new pillows and miscellaneous snackage.

I don’t have anything that HAS to be done today, but a whole bunch o’ stuff I’d like to get checked off the list. One of the first is to email my mechanic — my “Check Engine” light came on right after I backed out of my friend’s driveway. Another friend gave me a code reader last summer — now all I have to do is suss out where I put it.

Everything needs to be renewed this year — my passport, my handicapped placard, my driver’s license… Today I’m going to get a care package/housewarming box of treats to a friend in Louisville into the mail and, while I’m at the post office, find out if I can make an appointment there for a new passport photo.

Post office is first stop before heading to Market Basket to pick up some necessities of life — the list has been at hand for a couple weeks. Then home to maybe accomplish a few more things, including a lot of emails — broadcast thank you to the musicians and singers who helped make the St. Patrick’s Day session-style performance at Mr. Sippy’s BBQ a delightful success, and longer catch up and lunch date-making emails.

I read some really good advice on writing a couple weeks ago and desperately need to put it into action on the memoir of the Press Room sessions and the musical community that Tom (Mudcat’s Curmudgeon) congregated. In the interview with the author in the back of the novel The Dictionary of Lost Words Pip Williams was asked about her writing routine. She said she’d tried many variations on a regular routine, but the daily demand for her that worked best was to write one word a day. To only demand of herself one word a day. It’s much too insignificant to engender procrastination. But…if that one word gets written, well, look at this — a sentence is likely to result, or maybe even a whole paragraph or chapter.

I’m gonna try it!

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Mar 24 - 11:13 AM

Linn, I'm experimenting with the sonnet form (there are several renderings, such as abab cdcd efef gg or abba abba efefgg, but the result is 14 lines generally in iambic pentameter). I need to choose targeted keywords to weave in establishing the premise.

What are you planning to move out of the house? I remember you selling DVDs from your shop (do you have any left?) and you had some antiques (do you use eBay?) A lot of what we describe of our puttering seems to maintain the status quo, something we all do. Replacing existing stuff with newer working items keeps our households efficient, and keeping ourselves healthy is essential and is a feature of these threads.

What every one of us has realized is that while we were doing such a good job collecting valuable antiques, their cache was slipping away and they now need to be redistributed to people who want them but who aren't going to pay what we thought they were worth. Antiques are no longer an investment. My goal now is to declutter the things I bought at thrift stores to sell on eBay - if I can actually list and move out this stuff I will give myself a lot of room. It takes time to do it right (to stay in the 100% seller ranking). After that I need to clear out the estate items from my great aunts (stored in trunks under the eBay stuff) that is never going to get used by me or my family, but has novelty value, especially for people who focus on certain period pieces or art activities. I keep in mind how Charmion has a good system of attacking parts of rooms at a time, selling or giving large pieces and the rest loaded in her car and hauled off to a thrift store or donating to her church tag sales. (Is the china being listed now on eBay?) To make a system like that work the front room needs my focus first. I think your basement has a lot of good stuff like that?

Spring cleaning - a good time for each of us to make a declutter list that has a reasonable goal.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 Mar 24 - 01:11 PM

Never sold DVDs, Stilly. Cinematheque was pre-DVD — VHS only. I've still got a bunch of those — lots of foreign films and classic Is there a market anyplace for those?

Sold a lot of my vinyl (NOT Tom's wonderful English-Scots-Irish-Maritime collection), but it's time for me to cull some more and the person who pays top dollar is right up the road.

If I get some stuff consolidated (and the stuff for Goodwill out of here) I'll call Bjorn to see if he wants to buy an accumulation of smaller antique-ish stuff — none of it individually worth serious bucks, but I don't want to take to Goodwill; I'd like to get SOMETHING for it.

I got four books (to two people) deaccessioned over the past couple days. And there's a huge pile of books that go at the bottom of the stairs. Some are earmarked for a couple friends (I need to schedule getting together with them, one local and one who will soon be making her migration back to the Seacoast for summer.) The rest go to the Nottingham library sale.

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Mar 24 - 02:24 PM

You can sell them individually on eBay; for example, I searched for one that for a long time was not available as DVD and it's still out there as VHS: Tampopo. What I have always thought worth consideration is making a digital copy (a DVD) and offering it free with the VHS for sale, never offered by itself. There's a gray area, but if you look at the ads for many of the older films they will say "digital copy" suggesting that it's an old film in a digital form (put out by the studio or copied by a reseller?) You're allowed to make personal copies of films you buy, to put them on a device to play. If you offered that copy at the same time they receive the VHS tape - you'd be ripping VHS tapes to the computer and offering them as a pair, but selling only the tape. For some of the really in demand films people will make their own personal copies, they just want to get their hands on the VHS, but the work already done will broaden the possible buyer pool. (At the U Library we had to explore the legal aspects of ripping files for streaming on campus when the new online teaching formats such as Blackboard and Canvas. English, film, history, various classes had films in their syllabi.) Or you could just sell the high-dollar cassettes alone and package the rest to sell in lots.

Take a look at the SOLD stats for VHS films, they talk about digital copies. Figure out how to make that work for you. I have old VHS players here and a Canopus device for digitizing the files that load on the computer, then I use Nero to burn the files. Ripping the tapes happens in real time so it's something you would have to set up and be able to walk away from for a while, but even doing one a day or one a week, you could have a number of these listed at a time. It is work, but for the treasures you have in your collection there, I think you'll find buyers. You could start out offering just the tapes, and if there aren't nibbles at the price you want, try adding a digital file.

Unrelated, back to Zeke for a moment - it seems that he was our main meal timekeeper. The girls used to come in to get me but it was once he indicated that it was time. Several times lately I've realized it's late and they didn't fuss at me. They're going to have to develop their own sense of time (I need to ask if they're on time at the back fence with Cecil - Zeke often was the leader in that activity also.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Mar 24 - 12:38 PM

I am not doing things I oughta so am enjoying reading your progress reports...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Mar 24 - 01:32 PM

Mrrzy, what do you think you ought to be doing? And how are you feeling these days?

This morning I retrieved a steel pot from the greenhouse; it was my favorite pan for steaming until I accidentally put it on the stove with no water and warped it. With the three dogs I had a large steel bucket on the floor in the kitchen (3-4 gallons) but it was heavy to pick up full so it didn't get changed more than a couple of times a week. That is gone and a pot that used to sit outside is cleaned and on the floor (a Dutch oven I found in the creek bed during a visit by Mudcatter Marion - she laughed and said "you're not going to use that to cook in!") - no, but it has been used for dog water and is where the toads always take a soak each summer. With that old creek pan indoors I put the smaller steaming one on the porch. Since it is a little shallower the toads will still have easy access for their summertime spa.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 24 - 10:53 AM

It seems that the grown children don't always appreciate suggestions from parental units, but they will accept gifts. So after a photo tip was ignored in a post where one of the partners expressed frustration on making a photo look the way they wanted, I'm making a small diffusion light (an LED in a translucent plastic gallon jug with a big cutout for the light) to hand over at lunch today. And that's an extra light out of the house. Setting the bright light to the side and turning off all other sources will make the gold ink shine the way she wants. And it only took one day to find that extra light (logically tucked into the bottom of the bag that holds all of my photo cube gear.) win/win

I have friends with old dogs so have started asking around and am sharing the extra meds (no sales - that isn't kosher). So far one of the two bottles has a new home. This is more of a share-the-wealth situation than declutter. The training pads that I tried using can go to my friend whose cats I sit - she uses them in spots where the male cats are likely to spray to reduce the amount of washing or laundry that needs doing. The size doesn't matter. Dog diapers will find a home one of these days to a friend or via Freecycle (that site is set up in many countries, not just the US, if anyone is interested).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Mar 24 - 04:05 PM

I have been coughing all winter, hacking like a cat with a hairball, and it is now obvious that I have bronchitis. So I’m back on Zenhaile, the combination steroid and bronchodilator, and as usual I feel crappy while I get used to it again.

Unfortunately, I have a dress rehearsal tonight and a concert tomorrow, and Holy Week beginning Sunday and heading for a four-day musical marathon from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday. I can sing okay, but I can’t stop the loud, disgusting cough once it starts.

For the concert, I’ll try to put myself on the end of the alto line so I can duck off-stage when I start to cough. Dunno about church; I’m cantor on Maundy Thursday and at the Easter vigil service. Maybe I’ll be coughing less by then.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 22 Mar 24 - 06:43 PM

Oh, Charmion! What a drag, and just in time for the Holy Week marathon. What a shame.

Meanwhile, I hope Senoufou/Eliza won't have to suffer with her gall bladder troubles much longer.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 24 - 07:09 PM

I know several people who like the way their voice sounds as they're on the end of the recovery from a cold (my Dad was one of those), but having had a cold or bronchitis probably means the stamina is less (and the strain is more?) Good luck working your way through that schedule!

Last night I set up the kitchen radio so the alarm goes off at 4:45am and will play the radio (no buzzer to swat). That way I won't hear it on my side of the house but the dogs might develop their own sense of what time it is (as mentioned before, Zeke seems to have been our chief "watch" dog for things to do with food). The next door neighbor tells me that both dogs were at the fence this morning. He's usually up and listening for them by about 4:30.

I wrote the other day about selling Linn's VHS tapes on eBay, but I haven't spelled out my system for listing things. It starts with photos, and I have the photo cube in the den on the dining table, and a LED light on each side that are intended to shine through the cloth to diffuse the light. This removes the need for a flash on the camera, because the flash usually reflects on the surface of whatever is being photographed and makes it harder to see. Some things get the side lights and the flash if I need to illustrate different aspects. I choose the packaging for what I'm selling, the padding if needed, and put it together to weigh and measure. That is noted on a small slip of paper I keep next to the photo cube. Once I drop those photos into Photoshop and crop then choose a few I have a notepad (text) file for composing the listing. I have boilerplate stuff about it being sold as-is, not returnable unless the wrong thing is sent, etc. and though this may sound like a lot of work it's not so bad. I reuse old listings, changing the description at the top and reusing the boilerplate. I have an old version of Frontpage (2003!) that works as an html editor and I copy the code. For your code to look the way you want in the eBay form you have to use a <div> tag to start and a </div> tag to close it (I made those with html so they show here). I prefer to have it all worked out on my computer so I can copy and paste into the eBay listing, I don't want to sit there composing in the eBay site itself.

When the listing goes up I know the dimensions and weight of the package so set up a couple of shipping methods in eBay, and always note that eBay calculates the shipping. There are still some sellers out there who gouge on the shipping to compensate for what looks like a lower price on the thing they're selling.

Before I post I look through eBay listings to see if I've missed any important feature on my listing, and I look at the SOLD listings to be sure the price I choose is right for my item (I use "Buy it now," rarely ever auction, though eBay by default wants you to do an auction and wants you to accept offers. I don't do that either.) And it's much easier to get started by finding the item that best matches yours and how you want to sell and choose the "sell an item like this" button somewhere on the page. You have to remove their details, and check the boxes they may have filled it, but you don't have to choose a category and go through the early settings that way.

Make sure you have as many keywords in the title as possible (up to 80 characters) and you can avoid some obvious ones - if I'm listing a LG G8 ThinQ phone, I don't need to say "smartphone" in the header; better to have the amount of memory or "unlocked" in the title, etc. With selling china, Charmion will have lots of things like exact measurements, photos front and back, is there crazing or are there chips, etc. Always do new photos for every listing and make clear that they are part of the description. And if something is returned use those photos to compare the item to be sure someone hasn't switched it out or damaged it. That is fraud, and you can make the case so eBay won't penalize you. eBay still forces sellers to accept returns, and they will issue a refund whether you like it or not, but you can make it less likely by charging shipping, having the buyer pay return shipping, etc. and making it clear a refund is minus the shipping costs.

If something turns out not to be described accurately, it's a judgement call. I sold a handbag one time, leather, and it looked in good shape, but I hadn't moved it around a lot to see the cracking on some of the tags and realized when the buyer complained that it did have issues (I could see them in my photo when I enlarged them). In that instance, since I don't want it back because I'm not going to sell it again, I offer to split the difference - give a partial refund so I don't lose money on the shipping to them, and tell them to keep the item so they don't have to pay to ship to me to get the rest of the refund, when we both lose. And chances are they might still use the thing they bought because the problem is slight and is cosmetic, I don't sell stuff that isn't in good shape. (Antiques are different - they can be expected to show signs of age, but you need full disclosure.)

eBay 101.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Mar 24 - 11:01 AM

Oak tassels will be littering the ground for a while and the pollen from lots of other stuff seems to be settling in my nose. The seasonal allergy constant tickle of an almost-sneeze is here and will get the full treatment - daily allergy stuff (Zyrtec), overnight Benadryl to boost the daytime medication, and the neti pot as needed. I have another tour today so will do the neti pot before I head out to reduce throat clearing (I got clobbered by it on last week's tour) and I'll have a cough drop in my pocket for last resort. This isn't as drastic as the situation Charmion is looking ahead to, but in a public performance space, having control of one's voice is essential.

We had drizzle for a couple of days but today is sunny so later this afternoon I'll be able to attack the weeds and start planting things that would have benefitted from planting last month, but will be ok now. In fact, I had a better potato crop than usual last year when they were planted late. I'll wear a face mask to filter pollen that will have settled on some of the taller weeds. Apparently not all pollen is created equal and some particles are larger than can be absorbed or whatever, but it must all be treated with caution.

Did anyone else see Dante: Inferno to Paradise last week? It was fascinating. I liked part 1 better than 2, but I plan to rewatch the whole thing (I stumbled upon it a few minutes into the part 1 so want to watch it all in one sitting from the very beginning.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Mar 24 - 07:49 AM

The nasty cough has developed into bronchitis. I haven’t been so sick since COVID, and even that was less problematic — bronchitis calls for medical intervention.

Last night’s concert unfolded without me, and Palm Sunday at church will go likewise. I have my regular monthly date with the allergy doc on Tuesday, so maybe I’ll be able to sing by Thursday — or not.

Hack, kaff. Drat.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 24 Mar 24 - 06:19 PM

Got an error message when posting, is there a word limit on posts going through properly?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Mar 24 - 09:18 PM

No, (I really want to know what you were going to share!) but sometimes you have to refresh (F5 on my Windows machine) the screen. Always select and copy what you've written before hitting "submit message" so it doesn't get lost. (We haven't had the missing messages problems like we did in the past for quite a while, but I did get an error when I first logged on tonight - F5 fixed it.)

Today saw a quiet morning but this afternoon I got to the gym for an hour spread between the recumbent bike, the stair climber thing, and the treadmill. This is a pattern I need to continue, because the climbing and walking are weight bearing exercise while the bike is flexibility and cardio.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Mar 24 - 11:08 AM

Still sick. Choir issues continue. Would very much like to run away to sea, or perhaps with the circus.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 24 - 03:07 PM

The SUV needs work on the fan, needs a brake job (now, while it is simple to just replace pads), and the state inspection. I've had a new place recommended so will compare their answers (can they do any or all of this work?) with the other new repair place (they have a diagnostic charge that hits the pocketbook before any work begins). I'm getting a recording when I call so I'll stop by later because the cat sitting gig is nearby.

The process of setting a timer seems to be helping my mood and productivity in the office. Instead of a task expanding to fill the available time, I'm finishing and moving on. It means the items on my little list are more likely to be all completed.

Heavy rain overnight, so gardening and mowing is deferred until mid-week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 25 Mar 24 - 07:14 PM

Go with the sea. There are fewer allergens out there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 24 - 08:35 PM

Andrew, a good recommendation, but she should be home in time for the doctor's appointment tomorrow.

The newly recommended auto repair shop has been visited and an appointment made for a brake job next week. While it's in the shop the mechanic will take a look at the AC and tell me what repairs are needed on the fan. I can book that repair later (I try to schedule so I can wait and not have to be picked up and dropped off - both jobs at once would take too long). The close-by shop that does alignments and repairs would charge me $189 just to diagnose the problem (and not take that fee off of the repair, as one might expect). It's worth driving 10 minutes up the road for the savings. The close place can do the cheap simple stuff.

So much stuff around here to pick up and put away. I did some dusting this morning and realized I'll have to combine putting away with dusting this week. This is the beginning of spring cleaning.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Mar 24 - 11:25 AM

Since Zeke departed I have been sharing his food with the girls, but am rethinking that decision: Cookie is sitting on the floor behind me at this very moment and has just delivered two loud farts. The specialized food the girls get helps with gas; the senior food they've had a share of generates more gastric churn. There will always be some, but with the wrong food they are more frequent and stinkier. I could go to some of the other flavors of food now that my no-wheat and no-chicken dog is gone, but the gas would return with the change.

There was something I planned to share this morning, an organizational shift here, but I've forgotten what it was. The ADHD brain moves on once something has been solved, then just TRY to remember what you were going to say. [sigh] It will come around again and maybe I'll grab hold and make note of the idea then.

I finished a jigsaw puzzle last night and happily all of the pieces were present. This was one I bought full-price; so often I pick them up at thrift stores or in the clearance section of places like Tuesday Morning (the late lamented store where I bought sheets and good pans and nice area rugs over the years). This puzzle was a venture into a new product by the artist and promoted during COVID and I bought two of his works. I'll search for what else he has out there, they were well-designed and nuanced. (I have a couple given me by friends and family that are about 30% black sky in outer space or bright blue sky behind a bright Japanese temple; those will be killers if and when I start them.)

Charmion, I hope your visit goes well today. And Dorothy, I hope you're doing will with your treatments and will drop in with an update on your travels and organizing activities soon. I visualize you staying away from any public places with germs that could make things more difficult (viruses), but I can't imagine you sitting quietly and reading a book all day long; have you been working with your pots lately?

Linn, do you have power and have you made progress in sorting or donating?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Mar 24 - 05:29 PM

Maggie, way back in the 70s I has 2 jigsaws - one was a tiny little earth in the blackness of space, the other showed the Saturn rocket starting to launch against deep blue, the gases were cropped out, but I can't find the image. Each had more background than colour, & I only made them once - it took forever to fit in each black piece (they were all the same shape) as the black was a lot more than 30%, however the rocket was "only" a third of that puzzle!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 26 Mar 24 - 09:53 PM

Thanks, SRS. Nothing earth-shaking to post, but let's try it again and see what happens.

Spent a rare weekend working hard on clutter, endeavoring to get my stored stuff organized for transport. Miraculously, there was a vacant storage unit 2 doors away from mine, so for a couple of months and not much money, I have obtained elbow room to work in the main unit. Mental room too, I can see what I'm up against and what I'm doing, can start to see solutions. Literally sit in my one remaining chair, stare at the stuff, and start to see what to do. A lot to be said for just sitting and pondering.

Then, began purging and shredding some old paper files. Haven't wiped them all out, some are going to need more thoughtful treatment and scanning before purging. But still, condensed 3 R-Kive boxes to 2, and the empty one will be handy to donate books in. A good start on wrestling the monster to the ground.

Melancholy, yep, hard to look at the paper debris of a life and not get yanked down memory lanes too much.

Today, stocked up at a local wine shop, and requested a box or two. Was shown where the hidden stash of boxes were. Got some and was told to slip back in whenever I need to. Yay! Nothing like the smaller liquor boxes for books, rocks, etc.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Mar 24 - 11:44 PM

Patty, you've discovered what my mom always suggested to friends and family who were moving - liquor boxes are heavy duty, made to protect glass, but in order to be something people can lift they can't be too large. That pretty much assures that even if you pack them full you can still lift them. (Back in the day, the Washington State liquor store employees always used box cutters to slice open the tops of boxes on three sides, letting the fourth side be the hinge. It made them easy to pack and to close.) Like all members of our family, Mom had lots of books, and her interest in those boxes was that when filled with books they could still be carried easily. I could say the same thing for my brother and my rocks picked up in the field. You could still carry one of those boxes full of rocks (assuming they had some packaging, etc.)

I have a couple of friends with stories of literally living in their storage units for at least weeks. It usually had to do with the poverty of graduate school and having units where they would pull in their cars, but then sleeping in the car (and this was years ago - who knows how many of them have people in them now?) Good luck with sorting your stuff and contracting back down to one unit.

Two more days left on my cat-sitting gig. The cash is nice, but it's also nice to finish and have more time to myself.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Mar 24 - 09:46 AM

Yesterday’s visit to the doc in Kitchener led to a chest x-ray and two more drugs: Prednisone and a heavy-duty antibiotic. The x-ray and prescriptions required two hours of driving around Stratford after the round trip to Kitchener. I was done for the day at noon.

It’s the same old asthma-related bronchitis I’ve had so often over the last 50 years, but only twice since 2013, when I started on the new drug Xolair. Even COVID didn’t trigger it. I have no idea what set it off this time.

I am bored, so I’m getting better. Always look on the bright side of life!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Mar 24 - 11:35 AM

Charmion, modern medicine is a thing of beauty when it works for us (which is most of the time, except I stand by Dorothy in her current sense of frustration)! How is your sense of smell and taste with the bronchitis? Do you have chicken soup or chicken and rice or something else that serves as comfort food when you're not feeling well? Cream of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich? I really love the decaf teas like Throat Coat and Bronchial Blues.

The dog food is spoken for and she'll pick it up late tomorrow afternoon; I asked for a specific time so it won't be on the porch long enough to attract ants. The new batch of regular food for the girls is ordered and I'll be able to tip the full bag into the big bin that until recently held Zeke's food. (Dog food containers and toys and meds are stored in an antique trunk it the den; it didn't have room for two large restaurant storage containers so one held half as much. At one time all of the dogs ate the same food and this wasn't an issue, having to tape up a half-full bag until the smaller bin was drawn down.) The use of space in the den and kitchen is still shifting as the accouterments of the third dog are gradually recognized and dispatched. I hadn't realized how much more time he needed at the end; he was a good boy and got the love and attention he needed, but the girls are a lot less fussy and they come to me when they want something while he would lie there and bark until I went to check on him. Hopefully winding down on the dog stories. I hadn't intended to post much, but the declutter effect of losing him has been remarkable.

Today is chilly with a 50% chance of rain in the afternoon. If the dew dries enough I'll be able to mow the back before the storms. I'm paying more attention to the new compost pile now and emptying kitchen waste into it more frequently (Cookie can't get into this one - so far) so I'll probably empty a bucket there and bag enough grass to drop over the top of it. I usually let the bucket contents break down a lot more so it's less interesting to the dogs, but that means moving a much heavier and more full bucket. Just like now putting down smaller water bowls, I can now move the kitchen waste when it isn't as bulky.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Mar 24 - 03:02 PM

My friend Alden arrived with a care package: two kinds of soup, a loaf of sourdough bread, a small cheese, some fruit-flavoured yoghourt, two lemons (for toddy), and a large bunch of yellow tulips.

The main difference (so far) between this illness and COVID is that my olfactory senses have not failed — oh, and of course I tested negative.

For 40 years I have had two Victorian flower frogs sculling around in the china cabinet. With so many tulips and only one vase of suitable size, I put a frog in the bottom of an old Doulton bowl and made a faux-Japanese arrangement for the dining-room table. I could easily have decluttered the frogs at any time, and I really wonder why I haven’t — probably because they came from my paternal grandparents’ house, and they are small enough to fit neatly in a back corner behind the cassoulet pot.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 27 Mar 24 - 04:28 PM

THis is the first I have ever heard of "flower frogs";
I had to Google it to find out what these are.

A friend like Alden is a friend in need, indeed.

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

Friend Alden is a keeper!

Flower frogs come in all sorts of types and sizes. I have antiques from my great aunts and a few I bought in shops. Most are glass (some clear, some green) with holes throughout so they can hold the stems. Growing up my mother had brass spiky frogs that the flowers are impaled upon. Either one has to fit in the bottom of the vase, which makes me wonder about the large ones I inherited. Perhaps they are for bowls and flowers with really short stems? Here's a page with information and photos. The photo right under the header "What are Flower Frogs?" shows two glass ones in the middle and I have several like those, both green and flat and green and more of a lump, along with the clear glass, similarly formed. Also the little brass one to the lower left of the glass. Under the heading "Why Should You Consider Collecting Vintage Flower Frogs?" is another photo and I also have at least one ceramic frog. I didn't realize I was collecting them until I put most of them in one place. I have some around the house that I use for putting pens and pencils in (those with holes large enough.)

I mowed in back today but it was late and I didn't finish. Tomorrow morning I'll get to the last swath of tall grass between the pine tree and the compost bins. I bagged a bit more grass to drop over the kitchen waste in the new compost pile. The bucket was light because I didn't wait until it was full to empty it. The next contributions to the compost will be weeds dug out of the beds beside the driveway. They're actually quite beautiful now in variety and sizes, but they need to move aside for potatoes.

I forgot to share a wonderful little mood booster yesterday: there are a gazillion taquerias on the drive between the cat gig and my house, quite a few of them gas stations with convenience stores and food, and I stop at one every so often to buy my favorite dark Mexican beer (not everyone carries it.) Yesterday when I walked in I caught a whiff of some really well-seasoned meat and it was much more appealing than past visits when it smelled more like grease or who knows what. I picked up my beer, and as I walked past the food counter I leaned in and told her that it smelled really wonderful in there this evening. A bright smile and a thank you, and I stepped over to the register to buy my beer. A moment later a tap on the arm and she said "for you! A taco!" I was so surprised, but ate it at home and it was wonderful. I'll go by there again and pick up a couple for dinner. Good sales move, but also such a nice gesture.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Mar 24 - 12:29 PM

There is a mystery to solve in the den; the largest of Zeke's dog beds usually has a couple of thick bathmats on top of it (the bed has a waterproof cover that is kind of slick). I used to keep the bed on top of a 4x6 wall-to-wall carpet scrap, but tossed that (too much pee and hair). The big bed slides around now so I stabilized it on a rubber-based doormat and the two bathmats back on top. Yesterday morning one of those mats had vanished. Not in the yard, not in any other room of the house, and not in the garage where there are a couple of dog houses in the stall. I am pretty sure Cookie dragged it somewhere. The search continues. It may well be in plain sight masquerading as something else.

Must set a timer for myself to put the spare senior dog food on the porch this afternoon in time for pickup. That'll clear three bulky bags from the kitchen table.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Mar 24 - 05:17 PM

And the answer is: it was under a piece of furniture, a library table with a shelf between the legs so it was out of sight.

Dog food is on the porch, awaiting pickup. Current cat gig is done, nothing more until 10 days from now when another trip is scheduled. My local special projects fund is very happy these days.

The home sleep study is scheduled for next week; the folks at this place are a bit difficult. They won't proceed with making an appointment until they have your credit card on file, despite insurance covering everything. Expensive equipment is the reason. I will pick it up, but it seems if they charge me $20 and mail it I can keep it. I asked if it is useful for anything else once the study is finished, and the answer is that it is good for 10 more sleep studies. So, a gadget I'd probably never use again. If I require another sleep study after this, then is the time to consider keeping the device. I suppose they would want to do a follow-up if a treatment is recommended, but I'll cross the pillow when I come to it.

Out to mow the rest of the lawn.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Mar 24 - 07:29 PM

Fifty milligrams of Prednisone is enough to make me wobbly and stupid, but my cough is improving.

Hurrah.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Mar 24 - 08:20 PM

How long it is going to take to taper off of that dose?

While eating dinner I realized I should spend the evening putting away all of the stuff sitting on various surfaces in that part of the kitchen, then work outward from there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Mar 24 - 09:30 AM

Apparently, tapering off Prednisone is not the doctrinal thing it used to be, Stilly, at least not for problems like my wheezy lungs. The course I’m on now is 50 mg per day for a week, followed by 25 mg per day for another week. Then done, and shift to an inhaled steroid — fluticasone, in my case.

I like my kitchen counters clear of everything but the toaster oven, the cats’ water fountain, and a pump bottle of hand soap beside the faucet. No “décor” or abandoned mail, no dirty dishes or food sculling about. It’s a small galley, so clutter makes it non-functional as a work space. I don’t do much complex cooking these days, but I like to believe that I could launch a four-course meal without experiencing a crisis.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Mar 24 - 10:20 AM

That makes sense - I was on a low dose (10mg) but for a few months as the PMR retreated, and then had to taper by a mg a month. That was as much to keep the PMR from returning as to taper. Total I was on that very low dose for about 18 months. That's why all of the bone density follow-up now.

My kitchen has things out that 1) I use all of the time (the toaster oven, the electric kettle, the cutting boards, the kitchen waste bin) and 2) things I would forget I had and never use (the FoodSaver) and big things that don't really store well anywhere else (the bowls for things like potatoes and fresh fruit that don't belong in the fridge, and the Kitchenaid stand mixer). The gadgets in cupboards are out of sight so I forget to use them in meal prep (and forget to fix the kinds of meals they are meant for). I suspect I have more counter space to start with. But it was the table and the Hoosier Kitchen that needed clearing for that area to look better. They're both in great shape today, and I do need to boot the old mail off of the peninsula.

A sad note this morning; LilyFestre's mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer. They have a Caring Bridge account set up for more information.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Mar 24 - 11:13 AM

Ah, I get it. I have a dining room and a pantry, and therefore have places to put large things out of the way but still handy. Also, my compulsive mind doesn't let go of details like the existence of the Food-Saver and the lemon reamer. The blender and the kettle live in a cabinet, the food processor and the stand mixer have spots in the pantry, and if I could find a niche to accommodate the toaster oven, it too would get off the counter.

Over the last three years, I emptied the kitchen and dining room of a great deal of stuff that had accumulated over the previous four decades. Once all the duplicates were gone, and the gadgets that never worked out, along with Edmund's extensive collection of baking tackle that I never used and never will, suddenly I had acres of space in the cabinets and drawers and everything had a place to be. Relative serenity ensued.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Mar 24 - 12:31 PM

This is where I'm learning about the ADHD brain and why, if the FoodSaver is not in view, when I need to use it I'll be pulling out other things and typically do three other chores before I ever get back to sealing the steaks or chicken or whatever - often times not actually getting to that first task until much later. Since the storing of meat is meant to save money and preserve quality I leave it out to be extremely convenient to use. Several years ago when I cleared and organized the kitchen cupboards I left them loosely packed (versus stuffed) so I can easily see what is there. I also built a tiny pantry in the hall for the big things like the roaster oven, baking sheets, muffin pans, canning jars, and large storage pieces. A few tools on the counters removes some of the circular aspect of tasks - moving from one to another to another and finally back to the first.

Lawns are being mowed in the neighborhood this morning. I feel the pull to go into the yard and start digging and planting. I can go in circles in the yard also, but it adds up to progress.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 30 Mar 24 - 11:50 AM

Dupont:

TIRED but I shall add a bit to what SRS posted. That was on a Friday, and on Sunday, I brought in the groceries, fell into a stuffed chair, and kept on doing the chores. On Monday it hurt to sit, on Weds, I got a call about - I'm not sure what; I was screaming in pain, told to go to ER. Fractured vertebrae. Morphine is not great! Finally went home with morphine pills and have had the worst March of my life. R has been taking good care of me. As of yesterday, I have been almost comfortable walking and almost no pain as long as I move carefully.

When is washing your hair a major success? YAY!

R has been taking good care of me and enjoying cooking, cleaning up K and more! Stuff I have not had the energy for in weeks or months. Realizing that I have been in increasingly poor health long before the preliminary diagnosis last month. several trips to the hospital in various departments for various tests; R understands but my brain has been fried. Petscan on 6th may give some answers.

Having someone come to clean house before my #2 son arrives around 18th April. (Happy 61 Birthday to my dear son on 1 April! And he first found out on FB! I am, indeed a crappy mother! On the 31 March 1963, as I paced the floor (in labour) of my beloved house we had designed and built, I seemed to think the worst thing that could happen would be for this wee mite to have April Fools Day as a birthday.

R and I took a break yesterday and he drove us along the edge of the St.Lawrence, a sunny, windy day with two wind surfers enjoying it. This residential road, about 50 feet away from the river and totally parallel for a fair distance, a great view across to the north shore.

This situation is exhausting.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Mar 24 - 12:25 PM

Hi, Dorothy! I'm glad to see you back on the board, though sorry that you're in the wars.

Having someone in to clean is such a good idea.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Mar 24 - 01:07 PM

Dorothy I'm glad to read that you're getting good attention and help at the house. It was obvious in earlier posts that you were progressively feeling worse. We're all getting older, but staying healthy and active relative to our age is the goal. Fingers crossed for the upcoming scan.

When I got up today I resolved to start spring cleaning in ernest. Bed linens changed, all towels and bathmats into the laundry, vacuuming rugs and then mopping floors. Work in the garden soon. I should flatten some of the cardboard boxes that have recently arrived for recycling. I can't use every single one for eBay shipping, some have to go, but they also can be placed under mulch in the garden, so they won't go to recycling until I've mulched paths around the raised beds. FedEx just texted about two large boxes of dog food delivered to the porch—except I checked and Tractor Supply shrink wrapped the dog food bags in plastic for shipping. The cardboard at least has other uses, the plastic goes into the trash.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 Mar 24 - 08:10 PM

Good to hear from Dorothy and especially happy to know that her significant other is so solicitous and caring. That's good news.

Charmion, I hope Easter Sunday goes well for you, especially in church.

Eliza/Senoufou, Don't let that gall bladder get you down!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 31 Mar 24 - 06:48 PM

Happy Eastertide, everyone.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 24 - 08:09 PM

I am reminded to thaw a piece of the frozen leg of lamb for dinner, which will be served with hummus and pita on the side. I hope everyone is breathing well and can smell the delicious dinners they are cooking or being served, if you're doing something special.

Today was part two of cleaning the SUV (I washed it yesterday), in which I used the brush on the end of the vacuum hose on carpets and seats, then washed windows inside and out. This after I looked up detailing businesses. The costs aren't bad but these services seem to involve stay-on treatments on the hard surfaces, rug detergents with fragrances, and who knows what else that I don't want to read all of the labels of or smell for the next six months. Telling someone not to do a regular part of the job almost guarantees they'll do it anyway, and the last time someone cleaned my vehicle the steering wheel was greasy from a vinyl-cleaning product.

The blue bearded iris are starting to open; I feared none would show up this year. I still haven't seen a hint of the white ones. There is a blue plant that always comes up in the midst of a bunch of dusky yellow, and even if I try to dig it out, a blue one still comes back there. Of course that is the first one that bloomed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Apr 24 - 10:16 AM

I love having my car detailed. As some folks adore the spa experience, with varnish on their toes and fingers and expensive stuff slathered on their faces, I enjoy handing my car over for the full scrub from bumper to bumper and roof to wheels. Not being particularly sensitive to chemical whiffs -- Mother Nature is more of a problem -- I am not distressed by the aroma of Armor-All. The slickness of freshly washed Gorilla Mats under my feet, the gleam of buffed body-work ... Of course, it only lasts until the next time I drive on a dirt road or past a ploughed field, but how long is a hair-do good for?

I made it to church on Easter Sunday, but not to the choir stalls -- too weak. This lung thing has kicked my ass to the extent that I wonder if it was/is more pneumonia than bronchitis (no word from the doc on the chest x-ray). I slept through the night and did not cough convulsively on rising today, which is huge progress. But cooking a simple meat-and-two-veg dinner for two (Alden came to help me eat it) was almost more than I could manage yesterday, and today I'm saving all my energy for choir practice. I probably won't be able to sing much, but I have to recover the Haydn scores that we borrowed from a choir in Regina.

Today I take the last 50-mg dose of Prednisone; starting tomorrow, the dose drops to 25 mg for another week. It really is a miracle drug -- and cheap! -- but I feel weird all the time when I'm on it. No benefits without costs in this life ... !

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 24 - 04:04 PM

I like your analogy to a spa day for the car! Armor-All - that's the name I couldn't think of. Ok on the tires, not in the vehicle itself. Someone pointed out that there are folks who will travel to you to do detailing so I'll make inquiries.

I blew off a meeting today - one of the self-care things you can do if the preparations and travel to the activity are liable to not be worth the social reward of the event itself.

There is heavy weather headed this way tonight so I'll get a walk with the dogs in early and do some garden work (spread the dry fertilizer) so it can get watered in with this round of rain. I don't put it where it will wash away, I want it to soak in (this is an organic dry granular product) that generally goes around trees, shrubs, the garden and flower beds.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Apr 24 - 04:46 PM

The blue-eyed grass and Lenten roses (hellebores) are blooming in my garden, and the daffodils that survived the last snowstorm are making the big effort to get their petals out. It's a really beautiful day in Perth County.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Apr 24 - 12:01 AM

Today's trip to the new repair shop was an eye-opener. I expected to wait a few hours and leave with new brakes, paying about $600, and with a diagnosis for the next repair (the noisy fan.)

These folks are smart - before they take the wheels off they examine the vehicle (with a flashlight and a mirror) and determined that I have about 10,000 miles left on the front brakes, and even more on the rear. So, no brake job needed. They took a look at the blower on the fan to see if they could tell what was wrong, and couldn't reproduce the noise, so I drove around the neighborhood while Edgar rode and we listened. I pushed the buttons that usually caused it, turned corners in the way that set it off - nothing. It seems that by simply examining the blower, when it was put back it was secured and it had been loose, so that was the problem. No more rattling. Again, no repair. But I heard someone say something about an inspection - "do you do inspections here? Mine is due." So after two checks and the inspection, I left 2.5 hours later after paying $25.50 for the state inspection.

Nissan and Jewell (the shop near my house) both said the brakes needed new pads, but the mechanics who actually do the work said they didn't. It's about "two oil changes from now" they said (5,000 per oil change). If they'd been able to identify a repair that needed to be made on the fan, the charge is $78, but if they do the repair, they just charge for the repair. Jewell was going to charge $189 to diagnose before any repair, and it isn't reduced if you do the repair there. You can guess where I'll be going for any future work. And perhaps all I'll need to do is pull up and have Edgar lay his hands on the vehicle. :-)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Apr 24 - 12:57 PM

I have a growing mental list of things that I can possibly return to their default states now that I don't have a Labrador retriever in the house.

• In the shower the other day it dawned on me that the soap is in the rack hanging from the shower because if soap was left anywhere low he would eat it. I lost quite a few bars of good olive oil soap that way.


• The trash in the kitchen is on top of the dryer. It may stay there, as too tempting with food waste.


• All other rooms' trash containers are on counters or shelves. Why? He ate used facial tissues when he could find them.


• The dog food is stored inside an antique trunk because he could nudge the top off of the canister.


• The toilet seat lid is left down, because he would drink from it. That will stay down; even the lid doesn't stop Pepper, she can nudge it up if she really wants. (I sometimes leave a tissue box on top of the closed lid just to see if it is moved or knocked off. That is enough to dissuade her.)


• The large brass "toy bin" that I set up when Zeke came to live here. A friend with a long history with Labs said they thrive when they have routines like a place to find the toys when they want to chew or fetch, etc. And it meant I could pick up toys around the house and he still knew where they were.


• Changing the dog leash setup. I use a woven nylon webbing type, and had knots tied in them at the positions where I held them walking the dogs positioned directly beside me, not out in front. Cookie now has the longer leash and I have to retie the knots since she is shorter than Zeke by several inches.

Other changes will occur to me as I continue to unwind our version of Dog World 3.0; the 2.0 environment is simpler, smaller, and much tidier.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Apr 24 - 03:09 PM

It's like the opposite of oh, dear, the kid has learned to locomote!

I can't decide if eating some carbs for a while helps my OCD or makes my messiness worse...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Apr 24 - 10:30 PM

Mrrzy, I just got a copy of the latest Dr. Amen book that goes with the lecture running these days on PBS. He's talking about food and brain types; this isn't new, but now that I am aware of the ADHD I'm learning that some changes might help. More protein, and earlier in the day, for example. I have a bookmark ready and a pencil and postit notes to use while reading. I don't often buy self-help books, but this one might confirm some things I've wondered about and may offer dietary guidance. My GP has told me a couple of times that I need to get more protein in my diet.

The day was spent running errands; after my haircut I took a friend to lunch and after, picked up a BBQ grill that he needed to rehome. It's about half the size of the one I use now and more advanced (steel plates instead of lava rocks radiating heat). When he told me he had baked bread in it I made a mental note to clean it up and look at the footprint; this is smaller and for one person, I might actually use it more. The older big one heats up so much more area that goes unused. And baking bread in it? In the summers here, any cooking in the house heats the kitchen; the more you can do outside, the better. The old one would then go on one of the Freecycle or Buy Nothing pages.

But wait! Picking up the grill wasn't the end of the running; my friend with the brain injury often needs help setting up electronic devices, and he needed to return a TV to other friends and buy his own. So I stopped by there to look at how the old one was set up then we headed to Target (after shopping online at various places). I need to return tomorrow with a plank that he can put across the top of the small cabinet where the old TV sat. That had a pedestal base, the new one is larger with two spread out legs wider than the cabinet. For now, the new TV is set up and gets the cable signal. It's on the floor and the door won't hit it. I loved that the first channel that came on was MSNBC - I told him he was a man after my own heart. :)

Here at home the grill is unloaded and tomorrow I'll clean it up. Sitting beside my old grill in the garage it is a lot more compact, but my friend assures me it is plenty large to grill a spatchcocked chicken. That's a good sign! My instinct to recycle and reuse is such that if I can't use this grill I'll find a good home for it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Apr 24 - 09:45 PM

As is sometimes the case with grills left to languish in yards, the rehomed one is in need of parts and TLC. I can buy steel screws and secure the loose side table, but the cast iron grates are deplorable. The diffusers are adequate. A comparable grill new would cost four times the price of replacing emitters and grates. The smaller size is in its favor. I'll start with putting it together (screws are cheap) and then test it with my LP tank and decide from there if I want to do more. For now, it's on the list of things to work on with no special trips.

The lawn is growing crazy fast and I'll attack the front tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Apr 24 - 11:18 AM

Hopefully as we approach the weekend the (either one) carbs or no-carbs diet question will soon be answered by Mrrzy, and Charmion will step lightly off of the low-dose Prednisone and have her voice back; whether she has the will to do all of the choir paperwork is another matter. Here, a home sleep study has concluded and the gear is ready to be returned.

My museum scanning is pushed to next week after a skylight in the building broke overnight Thursday and I imagine the amount of the glass that rained down was substantial (they're very large pieces over the atrium). Closed to the public for several days as they continue cleaning and replace the now missing piece of glass. This frees up time for garden work before I run several errands.

My Mom would have turned 102 this week; she didn't make it past 76 after an adulthood spent smoking. By my age she had already had several major health crises, so here's hoping that 19 years of her second-hand smoke didn't have similar effects on me and the other sibs. She'd have loved seeing how my kids turned out, and since my son now lives in her area she would have enjoyed a growing relationship, as does my sister now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Apr 24 - 01:20 PM

Still at 25 mg of Prednisone per day — not a low dose, but not outré either. The most popular side effect — irritability — is fully engaged, so it’s good I don’t have any deadlines or responsibilities beyond keeping the cats fed. I’m very weak, however; able to do one thing at a time for a few minutes, and that’s it. I can drive to church or the supermarket but no farther, and my singing voice is accurate but wobbly.

I’ve finished the antibiotic and the last dose of Prednisone goes down the hatch on Monday.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 24 - 05:07 PM

Typo earlier, meant to say "lower." That 25 is still higher than any I took during PMR. I don't know how that higher amount feels, and hope never to experience it!

It's a windy day today, and I'm not feeling terribly motivated to do much. That said, I'll head into the back and at least scoop and see if I can move myself to pull a few of the copious weeds and prepare another bed for planting. Or go pick up free mulch. Or walk the dogs. I am feeding cats tonight to start a week-long run, though this week may involve transporting one of them from the vet (where he is now) home during the week, once they're ready to release him. I hope this isn't the one who howls the whole way or evacuates his bowels on the trip. I'll have a large box handy to put the carrier into just in case.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Apr 24 - 10:38 AM

Work on the free grill has progressed; with a few stainless steel screws I was able to re-attach the side shelf, returning full work surface functionality. A retired baking sheet is now filled with soapy water soaking one of the grates. It appears to have a major encrustation of cooked meat and sauce that might be improved upon. Either the crust is cleared off of these grates or replacements will be purchased, but to test it once I'll use the old ones after they're cleaned. This is the current equivalent grill with the same features as the five-year-old one. The question always is how much time am I willing to dedicate to a project once it looks like it will pan out, versus buying a new one. The grate cleaning is the last part, so not too much work so far. (I had points with one of my credit cards so looked around and found a Dremel tool; I've needed one for ages so ordered it along with a wire brush attachment to clobber the grill.)

If I adopt this I'll have to clean the old one and offer it up, so I still have grill cleaning in the near future.

The kitchen got a cleaning last night and laundry goes in today. Still using the dryer because one clothesline support post is standing at a drunken angle after last fall's branch collapse from next door. I have to dig at the side of the concrete footer and reposition the post (adding more concrete for stability.) No need to dig an entirely new hole. There is still a large tree next door, but most of the threat from branches has gone now that the side came down.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Apr 24 - 08:40 PM

Dupont:

Trip to hospital - much walking! wore me out and "you will get a call in five days" re findings was a bummer. I want to know the prognosis! R may get to the clinic tomorrow for info.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Apr 24 - 01:27 PM

The last dose of Prednisone is now history, and I went to the Y for aquafit class this morning.

And that's my limit. I'm still weak and groggy, but a bit more capable every day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Apr 24 - 07:24 PM

YAH!!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Apr 24 - 10:05 PM

Dorothy and Charmion, keep getting better!

I mowed about 25% of the back yard this evening, just to get started and to clear around the regular paths for the dogs but thunder tells me it might be too wet to mow the rest until later in the week.

The eclipse was wonderful, we saw the totality at the moment the moon moved completely over the sun - what a blast, seeing the rays radiating out from the edges! A cloud moved over for about a minute, then cleared again near the very end. My neighbors came over when I realized they didn't have any glasses. I had one pair and we passed them around. No one in their right mind needed to stand out there the whole time staring at the changing crescent. It was a nice visit, and though we hoped the neighbor's chickens might confirm that the light had disappeared, they didn't make a peep.

I wasted time this afternoon trying to retrieve some canning jars, but when I arrived at the place realized she was just piling trash at the curb and telling our Buy Nothing group that we could get what was left without making any provision for us to pick up what we asked for. She had no intention of isolating items and letting people speak for them, she just wanted people to come haul off her trash (clearing a parent's estate). She and her snotty sister are no longer in our Buy Nothing group (when I politely complained that this isn't how the group works, the woman who posted the listing was rude and was blocked, then her sister piled on and I blocked her.)

I often list things that I could sell on eBay, but due to the work involved, have decided instead to donate it via this group. When I list one of the BBQ grills once I've decided for sure the one to keep I'll clean the other, package the parts for transport, and understand that while this is an older model it works, and for someone on a budget, all they need to do for it to work is get the canister of LP gas. I wouldn't consider putting it at the curb and telling the group about it to see if they can beat a neighbor who might grab it first.

I do sometimes put things at the curb a day ahead of the trash, but not the way she did. I had a basketball backstop out there one time, the folks who got it were thrilled because they had kids, they were in the neighborhood, and they would do the work to put it back in the ground and set it up. They actually knocked to ask if it was ok to take it. That was a better item for someone to drive past, get a look at, and decide they could use. I don't know if the distinctions I'm attempting to make are clear, but I'm trying to be philosophical about the whole Reuse/Reuse part of recycling. If I have something at the curb for the trash that I know would be a rude surprise if someone carted it off to their house, I put a note on the front saying why it is in the trash. Like the rug that I tossed after Poppy died - "no, you don't want this rug - it's full of dog pee." The woman who set off my rant wasn't playing fair in our group according to the various informal ways that things are redistributed in this part of town.

The rain has started so Pepper will be underfoot. This is the edge of a bigger storm, I expect it to end in a few minutes, but it is enough rain that I won't mow tomorrow or worry about watering my friend's pots after I feed her cats. Time to wrap up the computer work and get a book to read.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Apr 24 - 10:31 AM

The eclipse was a non-event on Glendon Road, Stratford. It was dusky for a while, then it wasn't, and the caravan moved on.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, I have decided to adopt a very low-carbohydrate diet, at least for a while. I believe I am sliding toward Type II diabetes, which would be zero surprise as both my brothers have it, and I am lugging around 12 kilos of excess weight that just won't shift. I have booked an appointment with my doctor to be tested in all the traditional invasive ways, but I see no reason not to change dietary gears now, while I'm thinking about it.

This morning, I went through the pantry and extracted everything that isn't on the "good for keto" list I found on the Internet. There's not much left.

According to Gary Taubes, author of "Rethinking Diabetes", "The Case for Keto", and a whole host of other books on managing diabetes, this diet will compel me to cook again -- but I can eat cheese with near abandon. This week I bought avocados for the first time in my life. Not very interesting as a foodstuff, but remarkably satisfying.

Does any of my fellow declutterers have experience with "keto" diets?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 09 Apr 24 - 02:36 PM

I haven't had much time to post here in the past couple weeks. Been juggling more stuff than I care to think about, and being without power for four days and unconnected with the rest of the world except when I was using wifi at McDonald's hasn't helped.

Now I'm dancing as fast as I can to catch up on the things I couldn't do Thursday through Sunday because I had no electricity and no water. (And no wifi and very iffy cell service.) Couldn't get out of the driveway until Saturday. (Coffee! Hot meals! Wifi!)

But today I'm taking a box of glassware to Goodwill (every little bit helps) and getting some grocery shopping done. Prepping a package and taking it to the post office will have to wait until tomorrow. It's just one thing too many today. (Sending some books and "Designing Women" DVDs to a friend who was also my late sister's best friend.)

Got most of the laundry and most of the dishes taken care of yesterday.

Seems as if everything else is just taking a lot longer than anticipated. Called my optometrist's office this morning to find out when I can expect my new glasses (stopped wearing hard contacts about a year ago) and, because of computer problems and the power failure over most of New Hampshire, she said 5-6 weeks. I just hope I've got them before Mother's Day weekend when I've got an out of town commitment.

Later!
Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 09 Apr 24 - 07:06 PM

Real keto diets are hard to pursue, but can be just the thing if you need to break away hard from sugar and carbohydrates. I have found it more do-able to pursue a looser low-carb plan and gotten good results. Our modern diet, and particularly the tasty, comforting, and cheaper foods can leave us taking in SO many more carbohydrates than the body can deal with.

The modern commercial slice of bread is so large and has added sugar, gives us a ridiculous amount of carbs in just a plain sandwich, never mind other baked goods. And the 'healthier' breads seem to be the worst. Checking labels for net carb grams on whatever breads you use can help you find one that is more modest; or some people just get bread and all baked goods out of their life while on their program.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Apr 24 - 07:13 PM

Charmion, the champ of the Keto lifestyle is our fellow member LilyFestre. She posts mostly on FB these days. She walks most mornings along with the Keto diet for the family, and has worked off lot of weight. Right now her mother is ill and she hasn't walked as much (I saw a post about walking yesterday) but I suspect they're sticking to the diet as a matter of habit.

I'm shifting my diet to more protein in the morning and the carbs later and it does seem to curb the sugar cravings. Snacks lately are savory: I made another batch of the smoky gouda and pecans spread I discovered recently. I pick from a couple of recipes - mine ends up with shredded gouda, sour cream, finely chopped pecans, a little Worcestershire sauce and some powdered onion. I use tortilla and flax seed chips to pile a spoonful of the spread on. Meat in my diet is usually an ingredient in dishes, but I'm changing that. I eat more fish and chicken than beef, and lately have added back lamb; I cut up a leg of lamb and freeze portions. The MyFitnessPal is set to track carbs, protein and fat.

The alternate day fasting worked for me to lose weight two years ago and is what I'm doing to lose a few pounds now. I recently listened to a lecture about the problem of some of the forms of fasting - those in which the calories are eaten within an 8 hour period seem to be flagged as possibly associated with some health risk factors. I keep to 500 calories on the "fasting" days but I've never restricted it to within a few hours. It's unscientific but I find on the days when I eat 1200 calories I get enough of the foods that are treats that I don't feel deprived for a day when I eat less.

Linn, I stopped going to the optometrist's office for making glasses because they were always so expensive. Having insurance only let them gouge both me and the insurance company. I use Zenni, and have been happy with the quality and price, and I daresay if you entered your details into an order at Zenni you'd have new glasses in a couple of weeks. There's a learning curve to fill in the information from the printout Rx from the optometrist (you should ask for a copy), but once you figure it out, returning for new updated orders is easy.

Heavy rain forecast overnight and tomorrow. I worked in the garage today to scour off some baked-on grease at the front of the grill hood. I used a tool (no idea the original intent - it was from my Dad's stash) with a razor blade at an angle and slowly peeled back some of the grease (baked on like enamel) and scrubbed the rest with steel wool. This work has me eyeing the huge lump of the older grill under it's nylon cover (held in place with a bungee cord) - can hardly wait to downsize if the new one works well.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 09 Apr 24 - 08:02 PM

Maggie, you forget that I worked as an optical technician at Sears Optical and JCPenney Optical for five years (we were licensed businesses within the stores). I stopped wearing my RGP hard contacts about a year ago. I just didn't wear them often enough. I'm currently wearing a pair of progressives that are about 20 or more years old. I just found out that I actually have vision insurance for the first time in my life. It paid for my exam and substantially towards a new pair of progressives. If I hadn't had insurance, I would have gone directly to JCPenney Optical when they had one of the sales that worked best for me. I ordered the pair of progressives through my optometrist because I wanted a better lens (the three different progressive lenses sold by US Vision are adequate, but not the best available) than would be available at JCP Optical. I would order single vision glasses online, but would never consider ordering progressives. For correct placement of the lens in front of the eye, it takes someone actually measuring segment height. (I know my PD — pupillary distance.) And an online optician couldn't phyiscally fit the glasses — progressives usually need a little tweaking. (And I know of no optometrist's office that would fit a person with the glasses they bought online.)

I'm going to take my Rx, though, when the sale is right and buy a second pair (for fashion reasons as much as to have a good spare pair; my old prescription is just enough out of whack that I have a headache after driving for any length of time) at JCPenney Optical.

And I have multiple pairs of single vision glasses for back ups as well.

Back when I got that 20+ year old pair of progressives (which my then optometrist was insisting on), I could never get used to them because I wore my contacts 99% of the time. (I'm nearsighted, so the contacts were for distance; I used cheap readers for closeup.) But a few months ago the pair of single vision distance glasses I was wearing to drive got misplaced. I rummaged in my nightstand drawer and for some reason the only pair I could find was the progressives. I needed to go somewhere, so put them on not expecting much, but, voila! I could see both distance and closeup and everywhere in between with absolutely no problem whatsoever.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Apr 24 - 10:37 PM

You're right, I completely forgot about your working at the optical place. And please don't read my criticism of the optical store at my (last) optometrist's office as my view of the entire world of opticians. You're also right about the progressive lenses - those are different. I wore them for a little while and switched back to regular lenses with bifocals because I was tired of bobbing my head around to find the focal part I needed in the lenses at any given time. I typically ended up spending about $400 on a new pair of glasses because the insurance didn't pay for polycarbonate lenses and the frames that had nicer features (titanium, springy hinges, etc.) always cost more than the budget plastic pairs to choose from to stay under the plan allowance. We're creatures of habit, so I bought glasses at the doctor's office long before the online sites came along and it took a while to get comfortable with the idea of ordering online and switching.

I made the optical tech work out what my glasses would cost if I walked in without insurance. I would have been offered a "50% off" rate, and they came out (for sake of illustration) around $400. She then worked it out with my insurance: with insurance you're not offered the discount discount on any of the frames, lenses, etc., and it came out $395. Which told me they were getting a lot more out of me because I paid as much as the uninsured and the insurance company also gave them something. The last pair I bought from Zenni with a titanium frame, polycarbonate lenses (with the option I never paid for at the optometrist's - photo responsive lenses) cost $88. I learned about this place from our group participant LilyFestre. She said her agency used them when they had families needing glasses but with no budget. For lower-end plastic frames and lenses you can probably get a good pair of glasses for under $40.

Patty nailed it as far as our high-carbohydrate diets. I aim to have fruits and vegetables as much of my diet, so eating protein instead of wheat-based carbs or sugar is a good choice. I have a combination of commercial raisin bran cereal and a homemade granola (low sugar, high in nuts) that makes my gut happy, but eating that for breakfast can set me up for wanting more carbs during the day. I've started thawing a piece of fish overnight and having a piece of sauteed tilapia or sockeye salmon and a side of pan fried potatoes or a vegetable, and having the granola for lunch or even part of dinner. Mostly I have to get off of sugar snacks.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 10 Apr 24 - 09:54 AM

So many customers couldn't understand why, if they used their insurance, the insurance company didn't get the sale price. I got into trouble, though, when I suggested to customers that, if their insurance was less than optimal, use the sale rather than their insurance.

I bought my RGP hard contact lenses online for DECADES. Better price than even the annual sale prices at the shops I worked at. Half the price of what an independent optometrist would charge me.

I'm still doing the daily version of intermittent fasting — I can eat from noon-1:00ish until 8:00 p.m. Then it's only water, black coffee or tea until noon-ish the next day. But, since the start of the pandemic, I cheat. Back in 2020-2021 it was compensation for so much else being taken away. Alas, I got into the habit of cheating and, while I've been trying to get back on track, it's still a struggle. If I get really pecking, though, late ate night while reading, I can "legally cheat" by snacking on something that is very very low on the glycemic scale, such as lettuce or greens, or (as I prefer) kimchee.

My use of intermittent fasting isn't so much to lose weight (although that's a nice benefit — I lost 40 pounds painlessly in seven months) — it's to avoid the diabetes that runs on my mother's side of the family.

My snack cravings go towards the salty and crunchy side rather than sweet. My favorite daytime snack is almonds — I mix "roasted with salt" and "roasted/no salt" to keep the sodium level down. I haven't eaten potato chips since 1992 when a friend and I had a consultation with "The Mad Russian" (Yefim G. Shubentsov) in Boston. (Tom had seen him for smoking cessation, but the Mad Russian also dealt in food issues.) I saw him to get rid of my urge to find the perfect food that would solve whatever problem or mood I was beset with. After explaining to me that my body shape is the preferred standard of beauty almost everywhere in the world, he asked that I give up one food. I chose potato chips because they weren't my favorite snack; I saw them mostly as a vehicle for dip.

Coffee's ready and I hope to have a postponed weekly phone conversation with a friend who winters in Florida.

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 10 Apr 24 - 06:47 PM

Just finished making the sauce for peanut butter-sesame noodles. I'm knackered, but I figured I could get that mixed up, the pasta cooked, and the scallions chopped.

After my postponed from Sunday weekly phone call with a musician/ librarian/ teacher friend who winters near Pensacola, I got the box I forgot yesterday into the car, and packaged up those DVDs and books so I could stop at the post office on my way to Goodwill.

Stopped, too, at RiteAid to get multi vitamins. I don't go into many stores other than the grocery store because concrete floors are very painful for me. (At the grocery store I use the cart as a "walker" of sorts.) When I came out of the drugstore, I figured it would be one thing too many to go to Market Basket to get a couple more six-packs of one of Polar's limited edition seltzers — Jalapeño Citrus Margarita. I seldom drink sodas because they're too sweet. I avoid ones with HFCS, but even the craft sodas with cane sugar are too sweet, but I occasionally like a flavored seltzer. This flavor is really nice so I better stock up.

Took the box to Goodwill, then went inside to see if there was anything I couldn't live without. Spent $32, but also got a rally nice pashmina or oversize scarf that will go smashingly with several outfits I've got.

This morning started out sunny, but it clouded over before noon and spit annoyance rain (turn the wipers on, turn the wipers off, ad nauseum).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 10 Apr 24 - 08:02 PM

Forgot to mention my real score at Goodwill today — an Apple wireless keyboard for five bucks. Mine has been acting flakey lately, so tomorrow when I have more energy, I’ll put batteries in the new one and try it out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Apr 24 - 11:53 PM

My cat-sitting gig will end earlier than planned, and has gone remarkably free of complications because the cat that needs the most attention has been at the vet this week. I suspect the next gig will be one for the record books with new steps for the sickest one and changes in food for all feline family members.

Canine drama here at 4am; I woke to frantic barking and sounds of a struggle in the yard. I pulled on clothes and shoes and headed out with a flashlight (after covering the dog door in case someone got skunked - they get treated outside before they are allowed indoors) but it had concluded. I found no bodies, no injured dogs or wild animals, but there were whiffs of skunk. Odd, but no one is talking about what happened.

Allergies are hitting hard with the layers of antihistamines (daily tablet, nasal spray, overnight Benadryl) fully deployed.

The Dremel tool I ordered would have been too small for the task I have in mind (the tiny wire brushes are cute) so I picked up an inexpensive pack of wire brushes to use with my regular drill. Tomorrow I'll put on safety glasses, drape a heavy plastic bag over pants and shoes and test the cleaning ability on the BBQ grill. This setup is also what I need to clean surfaces before I paint all of the decorative security bars on the house windows, though that requires a softer abrasive kind of brush to scour the bars. I can see a number of long-envisioned projects getting done this spring. And it will make the house look brighter (right now the bars are painted with the original ugly dark gray that used to be on other parts of the house).

Patty, are you still on the road or have you found a place to settle?

Dorothy, I'm so pleased to read about R's attention and help and being able to make a drive.

How is everyone else doing this spring?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Apr 24 - 09:30 AM

Keto for 4+ years.

Finally put away my clean laundry. Found that one garment I'd forgotten I was looking for...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Apr 24 - 03:35 PM

I put away my laundry today, too.

Today I had lunch at the only restaurant I ever go to any more, where I shocked the cook by not ordering her (delicious) huevos rancheros. Instead, I had three scrambled eggs, four rashers, half an avocado, and black coffee. The world continues to revolve on its axis.

So far, going keto seems to be mostly about finding ways to add fat to the menu without resorting to ice cream.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Apr 24 - 04:33 PM

Don't lose sight of ample sources of good fiber. When the Atkins diet (akin to Keto) became all the rage the discussion of acute constipation arose.

I buy several avocados at a time and make guacamole then mound it into ice cube trays to freeze for portions. It's best to let defrost at room temperature or for ~ 20 seconds at a time in the microwave (so you don't cook it.)

Gorgeous day today. So much to do, but will I get anything done at all?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 Apr 24 - 09:25 AM

Have had a remarkably tough and unproductive 11 days dealing with a bad head cold which apparently coincided with peak pollen-in-the-sinuses season. Thought I would never get over it.

Yesterday got stocked up on fresh foods, got frustrated trying to find someone who actually has someone available to pump propane, and called it a day. Today, the storage unit work resumes. With warmer weather hopefully the propane can wait til Monday.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Apr 24 - 11:50 AM

Patty, that kind of cold is the gift that keeps on giving isn't it? You get over the cold and then you have to get over getting over the cold. How far do you think you've gotten with clearing/organizing your storage locker at this point?

Propane is a topic I'm dealing with today; I transferred the tank from the old grill to the newer one, but to be prudent I'll take out a bowl of soapy water and a damp paper towel and do the "bubble" test - dab it on in the areas where a tank might leak and be sure it is still sound. Yesterday I used the wire brush drill attachment on the first cast iron grate and it looks much better, though it was getting dark as I finished and this morning I see I missed a few spots. The second grate has soaked in soapy water overnight before using the drill on it this morning. The cabinet wheels are kind of rough so I'll prop up the cart one end at a time and see if they need cleaning or replacement. I'm almost to the test fire point, and if it works I'll prepare the older grill for donation this weekend. I can't wait to clear out space in that part of the garage.

This morning the New York Times had a subscriber-only article about "Decuttering Sprints" to be done in 30 minutes or less. The first recommendation was to get rid of all of the old electronic power supplies, but mine are all in one place and are a handy resource to go with eBay sales, so nope, they stay.

Clear clutter from the car is the next, but I did that last week. She suggests wrangling all of the reusable shopping bags:

If you keep reusable shopping bags in your trunk, Pateras said, “the rule of thumb is to have as many as you use for your biggest grocery shopping trip.”

Ok, I do have an overflow of sizes and types of those. I wrangled the durable plastic heavy duty ones and some large cotton strong-handled ones and the rest are hanging in a bag on the closet door until I sort for donation. The crumbling basket on the SUV floor behind the front passenger seat that held Kleenex, vinyl gloves, a whisk broom, bottles of water, paper towels, etc. was emptied into a smaller cloth bin. The broken basket goes into the trash.

The third task in the article is digging stuff out from under the kitchen sink, but for some reason that area has never become the "shove-and-pile-zone" she suggests they can be. (Partly because I get mice in there sometimes and want to be able to set a trap.) I do intend to put in a new faucet one of these days and will have to move the current contents out briefly to crawl in to work, but it is organized.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Apr 24 - 07:10 PM

The initial test of the new-to-me BBQ was successful; I grilled a couple of chicken breasts. Now I need to start cleaning up the old grill and see if anyone wants it. It was sold in about 1998 and I can't find an online manual (I inherited this from the neighbors and rebuilt the insides). I'll clean it and hope to find someone who wants one they can drop off at a campsite or someone with no budget who wants a grill that works.

Good news this afternoon - the cat-sitting gig is over and she doesn't plan more trips for a while. She's participating in the neighborhood garage sale on the 20th and asked if I'd like to bring up stuff. Yes! I'll start looking around this evening. Whatever I can transport up there (and possibly have the friend with the truck make a run for me - I could offer an antique bed frame if he could take it there. But who wants antique bed frames?) Everyday I walk past stuff sitting out that has no use here—there's a lot of that. Ask low prices so it all goes.

I started some weeding this afternoon but the soil is still too wet from the rain on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tomorrow should start to be pretty good. My potatoes are sprouting in the one bed that has been planted. It is nice weather now and I'll take the dogs for a walk before I feed them.

More good news this afternoon - the mortgage bill/statement arrived today. Not only did they refund a lot of escrow last month for the coming year, they applied some of that overage to the account itself and the monthly payment has gone down by $150. (The skeptic in me feels the need to check to be sure someone didn't misplace a decimal and will come looking for it all back later . . . )

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 13 Apr 24 - 05:35 AM

Woke up from a recurring dream cycle at 4:30 this morning and my brain immediately snapped to attention, went into high gear, and refused to let me slip back into sleep. Sigh. But it’s just given me a few good decluttering ideas — what I optimistically call the guest room (well, there’s a bed in there someplace); the piles of photographs, books, and artwork in the living room; and the room I refer to as “The Room” (pronounced Thee Room”).

But first, an epiphany. If I refer to my bedroom as “my library”, I’ve immediately, for all practical purposes, decluttered it. There’s almost no floor space; it’s all taken up by piles of books, boxes of papers, stacks of magazines, letter files, the 60-odd plus 3-ring binders of The Archives, and tote bags and boxes of photographs, and the Bob Nilson drawings I’m cataloging…all more or less organized. It’s also got two walls of bookcases and several smaller bookcases. It’s majorly cluttered as a bedroom… But it’s more or less normal for a library.

So, as of right now, 5:34 a.m. on Saturday, April 13, 2024, I’m officially sleeping in my library.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Apr 24 - 08:19 AM

well done!

One wall of my bedroom is covered by 2 huge bookcases almost to the ceiling (10 foot) but as I downsized my historic costume library last year it is no longer a library as only one shelf of books remains from another interest, & they can be whittled away by a number of visits to charity shops. The lowest shelf is empty, but other stuff is stored on vintage tray tables in front of the bookcase...

The shelves have been packed with some of my craft material, a mess of crafty stuff is still in my living room tho most of it would fit, if I got off my bum & moved stuff!! The rest would likely fit in several empty shelves elsewhere ...

sandra

Once upon a time I visited a charity shop that displayed a nicely homemade unit with 3 or 4 shelves of small beer glasses, each one had a decal/sticker from a different venue/town/country? Staff had added a sign saying they had 2000 more!! out the back, so I've ever since suggested to friends trying to find a home for a large collection, to take pieces to more than one shop!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 13 Apr 24 - 09:20 AM

The propane hunt took a while, wound up driving way too far to find the reliable people who actually have someone on hand to pump. On the way back, stopped and got a windshield ding tended to by good people with minimum fuss and cost.

In the waning hours of the day, started weighing and measuring some boxes in storage, so I can appportion them into cargo-trailer loads. So far they average 13 pounds, and the ones over 20 lbs definitely need to be wrangled with a handcart and hoisted as little as possible if my back and I am to survive this process.

For some of them, may have to repackage into smaller/cleaner/sounder liquor boxes, and may look for a sale on half-height bins that can be more easily managed both during the move and after. I have gotten lucky in the past at an Ollie's and a now-defunct Fred's, perhaps Big Lots is worth a trek, perhaps not. Finally feeling well, I shudder at the prospect of entering a walmart full of the germs of 10,000 people a day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Apr 24 - 11:20 AM

Linn, in her teen years my daughter's room reached a point when you couldn't see any of the floor tiles because there was so much stuff covering them. I built a tall cabinet of cubbies - six up and five across. After we organized the stuff that went into them it looked good and we could see her room as I hoped. Years passed and I boxed her stuff and have my own sewing and craft items in the cubbies and that is my sewing studio. There are still a few of her things displayed on top that are out of reach unless I use a step-stool. I've managed to keep my bedroom clear and at the foot of the bed set up a carpet and yoga mats for exercise (to try it in the den would mean dogs in my face and underfoot). The rest of the house is a work in progress.

Patty, is this a collection you're curating in the storage locker? What kinds of things are you selling or donating?

Sandra, whenever I see the online photos for some of the estate sales going on in the county I've been known to send photos of the glass and china items to my kids and tell them to just shoot me if I ever try collecting like that again. I'm still downsizing, though beer steins aren't part of it (though I have some tall beer glasses and could include those in the garage sale items next weekend.)

Dorothy, keep resting and getting better. You sound more cheerful now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 13 Apr 24 - 12:22 PM

What is in storage is belongings that are not traveling around with me. A very stripped down bunch of linens, kitchenware, memorabilia, a few heirlooms,'keeper' books, 4 small pieces of furniture, minerals, etc. What I really wanted to keep after purging the house via much selling/donating/junking.

So purging is not the main activity, though there is a bit to do. I always forget to weed down the pass-along books down to zero before I pull up to storage to do seasonal change-outs, so they've piled up. Already spoke to a librarian about bringing them to her used book sale room.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 24 - 10:53 AM

This morning I'm processing (canning) a small batch of applesauce. I use it in baking to replace part of the oil in some of the quick bread recipes that otherwise are too greasy for words (pumpkin bread and zucchini bread, in particular.)

Made a run to the last chance grocery for the Saturday market for fruits and vegetables and one case of sparkling mineral water - fingers crossed it isn't flat, which is sometimes the situation; if a batch of the water is less-than perfect it ends up there. It's still ok to drink, but would be the reason it was discounted by about $5 a case.

And I may have bitten off more than I can chew—they had huge rolls of freezer paper that is great for making patterns for sewing. The coated side goes to the fabric and you iron it on and do your cutting, then it can be picked up and ironed on again and again for more cutting. I've never seen boxes of this like you would find waxed paper or aluminum foil, though I know it must be available. The roll is 36" wide and very long - I estimate it weighed over 50 pounds. I'll plan to roll smaller ~10' long pieces and give or sell them. It may be a lifetime supply (and it cost $8). This is the "one step back" part of frugally buying something (but be careful what you wish for.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 14 Apr 24 - 01:40 PM

Maggie, printers that have web presses often have ends of paper rolls (36" wide) that they give away.

Back in 1982 when Tom and I got married, a friend got us a roll end of white paper. We used it (cut to length) to cover the tables at our potluck reception.

Forty-two years later, I haven't made a dent in the "end roll". I use it for wrapping paper (sometimes rubberstamped or covered with other art)and many other things.

But...I'd say you probably have no need of any more paper rolls right now. ;-)

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 24 - 03:25 PM

I know the rolls of paper you're talking about, we had one of those at our house when I was a kid, and Mom used to cut off chunks for us to color on and use it on tables, etc. This is a polyethylene-coated butcher paper, possibly roll ends but maybe the original size used in businesses that wrap meat, not the huge printing press monsters they use forklifts to move. A family was there buying all of the rest of the paper - they said they put it down to protect floors when painting. I'll keep that in mind if I paint.

I've begun culling items from cupboards that can go into the garage sale offerings. In the laundry room I had four paraffin oil lamps that I haven't used in years. I only use candles in glass jars now, not the exposed flames on top like these. The leftover fuel is probably worth more than the hand blown globes. But that can wait till this evening. This afternoon I'll move the old grill out of the garage and give it a cursory clean, give the grate a good cleaning, then photo and list it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 24 - 06:45 PM

The grill is listed in two places (free). I've picked a few more items to add to the garage sale offerings.

Time to walk the dogs.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 24 - 11:33 AM

If I'd checked my messages last night the grill would already be gone; as it is, she'll come over this evening (the husband will help lift it after he gets home from work.)

More progress identifying garage sale objects; the things I purchased at the end of the old Labrador's life, bird feeders that aren't used now, maybe I should load some of the antique tools (homeowners in Victorian houses might enjoy yard art of this sort?)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Apr 24 - 12:03 PM

The first load for the spring rummage sale at the church will leave the building tomorrow. This group of desirable items includes two oven-to-table casseroles, a teapot, two soapdishes and a trinket box, all of the Wild Strawberry pattern from Wedgwood; five Mason Cash pudding basins of various sizes; a backpack-style picnic set; a dozen small bistro glasses; and two IKEA glass pitchers with plastic lids. I will also include a shoebox about half full of costume jewellery, mostly earrings, that I never wear. My objective is to clear the six-foot table in the basement by the end of the week.

In other news, I have completed one week of the ketogenic diet and I have lost 2.7 kilos. My jowls are almost gone -- no great loss -- and my largest trousers are a bit loose. I feel as good as person still convalescing from pneumonia can, in particular free of carb cravings. Sunday dinner was a rib steak and a large spinach salad garnished with pignoli and parmesan cheese!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 24 - 06:33 PM

Good work all around, Charmion! I pulled up MyFitnessPal and looked at the carb settings in there, and a couple of lists of keto recommended fruits and vegetables. Most of my fresh produce isn't on that list. I made a zucchini casserole this afternoon that would fit, but shifting a controlled calorie intake to reduce carbs looks like a gradual process. The oranges and apples and grapes in the fridge will be eaten. Bread is in the freezer so it isn't going bad, and it isn't eaten that often, but were I to adopt such a diet right now a lot of food would go to waste.

There's another twit on our FB buy nothing group. They don't want to bother coordinating a pickup with someone in the group so they put a fridge at the street and say come get it if it's still there as anyone else driving by could stop and pick it up in the meantime. They're going to kick me out for complaining one of these days, but that is so rude of the person making the offer. (My grill will be picked up in a couple of hours and we coordinated the time between us. One of the moderators is picking it up.) I guess I'm wearing my Ms Manners hat this month.

Feeling a bit off today; possibly allergies, possibly the higher humidity and I'm not ready to turn on the air conditioning. I haven't done a COVID test for a while so I have one running now, but I'm pretty sure it will be negative. I walked the dogs yesterday and probably got a snootful of pollen making allergies the most likely explanation.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 24 - 11:04 PM

The husband of the woman who asked for the grill stopped by on his way home from work, and the 48" tall grill slid into the exactly 48" wide SUV that he was driving. He said he's always wanted a gas grill but they're so expensive (don't I know! I'm on my second free reconditioned grill). This one is old but still works and will give him a new outlet for his grilling. I visualize a cookout in their yard next weekend, and am pleased to have contributed to that event. A gift that keeps on giving.

I mowed the front lawn while waiting for him to arrive. The irises (yellow - dusky and bright, blue, and white) are gorgeous right now so having the lawn trim is a good backdrop for them. This is the time of year when the yard looks its best.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 16 Apr 24 - 08:34 AM

Hoo-rah on the clearing out and the diet, Charmion!

SRS, it is annoying how high in carbs some veggies and fruits can be. I have to emphasize berries and melon,and for citrus go with smaller servings like the little clementines. It's hard to use up the heavier stuff before it goes bad. Luckily bananas and pineapples and grapes can freeze to be used sparingly later on.

Made good progress the last two days on sorting, filing, a little purging, repacking. Feels good to start getting things the way I want them. Today another big push, and then relocate camp. I tried a campground very close to storage because it supposedly had improved so much, but ridiculous fees and rude 'host' rule it out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 16 Apr 24 - 09:37 AM

Maggie, I lost (it broke) a glass chimney for an antique oil lamp a couple years ago. It was a conventional-looking glass chimney except for a ring of decorative glass balls around the upper rim.

Hardware stores don't seem to carry lamp chimneys anymore... If you're deaccesioning a similar chimney (plain is perfectly okay) I can pay for it and shipping...

I no longer use oil lamps or candles around the house for safety reasons — there's lots of paper fuel around and I have a totally unpredictable cat.

I love the diffused room light of a solar/rechargeable lantern like the LuminAid. LuminAID Lantern Tested it out with this last 4-day power outage. Best reading light for power outages I've ever had. It lit my bedroom pretty much the same as my everyday bedside lamp. (I'm pretty certain I didn't pay the price shown or anywhere near it.)

I have a couple other small rechargeable camping lanterns, too, and an emergency lightbulb in the hall that will light up (when I turn on the switch) when the power fails.

I tried to do too much yesterday. I had an afternoon appointment to donate blood in Epping, the next town over to the south. After I drank juice and water and had some snacks, I got in the car to drive about 20+ minutes north to my optometrist's office to pick up my eyeglass prescription, then drove home. That errand to pick up the Rx was just a little bit too much; I was totally knackered by the time I got home. I fed Rufus and managed a little later to get some protein into me, but I was drained... Fine this morning, of course, after rest and a good night's sleep. I hadn't expected that such a simple thing as picking up a prescription was one thing too much after the blood donation.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Apr 24 - 11:00 AM

Linn, I'm surprised the outfit where you donate blood hasn't cut you off long ago. In Canada, one is typically thanked for one's services to society and told never to come back at the age of 65 or even younger, depending on haemoglobin level and rarity of blood type. My Dad, an O Negative with a robust red cell count, was cheered off the blood-donation stage at 65 -- but told not to forget how, just in case of horrible things. As an asthmatic with a marginal haemoglobin level, I haven't given blood since I was about 50.

In Ontario, lamp chimneys are sold in areas with unreliable electricity supply (in fact, rather a lot of the province), and near Mennonite and Amish communities. I still have a kerosene lamp ready for use because power failures are a thing in Perth County, and every winter can be counted on to bring at least one nasty surprise. I lived through the ice storm of January 1998 that wiped out power distribution through eastern Ontario and most of Quebec.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Apr 24 - 11:21 AM

Patty, I hope you find more pleasant hosts at the next campground! What state are you in for April? And yes, the fruit and veggies are the issue right now; I want to lose a few pounds. Stopping eating as many carbs now would keep my weight where it is; I still fit in the jeans I like, but they are snug.

For now I'll split the difference with the carbs - I have some bagged flour that I'll donate to the mutual aid fridge (there are a few other things in my pantry that can go also), and for the time being I'll cut out the other sources of wheat, and make a point of buying the lower-carb fruits and veggies as the existing supply drops. I could donate some of the veggies also, but prefer to simply step down. I won't go full-keto, but simply aim at a lower-carb routine. Years ago (high school) I lost weight that way with the simple process of keeping bread consumption to a couple of slices a day. I was a lot more active, then, walking to school (2 miles each way), etc. so I'll keep the walking and gym activity going. Meanwhile, I'll be eating my small portions of hummus with carrot sticks.

Linn, I totally agree with your concern about open flames; paper is a big part of the landscape here. And you sussed it correctly - I do have a hurricane chimney here. When I used the glass oil candles I would set one on a round mirror and then the tall chimney standing on the mirror around the candle. Yes, I can send it to you. This isn't the type of chimney that would fit the old fashioned kerosene lamp, it stands on the table. Is that what you were needing? I do have an antique chimney lamp I won't part with that is the vivid red ruby glass made with gold that came from my great aunt's house. It had a wider base (was one of the railroad lamps that became a famous part of "red light districts") that I sometimes set around a votive size candle.

Rain is forecast for Saturday so my friend will let me know if the neighborhood votes to postpone the community garage sale to another day. She has a large carport to set up under, but rain would reduce the shopper participation. I'll continue to collect things; if her garage sale doesn't happen perhaps I should bite the bullet and do my own. Once you start thinking about it the thing can happen (though they are a lot of work. I have a friend with stuff in storage who could stand to bring items over here to sell.) In our village we can only do two of them a year, but one sale every few years is plenty for me.

It rained overnight (rainfall was heavy enough to wake me) so no more mowing for a couple of days.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 16 Apr 24 - 08:25 PM

Charmion, I gave blood for the first time in my life back in February of this year. I don’t know if there’s an age limit, but, at 74-damned-close-to-75, evident I’m still good to go. And they call me or email me often. They even wanted me to give platelets, but there’s only one location in the state to do that and no way in hell am I driving to a location I’ve never been to in Manchester which I know not at all. (The two times I’ve been somewhere in our state’s largest city, someone else was driving.)

My only excuse for never donating before this year was either the time or the location was inconvenient. But I’m more or less retired now and the location in February was literally just around the corner from me in Nottingham. I’d made an appointment to donate again (in Nottingham) a few weeks ago, but I woke up with a raging headache and felt like dogshit. The next time in Nottingham will be when I’m out of town but I intended to check the locations near me and the dates with my calendar, but then we had that heavy wet snow dumped on us and I was without power for four days. Checked the website Sunday night and found that there was a drive in Epping the next day, but I needed to wait until morning to schedule the appointment when I was on my desktop computer. And it had to be yesterday because all the other dates for the next couple months were conflicts for me.

Maggie, I’ll take a picture of the lamp tomorrow and convey it to you via Messenger. Along with the measurement requirements for the chimney.

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Apr 24 - 09:51 PM

I'm pretty sure we're talking about different kinds of glass chimneys; mine doesn't go on a lamp, it rests on the tabletop. I put a couple of photos on the FB page.

The back yard has been mowed, but it was dark enough when I finished that I couldn't scoop the dog droppings (part of the reason I needed to mow - I couldn't find them in the tall grass). Tomorrow. It was a good workout.

Ten pounds of flour, a couple of bottles of sauces I'm not going to use, and some things from Costco given by a friend but too much to use by myself were dropped off at the donation fridge. I will think twice about donating there again, it was looking empty and forlorn today (I think that program, as laudable as it was, has run its course.) I found some cans of sardines way past their shelf dates that I'll open and put in the blender. That slurry is great to scoop into the bottom of holes where garden bedding plants are placed.

I've split the difference on the heat pumps here. One is set to cool and the other is still set to warm. Right now the temperatures outside are mild the house is comfortable so neither one has turned on for a couple of weeks.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 17 Apr 24 - 09:05 AM

Bat Goddess, Canadian Blood Services (CBS) are very wary of liability after a "tainted blood inquiry" in the 1990s found the procedures followed by the Canadian blood system and the Red Cross wanting; in fact, the Red Cross got out of the blood bank business entirely and handed it off to the newly-established CBS.

I learned of their fear of being sued when I ran blood donor clinics at Canadian Forces Base Chatham. Besides organizing the show and drumming up donors, I also gave blood. A few weeks after what turned out to be my last donation, I received a letter from them saying that, since my donation had produced a _false_ positive result, they could no longer use my blood.

Like Charmion, I have run into the age stop, so it's moot now in my case, too.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 24 - 11:38 AM

More items present themselves for the garage sale on Saturday. Bird feeders, beer glasses, and I might make some mustang grape jelly to sell (since I have a lot of juice in the freezer). Several years ago the state laws changed so you can sell food items made in a home kitchen.

Continuing to undo some of the behaviors from when there was a Labrador retriever in the house. I've put one of the trash cans in the master bath on the floor to see if the other two leave it alone (they're rarely in there). And a damp washcloth is drying on the side of the tub; the Lab ate underwear, socks, dish towels, wash clothes, you name it. He was the only dog I've ever had who so consistently raided small textile objects. And soap.

An observation about shifting to a low-carb diet - it is easier to stay under my daily calorie limit (I set MyFitnessPal to 1200). On one visit to my GP I showed her the tracking I do in the app (primarily calcium and sodium) and she flipped over to the macros - "you sure like your carbs!" - something that has always been fairly high in my diet. So we shall see if intentionally reducing flour and sugar works. Losing 5 pounds is the goal; seeing if fewer carbs affect my mood is another consideration. I'm reading about the relationship between sugar and ADHD and brain health these days (in the latest book from Dr. Amen). I'm not jumping on his bandwagon beyond the book - anyone who sells their own brands of supplements must be considered to some degree suspect (in my opinion.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Apr 24 - 02:17 PM

I think the problem with sugar is that it's a staple of our diet when it should be a very occasional treat, like honey before beekeeping equipment. When you have to risk the wrath of an entire hive of bees in order to sate your sweet tooth, you find it easier to tell yourself Not A Good Idea and move on.

My experience with weight-loss diets that restrict fats even harder than carbs is that, while following such a regimen, it's next to impossible to put food out of mind even for an instant. For a person with even a touch of ADHD, that must be downright disabling.

I think I'm through the carbohydrate-withdrawal phase some people call "keto flu" (it's a little hard to tell, as I still have some lingering effects of the Easter lung misery), and I'm struck by how unbothered I am by the munchies. There's teacakes in the freezer, and I'm not thinking about how much I would love to pop a couple in the toaster.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 24 - 04:30 PM

The trouble high fat and protein foods in general is the amount of sodium. I'm limiting that also (my blood pressure is just fine unless I eat too much salt). It looks like Keto diets say to aim at 30 grams of carbs while back in the day (decades ago) 60 grams of carbohydrate was the goal of low-carb diets. Before phone apps we kept track of carbohydrates with books that listed foods and various nutrient levels. Some foods I don't want to give up, but I will keep the amounts moderate (potatoes, for example, and oranges). I'll split the difference and aim at 45 grams per day. I'm learning about ADHD, but it does explain some of the sugar binges and the love of caffeine. I hope the focus on protein will short circuit the craving for sweets, I think that is something Dr. Amen says can happen (I heard it in the lecture on PBS but haven't read the details in the book yet).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Apr 24 - 05:08 PM

Got down to only the laundry chair. Am putting that off till I go through the suitcase closet, to figure out what I'm packing *in* - then, figure out what to pack. A lot of what's on the laundry chair has been set out to be thought about.

Then probably put about a third back out.

Then probably put a quarter of *that* back in ...

I used to overpack, but then again, there used to be porters.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 24 - 09:14 PM

I know - I always overpack, the best intentions to do otherwise never seem to win. Are you making a trip, Mrrzy?

Two bird feeders delivered to my daughter today for her partner who has been putting some up around the property. They hang from cup hooks in the ceiling joists in my garage, so I sent photos and took the ones she wants with me to my museum gig today (next door to where my daughter works). We had a short visit (got a couple of hugs - the best part; how, during COVID, did we survive no physical contact?) That leaves 3 for the garage sale, or two and one maybe to put up in the front yard occasionally.

Charmion, it seems that Scotch doesn't have carbs. It does have calories, so you have to count those, but compared to beer (high in carbs) or a dry wine (lower, but for me it has the sulphites I'm trying to avoid) it is ok on the Keto diet. :-) You're welcome!

Tomorrow I will spend the morning in the garden. My museum visit today resulted in scanning because the tour group was half the predicted size (four docents were scheduled). The other docents could handle the group so I headed to the archives. Thursday is normally a museum day, but this week I have a telemedicine appointment instead. Before that, the garden.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Apr 24 - 01:58 PM

Garage sale item accumulation continues. I'll empty the SUV (of boxes of useful stuff I rarely need to use) and put down the middle row seats and try to fill it up. This would rid the house of a couple of cubic yards of surplus.

The seasonal bedding shift is underway. Layers were removed this week as the humidity and temperatures rise. I don't keep the house super cool at night because I don't like the air conditioner blowing directly on me. At least it is still blowing, for now - the heat pump on the bedroom side of the house is 22 years old and will fail one of these days, making sleep on that side of the house very difficult until it is replaced. I'm racing to pay off the one installed in 2022 before that happens.

Pork sirloin is on sale this week so I got several packages to freeze. I buy them at a store that sells pork without the additives that became popular a dozen years ago or more. It's too salty and the meat is slippery. A butcher told me one time that it is supposed to keep the pork tender if people overcook it, but it also makes it so slick he said that butchers are more likely to cut themselves working with it. Ugg.

I need to pull out my tartar sauce recipe and figure out the nutritional stuff; catsup on my pan-fried potatoes adds carbs, the mayo in the sauce might not add as much. I like something with them versus eating them dry.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Apr 24 - 09:08 PM

Yes, Maggie, I have indeed discovered the carb-free nature of whisky — which is why I’m sipping Glen Breton while watching history videos on YouTube. Much to my delight, I have identified several more carb-free delights, including aioli and the very best kind of mayonnaise. I am so grateful for those nutrition content labels!

Three one-cubic-foot boxes went to the church rummage sale today, stuffed with music CDs, movies on DVD, and novels. The kitchen traps will go on Saturday morning.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Apr 24 - 09:38 PM

Tell me, please, what is the mayonnaise you've discovered? I suppose I could make my own, I understand it is pretty easy if the day's humidity is at a good level (not to be made when thunderstorms are in the neighborhood). I always use the "real" variety versus the lite stuff, so chances are what is in the fridge is just fine.

Some weeds were pulled this afternoon as I determined the soil moisture in the garden; it's perfect right now for digging, weeding, and tilling. Tomorrow is the day to knock off the weeds and get things planted.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Apr 24 - 08:48 AM

The mayonnaise comes from La Maison Orphée, a company based in Québec City. If it’s available in Texas I would be both shocked and pleased.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Apr 24 - 11:56 AM

That brand is sold fresh but is also out of stock on the website. It appears to be sold in supermarket chains in that area (in the cooler section); it confirms my thought that I should be making my own mayo. Their ingredients are all easily available:

Ingredients: Oils (oleic sunflower, extra virgin olive), water, pasteurized whole egg, pasteurized egg yolk, lemon juice, organic cider vinegar, sea salt, mustard seeds.

The nutrition facts say no carbs. So homemade or carefully selected down here should meet that standard without much difficulty. My recipe for tartar sauce includes pickles and capers and I think a little finely chopped onion, and for the acid, pickle juice and lemon juice.

I have a list on the fridge of the steps for cleaning the whole house in one day. I've never tried to do the whole thing at once but I'm thinking of giving it a try. My major goals are to tackle dust and clutter. Before that I can remove some clutter by adding to the garage sale stash and I need to look at my recent original purchase prices on a couple of items and for the rest see what the going price is at eBay. Garage sales are not meant to sell high-ticket items, they're good to clear out usable things that you don't need and price modestly. And for me, the things that are more work than I want to fool with on eBay. I've debated about things like the beer glasses - all nine could go as a set, but what are the chances someone will want just a few? Sell them in sets of 3?

Oh - and I have to go to the bank to get some small bills. A necessity, then not letting people clean out your change stash early in the morning. I even wonder about getting one of the marker pens to test 10s and 20s. Office Depot and Staples have them and other local retailers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 20 Apr 24 - 09:40 AM

I had a to-the-walls house/garage sale when the house was sold, having already sold a lot of the good stuff on ebay, and made lots of donation runs. As you say, good for getting things people really need into a new home, especially bulky stuff. You get some chiselers and vultures, but it all works out.   One handy thing was; you can sell partial stuff that would be a no-no to donate. That shampoo you just didn't like, the too-big-a-box of bandaids you only used a few of, the extra 2 jars of cinnamon. In the garage I gathered all the small paints and stains and thinners and glues and marked them 'anything 50c' (might be a buck now with inflation!), great for the crafters who know what the markup is now on this stuff 'new'.

Made a big step yesterday, bought the covered cargo trailer which will be in next week. Also weighed another large batch of boxes. Definitely have enough to make up the first load while staying under the weight limit. I am in Mississippi and have had mostly outstanding weather to work in. Though lines of storms come through this weekend. Will spend a rainy day scanning and shredding, and looking for 'pull-through' sites at campgrounds heading west.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Apr 24 - 09:46 AM

Four 1.5 cu boxes packed with plain and fancy kitchenware have gone to the church, along with Edmund’s huge down-filled sleeping bag and Thermarest air mattress. I have no clue why I didn’t rehome those last items long ago. The six-foot work table in the basement is now bare.

For my next trick, I shall clear the storage shelving of large plastic food-storage containers. They can go to Goodwill in a bin-liner bag.

I’m closing in on “core stuff” — family-associated items that I have winced away from in every previous purge. Not sure how to tackle them. I guess they can continue to wait — for now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 24 - 03:24 PM

I applaud both of you! Patty, those storms headed your way are here now and my power has been out since mid-morning. I just paired a portable Bluetooth keyboard with my phone to check in here since the Wifi and Internet are out. Data for a little while this afternoon won't hurt my phone bill.

Charmion, I did wince a little but walked away from one of those "core pieces" this afternoon; I loaded stuff in the SUV and after disconnecting the motor on the garage door was able to open it manually and leave for a few hours. I've parked in the driveway for now but may reverse that move and park indoors in case any hail is headed here. Anyway, I had a wooden antique-ish sewing cabinet from my Mom's house. My brother delivered it or sister mailed it, I don't remember for sure, but it has bounced around here as something from my mom to my daughter. Except she doesn't need it and it stinks like my Mom's house. All of these years later still smells like stale cigarette smoke (I'm pretty sure I wiped it down with a disenfectant when it came into the house). Her house was also mildew musty, and there is a bouquet of that as well. This rain drove off most garage sale folks so upon returning home I stopped Goodwill and gave them a few things I didn't want to take back into the house or ever bother with on Freecycle. So the Goodwill has a bonafide antique for a little while.

I still have my down bags and thermarest pads; I put a stack of the pads in my closet 3 years ago during our 4 day sub-freezing outage and slept in the down bag. Now I have a cotton sleeping bag that my daughter doesn't need (that I took to a commercial laundromat last fall) to use if such an even happens again. Down was ok but the mummy bags are harder to get in and out of and in the house the dacron bag is sufficient.

I made $7 at the sale today and came home with some stuff my friend had set aside for me, so I guess I came out ahead. My feet are still wet and without power I had a bowl of cereal for lunch and put the milk back in the fridge quickly. The neighbors went out for lunch but when they get back home they'll run a line across the fence from their generator. The power company predicts repairs by 8pm.

There is a tinny-sounding transistor radio playing the classical station (Mendelssohn) and I have a Stanley power pack to run a small lamp for now. So many electronic things like the phone, tablet (I would use the phone as the hot spot for it) and keyboard let me have a little connectivity. I have a couple of battery packs for charging if necessary and regular D-cell batteries for a boombox if I want to fool with it. I tested the little Sterno stove this morning (a robust steel frame from Coghlan's that is far better to the little aluminum ring that fit on a can that I used during the big outage.) I'll run my electric Kettle on the Stanley battery and brew some tea. I have a good butane Coleman stove now and lots of flashlights around the house. The laptop in the kitchen could work on the phone Hotspot. I can go sit in the car and do all sorts of electronic things, or go to a friend's house where the power is on. When the generator is set up I think I'll move the sewing machine into the kitchen and do some quilt blocks from the crumb basket.

The generator just started up so I tossed the male end of the line over the back fence and ran the female end in here. I also muscled the garage door open and parked the SUV inside. Looks like a quiet afternoon except for the dull roar of the gas generator.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Apr 24 - 04:58 PM

I just listed the Instant Pot and its accessories on Facebook Marketplace. The three-section IKEA shelving unit in the basement main space is now half empty, and I have moved the stuff I intend to keep into the Glory Hole shelving cleared since Christmas. I would like to dispose of the three-bay unit, but it’s the only thing long enough to hold a rolled-up 9- by 11-foot Bokhara carpet that I mos’ def’ do not wish to part with, so I guess its tenancy is extended.

Maggie, I can’t believe how much trouble you have with electricity supply. Isn’t your house in a suburb of a big city?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Apr 24 - 08:26 PM

or do you have very old & decrepit power lines?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 24 - 09:03 PM

My 2013 Sony laptop computer is now running on a mobile hotspot on my phone (eating up the data mb quick!) and I put a halogen lamp in the kitchen to light the whole room. The phone is charging on the battery pack I usually carry in my handbag. Yes, I live in an urban area but am near a creek with lots of big trees and the power lines run along the right-of-way over the back of the lots and under said trees. Another one must have fallen. There is also a breaker that trips at the end of the line (my nextdoor neighbor can see when it has tripped on the pole just beyond the end of her driveway and she tells me it is in the tripped position now.)

I'm trying to reproduce work on my laptop that I already took care of in the desktop; some of that work is in Instagram but it isn't letting me logon without 2-factor authentication and isn't sending the code as requested. I may have to see if the UPS has enough juice to turn on the desktop, load the files I need into a thumb drive, then move them to the kitchen. I have a job and one night a week I absolutely need internet connectivity, and this is the night.

I have a couple of lights set to turn on when the power resumes and we're close to when it should resume (meaning they usually would have it up by now, they try to beat those projected times). The price I pay to live in an urban area that feels rural. Today has been a real soaker that would have been a lovely day to work on things in the house if only I'd had power.

My friend did have success mid-afternoon, when a guy came by and bought a couple of the bigger items she's set out in the carport. But it was so cool and clammy and traffic so slow it wasn't worth hanging out longer to see if anyone came by. Goodwill was the winner today.

Maybe I'll unplug the lamp and plug in the TV. Watch something on PBS (I already missed the mystery I enjoy that they restarted a couple of weeks ago. Darn!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Apr 24 - 03:56 PM

I was thinking of Eliza/Senoufou and her gall bladder.

Has anyone else heard about the pulp in unfiltered apple juice?
The pulp contains pectin, which contains malic acid.
What I have learned is that these things
have a softening effect on the hardened deposits within a gall bladder.
They do NOT expel the deposits -- that's olive oil --
but pectin/malic acid make the deposits less painful.

Anyone else heard of this?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Apr 24 - 03:57 PM

I got some more de-cluttering done at my apartment.
And under a great heap of papers, I finally located
the title to my automobile.
Big relief.
Still more work to do -- several rooms of it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 24 - 05:52 PM

I haven't heard that, but pectin is one of those wonderful natural ingredients that is an aid in jelly-making, though if you're really good at it you can achieve the exact state of firmness by cooking carefully (I am told). Pectin is used in a lot of foods where I don't want it (like yogurt - I prefer it to be cultured to the proper consistency, not thickened).

Congratulations on your apartment declutter! I paid off the SUV and am awaiting my title from the credit union where I hope they had it neatly filed and not buried under stuff. ;-)

We got between four and five inches of rain in the 24-hour period that concluded before dawn. It was a noisy night with more thunder (so an upset dog occasionally turned up outside my bedroom door). My emergency setup is pretty good but I need to add small food items that can be opened and eaten alone without having to open the fridge for some element (the cereal is on the counter but the milk is in the fridge, etc.) And can be eaten without cooking (though the small stove does work). I have cans of tuna, so maybe packets of mayonnaise and relish to mix small batches to eat on crackers. Shelf stable but not ultra processed foods. Tuna, sardines, olives, pickles, mayo, crackers, canned fruit . . . I'll start a list. Suggestions?

The mats by the back door need repositioning so the dogs spend longer on them; they've been tracking mud further into the house than usual. Lots of mopping ahead. There is an area near the house that doesn't drain well and in the middle of it a small tree suffering from the extra water so a small Y-shaped French drain needs to go in, extending about 12'. I'll pick up some bags of gravel this week and as the soil becomes workable I'll start a small trench, filling in with gravel to aid the drainage. The removed soil will be combined with compost and go in Smart Pots and one of the existing beds. Grass will grow over the gravel but water will still drain. I'd rather use my own yard soil than buy bags of topsoil that can be iffy and have pests and weed seeds.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Apr 24 - 08:41 PM

The Instant Pot (with extra liner and glass lid) has left the building, sold for fifty bucks to a blended family with five children and an elderly mum as well as the parents.

I feel better now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 24 - 12:12 AM

An eBay listing sold this afternoon so will go in the mail tomorrow. I have several more of the same items to list now that I know there is interest in them.

Tonight I dumped several inches of water out of the trash can before putting my bags in for tomorrow's pickup. Bags alone can go at the curb in the morning, but if I want to be sure it's out early enough I put it in the can at the curb overnight to keep critters out of the bag contents. This week I made eye-contact with a local coyote as I drove by the woods across the street; he's just waiting for unattended bags for a good meal.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Apr 24 - 07:40 AM

Glendon Road has raccoons and crows — lots of crows! — but I have seen coyote tracks here only once in nearly seven years. I keep my garbage in the garage until after breakfast because the crows are relentless, ripping into trash bags all up and down the street, and the raccoons like to tip bins over for easy access to the contents.

The other day, the cats and I were treated to an extended visit from a pair of raccoons conducting a detailed reconnaissance of the patio, quite unconcerned by our close attention. Stratford raccoons are fine, fat creatures swaggering through life with enviable insouciance. If reincarnation is a thing, I wouldn’t mind returning to this world as a Perth County raccoon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 22 Apr 24 - 09:59 AM

Shelf-stable 'emergency' foods: I'm going with peanut butter, perhaps with a dab of honey; Pop-tarts (I know they are nutritionally useless, but very comforting on a powerless morning), pickled or sliced beets, canned milk or creamer thingies for coffee, and I keep some of the pre-seasoned ranch or whatever tuna packets around so I don't have to mess around with mayonnaise. Dried fruits. And remember to draw gallons of clean water to use in case power is lost to the city pumps.

We were told the whole weekend would be stormy. So I hunkered down, only to realize I could have been out and about all day Saturday. All the rain was at night. By Sunday late morning, the show was over, and I got a brilliant cool clear afternoon to work with stored goods. Got in a lot of good work, but now I'm down to clothing, bedding, and the 'problem boxes', grouped in an area away from the 'ready to ship' ones. These boxes are 'get this out of the rig' ones, a jumble of stuff. I am tempted to leave them a mess, call them 'junk drawer #1' etc. but I'm sure it'll be worth the time spent to get them more coherent.

Ran across some old boxes of forgotten files that should be culled, but honestly, that would be so time consuming it will not be worth doing before the move. I have hit my stay limit on the state parks for this month, and when my cost per night to camp doubles, it clarifies my thinking about hanging around town purging stuff.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 22 Apr 24 - 10:44 AM

Experiment to see if this image link will work.

regarding raccoons

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 24 - 11:08 AM

Patty, there is peanut butter and honey around here, and I suppose I could allow myself one early trip into the fridge to put ice in a cooler and grab milk, eggs, cheese, a little bit more. Lots of bottles and jugs of water (and one of those straw-like filters if I have to resort to getting water from my creek).

Asking yourself if the remaining sorting is worth the extra expense of camping fees is a great way to evaluate the task at hand! I don't suppose you'll pass through North Texas on your resettlement trip, will you? There is a standing invitation to stop by and room on the street for a vehicle and trailer.

It sounds like Charmion's pot will get a lot of use in its new home! Our terribly rainy Saturday probably kept my re-homed grill tucked away, but maybe it had a chance to cook a dinner on Sunday.

I walked one more small bag of trash out to the can and realized a nearby juniper has undergone a growth spurt. This is one of those "do it when you notice or you'll never get back to it" chores. The trash can had space so with a pair of bypass pruning shears (secateurs) I lopped the spikey areas that extend beyond the footprint I want the shrub to have. At one time it was huge and I almost took the whole thing out (smashed in a heavy ice storm then infested by bugs attracted by the damage). What saved it was stopping for the night and realizing the part that was left was healthy and attractively sculptural. I keep it that size now. The yard is still soggy so that's the extent of gardening today.

I should probably sweep and dust. And mop.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Apr 24 - 02:48 PM

The large plastic food storage containers have gone to Goodwill. Work table half-cleared again.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 24 - 04:43 PM

My university Earth Day celebration has always included a place to drop off electronics (and the secure disposal of old hard drives and other digital media). I've looked at their listed events and it isn't mentioned for this year. I tried calling and the department phone is disconnected. The campus operator can't put me through to anyone in the department, just that dead number. I found other numbers and they go straight to voicemail. Perhaps they're busy getting ready for tomorrow. I won't drive over with dead electronics because I don't want to waste a trip if the collection isn't happening.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 23 Apr 24 - 09:53 AM

Yes, one strategic grab in the fridge/freezer will help when the power goes out. During the long Katrina outage, I grabbed heads of leaf lettuce and celery and green onions, stationed them in containers with water. Room temp was fine as long as they had a little water to work with.

I would love to meet up in Texas, but this trip will have to be about cannonballing the shortest/best distance between carefully selected campgrounds with 'pull-through' sites, and gas stations with room to maneuver. Adding the cargo trailer will make the driving much more of a headache, but it will be worth it.   

Forayed into shopping yesterday, hoping to score an old set of double sheets. How many have I donated over the years? But the two major thrifts decide it's good to close on Mondays (the days when people want to bring things they purged over the weekend? really?). The others have no sheets. Discount stores are pushing those horrible microfiber tragedies. Finally found one set of sheets, overpriced, but in dim grim colors. Seized the remaining one set of white.

On the upside, found 1/2 a set of corelle ware for a dollar. Ideal to get me going without having to move all my few dishes in from the rv before I'm done using it. Kind lady packed them with newspaper separators, yay!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Apr 24 - 10:59 AM

It's been a while since I could find any nice cotton percale sheets in non-grim colours at all, let alone at an acceptable price. Since when was grey a good colour for sheets? Reminds me of the lifestyle of sad bachelors who have given up civilized life.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Apr 24 - 11:46 AM

I bought a large roll of good elastic during COVID and I still need to get to the project of replacing the elastic around the fitted part of two sheet sets that are good except the stretchiness is shot. And I was considering that project yesterday as one to do soon. Great minds think alike! There are a couple of thrift stores I would direct you to, Patty, but they're not in your path of travel. I have a friend who wanted to buy some sheets from the estate as I disposed of my Dad's household contents because he had a double-sized bed, but that didn't work after all because they found percale to be too scratchy. I'd never thought about the texture until then.

Do you head for truck stops when driving the RV as far as maneuvering space and headroom? Pulling a trailer isn't fun, I agree making the trip as direct as possible to get it over with. Will you be storing the new trailer somewhere part of the year then making another storage unit run, or will you go back and forth until you finish with the storage locker this year?

Odd occurence in the yard yesterday. I opened the front door to see if any Amazon parcels had been delivered and saw a man striding down the middle of the lawn next door then continue his walk down the middle of my front yard. He wasn't a mail carrier making a shortcut between houses and he wasn't a city worker or someone delivering the dreaded political pamphlets. Just a guy with a walking stick, pack, jeans and flannel shirt and boots (also a goatee beard and a hat, about 5'10", sandy hair, 40s - noted in case I need to describe him again). So I stepped out through the security door and asked what he was doing in the yard? "The grass is softer than the street." Really? "Please leave the yard and keep your walk to the street." He paused and started to argue, standing there in the middle of the lawn under the baldcypress. I repeated two or three more times to get out of the yard and walk in the street. Obviously there's a mental issue going on here, and I'm thinking I need to retreat to the house and get his photo. The dogs arrived and started barking at him and he turned and left. They were behind me inside the house, never approaching him, but that is exactly why I have dogs - to bark at people who don't belong in the yard. Good girls! And I need to go ahead and that that Ring doorbell installed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Apr 24 - 12:16 PM

Maggie, you missed a great opportunity to say, loudly and with gestures, "Get offa my land!"

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Apr 24 - 01:54 PM

I think that's what Cookie and Pepper were transmitting. (Thanks for not asking "why did you go outside when there was a strange man in the yard with a stick in his hands?") These days I take them so for granted, as part of the yard landscape I forget about why I originally decided it was time to have a dog (after a burglary). My nextdoor neighbor suggested he could also be someone looking for delivery parcels on porches. An excellent reason to set up the doorbell camera.

Another outgoing eBay parcel is wending its way to a lucky purchaser and more need listing. With the sorting for the garage sale last week I identified a few additional items that are easy to list and to ship.

For the "bad habits" part of the thread's mission, this week I have revisited several old projects to resume and others to learn more about. These are becoming my evening activities. The sleep study was instructive; physically things are fine but I must conclude I am a victim of my late night computer habits. The effects of the light itself or the stimulation from what I'm watching or reading, affects production of brain hormones. A search brings up lots of studies of teen brains, but this general article was helpful: Screens and Your Sleep: The Impact of Nighttime Use:

“The timing of sleep and wakefulness is controlled by two areas in the brain. One is highly sensitive to light and wakefulness. The other, called the pineal gland, secretes the sleep hormone melatonin when the light dims in the evening,” Dr. Cooper says.

Device screens produce blue light, Dr. Cooper says, which is the part of the light spectrum most active in our sleep cycle. Stimulation of this part of the brain suppresses production of melatonin, making it difficult for many people to “turn off” their brains and fall asleep.

It takes work to break old habits but I'm making a point of stopping screen time a couple of hours before bedtime and looking at other things (where I don't need peak attention to detail) that I can do when I'm winding down for the day. The bedtime routine has been simplified also since I can floss and do medications earlier in the evening.

For daytime alertness the sleep PA said I need more sunshine, and need it earlier, so I should start going out to weed first thing in the morning. There will always be enough of that to keep me busy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Apr 24 - 08:41 PM

The mental list of things to do is so long and I've done such a good job of beating myself up for not doing any of this stuff that I just did the first thing to hand today - I unzipped the covers on the various dog cushions and gave them a wash. A couple of the foam mats were soaked in dog shampoo in the tub and I think one is going to exit in the trash tomorrow because it is so degraded. That cover can stay for spare parts and the better cover and pad will be put together this evening once the pad has dried. Two other big ones are hanging on the line on the patio, no dryer for them. I vacuumed a lot of dog hair and did a fast onceover to get the worst of the muddy footprints. The floor needs a deeper cleaning soon.

I also got out the gas trimmer and it started - that was my test to see whether the beds would get weeds trimmed today or not. Tomorrow morning I'll mix a fresh batch of gas for the season (it's a two-stroke engine needing a mix of gas and oil). The best thing you can do to keep your gas powered equipment running is to never use gas with ethanol. Since I learned about it being available I've driven to the next county for it but learned recently that the Walmart gas station on this side of town has it.

Trimming is the easy part. Next I need to dig and plant and mulch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Apr 24 - 06:13 PM

The dog beds are now clean and reassembled (covers put back on foam inserts), one of the new ones has a zipper pulling away from the corner seam that needs a few stitches. Some of these are going to be set aside for now. The girls continue to inhabit the wire kennel every day, so it stays in place. We continue to work on the new trick; since they saw Zeke "shake" every day at meal time I've been teaching the girls. Pepper is just about there - actually more willing to do it at other times than waiting for a meal. Cookie - who can say what is going through that head?

Day two of floor scrubbing - I have a sponge mop to follow along as I use the rotating brush to clean the crevices in the patterned den tile. The house will be muggy for a while.

Today I reviewed more sewing tutorials and one of the sites I subscribe to put up a post about freezer paper (referring to the huge roll of paper I scored recently). Most of the techniques she shows are for things I don't plan to do, but you can see the versatility (especially regarding how to run it through the printer with other paper or with fabric).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 26 Apr 24 - 09:04 AM

I don't have a yard for strange men to wander into, but I did have a shock, coming 'home' to my lakeside campsite to find a big 5th-wheel and truck occupying it. Middle aged fellow and 2 females, claiming 'someone' removed the post tag I vividly remember putting up. This is in a gated-at-all-times state park loop (because it's in a city center). Claimed they 'sometimes arrive after dark and just grab a site'. That's not how this works, sites are assigned and prepaid. You can't just declare a park first-come-first-serve, try an old gate code, and slip in.

Was tired, hangry, waited for them to clear off, dined and watched Finding Your Roots as planned instead of trying to find a ranger. Let it go, partly in the interests of mercy for the two females. Turns out they just slid down and took another choice site. They did get themselves busted in the morning but I don't know at what cost.

So, in addition to slob campers and an epidemic of thoughtless no-shows, we now have grifters sliding in late and night and hoping to slip out in the morning fee-free. Camping has been a part of life mostly free from crime and creeps, but like everything else, it's starting to get 'crapified'.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 26 Apr 24 - 09:14 AM

Progress continues, yesterday held another box run, and re-packed damaged or not-full-enough-to-ship boxes. Was delighted to find some little forgotten treasures, and look forward to using my few bits of stemware again. Perhaps by Labor Day they will be in use for margaritas? Measured the long narrow table so I can work it into the packing plan.

So, now there's a unit half full of neat, organized stuff-to-ship, and re-packing operations have shifted to the 'elbow-room-for-working' unit.

SRS, some people like to use truck stops, but I've spent a couple nights trying to sleep while reefers run their motors all night, not restful. And don't usually use them for gas either, the room-for-trucks lanes usually only have diesel. The big travel centers are favorites with some RVers, but they are crowded, and I've had a couple close scrapes trying to maneuver in them. I'd rather find an older station that just has a big lot, and preferably pumps that parallel the store (rather than 10 pumps perpendicular to it).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 24 - 11:37 AM

Ah, Patty, you remind me of my national park days as a seasonal ranger of giving guided walks and evening programs, guarding campgrounds, cleaning bathrooms, putting up signs in bulletin boards (ranger programs, snake identification, and more). Usually the protection rangers dealt with the scofflaws, and we all at some point had someone roll through the entrance station and say their friend behind them was paying for the campsites. Nope. Pay for your own, we've seen that trick before.

One of those campers who tried our patience in an Arizona national monument was a stringy old guy in his VW camper van. The two week limit passed but he had excuses and somehow managed to move into the overflow area for a few days more. He would get to the visitor center at 4:55 and loaf around looking at all of the books and postcards (we were told not to chase people out at 5, let them finish shopping). We got pretty good at corralling him. A few months later I landed in Tennessee in the Great Smokys. One day in the Sugarlands visitor center a familiar face walked in and I stepped out from behind the counter and walked up, calling him by name. I thought he was going to have a heart attack. So many stories are coming back to me . . .

I mowed the back last night and emptied the big gas can into the regular mower gas can, but don't have enough to mix the 2-stroke can yet. Maybe today I'll go get 3 or 4 gallons in the big can. For now I can hear the tap of raindrops hitting my office window, so the gas may be prepared but no more trimming or mowing will happen today. There's plenty to do indoors. But wait! With rain comes mud. Perhaps I should postpone the den tile deep scrub.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Apr 24 - 03:24 PM

Sunshine today, thunderstorms tomorrow.

I’ll do my taxes tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Apr 24 - 05:16 PM

I'd read Confessions of a Park Ranger by Maggie.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Apr 24 - 01:47 PM

Taxes done and filed.

As usual, I feel more than somewhat ripped off by the Intuit company, which makes the Turbo Tax software I use to calculate and file my income tax. Half-way through the data-entry phase, the user interface diverts to a screen that "offers" a premium upgrade (!) that adds "expert advice" to the services included in the basic package I always sign up for. I could find no way to evade or escape from this screen without either agreeing to the "upgrade" or abandoning the website altogether.

I do not need "expert advice" to file my income tax. My affairs are simple, my papers are in order, and I'm quite good at reading instructions.

When Turbo Tax had finished picking my pocket and the file was successfully uploaded, I received an "express" assessment from Revenue Canada that asserts that I owe $3.58 in "interest on arrears". I have yet to incur any arrears. The deadline is Tuesday.

Bah, humbug.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Apr 24 - 07:07 PM

Turbo Tax and H&R Block and others pay a lot of money to US politicians to keep the taxes difficult to do here, giving them a more willing user base. I never use those applications. Maybe next year I'll get to test the new simple free tax setup the IRS rolled out late this spring.

Listing eBay items this afternoon. I was going to go run errands but today is quite windy; between possibly dodging downed limbs in the neighborhood and wobbling 18-wheelers on the highway or staying home and measuring and weighing boxes, it's an easy choice. I'll wait till tomorrow (when it's just raining). There is one small trip I might make after sunset when it usually gets quieter. (Patty, you've probably already found a safe place to wait out the wind if you're on the road!)

The fruit fly (or fungus gnats) population has exploded, so in addition to a bowl of cider water under plastic in the kitchen I've put up a piece of double-sided sticky trap paper and will go through all of the house plants and scoop out the top 1/4" of soil then spritz on some Bt (it works mostly on mosquitoes but also on gnats). Or I could do a little soapy water. And most important, empty the kitchen waste bucket every day instead of letting it fill first.

I have fixings in the fridge to make some marinara sauce this evening (stuff that needs to be used soon). I have some baked chicken and fresh mozzarella that I can cobble into a simple chicken parmesan (without breading or frying the chicken - so fewer carbs).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Apr 24 - 07:10 PM

& how are you supposed to pay your debt? do you give them your password???? a pound of flesh?? your firstborn???

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 24 - 11:00 AM

Sounds like she needs to give TurboTax a dope slap, withdraw the form, and refigure the categories TT added to her account.

Storms overnight and flash flood and tornado warnings in the wee hours before I awoke. The conditions seem to have resulted in Pepper peeing near the back door (she holds it so long she leaks if the weather is bad) and the power went out long enough that it tripped the breaker for the office. I reset the stove and microwave clocks and got my slippers wet going out back to the breaker box.

My previous smartphone was listed on eBay and sold yesterday, but the buyer wrote to say she moved and realized she hadn't updated her shipping address. It needs editing when I print the shipping label (she said forwarding is still in place with the USPS, but in my experience USPS takes about two weeks for forwarding. Faster shipping = happy customer.) It was a great phone so I'm glad to pass it along to a new user.

I've been practicing with the new sewing machine by making more crumb square quilt blocks. I'm thinking of turning some of them into a tote bag, giving me a chance to play with complementary/contrasting colors, use up more scraps, and see how long it takes. Practice makes for better, if not perfect. My goal for myself is two-fold: sell enough of the eBay stuff that is in the front room so I can move another piece of furniture from the sewing studio into the front room. It will go faster if I keep listing the eBay sales, so yesterday's boxes of fancy cobalt tumblers was a good start.

I've chosen a new author for my audiobooks and the hold I had with the Houston library came through this week. Now to finish the one I'm listening to and then start on that. Sewing when it's kind of mindless repetition is perfect for listening to books. Don Winslow has a dozen or more books, some of them in series, others freestanding. I don't remember what the trigger was to add him to my Good Reads page, but we shall see how this one goes. (I use the British Fantastic Fiction site to keep track of the order of books in series, etc.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 24 - 01:44 PM

A note about selling used devices: periodically I go through Google and see what devices are still connected to my account. Though they're not logged on, they are still in the list and that can be alarming when it has gone to a new home. This morning I looked in Amazon to see what was still connected and the old phone and a couple of long-gone Fire tablets still showed up (no activity). Amazon has several categories of offerings that can have your devices (books, films, shopping app, etc.)

I was able to use my PayPal account to generate the shipping label for the phone purchaser with her new address, then eBay let me add that outside purchase tracking number to the sale. That's handy - that option wasn't there last time I shipped something without using the eBay shipping center (it has been a while). The PayPal/ShipStation link works if you have a PayPal account and gives you a good discount, comparable to what eBay does. Much cheaper to use this (choose create new label, it won't have a list of things from your business, the way it's set up) than paying online to ship USPS or UPS. (I have that link bookmarked because I can never actually find it on the PayPal site itself. I stumbled upon it in a discussion somewhere and have carefully kept track of and have it saved several places.)

We have an overcast day today and more forecast with a mid-week arrival of rain. Indoor activities ahead, starting with making the next batch of granola. This time I am modifying the recipe to have less old fashioned dry oats in proportion to the nuts and seeds (the keto versions out there look pretty awful, so I'll go low-carb still, not no-carb). Another recipe to add to the MyFitnessPal list (and I learned ages ago to name the recipe in such a way so I know which version and how much is a portion, because it doesn't show up when you log it later unless it is in the name itself.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 28 Apr 24 - 02:51 PM

Since the start of the pandemic I've been using FreeTaxUSA to do my very simple and straightforward taxes. Technically I don't even need to file (my only actual income is Social Security and a wee bit of interest on bank accounts), but I need the return to file for Low to Moderate Income Property Tax Refund, fuel assistance, and electric assistance.

My tax prep online takes less than ten minutes. It takes longer for me to find the documentation that I put in a safe place (but which safe place was it?).

They, of course, have various levels of service, but all I need is the free one.

TurboTax is obnoxious. I looked around the website once and now they bombard me with emails in the runup to tax time.

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 24 - 10:08 PM

The dogs and I went for a walk before dinner to examine the flotsam that lodged in the bridge rails when the creek flowed across the bridge and up the street during last night's storms (that I slept through). The creek out of its banks in my back yard left a high tide mark on the grass and the weeds were laid low and it finally took out the tree at the back of the back yard. It is still attached to the bank but now trails limbs into the creek and is full of trash it filtered out of the water. The girls loved sniffing around out there while I snapped a few photos.

Several boxes in good sizes arrived this week so the best use of them is to find suitable eBay items to list (and hopefully ship soon). I've promised a couple of items to friends who need devices that are probably stashed in the front room, and I think tomorrow is time to put on a dust mask and wade in to organize the contents.

In the bedroom I'm still working with layers (adding and removing) as the weather changes. The kitchen is freshly stocked with avocados ("good fats") and fruit (not keto, but I'll count the carbs carefully and try to keep them to fruit, not grains) after a trip to Costco. The sewing room is about to get a refresh; the horizontal surfaces need clearing and I think storage containers can be rearranged.

Tonight, before I step away from the blue light of the computer monitor and other screens, one more item gets listed on eBay. I have the perfect box for it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 24 - 11:47 AM

The security gate (a generally vertical pattern with glass panels inside) is locked but the front door is open with a small eBay parcel in view on the sill to hand over to the mail carrier when he comes by. With the door ajar the dogs noticed my oddball walking guy neighbor headed down the road (in the street this time) and they dutifully barked at him. Their message was "and STAY there!" (though I swear I heard Pepper bark "and your little dog, too!")

USPS just came by and the box is handed over. I can average $100-200 a month with eBay, good for paying a couple of bills, so I need to remind myself of that to keep going.

The dog paraphernalia (huge training pads, wraps for large male dogs) needs to be offered on Freecycle to clear them from the den coffee table that sits in front of the big TV. Next month my regular elderly house guest (who turns 90 in a couple of weeks) will be here and we use that table (that came from her house about 18 years ago when she moved to Arizona) to put our feet on it if we watch NetFlix (which is a part of our routine). The big (to me) TV is 42" - some of the sets I see at Costco these days are almost double that. But this plasma screen is good and has tons of ports for plugging in my devices. My friend moved back to Texas just before COVID and lives with her oldest son, figuring staying here makes it easier on all of them as old as she is now.

We have been on the edge of the storm fronts moving through the lower midwest; it's humid and overcast today and Amazon's Alexa told me (after the fact, as usual) that heavy fog was in this morning's forecast. Tomorrow looks like a whopper of a rain event headed this way.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Apr 24 - 02:42 PM

The kid next door is mowing my grass. Spring is definitely here to stay.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 24 - 06:46 PM

I'm not there yet, but one of these days I'll have a friend start mowing at least the front maybe every other week. I haven't made it easy with the way things are planted, there is no clear path/pattern around the yard, so if I hire someone I may have to simplify the landscaping a bit.

The answer to the gnats is - drumroll - a bag of potatoes that was going bad in a kitchen storage bin. Not enough to have a smell (that I detected, at any rate) but that was a breeding environment for the flies. They're in the trash can at the moment but when I get time I'll dig into the compost and bury them there. A couple might go into a bed to grow more potatoes. I have one bed, but could stand a couple more that would be harvested later.

I've rolled two of five log segments from where we left them last year when the big hackberry was cut down. I'm thinking one by the front door as a seat and to add to the blocks that conceal parcels delivered there. Maybe one for a pot by the side door, and the other three can be donated if someone is into the rustic seating look. They may need a winch or to wear a truss to lift the things; even after a year of "drying" they're still incredibly heavy.

Despite the forecast it has turned into a lovely sunny afternoon. And in the end of April it is 90^o.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Apr 24 - 02:06 PM

I have just finished unpacking a small but heavy plastic box that, since August 2017, has rested untouched on the bottom shelf of the main basement storage unit. My guess is that it was packed in 1998, when Edmund and I got married. I have *no* (repeat, no) idea of what to do with the contents.

Said contents? The debris of my father's study, and his father's before him.

No fewer than five sets of professional drawing instruments of the sort made obsolete by CAD technology. A Japanese pen case containing an opium pipe. A miniature boxed set of the Book of Common Prayer and Hymns Ancient and Modern dating from the reign of Queen Victoria, inscribed to my father's uncle Alfred. A box that once contained Laura Secord chocolates, now stuffed with loose Canadian medals from the Second World War and miscellaneous military and military-adjacent junk jewellery. A Victorian photo album from which the carte-de-visite-type photos have been removed. A tiny pocket diary dated 1842, the year my great-great-grandfather arrived in Montreal from London, with notes I can't read without strong light and a magnifier. The stamp with which *his* father sealed the port he imported to England from Portugal. A pair of Edwardian opera glasses in a sharkskin case, as good today as a century ago. The carved blocks of wood from which Granddad made a series of art prints of English scenes, using a Japanese technique. And so on.

Now what do I do? I am strongly tempted to pack them right back up again!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 30 Apr 24 - 06:20 PM

Any idea whose gongs they might have been, Charmion?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 24 - 06:37 PM

You certainly hit the jackpot for unusual objects today, Charmion! I have some exotic objects that my parents collected in their younger days that would have been in a box like that here, if I had one (instead they're all over the house). Every so often I photograph one of those obscure items then use Google image search to identify what it is and decide if I want to sell it or send it to someone in the family.

I had RSVPed to go to an event this afternoon celebrating volunteers in a local garden program but I've gone so rarely lately I felt guilty about going and ended up staying home and listing eBay stuff. Now to make a run to my local garden center and get the gas for the tiller. I can make something productive out of this day. (I might save money going to a big box store for bagged gravel, but I don't have to lug it around at the corner nursery, they'll do the work for me once I point out what I want. That's worth paying a bit more, since trying to get Home Depot staff to do the same thing is possible but takes a lot longer.)

May Day tomorrow. We always used to make woven paper baskets and pick a couple of the gorgeous rhodys in the yard to place in them, then hang them on the doorknob, ring the bell, and hide when Mom answered the door. She was always so surprised (good acting?) I have no idea how we got started doing that, and my children never learned the routine.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 01 May 24 - 08:52 AM

Brainstorming what to do with the treasure trove? Well, there are people who collect the obsolete drawing instruments, so those might go to Ebay.

A local history museum curator might be interested in the journal, and help you get a readable print of the contents.

The little bits might do well in a shadow box display. (Tape notes on the back as to who owned what when).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 24 - 10:24 AM

Nice! eBay is a good place for those people who collect ephemera and more from their particular field of work. Years ago I sold some family artifacts such as a lovely but very large bakelite case hearing aid, bought by a guy who works with the modern equipment but wanted to display the historic items. I'll put a couple of photos of the hearing aid on the FB page.

This morning I need to harvest a bunch of the oregano down by the curb that must be trimmed back from the street (and I've run out of dried oregano in the kitchen). It's perfect now, good leaf growth and hasn't flowered yet. It dries in just a few days then I'll store it in a vacuum sealed jar (my trick of putting the jar and lid inside the FoodSaver vacuum canister and drawing out the air - it seals the jar inside. Repeat.)

The gravel and gas were both retrieved yesterday so I can mix the small can for the tiller and run that this morning. I no longer till the whole garden area, I make a path through the part of the bed I want to plant, rake out the weed roots, plant, and once my crops are tall enough I pay less attention to trimming back the surrounding weeds. I have to move some cannas to their intended bed (and should till on that side of the house also).

It's time to make a recycling run; I now take over glass, cardboard, paper, and metal but trash the plastic. No one is recycling it so I might as well save them a step of sorting it out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 May 24 - 12:35 PM

Two generous handfuls of oregano stems are hanging to dry in the kitchen and as they wilt down I'll pick a couple more and pace myself so I don't have to use a lot of space for drying or move the operation to the greenhouse. What I harvested so far is from the far front of the yard, but I have a pot and another patch (in with the garlic and onions). After herb harvest the front yard was mowed and I mowed next door after checking with them. He had cataract surgery last week and isn't supposed to do much lifting or pushing for a couple of more weeks (second eye gets done on Monday). This is paying forward all of the mows that have happened on the north side of my driveway when the neighbor on my other side mows their front yard.

Earlier this week I listed the tree bole segments on our Freecycle group. There was an email this morning asking for all three and we have discussed an evening pickup (after work). He's bringing a pickup, good choice. I have a stiff muscle in my back, I think yesterday's mowing is the reason (I was shifting the mower around and pulled a lot of clinging vines off of shrubs as I passed by). I'll let the guy pick up the log chunks on his own.

No response yet to the dog continuity stuff, so I'll list it on FB also.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 May 24 - 09:43 PM

The stump pieces are still in the driveway, the guy who asked for them never came over. It didn't help that there was a spam attack on that site, where bots somehow joined a whole bunch of groups and posted phishing crap. I'll put the rest of the stuff on the FB page.

The big freezer is looking good these days as I manage to draw down the contents. It doesn't need to be empty, but it needs space as the time comes to freeze some of the garden produce. I added two ice cube trays of fresh guacamole to the side-by-side freezer this evening (made from a bag of six avocados from Costco - it helps that they ripen simultaneously).

Last night I got to the gym and the knees feel better today. I have to return to a more frequent schedule. The drive isn't too bad if I have a couple of things to do while I'm out. And the drive is even nicer now that the SUV is paid off; the title arrived in the mail today.

Dog appointments in the near future, as they get annual checkups and shots. I have a couple of appointments to make for myself also.

Thunder is moving in now so time to save and turn off the computer.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 04 May 24 - 08:54 AM

Paying off debt is the best declutter ever.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 May 24 - 07:10 PM

A run to the discount grocery today resulted in lots of good veggies for the upcoming week. I got more of the lower-carb items I've wanted (though I did splurge and buy one chocolate bar).

Part of the day was spent doing deep cleaning in the kitchen, the kind that involves moving things that usually stay in one place on the counter to clean under and behind. I'll work my way around from the kitchen to the dining area as I begin the preparations for guests next week.

Did you decide to do anything with the parental items in that box, Charmion? Or is it packed and put away until later?

More rain tonight. The weeds are growing fast and large. The daylilies are now blooming but I need to pull the tall grass away so they can be seen. The snail seed vines are climbing everything. Ugg.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 04 May 24 - 09:51 PM

A big day, and it turned out to be really hot and sweaty. Packed 1000 pounds of stuff in the little cargo trailer. Hot, sunny, humid, first over-90 degree weather of the season. I almost slid through the whole project with good spring weather, but it got me on my last day . I know it's just another day gardening in the subtropics to SRS, but I'm not used to this stuff any more; when I'm outdoors it's usually in drier cooler places and on my own timetable.

There was more than enough room for lots more boxes, but, the weight limit intervened. So had to leave the densest boxes for the second run, gather up all the light stuff I could, and try to get it full enough to not slide around; even put in some empty bins. Lots of panicky moments; one of those things you can't stop and finish tomorrow--once you start, you're in it for good; dripping sweat and anxiety or not.

Made it to a mega gas station to rehydrate with a giant drink and large slurpee, then on to a pull through in Vicksburg for tonight; got in a swim, not sure I have ever appreciated an unheated little pool more!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 May 24 - 11:45 PM

Stay safe out there, Patty! You'll sleep well tonight! Heavy weather is going over the top of us right now so it may reach you by dawn. I'm assuming you piled the heaviest stuff at the tongue end of the trailer and over the axles, but even that won't save you in a windstorm, so have a leisurely breakfast if the storm is there when you get up. Good luck with a stable load for your entire drive!

Two items spoken for on the FB page tonight, messages sent and hopefully two bags of dog supplies will leave the front porch tomorrow. The stumps have me stumped for now, sitting on the side of the driveway.

One unhappy blue heeler is panting a puddle of slobber on the floor behind my computer chair as this storm goes overhead. I've stopped trying to put the ThunderShirt on, it really needs to go on ahead of the storm to be effective.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 May 24 - 01:29 PM

Last night it rained hard and long with lots of thunder and another puddle in the den in one corner. I'm not sure how it gets in, following some chink in the bricks.

It was forecast to rain all night, so after other recent rains I took precautions at bedtime. My handbag usually rests on a bar stool in the kitchen - force of habit so I always know where it is - but last night I brought it into the bedroom to grab if needed. And I slept in enough clothes that if I had to slip into shoes and head out of the house I could. The dog leashes were nearby. Since I was prepared water didn't even flow out of the creek banks (unlike earlier in the week when I slept through a small flood over the bridge and up into the lower end of the back yard). The cumulative rainfall is the problem; the ground is saturated. During the week a crew from the village cut the branches out of the bridge rails and hauled some of the debris up from the concrete supports so there was less likelihood of an inadvertent dam.

The first porch pickup of dog gear is soon, the second later in the day. With that arrangement I don't need to watch for anyone (my doorbell doesn't work) or avoid making noise so I don't hear a knock. And I don't need to struggle past the dogs to open the door. I'm going to be mopping (more muddy footprints!) and vacuuming ahead of a guest here soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 05 May 24 - 01:32 PM

Yes, awful weather through Louisiana and east Texas today,might as well stay off the road til tomorrow! I planned the route and stops but did not lock in which days, for this very reason.

Yes, the heavy stuff is in the front and center. It was difficult fitting little stuff into the v-front. Had I known I had extra space to work with, I could have just ignored filling that in. Oh well.

This is my first time towing a trailer with no brake controller or sway bars, so I am taking it easy. Luckily I can see the trailer with my high rear camera, which is a big help. So far no sway, and the front did not go down after loading, which means I don't have too much weight on the tongue. Bless the good hitch mechanic who got me ready to go, he even adjusted the latches so they weren't too difficult to operate.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 May 24 - 03:33 PM

Patty, having extra room in the trailer means everything is low, so not top-heavy. Better for driving. No trailer brakes? That does make for a different kind of drive. I just looked at the weather map, it looks like Vicksburg is getting the last of this storm right now.

One parcel picked up, the other delayed since the recipient has apparently injured her ankle and is heading to the ER for an X-ray. There isn't a rush, she can pick it up during the week.

A few eBay items revised (price). The goal is to sell them without giving them away so I start with what seems the the higher end of the prices I'm seeing in sold items. Dropping it a couple of dollars from there is often all it takes to get them to move.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 May 24 - 02:07 PM

I pulled a leather handbag out of the closet to list on eBay; it still has the tags and is one I got on clearance at DSW. I think I'm mostly past my leather-handbag-phase, though they are lovely. I have a few for special occasions (lately for everyday use I'm using a tough green $20 messenger bag I bought on 14th Street in Manhattan years ago when I was in town and hadn't packed the size bag I needed.)

The woman with the ankle injury is in a boot and using a knee roller. She lives nearby in an apartment location I've always wondered about (on top of a bluff on the west side of town) so I'll drop off the dog pads tomorrow and step over to the viewpoint she described next to her building and take a look.

Plans are in place for the 90-year-old house guest. She will arrive on Mother's Day and stay three nights (always subject to change). The following Sunday is a birthday brunch on the far northeast side of Dallas to which my ex and I will carpool. I've already calculated a route that will let me avoid driving through town. I have this week to finish clearing surfaces, dust, mop, make the bed in the guest room and get my sewing room set up with a guest chair because she has a project she's bringing along.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 May 24 - 05:27 PM

I'm going to have an odd day today. In a bit over an hour our electricity goes out - from 8am - 6pm - a lovely electrician who I met last week when he was doing preliminary work is upgrading our switchboards. They were state of the art in 1978/79 when this building went from rentals to sale.

Residents who go out to work will hardly notice, those of us who spend more time at home will be trying to do stuff in daylight rather than inadequate ceiling lights & desk lamps will be heading out. I do have a good strong torch I can use for a while, maybe even all day. Unfortunately the Library does not open till 10, I don't have a smart phone so can only text or call friends, especially the one who I have some stuff for, I do hope she will will be home.

No computer, I could try to clean up (shock! horror!!) but will call a few friends & take my current craft projects & my current book & head out asap.

eek, I just noticed the time, almost 7.30 & I need my shower!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 24 - 10:54 AM

Sandra, I hope you got your shower before the lights went out!

Yesterday I made a large batch of a squash (zucchini type - calabash or calabacita) casserole with lots of tomato, onion and bell pepper, all good lower-carb veggies. Also a handful of rotini pasta, but it isn't a very large proportion of the dish (it's nice for the shape and color). I have cooked beets in the fridge also, and fresh broccoli and cabbage for later in the week. The brain health folks seem to like the darker color veggies, berries, and fatty fish. I can work with all of this. It looks like if I simply get more fruit and vegetables and fewer bread and pasta dishes I'll accomplish my lower-carb goals.

I've taken a look at the sewing machine table I want to convert for using with a different machine and cut a cardboard template to work with as I plan. It looks like before I'm finished the router will get unpacked (and will make many trial runs before I actually touch the wood of the table). I have to countersink a hinge on one side and extend the support piece on the other. Glue and screws will also come into play, along with sanding and stain. I may at some point as myself if it is worth all the work.

This month I have re-joined a couple of good groups like the League of Women Voters and Southern Poverty Law Center and made donations as we head into a political year. I need to put a box for junk mail beside the front door because it is going to start pouring in. Even the good groups sell their donor lists.

It's still humid and the ground is soggy after last week's rain, making it too soon to till. Maybe tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 07 May 24 - 11:07 AM

DSW? Is that a vendor of high-end clothing and accessories that are no longer quite the latest thing? For me, yet another business to avoid.

My monthly expenses have taken a nose-dive since I stopped eating in restaurants (except my weekly bacon fix at the diner), and impulsively shopping for clothes and household stuff. Deleting the Ebay application from my iPad has probably saved me several hundred bucks by now, and I sure don't miss restaurant staff who address all patrons as "guys" and can't pronounce the French and Italian names of dishes on their menus.

I'm no minimalist, God knows, but these days some aspects of my lifestyle have a distinctly stripped-down look.

One area where I am not cutting back is music and things with which to make it. The other day, I swapped a five-string banjo I don't play for a mandolin that I will play when it has had a bit of TLC from a luthier. Now I have to find a luthier who won't mind working on a mandolin -- the guy who did my last instrument rehab job has gone and moved across the province to a tiny village in the Ottawa Valley, between Algonquin Park and the Petawawa military reserve.

The ancestral doohickeys are still spread out on the basement work table and most of them will almost certainly end up in another box. There's an interesting Victorian container that once held hair-dressing based on bear grease that could probably attract some antiquarian interest: it's a glass bottle in a tight-fitting case made of steam-bent wood. And the drawing instruments could probably find new homes, if and when I get around to marketing them. But the rest? No clue.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 May 24 - 11:15 AM

yes!

& I also did a bit of cleaning up (well done, me!) & read for a while using my torch. My ceiling light is an old family flycatcher light of frosted glass & even with a strong bulb is never enough light for reading or sewing. My bedroom faces north & gets some lovely sun mid morning, but I can't work or read there. I also spent a few hours in the library selecting books, & embroidering until my neighbour texted the lights were back on at 5.30

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 24 - 11:50 AM

No, DSW is a normal new name brand shoe store but they do have a great clearance section. And they sell handbags, belts, socks, the usual shoe store stuff. I've spent less time there since COVID, and my personal policy of only buying new shoes when one of the current pair is beyond wearing in polite company still leaves me with a good array of shoes, most aren't worn much. When they send coupons I often use them for socks for women in larger size (daughter wears size 10 shoes so women's "one size fits all" are way stretched out. There are a few brands of larger women's socks and finding mens socks that have interesting colors or designs is another approach.) She's accustomed to getting socks for xmas as a family tradition and it seems that she uses them or she'd tell me she has enough.

Regarding your note about eliminating the eBay app, an interesting read this morning from The New Yorker called The British Museum’s Blockbuster Scandals
While facing renewed accusations of cultural theft, the institution announced that it had been the victim of actual theft—from someone on the inside.
There is a paywall but they usually give you four free articles a month if you don't subscribe. As far as I've read so far, there was insider theft going on in uncataloged collections of ancient carved glass cameos and intaglios that were undersold on eBay (probably to attract less attention and make it appear that the seller was unaware of what they had, to keep buyers coming back for more bargains from an apparently inept heir of a former collector's estate).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 07 May 24 - 01:20 PM

I read that article yesterday — I’m a subscriber. (Digital subscriptions don’t result in stacks of half-read magazines!

Museum and library staff are typically underpaid, and not all have the fortitude to keep their hands off the valuables when they believe that they’ll never get caught.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 08 May 24 - 12:41 PM

A load of glassware has left the building, gone to Goodwill. Eight German hock glasses, eight or nine (I forget) dram glasses, six sherbet dishes, two stemless claret glasses, several shot glasses, some snifters ... You get the idea. Enough to fill a wine box (two per slot) and an old file box.

A set of Bohemian crystal wine glasses inherited from my Dad have been packed up in the basement since ... um ... summer 2017. To the question "Am I ready to dispose of these?" the honest answer was No, so something else had to go. In the end, easy-peasy.

As of this morning, I have lost 4.6 Kg since 7 April, which is a hair over 10 pounds in 30 days. My space-age scale tells me that the proportion of fat to other, um, components of my body is slowly decreasing, which is much to be desired.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 May 24 - 09:27 PM

Well done on the weight loss Charmion!!

Only one day's drive left on my hauling journey. It has gone fairly well, found a decent new campground near Tyler, good host who decided to pursue clean leaving running an RV park instead of a sports bar.

Undeserving, I have been spared all the waves of stormy weather; either they pass to the north or clip me with a few overnight sprinkles. Some tough driving and detours, but can't complain too much. Enjoyed the 'wide open spaces' of western Texas, and now in New Mexico near Carlsbad. Snagged the last pull-through at Brantley Lake State Park. My site features a lovely ramada with a small tree with pink blossoms, seems to be a desert willow. Fun to see flowers I don't normally see when visiting the SW in winter.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 May 24 - 09:30 PM

Good work on the glasses, Charmion! I have to move forward on eBay with the glass stuff I have here or maybe do a garage sale. A friend of mine needs to sell some stuff, so if I plan one I'll let him know and he can join me in the driveway.

The process of turning off the computer and other screens an hour or two before bedtime seems to be helping both my sleep and mood. And I'm reading more books now (reading a book on paper at bedtime in addition to audiobooks at the gym.) Win/win.

Today was a big push to clear out brush in the back yard. The kennel hadn't been trimmed for ages and was full of tall grass and hackberry seedlings, and I trimmed around the yard edges before mowing. I need to order a replacement for the housing for the line spool on my gas trimmer, it has a couple of loose parts I'm tired of putting back every time I refill it. And note to self - less is more when it comes to the line. Overfill the spool and it's harder to operate.

I also cleared out grass in the bricks next to the patio and moved the last two pieces of the tree taken out last year. They're on the patio and may later be moved elsewhere for pots to sit on. Tomorrow I'll mow the front.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 May 24 - 09:49 PM

I agree with Patty - congratulations on the weight, Charmion! Patty, if you were in Tyler you may have passed within about three blocks of my house on your way west. Did you take I-20 west or did you veer north or south on state highways at Tyler to avoid the metroplex? (I've had to drive through the area with trailers a couple of times, getting up before dawn to get through town when everyone else is sleeping.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 May 24 - 10:18 PM

I can't handle I-20 through DFW, I go WAY around that whole metro.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 May 24 - 01:55 PM

To the dentist today. Usually an irritating experience, something like being nibbled to death by ducks, the cleaning phase this time was painless and took only about ten minutes, including all the faffing about. Apparently the chronic mild gingivitis I have endured for 20 years has up and gone — yet another benefit of the very-low-carb lifestyle. Likewise, it’s been weeks since I last felt so much as a twinge from my lower gut, which is behaving impeccably.

I’m not quite at the stage of shopping for smaller trousers, but it won’t be long.

Towing a heavy trailer through Texas is the sort of activity that features in my occasional nightmares. Patty is whole hell of a lot braver than I’ll ever be.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 May 24 - 05:17 PM

I felt great yesterday but today am feeling the effects of allergies. The yardwork kicked up a lot of dust with the trimmer and I should have worn a mask to keep the pollen out. A meeting happening right now is being recorded, so I'll listen to that later and catch up for some museum work. Acetaminophen is finally kicking in (and I could use a nap). It looks like stormy weather on the way tonight (high humidity and heavy dark overcast this afternoon).

One more item listed today on eBay and next I'll pick out a different category (probably a vintage VHS player). I should also look at some of the collectible glass (Depression glass) but send photos to the kids and sibs first to see if they want any of it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 24 - 12:06 AM

We were under a tornado watch this afternoon and it got quite dark as storms moved past a bit to the south. Humidity was extreme for a few hours. I'll be able to mow tomorrow since it didn't rain today (I was going to mow this morning but got sidetracked). The threat was enough to remind me that I really need to replace the dead Radio Shack weather radio, so I chose one that combines the old NOAA announcements with something new (S.A.M.E.) that can be programmed for various events and locations (since our bad weather typically comes from the SW, I would add in a couple of counties to the SW in the range of alerts it gives me).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 10 May 24 - 10:37 AM

Hope the allergies calm down soon for you, SRS. I know that feeling where your sinuses are just so inflamed you have to use naprosyn or something just to get them to calm down, never mind the other symptoms.

Made it to destination after a bit of gear-grinding over a few mountain ranges. Glad that was on the back end after getting used to towing the caboose. Enjoying standing still now, but lots of washing and cleaning awaits.

And, how lovely to have cool pleasant evenings to walk or sit outside; in winters it's nippy here after dark, and back in the South it's still humid and buggy all night. I'm in a fool's paradise til the summer sun starts blazing, but meanwhile it's looking good!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 24 - 11:01 AM

The new weather radio arrived overnight. It came with a several page booklet of instructions so I'll familiarize myself with the basics then adjust to add extra counties to the southwest if it seems necessary. NOAA takes into account direction of travel and usually mentions the adjacent county weather activity.

The yard. Where to start. Throwing pulled weeds from the garden beds onto the turf means they can be mulched in when I mow. Free woody mulch from the city helps keep the weeds down once the beds are cleared. I use contractor heavy-mil bags that are robust enough to handle the dense mulch (and be refilled several times). I overfill them making them hard to move. Do I have the discipline to not do that so they are more movable, or should I look for smaller heavy duty bags to prevent myself from overfilling the bigger bags? It doesn't hurt if I end up with more bags. (At the mulch bunker I fill each bag part way before loading them onto a tarp in the SUV, then I use a 15-gallon tub to carry more to top off each bag.) It was easier when I had a truck. I did bring home several smaller bags of gravel last week and could reuse those.

Meanwhile, there are metal"eyelet" type things in the heavy duty composite head piece that the trimmer strings feed through on the gas trimmer. They keep popping out of place. Before I order a new head piece for the stringer line I'll use some Gorilla glue and see if that will keep the eyelets where they belong for a while longer.

All of this, of course, because I should really be indoors dusting, mopping, and more for a house guest arriving on Sunday.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 24 - 02:20 PM

Patty, are you at a higher elevation in New Mexico for the summer? I've challenged my truck and SUV brakes on several occasions in that state - such as driving down from Bandolier, where there is one pass that smells like burned rubber near the bottom if you're following folks who are riding their brakes. (Years ago I worked in the Great Smoky Mountains where we talked to people about how to drive over the pass from Sugarlands to Clingman's Dome and down into North Carolina, suggesting they downshift the automatic to LOW to avoid some of that). I would not want to make any of those drives without separate brakes on the trailer! Like Charmion says, that is a thing of nightmares.

Last night I practiced another of the techniques I've been exploring for "crumb quilting," and have concluded that while some folks say "don't trim the crumbs, use them as they are," the offcuts from mask making have a couple of unusual angles that don't lend themselves well to piecing. I'll set up the rotary cutter and ruler and straighten some of these and see if I can't get a broader mix of colors in my test samples.

I thought I'd get smart and see if the public library has any DVDs of some of the PBS programs (Best of Sewing with Nancy, Love of Quilting by Fons and Porter), etc. that I want to use for techniques and ideas, but mostly they have print books. (Go figure!) One has an e-magazine that I could check out on the tablet to use in the sewing room. When I narrow the search to electronic results it shows murder mysteries with sewing and quilting in the title. There are quite a few! I'm trying to get out of the magazines on paper routine, there is too much paper around here already.

The time has come to start researching Internet providers. The two-year discount I'd forgotten I set up with Spectrum is running out in June and the bill will jump. Considering the improvement in speed and the advent of fiber optic in the neighborhood (and they say they won't raise the price) I may have to reconsider AT&T. Ugg.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 24 - 05:54 PM

After about 90 minutes of weeding and trimming there is a lot of stuff lying on the turf to wilt down overnight before I mow tomorrow. I rolled the three stump pieces closer to the curb and will take them off of the pages where I offered them. Starting this evening anyone driving by who wants them may take them (or they'll go in the trash on Monday).

A couple of prescriptions are ready this afternoon but I'll get them tomorrow morning. My pharmacy is in an Albertson's, and depending on the neighborhood the stores have different offerings. This is a small store an a well-heeled neighborhood and they usually have a good selection of high end steaks in the 50% off bin, but not this late in the day. I load up then use the FoodSaver to seal and freeze them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 10 May 24 - 09:35 PM

I'm on flat land but at 4000' elevation, in the Basin and Range where the mountains are discrete units you can avoid unless you want to go explore them. But, one does not get here without going through a few remnants of the Rockies. I do plan carefully to avoid twisty roads with too-high grades, such as the road through Cloudcroft. The nearby one that goes through Ruidoso is a much better bet. I don't recall the Bandelier one, but Flaming Gorge is one route I'll not take willingly again.

My vehicle can quickly be switched to manual gearing, 6 of them, so it's a little more work to go through mountains but works fine. As far as braking, I studied up on that. One starts a downgrade at 45 mph no matter how angry those behind get, then stay in the right gear for your speed, and 'surge brake'; firmly but briefly brake now and then to keep your speed down, then coast a while, then surge brake again. Never just ride the brakes. When people have to do that they are either hauling too much weight for their engine, transmission and brakes, or they started the grade at or over the speed limit, and then quickly get out of control.

Honestly, I love driving the open road, though not crazy about mountain driving. To me, nightmare driving is anywhere that I am in city or construction gridlock or have to sit through the same light 4 times in a row. I just want to crawl through the windshield and get out of there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 May 24 - 09:48 AM

pattyClink, I lived in New Mexico for over ten years.
I visited the Bandelier National Monument a few times.
It is near Los Alamos, if you ever passed that way.

Right now my apartment is basically a very expensive form of storage.
I am going slowly with the decluttering.
I even signed a new lease with an increase in rent,
just so I would not have to rush to get the decluttering done.

A lot of stuff in the apartment has to go,
I probably can't keep it where I will end up next.
So I am looking at ways to donate it instead.
Then there are all the papers headed for the trash.
That one takes time as the papers have to be sorted first.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 May 24 - 12:45 PM

Patty, I haven't nailed it down precisely, but there is a large roadcut on NM Highway 4 between Jemez and Bandolier, in the Valles Caldera area, right before a picnic area, where I stop to pick up chunks of obsidian when I'm on my way through. It's on public land, at one time it was National Forest but since then I think the land was added to the Valles Caldera National Preserve. I found a 2021 article about the general distribution of obsidian in the Jemez area. Rhyolite and obsidian are the focus of this map and article. Here's an NPS report about the Valles Grandes history that might be a long evening of reading. When I drove through in the past it was still the Santa Fe National Forest, now it's the new NPS site. Still, picking up rocks on the highway would probably go unnoticed. This account from a blogger who went collecting in the caldera (from 2012). NPS rules - look, don't keep. But they aren't searching cars or people, is my guess. It's not like Petrified Forest where they do sometimes search vehicles. Anyway, as large as the Jemez obsidian range is, you should be able to find USFS or other land where you can pick up some. This document from the American Geophysical Union website says

Obsidian is pretty common in the Jemez Mountains, particularly in the Banco Bonito rhyolite. Once you leave the Valles Caldera (a National Preserve), you’re in the Santa Fe National Forest; casual rock collecting is allowed, as long as you’re not carting off massive amounts of material (no more than a bucket per day). The best place to find bits you can legally collect is in the East Fork of the Jemez River, which you can get to using the Las Conchas trail.

(I should also say "stop me if you've heard this before" - I know we've talked about rocks and places to pick them up.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 24 - 10:49 AM

The morning is heavily overcast. Mother's Day is a sodden one for any folks with plans to brunch on restaurant patios. I need to do more garden work but not till after lunch; I put off some of the cleaning until this morning and am going so far as to move furniture before using that squeegee thing for pet hair on tile floors then mopping as I prepare for my houseguest who arrives after dinner with her grandkids.

The amount of hair and dirt has diminished remarkably since March when the old Labrador retriever passed and I'm still realizing (and remarking on) how much of the mud and dirt and HAIR was his alone.

Other chores for today - boxes need to be flattened in the sunroom hall and a bench I'm going to put back where I first kept it (beside the door for changing shoes or setting packages upon entering). And I need to decide about the glider swing that is indoors now but should probably go out on a covered porch. The little dog has adopted it as her own and I'm sure she'll follow and use it wherever it ends up.

Cooking. I'll make some muffins or bread as a welcome, and plan to not eat many of them as I continue the low-carb diet. My yeast dinner rolls with a slice of fried sausage are awfully hard to resist, but would be a great quick breakfast.

Mother's Day is another greeting card holiday but we use it for the excuse to call or go out for a meal (in close proximity to the actual Sunday if not on the day). Have a good one, all of you who celebrate it! (The gardening I put off is to pick up a few bedding plants - there might be a Mom Day sale at the neighborhood nursery so I'll go over when I finish the floors.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 May 24 - 11:03 AM

keb, I sympathize, it is so time consuming to fish through paper stuff and get it purged. Sometimes it's straightforward shredding, sometimes it's a long trip down memory lane, it's tough. I'm still glad I was never a 'just throw every thing away, immediately' person. There are treasures to me in some of these boxes of stuff.

As we age, a lot of these 'keepers' need to be ditched or passed on. Photographing and scanning helps me to keep the image or the words and lose the poundage.

Thanks both of you for the info on Bandelier area. Those are good papers and they are bookmarked for next trip up that way.   I'm not really looking to collect rocks in general. I'm more targeting microcrystals which usually grow in vugs in rocks, usually in old mines or tailings piles.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 12 May 24 - 03:07 PM

I have had more than my life’s share of sorting and purging papers, starting with my mother’s, then my Dad’s, and finally my husband’s. All three of them were terrible packrats, hanging onto letters and photographs, legal documents dating back to the dawn of time, and every manner of brochure, pamphlet, guidebook, catalogue — if it was ephemeral, they stashed it lovingly.

Me, not so much.

After Edmund died, I had to empty his office and dispose appropriately of his client files and work notes. It was the depth of winter and the shank of the pandemic, before the first vaccines, so I was stuck in the house anyway. I eventually burned, shredded, or scrapped (depending on sensitivity) the entire contents of four full filing cabinets. I don’t miss any of it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 12 May 24 - 06:07 PM

The entire afternoon has been given over to cleaning upstairs — the music room and my bedroom. The bedroom needed the whole route march, bed yanked across the floor, rug tossed out, and bales of cat hair rounded up with the silicone broom before I could damp-mop the hardwood floor and dust the baseboards. I probably missed a spiderweb on the ceiling, but I’m done for the day. Plus, my back hurts.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 24 - 06:40 PM

Ah, yes! Squeegee thing = Silicon broom. It got a workout today. No text warning yet but we're at the "any time now" arrival of my friend. The guest room is ready, the hall bathroom is clean with an extra glass for dentures, etc. A batch of bread pudding is cooling (for dessert or a decadent breakfast) and rolls are rising. This is the carbs for guests menu. If she is true to form, there will be a restaurant to-go container with part of her dinner to stash in the fridge.

Much of the afternoon has been pouring rain and my new weather radar radio did a loud squawk, announced possible small creek flooding, then turned off. Exactly what I wanted. Looking out front at the green wet yard with a burst of orange daylilies inches from the office window. Since I've been mopping the heat pump is cooling low (for me - 72!) to pull moisture off the floors before I adjust it up again. The hall outside the office is clearer with a bench moved and boxes flattened. Having guests helps you see the house through others' eyes. I see a house the needs a lot of work, but it will do for now.

The dogs tell me it is dinner time but they are 22 minutes early and their bowls are in the running dishwasher.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 24 - 01:25 AM

You know all of that time and work I spent mopping and scrubbing the floor in the den today? Cookie undid it in a matter of seconds Sunday night by getting skunked then running into the house to try to roll or rub it off. On rugs and dog beds and drooled everywhere (it sprayed her right in the mouth.)

God damned dog.

The skunk is still in the garage. I left the door a few inches after moving the SUV out. I blocked the dog door into the back end of the garage (after Cookie pushed through the defective dog door cover I put in place and got herself trapped in there again with the skunk.) I have a hose with hard spraying nozzle that I'll deploy tomorrow if need be. I had to do this once before, in about 2006, when Cinnamon and Poppy cornered a skunk in the garage.

I have a house guest who may want to leave first thing in the morning.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 May 24 - 09:31 AM

let us all sing 'when will they ever learn' to Cookie!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 13 May 24 - 11:15 AM

Oh no, a skunk invasion and undone floor cleaning! Yikes what a day. Hope your guest has a great sense of humor.

I ventured out to drive by a couple of homes for sale yesterday. I was prepared for them to be weird. The first one was actually shockingly serene with great views, though burdened by a second dwelling that 'needs a lot of work'. But, a mile on gravel roads in and out every time you leave the house? Maybe if I already had a jeep, but not when my daily driver is a motorhome. Wish I had grown up in the country, it might seem more do-able.

The second one also had an enviable set of views and ready access to the Florida Mtns, the Tres Hermanas Mtns, and Mexico. I walked the fence line, discovering the property has a big concrete billboard advertising a hot springs 50 miles north of there; I'm guessing it's 70 years old. The reverse advertises a pet B&B with an arrow pointing to the property. Which has a series of dog pictures woven into the gate. Along with a hidden statue of a dog on a post. So, is the weird gutted nature of the house because it was used as a kennel, for heaven's sake??? Did the people who put in the nice Spanish door give up their renovation because the floors permanently stink?

But wait, there's more. HUGE piles of poo on the driveway and in a little grove of trampled tall reeds, almost like a standing nest. For wild burros? Roaming horses? There are barbed wire fences everywhere but this stuff is inside the house's fences. So if I moved in and spent months trying to get it livable, would I also be dealing with irate burros determined to keep their home in my yard? Have you ever heard these things hee-haw at your window at night? Talk about nightmares!

Just when you think the househunt has showed you every kind of weirdness imaginable, it gets weirder!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 24 - 12:13 PM

Patty, I think I would slowly back away from both of those houses, keeping your eye on them until you're in the vehicle with the doors locked. And check the backseat for any murderous stowaways.

It seems my house guest and my ex both have fairly impaired senses of smell. Neither of them finds the burned rubber acrid spots around the house to be a problem. Here I was thinking the only thing that could fix it is to burn the house down.

Last night I sprayed skunk odor remover on the floors, then when I couldn't sleep at about 3am and realized the dog had been coughing and snorting skunk stink out of her mouth as she moved through the house I needed to aim the enzyme spray at everything from about three feet down that she would have broadcast to. So I got up and walked through the house and did another spray. It did help, but we're a long way from good and I don't know if the skunk is out of the garage yet. I had the ex come over to pick up the friend, but she still wants to stay here until Thursday so they're out for the day while I get more supplies and a new mop (the old one died and no more "automatic" replacements heads for the self-wringing mop are available).

A plus for today is we set up a Zenni account for my friend and got her measurements and prescription entered with a pair of glasses she likes. She's comparing one place today in town then will decide to get those or order online. A pair of high-end progressive lenses in a light titanium frame for $175 - the in-person place would have to work really hard to beat that! (By the way, did you know that on your glasses Rx the OD is "Oculus dexter" for the right eye and "Oculus sinister" for the left? I get the left/sinister part. Dexter is apparently latin for "right." And here I thought it was just a good name for a dog.) :-/

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 24 - 11:48 PM

Poor Pepper - she was also skunked, but wasn't so obvious about it (was hit face and neck, not in the mouth like Cookie, about 10% of the hit by order of magnitude). This evening I've been spritzing her with the enzyme and checking back as it dries to see if she needs more. That answers part of the mystery of the moving skunk smell. Both of them had rabies and name tags on rolled leather collars that are now in the trash and will be replaced. I'll also drill new holes in flat nylon collars for the Invisible Fence devices (they wear those in the yard but are removed when we go for walks so they can cross the Invisible Fence boundary). And I have a couple of more beds to wash tomorrow, foam pad and all. The cover of one of the newest beds is out on the patio and still stinks to high heavens, even after a trip through the laundry and Odor Remover spray. I'll keep spraying it until the smell subsides. I'm sending a couple of sets of my clothes through the laundry after spraying them with the enzyme to knock out anything I picked up from the dogs. Before fixing dinner this evening I sprayed my hands front and back and let the enzyme dry, removing the smell there that kept surprising me if I touched my face, etc.

So far it has been an expensive week. Between picking up dog supplies all over town I picked up two 90-day prescriptions. Maybe Tuesday will be better.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 May 24 - 10:59 AM

The house is now a bunch of skunk hot-spots, as the general stench clears and the sources reveal themselves. New rolled collars arriving tomorrow and today I'll prepare the new flat collars to put on the Invisible Fence devices. (I have to drill two holes then use a match or lighter to singe the nylon edges to keep them from fraying.)

My friend is conducting business at the kitchen table, on hold with the manufacturer of her portable oxygen machine. It is over 10-years-old and finally stopped working and from what I hear she's having a new one shipped to my house overnight. Something tells me I'll start getting junk mail from a whole new set of sources after this. (In her late 70s she bought this thing with a lifetime warranty, and at 90 is replacing it, something the company probably doesn't have to do a lot of.)

Not much work getting done this week, and it has been a carb fest. We haven't pulled up Netflix to watch a movie yet, but have watched some of the Trump trial reporting. But wait! My friend's daughter and grandson called and are coming over to pick her up for the day, so I have a few things I can get done.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 14 May 24 - 12:55 PM

So much sympathy for the skunk situation! I imagine a major flea infestation, or perhaps a flood, might be worse, but not much else would do that much damage without taking down the entire house.

Keto continues to go well, with a surprising reduction in my grocery bill. The various things I eat tend to be expensive, but the range is not great and does not include any compulsion purchases (looking at you, ice cream) or restaurant meals.

I would not, however, recommend this regimen to anyone whose family life and/or social circle includes dining for pleasure. When I imagine Edmund's reaction to what constitutes supper for me these days, I know I would fall off the wagon immediately. "Is that really what you're having for lunch?"

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 May 24 - 04:29 PM

Thanks! In the world of household annoyances, I think bed bugs would be worse. A friend in New York City has occasional episodes in his apartment building and it sounds dreadful. I'll take skunk over that.

Pepper (Australian cattle dog/blue heeler) has a dense coat and apparent robust reserves of skunk in the area under the left side of her face and neck. Each time I massage in enzyme spray on her I have to soak my hands and let the spray dry or I smell it on me if I touch my face.

A box of the French cobalt Luminarc glasses sold and was handed over to the mail carrier this morning. eBay tells me that my 90-day sales total is ~$275. I bet I can push that higher.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 May 24 - 11:41 AM

We have a lunch appointment but before we leave the UPS driver has to bring a new oxygen machine and the box must be opened to receive the new device and the defective machine sent back in it. I think the driver has orders to that effect. We have a backup plan if the driver isn't timely (I'll stay and wait for the box and my ex will take the friend to lunch with our daughter). Hopefully by having a backup plan we won't need to deploy it (our inoculation against Murphy's Law).

I was ready to make the last big push but with guests and skunk cleaning this week there has been no chance to get caught up in the garden. I despair having good crops if it gets so hot again as last year.

On a different front, while sorting eBay electronics I pulled out a dual cassette player (a Sony big one - found at Goodwill a while back) to set up in my office next to the computer to start transferring my Dad's taped recordings into files in the computer. I'll test the player today. I have one that was his but one of the compartments doesn't open (it was forced open or shut and killed that mechanism). It's way past time to work on all of this, but I have the whole array - reel-to-reel, cassette, turntable and CD players here with a receiver if I need that to power any of them.

I'm here at the front of the house and nothing has come by but my friend just got a text that they attempted delivery. Not at this house they didn't. Great.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 May 24 - 03:46 PM

The Ministry of Health informed me today that there's a new COVID variant about and it's time to get needled again. Sigh.

Last summer's go-to pants are a bit big, and I have taken in my belt by another notch.

One of the niblings whose post-secondary education I've been subsidizing will graduate on 3 June. I must find something particularly flamboyant to wear for maximum embarrassment value when I leap to my feet to clap and cheer when he crosses the stage. His sister still has two years to go ...

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.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 May 24 - 10:02 PM

The top two thick cotton bath mats from the stack (of four) outside my bedroom door, along with a couple of other small rugs, have gone through the wash again. This is after narrowing down the possible sources of the skunk that still wafts through the house when the air conditioner turns on or a door is opened into a closed hallway. The mats are there for the dogs who often sleep outside my door.

The garden goal is to head out the door early tomorrow and prepare a couple of spots for crops. And to transplant a native hibiscus from a pot into the ground. All of this will involve the string trimmer, the tiller, a mattock, a spade fork, and a shovel. Oh, and the wheelbarrow. Everything is handy and ready to go.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 24 - 11:19 AM

I'm not sure if it rained again overnight but the yard is still sodden. Way too wet to cultivate beds without the squish of mud from any of my digging tools. One wants to flocculate the soil, not end up with glazed planting surfaces that don't allow water to move to and from plants for the season. Another day of work indoors it is.

I can pick up just about any small thing sitting in the front room and it is an item to be listed on eBay. There is a randomness about doing that, but I'll give that a try this morning. I moved a cassette player into my office equipment area (a new surge protector is arriving this morning so that all of these audio devices can be plugged in with space for some of the wall wart sized plugs). That player was wrapped with an unrelated power supply cable, probably added when someone was unpacking from an estate sale and lumped them together. So let's see if I can send a stray power supply to a new home (I see this model sells on eBay.) And work out from there. (I'm still looking for a couple of devices offered to friends, once I lay my hands on them. This is part of that effort also.)

It's a nice temperature today but the house is incredibly muggy so I'll turn on the AC to dry things a bit, get a long sleeved cotton shirt, and go to work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jun 24 - 12:54 PM

Mike the carpet cleaner has hauled away all the stored rugs. He says the insects visible through the plastic are not of a species he recognizes, such as the common clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella). Nevertheless, he promised to steam-clean and mothproof all of them. This will cost me a hell of a lot of money.

Sigh.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 24 - 01:07 AM

Forward movement today on the eBay listings, and I'm realizing that my bigger Canon camera isn't as good at this as it used to be. Some photos for listings are with the Canon, but the closeups are now using the phone camera. They've come a long way in the last few years. These listings were small and didn't take long. I'll work on some high dollar items tomorrow.

I made progress on a sewing project yesterday and am about to set up a feature on the new sewing machine that I haven't used before, to do with free motion quilting to achieve a Trapunto style.

I think if I were in Patty's shoes of traveling in an RV I'd have all of my books on my tablet or laptop to free up space but I'd have to carry along a couple of bins of fabric and notions and the sewing machine. And figure out the most interesting projects I could do with the limited resources involved with that travel. This would be one of those projects.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Jun 24 - 06:07 AM

Lynne Stone, musician lived in a bus with her sewing machine & supplies for making 3D flowers which have ended up in museums.
video of Lynne talking to Gardening Australia program

I haven't seen her for over 15 years & had to search for info, all I knew was her first name & the dance group she played for!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 24 - 04:45 PM

Sandra, that is amazing work she does! A programming background is perfect when it comes to the techie stuff that goes on with those embroidery sewing machines. It helps one see that while the machine is producing the work, the vision, design, and programming are what make that art possible.

Another overcast day. I'll take the string trimmer to again clear the grass out of the area where one of these days I'll plant some stuff. Our growing season ends in late October, sometimes mid-November, so starting late isn't such a problem (unless it is as hot as last year.) This evening I'll finish another eBay item that I started ages ago (photos) - it needs a box and packing materials before I list it. The sale goes up when the box is ready to go out the door.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 03 Jun 24 - 10:12 AM

I had no idea there was a traveling lady making fiber flowers, but it makes sense! If she were a mineral collector, perhaps she would specialize in the the ones with acicular habit (long thin needley crystals).   

Two friends do sewing on the road, even when boondocking without 120V electricity. One makes beautiful small items and quilts, and another is constantly making curtains etc. for herself and anyone else who needs them. She participates in 'van-build' events where people help one another upgrade vans to be more livable.

I can't imagine fitting all the odds and ends of a sewing room into a camper, but, we haul around what is important to us. Being in 120 square feet will force the issue of what is really wanted and needed.

The storage saga got worse yesterday, locked out of 'my' unit again, this time by fussiness in the mechanical part of the latch, which would not move during the 2 seconds the light was green to open it. And that baloney about onsite managers 'you can always call for help' Nope. Locked up house with doorbell removed, heavy shades, unanswered knocks, unanswered phone despite barking dogs and 2 cars parked there.   

But in desperation tried jamming the thing into the wall and it finally opened. So I did get Load 1 transferred into the storage unit. Had to revert to deep-south day planning and get it all done before 10 a.m. because we are now flirting with 100 degrees in the afternoons.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Jun 24 - 10:45 AM

I'm about to get decluttered of an infected lump on my head.
It's oozing, and it has to be drained. Oh, joy. (It hurts as well.)

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

Patty, the mineral that comes to mind with long thin crystals (and somewhat flexible) is chrysolite. That would get you banned from the campground! Maybe instead work on an artform that involves sheets of muscovite. :) Is the stuff you're putting into the storage unit what you brought in the trailer from MS, or are you now accumulating furnishings locally for the new house?

A couple of nights ago I conducted a self-as-guinea-pig unintended test of my plan to stop screen time well before bedtime. I got busy and forgot and it was time to go to bed when I turned off the computer. I'd also had a rare glass of wine fairly late, and those two things, while they didn't seem to make a difference about going to bed, meant I didn't sleep well (efficiently?) and was really tired the next day. Stepping away from screens accomplishes a couple of things; I sleep better, am not so tired during the day, and I'm reading more books (versus reading stuff on screens which isn't usually books). I've moved my tablet to the kitchen and I read my online journals and papers at the table in the morning, not in bed in the evening.

During the appropriate screen time I an viewing sewing tutorials on projects and have ruled out some stuff just because of the computers, cutters, and devices they're using. I upgraded to the fancy sewing machine but want to keep the projects fairly analog. I started one project last year that is a sort of Trapunto that I learned by watching my junior high school best friend's grandmother. She did the old fashioned method of backing a print with a solid then stitch around the print items you want to have contoured. She would slice into the back fabric, stuff with batting, then stitch the backing closed. I was just stitching through two layers around what element I wanted filled but pushing batting into it then hand stitching it closed. Come to find there are some remarkable things going on with multiple levels of batting. I'm rethinking how to complete that project.

Shopping today after my haircut, going the usual route I drive to see a few friends and pick up things at the halal grocery near where I used to work. I'll have to remember to not take the express lanes because I don't have my toll tag and I'm pretty sure the rental agency will overcharge for that privilege.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Jun 24 - 11:27 AM

Bad news from the carpet cleaners: Three rugs so badly damaged as to be unsalvageable. My favourite, the big green Bokhara, is one of them. The Chinese runner that came from my grandparents' house and one of the red-and-yellow Afghan runners Edmund brought home are the other two goners. I'm holding out hope for a bedroom-sized bluish Kirman that Edmund bought in the Kabul bazaar; that was what I was looking for when I started pulling the lot of them off the top shelf.

The choir's Annual General Meeting is tonight. It will be my swan song as the Secretary of the Board and, therefore, my last set of minutes. What a relief.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 24 - 11:34 AM

That is so sad! Can pieces of them be cut down into smaller mats or area rugs? Drink coasters?

Enjoy that last meeting. Will you continue to participate in the singing after this?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 24 - 12:54 PM

Dashing out in a minute, this just popped up in Facebook and I've only grabbed the URL, haven't read much yet. Alas, it is timely.
Sweater-Eating Moths Are an Unbeatable Enemy
They will eat much more than just your clothes.

Every year, beginning around the end of March, my household starts planning a massacre. Our targets are our home’s clothes moths: My spouse and I lay pheromone-laced traps in the closets, living room, and bedrooms; we—and our two cats—go on alert for any stray speckle of brown on a cream-colored wall. The moment we spy an insect, we’ll do whatever we can to crush it. After killing dozens upon dozens, my husband and I can now snatch moths straight out of the air.

None of this has been enough to eliminate the moths. These particular moths—webbing clothes moths—are simply too well adapted to modern human life; as a species, “they don’t really live outside anymore,” Isabel Novick, a biologist at Boston University, told me. Clothes moths have evolved into a perfect nuisance, so capable of subsisting on the contents of our homes that permanently purging them may be impossible.

Like cockroaches, they have evolved with people. There is no getting rid of them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Jun 24 - 01:36 PM

The Atlantic pay-wall won’t let me read more than the two paragraphs you pasted here, but I get the point.

I have a cedar-lined blanket box and several large plastic trunks. So far, I have found one hole in the oldest Hudson’s Bay Co. blanket, which could well date back to the Great War — who knows when and how the moth got at that?. All the woollen sweaters get cleaned and wrapped in plastic bags before I put them away for the summer. Everything hung up in the upstairs storage room is in a zip-up garment bag. Now I guess I had better start looking for pheromone traps!

As for the damaged rugs, if any part of them is re-usable, it won’t be by me. That level of craftiness is way out of my range.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 03 Jun 24 - 11:11 PM

Sympathies on your rugs, Charmion, what a shame! Hope the Kabul one can be saved.


I have not begun to collect furnishings. Seems chancy to get serious about that sort of stuff until I know if the mortgage is really going to happen. Perhaps I can go out and visit the house during the inspection and make lots of notes on what's needed and what big items the sellers may want to ditch.    There is a monthly auction in town where I might pick up some likely items. Honestly, it's like furniture buying is a long forgotten thing that never crosses my mind.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 24 - 03:15 PM

Patty, when my daughter moved to their 18 acres to start building tiny houses she said there was a lot of stuff the previous owner didn't want to move, so sold it really cheap or gave to them. (She and a core group are on the mortgage and several other friends are participating in the purchase; they're all building houses around the property, each less than 700sf) I asked her if she needed any of my extra gardening tools and she rolled her eyes - said there was so much stuff on the property in the workshop that they sorted the working from the ancient and tossed what they couldn't use.

Though my house was empty for two years before I bought it there was enough stuff left behind in the garage, patio, and attic that I had a fair amount to work with. I like some continuity between residents on the property so I took apart the heavy-duty redwood picnic table (that had been mightily chewed by the final renter's two Dalmatians) and used planks to build a workbench in my newly constructed garage (I converted the old attached garage into an office/extra bedroom and storage rooms). The old plank legs and side of the workbench in the new garage give it a feel of having been here as long as the house.

Charmion, I also hope you can reclaim that third rug. I put a PDF of that article in the FB page where we've shared some of this stuff. In the last couple of weeks I've read two articles about pests that have literally recently evolved with human activity. Cockroaches and clothes moths. The cockroach article was online at Smithsonian Magazine.

Humidity is wretched still. Horrible night's sleep last night trying to get comfortable. Today I've decided to finish the spring cleaning with washing mattress cover and the light blanket, and the mattress topper was reversed end-to-end and side-to-side. It's too humid to hang bedding on the clothesline, it would take forever to completely dry. Tonight I'll put another cover on the bed and crank down the AC.

The local PD approved the hit-and-run accident report I filed, which has been forwarded to the insurance rep. As I wait for news on the amount of damage to my vehicle (soon), I've answered the phone when the number isn't identified as spam. I've resorted to telling the spam callers who want to buy my house "what a timely call! I was just thinking this morning that I should let some scammer steal all of my hard work for pennies on the dollar!" and hung up. But after a couple of times that gets old. I think the adjuster is just going to have to leave a voicemail.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 24 - 10:54 PM

Spring cleaning again today with several loads of laundry washed and dried, and the dishwasher set to run at bedtime. Everything is freshly changed out as far as bedding. But that's mostly the "usual" stuff, not the declutter. Maybe I can get an eBay listing ready to go this evening and I'll post it tomorrow (since I'm about to the screens-out portion of my evening.)

The new canna bed was weeded (a few bits of Bermuda grass were left behind last week and sprouted); vines pulled off of some of the crinum lilies that I hope will bloom this year. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain overnight so tomorrow I can go get some of the free mulch from the city forestry site (it's always too heavy and tends to steam right after a rain.)

A friend needs help with some of the trash at her house (her daughter was over working to declutter their house) and my friend isn't supposed to do much lifting. The bin the daughter filled is too heavy for the local trash collectors to take, so we propose to transfer some of those contents (apparently things like discarded ancient canned goods) into contractor bags that I can carry and I'll bring a couple of them back here to put at my curb for our bulky waste pickup next week. My village is a lot less fussy at bulky waste time (her city charges extra. A lot extra.) What's left at her house will be light enough to be picked up.

I also have to start dragging my branches (and roll those three chunks of log) to the proper spot on the curb (bulky waste is any day next week, when they get around to it). There is a section of the back fence that needs to have brush removed still and I'll use the reciprocating saw for that. All of this brush and trash goes about 20 feet north of the driveway, not under the pine tree beside the drive, in case the solid waste folks come through with the big truck and mechanical arm that grabs piles of brush. They won't operate that under trees. If I get busy in the next few days I can clear out some dead wood in a couple of trees in the front yard also. (I have a friend who might bring over his chainsaw on the long pole and take them out, then we'll pile them at the curb.) It's possible this can finally be a productive week in the yard.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 24 - 11:42 AM

Report from repair shop - parts on hand, work soon underway, it could be as long as another month before I get it back.

Yesterday I took some scraps and made a three-layer piece that is about 10" x 3" intended as a sleep mask. No tie, it's meant to lay over my eyes at bedtime or for a nap. The little ready lights around the room offer up a fair amount of light; I'm not going to go try to turn off everything, but I can block it out. I was using folded washcloths to test the theory. I tested the prototype last night and it worked fine. Two layers of black t-shirt jersey and a dark green woven flannel block light well and I have a couple of soft textures to choose from. I'll make a couple more.

Since June 1 I have made note of my calories each day, being careful to stay under the limits I want to follow, and today I weighed myself. Down 3 pounds. This is with higher protein, lower carbs, and trying to get enough fiber to keep the gut happy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jun 24 - 11:11 AM

This week we see the switch from rainy to hot, so I'll pace myself. One pot, one plant, etc. at a time. Mornings are for harder jobs and this morning I'll start cutting brush to drag to the curb for next week's bulky waste pickup.

My friend is headed out of town and the instructions for cat feeding have gotten more complicated as the littlest one is being evaluated for treatment of one of the more treatable cat cancers. More coming and going, more opportunities to put a run to the gym into each day's schedule.

A note on the sleep issues: advice from the physician's assistant I talk to about this every couple of months - blue light blocking glasses aren't all alike. The OTC ones aren't as robust as the ones you get from optometrists, so I ordered a pair of Zenni's custom readers to use for computer work. I had a discount after referring a friend to them last month so they are a very good price.

As we creep closer to official summer, what are all of our lurkers up to? How have you spent your spring?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Jun 24 - 02:00 PM

Dupont:

Long time, no write! No energy.

Today, I am being visited by a small bird who keeps coming to the outer front door - all small glass panes. It lands on one and looks in and out a few times and takes off again. A mystery! I cannot see it well enough to have a clue - sparrow size and coloration; the good bird book is at Beaver!

The yard is in desperate need of cutting, lest the city get nasty. The folks I hoped were going to do it, said, on 21st they would fit me in. They haven't and I now see they posted on 22 they were accepting no more yard work! Have not had the courtesy to inform me. My brain is still tired from everything and dealing with looking for someone do do this is hurting my whole being! I stopped weed whacking about 2 weeks ago in hopes of having energy for other things. Tiredness is a side effect of the meds - sure is! There is a volunteer agency a couple blocks away; I stopped in a couple years ago to see if they had a list of helpful people. They did not and I suggested fervently that this would be really helpful. I have no idea what they actually do - maybe provide phone calls or wellness checks? Phone calls from people I don't know are a hazard. The new phone is still a super hazard -

I have lost all my guts for doing anything, esp the phone. It does what it pleases. It seemed to have decided to be permanently on speaker phone - that was great. Then it quit. I could not figure out how to get it on speaker phone when someone called. Now, if I have the heraing aid on, it muddles the sounds to mush. For it's next trick, it decided that the call could come through the computer and phone at the same time!!! HORROR! Fortunately R was here and grabbed the phone. I think I fixed that issue but I have no doubt the phone/computer/Apple will find a new way to cause me grief.

At the grocery store, I told the cashier, "I cannot hear, can't see very well and don't think my brain is working very well either!" He thought I was kidding! Now, I have a reason to go to that store - when I remember why - and I dread it. They have initiated a stupid thing where they give you a card to scratch - to win something! points or groceries... I just want to pay for my groceries and go home! I wasn't going to ever shop there again---but it is the better store.

These hearing aids are not very helpful! They put noises in my ears that interfere. The hearing aid place is just over an hour away so I cannot just zip in and get help. They quit totally for a while and I got phone instruction - NO instruction book in the fancy box! I got them working and it is good to be able to hear R - when the other noises aren't in the way.

A decent day yesterday: drove an hour to the Little green Library to return books -Late!! I Never do that - need to put due dates into phone for notifications - That I can usually manage! Went to Rita's so she could drive my Prius to see how she likes it (She does.) Visited a bit and came home, stopping in two dif groceries (forgot tomatoes!). The second one was unique - African/Asian or something. I got half a dozen East Indian sorts of packaged meals - just add cooked rice. Not the usual brand so hoping; the other store no longer has them. Also turmeric tea bags and dried mint leaves.

OK! What else can "I complain about?? It is a beautiful, cool, sunny day, after a short thunder storm. Bird has not been back. Front yard squirrels were berserk this morning; I keep hoping one has little guys in her nest but it is getting late.

And we are going to Beaver next week, by way of stops for heating aid help, peanut butter cookies, cheese at the factory, maybe a visit with a friend, and more on the saturday. If we can stay to Monday, I can pick up stuff at bulk food store there and change address at the post office. ---OH DARN! that means changing address on all sorts of things.....Let's consider that again!!!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Jun 24 - 02:23 PM

Dupont:
Just to let you know: having dumped all that, I felt better and stared getting a few small things done. Will soon be trying a cup of turmeric tea and rice is cooking for a nice lunch. TY!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 07 Jun 24 - 07:14 PM

Good to hear from you again, Dorothy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jun 24 - 09:09 PM

You're still very busy, Dorothy, even for someone who sounds like they intend to take it easy! I hope those meals turn out well. I found some frozen lunches I really liked and bought a bunch at the store I go to for the great bargains. Once a certain item is gone, that's it, and those were discontinued.

I turned quite red in the face in the heat this morning but I finished clearing the saplings along the back fence and tomorrow I'll drag them down to the curb for bulky waste. I'm getting a black spot on my big toenail where I thudded one of those three log pieces onto my foot two weeks ago. They have one more move - further down the curb for bulky trash.

This afternoon I visited the friend mentioned above (with the too-full trash bin) who had some boxes of fabric and notions for me and my daughter. Her three children were all there working to clear the hoarder stacks (I had worried about this but I never went so far as to contact her oldest daughter). I offered to bring home anything small & usable to put on the free stuff pages I am a member of, and in an hour of visiting they found quite a few things, maybe a cubic yard of stuff. This saves them a tiny amount of work. I also told them how to log onto the groups near them to start offering the furniture and such (now in the front yard). I've already offered some of the pots and pans (including one of mine I don't use) to a woman starting over who asked for kitchen stuff. This weekend I'll list items or take them to Goodwill.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Jun 24 - 11:15 AM

The new mattress is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday morning, but first I must visit the shop and pay the rest of the very large bill..

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 24 - 12:49 PM

Charmion, is this a bed that adjusts? Is there hardware to install on the Mission-style bedframe?

This morning I mowed one side of the front yard to clear out the grass in the area where I'll pile the bulky trash items. It's hot, muggy, and we are under an air quality alert so I didn't keep mowing; that can wait (mowing early in the day contributes to the problem). The log chunks are now in position and during the day I'll start dragging the branches from the back yard. Once they're in place I'll get the tree-pruning saw and address some dead wood in front trees. I have a dinner to go to tonight so I don't want to have to shower again. I'll pace myself.

The offer of pots and pans was accepted so now to move on to other things in the stack. After standing in the friend's hoarder house, even after so much of their work, it renewed my desire to finish work here, but was also a relief that my house is more along the lines of "normal" even as disorganized as it is.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Jun 24 - 10:11 PM

Oh dear Stilly, I hope the weather cooperates soon. It's tough when you have to work early in the day to beat the heat, then again at the end of the day when you're so tired it's hard to do.

We are over 100 here, which is only hard because these tin cans we live in overheat in the sun. The humidity tries to help, but dusty winds seem hellbent on making it a nasty summer.

Tough week here with urgent odd demands from the agents/mortgage people, they let you twist in the wind for a week then suddenly want tons of expensive stuff done Right Away. With several new online entities wanting Serious But Unscrutable Stuff Signed Off On and Paid For, Right Away. I hate this process so much.

Got Inspection over with, next is Appraisal. Who the hell knows what comes after that.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 24 - 11:01 PM

Patty, if you decide you want to take a break from that heat you can always drive 900 miles out of your way and come visit in Fort Worth. Hang out in the house air conditioning. And two dogs. Do you have an air conditioner in the RV? Would one of the portable units work (I got one of the Black and Decker floor units that vents out a window when the office area heat pump was out). You'd probably want a 12 gauge extension cord to plug directly into the site electric box, not run it through the RV wiring. If they aren't charging you extra for the power you use, it might be worthwhile.

Do you have a buyer's agent? They might as well make things easier to earn the commission (whatever they are today, after the court ruling about Realtor's commissions.)

Tomorrow alternates between cat feeding and dragging bulky waste. I need to finish the brush pile tomorrow because - surprise surprise - there is more rain in the forecast starting Monday. Air quality seems to have improved.

I went to the annual retiree dinner this evening, visiting with a few friends and always surprised to see more of my former coworkers turn up on this side of the equation - free of the job and now out in the world. Only talked shop a little bit (with the other book and publication designer in attendance). Made a point to ask people questions and not just talk about myself (not much has changed for me since last year anyway).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jun 24 - 08:38 AM

No, Stilly, my new-to-me bed is not adjustable except in the sense that it came with dismountable side rails that are stowed in the basement. It’s just a rectangle of oak with four cross-pieces of hardwood two-by-four (probably maple) for the mattress base to rest on. Its design and technology would be perfectly familiar to a Victorian house-holder.

As for the side rails, they brought me to the conclusion that modern furniture manufacturers believe that beds accommodating only one person are strictly for children. The people who sold me the bedstead told me that their daughter had “grown out of it” when she went off to university. Fact is, lots of people prefer a bed to themselves and don’t need a bed large enough for two adult humans. Watson (cat) prefers to sleep on top of me, anyway!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 09 Jun 24 - 11:49 AM

Oh SRS, it is not awful, I have A/C, it just has to work hard in the heat! This coach has a slightly underpowered A/C, they designed it so it could run off 20 amp or generator if necessary. In reality, that is never something I do.    Thanks for your kind offer of an alternative. I was just griping a bit.

And actually, there is a mineral field trip up in Creede Colorado next weekend, so I am making plans to mosey up there and back while waiting out the time before I can get in the house. That will be a welcome change in weather. Which means delving into storage to fish out more cold-nights and cool-days gear. (I always keep a few pieces handy, but was anxious to stow most of it away this spring).

Unfortunately, the agent I was recommended to be my buyer's agent turned out to be the listing agent for the only suitable house in the area. And she's super busy running between two towns and a side business. She seems to be ethical enough to keep an eye out for me though her first loyalty is to seller, but is not a good hand-holder, nor organized enough to have given me an order-of-what-happens sequence.   I'm just used to being in control of most of what happens in my life and it's disconcerting to be, well, jerked around.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Jun 24 - 08:02 PM

Dupont:
Tomorrow, with any luck, someone is coming to work on the yard. I had chosen someone else on FB but this guy messaged me that the other was not reliable. I hated to reject him but realized I would have to transport him and his equipment in my vehicle and that means gasoline fumes which I CANNOT tolerate. I hope this guy will come and be adequate. It may yet rain more in the night so...!!

Otherwise, nothing got done here today. I have enjoyed 3 of those meals. This particular store is geared to that ethnic food type. I shall get more tomorrow or when next I go out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 24 - 09:45 PM

I'm glad the meals are good, Dorothy! Having a reliable supply of something you like that you don't have to do all the work is nice. (A friend of mine describes some of the packaged meals from Trader Joe as being excellent, and he just has to apply heat.)

The backyard brush has all been dragged to the curb and I've set equipment where it's easy to reach for work around the front trees tomorrow morning. I'll stack more branches then mow the 2/3 of the yard I neglected on Saturday.

The woman who asked for the pans has yet to offer to pick them up, so I'm moving on to plan B tomorrow and will list several things, including the pans. I want my friend's stuff out of my garage soon. The boxes of fabric and notions have all made it into the house, and I'm not noticing an odor (she was a smoker for years). They may have been packed away well enough to avoid it. I'll have to sort and take a few photos for my daughter to tell me what she wants. Things neither of us need can be donated to the program that collects donated art supplies for area teachers (I took stuff there last year. This year's donation will have bins included, since I'm sure they can always use storage.)

I dug a few potatoes (red lasoda) today to see how they're looking (good). The plants are still producing so I'll leave the rest where they are for now. Tomorrow the garlic bed is harvested; I dug out about a dozen plants this evening to see how large they are and when they come out of the ground I usually drop (intentionally - who knows how many stayed behind out of sight) a corm in the hole to have another plant there next year. It looks like a good crop in the area I dug in 2022 and have planned to confine it to. Last year there wasn't much of a harvest and I resorted to buying garlic in the last couple of months. This year they were able to produce because the plants were already established but not picked last year (if the tops die off you don't see that they're there to dig them. They come back bigger the next year.)

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

When I pulled into my driveway this morning after cat feeding I noticed an immature crane standing stock still in the middle of my yard, peering intently into the tall grass and groundcover for breakfast. Toad? Lizard? Snake? Insects? They're all there, in my organic park-like front yard. What a good sign to start the week! (I got a few photos.)

In the laundry this morning are the various lengths of cotton fabric that were in my friend's bins. The washer is set for lots of soaking and stain stuff, on general principles, but most of it was simply folded new fabric, all dark prints. A couple of pieces seemed to have sun-bleached spots. Nice colors. In other bins there are also quite a few pieces of non-cotton light fabrics, some silk, some satin (cotton or polyester I don't know), etc. I'll put them into one container and let my daughter pick through. I'll probably add back some of the cotton, I'm just running it through the wash now because that's what I do with yardage when it comes into the house.

Into the garage next to photograph the items to offer on the free pages, and a box for the rest going straight to Goodwill.

I've decided to shift some of the stored items sitting in the way in the general garage area into the dog stall area, since it no longer is the exclusive domain of dogs. I'll start with some tall boxes. There are still a couple of heavy-duty chewed up dog houses in there, and I should probably give away both. Cookie likes to hop on top of them to greet me when I come and go, so I'll decide if the possibility of her leaping out of the stall again via the dog house is scarce enough to keep one.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 24 - 12:17 PM

A note about vehicles: the rental I'm in this month has various sonar sensors that sometimes are quite startling, but are effective now that I know what they're doing. I've realized that the lights in my Pathfinder that tell me about sonar stuff don't do much, and I'm thinking that the previous owner must have programmed the vehicle to not use the features. So I'll be reading my owner's manual to see what I need to do to activate them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 10 Jun 24 - 09:28 PM

Dupont:
Read on line the other day that chronic cough could be allergies, so for the next 3 days I took our little yellow pills - and had 3 cough free nights. This am I forgot the pill and been coughing all afternoon. Took it about 4 pm but to no avail. Better put an alert on the phone! It was really nice not to cough all night!

Yard finally got mowed today! But, as I was getting awake this am, a friend informed me the electric was off at Beaver!!!! Sent a pic of dismantled meter! R got on the phone to HydroOne and after a long chat with a helpful woman: it has been off since 22 May after a storm broke the mast holding the overhead wire. R went to work. I phoned my fave electrician for advice; we talked about a bunch of things and I hope to get to their home on Sat to see the welding - sculptures etc, He and wife concocted at the School of fine arts in the last two weeks!

Then I phoned a friend for advice re electrician: He phoned back with a name and number. Connecting with the electrician, he can come and do repair in a day or two, will get the necessary permission and inform Hydro to replace meter! Possible this could happen by Friday??? We, of course will spend a part of our time there emptying the rotting food out of the freezer! They were too busy restoring Hydro to others to notify me!

And my neighbour, who took pics around the house - to send me - apparently did not notice the Meter sitting on the roof of our trash garage. She walks past almost daily! Even so, it was too late! Four different friends/neighbours contributed to solving this!

Do some people live boring lives?

Soon I will de-clutter this house by gathering things to go to Beaver - for the recycling there and thrift shops. And some distilled water in case there is not enough there, and no electric.

The hearibg aids have been a major headache - no instruction booklet. The audiologist blithered a whole bunch of stuff, totally incomprehensible to my addled brain and even R did not catch enough. We have muddled through with tremendous frustration, horrible frustration from the background noise in my ears and a period when they did not function at all and I messaged the office and had instructions that got it working again. Today, I checked my credit card and they have put the charge through----NO WAY! we are supposed to have two months to try them out. We go on Friday and R will have to talk as I am furious.   

The iphone and computer continue to find new ways to plague me.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 24 - 11:00 PM

Dorothy, you have battles going on many fronts! Give 'em hell about the hearing aid charge, and good luck emptying the freezer. That is the huge disappointment - not just the food loss, but the cleanup.

I've listed a few of my friend's decluttered items on my FB buy nothing group. The photos were taken in the garage this evening and the phone was not cooperating, they're a bit fuzzy. Next time I'll take shots in daytime (the flash on this phone kind of underwhelms).

Two loads of wash later and the laundry basket is heaped with yardage and smaller samples. I'll turn off the computer and go fold all of that for a while.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jun 24 - 05:15 PM

The minutes from the choir’s Annual General Meeting have gone off by email to the rest of the board, the new mattress was delivered and the bed is made up, a load of light colours is in the dryer, and two weeks’ worth of underwear is hanging up to dry.

Two pairs of LL Bean “boyfriend” (i.e., loose-fitting) jeans, size 12, have been relegated to storage as nearly, but not quite, way too big. I’ll keep them for now; they’re roomy enough to accommodate long-handled underwear but not so large (yet) that they fall off.

I think I have done enough for today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 24 - 11:14 AM

Charmion, I saw your photo of the bed on FB, it's lovely! And congratulations on setting aside the bit-too-large jeans. I'll weigh myself later this week and find out if I've lost any more, but the empirical data here is that the pants fit fine, aren't too snug, but they were a bit snug last month.

The SUV is close to completion according to the weekly report from the shop. Any day now. Once I pick it up I'll have to keep an eye on things that might need further adjustment to get it taken care of promptly. Insurance repairs aren't like regular repairs, especially if the shop isn't branded the same as the make of the vehicle.

The last load of gifted fabric is in the laundry now, though my friend tells me she found some more to send my way. There are a bunch of her craft tools next to examine, catalog, then send the list to my daughter for anything she might want, and from there, to the donor art project. The offerings on Freecycle and FB were picked up yesterday (and I got rid of one of my own extra items at the same time).

Mowing out front today, though we are under an air quality alert so I'll wear a mask. The neighbors are going out of town for a couple of weeks so I'll probably be mowing their front yard at least once during that time (since they rarely let the grass get tall.)

Last night I harvested more garlic with about half of the bed left to finish, then I'll plant cucumbers in that spot.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 24 - 09:01 PM

There were four little teapots in the stuff that came from my friend's house, they have been photographed, along with some art stuff, and are next in play on the offer sites. The fabric has been sorted into bins to keep or to give away, and small scraps bundled into a bag for quilters who want small pieces (crumbs). Meanwhile, out in the garage, a couple of unopened but elderly kits for children's art will go to the art project along with some children's books.

The lawn was mowed in the front, and tomorrow I'll do the back. I've cleared up a lot of dog hair in the house, and it looks like the rain has passed for now, so time again to mop the floor in the den and scrub dirt out of the tile pattern.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 24 - 08:59 PM

Progress today on the contents of the front room where the eBay stuff is stored. I found an item promised to a friend and while I was at it organized boxes and packing materials (I reuse padded envelopes I've received inside boxes being shipped to avoid having to pay for padding materials. They pile up.)

Mosquitoes are biting, so I have to get out and treat the standing water around the house - keeping up with the mosquito dunks in planter trays and such is critical. It isn't enough to empty the planters, if it rains again they'll be back. I need to sprinkle or spray the Bti products to kill the larvae if water accumulates (it lasts for about a month after treatment).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Jun 24 - 02:15 PM

I just got off the phone with Niece No 2, who will gladly accept a large basketful of queen-sized bedlinen: two sets of sheets, two quilts, and a handsome green 100%-wool blanket that looks like Hudson's Bay but isn't. (The quilts and the blanket came from Edmund's mother, so I'm just ploughing them back into the family.) The Niece declined the goose-down duvet that is also looking for a new home, but it really should go back to Ottawa. Winter in these parts just doesn't get that cold.

Great-nephew No 3 (third son of Niece No 2) graduates from Fanshawe College this week, so I have two road trips on my agenda: to Chatham for the family whoop-up tomorrow, and to London (the one down the road) for the convocation on Thursday. Suddenly I'm a social butterfly.

Watson the cat is less than delighted with my new bed, which is too narrow for him to sprawl beside me with his head stuffed into my armpit. That doesn't keep him from logging a solid day's snoozing on it, however; the new quilt will soon be just as clogged with cat hair as every other bed-cover I possess.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jun 24 - 03:20 PM

My cats used to sleep on my bed (hard to stop them unless I closed them out of the bedroom every night) but I don't let the dogs up, with very rare exceptions. They're bed hogs and not subtle about their comings and goings, and if another skunk event were to happen like last month it would be a laundry and furniture disaster.   

I had hopes of the SUV's return this week, but no news so far. I put gas in the rental last week and since I have to return it with only a half-tank (the way it was when I got it) I should do some more driving on my gas dime.

Must take some of the fabric for my daughter to choose from. The teacher art donations are by appointment only and the next one's a month out, so what she doesn't want will wait somewhere in a corner. I also need to drop off a couple of things, but that waits till tomorrow when there's less traffic by my friend's home.

Sorting through front room (eBay stuff) and deciding what to list and what to send to Goodwill or drop in the trash. The vintage Tupperware has a market but I think my time is best served to selling as one lot. Someone else can take their missing parts to marry and sell any of these as whole. Other stuff has been determined to be beyond interest and to the trash. Selling repair parts is one thing, but when new intact replacements don't cost much it isn't worthwhile peddling the old. Lumping versus sorting also helps me pick up the pace.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 24 - 03:54 PM

I've worked out storage for fabric that will be donated to the teachers art materials site next month (and organized it by bagging each type in clear plastic so they don't have a lot of work when they receive it). A box for Goodwill is ready to head out the door this afternoon, but I have yet to sort out a major tripping hazard in the back doorway of my garage. That solution involves getting out the tiller, more about the French drain later.

I set a lamp on some shelves in the bedroom next to my exercise area, where a Mission oak rocker sits and that is now going to serve as a reading spot. It's easier to mark on the text or a postit note to stick to a page when I'm seated versus reading lying in bed. I'm enjoying getting back to bedtime reading but it doesn't mean I'm not reading to retain content. Right now, as I get further into the Taubes' book Good Calories, Bad Calories, it is distressingly obvious that a lot of early researchers were more driven by confirmation bias than they were in actual proof that their theories were correct (or not, and moving on). This has created patterns of thinking that are difficult to dislodge in medicine and popular culture.

For decades we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates better, and that the key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more. Yet despite this advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Taubes argues that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates, like white flour, easily digested starches, and sugars, and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number. In this groundbreaking book, award-winning science writer Gary Taubes shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.

Heading out to deliver a couple of items and take measurements for a chair back cover for the friend whose mobility chair keeps banging into things and the vinyl gets ripped. I may also make it over to the gym.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jun 24 - 10:42 PM

I have just returned from Chatham, where for two hours I sat in the presence of a pecan pie, three kinds of potato chips, two dozen iced cupcakes, and a celebratory chocolate cake without touching any of them. I had some cheese, a few slices of kielbasa, rather a lot of diet ginger ale, and a single spoonful of somebody’s extra-special baked beans that I just *had* to try and did to avoid giving offence.

At no time did I feel hard done by as everyone else chowed down on cake.

I’m beginning to wonder who I am and what have I done with Charmion …

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 24 - 11:51 PM

Sounds like you did a great job resisting some major temptation. I'm not a fan of pecan pie or cupcakes, but the chips - well, if there's a good dip around, I'm lost. Kielbasa sounds good - sounds like you've developed a taste for savory items.

I mowed some of the back yard this morning and finished this evening, getting almost the whole days worth of steps in the process. In between I pulled together more stuff for Goodwill that was dropped off, then helped a friend with some vinyl patches for her mobility electric chair that that snagged on an ADA doorknob. I also took measurements and can make a dark corduroy cover to go over the top of the chair back to protect it (and can go in the wash periodically). The main reason for my trip up there was to deliver a small Blueray DVD player I'd promised. It was buried in my eBay stuff the front room but by organizing stuff during the search I have to say the whole area is more approachable now.

A high-end pair of blue-blocking readers arrived from Zenni today. They work fine as readers; I'm curious to see if the blue-blocking helps as far as evening computer work. I still need to stop with screens an hour or two before bed. (I've also set each of my screens to go into an evening mode with much less blue.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 16 Jun 24 - 09:35 AM

"I’m beginning to wonder who I am and what have I done with Charmion ..." Evidently you no longer struggle with your inner Oscar Wilde.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Jun 24 - 03:56 PM

Andrew, are you suggesting that I should be myself, as everyone else is taken? Or merely commenting on techniques for managing temptation?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 17 Jun 24 - 09:01 AM

Yes? ;)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Jun 24 - 02:32 PM

HAHAHAHAHA!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 24 - 10:47 PM

A box of Tupperware is on the floor next to the computer, my magnifying glass at hand, and I'll be noting the piece number of a couple of dozen items that will go in a lot of containers on eBay. I was going to list them this afternoon but instead decided to plow through scheduling a week's worth of social media posts for the gardening site I work on. That job can eat up way more time than it needs (or I get paid for) so I have in recent weeks tried various ways to time myself or plan out as much as possible. Will I put my free time to good use? We'll see.

Another item sold on eBay and shipped today. The garlic is harvested along with another acorn squash. Still no SUV. I dusted and vacuumed some of the house, next I need to sweep of bits of a branch the dogs dragged in and chewed in the den. There are boxes and plastic storage cases sitting all over the kitchen and den; as soon as I have my SUV back I have a number of things to stash in it (things that are always there for emergencies, plus shopping bags, umbrella, etc.) and the craft stuff that can hang out there until it's time to drop it off.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 24 - 04:15 PM

Got the SUV back, and except that the back gate won't latch by itself (probably jostled in the accident and they didn't catch it) for now I'm just shoving it closed. I have an idea that it can be fixed without losing another week in the repair shop.

This was a luxury Infiniti car dealer that did the repair, and I sat outside on a bench waiting for it to pull forward, talking to a woman awaiting her pristine Lexus (the car wash at Infiniti dealership is faster than at the Lexus lot across the street, apparently). She commented "whoa, listen to this one. . . " as mine sat there rattling, and then she looked at me and realized it was mine. "It's the fan blower that's rattling, and I was going to get that fixed before I got hit. It's a small thing. . ." and pointed out that my insurance company works with this shop for repairs. And that the Nissan is a good affordable vehicle for a retired state employee. (I'll get the latch adjusted when I get the blower worked on.)

I finished some work in the garden yesterday but have several other projects to attend to. The stack of eBay stuff is still staring at me, but that is this afternoon's chore. I'll wait till after dinner when it's cooler for a little more yard work. I loaded my regular stuff back into the SUV and now have cleared space in the garage and kitchen table where it just sat.

In the vehicle comparison, my SUV drives better than the minivan I was renting, though I could live with either if I had to. Rentals don't get much respect and that one needs to be serviced. My good tires and recent alignment are part of the reason the SUV feels better. The space in the minivan, though, that is enviable.

Now, what was I doing before things were so rudely disturbed by a reckless Cadillac driver?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jun 24 - 05:21 PM

I had my monthly date with the asthma doc in Kitchener this morning, and came home with a whole new drug regimen and a stack of laboratory requisitions for bloodwork and an electrocardiogram. This is fallout from the pulmonary function test I had two weeks ago, which showed that I’m very good at breathing out and breathing in, but my air-processing capabilities are a bit odd in other respects.

Fun times.

Meanwhile, the keto diet is going well — down another kilo — and the house is neat but grubby. I can’t be arsed to haul the vacuum cleaner downstairs unless company’s coming. Watson the cat is sprawled across my knee and all is calm — thanks to air-conditioning, because Perth County is sweltering under the same heat wave that’s preoccupying half the continent. The forecast high on Thursday is 34°C. Yuck.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 24 - 11:25 PM

You're doing better than I am, though I have made progress at increasing the protein in my diet, with fewer carbs, and staying at my daily limits. I need to get more exercise.

Patty, are you far away from the fire danger? Your field trip to Colorado may let you cool off, but take the long way around if you have to on your way back home. How is your prospective property as far as fire services? A local fire department, or volunteer one? Stay safe out there!

Listing small items on eBay this evening. About to call it quits to go read.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 19 Jun 24 - 11:21 AM

Good morning from Isleta Pueblo near Albuquerque. There was a small fire burning west of town last night but no danger here. People very concerned about Ruidoso, so many people love the area or know people there.   

But our travels were far away, only affected by a bit of smoke haze traveling on the winds as we got near ABQ.   Hope a rain front comes through the state very soon.

Splendid time to be in Colorado, 70 degree days, 50 degree nights. We made 3 trips up from South Fork through Creede and to the Last Chance Mine. You start out following the Rio Grande where it is a clear tumbling trout stream, then climb into the mountains, fresh evergreen scented air, lupines blooming, very blessed to get to do that.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 24 - 08:28 PM

Patty, I did a quick look at that mine. Silver - means there can be any number of other interesting related minerals around. Is there an old tailings area that people are allowed to dig through? I've hiked up to mines in the Cascade Mountains and found small samples that were discarded in the mine operation. I've made any number of hikes up Vesper Peak in Washington, twice to climb the peak (it's a lovely climb and at the front of the range to have a great view of not only other mountains but of the Puget Sound area and across to the Olympics). On the route up I always was picking up crystals and minerals (you can't leave them along the way to find on the way down - that never works). I've also made the trip in order to hike around the modern copper mine tailings and higher up to an old garnet mine. (The copper mine is a shaft; the garnet mine was a surface operation, as far as I could tell.)

Charmion, does summer aggravate your allergies or asthma? The smoke from fires last year, for example? Pollen, dust, and heat itself (with associated lower humidity)?

Today I used up fridge stuff for another batch of my yellow squash casserole (without pasta). Onion, bell pepper, garlic, oregano, and olive oil are the base. I used two types of sausage (Italian and a local pork sausage with lots of black pepper), along with a batch of diced portobello mushrooms. Tomato paste thinned to sauce consistency, and some red wine (a few spoons of it scooped out of a jar in the freezer). Came out great and will be meals for the next few days. I also thawed a chunk of baguette to make a half-size bread pudding. The amount of bread and sugar is small compared to milk, eggs, butter, and dates, so not as bad as many other desserts. In my evening reading I'm learning more about the science of fat and oil (and polyunsaturated vs saturated) in diet, and my next book will be Grain Brain by Perlmutter and Loberg. And looking into the science of cholesterol-lowering statins.

More eBay stuff listed as I push to clear the front room and plan to move in furniture from my sewing studio. This will be a full summer of work, but worth the trouble. Selling these things on eBay supports paying off the heat pump loan faster since I expect the larger heat pump to die one of these days. Our weather now is warm, but it's weather we're used to (if the big heat pump goes out I may sleep on a cot in my office until replacement). The New England states that are getting our typical June temperatures seem to be suffering; later in the summer our temperatures will be 15 to 20 degrees higher and really miserable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 20 Jun 24 - 12:03 PM

Well that casserole sounds great. I've been eating either 'road food' or 'feast food' lately, neither too good for me. We hit two of the better restaurants near Creede, well worth it as a special event but no good as a regular thing.

The mine has several things going on; most people come for mine tours, but there's rock and mineral sales tables, a jewelry and gift shop, and access to tailings. As a club we were given access to the 'better' half of the tailings, 1/2 mile down a switchback road, which contained a lot of 'sowbelly agate' and pale amethyst. I might have done better in the other half looking for micros; just got some cuprite and silver-bearing galena, and who knows what I'll find in vugs when I do some splitting. Paid no entry fee, just $2 a pound for my bucket of keepers which came in at $20.   

Honestly, I prefer hounding alone and perusing old abandoned tailings piles on my own, but a lot of times club field trips and these fee operations are the best or only way to get access.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 24 - 12:12 PM

I'll note that in view of the reading I've been doing, I seem to be tilting toward the Keto diet myself, I just wasn't aware of it until I started revisiting the whole cholesterol/statins area of thought. Dr. Amen states that one side effect of statins is lowering of certain enzymes that affect mood via digesting fats. When I look up one of those in particular I see that supplementing with it when you're on statins can cause side effects of its own. Better, I think, to remove the statin than to add more stuff (all of those ads you see about taking CoQ10 if you're on statins - that's another one of them.)

The thing about the use of statins is that it's the answer to a popular idea that blood cholesterol has an effect on heart disease. It isn't backed by science; every time a study comes up that shows no connection between the two the powers that be suppress it. On page 53 in the Taubes book I'm reading now he shifts from examining the fraught science studies to show a link of fats to heart disease. For years one powerful and well-positioned researcher (Ancel Keys) had held fast to his hypothesis that saturated fat caused heart disease, but the studies weren't conclusive. He only accepted results from studies that seemed to confirm his bias. "Believing that your hypothesis must be correct before all the evidence is gathered encourages you to interpret the evidence selectively.^[24]"

After science failed to support the link, popular culture stepped in. In the 1960s counterculture ideas about humans eating less meat in order to feed the planet, and books like Erlich's The Population Bomb are where the "anti-fat, anti-meat movement evolved independent of the science.^[42]" And that is when George McGovern got involved. "It's possible to point to a single day when the controversy was shifted irrevocably in favor of Keys's hypothesis—Friday, January 14, 1977, when Senator George McGovern announced the publication of the first Dietary Goals for the United States. The document was "the first comprehensive statement by any branch of the Federal Government on risk factors in the American diet," said McGovern.^[44]" From there you look at who wrote and edited it, it wasn't the product from one of the medical research institutes, it was people still pushing Keys' hypothesis. "Once politics, the public, and the press had decided on the benefits of low-fat diets, science was left to catch up.^[53]"

I'll conclude this little book report with this: ("Most drugs have multiple actions," notes the University of Washington biostatistician Richard Kronmal. Saying that statins reduce heart-disease risk by lowering cholesterol, he adds, is like "saying that aspirin reduces heart-disease risk by reducing headaches.^[77]")

This comes from three different books I'm reading now. And I'm reminded of the few acquaintances who seemed displeased that I started statins (after resisting for years). I had the thought "it can't hurt," but over a couple of years on them, I'm realizing that they can hurt. I won't describe my symptoms here, but I've noticed changes, particularly in the last year, that have bothered me. The sleep study results may also tie into this. I've finally made the connection. While I'm forever on Levothyroxine and watching my sodium, I'm off the statins.

Resuming regular commentary: now it's out to lunch with my daughter, where I have several bins of stuff to hand over that she can use in her costume design work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 24 - 06:25 PM

Patty, that was a disciplined collection day if you got out with only 10 pounds of rocks!

I don't want to scare anyone with my remarks above - I don't have heart disease so the treatment of cholesterol is simply because of the amount measured during blood tests, not because there is anything else going on. And I'm continuing to read (newer studies in particular); if my doctor protests my stopping there are other products we can look at, but she's going to have to have a good reason for trying another.

At lunch I handed over a bag of fabric and storage containers to my daughter and bagged the rest that we don't want that can stay in the SUV until my appointment to donate. And between now and then if I find anything else suitable it will join the fabric. After lunch I scanned at the museum, but I didn't make it to the gym after that because I forgot my bag of fitness clothes and shoes. It's around here somewhere.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 11:49 AM

Revising the plan for craft items intended for donation: I found another box of my friend's items to go in that stash, but I am of a mind to go retrieve several gunnysacks full of mulch, so all of the boxes will be stacked neatly to the side for now.

Made it through the week until Friday with only mis-identifying the day of the week (out loud) once; for some reason yesterday felt like Monday. Maybe it was the holiday on Wednesday that threw me off.

I spent a few minutes near dusk yesterday to finish harvesting the potatoes, and now need to use the tiller to rework that bed for more crops for the summer.

More research into statins shows that while the onset of symptoms can start right away or be gradual (I'd estimate after a year they really became troublesome), the resolution once it clears your system averages about three weeks. I'm saving links and PDF copies of the articles I find helpful for future discussions with my doctor. I'm only using articles that cite their sources. Diet-wise I'm still reading, figuring out the foods most beneficial to the intersection of things going on personally. Taubes' book on Keto is on order. Since his books tend to be discourse on his reviews of the literature I hope to find more recent source material.

And on a completely different note, after last month's skunk event both dogs got a bath after which they had softer and better smelling coats, and I'm thinking the one or two a year they usually get are less frequent than I like. We're six weeks out from that last bath and at least Cookie could stand one again. I do it myself, they don't go to any groomers (I'd have to pay a premium for them to struggle with Cookie!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 06:15 PM

Another unnerving email scam arrived today, this time asserting that my subscription to FedEx, Kinko's and Geek Squad services had been renewed to the tune of $349.95. Need I mention that I never had any such subscription, and indeed have never done business with any of those companies? I don't think Kinko's even operates in Canada.

The heat wave continues. I have acquired a dress of the type we used to call a "shift", made of some Space Age material that does not wrinkle, stick to me, or otherwise show evidence that I'm sweating inside it. It's the closest I'll get to comfort until the weather breaks. Oddly, we've had several spectacular thunderstorms this week that had absolutely no effect on the heat. Back in Ottawa, a frog-strangling thunderstorm usually breaks a heat wave.

Down to London and back yesterday for Great-Nephew No 3's graduation from Fanshawe College with a diploma in police foundations and investigative technique. The city's largest arena was jammed to the rafters and I found the last possible street parking spot within the city limits only half a block from the door. Between Western University and Fanshawe, convocations alone must account for a goodly proportion of London parking lot operators' annual profit. It was a cheerfully uninhibited occasion, with graduates' families and friends cheering loudly as they crossed the stage. After shaking the President's hand, each graduate was met by a capped-and-gowned official who delivered a hearty hug.

Not at all like my graduation more than 40 years ago, where I knelt before the Governor of Queen's University, who swatted me on the head with her mortarboard and pronounced me a Bachelor of Arts while a minion slung an academic hood around my neck. I don't remember any of my classmates jiving across the stage or blowing kisses while the crowd went wild. Things are better now.

The guest room closet is now full of clothes culled from the box-room, where I keep out-of-season garments and stuff I haven't yet brought myself to part with. I will pack them up and take them to Goodwill later in the summer .... Hmmm. Why wait? "Don't wait for fall, do it now!" I can also part with the hangers they're on. What fun!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 08:52 PM

Charmion, most of the scam email hits the spam filter and never makes it to my inbox, but lots of calls come in daily, and I've taken up a new trick for the phone scammers. I don't answer most calls, but if I do and it's some asshole who wants to buy my house, I announce that I hope they will vote blue to elect Biden this year (and listen to THEM hang up!) Quite satisfying!

I got into the yard today and harvested most of the acorn squash and this afternoon I pruned the lower branches off of the redbud tree that I planted in the front yard a few years ago. (Three?) Now it has a more "leggy" look - you can see the lower trunk, it isn't just a mass of branches from the ground up. It looks like a small tree.

Last week a new pair of readers arrived from Zenni and after a few days of testing I like them, so I ordered another pair (a bit different so I can tell them apart) to use when I go work at the museum or other screen things around the house. The first pair lives next to the computer.

I turned on the news this afternoon to see if the Supreme Court had sent any more decisions, but no. Wednesday is the next opportunity for news of their decision regarding Trump's immunity (poppycock!). It's time to turn off the news and stop giving that felon free rent in my brain. I'll sew for a while and start the next audiobook in the Louise Penny series. Three Pines, here I come.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 12:20 PM

At 11am it is already 92^o so I'm finished for now, but I took a couple of large boxes, flattened them out on the ground under a large tree in the front yard and poured two of my burlap bags of mulch over the top. I've moved some of my potted plants onto that spot and watered, and I'll move more this evening. Pretty much anything that survives this summer will have to have some kind of shade. And with those pots under the tree, the tree will get water when the pots do.

A while back my daughter brought down an odd collapsible laundry hamper that didn't work the way she hoped and suggested I put it on my free sites. I listed it yesterday and someone grabbed it a couple of hours later. I did suggest it might be good for a dorm room or RV, so it can be flattened to about the size of a textbook when not in use. In my experience the laundry hamper always has something in it and when it gets full or I run out of underwear I do laundry. Maybe the taker has something else in mind to store in it.

Charmion, were you able to get that third rug back? Will it go in the bedroom with the smaller bed and new mattress?

Shopping yesterday at Costco brought a case of sticker shock; it was a trip with my ex and for things like packages of frozen fish and a large leg of lamb, all pricey, and cases of sparkling water. My ex doesn't buy canned water himself himself, I don't know if my daughter does, but both were here last week and each went looking for a cold can and I was out. The lamb will be cut apart, remove the biggest chunks of fat and package the lean meat in ~8oz portions to freeze. When cooked it's down to about 6oz, a good portion size.   

One of the free sites had someone looking for scraps of floor tile, and he thought he'd be in town this week and could pick it up. I'll go pull that out of the garage and have it ready. I've tried offering it on the free sites before and there were no takers, so I'll jump on this one and try to unload all of it. Everything else I work on today will be indoors, it's just too hot for now.

I just read about a haboob (dust storm) traversing New Mexico. If it isn't one thing, it's another. Stay safe and dust-free, Patty!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 10:06 PM

I have a taker tomorrow afternoon for a bunch of scrap porcelain floor tile, and while unloading the stack from the back corner of the garage I found 3 more boxes nearby (unopened) that I need to decide what to do with. I could put them down in my closet, or the laundry room, if I have enough. If I decide not to, I can contact this person later and offer them the rest. (This taker is someone who does artisan tile work with broken bits.) Meanwhile, one shelf in the corner of the garage is now clear.

My list of things to do indoors during the heat is growing. There are two faucets in bathrooms that need replacing (between three sinks). I need to re-do the kitchen sink faucet. There is a roller on my garage door that is wobbling and needs replacing; I have spare rollers, but figuring out the exact right spot to stop the door so I can make the exchange is a challenge (one to take to YouTube first). I replaced one a couple of years ago and don't remember how I did it. I think it has to break off before I can replace it.

While working on eBay stuff this evening (after another listing sold today) I realized I could set my laptop on the library table in the den (it has been on a bakers rack in the kitchen forever). A couple of months ago I bought an antique chair ($5) at a garage sale that now sits at that table in the den, and it is just about perfect. I can work there on various projects and watch the large TV (where the Hulu account that my son shares with me is installed). I've researched the next set of vintage glassware to sell while catching up on early episodes of Elementary, I've never seen the entire program and now I'm following along early episodes (reviewing those I have seen) before getting to those episodes new to me. It's one of the best written and most clever programs produced in the last 15 or so years. I don't remember why I didn't see the last two years of it, except it was probably because I missed episodes and like to see them in order.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 10:26 AM

I stooped the wrong way yesterday and strained my back. I now require the attention of Physio Guy.

But — my health insurance was recently switched to a new carrier, and I’m fairly sure that it won’t cover treatment for this very old injury without a prescription from the doctor, which will require an appointment, which could take weeks.

Not a happy bunny today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 01:00 PM

It may be an old injury but it is bothering you today. The logic of the insurance folks is non-existent, isn't it? They always say "no" first.

This morning I gathered up tile fragments that had been dropped over the back fence. I don't remember why, but it didn't disappear into the landscape so since someone is coming to get tile scraps I dug out of shelves in the garage they might as well have what amounts to about two more shoeboxes (volume) of this; it's all from the same tile work in the house.

The last of the French cobalt tumblers left the front porch this morning, now is the time to turn to vintage Libbey Duratuff Gibraltar in various lovely colors. I am glad to see robust sales of it on eBay. Years ago I was planning to sell things on eBay as a regular side business, but got sidetracked. I'll have to decide, as I sell all of this stuff now, if it is worthwhile to resume shopping for items at thrift stores and estate sales. For now though, no.

I'm considering keeping a Scandinavian tine bent wood box that came from my Mom's house. I didn't know what it was until I started researching it; the box may have been a housewarming gift when she moved to Ballard (a Norwegian neighborhood of Seattle) after she retired. With all of the stuff around here, there aren't that many Norwegian artifacts from my childhood. This could be a memento with a story (I'll have to ask my sister.)

More heat wave today, so the work continues indoors. I did the tile retrieval this morning when it was still cool.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 24 - 10:51 AM

Small stack (~40 pounds) of tile is gone, and I'm considering what to move off of the floor onto that garage shelf.

This morning I was out at 8am to mow the front and be finished by 9. The trick is to mow when it's still cool but not disturb your neighbors too early. Next time I might start at 7, though, since I know at least one of the neighbors is up at dawn. It was already 87 when I quit. (I put my fitness tracker in a band around my ankle and registered about half of my daily step goal while mowing.)

Before mowing I took my sturdy step ladder to the garage, disconnected the electric garage door motor, lifted it about 24" and propped the wheelbarrow under the bottom edge (so it wouldn't roll back down and pinch fingers!) From there I could pop out the all-but-demolished door roller, slide in the new one, place it onto the edge of the track, then remove the wheelbarrow and slowly lower until the new one popped completely into the track. Reattach motor and it's good to go. Whew!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jun 24 - 08:25 PM

I'm definitely feeling better after an acupuncture treatment at the physio clinic. Still stiff and sore, and I definitely don't enjoy bending over to clear the cats' litter box, but better. And the new insurance carrier doesn't want a prescription form. Alas, the annual cap on physiotherapy is still $500, and each treatment is $70.

The garden crew came today and did their usual bang-up job, leaving the property looking loved and cared for. I now have the beginning of a yew hedge across the back of the patio; now all I have to do (famous last words) is water it every day for the rest of the summer. Most parts of the yew tree are poisonous, which is probably why they grow so well in Stratford despite rabbit depredations. At least I hope the rabbits know that yew is poisonous, because the fluffy little fuckers have nibbled to death everything else I've ever planted in that stretch of dirt, and I'm don't want to become a serial murderer of bunny-kind. The neighbours don't like them any more than I do, but I don't think they want to start finding little corpses in their gardens.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Jun 24 - 09:45 PM

Dupont:

Trip to Bancroft was good: The hydro was still off when we arrived so we - very tired! - used candles and soon to bed! The trip had entailed another visit re hearing aides during which the Audiologist talked and talked and the office woman found an online instruction manual, printed it out for us and gave us clues about how she could help - Face time even! Ms Blither was not very useful but gave us a small something or other that will help turn sound up or down as required. We'll see!

Late back on the road, I drove madly to the little cheese factory to pick up the pre-ordered peanut butter cookies; It closes at 5 and at a couple minutes before five, he phoned and begged, "We're just getting off the 401..." We were there at 5:03 and the gracious woman gave him the precious cookies! The next cheese factory closes at 6 and although I drove - scared the daylights out of R - we were there at 6 and they were closed up tight! ---We went there on Monday and got our cheese and the nice women told us we could call next time!

So much for wild rides! We slowed down and got a bite to eat Quickly! and I messaged a friend, "We can be there at 7:15" that was deemed ok for a short visit --- not so short! When R saw the gorgeous canoe! and we had our tea on the new back deck that juts out into the forest in a lovely curve. We all sat and watched the birds and enjoyed the bug free!!! evening with scintillating conversation! About an hour of delight and then went on so our friend could get to the open mike at a nearby Legion.

Arrived at Beaver just before dark, found the candles and looked at the freezer ---TOMORROW! But tomorrow we did town stuff - farmer's market, visit with our friends to see their welding - very fine! Then to the Carriage House to see Pat and talk and receive some cash for sold pots - not much but that's ok. Then to Lake St. Peter for the community event - an evening of conversation and music AND I had brought a few things for the "Take what you want" tables - gone! And we went home to Electricity!! and BED!

We had left the freezer plugged in so clearing it was not as bad as Mush! Took everything out on the porch and emptied spoiled stuff into a bucket which R took out to the swamp and dumped it. The bread is deemed OK. I got it into the frig, which had been mostly empty and R cleaned out the freezer and left it open until I go back again and need to use it.

On Monday, we hit the cheese factory and then stopped for tea with a woman who lived ten years on the same property where I spent ten years- my fantasy home! "Someday I'm going to live at the end of a road with no Hydro"! I did and then Lisa did - when she sold it she had enough money to get her Master's degree in Art! A welder and photographer.

I plan to go back next week; will have a months supply of meds. The trip showed that I CAN drive it myself! And no more med visits until end of August!!!

NOW my ears hurt from the aides so I am taking a break! I would like to get my money back and be rid of the blither. And, hopefully get some in Montreal. I had no idea it was going to be important to be closer, and think it would not be so difficult if that woman listened, and let us have answers we understand!

Today I spent a length of time trying to find more info on the company - reviews of how other people felt. I wanted something like Consumer Reports does but found nothing at all.

Surviving the hot spells with lots of opening and closing of windows and use of a fan. And the attic trapdoor open enough to let hot air rise out the "chimney" in the roof.

And the antihistamine has alleviating my coughing incredibly!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 24 - 10:49 AM

Dorothy! What a gush of news! It sounds like all cylinders are firing in your world! I don't envy you cleaning those freezers, but those cheese and cookie shops - oh, my! And the visit on that new deck sounds devine.

I subscribe to Consumer Reports, and while they don't release their comparison guides as neatly as they used to in the print form, I pulled up my account and it says they have hearing aid brands and retailers. I just found an article about over the counter (but they also talk about prescription) hearing aids and I think there will be a couple of buying guides. At any rate, I can save these as PDF files and get them to you.

The recently adopted process of getting off of the computer earlier has several benefits. I'm reading more long form material (books, articles, journals) instead of skimming things on a screen and it feels like it is resetting my brain. What I'm reading is a mix of things, but the nutrition information is top importance and very helpful. I've also shared some of it to my son who has a problem with migraines and an answer is suggested in my reading (get off of wheat - he was my kid who ate exclusively flour products for the first five years of his life.)

Last night I had the TV on across the room, I wasn't sitting and watching it, I was 20 feet away treating it like a radio with occasional photos - and I photographed three sets of stuff for eBay listings. I'll process the photos during the day and get them listed before I am off of the screens again.

Yesterday I mixed up a batch of brine and assembled three jars of cucumber spears for fresh pickles. I'll do one more jar at least today. They're not the best cucumbers, but they're fresh and will taste good in a few weeks.

Since we're into heat index weather I worked on reinforcing a wonky Goodwill little Igloo cooler (the lid latch broke off) so it will sit on my porch with ice and bottles of water for the mail carrier and Amazon and UPS folks. The last cooler was a small barrel shaped one with a wide screw on lid and harder to open and stuff with a couple of bottles and ice. I taped on my same cobbled-together graphic of a water bottle with the message that it's for the delivery folks and thanks for working in the heat. I think this is my fourth summer of a cooler on the porch.

And right now since there is a cleared-off shelf is available in the garage I'll do a little organizing before it gets too hot.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 27 Jun 24 - 11:35 AM

Charmion, my guess is that rabbits know not to touch yew trees.

Around here the garden predators are deer as much as rabbits;
between the two of them they eat vegetable gardens right up.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 24 - 04:43 PM

People should eat more rabbit and venison.

Going through cupboards and reducing the number of wheat products is revealing to me that I still have quite a few rice things here, though white and refined rice products are not so great for you either. Sugar is the other ingredient to reduce, and it is present in many forms as well. The emptied storage jars will now be used for interesting non-wheat types of flour as I work out a few basic recipes for bread and flatbread, to start with.

We're under a heat advisory (heat index of 112 today) so my time outside is brief, but it is possible to make progress in a few minutes if one pays attention and does just the thing you headed out to do. I have some galvanized fence posts propped up in the garage and took a few minutes to remove the attached braces that supported fence crossmembers. (Side chore: I swept up some mouse droppings from around the posts and they went out with the trash.) There's a vintage band saw in there that I've never used and I'll offer on one of the buy nothing sites (I don't know if it works - so giving it away confers no obligation to test it first - it cost me $25 at a garage sale about 20 years ago). The tiles gone, the fence posts streamlined, and that saw out of there makes a lot more room in that corner of the garage. I'll have to "walk" (wiggle and pick up one side, then the other) that saw and it's stand to get it out.

But surprise! I got ready to list the saw and looked for an operator manual online to print to include - it turns out this one was recalled in ~ 2008. So my offer now is for the non-working saw and the table and the parts with it, if someone can replace the part that isn't safe. Let's see if that walks out easily on its own.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jun 24 - 08:29 PM

Today I bought a new bathing suit. It’s size 12, and loose on the bottom end while barely adequate at the top end. I think this will be my last one-piece. The “tankini” type looks less likely to present this problem.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 10:19 AM

Tankini is the choice I last made and is one I'll stick with.

I've moved things around in the garage and done some modest sweeping (in order to not stir up dust from mouse droppings). There are two offers up right now, and I may taken them both down again. I put up bags of pasta and frozen tortillas on the private FB group, thinking at the end of the month there might be a mom needing to stretch the budget. If someone does claim it I may add a jar of pasta sauce to make a meal. The bandsaw is problematic - whoever sold it to me may have known it was recalled, or maybe didn't. They could have gotten more for it by sending a part back to Ryobi for the recall offer (at the time.) I could take the saw mechanism off and put the table at the curb and see if it goes away that way. I suspect it can be repurposed in a workshop. The recall is the problem (they didn't just fix it, Ryobi wanted all of them back and destroyed.) I'll give the online offers until this evening to get a response before going to plan B. All of this started because someone announced she was looking for scrap ceramic tile and I now have a more organized area where the yard and garden gear in the garage resides.

I've made progress on the eBay listings, and as I learn about some of these items I realize they are things I could focus on in the future (if I decide to go back to buying thrift store stuff to sell.) The glass has a history and old online catalogs are available to pinpoint production years. But wait - I'm trying to empty the front room so I can do other things with it, so I'm not heading out to shop any time soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 03:33 PM

Only 3 p.m. and I've already gotten a lot of decluttering around the house accomplished today. I haven't had the time or energy to do ANYTHING in that regard (well, a little bit of organizing in my head) for the past two months — I've been in a bureaucratic marathon of crossing imperative time-sensitive things off lists...the usual annual bumf as well as the 5-year renewals, which all seem to come at the same time. And this year, it seems, that everything takes two or three times longer than they should. My eyeglass saga has been going on since April, what with postponements, reschedulings, and do-overs. There's no incentive like an electrician who will be needing space to fix a problem...

I guess I need to fill you in on the backstory if you haven't been reading about it at Facebook.

Haven't had the time to be here much in the past two months as I was kept at a gallop while juggling many things — some annual, some bureaucratic, some related to a friend giving me a 2010 Subaru Forester in May (so I now have transportation insurance of two older used cars with high mileage), some just the usual birthday month car registrations and inspections.

My eyeglass saga (I haven't worn contacts for over a year) has been going on since April. Got a call yesterday that the replacement left lens is in where I ordered the second pair of glasses, so when that's installed sometime in the next week (they're so short staffed at JCPenney Optical — where I worked over a decade ago — that I'll have to call first to verify that the shop's not closed for the day) the saga will at last be over for the time being.

I thought the light at the end of the tunnel was near at hand, but, fix me for being optimistic. I discovered early Wednesday evening that I have a problem with an important electrical circuit in my house — the one with my modem, which is not easily moved. The breaker snapped off twice. The modem isn't just my computer and wi-fi, it's my landline phone (my primary phone — my cell phones are for emergencies, travel, or power outages) through Comcast. As of late yesterday morning I've accomplished a workaround by plugging the UPS into a heavy duty extension cord running from another outlet, so I'm more or less okay for the time being. But there are lights out at the door and on the stairs and I can't use my laser printer (which had been running off that extension cord because having it on the same circuit as the computer and modem kept tripping the breaker).

Since I really didn't have time to enjoy my birthday month much (traditionally I celebrate for at least a month), I decided while talking to a friend this morning that the festivities (one of which will be a B.D. lunch at Krista's in Cornish, Maine) will be extended for another month. Not much on my July calendar yet. Just the early morning Fourth of July celebrations that we provide music for up at Nottingham Square (for the hour preceding the reading of the Declaration of Independence) and taking a friend to see "Crazy For You" at the Ogunquit Playhouse. (I trade putting up a bunch of posters in a town 30 minutes away for the tickets — otherwise I couldn't afford even one, let alone two tickets.) Of course, I don't know what will be required for my electrician to attend to my circuit problem.

It's never-ending, isn't it?

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 08:56 PM

Linn, I'm glad to read how you're doing - I suspect most of us see our daily existence as a series of problems to resolve that get in the way of the things we intend to do.

That wiring issue sounds like one that needs to be at the top of the list. I have a wiring issue that I've finally figured out and next time I have the electrician over will get fixed. My current office is in the space that used to be the old garage, and the outlet where my computer (and affiliated) equipment is plugged is on a ground fault (GFCI) breaker in the circuit breaker box. Any time it rains hard the thing trips. Now that the room isn't in the garage or exposed to outdoor stresses I need a regular circuit breaker in its place.

Taking an extra month to enjoy your birthday - why not? I guess my next one should be plenty long since it is a particularly big one (one I couldn't have imagined, yet alone visualized accurately, when I was a youth). Mine is coming up in September (two days off from Charmion on the date and I think we're the same year.)

This afternoon I had lunch with my daughter then headed east to my work/university town for some shopping. The Halal market had 8 or 10 interesting non-wheat flours that are now in the freezer (until I have the canisters cleaned from pasta and ready to reuse). I made a list of products to try after doing some research, and these were a good start. What I didn't find there I will probably find via companies like Bob'$ Red Mill.

Today there were takers on both free offers and they'll be picked up soon. I was worried they might be too odd for people to be interested in. It is surprising what people are willing to put in a passenger vehicle; to the one who wants the saw stand I responded that no, I don't think it will fit in a back seat (of anything.) So they'll come by on Tuesday with a pickup when they're in town. I'm not making it a race for who gets it first; whoever asked for it first gets a reasonable amount of time to retrieve it.

This afternoon I picked up more fabric from the friend whose house was severely decluttered recently. We sat in the living room on regular furniture and talked for a while before I left, and that wouldn't have been possible before. Most of the fabric is in the washer and will go to my daughter or the donation project for art teachers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jun 24 - 01:10 PM

I gave myself an hour in the heat this morning to trim gardens and lawn edges around the driveway (there was a lot to do). I'll sweep the dry grass and weeds this evening when it's cooler (and maybe during the day a nice breeze will blow it away first). I wore a facemask to spare my sinuses the dust (allergies are already keeping them unhappy.)

Pasta and bread are on the porch for pickup; the taker is someone who has already been here for an offer in the past, makes it easy.

Summer stuff. I'm working on using some parts of my house more efficiently. I pass through the den dozens of times a day, but haven't spent much time in there until I recently set the laptop on the library table, that got me thinking about what else I can improve. The setup of the den TV includes several connected devices, all through a Kenwood receiver that I found for a great price at Goodwill. My Dad's two big speakers are the only ones connected, I hadn't set up any extra surround sound speakers it can use, but I got some (from Goodwill). They've collected dust in the front room, so this weekend my goal is to set up some of those. (The overarching goal this summer is to clear the stuff in the front room such as the eBay electronic items and some family heirlooms no one wants or needs in order to make better use of that room.) This is another illustration of that Chinese puzzle with one space that Linn referred to recently. Finding that space to work with is a challenge!

Also along the lines of what Linn discussed about how things are plugged in, I set up a new Anker power strip next to the receiver and player electronics in my office, retiring the long heavy metal 1991 power strip that came from my Dad's house. It still works, but it has fewer plugs and they're not well spaced (in a world of wall warts and odd-shaped transformer plugs). Goodwill can have it.

I can't say that how I felt this week is the effect of getting better sleep, or of stopping the statins, or both, but I'm feeling more efficient, despite the debilitating hot weather. Getting things done. Starting small parts of bigger tasks and then finding it easier to go back and do more later. It has been a good week! (And looking forward to next - my daughter promises to bring me a bunch of the peaches that are now ripening in her yard - they're white peaches, my favorite!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 24 - 11:27 AM

There's a high-end "farmer's market" store near me that carries lots of specialty ingredients, naturopath items, items for various diet types, and high end products in the "normal" range (the flour made by Bob's Red Mill, for example). I found some of the gluten free bread I was looking for and checkout is eye-watering. $10 and more a loaf. I picked up one loaf and it's in the freezer. I'll be near an HEB grocery store in the next county (across the street from my dentist, where I have a cleaning tomorrow) and will shop there; online they show up as carrying some of the same breads, but will probably be less expensive.

That said, I spent about $40 on a dozen of the non-wheat flours, and plan to look up some of the formulas for different mixes. While standard wheat flour is in yeast breads, quick breads, muffins, pancakes, etc., there are different mixes of the non-wheat flour to accomplish the different outcomes. And where gluten is absent, sometimes adding other items to approximate it. Xanthan gum, psyllium fiber, etc. I ran several of the airtight canisters (ex-pasta) through the dishwasher last night and as I take the flour out of the freezer will decant into these with the labels in each canister.

Patty, how close are you to closing on the new house? What have you learned about your new neighborhood? Does the house have the usual amenities - water, electric, phone? Is it on a well or a municipal water system? Septic tank? Solar panels, wind turbine, etc? Internet?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 30 Jun 24 - 02:42 PM

Impressed with all the projects people are handling! Dealing with some very hot days. Way too hot to putter around in the storage unit after 9 a.m.

The house is supposed to close on July 15th, the realtor and banker seem confident that it will. The only utility I have to arrange to have continued is power. There is a well and new septic system. Phone and internet signal are good. The immediate neighbors are very nice, the others are very few in number, apparently they can be met if I catch them on daily walks.

Need to sit down and plan some moving-in tasks, but honestly I'm leery of doing much of anything til I have keys in my hand and sellers riding off into the sunset.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Jun 24 - 06:47 PM

Steak and pinot noir for supper. Urp.

This week, I really have to clean the house. It’s getting embarrassing.

In other news, I’m wearing my thin pants. They are not even snug. Soon I’ll have to — gulp — shop for new trousers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 24 - 11:07 AM

Good job, Charmion! My month was not so fruitful; after the first few pounds off I stayed at that level, though in the last four weeks managed a transformation in what I'm eating. Thanks for naming the author (Taubes) that reminded me of my previous food research (during 2016-2018 when I was being treated for PMR). I'm still wearing the exact same clothes as before, but that's ok. I've intended to stay in the size 10 and 12 zone, and the 12 are comfortable, not snug now. Medium t-shirts, etc.

This heat advisory is continuing - I don't remember them making such a fuss about hot weather before, I'm not sure if the humidity is making it seem more intense so they're issuing warnings, but this week will be hotter, with a chance of rain by Friday and the weekend. Too bad no rain on the 4th, it might reduce the number of fireworks.

My daughter brought me a bowl of peaches from the tree on their property and tells me "some of them should be eaten today." Mmmmm! I'll blanch and cut up and eat some and freeze the rest. I'll pick them up this afternoon after my dentist appointment.

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

The man who picked up the band saw and stand today said he wants to adapt the stand for another tool, and since I told him the saw itself was recalled he'll tell the friend who wanted to test it that they'll have to pass on that idea. He's learning carpentry from his father while his dad is still around to teach him. We also talked about the garden (such as it is this year) and I gave him some of this year's garlic to eat and corms for planting his own. Good visit (but hot!)

School supplies picked up by a new teacher who is accumulating materials for her first classroom. That is six inches deep of shelf space in the bookcase in my office; I've had that colored printer paper since my mom sent it decades ago. I can reorganize that entire shelf now (and will have a bunch of legal-size paper to give away soon.)

When I picked up peaches yesterday my daughter also handed over a dozen eggs laid by her chickens! Whoo hoo! I gave her a stack of egg boxes that had been stored in a cabinet from when the kids and I were decorating blown eggs. I kept them because I sometimes used the boxes to pack around heavy items I sold on eBay. Now they will return to their original purpose of protecting eggs.

When decluttering you can decide to chuck everything and shove it out to the dump, to the thrift store, to the curb. Or you can take time and learn something in the process. I've tried to move things on to people who can use them or places that will be able to find new homes. When I sell things from the family estates it means I've learned something about the era it came from, and I have notes and photos from the research, even if I'm not keeping the items. My house is so much more organized than when I moved in. Right now there are two rooms in particular that need work, and the garage can be reorganized. I resolved to never use off-site storage once I got moved into this house, and I resolved to park in my garage, and be able to easily get in and out of the vehicle, not have the space so full that pulling the car in was a fit like a glove. It needs work, but is useable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Jul 24 - 03:34 PM

Another bin-liner bag of clothing has gone out the door to Goodwill.

The box room is looking airier — the shelves above the hanging rods are no longer packed tight with boxes and baskets. Some remain, of course, but I don’t need a shoe horn to move them around. The hanging rods, once nearly full of off-season and special-occasion clothes, are half-empty now.

Edmund’s mess dress uniform (very fancy) and barrister’s court suit and gown are still in there, however, and I have no idea what to do with them. Not urgent — I’ll dealwith that issue when I have to and not before.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jul 24 - 11:23 PM

The friend who moved downtown, who I've helped with things, just posted a photo on her FB page of a fridge full of food. It was discarded by three other apartments in her building, and she found it all when it was still cold. Prepared meals (via delivery services), frozen foods, etc. Astonishing what people throw away. She's on disability and has so little cash; I think maybe she would benefit from some eBay tips. This apartment is a new building with some subsidized housing but mostly high-end renters, way different than where she moved from.

I made progress around here today, clearing off horizontal surfaces. I also processed food I brought home yesterday; froze individual pork sirloin and chicken breasts (in FoodSaver bags). My hands smell like cilantro because I pulled the leaves off of the stems and put them into a freezer bag that was flattened, sealed, and is now in the freezer. Tomorrow I'll make another zucchini casserole with some stuff from the garden that need using.

Will I jinx us by saying it's quiet tonight? Last night was very noisy with firecrackers. None tonight. We'll take the quiet when it's here. The rest of the week is bound to be a misery for the blue heeler. (And just as I'm typing this, fireworks went off. Damn.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Jul 24 - 11:38 AM

Dupont:

"problems to resolve that get in the way of the things we intend to do." And I am so stressed over that I am, currently, immobile. Maybe a post here will help me get out of the rut.

Yesterday, after days of misery, I wrote an email to hearing aide provider telling them I want my money back - and why. of course. "That woman" (audiologist) told me I had a 60 day trial period. But nothing in writing. In fact a whole lot of nothing - but her blithering on and on without giving me any useful info. So now I am "waiting" for a response. ETC...

Lest I get even lower than a snake's belly, I am trying to convince myself that the world will not end - due to the political state of the USA. I have dual citizenship and CARE!

Next thing is address change and I am finding it DAUNTING! So many to change! Start with Driver's license and car registration? The most daunting of all! Dealing with the Francophone bureaucracy!? I wonder if I can pay someone to do it?

Argh! email re CC payment! I misplaced one - it is in this house somewhere. We each searched - in car and house! So requested new one but it has been sent to Beaver. So! I just changed the card for that company and - next: Change address on card! That should be easy? She says hopefully. NOW! so something useful will be done today!?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Jul 24 - 01:21 PM

Dupont:

So! All the time between last post and this was spent changing address on two cards and figuring out how to access My income tax account - round and round until I finally found the correct next step. Clear as mud! But done! I suppose I shall owe them more since I could not find this until they sent me... And until I figured out that they were not going to email me and I would have to go round and round. Now if I can save the instructions, and various ??? I guess I need a log book/file folder ... It was late by the time I rec'd the Code needed. The ultimate declutter would be to get rid of all the darn codes and passwords and go back to dealing with human beings.

FOOD!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jul 24 - 04:39 PM

Dorothy, I started filing address changes in April of last year, and after two months I caught most of them. This was because I planned to close my post office box in September and I didn't want important stuff going missing. I wasn't getting much mail by the end, but I still find the "billing address" part of online accounts and forms with the old PO Box.

I've cleared major horizontal surfaces in the kitchen, though there are two that need work (the counters beside the stove and the dishwasher). Additional fabric contributions from the friend whose kids took charge is bagged for the donation appointment that is now 10 days away.

Several small things have been added to the donation bin in the laundry room, and while doing that I jostled the recycle bin and can tell I need to make a trip to the village bins. When I buy sparkling water in glass bottles it gets heavy fast.

This morning I started a computer desktop folder of shapes and symbols in order to design a small banner for the little metal post my next door neighbor gave me. The original cheerful banner is about worn out; this new one will have enough red and white stripes and a blue field with white stars to be clear, but in the center of it will be a crown shape over which I will set the red circle with a line through it indicating "no." I'm headed now to the fabric store to see if I can find some outdoor fabrics less prone to fading. I'll publish my results. Widely. Can you imagine 45 ever uttering Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown? It needs to rest in jail. Anyway, this is the best use of my time over July 4 that I can think of.

Cooking later this afternoon, making more of my zucchini casserole with sausage (without pasta - I like it this way better). Some of my homegrown onions and garlic need to be used, for starters, and I have a couple of sausages thawed and ready to go. I find I can use the casserole by itself or add pieces of baked chicken or and add mozzarella to melt on top for a Chicken Parm vibe (without the breading for now.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 11:19 AM

At the fabric store I picked out all outdoor polyester non-fade materials and got small amounts of each. The woman cutting the fabric asked what I was working on and I said a yard banner, then explained about a crown and a red circle. She held up her hand for a congratulatory high five hand slap. There are Democrats in Texas, but often maintaining a low profile. :)

This is a less-is-more kind of project - since it has to be pieced together it needs to use the fewest pieces that convey the message so it is something I can finish this week, not work on for ages. I'm playing with the InDesign software to work out the look. I have a white and red background and with a swath of blue and a couple of white stars I can focus primarily on a crown and red circle to finish the look.

The trash truck just went by but I didn't put out anything at the curb, nor did the across the street neighbors. We know that they pickup on just about every holiday except xmas and Thanksgiving, but if we don't put anything out then they finish faster on these days. (Personally, I wish they'd let them have all of the federal holidays and I'll stagger my trash pickup on those weeks.)

Last night's batch of zucchini casserole came out great, letting me use up my few garden onions and a couple of things that had been in the freezer for a while. Last time I cooked a Parmesan rind in it for flavor, and didn't have one now, but I can grate Parm over the top of it when I serve it.

For the rest of the world, it is Thursday. Here, it is the day the insanity of the fireworks will be at its worst. There were some going off last night and at bedtime when I give the girls a treat I had to go looking for Pepper - she was hunkered down in the tub in the hall bathroom. Whatever makes her comfortable! When she's really unhappy she won't eat. Good thing dinner is well before dark (if it is storming at mealtime I keep the bowl to give her later. Nothing will keep Cookie from eating at mealtime.)

I bagged some more fabric for the donations boxes that I'm scheduled to drop off on the 13th, continuing to add is something I'll work on steadily until then.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 03:50 PM

Would that be a red circle with a bar through the crown?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 05:51 PM

Yes it would!

Before starting that I thought I'd finish a small job - setting up two more speakers in the den - but that has grown to rearranging furniture (and some vacuuming) before positioning the speakers. I also read the manual and realized why some things sound quieter than others; all of the speakers positions are programmable so I'm probably getting results on my speakers from how the previous owner had the thing set up in their space, and why sometimes I hear nothing, like on some DVDs - surround sound is set to play things over speakers I don't have set up. I have to reprogram it. Setting everything in place for now will be enough, I can do the programming later. It meant a couple of deep dives into the front room to dig out more speakers.

But as I shifted boxes in that room I looked inside one—where on earth did a man's formal kilt come from? Finding it stopped the work, to examine it. I've set it aside for later. My house seems to be doing its own collecting without my knowledge.

The noise will probably start around dusk, so I have a few hours until Pepper is a drooling mess. If it wasn't so hot I'd take them for a walk (I was going to this morning but got sidetracked, and when it occurred to me again, it was already too hot.) Tomorrow is cooler and a chance of rain; too bad it didn't rain today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 06:05 PM

My house seems to be doing its own collecting without my knowledge

YES!!!!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jul 24 - 08:36 AM

I felt great yesterday, so I cleaned the house. Now my back hurts again. Sigh.

It was probably the vacuum cleaner — not just hauling it downstairs and up again, but also the half-stooped posture required to operate it. Or it could have been the sheet music that arrived from England yesterday by UPS; the delivery person carefully ignored the table beside the front door to place two 5-Kg boxes on the doormat so I would have to achieve maximum bend-and-lift not once, but twice. So now I have that old, familiar toothache in the right-side lumbar region, evidence of an insulted piriformis muscle in spasm.

Buggery.

Off to the Y pool this morning for a session of waterborne physical jerks that should loosen things up a bit. I have another date with Physio Guy on Monday; he will tut, and possibly tsk.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 24 - 10:11 PM

There is a four-foot wide Mexican bookshelf made of a sturdy pine that sits behind my sofa in the den. I was keeping my back in mind as I nudged it across a span of several feet because the bottom shelf is packed with vinyl LPs that, as any boomer knows, weigh a ton. So far so good.

I got the speakers programmed through the receiver and redid a couple of the plugs so the TV sound now goes through the speakers if I want. This work came after I moved the TV from in front of the blocked off fireplace so I either need to bring the large mirror back out of my bedroom (it sits at the end of my exercise space and is handy there) or find some other thing to set on the hearth to hide the pink panel of insulation that fills the opening. I moved the large brass vessel that has held dog toys for a dozen years; it was set up for Zeke, and now that he isn't here and Cookie makes a mad dash into the yard with any toy I can't keep toys in it, they're in the trunk with the food bin. I need to teach that dog to fetch so she'll play nicely (join in) when we throw toys for Pepper to fetch.

It rained today and is cooler, but of course, muggy. I hear the leftover fireworks beginning to go off in the neighborhood. Too bad the rain didn't stick around longer.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jul 24 - 11:21 AM

Yesterday my scheduled collection tour at the museum didn't have any takers until a group of four arrived. I asked if they would like a tour, and the older woman (the teacher) with the group of young adults hesitated, that maybe they'd be better browsing on their own. I realized this was a special needs group, and to be clear without advertising to the group itself, I told her "I've worked with this demographic." She smiled and accepted, and it was just the five of us.

It was a nice 45 minutes with a brief overview about the building location and history, then looking at mostly 3D pieces (how did they make this?) What do you see here? Answering lots of questions and building my tour on their remarks. After photos with the teacher's phone I left them at the gift shop. This was an adventurous day trip to town, having arrived by train and planning to leave a few hours later. I was glad to draw on my professional background, where effective interaction called for an extemporaneous tour.

The tour schedule opened up this weekend so I'm also doing one today (where I anticipate a more typical experience).

Back at the homestead, I have an item listed on the FB buy nothing page awaiting moderator approval. I looked back at all of my past offers on this group and it adds up - shoes, shoe rack, barbecue grill, craft items, old fence panels, old light bulbs, several small appliances, plus a few things given away for friends and family. Add in offers via Freecycle and it has been a good year of donations.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 24 - 11:04 PM

More stuff has left the front porch, offered via the buy nothing page on Facebook.

I've worked out the design for the yard banner, now to create templates for three parts that I'll have to work with (applique onto it).

We had rain from Hurricane Beryl today, nothing worrisome, no wind up here. Mostly humidity.

A good long workout yesterday at the gym has me within an hour of finishing an audiobook that I've checked out several times. I usually listen at the gym and haven't gone much lately. My goal is to finish it this week, then locate a couple of others I started a while ago and get back into them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jul 24 - 10:45 AM

It's not Texas hot or Texas muggy, but Perth County is nevertheless not very comfortable today: hot and overcast with "risk of thunderstorms", and rain for sure tomorrow. I'm puttering about getting ready for an afternoon session of sorting last season's sheet music with a pair of fellow choristers. Before they arrive, I must put a nice bottle of chardonnay in the fridge. The Stratford Concert Choir library crew runs so much better with routine doses of chilled white wine.

Perrier for me, however. When you eat less than 25 net grams of carbohydrate per day, leafy green veggies (high in Vitamin A and iron) take priority. Tonight's menu is spinach salad with pine nuts, with enough cold rotisserie chicken to make up the protein quota.

My life has improved ever so much since I allowed myself to become a frequent flyer at the rotisserie chicken counter. They actually cost less than raw chickens that are not on special, with no pot to scrub. I can hear 40-year-old me sneering, but these days the alternative is likely to be fish from a can or a protein shake.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 24 - 11:45 AM

Rotisserie chickens at places like Costco and Sam's Club are always in the 4 to 4.5 pound range, and as a loss leader bring in so much traffic that it's worth it. I'm to the Sodium chapter in the Taubes book, and am continuing to do the math as far as my food choices. I've bought fewer rotisserie chickens since monitoring my sodium, but think I can add it back in without problems when doing a non-wheat low-sugar diet.

I've removed wheat and white rice from my diet but still have quite a few colorful fruits and vegetables, so am not at that superlow carb level, though it is much lower than before when bread was on the diet. It averages a third of my calories instead of 2/3 like it used to, and as time passes and the fruit and veggies I already have here run low, I'll choose lower-carb options and buy the higher carb stuff in lower quantities.

This morning I moved the wooden bench from the sunroom to beside the rail under the large case opening where the den and kitchen meet (and there is a 6" step down, so the rail runs along the edge for safety, with a 3' gap at the step.) This is moving a tile in that Chinese puzzle board, and it isn't necessarily where this bench is going to stay. The side entrance into the house is more open now.

I made a push yesterday to get ahead on the work for my part-time job so will spend more time on eBay listings, and I have several social events this week. I'm thinking it's still a good idea to wear the face masks; this month my son's partner and my sister both caught COVID when participating in group events. (My sister was at a family member's 50th wedding anniversary celebration that may have consequences - a lot of older folks attended. Fingers crossed that wasn't a super-spreader event.)

Dorothy, how are you feeling? Did you finish the address changes you were working on?

It's getting close to Patty moving into her new house. I hope there are some good stories ahead (of good news, not disasters!)

We haven't heard from Jon in a long time. How is everyone at your home? Are the care workers all keeping things humming for you and your family?

Who else is lurking?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jul 24 - 12:28 PM

The typical rotisserie chicken in southern Ontario supermarkets are fryers topping out at about a kilo in weight, but one easily provides four meals. I don’t go to Costco — it scares me, and the nearest one is 40 km away — and I’ve never seen a Sam’s Club on this side of the border, so I have no comparison there. Zehr’s, my usual source of rotisserie chickens, offers several seasoning finishes, but I always buy the plain so-called barbecue kind because — unlike real barbecue — the seasoning mix does not include sugar. Sodium isn’t an issue for me.

On Sunday I drove way down to the arse end of Oxford County to buy a piano bench that I saw advertised on FB Marketplace. It’s well made of local walnut and was lovingly refinished by the vendor’s now-deceased husband, and an excellent addition to my bedroom — it fits neatly at the foot of my bed and provides a spot for Watson to hop to on his way to his nightly slumbers. I have never liked putting a suitcase, laundry basket, or gym bag on the bed, and now I don’t have to.

Also last weekend, my friend Alden completed the first and (I hope) most agonizing phase of moving out of her spacious Victorian cottage in Stratford and into a tiny (750 square feet) granny flat in Guelph. When I picked her up at five o’clock on Friday, her son and grandson had the house mostly cleared and the movers were loading the bed and the kitchen table. Alden herself was more than tired; she was exhausted and perilously close to tears. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a human being so in need of a stiff drink, and by eight-thirty she was spark out in my guest room bed. I haven’t had any bulletins from Guelph yet, but I suspect that the drama is not over.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 24 - 07:16 PM

I inherited family stuff from my grandfather's sister. That great aunt was the youngest of 9 children and she lived in the house her parents bought in 1905 (in New England). My Irish great grandmother was 6' tall and slim, but her family, those I've seen photos of, were all stout. As in reinforced-furniture stout. Three didn't marry so lived at home with their mother. My great uncle was a talented carpenter and built the piano bench I brought back along with the Weber upright grand. The bench itself weighs like a small piano and is walnut with straight 2"x2" legs, braced, heavy lid, reinforced seat music compartment. With its straight lines it looks Mission style and doesn't match the piano, but it works well. (When facing a diagnosis of diabetes the great aunt, the only one of that family I knew, lost a lot of weight and lived to a healthy 94.)

After a trip to the dentist to have my teeth scanned for a night guard (the TMJ issue is more pronounced now) I ran by the craft store to pick up a small roll of Wonder Under, for appliqueing the banner together. Once assembled everything will be zigzag stitched around the edges. I saw a quilting program (PBS) this afternoon and it was perfect timing, they were making are pieces that involved this process, confirming my design will work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Jul 24 - 06:26 PM

"Reinforced-furniture stout" describes me all too well.

Tomorrow afternoon the surgeon will declutter me of a small cyst in my scalp. It is much better behaved after a round of antibiotics,
but it has to come out anyway.
It's day-patient surgery, I get to come straight home afterwards.

And with my luck it will be raining.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jul 24 - 11:30 AM

I hope that procedure went well, Keb. And after a couple of days of feeling tender that spot will be pleasantly un-bumpy.

This morning I spent a little time in the yard cutting down dead branches (with the reciprocating saw) then dropped pieces in the trash can. I've kept the branches the size I can run through my little electric wood chipper. I had such a small bag of trash today that it felt silly putting a parcel the size of a shoebox at the curb, so that's why the branches were used to bulk up the offering (I've meant to do that trimming for ages). After that I walked the dogs around the block and we stayed on the shady side of the street. I may take the long Fiskars lopper out and reach some more dead branches (several feet above my head) ahead of the next trash pickup.

I'd marked my calendar for 2 weeks out from stopping statins, and today is the third week. I feel more clear-headed and get good sleep; the difference between last week and this is that I was just noticing last week, this week every day feels good. Since I've stopped eating wheat it might be a combination of things I'm feeling.

I'm still figuring out carbs. There will be healthy fruits and vegetables, but I need to work out how much.

A yard sign arrived in today's mail from the League of Women Voters: "Vote Like Democracy Depended On It." This will go out in the yard when I have the banner ready.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Jul 24 - 02:35 PM

Well, my scalp is decluttered.

My position made things awkward.
Because of where the cyst was on my scalp,
the procedure could not be done with me lying down.
So they had me sitting up with no back support,
my legs dangling over the side,
and the nurse leaning right into me to keep me,
I suppose, from jumping off the table and running away.
I was more nervous and anxious than I needed to be, it was very brief.

So now I have to be careful how I lie on it in my sleep,
and otherwise leave it alone and wait until the sutures come out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 Jul 24 - 12:02 PM

Yikes keboroxu, that sounds un-fun! I had some scalp cutting done last summer, not something I want to repeat. Worst part was assistant #5 for the day decided it would be good to spray-glue a chapel veil of bandage material onto the entire top of my head. With water-insoluble epoxy. What was she thinking? After unsuccessful shampoos, had to work a hundred little hanks clean with acetone.

Just checking in with no good news from New Mexico. Miserable weather, very hot days punctuated by violent storms and a few power outages.

Foot-dragging by every firm associated with the house closing, 'not sure if it will be funded on closing day'.   

Cannot request electric service because 'address not in service area', because no one ever bothered putting an actual address in the database for the meter (keep in mind the property changed hands one year ago), and the comcast-like utility requires documents to prove their meter goes with this address which is 'not in their system'. Have requested help from the people who can/should help, no reply.

Thought I could at least go buy a bedstead at a nice used furniture store I scouted a month ago. Drove 60 miles to find it locked up on an 'open' day, during 'open' hours. Then while in the city found a good mattress on sale, but not in stock. I could give them money right then, or pay 30% more next week after sale is over, and make another trip to get it. Well, what's the point. I might find a bed at a garage sale that is a different size anyway. And may need to buy a mattress from a store that doesn't overcharge in the first place.

Sorry to vent, but that's what's up around here. Hoping this feeling of uneasiness lets up soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 24 - 01:43 PM

Keb, I hope you're able to get a comfortable position to sleep if that cyst was in an inconvenient spot on your head.

This morning I let the Alexa app have access to my phone contacts after I picked up one more Echo dot device. Last month I realized how lucky my friend was, the one who fell during the night and broke his hip, that he was able to have his Alexa device call his next door neighbor for help. It won't call 911 but it can call numbers in your contacts. A fall, phone in hand, would allow easy access to help, but the scenario of getting up in the night and falling on the way to the bathroom is commonplace. Now to declutter the list of the ones that are deceased or no longer used. This device in a part of the house where I spend a fair amount of time.

That same friend is rounding up art supplies he doesn't use and will add them to the stash I'm donating to the non-profit that provides art materials to local teachers. I'll swing by later to pick them up and do a couple of other errands at the same time (drop off more puzzles at the thrift store or library, and while I'm thinking of it, I have some boxed games that we never use that I can donate to my library.

The kitchen stove overhead exhaust fan started making a terrible racket lately; I cleaned the screens that cover it but next I need to disassemble to clean and graphite the moving parts. There may be enough grease buildup on the fan blades that it goes off-balance so that is the main objective for now. This has been in place for years and it may be time for a new one.

Outside the house it's time to start regular watering in the areas I need to soak to keep the foundation in place and a few plants that aren't completely established. I'm using my gray water bucket (rinse water in the kitchen sink) to carry out to pour on targeted areas and that helps reduce the need to sprinkle entire areas. Several buckets a day keep all of the potted plants happy also.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 24 - 01:59 PM

Oy, Patty, your hair! And I thought it was awful last spring when the sleep study tech covered my head with extremely greasy sticky pads to apply electrodes. So much scrubbing when I got home.

Many furniture items can be purchased online and delivered, but I suppose extremely remote addresses test the limits of those services. Can you deploy any Google map GPS information regarding the devices on that property for the utilities in question? In this day and age pulling up map coordinates is something any motivated property owner can do. Or maybe there is a county or state or FEMA or Corps of Engineers (etc.) overlay map you can access. I visualize you spending time in a library if you have one nearby.

Good luck! And PM me your address if you've a mind to, I'd like to look at the property (Zillow) and send a card once you get moved in!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 Jul 24 - 06:14 PM

Stilly, if these sellers actually vacate and we actually have closing on Monday, I will pm a link for the location.   If they do not, then I'm done with this whole circus.

No, it's not a remote location at all. We just have a too-big, unresponsive utility that has stored the service address in their database as "N of town", which will not allow me to start service at the correct address (or under the meter number), until someone presents whatever they consider suitable documentation that the meter is at that address. Utter stupidity.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 24 - 11:07 PM

The current owners can't provide the information to you? Or it hasn't occurred to them? Good luck with that!

Tomorrow is the craft supply drop-off, but I didn't end up picking up stuff from my friend; he felt like he could round up a lot more stuff given a bit more time, so I'll get his donation for my next batch to Welman. I'm sure there will be more. I found a bin full of pencils (regular lead, art, and colored) that have been added to the box, along with some ancient paper doilies and several pads of paper. I also looked in my bookshelves for anything superfluous to the work I do these days; one design book for the donation box and I dropped several 20+ year old computer web html books straight into the recycle bin.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Jul 24 - 08:13 AM

Yesterday entailed a great deal of box-heaving as last season’s choir repertoire went back to storage. Next season’s music includes only three works we already own — “Messiah” (as usual), Vivaldi’s “Gloria”, and a setting of “Hope is a thing with feathers” — so we boxed those up and hauled them out. Consequently, my home library work table is clear and reduced to minimum size for the first time in weeks.

All that will change as the rest of next season's repertoire rolls in. Already I have two cartons from Faber Music in the UK to unpack, a process that will result in stacks of a Bach cantata. By mid-August the table will be at full stretch again with piles of scores to be stamped (“Property of …”) and numbered. Then Jane and Herb will return for an afternoon of twiddly work and uplifting conversation followed by a nice cold bottle.

My granny used to make quilts with a gang of church ladies. They worked in an upstairs room at Granny’s house that was probably the only indoor space in town that could hold a fully extended quilting frame and the work crew. (Granny’s house was built as an inn, and I think that room had once accommodated three or four beds.) Nowadays, when I settle down to an afternoon of music maintenance with my friends, I perceive the continuation of a well-established pattern of small town life for older folks. If it wasn’t the choir, I would have to join the garden coven, or finally learn to sew …!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 Jul 24 - 01:11 PM

Dupont:

I have been to the country and back again - went to B on Saturday - "I'm not sitting around in the heat all day again!" My car has A/C so I would be cool part of the day. So I threw the bare essentials in the car and drove to Beaver. Stopped at the Hidden Gold Mine about 3:30 and they made me a hawaiian panini to go and I got the very last muffin - our fav raisin/carrot! And I finished the trip, organized what was necessary and let Larry know I was back for a couple days. Good sleep.

Put the ready-to-fire pots in the kiln - about 2/3 load - and considered next step. Had a great visit with Larry on Sunday and neighbour Sue joined us. Then read,rested, thought. Bought 4 20 inch fans. Had a good sleep.

Monday: decided the next thing needed was change of address so I went to the post office and arranged that - for a year. (Who knows?) Left Beaver in good order and drove back to QC. Ate the muffin for lunch! The traffic was heavy at the food stops! Thankful for the muffin which got me home. Precooked -by me- food in frig and brought back from Beaver still keeping us going!

Trying to find the guts to go to the dreadful bureaucracy to change Driver's license and car registration. I'll try on Monday

Two rainy days were wonderful and R moved a large cabinet out of pottery room - so I have room! He also carried some clay up as I am still leery of carrying much weight, esp upstairs. One smallish cabinet that had been clutter for a few years has, thankfully disappeared! To the cellar, I guess. I don't go down there.

The large one was upstairs because it was the only place to put it when the folks I gave it to 45 years ago, returned it!! Visiting a friend here a few months ago, I was inspired to suggest the cabinet might fit nicely into the tiny old house she is restoring. She has agreed to take it as soon as she has time! So it sits in a side hall for now - just a little bit in the way but tolerable.

The reason I gave this lovely pine cabinet away 45 years ago: A bunch of buildings were being torn down in Montreal and the contents were for sale. We bought it for $10 and brought it to where we were living - in a 3rd floor flat. We could not get it up the stairs so we put it back in Tom's truck: Let's take it to Roger. They took it into their beautiful old home as a "mitten cabinet"! (88 inches tall, 32 wide and 17 deep!!) It lived with that family - from home to home to home. Parents died, no one else wanted it... We also were gifted an antique day bed which is just right in the upstairs hall - where one could nap/recline/read and look at at the big trees in the front yard. I may do that sometime! It's ready any time the weather is not too hot!

The landing at the foot of the stairs is now clear of stuff and my single box of albums is almost in their special new home - and someday we may be able to play them on the special machine we bought for $50 and have not - in several years taken the time to figure out. We were told it will convert the 33/3 to CDs. If my son visits, I will try a Tom Sawyer! There is a Dan Hill in the box! (that and Norm Hacking peaked out.)

(Had to go find Norm on line and play a song. Haven't listened in years but remembered it right off - Really liked his music!)

OK, so here I am on another HOT day. Pulled weeds for maybe 20 minutes until it started to hurt. Another bit and that area will be clear of the invasive weed with nice purple flowers! They have an area where they are allowed. Milk weed has taken over a big chunk of two "flower beds" but that's OK! Cute little pods are maturing. I have not seen any butterflies at all...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jul 24 - 10:22 PM

Art items dropped off during my donation appointment and while I was in the front shop (their fund-raiser area) I noticed a number of lengths of cloths for sale in a bin - that is easily how some of what I dropped off could be used if they don't actually put it in the warehouse for teachers. These items will be used one way or another. I added more of my surplus stuff to one of the boxes at the last minute.

Tonight while changing my bed linens I told the new Echo Dot to play MSNBC on SiriusXM. To my surprise, what came across that small speaker is that someone took a shot and nicked Trump. I've had the news off all day, so I was hearing this some hours after the event. I still think I'll listen to less news, it is generally repetitive and the next 24-48 hours even moreso. Meanwhile, the linens are changed, I've had a shower, a load of laundry is in the washer and I'll program it to wash during the wee hours when there is less demand on the power grid.

An online viewing discovery today is a YouTube account called "Midlife Stockman" who seems to do transformations on vacant lots, school bus stops, abandoned sidewalks, abandoned houses, etc. He puts in a LOT of manual labor and uses a time-lapse camera and drones to document it. Makes me think the changes of a good landscape refresh would be a nice thing to do in my yard. He has some great tools (including a Stihl Battery-Operated Cordless Pruning Saw to die for). He appears to be working in a northern tier state to do this all day long, I'd have to be out at 5am to start work here and stop before 9am.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Jul 24 - 10:01 AM

I have achieved what feels like a workable compromise on the heirloom dohickeys spread out on the work table downstairs. After a careful triage, I put them in an ornamental box made by a Haida artist. The oddest things survived the sorting, such as a golden tress from Granddad’s first haircut, in a box labelled “The hair of the deep-dyed villain”, and a disc of leather with “First Prize Sharpshooter” and Granny’s name carved into it. The opera glasses, the Japanese pen case with its opium pipe, and the wine-bottle seal made the cut, along with a snuffbox made of the tip of a ram’s horn. I’ll find a way to dispose appropriately of the many sets of drawing instruments and the boxes of military junk jewellery.

Supper last night was an experiment: lamb shanks cooked in a small Römertopf clay pot. I love lamb shanks, but until now failed to figure out a way to prepare them for just myself. Using the flavourings from a NYT recipe by Robert Farrar Capon, I put two shanks in the pot with a sliced onion, two chopped Roma tomatoes, ground allspice and nutmeg, and oregano, salt and pepper. Lid on, it went into the oven for an hour at 425°F. The result was as delicious as the original version, and the only thing I’ll do differently next time is browning the shanks first. The second shank is for tonight, with another glass from the bottle of Bardolino I opened yesterday.

As for Mr T’s close call yesterday, I can’t stop myself wishing that he had been stood maybe six inches to his right.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Jul 24 - 07:16 PM

Pattyclink, I hope the house situation works out for the best,
whatever the best may be.

My incision, according to the nurses who examine it, is healing well.
At least it doesn't feel as tight as before.
And sleep is working out better than I feared,
I can still sleep on my back as I'm used to do.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 24 - 08:48 PM

Two more listings up on eBay so far today. I have a couple of other things that need more information before I can list them (that somehow I didn't measure when photographing and before packing).

A few days ago I pulled out more craft things stashed out of sight in the sunroom that I intended to donate on Saturday, but that never made it to the donation box. I'll start a new box with this stuff and today I found a few things to add to it.

Charmion's lamb shanks sound wonderful. I have a small Romertopf baker I usually use for chicken, but that could be used for something like the lamb. (I find it amusing that the recipe's author has the last name "Capon.")

How's your scalp, keberoxu? How's your house, Dorothy?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Jul 24 - 12:57 PM

Not much will get done this week because I have come down with COVID. It’s a messy cold with a barking cough, nasty headache, no olfactory function, and precious little energy.

Oh, well. I didn’t have any important plans …

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jul 24 - 06:12 PM

You're the third person I've heard of this month who caught it despite warm weather and more time spent out-of-doors. And Paxlovid is harder to find for those who are eligible and willing to use it. I was glad to see friends stepping up to offer to help over on FB.

This afternoon I set up the steam-juicer and put in about five pounds of Roma tomatoes. I have 1.5 quarts of juice now and will run the remaining solids through the food mill to separate seeds and skin from pulp. I've wanted to make some sauce and it's always best from fresh, even if I didn't grow these tomatoes myself.

I also boiled some eggs and will use one large tomato I set aside for a chef salad for dinner tonight. (In case this isn't a universally known recipe, it is a big plate of salad greens, I use a mix of Romaine and iceberg, topped with shredded cheese, slivers of types of meat, and quartered tomatoes around the outer rim, interspersed with two halved hard-boiled eggs. I sprinkle some nuts and seeds and use Italian dressing over the top. The meat will be roasted chicken and deli ham.)

You know it's July in Texas if you're in the low-100s outside and boiling pots of water in the kitchen for canning or making sauces. Today's batch was three pints, two of which are now in the freezer. It didn't take long but there were quite a few dishes in the sink before all was finished.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 17 Jul 24 - 08:38 AM

Got the key yesterday! Celebrated with friends, and took one out for a visit to the house last evening, first time there unsupervised by realtor etc. There is always a wonderful peaceful vibe in the house and back yard, stillness plus a few bird sounds.

Someone at the power company quietly fixed the database issue. So when I tried the website again, it did work and they did switch over the power.

Continued the search for a bedframe at the local antique 'mercantile', but there were few and very elaborate. But, they had a nice bookshelf, which will be loaded into the cargo trailer today along with some stuff from storage.

Off I go, to scoot over to storage before the sun gets too high above the horizon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Jul 24 - 10:15 AM

Happy house-warming, Patty!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Jul 24 - 10:25 AM

I'll second that!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jul 24 - 11:35 AM

I'll third those congratulations, Patty! How long were you officially a vagabond in the RV? Do you have friends from that community who you stay in touch with, who might swing by for a visit? And how many trips will it take to move the stored stuff? (Or is it too soon to know that? How many places do you have stuff stored?)

How are you feeling, Charmion? Is this variant milder (each one seems to be more contagious but also less virulent)? LA, San Francisco, Seattle, I'm seeing various municipalities report the COVID index in sewer water treatment plants is rising.

Looks like rain here today (a more than 50% chance). I have to drop off recycling and pick up some fabric (another project than the yard art) this morning. The bin is a lot heavier than usual with those textbooks. (While I'm at it I'll toss some of my son's college textbooks from his closet - they're way out of date now.)

I made only one purchase during this summer's Prime event - another Roku streaming device (half price) as I slowly replace Amazon Fire sticks. The Roku devices just work better, though the ones I'm getting are WiFi only. I have two Fire sticks wired to data ports for faster performance, I'd have to buy a larger Roku device to run on ethernet.

I finally finished the last batch of my zucchini casserole and it was about two meals too many in that batch. Next time I'll make a smaller amount.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Jul 24 - 06:15 PM

My nose itches intolerably, I have no sense of taste or smell, and I get tired changing my mind. I’m obviously still contagious as hell — ACHOO! — so I can’t go anywhere except the mailbox, and there only if nobody else is on the street. I have to sneak to the mailbox in the dark!

Apart from that, I’m great. This variant does feel less dreadful than my last bout of COVID, but I’m still very wary of its potential to send me into bronchitis again. The lung misery I had at Easter was bad, and if it happens again so soon I can probably write off the rest of the summer.

My elder brother has allowed as how he would like our Dad’s set of Bohemian crystal wine glasses, so I have packed them to travel the next time I go to Ottawa. That leaves room in the cabinet for iced beverage glasses I have been ogling on Ebay — much more useful in the circles where I move these days.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jul 24 - 08:20 PM

What kind of iced beverage glasses are you looking at? I have some Libbey Duratuff glasses (the amethyst/purple color) iced tea 16oz goblets listed on eBay, and a number of other smaller colorful glasses yet to list.

Today I programmed the house thermostat higher; day and night are now 82^o on the larger heat pump (it was on 80 during the day), and in the room where I usually work it is set at 80, and I can adjust it up or down as humidity dictates. The electric bill for June was pretty high, and it'll just get worse for the next couple of months without this shift.

I spoke with a sibling today about his getting off of statins; we're opposites in how we're doing it. I'm closer to the Keto approach and he's on a low-fat vegetarian higher carb routine. We both get exercise, right now he's getting a lot more than I am (he has acreage to work on in a cooler climate).

Online defensive driving ahead. Not fun, but saves on my premium for the next three years.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 18 Jul 24 - 03:49 PM

Thanks for the housewarming wishes, Charmion, Sandra, Stilly!! It is wonderful to have a place of my own. I have been on wheels for 7 years.

Yesterday hauled half of the locally stored items to the new home, and picked up a new-to-me bookcase. It was about 102 for the high, so while the original load-in to cargo trailer went well, the load out into the house was hot and slow. Trying to stick most of the boxes in their destined rooms as I go. Got exhausted, will hopefully move the remaining 40% over this weekend.

No furniture yet, so lunched in my lawn chair at the kitchen counter and had a lie-down on my sleeping-bag pad. Long enough to be sure that floor-sleeping will not be an option with achy joints from moving boxes.

Discovered the place stayed eerily cool for days after the A/C was last on, stucco construction is a great fit for this climate. 4 modern mini-split air handlers let me cool it further.

Well, except for the mud/storage/rock room, where there is a new large water heater on display, which heats up that room, the only room with no mini-split. Desperately needs an insulating blanket to keep the heat in the tank (it's already set as low as it can go). So add that to the list of to-gets.

Will work hard to get a bed in this week, shop for a sleeper sofa for maybe later, then get ready for a run east for the rest of my stuff in storage.

The RVing people I know tend to come through this area in winter, and the mineral people congregate in Socorro in November, so I'll be hosting visitors for sure. Hence shopping for a sleeper, and the yard has plenty of room for RVs to park. Have not upgraded the electric line for plugins, but I'll look into that. And I better start planning a housewarming for the locals for early fall.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jul 24 - 04:07 PM

Continuing to read and this week I came across a discussion of how the different types of sugar are broken down in the body. The old dietitian line of "all sugar is alike" (calorie count) is not true. Calories are the least of it. Depending on if it heads to the liver or directly into the bloodstream, etc. For years I've avoided high-fructose corn syrup, and that spared me some weight and health issues. I also avoid most artificial sweeteners, again, they break down in unpleasant ways. But that doesn't mean I've avoided lots of other fast-metabolizing carbs. I'm approaching this because today I was thinking about snacks - and what might work. The irresistible crunch of chips, for example, is a long-time go-to for me. A crisp apple instead? The fruit sugar is broken down slowly and fiber and moisture accompany it. Corn chips, potato chips, in limited amounts with healthy dips?

I'll have to figure out a non-wheat bread for my occasional grilled cheese sandwiches (for now I have the frozen store brands to test). Non-wheat bread will still be a fast-digesting carb product (without gluten) so will be limited. I'm creeping ever closer to Keto, without quite adopting it. Some kind of high-protein low carb (of the healthier varieties) plan.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jul 24 - 05:25 PM

As my fourth day of quarantine / house arrest draws to a close, I was thinking that I feel kinda guilty for having spent the last eight hours in the comfy chair — and then remembered with relief that I’m not allowed out until I stop sneezing and test negative! Legal idleness — how sweet it is.

The cough has not improved, though; I’m still hacking like a cat with a hairball.

I bought the glasses I was lusting for. They’re Waterford Marquis, their “Vintage”, pattern, like my red wine glasses. Funny; I used to think wine is wine and would taste the same whether you drank it from crystal or a Melmac cup, but now I find that the right glass makes a big difference, especially to high-tannin reds. I guess I’m a wine snob, now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jul 24 - 06:35 PM

I picked up various types of glasses over the years at Goodwill - they don't all match exactly, but then, it took a while to accumulate what amounts to sets. I found the Duratuff glasses I'm selling at Goodwill. Their next owners will see "estate sale" in my listing (I always assume they're left over from such events), giving it a little more cachet than "thrift store."

As I strolled the aisles of Winco this afternoon I realized that nuts would probably meet my "crunch" requirement so picked up an assortment and photographed the bins each came out of for the dietary values. It'll only be a few at a time, but that is the way the chips are also supposed to be eaten.

This afternoon's main trip was to pick up a new dental night guard that will replace the current lower retainer I've used since the orthodontia was finished years ago. Hopefully this will help keep my jaw in place at night to prevent possible teeth grinding and let the creaky TMJ clear up, or at least not get worse.

I weighed myself this morning and am going to add intermittent fasting (like the alternate day fasting - lower calories some days) and in a way that there are 16-18 hours between meals once or twice a week as part of the blood sugar management I've read about.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jul 24 - 09:40 PM

My favourite nuts are pecans, walnuts and almonds, in that order. I weigh out 30 grams in a dish and eat them for lunch. I also eat pignoli — pine nuts — but I like those toasted in vegetarian dishes such as spinach salad and sautéed greens with garlic. If your goal is avoiding carbohydrate, don’t eat cashews. The price of pecan halves is shocking, but I almost don’t care. I feel the same way about rib-eye steak, but I buy it anyway. Sunday dinner should be nice.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jul 24 - 09:47 PM

Patty, I lived in the Sonoran Desert for a couple of years, when I worked at a national park at the US/Mexico border. The trick that they did there was to turn off the water heater in the summer. The heater was in the house so was cool, and the water coming in through the cold tap was hot from the pipes running underground in the local environment. You literally turned on the cold tap for hot and cooled it from the hot tap that came from in the house. I hope this helps.

Is there a covered parking area? Can you park the RV in the shade and sleep there? Even though it's awkward, there is something about moving into a new place and being resourceful as you adjust in the beginning without all of the furnishings. When we moved into this house in the first few weeks, while I was painting and putting down tile floors, I set up two regular beds and the cot in the corner bedroom for me and the kids. (I slept on the cot.) It was camping out in the house, and as I got more space ready, we moved furnishings and each eventually had our own rooms. Until I had the tile surrounds up in the bathtubs we used a galvanized tub in the back bathroom for baths.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jul 24 - 09:18 AM

Tested COVID-positive again this morning, after coughing half the night.

Not a happy bunny.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 19 Jul 24 - 10:37 AM

bummer, to put it politely

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jul 24 - 06:18 PM

There was an article in the Post or the Times this morning about the waste water testing for Covid - there is quite a spike this month all over the place. I have a tour tomorrow; I'm hoping it is sparsely attended, and I'll wear my mask right up until I start talking.

I felt so generally lethargic this spring that I didn't get much garden put in. Now I'm feeling better but it's so hot there is only so much one can do at a time. Today I trimmed in the back then mowed part of it, and used the grass catcher (I usually mulch it back into the turf). I lugged one of the two kitchen waste buckets to the compost pile and after nudging a bit of a hole into the pile I tipped in the bucket contents and covered it with the grass from the mower bag. I've needed to do this for a while. There is another bucket and I have to do some mowing in front tomorrow, then repeat to empty the other bucket.

I also watered out front with a soaker hose, and at one point in my comings and goings left the garage gate open while the big door was also open - the girls trotted up to me in the front yard! We all headed back to the house and they happily received TWO treats each for being such good girls and not testing the Invisible Fence collars in the front.

A week of cat sitting starts this evening. The cash is nice but to make it worthwhile timewise for me I need to build in my own activities to do while I'm out on some of the feeding runs. More trips to the gym, doing a feeding right before I head to the museum for the tour, etc.

I'm finishing some of the foods I already had here (that I'll buy less often on the low-carb diet); this afternoon a 1/2 cup of beets accompanied a piece of steak and side of mushrooms. And the messy magenta beets reminded me that I needed to use up the remainder of the ink bottles for the Epson inkjet printer. The tanks are topped off and bottles into the trash.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 24 - 10:48 PM

Down two more pounds as I continue to work on reducing the carbs each day.

I found some nice almond flour crackers at Aldi but 1) they're expensive and 2) they have plenty of carbs even if they don't have wheat. But they give me a starting point on working on a recipe to make my own. I also found cauliflower crackers - haven't tried them yet. Cauliflower is doing a lot of heavy-lifting these days in replacing wheat.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jul 24 - 09:53 AM

This morning, my space-age Fitbit scale informed me that my body-mass index is now officially out of the “overweight” class, and that my body-fat percentage is only about five points above the level said to be ideal for a woman of my age. I realize that BMI is a widely debunked standard, and that five seconds of contact between an electronic gadget and the soles of my feet is hardly a foolproof way to assess fatness, but I nevertheless believe that I have reached a preliminary objective.

Closet contents are thinning, too. I will definitely need smaller trousers for winter, and I can zip up my undergraduate jacket, a cowhide item designed for a young man with hips like a trout.

On the COVID front, I’m still hosting the cough from Hell, but olfactory functions are gradually returning — I could almost taste my coffee this morning. I will do another test when the cat decides to get off my lap.

The Römertopf method for cooking lamb shanks is most definitely a winner, improved still more by browning the shanks before baking, and using the same skillet to reduce the sauce after the pot came out of the oven. I’ll eat the second shank later in the week when I can taste it properly, but last night’s had the right sweet-bitter balance with just enough acid bite from the tomatoes.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jul 24 - 11:13 AM

COVID negative.

Now I can go to the Post Office and the supermarket! Wheee!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 24 - 02:22 PM

Good job getting over it to the non-contagious point. Now to get over the rest of the getting over it part.

During the night I woke up a couple of times to a strange sound, and realized it was a hard rain, a couple of episodes of it. We got at least an inch and today is cool and comfortable. For late July this is miraculous! There's a good chance for more rain again overnight tonight. Then maybe I'll till the garden for fall.

Steamed a batch of broccoli and baked chicken for a few meals this week (and the dogs share the broccoli with me). When I made marinara sauce a couple of days ago I didn't have bell peppers so used poblano. It is missing the sweetness of the bell pepper, but isn't bad. Not spicy hot like you might expect. I have bells now so will saute a little bit and mix it into the jar I'm using now. I'm figuring out how to get the fiber of my granola without as many calories. I use about half of a normal serving of the granola and sprinkle it over the top of a bowl of strawberries (sweetened with monk fruit and vanilla sweetener) and non-fat plain Greek yogurt. The probiotic yogurt is healthier than plain milk and the granola is mostly nuts, so a great topping.

I'm getting ready to set up a backup HDD drive in the closet, connected to the router. I'll map it to the big computer and use it for a fresh backup. I haven't been pestered by Microsoft about updating to Win11 for a while, but if I do make the change I want the full backup so I can restore back to 10 if I want to. (In theory that is possible, at any rate.) My current hard drive is connected directly to the computer, and is getting pretty full. The point of putting one in the closet is more for security; no one plans on a burglary, but we had one here about 20 years ago, and they got all of the computer stuff and drives. The drive in the closet would be out of sight and preserve my data to restore to a new computer if need be.

How much space does your Bohemian crystal take up? Is it going to be an even exchange for when your newer glasses arrive or will there be extra space? A friend of mine has been buying a brand of frozen cat food that comes in well-insulated boxes that she saves for me and I use for shipping glasses. The company uses large pieces of insulated packing made of the same cornstarch as dissolvable packing peanuts. Whoever receives them can toss them into the compost or the sink and let them dissolve if they aren't reused.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jul 24 - 02:30 PM

Yes, Stilly, the cabinet will be a bit less crowded. I’ve decided to enjoy the space and let it be.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 21 Jul 24 - 10:52 PM

Moved into the house yesterday, after picking up a mattress in a box to stick on the floor. Walmart is always my last choice and a rare visit, but after efforts to shop local fail, sometimes they have a solution. The ideal bedframe and box will just have to come later.

But, on the fruitless bed-shopping trip, discovered a really lovely large gateleg table in honey colored real wood (increasingly rare in these days of laminate) and got a great deal on it and its chairs (used). Looks like it was made for the place, and can serve as both desk and table for now. Took a friend who is much more into style and decor on the foray, and she helped me make some good decisions. I learned some new things about sofa shopping. Biggest obstacle right now on stuffed furniture--the stuff on clearance is all not the tweeds but the low nap stuff; cozy in winter but in this heat it makes me want to run for the hills. (Glad Fort Worth is having a little cool snap, we are also due for a monsoon-season break).

I may indeed shut off the water heater per SRS advice, but for tonight I want guaranteed hot water in my first shower here.

Meanwhile, enjoying the yard; there was quite an array of birds swooping around the porch as I stepped out this morning, rabbits, a huge thing I learned is a tarantula wasp, lovely clean breezes, assorted blooming weeds from recent rains. This evening an impressive cloud and sunset show, mountains for a backdrop. Grateful for such a retreat!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 24 - 12:02 AM

Oooo, Patty! If you have tarantula wasps, you probably have tarantulas! Keep your eye open for them, and keep a plastic container and a piece of cardboard handy so you can capture any that get into the house and release them in the yard. (Drop the container over the top then slide the cardboard underneath.) They are quite delicate, if you swat one you're liable to kill it. Better to move them, they're beneficial (and a sign that the yard is a healthy place without toxic chemicals.) Congratulations on getting moved into the house and I'm glad you have a friend in the area to participate in the process. Good luck getting a bed you like!

Having lived in the desert SW for a number of years (in Arizona, and I almost moved to NM), I know the kind of house and furniture you're describing. If you can find anyplace that sells the solid pine furniture that is made in Mexico I think you might enjoy some of the quality and solid pieces they produce. The place that used to sell that here finally closed, but I'm sure the pine furniture is still made and imported. I have some of that furniture here in my house in Texas.

Recycling managed this weekend, kitchen cleaned, and small things like a bit of bleach in a mug to soak out tea stains and also dip my tea strainers in to clean them. Laundry set to run in the wee hours (when power is less in demand) and trash is at the curb (and litter from the street curb area picked up). I had a productive weekend (including the museum tour as a volunteer extra) and lunch planned tomorrow with my daughter.

I decluttered my wallet this afternoon in a push to promote Kamala Harris and I see that others had the same idea. I'm sorry to see Joe step down - he had a plan and work left to do, but it will continue with a new younger leader. Act Blue, the organization that funnels donations to Democratic candidates and causes, raised nearly $50M for her campaign today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Jul 24 - 10:05 AM

The garage has been decluttered of at least a year’s accumulation of cardboard boxes, all carefully flattened as per municipal ordinance and inserted into the approved blue bins. With them went all manner of plastic and styrofoam packing materials, enough to fill a bin liner to full stretch. I kept exactly two sturdy book-size boxes and a carton full of styrofoam packing peanuts.

Now I’m tired out, asprawl with the cat in the comfy chair with Astor Piazzola (El Mestro del Tango) piped into my ears from iTunes. I had intended to go to pool class today, having ceased to be a threat to the commonweal, but I coughed half the night and I’m obviously not ready for anything even vaguely resembling real exercise.

It’s a fine, steamy day in southwestern Ontario. When I have recombobulated enough to face a shower, I will sally forth to the post office with a box bound for Toronto. The box contains a heck of a lot of packing peanuts and three crystal wine glasses, each with a flea-bite chip in the rim. Yes, I finally found a person who repairs crystal! And of course she’s in Toronto, where I strongly prefer not to go in person. So fingers crossed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 24 - 10:23 PM

We've had air quality issues here since late last week and I have a sore throat. I don't know if those two things are related. I also have a new "night guard" retainer that I've worn for a few nights and I'm wondering if there is a connection in that direction. This evening I've deployed motrin and a decongestant to see if it helps.

Cat sitting continues and gets me out of the house to do my own things during the day. I unloaded the boxes that cat-lady friend saved for me and loaded the big 5-gallon gas can to take to fill non-ethanol gas for the mower and other gas-powered equipment, a chore so easy now that Walmart built a gas station six blocks from my house and they carry that kind of gas (no one else in town has this - I previously had a 50-mile round trip to the next county to get it.)

Goddamned Google is trying insert it's AI script via Chrome - a message next to the cursor just popped up and suggested I needed help writing. Like they know what we're discussing here? I don't think so.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jul 24 - 09:40 PM

The sore throat isn't going away, so I have an appointment tomorrow for a couple of cultures and a checkup. The Covid test was negative.

That stupid "help me write" thing popped up so I tried it. This is the result:
I have a sore throat that isn't going away, so I have an appointment tomorrow for a couple of cultures and a checkup. I took a Covid test and it was negative.

Color me underwhelmed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Jul 24 - 10:20 AM

it is certainly not a Creative Writer!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jul 24 - 11:31 AM

It seems to want sentences instead of phrases and it favors pronouns.

My throat feels better today (of course it does since I made an appointment for this afternoon) but I'll still go down there; I can feel remnant tenderness and in case it is something that shows up in a culture, I'd like to know.

The lawn needs mowing but we've had a couple of wonderful rainy days and the dew hasn't dried yet. Later today.

This morning I forgot to put an eBay box on the porch for the mail carrier; he comes past the house two more times on the route so Pepper will alert me when the vehicle is close and I'll walk it out. A dozen aspic molds are headed to someone in San Diego. I never liked it as a kid (at every holiday meal) and there is no other use I can think of putting these aluminum molds to. (Would the AI hack end a sentence with a preposition? I'm not going to test it.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Jul 24 - 12:31 PM

I made it through pool class and brunch at my favourite diner before running out of gas. Now I’m back in the comfy chair, under the cat and unlikely to do anything else demanding for the rest of the day.

Aspic is a love-or-loathe-it dish. My mother used to make a tomato aspic that was okay — i.e., not actively repellent — but my grandmother’s jellied brawn simply would not go down my throat. I’m pretty sure the issue was texture, at least for me. When I discovered a really neat lemon pudding that combines jelly and custard, I thought at first that I would gag on the jelly part but didn’t; maybe I’ve grown out of that childhood reaction. Also, I quite like headcheese, which is just the suave, commercial version of Grandma’s jellied brawn.

There’s no accounting for tastes, especially over a 60-year span of time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jul 24 - 02:07 PM

I think aluminum has been cleared of the theory (for a few decades) that it might contribute to health issues, but I still don't use it often.

I'm in to cool for a few minutes; I've mowed about 3/4 of the front yard and decided to get a drink before I collapsed behind the mower.

I was out earlier to see what crows were up to in the street - they are bullies and attack owls and hawks. I'm pretty sure they were ganging up on an owl but I couldn't get out fast enough to see. I had to literally kick my way past Pepper at the door who wasn't letting me get it open and out. I'm going to have to put the shock collar on for a couple of days and zap her when she does that. I'm still the boss of the front door around here, even if she's the one who alerts about the mail carrier.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jul 24 - 07:00 PM

I've changed out the payment system on ActBlue for my political donations - I was using PayPal with it, but Act Blue doesn't give you the option of choosing where they draw funds from, they go straight for the PayPal balance. I use my balance for my eBay stuff and was surprised this morning to see PayPal dipping into the bank account for eBay postage - because my last donation through ActBlue emptied the balance. In almost every other kind of online purchase transaction, when you choose PayPal you see a screen to let you say where to get the funds, and I have PayPal by default connected to a VISA card that they just blow right past. Not polite, and I suspect more than a few people will make this discovery soon.

My PA at the doctor's office says no strep, no Covid, that's good (they swab you the parking lot and 15 minutes later call with results, then you can go inside.) This throat thing seems to be a combination of allergies hitting my sinuses and my adjusting to the new dental device.

I bought some nice beef on sale (from the last chance bin at Albertsons) and today am testing a new brand of vacuum sealer bags (it arrives as a long roll). The brand I had used for several years seemed to be a bit thinner each time I ordered more and were failing fairly often, so I paid more but got what looks like better material.

I'm still thinking about this higher protein diet, and wondering if it will strengthen my fingernails. Have you noticed any change, Charmion?

One trip tonight and two tomorrow to finish feeding my friend's cats. We're all ready for this week trip to wrap up. The cash is nice, but I have to keep stopping things I'm doing to drive off to mealtime. I stopped at the Supermercado on the way home yesterday and picked up a small container of their fresh ceviche and guacamole, and for dinner I used small tortilla scoops with a dab of avocado and a couple of pieces of fish and vegetables for a lovely summer dinner. I am planning to do the same tomorrow after kitty lunch and bring it home for my lunch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 12:07 AM

It occurs to me that I should explain about kicking a path through the dogs - it doesn't mean taking aim and letting fly. It means as I approach the door and they are underfoot and behind me, I give a backward kick without knowing who is back there, a more active equivalent of accidentally stepping on a dog. It usually means coming in contact with the chest of one of the dogs who is too close and making a fuss. They understand that this is what happens when they follow too close, it isn't personal. And unlike dogs getting too close to horses or mules that can kill them with a kick, they're just getting a thud from me that says "back off."

The kitchen is clean this evening, dishes washed, sink scrubbed, various items that usually sit out (silicone sink pads, dog water pan, etc.) ran through the dishwasher and now back in place.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 09:12 AM

Stilly, my fingernails have always been brittle, and my skin dry to the point of damage. The keto diet has definitely improved my skin, which is far less itchy than it has been in years, but I don’t see any change in finger- or toenails. I assume this is because nails grow very slowly compared to skin, and are “dead” material. I believe the skin improvement can best be attributed to the high fat content of keto (rather than its protein content), and to the anti-inflammatory effect of its low carbohydrate content.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 09:58 AM

My apartment has been decluttered of four small matching chairs.
I loaded all four chairs in my car (told you they were small)
and drove to the Goodwill store to donate them.
Lots more still to do, but still, one more thing done.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 12:00 PM

No more seating for unexpected guests at Keb's house!

I'm about to tackle a large (heavy) listing for eBay - an antique sewing machine. Packing it will be the challenge, keeping small parts from possibly shifting (bending or breaking). I have some styrofoam chunks that will serve (carve them into the correct shapes or adding slots to go over contours. Tape, a roll of UHaul plastic wrap to stabilize things, styro or cornstarch packing peanuts, and a box within a box. I need a nap after just considering this project.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 25 Jul 24 - 10:25 PM

Well I thought hauling a couple of small trailer loads and putting the stuff in the house was quite a bit of work. But yesterday I emptied out a lot of the stuff I've been hauling in the motorhome. Yikes. Must have pulled 500 pounds of seldom-used stuff out of there. Then filled the water tank from the spidery pumphouse, sprayed the RV off, and day was winding down.

Figured I could then hitch up quickly, but no, it turned into a 30-minute sweatfest. Problem, the cargo trailer had tipped up off its hitch block the other day when I emptied it and walked onto the exit ramp, and then came down crooked onto bare ground. I was able to right it and re-set it on its block, (by reaching into the garden for heavy stones to weigh down the door, then reset the block, then let it come down. Kind of like "Why Paddy's Not at Work Today".   Unfortunately, it wound up at a rakish angle, and that made it difficult to line up for hitching.

Well it's done, and the load-out of stuff for the trip is just going to have to wait til morning. Sometimes things just take as long as they take.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jul 24 - 11:34 AM

Years ago I used a travel trailer for housing in a couple of NPS jobs. Remembering to get all of the steps taken care of before moving it was so important. At least it had a jack on the hitch to make keeping it level and hook up easier. I kept a padlock on the jack end so someone would be less likely to back up to it to steal it. On your trailer if the hitch end was on the ground it's a default security setup (unless some beefy guy comes along and just lifts it).

That reminds me that I have a jack stand in the garage and I can't remember what I was using it for. Something else to donate.

Motorhomes and travel trailers are a lot like cabin cruiser boats - efficient storage tucked into lots of places. A friend had an Alaskan camper on her pickup truck, and one day she was going through all of the storage places to find a smell. She finally turned up a bag of rotten tomatoes tucked into one of the big locking drawers that opened from outside on the back.

Lots of stuff has to be finished this month but the online defensive driving course is on the top of my list.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jul 24 - 11:24 AM

Patty, now that you have a home base what kind of trip are you taking? Is this more of your rockhound rambling or are you going to go back and forth to empty the SE storage locker? Do you have anything stored in other locations?

I trimmed around the back door last week and this morning went out to sweep the grass off of the porch before dropping a couple of composition rug and hard rubber mats out there to knock dirt out of before I them hose off. I washed several small rugs yesterday and will sweep and mop the floor in the den and kitchen. I need to do the whole house, but that's where I'm starting. The swept up dog hair, demolished parts of chewed sticks, etc. can go in the trash for tomorrow.

Yesterday I brewed a little pot of decaf black tea but it was forgotten for a long time. I added a little stevia and poured it into a jar to use as iced tea in the evening. I think the long brew intensified any remaining caffeine; it took me a while to get to sleep (now that I've removed it from the diet I feel it when I do get it.) I'll remember to save a mix like that for the morning hours.

Keb, how are you feeling now after the scalp surgery? Do you have stitches that must come out? Dorothy, what is up with address changes and working on the various properties? Sandra, how is your craft material decluttering proceeding, or did you finish that project? How about some of our lurkers who decide to declutter and do the job quickly (instead of reporting out during a slow ongoing project)?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Jul 24 - 07:18 PM

Since you ask, Stilly, the stitches came out. There is still some residual inflammation from the original infection, but the surgery site has healed well and feels good.

Like you, I am concerned for Jon Freeman and for Senoufou, both of whom we have not heard from for some time now. They both had plenty of things to worry about. I wonder if matters have gotten better or worse.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 28 Jul 24 - 09:50 PM

On the road today, skirted the edges of a bad thunderstorm out of Alamagordo area, and the phone alerts for more flash floods in Ruidoso turned out to not be on my path, so lucked out with that.

I just have this one trip to make to clean out storage in the southeast, and while east I'll see a few people and catch a couple of events music and mineral related. It's not a fit time for rockhounding anywhere south of the 40th parallel, I'm afraid. Perhaps I'll search for the elusive bedstead, there may be better pickings on vintage furniture that in the west.

Have cleared out a few cabinets and a lot of the 'basement' storage so that I can tuck in some of the poundage in storage. There are lots of hatches and cubbies to make use of, and may target those for the more heat sensitive items to stay cooler.

Today I tried to follow a zoom class while driving--got off to a great start, but stupidly laid the tablet on the dash, and after 10 minutes in the sun it overheated and went blank. By the time I held it next to the a/c vents and cooled it off, I was headed into no-signal territory in mountains. Oh well, I tried. Hard to schedule travel around classes and sessions.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 24 - 12:17 PM

Drive safe, Patty, and have good visits while you're there! If you don't find anything in your shopping I have antique bedroom furniture from my great aunt's home (the family home in Connecticut). I'm going to have to sell it or give it away, because I don't think the kids will want it (they don't at this point, at any rate). Double-sized, headboard and footboard, and planks from side to side to support the box spring and mattress. I even have one of these! (It goes with the headboard that is in my bedroom propped against the wall by my modern bed. It's so rare I should probably use it as a room divider or mount it on a wall.) There are I think four antique beds here, some of the headboards tucked away (one is behind the piano in the front room). Swing by and pick up a bed frame! :)

We're back into heat advisory weather so the Igloo cooler with bottles of water is back on the porch. I was out a few minutes ago to collect the mail - I ordered a smallish (~8mm) blue bead (lapis) on a chain to wear casually with t-shirts. I already had a pair of lapis earrings, and these will be my political statement on occasion (as a blue dot in a red state). I've also ordered a larger lapis disk that I'll make into a necklace myself. This is an expansion of my quietly political jewelry, that I assign meaning to. I have a pair of silver tree-of-life shaped earrings that I bought in late 2016, sure that Hillary was going to win and they were my celebratory gift to myself. Since the popular vote wasn't sufficient (still isn't - we have to fix that) but I knew the cause was good I kept wearing them, until I lost one. I ordered another pair and just about as they arrived I found the missing one down beside the seat in the SUV. So I explained the history of these earrings and gave the spare pair to my daughter. One day recently we met for lunch and grinned at the realization of our both having chosen those earrings for the day (it was right after Biden endorsed Harris.) There are lots of "blue dots" being discussed in one of the groups I belong to, signified by blue beads worn by women who are in the same situation. If the disk works out well I may get a few more and make necklaces for the women in the family.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jul 24 - 02:39 PM

Yet another way Canada varies from the United States: here, the Conservatives are blue, and the Liberals are red.

And the New Democratic Party is orange, and the Greens are -- believe it or not -- green.

As a largely rural riding in southwestern Ontario, Perth-Wellington is deep indigo Conservative, and has been since it was formed in the redistribution after the 2001 census. Perth County, with its seat at Stratford, has voted Conservative since Confederation. The riding has been represented by a Liberal MP only during periods when its boundaries reached into the suburbs of Waterloo and Kitchener.

That puts me into an almost negligible political minority here. In more than 50 years as a voter I have cast my ballot for a Conservative exactly once: in (I think) 1981, for Flora Macdonald in Kingston and the Islands.

Nowadays, I can never make up my mind which of the major non-Conservative parties I favour this week, as I spent so much of my working life in politically non-aligned military or government service. Besides, they're all centre-left, varying in their social roots and policy focus. At every election, I have to read the campaign literature carefully to decide which losing candidate will get my support!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 24 - 06:55 PM

For all but the top few candidates I also look to the literature for information. What they send out on glossy postcards through the mail is rarely helpful, but the non-partisan League of Women Voters maintains election information for all candidates, and a questionnaire they can fill out with their background, skills, past seats, etc. The fact that some candidates blow off that site speaks volumes when their data space is empty. It sometimes takes a bit of searching for the truth when they have gimmicky phrases as their slogans.

Another eBay item photographed, packed up, and listed. I am trying for one new listing a day this week. I have so many projects going on right now that sounds ambitious, but other projects would be so much easier if I get some of this stuff sold. (If Patty wants a bed she can have it - no sale required!)

I have finally gotten past that sore throat that bothered me on and off for over a week. It must be allergies this time of year. The thing that finally helped me turn the corner was using one of those ear cleaning kits - a few drops of oil in each ear, followed by several syringes of warm water. Stuffy ears and a sore throat

Since I've mentioned making the necklace with the lapis disk I'm thinking about some of my other jewelry making resources. I have a lot of freshwater pearls, and Kamala loves pearls. Perhaps it's time to do some more of the design I worked out several years ago. It's like this, but I added small dark red garnet beads between each pearl. I've used the purple and the almost-black ones. I will confess that the idea came from the jewelry worn in the early season of Bones, when they had Emily Deschanel wearing some wonderful anthropologist-looking jewelry. I don't see the particular one (in an image search) that I loved, but I found a funny remark on Reddit: "The chunky necklace and belt budget in the first few seasons must have been astronomical." Using some of my beads now would justify keeping them when I haven't done much for long time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 30 Jul 24 - 07:31 AM

Don't forget the Bloc Québécois, Charmion. They're using a "bleu celeste."

I don't recall what the late, unlamented Reform Party used as their colour.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jul 24 - 11:13 PM

This evening I made a quiche, adapting features from a couple of recipe books. No crust, as is my usual version now. I have a half-sized pan that makes three portions - a reasonable amount so I'm not tired of when I finish it. I'm doing low carb but I still eat dairy so it has the fats and proteins that I'm looking for. It's Emmentaler and ham with finely chopped onion, eggs, cream, and milk, and sliced almonds sprinkled on top. Here it is saved on My Fitness Pal. (If you can't open it I can post the recipe later.)

I found a particularly good workout on Essentrics this afternoon, one I haven't seen before so it was nice to do a new routine, and it was great for my back ahead of spending 45 minutes bent over the sunroom table setting out a new 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle.

Photos are finished for listing the old rotary White sewing machine; it's a work of art from 1927 and it works. Now if anyone wants to buy an iron ingot of a machine that should probably be shipped via freight, we shall see.

And wonder of wonders - The Mother of All BS thread is working. Now that is a form of clutter that might not stick around for long.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 31 Jul 24 - 02:17 AM

I'm still here, still lurking. Each week brings more things that I can do as my arm, and particularly my hand and fingers, heal.

You don't realise how much you need both hands to do something until suddenly you only have one, and it's the non-dominant one at that.

Decluttering will happen when the weather warms up, it has been quite a chilly (by Oz standards) July. We have a wood stove, so once it's not needed a spring clean can happen.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 24 - 12:07 PM

JennieG, are you still doing PT? Did you tell us how you broke it (maybe in another thread?) As a seven-year-old I broke my leg (I think it was the right, but I can hardly visualize the cast any more) and wore the cast for three months, followed by more informal PT (my parents bought me a tricycle for the exercise). I walked with a limp for a long time and years later when I met my now-ex he told me I had an odd gait, probably leftover. Here's hoping your dexterity returns much sooner!

Down another pound this morning, and I'm understanding the science behind the type of calories at a more granular level. In a nutshell, even if you eat the same number of calories (I stick to ~ 1200/day) if fewer of them are carbohydrates your body processes foods differently. The carbs initiate an insulin response and those calories are parked for future use. If you eat more protein or fat it is used without the insulin and you burn more adipose. Most sugars and highly processed carbs, particularly from wheat, turbo-charges the insulin effect. Insulin is not your friend when trying to lose weight and stay healthy. Some of those rapidly digestible carbs (of whatever source, if they don't have a lot of fiber and liquid along with them) set us up for diabetes. I'm in the Taubes chapter about the myth of obesity, examining how it exists in the world and who is most impacted. Damn scary stuff.

My fingernails seem to be stronger as time passes on this low-carb eating; ironic that last week I sold those aspic molds, since I have a pound jar of dry gelatin that I was taking every day to help strengthen my nails (it wasn't working very well). I could have made aspic.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Jul 24 - 04:27 PM

If you have a bowl, Stilly, you can make aspic. It doesn’t have to be a fancy shape.

My weight is still going down. Since 7 April, I have lost 10.6 Kg, which is about 23 pounds. Most of it has come off back, belly and legs, which is why I will need new trousers for winter. I still have maybe 4 Kg to go — max. More than that will make me scrawny, a condition that does not look good on an aging woman.

That chapter in the Taubes book (I assume you’re reading “The Case for Keto”) was a major eye-opener for me, causing a complete re-think of every assumption I ever had about “healthy” food. I’m still kinda shocked at how much the medical profession does not know about nutrition, metabolism, or hormonal effects. At my most recent visit to the allergy doc (yesterday), he casually admitted that he doesn’t know much about relationships between diet and the immune system — really!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 24 - 10:05 PM

Dry gelatin keeps, and I can still mix it into my hot tea to work on the nails. It'd be a waste of tomatoes to make aspic.

I have Taubes' Case for Keto, but I'm still reading Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease. It's a hefty book with lots of citations and references.

Still working on the sewing machine listing; it's almost 100 years old but clean and I had the wiring replaced, so it's in much better than what I'm seeing in eBay listings. I'll start high and may have to price it down, but this machine is a gem.

The fridge has plenty of space today, as I use up produce for myself and the pooches. It looks like time for a run to the discount grocery, but also to Costco. They have the best frozen wild sockeye salmon, and I've run out. This is the kind of demarcation point I use when deciding when to go shopping.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 01 Aug 24 - 09:05 AM

Slogging across country with miserable heat. Where there aren't crazy high winds, there is suffocating humidity. Not good for getting in walks. One place had a pool, but my hand was sticky after I stuck it in to test water temp. Noped right out of there.

Well, nothing to do but do better. Looks like an inside workout is on the agenda for this morning, and cleaning those carrots so they'll be handy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Aug 24 - 03:35 PM

Stay safe in those winds and the heat. Are you going straight through, and do you have times of day you prefer to drive (aside from the usual avoiding driving into the sun at dawn or dusk)?

I waited to shower today until after I do a little yard work, though I was distracted from that work by a group of wasps hovering around the bed I wanted to turn over. Their nest dropped off of the front soffit (I've tried for days to be non-chemical and spray it with soapy water; remarkably they seem impervious to the wasp spray I used one time) and once it fell they started trying new spots to build. When they sting, they do it as a group, and I've been stung several times over the years. As Patty says, that's a big Nope.

In the closet this morning I evicted a half-dozen knit tops that I won't be wearing because they have cap or other very short sleeves. My arms just don't look good in those any more (one problem with losing weight!) I've ordered a couple of new colors in blouse styles with 3/4 sleeves I tried recently. Two knit tops I had lost track of (buried on the shelves) are in the laundry and I did some mending, adding buttons to one shirt that I have no idea why it was hanging up when it had lost three buttons. I also ordered a t-shirt with the graphic KAM47A (you can visualize the tilted 4 and 7 being an upside down L).

Tomorrow I'm headed out early to be the backup for an acquaintance who has outpatient surgery. They won't proceed until they know she has someone who will stay with her after because of anesthesia. She said "you can lie, I'm always ok after," but I'll take her home and spend a few hours just to be sure she is fine. She's the one whose mobility chair needs a cover to protect from door handles, so I'll start working on that here tonight and take stuff to finish by hand if need be tomorrow. I also need to get a kit of eBay essentials together for her because she has discovered her building is a dumpster diving heaven and can sell a lot of the small things she finds. Having a setup is part of being able to do it, so tape, a small scale, labels, and some shipping envelopes and padding will go in one bin. For someone living on a SSI shoestring the extra income via eBay would be welcome.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Aug 24 - 10:07 PM

Dupont:
Where oh where has Dorothy been? Barely moving in this heat! Doing almost nothing but breathing. Still no hearing aids but a new appointment with the clinic: This time I want to go on my own and be the one to talk with the person. I don't care how much it costs, I NEED to hear! (I can say that as I do have enough money for them. Cannot wait for Quebec health card - 1 October! If I am less than 3 feet away and R is looking straight at me and speaks clearly!!! At the grocery store: "I'm sorry. I cannot hear anything!"

The new meds arrived by mail today. I am going to put off starting than until after the trip to Toronto on 8th - to hear Colin and Jay Linden. I have no idea how they might affect my body and I do not want any glitches! With a bod that is in iffy shape, I am trying hard to foresee and forestall glitches. Especially coughing. bought some cough syrup at a drugstore today - asked for "something to kill a cough" so I don't have to leave. Also have the challenge of keeping gut happy!   

Friends packed up all my pottery that was in the shop in Ontario. It is in the LR at Beaver awaiting our visit after the concert. I will bring it back here for the "Antique" sale/show at end of August.

Totally by luck, I now have alerts on phone. Must not change any setting!!

So, I manage to do groceries, cook enough to keep us fed, do laundry as necessary. Pulled some weeds today although nurse is dubious about that re osteoporosis; I did the bare essential! MY neglected garden has two small zukes coming along and a few cherry tomatoes. It is still being watered with the soaker hose.

One might say I have not been feeling well. I realized a couple days ago that I have been getting ready to die and avoiding life. I did not want a med that might put me into remission. But R and my son are not of that mind and I have changed my view to doing what is necessary to keep on. R was happy to be so informed. I shall just have to take it as it comes rather than be fearful of what it might come to pain wise. The fractured vertebrae was horrendous pain but there was morphine and if it comes to the end of the line, it doesn't matter what the side effects are. The End of the Line is one of Jay Linden's beautiful songs - in memory of his older brother. Jay writes beautiful songs.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Aug 24 - 01:03 PM

Hey, Stilly: I'm calling on your experience as a seller on EBay.

The set of eight Waterford iced beverage glasses I bought arrived on Tuesday. The seller did a terrible job of packing (inappropriate material and not nearly enough of it), and three of the eight were broken. In restitution, she has offered to refund $90, to which I replied that she should round it up to $100 and we would have a deal. Then she wrote back, saying that the price of the three broken glasses and a proportionate amount of the shipping charge came to $87, she had already rounded it up, and she thought that fair. Frankly peeved, I wrote back to say that she had failed to consider my inconvenience, and she should think again.

If she balks again, I may well submit a review warning others not to buy anything fragile from her because she probably won't pack it properly.

Now my question: Am I be the asshole?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Aug 24 - 04:58 PM

Charmion, there isn't a short answer, but I hope the following helps.

You have several options. Are the rest of the glasses in tip top condition, meeting your requirements as far as what you were looking for? If they are perfect and you would like to keep them, then keep in mind that she also gets to write a review of you as the the customer. Will what she says impact your score (and does it matter)? You're trying to sell china, so if there a ding on your score, than can make it more difficult to sell.

If I sell a single item, for example a used leather handbag, and it turns out to be not in as good a condition as I thought (this happened one time) - the buyer wanted a refund. I sell things with a buy-it-now price plus shipping (no gouging, it's just the eBay calculation of the USPS cost, and it is discounted for eBay). The way I set up sales, is that the buyer pays the return shipping, and I refund the purchase price only and the original shipping, not the return shipping. But those rules are made to be broken if you want to negotiate. This is what I have done two or three times when something like that happens:

If an item is rejected, I'm not going to sell it again so I don't want it back. The cost of mailing things back to me is usually enough to eliminate the frivolous shoppers (they can't buy something and return it and get all their money back, costing me shipping both ways. I'm not Zappos.) When I am convinced that it was my error, as with that handbag (my enlarged photo showed me the part they complained about) then I offer to let them keep the item (don't return it, don't incur that shipping cost for themselves) and the refund I offer is close to 100%, just enough reduced to cover the eBay fee for the sale. It saves them an additional expense so we both do better when they don't have to return it.

If I had sold those glasses (I'd have packed them better!) and they were broken, then in the US the USPS shipping cost includes insurance up to $100. I would have the party photograph the whole box, all of the glasses, broken and intact, and I think to get the insurance coverage for what was broken in the mail, some kind of document needs to be filed by me, possibly with photos, to the USPS (since I have the shipping receipt). Or else I send the shipping receipt to the buyer and let them file. Not sure which. I've never had to do it. I don't know if Canadian shipping is the same, (or if you bought from someone in the US?) For the seller, it's better for her to go the insurance route so she isn't out the cost of the glasses.

If none of that fits your scenario and you want to keep the three good glasses, then the $90 from her is a reasonable offer. If you wanted to return the whole box for a refund, see the discourse above (I included it for a reason). What happens if you return it? Do you pay the shipping and is it refunded? The three unbroken glasses have to arrive in the same condition or she can reduce the refund. It all seems in this instance to come down to the shipping costs. She won't want the broken glasses back. So if the deal is to meet your price or you'll return the whole thing for a refund and she's paying to ship broken glasses she can't sell . . .

I'm going to be extra careful with my next batch of glasses, after reading through all of the possibilities!

Dorothy, for someone who portrays herself at death's door, you're still very active. (I'm glad!) Good luck getting help with the hearing aids. Pulling weeds! It's probably good for you. :-)

I spent the morning down at a surgical center where an acquaintance was having something done along the lines of carpal tunnel surgery (a pinched nerve thing.) She was groggier after than she thought she'd be and I told her I wasn't going to just drop her off and let her fend for herself, though that is what she had planned. On the way to her home we went by the grocery where her pharmacy is and while she got that taken care of I bought two rotisserie chickens to put in her fridge. She's on a budget, gets Meals on Wheels, and eats a lot of frozen TV dinners. The chicken will be a few days of something else. She has four cats and two cat boxes that are usually horrible. They don't get changed enough, and I knew she'd need help with only one working hand right now. I emptied both, washed them out, then refilled them and carted several bags of used cat litter down to the trash room (she has a bin that she scoops into during the week and empties it all at once so the stinky litter smell is always there.)

She can call me if she needs help and I'll plan to stop by tomorrow to check on her on my way out to my discount grocery (great produce for sale on Saturday).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Aug 24 - 08:52 PM

My surgery friend is feeling much better, but said her bandage was rolling out of place on the upper end (she does have very beefy arms, so that will happen). And she is a bit nuts (in a good way) - she's a dedicated dumpster diver and she couldn't resist visiting all of the apartment building trash rooms on each floor this afternoon. Tells me she "hit a motherlode." So I pulled out my self-stick bandages and drove up to put some on for now to hold the Ace bandage in place over the wound dressing. It'll have to be replaced again, the bandage stays on for 12 days. Thing is, I bought this batch of rolls to keep Zeke from chewing off his surgical bandage so it is bright green and says "No Chew" all over it. She thought that was hilarious (I hoped for that reaction). It's possible to buy a non-bitter-tasting variety for humans and we'll use that in the future. I should wash my hands - if I recall, if I touch my mouth I'll taste that bitter apple for a while, from handling the tape.

Silliness can be healthy, so a good laugh this evening probably helped both of us. :)

I haven't worked on the sewing machine today, I'll resume that work tomorrow. I'm curious to see what I end up with once I have it packed in a way that I think is best. (Good thing I'm not also listing goblets in that sale!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Aug 24 - 11:36 AM

The EBay seller told me to request a refund, so I did. If I’m told to return the five surviving glasses, I’ll do it — using the same packing material.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Aug 24 - 11:54 AM

I didn't go back to see the total number when I answered, but still, she lost close enough to half of the shipment that it was a disaster as far as packing. Good luck with that.

We had rain overnight and I didn't hear it this time, but it's nice to see this morning. I'm going to take the daffodil bulbs out of the bed next to the front path, and possibly put them in someplace where it doesn't look so bad when the place fills up with grass later. I end up not doing much with the bed rest of the year because of the bulbs, and it looks weedy much of the year. I'll clear it so I can put in flowering plants with a longer bloom period. And I can put my banners there, close to the house (so less likely to be vandalized by passers-by.)

I have to go by my acquaintance's apartment this morning to help adjust the bandage wrap. She says it rolled down her arm again. We don't want something like that constricting the circulation.

Shopping for produce today also. The bandage re-wrap will be part of the trip.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Aug 24 - 10:34 PM

Hatch chiles are in season and I picked up four pounds that this evening were grilled on the new-to-me grill. Much easier than the last time when I set up the charcoal grill and was in and out of the house for what seemed like ages. They're now in the freezer on trays to be bagged later. When I pull them out for use I'll peel off the charred skins and scrape out the seeds. They are so delicious. Many area stores sell them already roasted; they have big gas roasting cages that turn the peppers as the flame hits them - their parking lots smell amazing. In those instances you can buy them by the case (about 25 pounds) but I don't that many.

There are also now frozen cored and cut up strawberries and whole raspberries. Fresh blueberries for a couple of days and some to freeze. Lots of other stuff for the freezer or to eat this week. My bill would have been ridiculously low after all of that except that I also bought honey (for making my granola) and it is never inexpensive, anywhere.

We had surprise rain overnight that I slept through. A friend tells me it was a noisy thunderstorm but I didn't hear a peep. We still have an air quality warning through tomorrow. A typical mixed-bag for the summer.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Aug 24 - 06:39 PM

This afternoon was the midsummer equivalent of defrosting your way into the car in midwinter. The fridge ice maker was turning but nothing was coming out, so I removed the compartment, decanted the cubes into a large bowl, then worked with a wooden spoon handle, a table knife, and the sink hose and water to defrost the ice blockage that had formed in the bottom of the case. There is water everywhere now since it involved splashing and dropping pieces of ice. I'll stay out of the kitchen until any ice on the floor has melted, then walk carefully with a mop to get any puddles.

Being several hours into the defensive driving course with several more to go, the ice maker challenge was a welcome distraction.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Aug 24 - 09:19 AM

Your ice-dispenser situation is one of the several reasons why I won’t have one in the house. When we were equipping our new kitchen back in ‘17, the salesman was shocked when I interrupted his spiel to say that the top-selling refrigerator he was pushing us to buy was not a candidate because of this feature. “But everyone wants that!” he protested. Not me; an ice-cube tray doesn’t freeze up or leak, and you can disinfect it with Javex or stick it in the dishwasher.

The refrigerator we bought had to be specially ordered without the ice dispenser. It took weeks to arrive.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Aug 24 - 11:39 AM

I resisted ice makers for a long time for the same reason. The old fridge at my ex's house was purchased without one (it would also have been a nuisance to run a copper line to plumb it to water). He replaced it after about 25 years and though his current fridge has an ice maker, it still isn't plumbed to water.

My fridge was a windfall; I bought this house right before the Sears announced it was closing at the mall closest to us. They don't move merchandise to a new store, they sell it all deeply discounted. I think this fridge was 40% off (it was a floor model). I picked up a number of tools and appliances there that spring. Fridge manufacturers have re-tooled ice makers over the years, this is pretty sturdy (knock wood!) Since I was moving here from an apartment I stayed in the for a couple of extra months to do remodeling in the house and had appliances delivered and set out of the way until time to set up a kitchen and laundry.

Two hours left of the defensive driving course, then I can send the certificate to the insurance company for three years of discounts on my auto policy. It's worth the boredom of the course, but they have some poorly written questions in their chapter end quizzes. I paid $5 extra to get the audio version of the course that plays with each chapter, but it is out of sync with the text and sometimes departs so radically from what is on the screen that I have to pause the audio, read the page, then listen to the audio and hope that I've got the information from one source or the other for the test.

Dermatologist appointment this afternoon. I haven't been in years. It's time for a quick look to see if there is anything I should have been paying attention to.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Aug 24 - 11:39 AM

Javex -- we call it Clorox in the US -- I think it's the same thing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Aug 24 - 12:00 PM

Keb — yes, Chlorox and Javex are chemically identical. The trade name Javex is derived from “eau de Javel”, the original French name for chlorine bleach.

A 40% price cut might have allayed my misgivings enough to convince me, but the water here is so mineral-rich that I’m sure I would have come to regret it by now. Also, I like to move the refrigerator out of its niche occasionally to clean under and behind it, and a water line would prevent that. Just think of the plethora of cat toys that can accumulate in the footprint of a typical North American refrigerator!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Aug 24 - 12:11 PM

The fridge has a good-sized filter that is changed twice a year, so that helps. And the coil of hose is long enough that I could move the fridge probably 10 feet from the wall and it would stay connected. What I have to remember is to pull off the bottom front kick plate and vacuum the coils underneath; I called a repairman during COVID and learned it was just that there was too much hair built up underneath.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Aug 24 - 11:59 PM

Dermatologist says my skin is in good shape, and I now have an annual check scheduled for next year.

I worked through another hour of the course, and have about that much left for tomorrow. Ugg. I did get other stuff done today, but I'd be hard-pressed to tell you what it was. Beyond washing a load of dishes. And a nap.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Aug 24 - 09:55 AM

The now-annual furnace crisis began on Friday: fan and condensate pump inactive, water on the cellar floor, indoor conditions uncomfortably warm and sticky. This never happens on a Tuesday in May; no, the correct time for a furnace crisis is Christmas Eve or the Friday afternoon before the August statutory holiday.

The HVAC technician is due before noon, and this time I expect to hear that the furnace wants to turn up its toes and shuffle off this mortal coil. I can hardly wait.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Aug 24 - 10:48 AM

Charmion, I thought you had a new furnace in that house?

I need to schedule the annual service call for my heat pumps and at that time I need him to rework the line from my sump pump - there is condensation under the rubber cover around the cold line and it has been dripping back down onto the outside of the sump. My little plastic container trimmed to fit the spot isn't doing a great job of catching condensate.

This morning is for finishing the drivers course then heading over to re-wrap the self-adhesive bandage on my friend's arm, followed by some of my usual lunch and museum stuff. The friend with the bandage is bin diving in her building and has things to send for donation (rather than going into the trash stream). I suspect I'll also be making a run with some of that to Goodwill. It's an impromptu occupation for an unemployed person, the modern version of rag picking and tinker to put things back into play. She does it via freecycle and the Facebook marketplace, and I hope the sales are helpful.

My hairdresser appointment is this week and it's then that I make my big shopping loop past the Halal market and the Asian grocery with my list and requests from family members.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Aug 24 - 11:17 AM

The furnace dates from -- I think -- 2014. That made it new-ish when we bought the house in 2017. But they don't make furnaces (or, indeed, anything else) like they used to; a service life of as little as 10 years is not unheard of.

This one has an apparent design flaw that affects the drainage of condensate: a low-lying interior duct that easily gets blocked. Last year's summer crisis (over Canada Day) required replacement of the condensate pump, and the unfortunate duct acted up just before Christmas.

All weekend I kept the house reasonably comfortable the old-fashioned way: windows open at night, windows shut during the day with the curtains drawn, fans blowing. In fact, this house was not built with air-conditioning -- it was a late-'80s retrofit -- so conditions improved quickly as soon as I established cross-ventilation. Thank God for fly screens; the mosquitoes are just about at peak.

The EBay dispute has been resolved in my favour with a complete refund, but it will be a frosty Friday in July before I take a chance like that again. If I ever again want to buy that much fine crystal all at once, I'll suck it up and get it from Replacements or -- gasp! -- from an actual brick-and-mortar shop.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 06 Aug 24 - 12:59 PM

The Hatch chilis sound great, but I will continue to enjoy them prepared by the hands of experts! Always fun to drive through Hatch in fall, with seemingly every shop displaying big fat ristras of red chilis.

And the A/C dramas, yikes, it would be unliveable here without it, oppressively muggy, even by Louisiana-in-August standards. When I get back to NM, I will investigate the dripping that was coming off of one mini-split, won't run it again til I figure out what the problem is. Hopefully a clogged drain.

In New Orelans, where I had the great pleasure of joining in the singing at a meetup of the N.O. Quarter Shanty Krewe last night. What a great bunch of singers, and always newer and younger people entering the fold, even as the founder's hearty voice grows softer over time.

It was pretty touching to hear a young woman,heavily tattooed, lead us in "Wild Mountain Thyme". Gives one hope that the folky torches are getting passed on, one way or another.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Aug 24 - 03:45 PM

In Ontario, an air-conditioning failure is not a show-stopper. However hot it is this week, the weather will turn before next week is out, and even steamy days are tolerable if the temperature drops below 20°C at night.

This furnace crisis was caused by a defective switch that had cut off the electricity to the fan and the condensate pump. That’ll teach me to situate the appreciation — I had myself braced for a fatal diagnosis, and it turned out to be a bad case of “machine not switched on”.

Oh, well. Six months from now, It will be something elde.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Aug 24 - 12:32 PM

You live in the Southwest long enough and you become expert at fixing peppers! I've been grilling Hatch chiles for years, though you can buy them grilled in smaller containers than full cases. This way I know they were all fresh when they were grilled, and they were frozen right away. The peppers I bought were medium hot, plenty of heat for me!

I was looking at the weather radar to the east of me, to see where Debbie is wandering, and noticed the New Orleans area got some thunderstorms yesterday. I hope Patty stayed dry!

Charmion, there are some things that brick and mortar stores are the best for, and I've bought from Replacements.com several times with good luck. I also have a few things I should offer them. (They would probably give you a wholesale price on the china you talked about selling.)

I worked on that Defensive Driving course yesterday morning and in the evening finally finished it. What a slog, but the certificate has been uploaded to the insurance company and I await an updated bill that should be about $100 less than if I hadn't taken the course. It applies for three years.

Joann's (fabric and craft store) had the right size of leather lace I wanted for making a necklace for the lapis "donut" I bought for my "spot of blue in a red state" necklace. At lunch yesterday my daughter was examining it and I explained about the mineral in general. Last night I started researching the grading of lapis and went down the rabbit hole of color and mineral content (Lapis lazuli is actually often three things - the blue lazurite, iron pyrite, and calcite). The darkest richest blue is most valuable, but with specks of pyrite it is really lovely and that's what my piece has. Streaks of calcite tend to mute the color; a little is okay but it diminishes the value if there is too much inclusion of either of them. The reason why I point this out is that I was thinking about buying 12 to 15mm beads to make a few necklaces, but to be sure to get the beautiful blue it comes in strings that cost upwards of $800. Change of plans!

I've always loved this stone, since my aunt explained to us the history of a gorgeous rather long narrow scarab ring she wore. It was silver set with three lapis Egyptian real antique scarabs, a gift from an archeologist friend in the 1940s. When she had it cleaned and reset the jeweler showed her the hieroglyphs underneath and the string holes running through them. A series of three scarabs would be pressed into soft clay as someone's official "seal" back in the day. There is simply nothing like it out there now; they were small scarabs in a row and she had long hands with thin fingers and it was the most elegant thing that she wore all of the time.

Haircut and shopping today, with a main stop is the Halal market. They had bulk psyllium fiber last time I was there, an ingredient used in some gluten-free recipes to bind the dough or batter together. It features in a non-wheat tortilla recipe I want to try because you want a flexible flat bread.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Aug 24 - 06:59 PM

The increasing and constant heat is translating into the house foundation shifting. It shows up via cracks inside on a few walls in particular. I'll be watering around the outside of the house to try to reduce the amount of cracking. It happens every year. A few minutes ago I swapped a new soaker hose for one I hit with the mower last week, and have it running now. My water bill is going up up up. The air quality has been bad for weeks, uncommon for here (we get them intermittently as a rule, not for weeks at a time.)

Trash went out today before I tackled the dog hair, but I made headway this afternoon in the den and halls. Also hoovered up a few dead crickets. In years past the crickets were what could drive you nuts at night; the house is dead quiet but there is a cricket chirping somewhere, maybe between your shoes or in a crack on the fireplace. You could rarely ever find them because if you moved they stopped. The last couple of years the chirping I've heard is male green anoles puffing their bright orange throat sacks looking for a mate. There was one in the house for quite a while, though they're usually outside of the windows on the screens (catching bugs attracted by light at night). I haven't even heard that so far, though I've seen anoles around. Not as many spiny lizards so far, and though there is one big fat toad who lives near the back porch, only a few babies. I am sure it's because I haven't had as much of a garden in during the last two years. They benefit from all of the activity out there. I should go look at the Maximillian sunflower jungle on the side of the driveway - I let them grow large and dense in an area about 10 square feet and I've seen birds in them. That may be where everyone else is hanging out. If the lizards would just eat the wasps that are doggedly trying to rebuild a nest on the front porch. I've chased them away from several new starts after the bigger one fell last week.

Back to eBay listings, now that the defensive driving course is complete.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Aug 24 - 11:40 AM

A seedling rose-of-Sharon has appeared in one of the few sunny spots in my back yard. I didn’t plant it and I have no idea how it got there. It’s barely above ankle height so it won’t bloom for a year or two yet, but I’m ridiculously pleased. Rose-of-Sharon is a local name for Hibiscus syriacus, a shrubby tree with huge showy blossoms that come out in high summer and last well into September.

Among the things I love about Stratford is the abundance of flowering shrubs and trees. Yes, they make me sneeze. No, I don’t care. Ottawa, by contrast, has lilacs and wild roses, but also a preponderance of spruces, pines and firs, and miles and miles of bleak, spindly birch. Here, we have chestnuts! Magnolias! Holly!

You subtropical folks with your crepe myrtle and azaleas the size of a state coach must think I’m easily pleased. Okay, I’ll take the hit.

À propos de Replacements.com, Stilly, they do not want my Wedgwood “Strawberry Hill” tea and dinner sets. The pattern is old-fashioned (a feature, not a bug, in my book), and not one of the maker’s most popular — I had never seen it before my mother-in-law gave me the tea service as an engagement present. Fortunately, the entire accumulation fits neatly into a little old china cabinet that lives in the basement, and it’s not taking up space needed for something more important. I’m sure the pendulum of fashion will eventually swing away from today’s minimalism, and fancy table settings will be wanted again..

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Aug 24 - 01:01 PM

Rose of Sharon, also called Althea, thrives down here in Texas as well. That's one hardy plant! Azaleas in Texas are a wimpy attempt to have the spring color but they don't do well here and there are only a couple of muted colors. In Washington state, on the other hand, they are huge colorful monsters, where we had rhodys the size of houses and azaleas the size of VW bugs. Same as in North Carolina, another place with rich well-drained acid soil. Lilacs don't make it here in Texas at all, neither does andromeda, another of my favorites. Huge ferns from the Pacific NW would only grow in botanical gardens under the right conditions. (All of these plants I've wondered if I could try to grow, then dismissed the idea.) Roses are ok here, as are magnolia trees (though it isn't that popular). Crape myrtle is a star of Texas yard color, as long as they aren't planted too deep (they have lovely broad trunk flares that should be in view, otherwise the plants kind of suffocate.)

I see a steady stream of that china selling on eBay. You could putter along selling pieces individually or in groups depending on the size of boxes and packing you have.

There is a stack of three concrete slabs (pieces of the old front walk) in the front yard that I was thinking of topping with an old wheelbarrow barrow on to fill with soil and flowers, but I've figured out a better use. This fall I need to start digging out the side of the berm and pull the old tires out, and I'll put the concrete in there. I'll need some help to move/roll/drag the pieces because they're very heavy, but they'll be out of the way and the tires need to go away; I think they're breaking down and killing the trees nearby.

That planter-destined wheelbarrow (a rusted antique) has been sitting beside the garage since I put in the new chunk of fence a couple of years ago. For now it's going to join some other rusty yard art so I can mow the corner where it is currently resting. The grass is too tall around it and kind of blocks the swing of the gate right there.

Deciding on yard work now is one thing; it's too hot out to do much of it. I'll move the wheelbarrow this evening and mow, but the rest will wait.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Aug 24 - 02:33 PM

There is a particularly stubborn gang of paper wasps hanging around the outside of the house this summer. After days of spraying spots where they tried building a new intended paper nest (spray was soapy water) they finally seem to have dispersed. But for the second time in recent days a large robust wasp ended up in the master bathroom. Last night one appeared and ended up bouncing on the window where I finally trapped it behind the flyswatter (moved to the bedroom after the first wasp appearance) and squashed it. I am wondering if there are wasps in the attic and getting in through the growing crack at the intersection of wall and ceiling (because of the foundation shift.) Not something I want to go up into the attic to check (plus it is an oven up there right now.)

An email question yesterday from an eBay shopper asked about the wood in an antique spoon rack I've listed; I surmise it is a softwood like pine, not hardwood like oak, but have no way to prove it. When I look at that listing today there is a red line at the top of the page highlighting the message that this item is in someone else's cart. Odd that it would be in the cart still a day later when there was no answer and no sale. I await events. It would be nice to get that large box out of here soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 11 Aug 24 - 08:34 AM

Skirted all the storms, gratefully. Georgia is hot but not as miserable as LA and AL. The crape myrtles here are in their glory. I have seen so many beautiful slender ones in Virginia and Mississippi. I wonder if the soil is perfect for them here, or do they overdose them with fertilizer here, they are big, some as big as oak trees.

The mineral event was good, happily came away with only an ounce of new sand samples, but 3 New Mexico geology bulletins from their book sale.

On to the Carolinas and Virginia.

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

Patty, that sounds like a vacation, not a resettling trip to empty the storage locker. Did you leave the trailer at the self-storage site until you swing back through for the trip back to NM?

I have a couple of necklace cords for my lapis piece - it loops around itself through the hole in the stone donut then has two sliding knots for adjusting length. I'm going to put a stitch in the satin cord knots because they are so slick they can slide out easily but the leather cord knots look stable as they are. Now onto working on my other art pieces with political content.

Laundry day today, dictated by the low stack of undies in the dresser drawer. Trash day tomorrow, so I'll go through the house and see what is sitting around that needs to go; if the plastic isn't 1 or 2 I toss it now because the local company doesn't recycle it. The bagged recycling is in the garage and I'll take it over to the city bins mid-week; most of my neighbors seem to deposit there on the weekend, stuffing them completely full, so I go down after the company empties the bins on Thursday. (I often go down to those bins looking for boxes if I need something a certain size for shipping, in which case it's better to go when they're not completely full or it's too difficult to pull the boxes out without a cascade of cans and bottles in the process.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Aug 24 - 03:27 PM

Another issue with my new asthma medication.

I took this morning’s dose before breakfast, which I don’t normally do. I have to inhale it forcefully and hold my breath for 10 seconds, a technique that usually makes me a little dizzy. This morning was different; I blacked out for a nano-second and fell to my knees in the kitchen, striking the counter with my chin on the way down. Now there’s a big purple bruise on my chin, and I’m wondering whether this drug is as much a problem as it is a solution.

It’s washday here, too. I must now evict Watson from the bed so I can change the sheets.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Aug 24 - 04:30 PM

Damn, there are so many ways that fall must hurt! I looked back - you mentioned a new medication in June. You're starting it now after the other was used up? Is it a blood pressure drop that caused that, or the medication hitting your system another way? Or both? Good luck sorting that out quickly.

Still adjusting foodstuffs as I lower my carb intake. I use dairy for protein and calcium, but this afternoon I'm cleaning the fridge of a couple of old pieces of cheese so far gone that they'll join the plastic in the trash tomorrow. At the moment I'm baking another bread pudding (using a gluten free English muffin for the bread) with Monkfruit drops for sweetness (plus cut up dates.) And later I'll make a freestyle quiche to use up some of the rotisserie chicken - along with some blanched broccoli and whatever else looks good. No crust. Fry a few onions, maybe defrost some mushrooms. Both of these are half-size of my usual recipes.

It is a quiet week ahead as far as external demands, so maybe I'll check a few more things off of my August task list.

Good lord. The Olympics closing ceremony has a Steinway hanging from the ceiling and the pianist somehow strapped to the lower end and playing. What could possibly go wrong?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Aug 24 - 08:07 PM

I’ve been taking the new medication for about six weeks now, and I thought I was getting used to it. My speaking voice is weaker than before, and a bit hoarse, but I can sing so I almost don’t care. I usually take it after breakfast, but today took it on an empty stomach. I won’t do that again.

The medication combines three drugs: a steroid and two broncho-dilators. It is entirely possible that it caused a precipitous drop in blood pressure. I have Questions for my next visit to the asthma doc.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Aug 24 - 12:13 PM

Dupont:

Stilly keeps mentioning all the stuff I do but does not realize the 10 to 12 hours a day that I am in bed on most days, or sitting in my comfie chair with computer on lap or, better days, a book. I do manage to cook something some days or just put a frozen something in toaster oven. Yesterday it was a big tray of cabbage rolls from M&M in oven as it was cooler weather, so R could have something different - he did not come home last night!

The trip to Toronto was worth every bit of the trouble: biggest being that I did not realize my next med appointment was contingent on having started the new meds at the "right time"! I just spent an hour trying to get through to someone at the cancer clinic. But - have faith! word did get through and a wonderfully cheerful nurse did phone me and will phone back with required info! I did not start the meds as soon as they arrived - unaware of the contingency- because I did not want any new side effects to get in the way of the trip. I told the nurse it was mental health med!   

Getting to meet Jay Linden, a cancer survivor, and creator of wonderful songs. I met him on MySpace 15 years ago when I loved "Looking for Something Better to Believe". And to see he and Colin (his brother, who I have known about 40 years, but not seen in many) interact on stage was worth the two days getting there and the 6 hour drive through the horrendous RAIN storm getting back. And a night in a Comfort Inn which was quite comfy. I was only out of bed 8 hours Friday! On the way, we had a night at Beaver - I spent the night and the next morning in bed. Then drove to Toronto for 7 pm - horrendous traffic for 3 hours! And yet, it was something I really needed to do and I would have been seriously bereft, even depressed, had I not succeeded.

Now, I must pay heed to the schedule! This med could cause remission. As for being at death's door: I certainly felt that was the case when this first hit me. I also just wanted it to be over without any suffering. But my cheering squad helps a lot.

AND I am hoping to have good hearing aides in a couple weeks!

And I have no ice thingy on my frig and no javex/chlorine anywhere - highly sensitive to it- and the furnace is working and the portable a/c is working and the weather is cooler for a bit, the basement had water but the books are OK, I can weed for ten minutes....

AND the oncology nurse phoned and we cleared up when to take the pill and she asked me all sorts of questions and gave me her phone number and extension so I can phone if the new med gives me any trouble ... and the next appointment is 9 September for blood work and chat with the Dr.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 24 - 01:59 PM

Dorothy, you waited so long to get a diagnosis after being ignored, it has to be frustrating now trying to not be ignored any more.

On Saturday I emailed a book review to a friend in west Texas and heard back that her husband had passed away a few weeks ago from a rare cancer that is typically diagnosed very late. She is a retired nurse so did his hospice care at home. "Sadly this has been the worst year of my life," she wrote. They didn't have children (and her cat died earlier this year also. Sigh.)

They were vegetarian, and probably ate a lot of grains and wheat. I'm reading about diabetes and dementia in relation to wheat, but it seems the insulin response to wheat may also help cancers grow (instead of the early cells being killed off by the immune system.) So many theories, finding proof is the challenge regarding the Western Diet. As the saying goes, no one gets out of this alive, but how we go . . .

Today I'm digging the daffodil bulbs out of one bed in the yard to create a clearing for my political signs. I have to get free compost at the bunker the city parks maintain near me. I'll put mulch over this area and use the spot for seasonal annual flowers. That way if the Bermuda grass overruns it I can dig out the grass, put down more mulch, and not worry about anything else that spends the entire year in the bed.

I have a box of file folders sitting out collecting dust, waiting for donation, and I need to decide where to offer them. Before that I'll check out some of the shelved boxes in the office closet, I probably have more stuff to go.

There are a couple of completed jigsaw puzzles to drop off at the library, and some games in the hall closet. NOTE: I just checked on those games and found the top shelf and boxes covered with rat or squirrel droppings. Ugg. Looks like a long-stay hotel and I can't see how they got in there. I'll wipe down the shelf and all of the boxes with a liquid cleaner (I'm not that much into bleach). Most of my coats and jackets are hanging below that shelf - I guess I'll have to wash a lot of those on general principles.

Ugg.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 24 - 11:35 PM

Two zip up hoodies, two fleece jackets, and my jeans jacket are going through the dryer now, along with a few small pieces of climbing gear (a couple of hats and two pair of gaiters that were on top of the games on that upper shelf - gaiters go around the top of your boots and the bottom of your pants to keep snow out.) I'll work my way through the rest of the closet either washing or dry cleaning as the week progresses.

I've cleaned the game boxes and half of those will go to the library, the rest will go back on the shelf (that has also been washed off).

Kitchen clearing out. I took my recycling stuff over to the bins behind city all and there was still room, lucky me! This is the bin that sits in the laundry room and overflows into the laundry basket if I don't go often enough. Then cleaning extended to the kitchen scrap waste bin (again) - it doesn't take much time at all for some kind of small fly to lay eggs in the scraps and they hatch quickly. This evening when I lifted the lid to tip my tea strainer into it there were tiny light colored maggots crawling up the sides. I turned off the motion-detector light at the side door before stepping out in my nightshirt to empty the bin in the outdoor covered bucket. The little bin and its cover are now soaking in the kitchen sink with bleach (one of the uses I do find acceptable). If I were Mr. Trump I would inflate the number of maggots in view, but since I'm not, I'll just say I'm glad I caught them when I did. It could have been worse.

The main thing this evening is that I called the recently-widowed friend out west and a two-hour call covered a lot of bases. She's thinking about setting up Facebook because so many people use it now instead of email - I told her I'd help her so she can shut down a lot of the nonsense that is default in the program. Being able to do video calls via Messenger is good - and can be done without a FB account, but it's fussy to set up. Better to have a well-regulated FB account so she can keep up with her quilting group and the local volunteer fire department and her generous neighbors who supported her for the last year. (She described their help - I love them without even meeting them.) When your beloved spouse was dying over the course of a year you're ready to move on - I asked questions, tried not to give many opinions - she is moving forward at the pace that works for her. I may drive out this fall for a short visit. We've been friends since 1989, so have a lot of history to reflect on.

Is it really only Monday? I've done so much already this week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Aug 24 - 10:34 AM

Today I got up feeling tired and a bit light in the head. Not myself at all, but not sick. I went to bed at a sensible time last night and slept well, rising about 0645, but I could easily sack out again had I nothing important to do, but such is not the case.

I have agreed to drive a mum and toddler to the well-child clinic at noon, and I must set up a microphone on my computer so I can record German lyrics for the choir. The owner of the microphone wants to talk me through it on Zoom, so I have to be awake and aware when both of us are available, which means just about now.

Sigh.

To avert mishap, today I shall move carefully, hang onto all handrails, and avoid making binding decisions.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 24 - 12:46 PM

Do you think the light-headedness has to do with the medications? With the end of COVID, with blood pressure? Sounds like it's time to take those questions to the doctor.

More closet laundry, this morning two bulky outerwear sweaters and my heavy LLBean parka are all in the washer on delicate with an extra soak and rinse and a lightly-scented bottle detergent. I don't use the little sheets of detergent on things like rugs or dog beds or jackets - the scent is light when they finish, but it helps neutralize anything that might have been contributed by whatever was in there. Mice usually chew up paper or cardboard and there was none of that. There was no dead squirrel or rat to show me what it was and I don't see how it got in.

Now an awkward segue from squirrel droppings to cooking. The rotisserie chicken carcass is simmering for stock. I didn't finish eating all of the bird this time, the salt levels register too high when I keep track in My Fitness Pal. The dogs got some good snacks. I'll have to bake my own whole chickens or put them in the big bowl convection oven (that version comes out closest to the consistency of rotisserie, but without salt in the seasonings before I cook it.) As salty as the current chicken was the broth will also be salty, so I'll freeze it in ice cube trays and use small amounts when cooking.

After a couple of months without, I had wine with dinner last night and this morning I could feel the itchy sensation on the back of my neck and scalp. That serves as confirmation about the sulfite sensitivity. It'll just have to be out of the diet except on special occasions when I live with the itch. I keep wine in jars in the freezer for cooking so the rest was decanted into other containers with good lids and frozen. Future wine for cooking can come in smaller containers and the rest frozen. I don't consider such small amounts a problem but they do add good flavor to sauces and stews.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Aug 24 - 01:19 PM

Yes, Stilly, I rather think it’s time to see the doc, and take the whole deplorable collection of drugs with me. My GP’s group practice has “sick parade” in the late afternoon, so I’ll toddle along at four o’clock.

Still woozy today. Not very, but enough that I don’t feel safe on stairs.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Aug 24 - 03:10 PM

I hope there is an easy answer when you put all of the medications on the table and discuss the situation. (I wish my GP had considered the statins when I described my lack of energy last winter - they should have been a red flag.)

The last of the coats and jackets are in the washer; this time the nice tan fitted raincoat (made in Poland - one I bought from I. Magnin in the late 1970s, and the style comes and goes in fashion -I couldn't fit in it for quite a while, but now I can), a couple of nylon rain slickers, a Gortex heavier rain jacket, and the new LL Bean parka. The only item left unlaundered in that closet is a down vest, but it hasn't been in there for long so I'm going to treat it as if any mouse traffic up and down garments happened before the vest took up residence. I can wash down items in the tub with a special soap, but it is a lot of work.

Burlap bags and a scooping tool in the back of the SUV; a trip later this afternoon will entail getting gas and a case of bottled water at Costco then heading over to the compost bunker to fill the bags with mulch that needs to go in the bed where I've been working.

I've been doing more sewing in the evenings. I don't have any finished new items to show for it, though have completed some mending projects.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 15 Aug 24 - 07:14 AM

Final leg east today will find me meeting up with sisters I have not seen in a couple of years, along with some other family. Looking forward to it and hope the stoplight gods are with me as I push through southern Virginia.

Spent a day and a half in High Point NC, seemed like a good place to learn about the current state of furniture. So I learned a lot, it's an interesting town with people easy to talk to. No new furniture is cheap, but I did see stuff from several outfits making real wood furniture, and got helpful advice on sleepers from a very knowledgeable fellow.

Also saw lots of crazy stuff, giant princesss beds for McMansions, antique stores full of big in-your-face objects-to-impress. One of the weirdest things was a line of real-world furniture with 'pickled' finish--which makes it look like cheap laminate! We're coming full circle on phoniness I guess.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Aug 24 - 12:06 AM

Sounds like an excellent visit coming up, Patty!

With the heat warnings these days I'm doing small outdoor chores that let me see something has been done, then heading back into the house. Mowing the side yard where the old wheelbarrow had tall grass around it, trimming the suckers coming off the base of the Vitex in the front. Small amounts of time when I won't overheat. On a trip to Costco I picked up another case of their inexpensive bottles of drinking water. At one red light on the way there a panhandler was looking pretty parched so I handed him one of my spare bottles along with a $5. I think at that moment the water was the best offering, it was opened immediately.

The donation stack is growing with games, puzzles, and housewares (and the places things will go are various). Now that the hall closet is cleaned out it has me thinking about what I have hanging in other closets and what needs refreshing or donating (or being taken over to my daughter or put into a box to send to my son).

Weight is down another pound (I don't have much to go for my goal, I was only working on about five pounds). My fingernails seem to be stronger now with the higher percentages of fat and protein in the diet. Still reading the long book about calories. All calories are not the same.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Aug 24 - 10:52 AM

One trip to the doctor later, I have no more clarity on my foggy head-state. Still dizzy and tired when I get up, a tad better by supper-time, but definitely not my usual perky self.

Doc speculated that I might have come down with some passing virus and sent me for a whack of blood tests.

I guess my take-away from all this is no sharp movements, and always hang onto the rail when walking downstairs. Also, maybe aging ladies shouldn't do drugs, but that's a counsel of perfection; most of us have no choice.

Rain in the imminent forecast gives me a good reason to spend the rest of the day reading and keeping the cats happy. Dolce far niente!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Aug 24 - 12:10 PM

If this started since the new drug routine then read all of the side effects and interactions and go from there. Can you return to the old regimen? The doctor was no help and this sounds like a dangerous way to move around the house and world outside (dizzy and foggy) then you have to be your own advocate.

I'm working out a list of places to go today, that will start with dropping board games at the library and then volunteering at the museum and end with loading up on a particularly good 85% dark chocolate with dried cranberries at the gourmet last chance store. A couple of small squares of that are enough to satisfy the snack impulse and it is said that dark chocolate improves your mood. It doesn't hurt and they have a good markdown. Tomorrow I have a tour at that museum so today I'll also walk through quickly to see if they've moved anything since I was there last week.

A modern conundrum has just crossed my desktop: an email with my newly calculated credit score (it's robust) has key factors listed that affect my score:
1) too many accounts with balances (I only have two - the credit union loan for the heat pump and my mortgage) because the credit cards are paid off every month. But there are only three of them so

2) too few accounts with recent payment information. Meaning if I would spend more money on more accounts they'd better be able to rate my score? Technically I have an account with a large computer manufacturing company in my state but I only use it when I buy a computer or printer, so, not often.

I paid my car insurance directly from the bank but this serves as a reminder to pay the home warranty insurance through a credit card to give it a little more activity (then pay it off that month with money saved in the bank for the home warranty policy). This is a small game that can be played with the banking community when one isn't ever going to be rich, you can at least appear to be responsible.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Aug 24 - 04:30 PM

The bloodwork results are in: electrolyte imbalance -- low sodium. So I have added Gatorade Zero to my diet (blech). Its flavour is strongly reminiscent of understrength Kool-Aid, but it will at least do me no harm.

I was interested to read in Wikipedia that Gary Taubes's carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis has provoked emphatic professional push-back. That does not surprise me, or convince me that the low-carbohydrate diet is not worthwhile as long as it is helping me achieve my objectives and not making my life more difficult than it needs to be. (In other words, the same criteria I would apply to any special diet.)

I actively enjoy freedom from colitis effects and I don't miss gingivitis one damned bit, but it's kinda obvious that eating more vegetables and more fruit on the regular is a really good idea, With only four kilos to go, I figure I can start adding fruit maybe by Thanksgiving (the Canadian one).

But I intend to stay off sugar.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Aug 24 - 07:48 PM

I agree with you 100%, Charmion. As I read the Taubes book I realize that I need to look around for information about how much and what types of proteins are going to be best. Case in point, my nextdoor neighbor can only eat beef once a week due to kidney issues and he has to watch the high-oxalate vegetables and things like chocolate. I'm fond of fish and shrimp, and will build more of them into the diet that already has a fair amount of chicken and pork and lamb. This week's shopping included asparagus, spinach, celery (celery mostly for the dogs, but some for me in stir fry), nectarines, and pears. The latter two are going to be probably the only carb of the day when I eat them, since I am working on losing the last few pounds. I'm at 154, aiming for 150. That still gives me a bit of a "buffer" (for my height the weight I see suggested as "optimal" is about 144. I look like a scarecrow if I'm that light).

It looks like 60 grams of carbs a day is what some of the keto routines recommend; one talked about 30 grams a day to get started if you're losing weight then up to 60 grams regularly (that was Perlmutter in Grain Brain).

When we share shopping duties my ex and I are able to save trips (better he drive to my house to pick up stuff than make trips to a couple of stores). I pick up things for him at Costco and we split their large portions (today he took some of my nectarines and pears). Next time I buy a rotisserie chicken it will only be when I can send half of it home with him. It also means we are each the someone who is paying attention as far as each of our well-being. I keep track of his health issues, and I share my experiences, so while our daughter is the contact person for each of us, we also have that information amongst ourselves. He's trying to solve a dermatology-related issue right now and I'm getting over the statins.

Today I ran an errand for the friend who lives downtown and loves the dumpster diving she can do in this high-end building (there are great tax breaks for those buildings when they let in a few public assistance housing clients; she is one of those). Yesterday she asked if I'd take some luggage over to the night shelter and I didn't want to put it off; I've never been there before but a family member used to volunteer there, and more importantly, this friend has an apartment that is filling up with stuff she has found and is gradually giving away or selling. As I drove up the side street to the night shelter at about 4pm the curbs were lined with people sitting waiting for the facility to open for dinner and to let in those who had a bed or cot for the night. All of their worldly possessions are in the packs, suitcases, shopping carts, and rolling duffle bags they have with them. So when I backed into the donations-only parking space and caught someone's eye, I was ready to simply hand over Melissa's donation. The woman who brought the canvas cart out did a double-take when I opened the SUV back and unloaded two large rolling hardside suitcases and two large canvas duffle bags. These are pure gold at a shelter and they probably already are in the hands of new grateful owners. I will describe this dropoff to Melissa later so she will get the glow of having made a significant donation (she was homeless herself for a couple of years, she knows what people need).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Aug 24 - 04:07 PM

What to eat that we can digest well, that feeds our brains and our hearts, that doesn't pile on fat or mess up our internal organs or trigger or feed cancer growth, that leaves our arteries supple and our brains clear through old age . . .

There is a conundrum when it comes to writing about the sciences - journalists and other types of writers generally do a better job of being clear and approachable than scientists who struggle to keep their writing free of jargon and not assume we all know a bunch of related science - links must be spelled out. When the writers aren't scientists they have to be careful and thorough and sure they understand the topic they address. Often with the help of scientists.

The books I've been reading lately are a mix, some by physicians, others by researchers who are writers, not scientists. I'm adding another author to my list to see what he can contribute to my goal of eating healthily. Michael Pollan has several well-received books on the subject and I've added Food Rules: An Eater's Manual and In Defense of Food to my reading list. If this opens correctly it should be an excerpt from Food Rules (you'll probably have to scroll down to "Review" then click "Read More" to open the whole thing). It appears to have been scanned and no one corrected the run-on words at each sentence break, but you can make sense of it. In particular:

He talks about "two important things you need to know about the links between health and diet. All the contending parties in the nutrition wars agree on them. And, even more important for our purposes, these facts are sturdy enough that we can build a sensible diet upon them."

1. The Western Diet isn't very good for us, because lots of processed foods and the ingredients we use help generate the "so-called Western diseases: obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer."

2. Populations that eat a wide range of "traditional diets" don't tend to have chronic diseases. "What this suggests is that there is no single ideal human diet but that the human omnivore is exquisitely adapted to a wide range of different foods. . . Except, that is, for one: The relatively new (in evolutionary terms) Western diet. . . what an extraordinary achievement for a civilization: to have developed the one diet that reliably makes its people sick!"

He also notes that people who get off of the Western diet see dramatic health improvements.

Meanwhile, back on the homestead, I'm working around the house (it's another hot one, nothing much going on in the yard today). I have several items posted on my local buy nothing list (my expensive pound of decaff earl grey tea turned out to be mislabeled fully-caffeinated "vanilla" that I don't like and can't drink. I got a refund but they don't want it back, so someone else will get a $30 bag of loose tea.) Plus other stuff.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Aug 24 - 09:36 AM

60 grams of carbohydrate per day? I’ve been getting by on 20 or less since April. On 60 grams I could eat peaches.

“Traditional” diets include processed foods, too — polished rice, for example, and slaked corn. In fact, all grains require at least minimal processing to be edible at all. The substance consistently found far less in non-Western diets is sugar.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Aug 24 - 12:57 PM

I'm low carb these days, but I don't think I could manage 20 grams a day. I'm nearing my target weight as I choose healthy carbs and during this process making sure everything runs smoothly - enough fiber to feel good. Not eating what in the western world is considered breakfast - cereal, toast, bagels, etc. I had some lean lamb with a generous side of steamed asparagus this morning, and lunch will be a nectarine with plain whole-milk Greek yogurt (and some monkfruit drops to sweeten the yogurt). If I add 1/4 cup of my homemade nutty yogurt that pushes my carbs a bit outside my goal set on MyFitnessPal, but the gut is happy. And it still ends up about 20% of my daily intake being carbs. A piece of tilapia, a salad and a big tomato for dinner will round out the day.

The piecemeal approach to yard work continues. Before breakfast I spent 15 minutes in the front yard with the mower knocking down the tall grass around the big patches of groundcover. It's another heat advisory day, so pacing yourself is the way to go. Now to work my way down the list of online things I have to accomplish.

Dorothy, are you far enough north that the end of August is a bit cooler? How is your garden and do you still have a house full of plants?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Aug 24 - 01:29 AM

I stayed up late to watch the speeches tonight at the DNC. I had a snack before bedtime to celebrate the speeches; both of these things go against my new health routine. It happens. (They were very good speeches!)

After planning to do it for a while the dogs got baths today. They were good girls and are so happy about how they feel now (even if neither was in love with the bath itself). And later I pampered myself by soaking my feet so I could scrub off the dry skin that builds up, and trimmed my nails. Summer is hard on my feet, I need to do this every so often this time of year.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Aug 24 - 12:39 PM

This is simply a guess, no science to it, but I realized this morning when I looked at my newly trimmed and polished toenails that the nail fungus that I've had on the middle toe of the right foot for ages - we're talking maybe 25 years - has gone. The toenail trimmed like a normal nail last night. Years ago I tried a special nail medication that was painted on and supposed to get rid of it - never worked. I soaked my feet, I tried tea tree oil. Never worked. I had this very thick nail with the odd consistency that I always carefully trimmed down but was always fatter and flakey and cloudy looking. In the past two months as that nail grew out the fungus part grew off and is gone as of last night's home pedicure. It's exactly two months since I stopped eating wheat, simultaneous with when I took myself off of the statins (I'd only been on those a couple of years, one thing I know is they weren't a cause.) My sugar intake is still very low, but not gone.

My fingernails are also stronger. I was thinking it was the higher amount of protein that was making the difference, and maybe it is what also helped the toenail. Or it is all from the lack of wheat. Or the low carbs. Or just dumb luck.

I shuffled around a lot of boxes last night and left a heap of packing materials in the doorway of the front room. I'll have to straighten that today, it was looking better in there until this dropping of materials any which way.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Aug 24 - 11:36 AM

The light-headedness continues, though much reduced. It's worst in the morning, presumably because I haven't eaten or drunk anything for about 12 hours. So I move slowly and hang onto the bannister on the stairs.

For the record, Gatorade Zero will never be a favoured tipple.

My garage is neat again, after an orgy of box-flattening and disposal of packing material that I could neither recycle not re-use. The debris of the busted-up Waterford, plus the inadequate packing material that came with it, cost me a whole garbage tag. Not that I'm bitter ... okay, maybe a touch.

My brother Andrew proposes a drinking game for viewing the Democratic Party Convention: Every time somebody says "weird", down a shot. Your liver will not be happy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Aug 24 - 12:41 PM

Light-headedness isn't something to ignore. Do you have a blood pressure measuring device and something for blood oxygen (the little pulse oximeter they put on your finger?) They're relatively inexpensive (read reviews - not all are created equal). Food diary, drink plenty of liquid (why did you choose Gatorade?) and probably don't Google symptoms because you can scare the bejeezus out of yourself that way. And think about that diet you're working on. Too little salt, too little of something else? Do you take supplements? Have you had bloodwork done lately? If you're feeling light-headed then your brain isn't happy for some reason.

It's a quiet week here, fewer appointments or volunteer gigs (though I see another last-minute tour opening on the weekend.) Still sweeping dog hair after the bath. Working on eBay things, and taking more time for the jigsaw puzzle. For a couple of weeks I've dabbled with a new 1000 piece puzzle from The Oatmeal; they're clever but not so difficult that they take forever. I'm finally moving the loose pieces toward the outer edges of the table as I get the edges in place (only half of it so far). And I put a fluffy bath mat on the floor in front of that table for when I'm barefoot (as I was today). And I was quickly joined by a dog lying next to my foot on that mat - I knew that would happen.

We have a slightly cooler day today and I'm going to get more mulch before hopping into the shower. Might as well finish the sweaty stuff before cleaning up. In the house that sewing machine isn't quite part of the sweaty stuff, but it does involve some heavy lifting. I've finished the photos and description and now I've rounded up boxes and tough scrap styrofoam for lining a sturdy case for shipping. Once I have it packed I can weigh and measure and list - chances are the shipping is going to cost about half as much as the listing price. There is no free shipping of cast iron sewing machines.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Aug 24 - 02:20 PM

The light-headedness is from low blood sodium — hyponatraemia. I went to the doctor and she ordered a whack of lab work, which is why I know sodium is the culprit. My blood pressure and blood gases are normal. I’ve kept a food diary for years.

One of the effects of ketosis is a change in the body’s tendency to retain water — in short, you urinate more. So electrolyte replenishment has to be part of the plan. Hence the Gatorade.

Come to think about it, I’d rather drink Gatorade than take salt tablets, which is what we did back in my military youth.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Aug 24 - 04:16 PM

Good you have that answer then! Sorry to nag about it here, but you're too far away to run over and check on. I had a bottle of salt tablets in my climbing gear to combat leg cramps that could make life difficult on long climbs. Those things last forever; I haven't looked in the backpack in years - I wonder what is still in there? It's probably full of mud dauber nests - they build on anything, including fabric.

I cluttered the garage with several burlap bags of mulch picked up from the free compost bunker nearby. I had to drive a convoluted route to get there as highway construction intrudes on entrance and exit ramps in my area.

Online work this afternoon then sewing this evening. Since it's Wednesday, one of my allowed watering days, I'll also set a timer and run out several times after 5pm to move the sprinkler around, focusing on the areas I want to weed and mulch. The soil is rock hard these days, there's no pulling out roots of weeds unless I water.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 24 - 11:12 AM

Decluttered wallet of annual home warranty payment. Two years ago it paid to repair the dryer, this year was smaller, it helped with the roto rooter of the house line. I am getting close to paying off the new heat pump but there's an old one that I hope keeps going for a long time, but can't count on and they will be a big participant in the replacement.

I also wrote a check. Amazing that. The new checks were ordered after I got rid of the PO Box address last year, and it's the first one out of the packet to be written. (The dentist miscalculated a copay.) I used to write a check for my hairdresser who prefers not to take credit cards, but mostly I just give her cash. The last time I saw her I apologized for including about $10 in ones, but her now-seven-year-old daughter seems to prefer folding money to the dollar coins she used to love in plastic Easter eggs. She does chores and gets paid bills and is saving up for a specific toy. Good to know - I still have an envelope of about $50 in ones from setup for a garage sale that never happened. (And I can do a happy dance this month - for the first year in about 25 I'm not paying the post office for the box! It was $250 last year.)

Back to working the styrofoam for the sewing machine. It is coming along. Last year I ordered a heavy-duty paper cutter for my daughter (who makes custom books as a hobby) and the box had "HEAVY" stickers on a couple of sides. I'll have to print something like that to tape on this box. And if it goes in the mail, help carry it to the truck with my mail carrier who is a tiny Vietnamese man who would blow away in a high wind.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Aug 24 - 04:50 PM

This afternoon I suspended other activities and made myself stay put and finish reading the Taubes book. It's dense and I read slowly, and the book now has upwards of three dozen post-it notes poking out from pages so I can find topics I might want to revisit.

This paragraph precedes a list of 10 conclusions:

Throughout this research, I tried to follow the facts wherever they led. In writing the book, I have tried to let the science and the evidence speak for themselves. When I began my research, I had no idea that I would come to believe that obesity in not caused by eating too much, or that exercise is not a means of prevention. Nor did I believe that diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's could possibly be caused by the consumption of refined carbohydrates and sugars. I had no idea that I would find the quality of the research on nutrition, obesity, and chronic disease to be so inadequate; that so much of the conventional wisdom would be founded on so little substantial evidence; and that, once it was, the researchers and the public-health authorities who funded the research would no longer see any reason to challenge this conventional wisdom and so to test its validity.

It's a good idea to read this book through; the list of conclusions is a nice summary after reading, but I wouldn't have picked up most of the details I found helpful. Things I've heard but didn't have the full information. He discussed the classic Pavlovian research on dogs - for humans hunger can hit with the smell of food. When you smell something good there is "a reflexive release of insulin"(443). That clears out whatever blood sugar or fats your system was using for energy. Depending on what you eat, the insulin subsides or it increases. If you eat carbs, you end up with a lot more insulin in your system and it messes up how you use the existing metabolic fats. Low carb eating means the meats and fats you ingest fuel your system without the insulin.

If you eat processed carbs they hit the bloodstream and brain fast. If you eat fruits and vegetables and whole grains they offer fiber and liquid and break down so slowly by comparison they don't cause as much of an insulin hit. Also - I learned why artificial sweeteners can be a problem - not just because they are chemicals. It's because when you taste something sweet you end up with that same metabolic insulin rush. See me being more careful with those monkfruit drops - enough to take the tart out of the yogurt, not so much to make it taste like a sweet dessert. The extra insulin isn't good for you. It's why I'm also going to take the evening Scotch out of the diet again. The enzymes that break down alcohol have a similar effect as insulin and sugar; the oxidation effect can add up if anything else is awry.   

There's still a little of the business day left. Let's see if I can get a couple of things taken care of before the official start of the weekend.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Aug 24 - 09:07 PM

Today, for the first time in a while, I feel clear of head and steady on my feet — or at least as steady as I normally do. I guess the Gatorade is kicking in.

I’m sorry you feel compelled to suspend your evening tot, Stilly. I’m no toper, but I would feel excessively deprived if I had to give up my occasional glass of wine or slug of hard stuff. It doesn’t kick me out of ketosis, and I continue to feel digestively fine with no cravings or other forms of disordered eating behaviour, so I’ll just stick with the routine I’ve established.

I have only 3.4 Kg to go on the weight-loss front and my innards are behaving better than they have in years, so I’ll soon resume eating some of the higher-carb foods I’ve been avoiding — milk first, then more veg and fruit. I have missed peach season this year (*sob*).

On the declutter front, I’m just about ready to square up to what remains of our 30-year accumulation of CDs. The classical music is gone, and the pop and rock stuff that Edmund’s brother likes, so now it’s down to the hard-core folk and the truly weird stuff. I have boxes and tape, and I’m not afraid to use them!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Aug 24 - 07:20 PM

In the literature it looks like the keto diet folks have a glass of wine in the "allowed" carbs category, and when I weigh the options of no carbs in Scotch or some in a single glass of wine, I think wine is a better choice when few and far between to avoid much reaction to sulfites. Wine blends in with meals, where as the Scotch (for me) is timed differently, usually not with food, but before or after. The pushback against how spirits are metabolized and how they hit your gut flora is something I came across in my most recent foray into the science of it.

Meanwhile, in another section of the kitchen, not all proteins are alike and I am looking at the sodium levels as important markers regarding the problems of processed foods. Cheese has a lot of sodium, but when compared to things like dry Italian salami (I have loved it on pizzas or sandwiches or plain - a snack plate of salami and dill pickles and a side of cheese . . . mmm!) the salami is so processed it does more bodily harm, joining the list of foods that will be purchased infrequently.

I finished the last of the nectarines and tomatoes today. I'm sorry you had to exclude peaches for your diet, they're such a great part of summer! I have to head to the store this evening, and the main thing while there is to not get carried away in the produce section. The size of servings is the main thing that lets a variety of fruits and vegetables stay in the diet. (Though I do load up on produce for the dogs also.)

Recycling was dropped off today and dishes and laundry are ahead.

Dorothy, how is it going? Patty, did you get a good family visit and are you headed back west one of these days? Sandra, Jennie, what is up in your parts of the world? Jon, how are you these days? We haven't heard from Donuel in forever, I look to see if he has visited as a guest but nothing for a while. All of you - don't be strangers!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 24 - 01:59 PM

I was playing with the non-AI access to the Google search this morning and decided to drop in a question about Keto diet - how much meat is enough or too much versus other foods.

I have no idea what this "Greatist" site is (part of the Healthline group of sites), but the answer seems to offer reasonable advice. 8 Mistakes Every Keto Beginner Makes (and How to Avoid Them). Topic 4 - Not staying salty - seems to address the problem Charmion was having.

I pulled up the article because after shopping yesterday I want to portion and freeze the chicken and pork I brought home. The fish I buy frozen is usually in ~ 5 to 6 ounce portions, so checking to see how much is best versus too much in these other protein sources. (I'll portion and freeze the meat then bag it instead of putting each portion in its own bag (that uses too much plastic.) It looks like the 4-5 ounce portion is fine, but the important part is that putting "enough" olive oil in to fry (a couple of teaspoons) is actually not the right answer - putting in a bit extra because the higher proportion of fat is what really does the heavy lifting in the diet.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 24 - 06:01 PM

Cutting Styrofoam chunks into pieces to support parts of the sewing machine requires frequent going-over of the work area with the vacuum. The finished package won't be so large as any of the chandeliers I sold via eBay but it will be cumbersome. A box inside another padded box, to play it safe.

Trash day tomorrow and I still don't have a lot to go out (other than off-cuts of Styrofoam) so I'll step out to the front curb in a bit with the hand pruners and lop some of the woody things sprouting along the street that the code enforcement folks are going to complain about one of these days. I can tuck them into the can instead of tote them back to the compost.

A big birthday is coming up, but not THAT big, so it is heartbreaking to see that in the last couple of weeks three of my high school classmates passed away. When I was in high school I couldn't imagine how ancient I'd be by the year 2000, let alone all of these other decades later. Perspective and experience we gain along the way, and I don't know the stories of each of those folks, but still, I do know that they died too young.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Aug 24 - 06:08 PM

Not *every* keto beginner makes all those mistakes, and my low-sodium problem showed up more than four months in.

The article missed two important mistakes — not using a macro tracker, and not weighing portions.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 24 - 08:12 PM

Those things didn't occur to me - because I've been doing them for years, but you're right. If you don't read labels and weigh food you're in the dark. MyFitnessPal is free (yes, ignore the ads) and is a great tool. I started using it to track my calcium, and have shifted the settings over time to watch protein, carbs, and sodium also.

Out of curiosity this evening I sprinkled a little regular table salt over my piece of sockeye salmon - and it was way too salty. Had to rub off some of it. With the wheat and most of the sugar out of my diet I notice my blood pressure is lower. I'll measure it this evening to see if it shows up via higher levels. I do get salt in and on other foods and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Come to think of it, it has been quite a while since I noticed any of the occasional side effects from the ADHD meds.

The ugly bulk around the sewing machine has grown, and as I add a new layers of Styrofoam and wrap it with my Uhaul cellophane it actually looks like it might ship ok.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 24 - 11:05 PM

The ugly inner box is packed and padded and taped. A larger flattened box pulled from behind the upright grand piano will work as the outer box - once I figure how to pad inside it. It may involve several kinds of materials. This is to be expected. The box that my new sewing machine came in was gigantic—with fewer articles included with the antique machine, this is just huge.

Dorothy, have you had any help with boxes being moved for you, to sort out your books and pots and such? Did your pottery sale go well (I think you were going to send some to someone to sell?)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Aug 24 - 09:41 AM

Argh the people putting in my new ceiling plastic-sheeted the kitchen so it looked as if they could dismember bodies in it, and the plaster dust still got into closed cabinets and, for instance, filled my muffin tins.

Everything out of all cabinets. Clean cabinets. Clean everything. Put back. Well, a chance to reorganize...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Aug 24 - 11:31 AM

Mrrzy, they did that before my new office ceiling maybe five years ago. Whatever tape they used to hold down those sheets has real sticking power - I still haven't scrubbed all of it off of the tiles in the hall. Maybe GooGone? Anyway, congratulations on the ceiling and you'll enjoy your organized cabinets.

In recent weeks the trash pickup has been early; I sometimes miss it if I only have a small bag to put out that morning. If I use the can it goes out the night before because coyotes and dogs don't bother it. This morning I got up early enough to cut and pull weed tree saplings from the iris beds to fill the mostly empty can. I'm cooling off now and I hear the trash truck approach. Win/win!

Last night I spoke with an old NPS friend; we met in New York City many years ago when we worked in New York Harbor - I at Ellis Island NM, she at Jersey City State Park. We've been rangering all over the country since then and settled 1200 miles apart, but when we get talking it's like picking up from the last time. One thing that has complicated contact with her is that she rarely uses email, and had an old flip phone, unreliable voicemail on her house phone, and never did texts or anything. But she finally got a smartphone! It was a good clear connection! After our call I texted her photos of a couple of the books we talked about. It's an occasion to celebrate when a friend joins the 21st century, and she has a remarkable stories to tell each time we visit. Who knows, maybe one of these days she'll get an app that lets us do video calls (she has an Apple phone, I have Android, so it will have to be Messenger or something - she isn't real conversant with all of the apps yet.) Instagram does video calls. Maybe she can start small with that. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Aug 24 - 01:27 PM

The computer has been really sluggish lately, so I went in this morning and cleared the cache. The default browser is Chrome, and it got rid of several hundred megabytes of stuff (I left my cookies and history). But to see if it had a different result, I also went into Firefox and that browser had nearly a Gig of cache to dump (again, keeping history and cookies.) Hmmm. What other browsers should I clean out? I use several, but these two are the main ones.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Aug 24 - 02:50 PM

Mac life is so much simpler: the browser is Safari. Period.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Aug 24 - 01:20 PM

The antique rotary sewing machine is listed. That was a big job, but for someone looking for a well-maintained solid old machine this one will be prized. After this project there will be fragments of Styrofoam floating around the kitchen and den for a while. The main packing box has styrofoam around the machine; that box is in turn set into a larger one and there I used lots of packing a friend provided; it's thick 12" x 12" corrugated sheets of the dissolvable cornstarch that are in plastic bags to keep them dry and used not just for packing but for insulation. She gets frozen cat food packed with these. The amount I used would have kept a couple of month's worth of cat meals frozen. This whole thing should ship as a stable and manageable parcel.

Volunteering today at two places where I usually alternate days. This is the "get dressed in respectable clothes and make the trip once and work at two close-proximity places" experiment.

Patty, how is your travel progressing? Did you empty the storage unit in the Deep South and were you able to fit everything in the trailer smoothly or did it require some shoehorn work and general pushing hard on boxes?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Aug 24 - 04:31 PM

A stack of 11 large media-storage boxes sufficient to hold literally hundreds of CDs has gone off to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, where they were greeted with glad cries. That’s a relief — and another empty space in my basement.

My next task is fall and winter clothing to Goodwill. I’ll probably do that on Thursday.

On Sunday, I will leave Stratford with a car full of odds and ends for a visit with the kin-group in Ottawa. I turn 70 next week (as do you, Stilly), and The Brothers still like to make a fuss of birthdays. I have some family doohickeys and a box of CDs for Elder Bro.

There’s also a duvet filled with genuine goose down that’s far too warm for Stratford’s wussy winter; somebody in much chillier Ottawa will want it. Its absence will create useful space in the linen closet, and it can go packed in a large plastic trunk that’s been cluttering the box room for a while.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Aug 24 - 05:31 PM

I do? ;-D

Birthdays do cause some reflection, and I can see an arc of stuff (a shitload of an arc!) but find that in general things are doing well. At this point I wear the same size clothes I did when I was a senior in high school and some of my clothes are that old that I still wear (mostly outdoors stuff leftover from climbing and backpacking). In between there were a whole bunch of moves, jobs, two children, a bunch of pets, gardens, new skills learned, old skills revisited, and I'm back to my old habit of reading a lot more books (now that I'm turning off the computer way before bedtime.) Looking forward to the next 70 years.

In my mid-20s I was thinner during a very vigorous few years in park and forestry work and some of those clothes are still a bit snug, but I held onto a few of the favorites. One of these days I'll try them on and be surprised they fit or remake garments or finally give them away. Perhaps the birthday week is the time to take those down and evaluate.

This evening I'll be setting up more glassware on eBay. Smaller project, easier to list and pack than cast iron machines.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 27 Aug 24 - 06:33 PM

Well things have gone a bit off track in the journey. I did get back to Mississippi but it took an extra day, and then spent an extra day with relatives here. Today at last was a day to catch up and condense the cabinets. Tomorrow a doc visit, then the loading starts.

But no. The fridge decided last night would be a great time to fail, at a leafy park way off the beaten track.   

I consulted with my distant tech, and there is no quick fix, it'll likely be acquiring and replacing one of two 'boards' in the thing, and rather than spend time and money here and possibly not even get good results, or get delayed weeks by waiting on a part, I went out and got a cooler and some ice, and have saved the important stuff. So far the little freezer compartment is holding its own if I add more ice, but I'll gradually empty that.

So. Wishing I had kept the pan and the canned food on board for this trip! Will be regrouping on what I eat for the next 10 days. Will keep dairy stuff chilled, and rely on produce that doesn't need chilling. Perhaps in this hot weather it'd be best to just buy big fountain drinks and lunches on the road. For dinners, clever healthy ideas welcome.

"The best laid schemess of mice and men gang aft agley."

On the up side, I did reclaim an old all-metal-parts sewing machine my sis-in-law took off my hands in the Great Garage Sale of 2017. She since acquired her mom's and was ready to pass it back. I hope someone appreciates Stilly's venerable machine too.   I remember an aunt helping us get gowns ready for my wedding, using an old (treadle!) machine. Very easy to control, it would never 'run away with you'.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 27 Aug 24 - 06:34 PM

And Happy Birthday!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Aug 24 - 09:19 PM

Thank you, Patty!

Of course the fridge died in hot weather; the canned goods still wouldn't be terribly appetizing this time of year, but good save on the meat and dairy. Cans of tuna wouldn't be so bad if you can mix it up with mayo and pickles for salad or sandwiches. If you have a stove and some bread I imagine this is a time to start making grilled cheese sandwiches with fruit or veggies on the side, with ham or sausage or even cooked bacon added to the sandwich. Open face if you're avoiding carbs. (No pan? Do you have an oven? Toast bread then place it with cheese on foil and broil.) Otherwise, for uncooked meals I look at things like cheese and crackers, again topped with ham or whatever if it is handy. A cold beer or glass of wine with it makes it complete and elegant. And I love a side of fresh kosher pickles with cheese and sausage (if you have room in the cooler).

A tiny thunderstorm just passed over us; enough to make it muggy for the rest of the evening.

At dinner I realized I have just a small space on the table where I can put my plate since the rest of it is stacked with books and mail and boxes. Time to clear that out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Aug 24 - 08:36 PM

The guest room closet has been cleared and the contents packed and loaded into the car for donation tomorrow.

I had second thoughts about a few things: a fully lined woollen skirt (hard to get these days); a somewhat beat-up hunting-style jacket with six (count ‘em — six!) pockets; a greenish tweed jacket; Edmund’s civilian evening suit. I find it much harder to part with winter clothes that fit me even more-or-less — that woollen skirt will require a thick shirt if I don’t want the zipper floating around to the front (or back).

And I find that I don’t actually want to let go of any more of Edmund’s stuff. Not sure why.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Aug 24 - 10:47 PM

It sounds like you've pared down to the essentials, Charmion, the objects to serve you as prompts for stories and memories.

I made another batch of granola after running to the store for a couple of types of nuts, only to realize that I was almost out of oatmeal. I used just one cup (I've been using three) but added a half-cup of ground flax seed (I haven't tried it before). I reduced the amount of oil and honey, but it's still kind of damp. Tomorrow after another trip for oatmeal I may try toasting some and mixing it in. For now most of the batch is in the freezer and part is in a bin on the counter to see how it looks in the morning. It tastes good. Very low carb at this point.

The kitchen table is a little better after tossing old mail and papers into the recycling bin, but there is more to do. The books are for a care package to my son soon, so I suppose I could get a box and start loading it (someplace other than on the table).

Humid around here today; that rain all seems to have stayed suspended in the air, didn't soak into the yard.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Aug 24 - 12:34 PM

Good news - overnight the oil was absorbed into the granola uniformly so it isn't soggy. It is good, and mostly seeds and nuts. It's a great source of fiber so I use a bit of it every day, trying to stay under 30 grams of carbs but about half the time landing in the 30-60 grams range. That's still way lower than the typical Western diet.

A note on an earlier conversation - some part of this new way of eating, whether the high protein or no-wheat part, does help my finger nails. They're much stronger now (in addition to the toe fungus nail cleared up).

The rain chance is increasing and the temperature dropping this week. Our next few days are in the low-to-mid 90s, and next week maybe into the low-80s. That's very nice for early September. Extended forecast is higher again, but we'll take what we can get. I have some things to put in the garden to grow for fall and winter, and may finally have good conditions for it.

Yesterday was a replay of a sewing program on PBS that I really wanted a copy of, but can't find a way to get it online. So I recorded 17 minutes with my phone then uploaded to my Outlook account. Unfortunately the upload continued after I left the house WiFi to go to the store so my phone company alerted me that I've gone way over the amount I try to stay under. It's going to cost me an extra $12 on the phone bill this month, but the program was worth it. (I could buy the whole series on DVD for about $50, but this was the only bit so far I wanted.)

I revised a few eBay listings this week, each slightly downward by just a couple of dollars. Sometimes that's all it takes to finally nudge sales. The sewing machine is getting views (and on any of these things all it takes is one - the right one - to make the sale.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Aug 24 - 01:46 PM

It's a week for cooking oil adventures. Rinsing a few dishes before heading out - the casserole with chicken grease provided quite a splash onto the knit top I was going to wear today. Grrrr. Have set that shirt to rest with spots of dish soap on the affected areas and am dressed again. No more dishes before heading out the door.

I missed the trash this morning, I had only a tiny bag to go but it has the wrapper from chicken - so - stinky soon. Out to the can it goes until early next week.

There are several things that need listing on the free groups, but I list them when I have a couple of days at home, it's easier to put stuff on the porch just ahead of arrival that way. Better than to tell someone where I live but I won't be home until whenever to put the items out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Aug 24 - 08:16 AM

I cleaned my bedroom yesterday, doing the full Monty — everything dusted, furniture out from the wall, baseboards and floor thoroughly mopped. Holy Dinah, the quantities of cat hair under the bed — !

The parlour and dining room are due for the same treatment today. When I finish, I shall have a lamb chop and a large glass of Médoc.

Why all this sudden flurry? I don’t want the cat visitor to think I’m a slob. Sweet are the appropriate uses of bourgeois pride.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 24 - 12:01 PM

Congratulations on getting the cat hair from under the bed. I have underbed storage and some long wood side panels of antique bed frames under the modern beds in my house and any gaps between all of those things are probably caulked full with dog hair.

Pepper is shedding at a rate that seems impossible - how can one dog have that much hair? And it's summer! The Furminator worked on Zeke with his dense and complex Lab coat, but hers is patches of black shorter fine alternating with long merle guard hairs, and each color has a different density. Amazon has various brushes - I've searched for one best suited to her - brushing a wide swath with a bunch of little wires (tipped or no - that's one consideration for her tender skin) to be able to get a lot in the short amount of time she will tolerate my brushing her. Or one that she really likes and doesn't mind if I do it.

I could use a tape lint roller on Cookie if she needed a cleanup.

Two more games dropped off at the public library. They keep them on a shelf at the front desk and anyone can ask to use them - games stay there in the library, making it easier to keep track of parts and the sheet of rules.

I'm working my way through the Taubes Case for Keto and had a moment of philosophical inspiration on the current chapter. I've read enough of his descriptions of how the old thinking is incorrect but doctors and science keeps trying to follow that same path - calories in, calories out; eat less, lose weight - it's like how other things are done in our Western culture. Cities have congested highways so they add more lanes. More lanes won't make a difference, it's the same old thing. A different answer is to change how we get around. You see the correlation? The new lanes aren't working because the real problem is we must move more people with fewer resources. The science of how we process carbs makes a good case for dropping that part of the food pyramid or whatever shape de jour; the science of how to get all people to appreciate rapid transit (not just the segment of the population that can't afford cars). Paradigm shifts in both cases. (That kind of shift is also what is called for to remedy some of the US' political issues now, but I'll stop there.)

This weekend's overcast days are fine - it's cooler, and rain is predicted for the Monday holiday - that would be wonderful!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Aug 24 - 07:21 PM

Yes, I get it, Stilly.

Both cases demonstrate a very common logic error known in philosophy circles as “begging the question”, which means assuming as necessary the very factor that should be questioned most closely. The diet case assumes that humans should eat a carb-heavy diet, and the highway case assumes that modern First World middle-class people should be encouraged to travel by personal car.

Of course, wide-spread abandonment of a life-style based on cheap carbs and personal motor vehicles would kick jeezly great holes in our economy.

The car is stuffed with stuff bound for the Ottawa-based branches of the family, and the refrigerator is down to food that keeps. I have completed all my various choir-related devoirs, and packed my bag. I still have to shove in the mandolin somewhere; there’s session I like within staggering distance of Elder Brother’s house.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 24 - 07:41 PM

Safe travels to Ottawa and may your mandolin always be in tune!

Every so often I swap out the pocketbook/purse/shoulder pack I'm using, and today was that day. It lets me see what needs to be removed from the stash I lug around and what needs adding. It's also the time I take the battery backup I carry for mostly the phone or tablet and charge it. (I have on occasion pulled it out for friend of family to use for a quick charge when away from an electrical outlet. After someone did that favor for me.)

I'm testing another flavor of dog food for Pepper by introducing as an occasional treat a handful at a time. I'll do that for a couple of days then put it in her meal bowl and see if she likes it. She seems to have issues with the one I'm giving her now. I'm trying to stay grain-free (it seems the least I can do - if I'm not on gluten my dogs don't need it either.)

It's Saturday night and I was looking forward to some of the PBS mysteries, but damn - it's pledge break. Ancient rocker concerts are on the program guide tonight. Time for NetFlix.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 24 - 11:00 AM

Even with hot weather I can feel the changing of the seasons (the quality of the light this time of year) - I found myself charging a couple of other backup devices around the house. The Stanley Power Supply for lamps and a radio is now fully-charged, and I have a few other things around the house (a Thermos camping lantern, etc.) to round up and charge. Even with the nextdoor generator in the back yard and a cord run between us during outages it still pays to be ready. All it takes is for them to be out of town on a cruise and I'm back to square one.

The batch of purple Duratuff goblets I listed on eBay a few weeks ago are just about perfect - as close to new condition without being new as possible, so I'll leave them at a higher price. But the current set of small purple tumblers are smooth with a few scratches (they were probably stacked over the top of each other). More condition descriptions required for these puppies for a lower return, but they will clear some space when they go. That's my weekend project. I did revise one handbag listing; I did a search to see how many others of that brand are for sale and realized I'd buried the lede - the name of the maker was at the end of the list of attributes. Fixed that.

It feels real now—the calendar page is turned to September. As a kid I was torn - any kind of birthday celebration was overshadowed by the end of the summer break from school. My birthday often coincided with the first day, at least the first week. It was too early in the year for the teacher to know and invite my Mom to supply cupcakes for the class to celebrate, like they did for others later. Then about 25 years ago I had a cancer diagnosis (and it was this time of year) that after a couple of surgeries was gone; I realized every year after that was a gift. So here comes 70, and it is what it is.

As a gift to myself and the kitchen I finally evicted the puny dying Pothos sprouts in a pot near the back kitchen window, stirred the soil then put in some water-rooted Spider Plants (also called Airplane plants for the sprouts they send out with new little plants on the end). These plants have been in a container on the window over the sink all summer and needed planting. There's one other Pothos in that area that is doing a bit better but I'll take it down and repot it for a boost.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 02 Sep 24 - 10:52 AM

This week has not gone well. Didn't feel well from some mild bug, then Doc removed a few basal cell cancers, storms, power outage, heat, humidity, and an old friend let me down. The only place that sold block ice shut down for a couple days, a machine I knew of and wasted time driving to was out of order, it's a whole project just lining up ice.   

Today and tomorrow are the last two packing days. Trying to squeeze half of the climate control stuff into the RV for safer transport. Getting the rest ready to put in cargo.

It's just tough weather for this; while the temp finally went down to 90 the humidity shot up. It's dripping-sweat weather.

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

Shame on that old friend! I'm sorry for the rough week, Patty, but it is a good thing you have someone to remove the basal cells (not intending to be Pollyanna here, just grateful you have good medical care!); I hope you get a reliable source of ice soon. No truck stops in the area you're staying? Are there Walmart or Home Depot in the area with small AC/DC fridges? Or is it all moot by Tuesday if you can get in for a repair or replacement?

We had some of your rain last night and the humidity today, it seems to come from a slow counter-clockwise circling thing off of the Gulf (our weather usually comes from the SW.)

I'm still working my way through Taubes' The Case for Keto and am glad to see that he distilled down the highly detailed material in Good Calories, Bad Calories. And while he doesn't offer recipes, his information helps inform shopping and cooking. I'm in the habit of buying lean meat and boneless skinless chicken breasts, but while protein is needed for our tissue growth and repair, too much lean protein

is composed of amino acids, and these can be converted to glucose in the liver and then stimulate insulin secretion. This is a slower process than eating refined grains or drinking sugary liquids, but the result is still likely to be at least some insulin secretion⁽¹⁸⁹⁾.

So the lean chicken and beef and pork in the freezer will be used in dishes that have oil in the sauces or cheese on top, to balance out the amount of fat consumed in conjunction to the meat portion. Too much lean meat is counter to the project. I'll be buying and baking more skin-on chicken leg quarters (my favorite parts when I buy rotisserie chickens).

One of our occasional members Lily Festre has been sharing from a Keto diet site on Facebook; while I don't believe I'll ever end up on a Keto diet, many of these recipes will keep the carbs down or out. (And in her photos shared she looks very healthy - it's working for her.) Today there was a kielbasa, cheese, and cauliflower soup that sounded very good (and you could easily swap out broccoli for a change.) I'm aiming at a low-carb diet with healthy fruits and vegetables, no wheat. I don't have a lot of weight to lose so just changing how I eat will manage to drop those pounds. Most of my life I was the "lean" description, it was after children that I gained, and even then it was still not obese. So I'll eat accordingly, assuming I can tolerate some carbohydrates.

Meanwhile in Declutter land, the trash was picked up and in it I got rid of a few things that were taking up space and not donatable. I have two more games to take over to my main library, puzzles to take to another library branch, and several things to list on the Buy Nothing page. I changed my mind about one game when I looked inside and saw lots of used scorecards. The kids played it a lot as teens so might enjoy it as adults also. I can see them with their spouses playing something like this on a holiday visit.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Sep 24 - 03:08 PM

Dupont:

Too tired to ... I have done a couple five minute tasks on this lovely cool fall day! And R has done a terrific job of de-cluttering the front of the house: the rotting wooden porch and steps that someone placed over the ancient concrete steps is de-constructed and stacked on the front lawn! It is a secondary entrance This was a nuisance to me as it had become put-you-foot-through-it dangerous; I could no longer even sit on it and could not get out of the house by that door due to the railing. I innocently commented on wishing to be rid of it and LO! He gathered tools and Bye Bye! I wonder if it will occur to him that it needs a new platform just big enough for a chair or two on warmer days. The old concrete is pretty raggedy. It is on south side of house so there will be cool days when I can sit in the sun!

OK! been up 5 hours and going back to bed for a bit.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 24 - 06:49 PM

Dorothy, you may need to also innocently remark about that new platform for the chair! Good work!

Charmion, has the light-headedness cleared up? And are you pretty close to your goal by now? It's September in Canada, so I suppose you've looked at the lined jeans and flannel shirts in the closet? Do they all fit?

Patty, when do you expect to be back in New Mexico? Will you have help unloading stuff at the house and do you have the various furnishings you need to have a comfortable new home for the foreseeable future? I'm so thrilled to think of you getting set up and settled in and figuring out all of the various community offerings.

September in Texas means it's usually in the 80s or 90s. With today's rain passing through the area it is a lovely 82^o right now. (Tomorrow's high is forecast to be "much cooler" at 78^o. I imprinted on what I consider reasonable temperatures when living in the Seattle area so I am not convinced that is "much cooler.") Anyway, this afternoon I dug up about a square yard of the bed beside the front walk and set aside more than a gallon of daffodil bulbs to use later. I worked until I filled a 20-gallon bin I use for weeds and dug to the edge of the patch of crinum lilies. I'll work more tomorrow, now that we've had rain and it's a little cooler. The goal for today was to clear a spot that would be behind my League of Women Voters sign that says "Vote as if Democracy Depends on It!" and it is in place.

I started the job using my new ('23?) spade fork and darned if the neck on the thing didn't bend! It's a Craftsman, but clearly not the kind of sturdy tool that Sears used to sell. This came from Lowes and I kept the "lifetime warranty" information so it will be returned later this week. Since I have a couple of other really old (but apparently more reliable) spade forks I got out one of those. There is one in the greenhouse for the back yard and one in the garage for use in the front yard, and one that has 3 of the four tines left that I often use to prop up things in the garden. I bought the new one when I was thinking of discarding the 3-tined one. Oh, well.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Sep 24 - 10:35 AM

Dupont:

Ah yes! A platform! But we have agreed that the top step area will be a great place for this year's firewood! If I use the right words to encourage him to pick up a load in his pickup truck! The area inside that door is a hall with ceramic tile floor and close to the den/the wood stove. And it faces south so less snow, and quick and easy to grab wood and bring it the 15 feet to the Den. The back deck was always snow covered/north facing. And, since he parked a large travel trailer in the drive - hard to get in with a truck. NOW, a load of wood - soon! In the right tone of voice?

My physical condition has deteriorated in the 3 weeks of the fancy med. I am keeping an eye on how I feel during this week off. Today is starting out OK.

Hearing aids are a real plus. Interestingly, visiting with a couple on Sunday, I understood Jim and his woman but had trouble with R! But they are an improvement.

I love this fall weather- crisp and cool.

I managed to make mashed potatoes, and gravy (from chicken drippings)last night then went to Bed about 7 and read until "pill time" (9:30) My travails with tech - somehow I have managed to get notifications operative! These "small" things make life feel more manageable.

Next Monday, blood tests and oncologist to find out how things are going.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Sep 24 - 11:45 AM

Chemo is one of those cures that is about as bad as the illness; one day at a time - I hope Monday's tests are stunningly good (and congratulations on the hearing aids and getting the pill notifications to work on the phone!)

Yesterday I pulled up a broken up piece of the base of a pine tree I had cut down a few years ago and found it riddled with termites. I'll have to keep an eye on them that they don't migrate to the house (also a reason for not piling the firewood on the porch of the house. But there are different types of termites, so the ground ones may not be the house ones.)

Keb, have you made progress on downsizing the apartment contents, and is the estate settling moving along (not at a Dickensian pace)?

Steady rain overnight and today - a perfect gift from the weather gods (so much more productive to have it soak in slowly than the hit-and-run effect of heavy thunderstorms). There's a lot of gardening weather remaining (two to three months) and this is perfect for softening of the soil and transition to fast-growing salad greens, chard, and beans and such. The house is very humid at the moment.

I pulled the blue wading pool in front of my office window, intending to add the little floating fountain. It's at the side of a tree and overnight the rain washed lots of green dust out of the tree into the water. I may decide to give up on that plan and put the pool away again. There's usually a grace period from when I fill it to when I have to start washing out algae; this may be a sign.

The batch of purple goblets sold on eBay this morning and the box is on the front porch (on a block against the porch wall to keep it out of any rain splash). I got them for .89 each (plus tax) so $45 for $7 of glasses is a nice profit.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Sep 24 - 10:41 PM

Success breeds success - things on eBay tend to sell in batches. Another item was purchased this afternoon and is ready to go in the mail tomorrow.

This evening I made a push to clean the kitchen. I ran the dishwasher and soaked the faucet/hose nozzle in vinegar to clear up the limestone crust. Each sink has a silicone pad thing to keep pans from chipping or scratching it and they benefit from a trip through the dishwasher. Sinks were scrubbed with cleanser as were the counters and stuff was put away. It will be an inviting space for my future self for the rest of the week (at least).

Two more games and two puzzles are in the car to be dropped off at libraries tomorrow, and an invitation was sent to an old friend to meet for lunch. That would be a treat - I haven't seen her in ages, we reconnected via email earlier this year through a mutual friend. The rest of the week has social and volunteering activity, something I've been kind of a slacker on this summer. I'm picking up the pace now that I have cleared the lethargy-inducing statins from my system.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 04 Sep 24 - 09:20 AM

Well done on the purple goblets!

Things continued to get worse as I spent a couple of scorching hours trying to get my hitch to work. Finally gave up but not before taking photos of the underside. Researched online, which has become so difficult since the crapification of search. But, finally realized, yes my coupler latch was not functioning correctly. The good news, an excellent hitch mechanic was less than ten miles from the issue.

Since the 'schedule' has been blown to bits, might as well drop into low gear and keep my health and sanity. So, got the engine serviced and tires double-checked, knocked out the laundry with the residual left on one of those stupid cards some places make you buy, and then went to see the trailer people.   I was advised to raise the latch handle and whack it with a hammer because the dealybob was jammed.

Anyway, happy ending to yesterday, I did get hitched up, though it still took forever because having to thread a tiny needle getting the ball in socket yet forward of the dealybob. Musta climbed in and out of that cab 30 times, and 50 the day before. On level ground I could have manhandled the thing into place, but not with trailer on a downslope, weight and gravity against me.

Reported back to the wonderful trailer shop, where they cheeerfully examined it and greased all the parts that needed it. Apparently I need to get a little pot of lithium grease.

I am off this morning to load, my back not feeling good because Igloo and Wal-mart think it's okay to sell a large cooler with no drain valve (no it never crossed my mind to check for this). So I've had to heft it over to the door to drain, and it's too much deal weight for me.   Last night I bailed it into a bucket instead. But hey, Igloo made an extra 50 cents profit by leaving out the pesky drain plug, so I hope their CEO is a little more comfortable in his Hampton beach house.

I should waste more time returning the thing, but then where does the stuff sit til I can accomplish that? Yes the mini-fridge would have been a better option, but I did not realize things would drag on so long and weirdly.   

I did find a great ice machine closer by, which has been a big help. It's funny, it is festooned with big signs saying 'don't leave your trash here', fancy graphics and all. People leave beer cases etc. Seems like installing a trash can would have been cheaper and more effective than the signs!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 24 - 12:52 PM

Patty, my back aches just from reading that account! Did you know they make little battery power pumps that you can find at Harbor Freight, that will pump the liquid from the bottom of your cooler? I have one I used for a while with a rain barrel that had no hole on the side, I just pumped from the hole on top into a bucket to pour on my potted plants. Look up "transfer pump." I've had a couple of types - this kind works well. I see one under the "Jobar" brand at Walmart, $13. I just looked at Tractor Supply - waaaay overpriced.

I'm finishing some baking this morning, an acorn squash for meals this week and a small batch of almost sugar-free bread pudding. I used Stevia and Monkfruit drops, and a teaspoon of brown sugar just in case there is a chemical property that the sugar adds to make custards work. Next time I'll make it without entirely. The "bread" is a non-wheat half of a bagel (that was never very good at being a bagel consistency-wise.)

Headed out in a bit for an appointment then to drop off puzzles and games. And a parcel I forgot to have on the porch in time for the postal carrier this morning (unless he swings back by the house before I leave for the doctor; his route brings him past two more times after he delivers here.)

Clearly doing a low-carb diet means buying smaller quantities of some types of fruits and vegetables. I finished a Bartlett pear this morning from a Costco box, the last couple were very ripe because I've paced myself in how often I eat them. I had a largish bag of Costco asparagus that I was able to use it all before it was squishy. I'll be baking banana bread (with all of the usual ingredients) as a gift later this week when family gets together for a joint birthday lunch. I have frozen bananas and flour to use up and they're still eating all of the usual stuff. That's one way to clear it out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 24 - 09:45 PM

Weigh-in at the doctor's office today had me down by six pounds since my appointment in March. Maintaining my desired weight with a low-carb diet (leaning heavily on the Keto influence in order to avoid the inflammation from wheat and sugar) is clearly where I'm headed. I still use a lot of dairy (cheese and yogurt) for the calcium (for my bone health); Keto is more rigid on some of those foods. I remember Charmion noting ages ago that she read that whole milk was better to use in that you might not feel as hungry during the day (don't quote me quoting her) - anyway, today was a confirmation since the record shows that I lost weight and for me the high-fat products are a good choice because I'm not feeling hungry.

Puzzles dropped off at the library, and the use of them clarified: they don't lend them, they have one set up on a table and people can come and go and work on them when they're there. So the 1000 piece puzzles aren't a problem, it's not like one person has to do the whole puzzle in one library visit. (We had puzzles set up like that in the library staff lounge at the university, and during finals week they opened the door to our lounge for students to use the space, and invariably they headed for and finished our jigsaw puzzles.) Anyway, I dropped off two puzzles that I really enjoyed assembling so I anticipate that joy spreading to others working on them (and they can look up the company and order their own if they really want some of their own.)

Tomorrow games will be donated to my branch library then I drive downtown to scan at a museum and the botanic garden libraries. Doing both volunteer jobs in one day is working out as a good way to manage my time. I'll take in my bluetooth headphones though I will only be able to listen to music, not a book - you have to pay attention to the metadata and when you're doing that it cuts out following the audiobook. I'm on the WiFi at the museum; if I can get onto the WiFi and the Botanic Garden then I'm set and have lots of choices with Sirius/XM on my phone. A scanner note: I've worked on the same files at the museum for four years and am about to start on the fourth of eleven gigantic boxes; just me scanning and adding metadata. At the Botanic Garden the boxes are tiny by comparison and other people can end up working on your project: I find that a little off-putting. I'll have to figure out a way to start and finish a box in one sitting.)

I'll close with a remark from an NPR program I listened to today. Krys interviewed Daniel Levitin, a neuroscientist and musician, who has a book with the MOST PERFECT TITLE for the subject: I Heard There Was A Secret Chord: Music as Medicine. One of the points that came up in the interview is that people who sing in groups like chorus or choirs—lots of brain-happy hormones are secreted when people sing together. For Keb and Charmion who do that kind of singing, I'm glad to share that there is a big brain-health bump from the work. (You both probably already knew that.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Sep 24 - 03:12 PM

Love that neuroscience validates
the good health of singing in a chorus,
even though it can be strenuous under some circumstances.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 24 - 09:59 PM

Scanning today with disasters large and small happening in my vicinity. At the museum (where I finally started on box #4 of 11, I'm into the thousands of slides scanned) the bathrooms became problematic when water pressure dropped. It seems a sewer replacement job in the street outside the building broke through a large water main. Leaving the parking lot was like driving into a small river in the street, and because it is a historic brick-paved street I imagine the water has managed to pop a lot of bricks out of place (I got out just as it started.)

My second scanning gig is working on a well-funded collection at the Botanic Garden, and the disaster there was that when was setting up to work I realized that when I swapped out the contents of my messenger bag into a shoulder pack the other day I accidentally left behind my Pentel mechanical pencil. I had to use wood pencils and sharpen a couple of times. Library and archives work require pencils, and a really good mechanical pencil is a treasure.

When I arrived home I was astonished to see that my garage door had been open for the several hours I was away - in the past, neighbors would call and offer to close it for me. I always try to remember to close it, but it may be that when I hit the button something made it stop closing and opened again. Sometimes that happens and I don't notice. Thankfully my lawnmower and power tools were still in place - chances are anyone approaching the garage would be barked at by the dogs at the gate and in the garage stall.

Tomorrow is Friday. A family lunch and some shopping are all that are planned. Interesting how a week shortened by a holiday can be as long or longer than a regular one.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Sep 24 - 12:51 PM

I cleared two containers of mashed bananas from the freezer and made four small loaves of banana bread to give to family today. They still eat wheat and sugar and such so I'll put it to good use.

That blue pool for the fountain may be put to use after all (it's a lovely sunny day for a solar floating fountain), but I have to clean out the tree dust in the water first. I had filled it a few inches and there was enough rain to fill it up to the top! The yard will desperately need mowing soon. I can use the exercise.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Sep 24 - 07:14 AM

Agree on the benefits of singing, it's a great thing, and a big bronx cheer to those who scoff at others singing unless they are pros!

Finally got the loading done, the last bit in the rain, then the storage unit cleanout. The great manager agreed to take a few can't-fits and put them in auction or use the shelving for their own storage.

Celebrated with a great meal in Vicksburg, start of a new chapter.

Now slogging my way to Balmorhea, where I pray the weather will still be warm enough for a swim workout. It surprisingly popped up on a search for 'pull-through' sites, they apparently built several new 'eyebrow' type sites. And let us pray that it will actually be open for the first time in years, and not flooded like the central Texas lakes where I usually camp.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 24 - 12:18 PM

Congratulations, Patty, on clearing out the storage locker! That's a monthly savings you'll appreciate from now on in addition to not having to drive there to get stuff. You probably already know, but if you didn't yet go online and get a day pass or camping reservation by calling or using the website. I read recently about decreased numbers of people in the pool at Balmorhea because of the day pass system restricting what were sometimes high numbers. Hopefully if you're camping you automatically have access. Here is the Texas State Parks camping reservation FAQ list.

This morning I finished processing 10 pounds of strawberries I picked up yesterday on a veggie run; I stem them, cut them in halves or quarters and freeze them on a large baking sheet. They'll go into a vacuum bag once they're frozen. Asparagus will be eaten this week, I'm going to dice and freeze some onions for future cooking, and I have tomatoes for eating fresh and for cooking. Also picked up some Brussels sprouts - I eat them when other people cook them but since they're a good keto-style vegetable I should figure out a preparation method I like. I suspect it will involve tossing with olive oil and baking. Suggestions welcome.

After last week's rain I must mow this afternoon. I'm also going to take the hori hori knife out and dig to remove some plugs of tall grass popping up in the groundcover I'm encouraging. Mowing the groundcover to get the grass slows the groundcover I want to spread. There is a lot of trimming to do also around the driveway and I can get out the tiller and prepare a couple of beds to plant Swiss chard and other greens happy to grow here in the fall.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Sep 24 - 09:14 PM

Thanks, did reserve a site and apparently they actually have a gatehouse manned after 4 p.m., unlike many TX S.Ps.

Your laying in of fruit and veg sounds brilliant, good thinking. As far as brussel sprouts, we used to just steam them, bit of butter at the end. First cut an X in the base so that part will cook quick as the rest. I think I've done the roasting technique but don't recall it being worth the extra time or effort.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 24 - 11:24 PM

Good job! The person who posted about Balmorhea is a Texas music aficionado and author (Joe Nick Patoski) who posted in July about the pool. He's a denison of Marfa and the West Texas area; friend of Stevie Ray and Willie and ZZ Top and everyone in between, who loves to visit the local beauty areas.

Trimming, weeding, and mowing out front done, though it wasn't a full job (I didn't take the string trimmer around all of the front yard, I just mowed up and down the curb and driveway in addition to hitting the grass patches in the front yard). The code enforcement guy should have no complaints this week (I haven't had a tag since last year, but once burned, twice shy).

Indoors I've researched stringing pearls (with knots). I have two strings of cultured pearls from great aunts that (according to eBay) are worth a great deal of money now. One is an 15" string 1 centimeter pearls and the other is a 16" double strand of 8mm pearls. And I doubt they've ever been restrung. I don't want 100+ year old silk failing and dropping either of the necklaces, so they need a restring. Jewelers do it, and can offer a more secure clasp than what is on now (and a sterling clasp will have a cost - I can buy one also - it's a toss up). I'll do some calling around before I decide which way to go. I should probably practice stringing with the cheap freshwater pearls I have around here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Sep 24 - 02:38 PM

I'm back at my desk in lovely, leafy Stratford. I went to the Y this morning for pool class, and did a little light housework -- I washed the dishes and polished the brass. Procrastination completed, I am now settled down to answer my email, pay whatever bills I have to pay "by hand" (as it were), but first a visit with the Cat.

I could not access Mudcat at all when I was away because of the licence problem, which bothers an iPad far more than my desktop computer, although that, too, is an Apple machine. So youse all were spared the account of the back spasm that hit me last Tuesday and ruled out about half my agenda. Museums are off limits when one's back is complaining. The return drive was tolerable only because I budgeted more time to rest and loosen my back by hiking around parking lots, but most of Sunday was spent recovering from the coffee I had to drink to stay in my lane even when my biorhythms had hit rock bottom. Edmund was always perky after lunch so he would drive through my post-prandial slump, but now, if I'm to get home by dark, I have to get hopped up on caffeine to push through it.

I'm always glad to come home to a clean(ish) and tidy house, although achieving that state before leaving is always a bit frantic. Last week's back misery is almost certainly the result of carrying the dratted vacuum cleaner around before subjecting my poor old frame to eight hours of road.

The choir season begins this week, and I think I'm ready. Let the games begin!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 24 - 12:44 PM

Charmion, do the cats do any dramatic pouts or spill the water bowl or anything else to protest that you were absent for a while? Refuse to sleep on the bed the first night you're back?

It seems to be a week for paperwork or calls. I tried to return the defective spade-fork to Lowe's but it was purchased in 2023 so I have to call Craftsman instead. In anticipation of that I've taken a few photos for them since I don't imagine they want me to try to mail this back. The bigger job has to do with the mass of SS numbers that ended up on the "dark web" in a recent data dump by a hacker. Ever since a 2019 data breach at one of my banks I've had an identity defense account (awarded as part of a class action settlement) and since this newest breach I started freezing the information that can be shared by lower-tier credit reporting places (did you know that there is a completely different set of those businesses that payday lenders use? Or that the utility companies use?) I told a sibling about this, and after their bank emptied a checking account to a fraudster several states away they want to do the same thing; I must compile the list of those credit reporting companies and send it.

A tropical storm is churning it's way from Mexico along the Texas coast, they're anticipating landfall in Louisiana. I'm assuming Patty is past the LA part of her trip now so will not be in harm's way. The drive across Texas will be remarkably mild, considering September here is often times scorching hot.

We have an ozone air advisory here so I won't walk the dogs as I planned, but I will do a little quiet weeding of the grass out of the horseherb groundcover. I do that a few minutes at a time when I need to stand up from the desk.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Sep 24 - 09:14 PM

Watson and Isobel are old enough now to understand that I habitually come home again, sooner or later, and therefore don’t hold my absences against me. It helps that I always employ a cat-visitor to feed them, top up the water fountain, toss cat toys around, and offer a little lap time. Jane-across-the-street says my current cat-visitor hangs out for at least an hour each time she comes.

Today I conducted a Rite of Fall, the disassembly of the upstairs fans so I could wash and dry the components, put the fans back together, and stow them for the winter. The hot weather still has maybe ten days to run, but overnight conditions are crisp and cool. Last weekend was chilly enough that I wanted the Hudson’s Bay Company blanket on top of the quilt, much to Watson’s delight — that thing is heavy enough to be claw-proof.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 24 - 09:45 PM

I'm playing with the ceiling fan these days, starting on at bedtime but turning it off if I get up to make a bathroom run because it has cooled enough. And I have a light cotton blanket over the top sheet, pushed aside to start with but there to drape over my feet in the early hours if I wake and realize I'm chilly. It's incremental, but better to do this than the expense of running the air conditioner to keep the house cold and use blankets.

This afternoon I spent time weeding crabgrass and sedge out of the groundcover in the middle of the front yard, making the groundcover look much more intentional. I can feel it in my legs and back but the fitness tracker barely budged.

Paperwork today also, and now a lot of mail that has been sitting around needs to be filed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 10 Sep 24 - 10:19 PM

Charmion, my friend in North Bay had a family wedding last weekend - and everyone wore winter coats over their party frocks as the wedding was in a marquee outside. (Probably a reasonable decision when plans were first made!) It was so cold that snow fell on some of the higher hills around town.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Sep 24 - 10:43 PM

It was some nippy in Stratford on Saturday night, Jennie, so I’m not surprised it was snowing around North Bay.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Sep 24 - 11:39 PM

here in the Harbour City, I'm wearing summer gear & carrying my light down jacket which I wear home most evenings when get back 8ish), & still sleeping under my down quilt, still need a bit of warmth at nights, tho sometimes I'm a tad warm when I wake. As it gets warmer I remove the quilt & sleep under a fine wool shawl, then eventually just the sheet. Mid winter I have a thin blanket & a shawl or 2 over the quilt.

sandra (1.30 Wednesday, 20C outside)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Sep 24 - 12:00 AM

ps. yesterday I decluttered half a trolley load of stuff to the charity shop - tho most of it was discards by neighbours, but some was mine!

I took some books with me yesterday but the shop I was heading to was closed for stocktake, & the other charity shop doesn't take books so I'm taking the books out again today.

I'm reminded of a conversation some years back - a friend has been burgled & Police were there. The officer commented on the chaos in her son's room, but it wasn't the result of the intruders searching it - just his normal state.

A lot of the chaos in my living room & bedroom is archival - Australis'a oldest folk club, the Bush Music Club turns 70 in a few weeks. Eventually (if I live long enough!!) much of this mess will find a home in the National Library ...

Of course, I have lotsa' craft stuff that also needs, some to head off ASAP to the craft charity shop, The Sewing Basket & the rest can be distributed between my craft group friends & the Sewing Basket when my sister eventually sorts out my estate ...

I think charity shops will do well when I eventually pop off the twig

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 24 - 06:52 PM

Sandra, your Sewing Basket sounds like a good-works place, along the same lines as one I've been donating craft and teaching stuff, the Welman Project. They offer art and school supplies to teachers (for free). It has materials and some costumes and some stage stuff for school drama departments to borrow when needed. And they have a store at the front where anyone can go in to buy things that will fund the project. I've donated a couple of times now. They're so busy that I made the soonest appointment I could get the last time and had to wait a month to take things over.

Looking through the Welman list I see they can use paint. Hmmm. I have some I'll probably never use again. I also have a bunch of three-ring ex-library binders (but I just checked eBay and they seem to be selling again.)

I spent the afternoon helping my friend who lives downtown. Her apartment management has not done a good job of sending bills and keeping her up-to-date when anything is still owed, and now they want to evict her. The notice that says she should leave by Friday is bullshit, but the next notification (they have to send by postal mail) will give a court date and she needs to attend, so I will take her there. Hopefully by then she'll have an attorney who can make mincemeat of the apartment management. The complex fired their last manager who probably mismanaged this and that tells us they're trying to pull a fast one to get past his mistakes. Anyway, after a quick trip to the legal aid office (all of that is pending), I took her shopping so she could use a couple of gift cards and load up on frozen dinners. As a bonus part of the visit I emptied, cleaned, and refilled her cat boxes. It's a big job, but it's a gift for someone who is disabled and has trouble carrying the used litter to the trash room. I've washed off my arms to remove the last of the litter dust (and I work a mask while I did the job.)

Lots of other things going on here, to be parsed in posts later in the week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 12 Sep 24 - 02:47 AM

In Oz we have 'op shops' - op being short for 'opportunity' - where one can find all manner of 2nd hand goodies, such as Sandra's donations.

This little film was shown during 'Tropfest', a festival for short films, back in 2011. It never fails to make me smile.

Op shop ladies

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 Sep 24 - 10:28 AM

Arrived at home at last, splendid weather. All in good order except the smoke alarm was beeping. Had to borrow a ladder, and this was for the lowest one. Now a bit peeved that 2 others have been set at 10' heights. I guess I'll have to buy a giant ladder after all, drat. What were they thinking? It's not like you put them up once and then don't have to climb up there any more.

And garden tools ,asap. The aloe survived but its big old terracotta pot finally cracked in half. The prickly pears have white stuff on them, fungus? Lots of green stuff growing all over (tumbleweed etc), which means they had a great monsoon season, but apparently I have to rip out a bunch of the spreading plants that make 'goatheads', and trim back suckers on the stump of a desert willow some idiot whacked down years ago, try to get one or two viable stems to flourish.

Meanwhile the birds have a few spots on the veranda where they like to poop. What's the best method for dealing with this stuff? I would scrape and bleach, but reckon that would screw up the concrete.

And the welcome mat! Got encrusted with crud and feathers, then blown around and folded in half. I live in a place where the welcome mat needs paperweights!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Sep 24 - 12:31 PM

Patty, that is probably cochineal on your prickly pear. The source of a durable red dye. You can wash them off with a strong spray of water from the hose nozzle and use insecticidal soap (or any kind of soap like dish soap or Murphy Oil soap) in water in a squirt bottle to kill them. They'll slowly suck out cactus juice when left alone. If you're planning to start weaving and dying your own red yarn, let them be!

Smoke alarms on the ceiling are going to be the first to respond to smoke. Here code says they have to be wired and have battery backup; they're also connected so if one goes off they all do. They're a pain to change out and I bought my sturdy ladder a few years ago because the step stool thing I was using was too wobbly.

You may need to put up spikey things in the veranda under the roof so they don't perch there to begin with. Or put stuff on the ground under those spots that can be cleaned up?

And first things first, get those goatheads. Stepping on one of those with a bare foot or stab yourself in the hand is a life-changing experience. If you pick them up on shoes or clothes they're a time bomb waiting to jab you later. Kill the plants with strong vinegar (20%, or if you only have 10% pickling vinegar, add a couple of tablespoons of orange oil to the gallon of vinegar. Orange oil is also good in the 20%.) Discard the seed heads in the trash, they don't go in the compost, then kill the rest of the grass and learn to identify it early so you can catch them before they go to seed. I've been working to get rid of a similar type of burrgrass in one corner of my yard for most of the years I've lived here. Some years I don't see any, others just a few and I grab them and bag them for the trash.

Pepper isn't eating this morning. She seems otherwise healthy. She has preferences and I try to keep track of those, but she is over time eating more slowly and selectively. Time for a vet trip to see if there is anything else going on.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Sep 24 - 10:19 PM

My mood today was low as I was worried about my friend with the apartment problems. I'm not her keeper, so I left it alone until this evening, when I asked how her case has progressed. It turns out that she has an ally in the apartment complex management, and I told her if she needs someone for hand-holding tomorrow afternoon to let me know. I have to take Pepper to the vet in the morning, then the day is open.

That was a good development. Dr. Amen of the brain health lectures talks about finding good things in each day, and I was able to do that. This afternoon I had a conversation at a place where I volunteer - I was set to scan a botanical collection when a woman visiting that library introduced herself as a board member at the organization. Having been a member myself on a different city board, I recognize an interested party who is probably well-connected (though I wasn't connected, I was just interested.) We spoke for a few minutes before two hours of silence as I scanned and she read books. At one point as she returned to the table with a handful of books I asked her about an old friend, and learned that yes, he is still working for the city but retiring in a few months, and that he "recently remarried to a wonderful woman and is very happy." Of all of the things I knew about that friend, I've remembered how unhappy he was to be divorced 25 years ago, so this was a great outcome.

The dishwasher is running, the kitchen is clean, and I've put laundry in to run overnight. Basic stuff, but good to have it out of the way.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Sep 24 - 11:49 PM

This evening I got a workout in the kitchen - I made my nacho mix - (it can be used in tacos, put over chips as nachos, wrapped in tortillas and fried as burritos, etc.) I didn't add my usual black beans (carbs) and because the beef was lean I used a big dollop of bacon grease to saute it. I think it is at least keto-adjacent (onions, peppers, tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, and some olive oil) also. It was a big batch so there are several jars in the freezer and a big bowl in the fridge; tomorrow I'll jar and freeze more of it. I'll probably eat this will small dipping corn tortilla chips (Aldi has a brand that are smaller than the usual restaurant ones so you can eat the meat with fewer calories from chips.)

I also made a batch of the smoky gouda spread/dip that has pecans, cream cheese, sour cream, and some seasonings. I found some Blue Diamond almond and flax seed crackers that go well with it.

Tomorrow afternoon is hot again (99^o) but the morning will be in the low-70s, so I'll so some mowing; the side yard and back really need it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 11:35 PM

I mowed around in the back yard today but found a painful anomale to the usual wildlife - fire ants that aren't mounding. They're completely underground. When I walked over that spot there was no clue they were present until they started biting, and the were worse than what I usually have run into. I believe these little guys may have created a few small blisters with their bites.

The side yard was trimmed until I was tired of swinging around the trimmer. I'll have to make a point of taking all of the empty spools to the greenhouse where I've stored the reels of string and refill them. That's a great job for a rainy day, to enjoy the yard but work in that cute little building. A piece of news picked up from a neighbor while I was working out front - it seems our village doesn't allow yard signs for political advertising until one month prior to the election. I'll have to look that up. Perhaps I can put a Harris sign inside the house in a front window. :) My vote like Democracy depends on it sign is okay because it doesn't promote a particular party or candidate.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Sep 24 - 12:47 PM

It’s the week of autumn when all the ingredients of my five-fruit chutney are in season, but I missed yesterday’s farmers’ market for the sake of the annual launch of choir season. Today I’m too damned tired to drive all the way to Kitchener, the closest burg with a decent green-grocer. It will have to wait for Tuesday, while I hope against hope that the Italian blue plums aren’t all gone by then.

Too much stuff happens in September!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Sep 24 - 12:00 PM

Charmion, will you be able to eat the chutney on your current diet, or will it be for gifts? I'm looking at a case of my mustang grape jelly and pondering what to do with it.

I have concluded that it is time to rearrange the cupboard directly above the dishwasher. With the almost-Keto cooking I'm baking a lot in single-serving Pyrex lidded dishes and small trays and they're in the back of the middle shelf of that cupboard; it's a stretch to pick them up and I'm going to break something if I'm not careful. I'll empty the bottom and middle shelves, dust, and hope that by working on this cupboard I don't condemn myself to having to rearrange others as well.

On the floor along the base edge of the steps that enter the den I have a string of clear LED lights that have faded to almost not showing. They run on a timer to light dusk through dawn to avoid tripping hazards for myself and guests. It may be a fuse in the string gone, but likely they just need replacing. I also have two or three strings on my crapemyrtle branch in a pot of rocks that is an odd but beloved piece of homemade art - one of the strings is no longer lit. Time to disturb some dust and change out lights there also. The big box stores are putting out their light strings so now is as good a time as any to look for replacements. The seasonal lights I store in the office closet already have uses and the strings are too long.

My favorite pair of plastic-handled fiskars-like kitchen scissors are failing to cut, despite sharpening, oiling, and tightening. They're in the laundry room now until I think about giving one last push to do all of the above at once and see if they'll work, but in the meantime I retrieved two pair of the many scissors I inherited from parents' homes (mostly Mom) and put them in the kitchen drawer. One is really old sewing shears with the chrome finish long worn off, and the other a slim pair of Fiskars with the ubiquitous orange handles. They can take on the jobs that one pair has done for years. Reuse instead of buying a new pair.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Sep 24 - 02:47 PM

Two batches of chutney are planned, Stilly: one for members of the kin group, and the other for the Christmas bazaar at church. I will keep one or two 250-ml jars for myself. It’s a strong, complex condiment that should be eaten sparingly, so it will fit into my diet if I don’t get greedy. It’s particularly good with well-aged Cheddar cheese.

I wish more people would wake up to the proliferation of tripping hazards in and around their homes! I took a bad fall and a major dunt to the head about 18 months ago when the sole of my sandal caught under the edge of a mat laid over a slippery wooden deck; the second my movement was checked, the other foot slipped and I went down like a sack of potatoes, striking the metal door frame on the way down. The resulting black eye lasted for weeks.

And you’re right to re-arrange your kitchen shelves. It’s a good policy to put stuff you use often no higher than eye-level, especially if it’s breakable and doesn’t have a handle by which you can grab it securely. The current fashion for installing microwave ovens as part of a multi-function range hood is particularly dangerous. One of my sisters-in-law is short — about five-two — and well over 70 with a history of shoulder trouble; if she used such a microwave to, say, heat a casserole, she would have to reach over her head to lift down a heavy dish full of hot food. Yikes.

I have three pairs of Fiskars scissors (small, medium and large) in my kitchen. I don’t know how I ever kept house without them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Sep 24 - 09:39 PM

I searched online for the right length of lights, comparing standard xmas strings, LED strips, and a "rope" of lights encased in a clear PVC tube. I read about LED light strips but on one that was the right length I decided to pass; the instructions were (I hope) mangled through translation—you can trim the LED strips at intervals but this one said you had to be careful to cover the trimmed end so the electricity doesn't leak out. I don't want me or the dogs sliding in a puddle of electricity next to the step.

Eventually I landed a rope light from Harbor Freight that is a little long but I can run it in front of an adjacent built-in cabinet so it won't be in the way.

I cleared the kitchen cupboard and now four each of Corning Ware casseroles and Sidekick dishes are in easy reach on the lowest shelf. The rarely used French press and porcelain teapot are on the higher shelf but are still easy to grasp when needed. I moved some of the COVID tests and devices (thermometer, pulse oximeter, neti pot) to a basket in the next cupboard to join the spare vitamins, cough syrup, cotton balls, swabs, and such. Should have been there in the first place.

A few weeks ago I went poking through cupboards and drawers in the antique kitchen queen for some beeswax wrappers I thought I'd stashed there. The small bundle was a gift a couple of years ago that I had finally thought of a use for. Never found them. They were tucked up with the Corning ware, but darned if I can remember how I wanted to use them. (Did I write about it? Maybe our close reader Keb will remember.)

Papers were filed today and I caught up on the last two of my regular donations (now listed with the others in an Excel spreadsheet). These last couple of good causes keep sending me renewals that actually finally needed renewing. (If you don't watch them, they'll send you annual renewals every other month, hoping you're not paying attention.)

Finally, I'm working on cutting back on the stevia in food and drink. I think part of the insulin response to food has to do with anticipating the sweetness or carbs. There are no carbs in stevia but if the cup of tea or bowl of yogurt is too sweet, it can still trigger insulin and works against how you burn fat (which happens only when insulin isn't secreted.) This year I've gotten off of much of the salt in foods so next come sweets. Despite the weaker flavor of decaf tea, if it isn't as sweet I can taste the tea itself better. I never used a lot, but now I'll use less.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 16 Sep 24 - 10:07 PM

You have my sympathy on the black eye, Charmion - one of the injuries I suffered in a fall back in April was a black eye that could only be described as spectacular. It was over three months before the colour finally faded.

It was caused by the frame of my sunglasses when I went down; didn't hit my face on the ground, fortunately, but hitting the sunnies was bad enough.

Himself did get some funny looks when we were out together, though, what with my arm in plaster and that spectacular black eye!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 24 - 12:59 AM

A big wince and condolences to both of you for living with those shiners, though they both sound like near-misses, considering the possible worse injuries that could have happened (I lost one of my great aunts after a head injury in a "short fall"). Something not to be repeated.

Throw rugs and dog mats are in the washer this evening after using the squeegee broom thing to round up dog hair, chewed up stick fragments and crumbs of dried dirt that Pepper brings into the den and chews. Why? Anyway, the forest floor has been cleared out for the time being. I also ran the dog water bowls through the dishwasher.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Sep 24 - 07:16 PM

I just found out the hard way that my composter is also a wasps’ nest. Several stings on my right foot, which (God knows) has plenty of problems already and is now swelling in a most unattractive fashion. Plus it hurts like Billy-be-damned.

So now, instead of attending a choir board meeting, I am watching TV under the influence of Benadryl. Not quite away with the fairies yet, but headed in that direction.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 24 - 12:33 AM

Ouch! I have to get a steroid shot when that happens (and it has several times in this big yard where the paper wasps build nests in hidden bushy places I've discovered the hard way.) BTW: I saw the photo of your chutney on FB; those jars are beautiful!

Harbor Freight had the rope light I needed, and it is incredibly bright but it will do the trick. I tested the timer and the fuses in the former string and nothing stood out as a problem. For now the new rope is uncoiled and stretched across the room to let the curl relax before I put it in place.

Today saw additional shopping and troubleshooting. I use wide mouth quart jars for making tea for iced tea and for food storage (phasing out plastic of all sorts), but jar rings and sealing lids aren't an easy way to close those jars. I visited the Big A and read a lot of reviews before settling (ironically) on plastic one-piece lids that have silicone gaskets to use with those jars. It isn't meant for canning, just for food storage. Hard plastic isn't as much of a problem as soft plastic, and the gradual rust buildup on the metal lids isn't helpful.

The kitchen is looking good and I'll sweep and mop the hall bathroom before putting down the freshly laundered long mat. It seems to be fall cleaning season.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 24 - 02:24 PM

I will research the possibility of trimming off extra length of the rope light, making sure not to leak electricity in the process. ;-) This isn't a subtle light source; right now it's like leaving on a ~40-watt bulb in the room.

Virtual decluttering continues as thousands of update and promotion emails are now gmail pixel dust. I'm moving photos around also, out of online accounts and out of harm's way before the deleting of online versions. I use Outlook to backup photos from the phone but because of the way Samsung wants to bury them deep in a Samsung folder in my Outlook account I am not letting it manage those uploads. (If you go in and move things in Outlook in those Samsung folders then Samsung syncs them or deletes them inside the phone, creating chaos.) This means I periodically have to upload manually, essentially sharing with that account.

I stopped using Dropbox in the spring (I still have the free account with 7.5G of space) because they were so pushy, but I've moved some of the files into the computer then uploaded them to Outlook, and others I've moved into resident photo files on the computer. I'm clearing out a lot of stuff related to past employment and writing projects in Dropbox and am going to again let it upload my phone photos to that file because it is still the easiest way to get them for use immediately when I'm working on the computer. The trouble is, if I let it start uploading now it's going to want to go back and get everything it hasn't touched since March. I'll have to figure out how to tell it to load from now forward but no backlog. I have to go into a little watchdog program that guards the registry - I told it to block Dropbox nagging about uploads so I'll undo that when I ready.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen I'm still reading about food, nearing the end of The Case for Keto. I just read the bit about sodium and what Charmion was experiencing, and the accounts from different physicians who describe the approach each took to low carb high fat eating, most of them landing in Keto land with ketosis to control blood sugar. I'm still adjusting my diet and deciding how many "slow carbs" to include, and I do have dairy (cheese, yogurt, and little bit of milk, with milk liable to be phased out.) He suggests that sticking with more olive oil and less butter is a way to lower the LDL if it becomes a particular struggle (mono-saturated versus regular saturated). More research ahead.

Yesterday I sent an email with photos and receipt and heard back this morning that Ames (a subgroup of Craftsman) is going to mail me a new spade fork. I'm curious to see how that works out; you know I'm going to put it to the test when it arrives.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Sep 24 - 08:53 AM

Fifty milligrams of Benadryl, assisted by one extra-strength Advil and a series of icepacks, reduced my wasp stings to a residual itch overnight. It also knocked me cold for hours, and left a hangover that lasted to early afternoon on Wednesday, but I’m okay with that. Definitely a drug to approach with care. Read the package insert, and cancel all immediate plans!

Two batches of chutney are now finished and sealed, for a total of thirteen 250-ml jars and three 500-ml jars. Only one Cortland apple and five small Bosc pears are left over. I would also have seven or eight small blue Italian plums if I hadn’t busted my diet and eaten them all instead of supper last night. They don’t keep, y’know — especially not in my house.

Back to what I like to call normal today — pool class, and an afternoon of work on the concert choir’s library database. Church choir practice this evening (it’s Thursday, after all). Although the equinox is almost upon us, the weather in southwest Ontario is still hot and dry during the day, and only a little cool at night. Roll on autumn!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 19 Sep 24 - 06:21 PM

I remain somewhat overwhelmed by the to-dos which seem to multiply daily. But, I'm determined to be patient and work on some good new habits as I settle in. Journaling constantly, just to keep on track. I now think the tremendous fatigue of the first week was not just exhaustion, but altitude sickness, I forgot that I went from 200' above sea level to 5000'.   

All the 'stuff' is now unloaded into the house; some of it just had to wait for some spurts of work in the cool mornings. The next phase will be setting up storage shelves and tucking lots things onto them; and some new furniture/storage will need to be acquired.

Was gifted an airfryer, and so far it's fine, but not sure it's worth the counter space it sucks up--and must always be used on a wooden board so that it doesn't melt the countertop! It's been good to encourage me to prepare some simple meats and veggies.

Got great deals on a few garden tools, and finally started using them. Hoed weeds from the driving area, trimmed the stalks from a sad yucca cluster. The biggest one I had to saw, and it was so prickly to get to, I had to don a canvas rainjacket as armor.

Blasted the cochineal stuff off the prickly pears, but have not soaped them yet.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Sep 24 - 10:23 AM

Patty, time to take a tip from Gilbert and Sullivan and make a little list (ok, different kind of list, but I love that song) of all of those chores, and no matter how small. You'll be surprised how energizing it can be to see accomplished tasks crossed out that way.

Charmion, another ranger and I were stung by a bunch of wasps when we were out on the job in our Brooklyn, NY, park, and the supervisor insisted on taking us to a neighborhood doctor or emergency clinic. We each ended up with an antihistamine shot that was so powerful I just wanted to curl up and go to sleep a few minutes later, but had to get myself home first. I think I slept around the clock from that stuff, but it sure did a job on the stings. I hadn't thought about that in years.

The instructions with the new LED rope light say don't cut it but say nothing about use with a dimmer; it is helpful that the Interwebs have conversations about doing it. Searching Amazon for "plug in dimmer switch" and passing on all of the too smart for their own good variety, I realized I already had one of the analog switches stashed in with the electrical cords in the laundry room. That job is complete and the den will resume it's normal low-light aspect when the timer next turns on the lights in front of the stairs.

JennieG, I was scrolling back through here to see who we hadn't heard from for a while and finally watched that Op Shop Ladies video. So funny!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Sep 24 - 12:30 AM

It is, isn't it?

You have to wonder what strange items are sometimes donated...."we don't want to throw it up so we'll donate it"......

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 21 Sep 24 - 09:52 AM

So now big black ants have gone into high gear, trooping across the patio dozens at a time from one 'flower bed' to the other. Apparently I disrupted their cochineal farming or something.

After some web research, I am inclined to try diatomaceous earth. I don't want to spread poison around and the DE is harmless stuff. I considered live and let live, but it just gives me the creeps when there are constantly bugs streaming across the patio, and I have to wonder if the little dears are under my foundation, too. A million acres of open land, I just feel they need to resettle somewhere else.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Sep 24 - 11:26 AM

This month I had my first encounter with The Clutter Queen, from the Boston area.
The Clutter Queen is a small business consisting of one Queen, a lady of middle age, and two assistants. One assistant for the office/internet/phone, and another able-bodied assistant for the actual work of clearing other people's clutter.
I ought to provide a link to The Clutter Queen's website.

When I contacted The Clutter Queen, I focused on the piles and boxes of unfiled papers that have been taking up floor space in my apartment.
We booked a four-hour slot in early September.

It's amazing how much faster it is to clear the clutter with three people (including me) as opposed to just me.
I found some things that I have been missing for some time;
and several huge bags of trash went to the apartment dumpster containing the stuff I never need or want to look at again.

The clutter isn't all cleared; we focused on one room only,
where most of the clutter was the worst in the apartment.
I'm seriously ready to contact them again to set up a future appointment.
The Clutter Queen

But first I'm trying to clear out some furniture.
I've already had someone express interest
in the twin bed frame in my spare bedroom,
so I hope they buy it from me and take it home before long.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Sep 24 - 01:58 PM

Patty, are they native harvester ants? They usually have a large hole (size of a quarter or up to a half-dollar) somewhere and their paths to harvest radiate outward from that center. Do you have creosote bushes in the area? They love those! If you can ignore them (get accustomed to ants) and maybe nudge the thing they're harvesting away from the patio (trim the bush that attracts them to that area while leaving plants in another direction alone) that might work. DE (be sure to get the food grade version, such as for animal feed, not the pool filter type that has impurities, and wear a mask when you puff it around). It is an interesting interaction if what you have is between ant and the cochineal target. (Different types of ants are known to tend aphids on tender plants in order to get the "honeydew" they excrete, so I'm sure there are lots of corresponding beneficial relationships out there.) Red Harvester Ants and Rough Harvester Ants. Puff a little DE into the path they travel and they are probably going to avoid that spot - you can redirect them away from a problematic side of the patio.

This said, there is no benefit to the invasive fire ants in my yard that morphed from mound-builders to underground dwellers who offer sharp painful dagger bites when trod upon. I plan to sprinkle dry molasses, another animal feed of chopped up straw soaked in molasses, dried then bagged. The sugar in the dry molasses encourages other biological activity to increase in the soil and apparently the ants don't like that.

More cupboard rearranging today, after a few days of the Corning ware being accessible. I like that ease of reach so will now move the Pyrex dishes with snap on lids out of the lower cupboard and figure out where they can be easily used and simultaneously cull some older Rubbermaid plastic containers.

Keb, you're a brave woman to bring in outsiders to declutter. Good luck with the project!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 12:17 AM

Some wheat flour items that I won't eat and aren't great candidates to give away (crackers, who knows how old) are tossed, as are a few things from the shelf where health items were stored. With two bottles of antacids that I rarely take, one bottle (I think it was in my file cabinet at work) tossed. Old hand lotion, ancient lip balm, sample toothpaste tubes, etc. They may not really go out of date, but I'm tired of looking at them.

Pyrex is now in the cupboard next to the Corning, and when poking on the top shelf I realized my pretty stainless steel teapot was hidden behind stuff. It's now on the middle shelf next to the porcelain teapot and the French press. I also relocated in a cute little ovenware miniature pie pan I'd forgotten about. Mostly trash management today, no donation items to mention. Tomorrow is eBay stuff because a local friend is looking for an old VHS/DVD players and I have several.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 03:37 PM

Keberoxu: great to hear of your successful decluttering project, must feel good to get one area done and dealt with, and glad you found good people to help!

Thanks Stilly. I will watch for ant trails and holes, so far that has not been obvious but I'm sure I'll find it as the weeding continues.

Re fire ants: I once saw a beautiful sculpture at a gem and mineral show; like an ornate ming tree made of metal. Some desperate plumber with access to lead-melting tools had decided to dispatch his fire ants by pouring hot lead into their branching tunnels. Very pretty result.

Meanwhile, apent some time organizing the clothes where I can find everything, also the upper kitchen cabinets. The lower are a challenge, there is one huge undivided space to be subdivided, but I have a stash of empty bins and things that may help.

Lists, yes I have lots of lists, but what helps the most is journaling my efforts, it helps prompt solutions and cultivate habits, and it is a litte more satisfying than crossing off words on a list. Which journaling I know several of you do here on the thread, but I would bore you to tears with all the details, so into the journal most of it goes.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 05:08 PM

The Bullet Journal idea has worked for me, to keep track of things but also to look back and figure out when stuff happened, is it time again, etc. Started in 2017; I see a list of magazine and newspaper subscriptions in the first volume and that has moved to the Excel file, but a lot of the rest is still going.

Those ant mound sculptures are works of art, and not just in lead any more. The silver ones are spectacular. If you decide to make one let us know! Think about your new homestead this way - if the biome is healthy, if it has been treated well, then there will be critters there. You don't want to find yourself living on a toxic waste dump or where someone went crazy with the 2,4,D and awful Ortho products.

Headfirst into eBay this afternoon, finding a box big enough for some vintage duratuff tumblers. And I've located the combination VHS/DVD player for a friend who is looking for one, but I'll test it before I take it over.

My elderly across-the-street neighbors are a hospital tag team this month; he just got home after two weeks (at 90 they removed his appendix and gall bladder?) and now she's admitted because of bad edema. I'm going to start some cooking to take over to one or both of them, something I need to do as a regular activity just so I can tell how they're doing from one visit to the next. As much as I'm avoiding wheat these days, I think a batch of my dinner rolls would be a good start, but mostly I'll work on casseroles that can be frozen or microwaved. In the past I've taken things cooked from my garden, but the garden didn't do much this year so I'll improvise.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 02:57 PM

Today I weighed myself and found that I am within 2 kg of the number I rather arbitrarily selected back in April. I had planned to start re-integrating dairy foods and a wider range of vegetables somewhere around (our) Thanksgiving, and I might just step that up by a week or so. My doctor offered to refer me to a nutritionist when I saw her last, back in the Spring, so I called her office and asked that she do that now.

Typical of the first week of Autumn, it's been raining off and on all last night and today so far. When sorting out the hall closet to make room for jackets suitable for increasing chill and damp, I found that the suede car coat I wore last winter is now so big that the sleeves cover my hands. It's a very good coat with a two-way zipper, so I must canvass the extended family to find it a new home.

Almost a week after the wasp assault, my feet are again the same size and the right one is only slightly itchy now and then. Again, Benadryl for the win.

In conversation with another locker-room frequent flyer, I learned that she and her neighbour invest significant effort in piling lawn clippings against their back fence to provide habitat for the "sweet little field mice". When I asked her if she had ever saw evidence of mice in her house, she looked at me wide-eyed and said, "Field mice stay outside!" Humph, I thought, but did not say. I hope she has cats.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 04:14 PM

Cats in her house or owls in her yard. I wonder if the neighbors behind or beside her know about the fieldmouse project? That's the reason I stopped putting out birdseed, rats and mice do find their way in. My dogs are mousers.

Congratulations on the weight loss; keeping it at the level you want is talked about in the Case for Keto - I hope you can find a nutritionist on the same page with you. I'm going to have to have a similar conversation with my doctor; if I want to stay off of the statins I'll keep to the high fat low carb diet and the "slow carbs" he talked about.

Today I made more of my granola and the recipe is always shifting a little. This time I didn't add the one cup of raisins at the end. I have raisins to use up and some dates also, and after that will keep smaller amounts in the house. They can go in other foods that don't have so many carbs already (granola is pretty high even with very little oatmeal and high number of nuts and seeds.) I store half of the granola in an acrylic jar with a silicone gasket on the counter and the extra goes in a Rubbermaid bin in the freezer.

It seems the whole world is for sale on eBay in bits and pieces; as I move to more glass I'm considering how many of the Rubbermaid containers and lids I want to take out of circulation (keeping only new plastic I know is BPA free) and I see in eBay sold items a bunch of the vintage pieces like what I brought from my dad's house. So I may end up with a bit of extra space in the hall pantry closet if I disassession some of that. They're mementos of my Dad but I don't need all of these to remember his funky kitchen. I have a box of Tupperware for sale right now that hasn't gotten a lot of attention; I may need to repack and remove some of the containers and leave the lids and cute little speciality items, that seems to be what really sells.

My right arm has been a little tender since Friday when I got the current Covid shot; no symptoms to speak of. The flu shot can happen in the first week of October to better align with the arrival of flu. It's a cool humid day and I have some shopping to do so will leave before rush hour clogs my route to the town south of here where I hope that Kohl's has the bras that I like (I got the last one at the store nearest to me last week.) The state of my underwear drawer dictates I make this excursion and toss a few of the tattered ones.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Sep 24 - 11:21 PM

Never made it out of the garage this afternoon. There isn't enough juice in the battery to turn the starter. I knew this day was coming (it just usually happens on the first cold day of the year, not the first time the overnight low is 73.)

Point of interest: There are two basic types of batteries - "flooded" (battery acid and caps that come off to fill) and AGM - (closed units with acid in fiberglass) that generally have a longer life. Most warranties are prorated so the older the battery the less you get back if it fails.

I called around for 3 quotes: the Jewell automotive shop near me, the mechanic I just started using that is a few miles away, and Firestone, not far from here. Then I pulled up Consumer Reports to learn what their answers actually added up to.

Jewell would charge me $534.80 for a Motorcraft battery, 36 month full-replacement warranty. (Not on the CR list at all, flooded, new at O'Reilly for $256.99—extra points if you can see what they're doing here).

My local little shop will charge about $150 for a Delco (flooded, CR rank 84) with installation (30 month prorated warranty).

Firestone will charge me $258.37 for a DieHard battery (Advanced Auto Parts took over the brand from Sears) with installation, 36 months, prorated.

I only give these details because of the issues. Motorcraft and Delco are cheap but serviceable batteries. Jewel offers the "full replacement" by doubling the battery cost in case they have to fulfill their "warranty." The local mechanic offered to install a serviceable inexpensive flooded battery for a lower cost. The Firestone quote - hmmm. There are different DieHards, the Platinum AGM (CR Recommended, rated 86), $220 at Advanced or the Gold, on CR (79, flooded), $170. If I tell them I want the Platinum the total cost will go up some, but I'd have a better battery.

In the morning I'll call my shop and ask if they'll buy and install a better battery or if I can buy it and pay them to install it, or else I can ask Firestone to get the better battery. Part of this depends on their suppliers and what is in stock. And whoever gives me the better answer, then I'll call AAA to come jump the battery so I can go to the shop.

You work to be sure you're not being sold a bill of goods, and even after the research it is sometimes still a crapshoot.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 24 - 08:11 PM

After sitting overnight the battery had one start left in it and I managed to get over to the Firestone store without calling AAA. They put in the battery I wanted for the price I expected, and that is a good outcome; I didn't find myself stranded somewhere on a cold day (as has usually been the case with an old battery).

Two phone calls from elderly friends required some time and attention. I didn't make it out to my shopping today. I'll try again tomorrow.

Is it only Tuesday? It feels like enough strife for an entire week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Sep 24 - 10:47 PM

Dupont:

Managed to go to Beaver for a couple days - Drove there on Thurs and back on Sunday. That is really foolish. I really misjudged the time - could have stayed a few more days but did not take the pills I needed. I had a vigorous social life on Sat and picked up a quantity of our fav muffins and some scones from the Hidden Gold Mine. now frozen. Been resting since Sunday!

Most importantly, I did the "winterizing" and neighbour Larry came by so I could show him the glazing materials so he can use them when he gets to that point in his potting life. I had to take the unfired pots out of the kiln and back into the heated room. I still have hopes of filling that kiln but it is a year now. My energy level just doesn't make it.

But I am still trying- about 20 min of garden work and trips for groceries, would like to go for walks on Isle St. Bernard; the air off the River is wonderful -- and just a few weeks until snow! I cannot risk falling and being useless again.

Toyota dealer sent a text reminding it is time to change tires so I must make an appointment tomorrow to get one before snow time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 24 - 11:48 PM

Dorothy, are you still registered to vote in Washington? Please be sure that is taken care of in time! Good news about the trip to Beaver; if you'd taken all of your pills you might have been able to relax more. Something to remember when planning future trips.

I don't get in much more than about 20 minutes in the garden here still, though it is finally cooling, so that should change. We had a nice rain before dawn on Monday, making the soil more workable. It has been too hot to garden here and Dorothy is putting on snow tires this week. One of these days I'll manage to live in a northern area again. I do miss the more pronounced seasons and nicer (less hot) summers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Sep 24 - 06:59 PM

Last week I found a bra that fit properly but only the one of that style; got a $10 Kohls Cash coupon with the purchase. After fussing with the battery for a few days I finally got to the other Kohls in the area today and they also had exactly one of that style, now even more on sale plus $10 off. At least two of the very worn articles can leave my dresser drawer (I keep one older one for wearing when I'm doing really sweaty yard work and I already have that.)

The friend I catsit for gets frozen cat food in well-insulated parcels and saves the padding and boxes for me because they're perfect for packing glass sales I put on eBay. Picked up four of those boxes today and some of the padding will go into the box I'm currently working on.

The daily highs for the 10-day forecast are high-80s to ~ 91; tolerable. The front is getting a bit tall so I need to spend a morning filling the spools for my string trimmer then go out and hit the patches of grass coming up through the groundcover I've pampered all summer. I also need to find new homes for some of the potted trees and shrubs (I watered them all summer so when given away and planted in the autumn they're more likely to survive.)

I made a dog food run today and am stocked for the next few weeks. Hopefully as I get toward the end of the bags I bought today I'll be back to placing scheduled online orders (with free shipping) and save the trips to the hinterland. Tractor Supply doesn't have city locations, they're in small towns outside of big towns. Getting the food supply back into sync is the goal.

Yellow squash casserole made tonight to last for several days, and to be taken to my neighbors across the street tomorrow. It came out great, with enough tomato and country-style sausage to make it almost a stew. A few dollops of red wine scooped from a jar in the freezer gave it a nice bright flavor. I don't drink wine often any more but I still love it for cooking.

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

This morning when cutting up some small bell peppers as part of the vegetables to top the dogs' dry food I realized that the brightness in the squash casserole may also come from those colorful bell peppers I used in it. I had a couple of bags picked up at my discount grocer and used them in the dog meals mostly but I do also eat them, and they have a stronger flavor than regular sweet bell peppers. I'll set one of these on the windowsill to age and dry so the seeds might be viable and see if I can grow any next year.

It's a volunteering day ahead so into the shower I go, and back to my bar of olive oil soap as shampoo. Last hair wash I tried some from a bottle that is "sulfite free" but that isn't enough, it still has coconut products in the ingredients and my ears are itchy from it.

It is cooling here finally; overnight I didn't turn on the ceiling fan. It's still warm enough that just a sheet is my only cover, but soon I'll be using the loose-weave thermal blanket with it and then add layers as the season progresses.

I offered some blouses over on my Buy Nothing group that no one claimed so they are in the Goodwill bin where there is enough to make a run, so I'll bag it all to drop off today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Sep 24 - 12:59 PM

Today I nailed a picture hook in my dressing room and put up a little German porcelain-face clock that my aunt gave me when I was probably 10 years old. It was on my room wall forever but when I moved out to go to college a younger brother moved into the room and unfortunately didn't know what he was doing and over-wound the clock.

If I bump the pendulum any time I walk past, will that movement eventually untighten the spring enough to let it work again? Or once they're broken, is that it?

The porcelain sink in the kitchen is looking better today after I put a few folded layers of paper towel down and poured on a little chlorine bleach and moved it from one section to the next until I'd completely removed the brownish tea stain that cleanser never seemed to get. At one time cleanser alone did the job, but it seems to be formulated differently? Anyway, progress in the kitchen advances with more clear counter and table space. The fridge is also more clear as I try to avoid overstuffing it (as I change my diet I'm not eating all of the same things so I'm shopping for fewer items now.)

Poking around in other people's rooms comes to mind as I remember that brother mocking some of the things he found in dresser drawers when he moved in (why didn't Mom tell me this was going to happen and I'd have put my things away?) I also remember occasionally going into my Mom's room trying to find something that she said she'd "keep for you so it doesn't get lost" then promptly buried and lost herself. Two lessons here: deal with the things you don't want other people poking through yourself, and be more organized in trying to save things that you really do want to keep for later. Both parts of what I work on now. Back to the glasses on eBay . . .

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Sep 24 - 04:52 PM

Stilly, you could do something radical and take your little German clock to a professional watch and clock technician. Such people still exist, and perfectly normal citizens patronize them. Me, for example.

Among my father's endless accumulation of doohickeys was a little traveller's alarm clock in a leather case that folds to make a stand. It's emerald green, with a "gold-tone" face. He bought it for my mother in 1975, indicated by the manufacturer's guarantee still tucked into the back of the case. It had not run for years, possibly decades. Last month, I took it to the watch and clock guy on York Street near the river -- funky little shop full of ticking. The repair cost $150, and the little green clock now ticks gently on my chest of drawers. It has a truly hair-raising alarm, far more effective than the burbling noise my phone makes, and -- of course -- I have to get out of bed to turn it off. Yes, a battery-powered clock would keep better time. Yes, I could use my phone. But I still think I didn't waste my money getting the little green clock repaired.

A pair of corduroy trousers that I bought from Land's End, through their website, arrived yesterday. Woo-hoo, winter trousers! But no, at size 12, they're miles too big. (Size 12 at Land's End is considerably bigger than size 12 at LL Bean.) But now I have to figure out how to exchange them for the same thing in size 10 -- not an easy thing to accomplish from Canada. The Land's End website awaits: I must plumb its depths to find the elusive Customer Service page. I may take some time ... Don't wait up.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Sep 24 - 09:33 PM

I have an acquaintance I've been meaning to contact about jewelry repair; she works for a company that manages estate sales and deals with upkeep of old objects. She might also have a clock repair person to recommend. Good idea. And as it happens, I have a clock very much like the one you describe that came from my great aunt's house, a folding green leather alarm clock. It still works, but it hasn't been used in years.

This afternoon I used my DSW Shoe Warehouse $5 birthday coupon to pick up a good gym bag (from the clearance section) - my gym stuff was in a canvas bag from the 2016 election (it has "Hillary" in text on the front.) The canvas bag is in the laundry and my shoes and clothes are packed in the Adidas bag ready to shoved into my favorite locker at the gym. Now to motivate myself to go to the gym; I have an audiobook in the queue ready to listen to while I ride the recumbent bike or walk the treadmill.

I just checked via https://www.lwv.org/elections/vote411 to be sure I'm still registered, not purged from the local voter rolls. I'm good, and should be getting that absentee mail-in ballot any day now. I can hardly wait!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Sep 24 - 05:49 PM

An afternoon of shopping, making the rounds and amazingly got everything on my shopping list - that I left behind on the kitchen counter. "Slow carb" vegetables and organic strawberries, good Czech sausage links from the restaurant supply near me and in between those a couple of other stops. Dropped off groceries for my ex who was complaining of a sinus headache today. Anyway, tonight and tomorrow will be for food prep (washing, coring, and freezing seven pounds of strawberries and making a batch of marinara sauce. I bought a case of 8 pounds and one was for my ex. The rest for my freezer.)

With sugar and flour out of my diet the sodium in foods doesn't push my blood pressure up much. I'm not going crazy with salt, but am glad to have sausages back on my plate. I picked up sauerkraut to go with them.

This is the weekend that Autumn dictates a shift in bedding. I didn't sleep well last night and think it had to do with my feet being a bit cold. The thermal blanket will go on today and the antique cotton summer cover is going through the laundry (on delicate - one of these days it will completely turn to shreds, it's so old and thin, but I love it.) It's also a good time to once-over with the vacuum in there on my good Persian carpet and my exercise carpet.

Before heading out today I washed the outside upper half of the window in the front room and put one of my Harris/Walz signs in it for now. Until Oct. 5 I can't put them in the yard, but they will go out exactly on that day, set so neighbors coming and going can see them clearly. I've seen more Harris signs than Trump signs so far around Fort Worth proper (where they can put out signs earlier). I wore my KAM47A shirt out shopping today and got a couple of smiling nods of approval. :)

It looks like an outer band of tropical storm Helene is passing over the US/Canada border around Toronto and give Detroit a good soak. We haven't heard from Maryanne Dunmire in ages, but she's probably getting wet about now. Is any of it going to shift further and hit Charmion or Linn?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Sep 24 - 11:37 AM

Just sold my extra bed to a nice lady
whose father was moving to a retirement community
and she thought it was a good occasion to get him a better bed.
That's a major declutter in one of my two bedrooms,
and a big move toward downsizing for my next home.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Sep 24 - 06:25 PM

Congratulations, Keb. Off-loading major furniture is important. Kudos!

I have a potential major declutter to report: my Ottawa-based nephew and his wife have decided that they would like my Wedgwood china — all eight place settings, plus demitasses, two teapots (large and small), and the full range of serving dishes. Back in the day, it was highly prized and worth thousands; now it’s not safe in the microwave. It sure looks nice on the table, though — and their kids are old enough not to smash it. We will probably effect the handover at Christmas.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Sep 24 - 07:18 PM

Wonderful news from both of you - that's major recovered square footage on both. Is the china already packed or is that going to be your fall project? My report is puny in comparison; I took a few shirts, some small ceramics and a couple of working vintage electrical devices to Goodwill after dropping off my recycling at the village bins. This was some of mine and the last of the stuff that was in the garage from my friend's declutter this summer.

This afternoon I spooled string onto all of the extra empty reels for my electric trimmer and spent time in the front trimming tall seed heads and edging in preparation for mowing tomorrow. I won't mow the whole thing, just a few spots, the groundcover is coming along nicely in about 70% of the area directly in front of the house. The sides still need mowing so needed edging close to the house that the mower won't reach. I scalped grass and weeds on the paver and gravel porch patio and tossed one old crumbling pot (the soil distributed in a separate flower bed first). I stopped when my arms were getting tired; there's plenty to do every day this week for an hour at a time.

I'll be making a round trip drive later this week to pick up a friend to bring back to town for a couple of weeks. I haven't been to her town in ages so am looking forward to seeing how it looks now. It was a sleepy little town with a historic fort and lots of bed and breakfast Victorian houses last time I was there. Staring tomorrow I'll clean house and make the bed in the guest room. I'll make a batch of my dinner rolls to have here for her and visitors, though I am still trying to stay off of wheat altogether. My diet won't seem so odd to them if they can get one of their favorite foodstuffs here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 30 Sep 24 - 07:54 AM

yesterday I took 3 books to one of "my" charity shops, the books are about local history/archival pics & the bloke accepting them said I always bring such interesting stuff! I'll go back.

We have 4 Op (opportunity) shops in our suburb & I have 2 other bigger shops in nearby suburbs + the Craft op shop, so am able to fins homes for lotsa' stuff - all I need to do is start!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Sep 24 - 08:44 PM

I tackled the front part of my driveway with the string trimmer, mowing down the grass growing through the cracks. I swept trimmings that I hit so far, and I'll finish this job tomorrow (it's a long driveway). My nextdoor neighbor came over while I was working to ask about the neighbors across the street; his sister moved in a few doors up at the same time I did and we've all been friends with that across-the-street family. The brother moved in about 4 years ago. He knew she'd want to know how that couple was doing so came to ask before walking up to visit with her. On this level, you wouldn't be able to tell who are the Democrats or Republicans. It's what I want to preserve here, the kind caring for neighbors.

Got my flu shot today; it has a blooming kind of zing a minute or two after injection, but is just the normal kind of achy arm now, several hours later. I did this so any side effects will be finished by the time I need to go pick up my friend.

I want to brag a little; my friend downtown is working her way through almost being evicted (the management has a terrible accounting system in place for residents - she needs her account audited; I think she is a month ahead on her payments.) She is at least caught up. I had recommended getting a credit union savings/checking account because they play nicer than banks (she wasn't able to get accounts at the banks she tried, having been homeless messes up your credit), and she did that. And now she's set up to sell on eBay many of the perfectly good things she finds tossed in the trash rooms at her apartment - this is bin diving in a pretty good setting. On her Facebook account she has a page of photos of some of these finds - it is astonishing what people throw away. Anyway, this week we'll be talking about the finer aspects of eBay as an 800-pound gorilla, and getting her labels, envelopes and packing materials so they're on hand when needed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 30 Sep 24 - 09:40 PM

Wonderful that you could be that true 'friend in need', SRS. Hope the worst of her hassles are behind her now!

I thought I was making progress, cut and bagged 4 large hefty bags of weeds (can't compost the goatheads, they have to be gotten off site). Neighbor finished carpentering in the new back door. We walked out past the ant highway, where I showed him the large yet very low hill. And lo and behold, their commute to work leads to the stupid gnarly logs the prior owners stuck in the front door cactus garden, where apparently termites are pasting on their weird sawdust crusts.

Meanwhile, I had already tried 4 stores for diatomaceous earth, no luck. Will try the feed store tomorrow. But, maybe not, neighbor says the black ants eat the termites, so they are not the real enemy.?

Regrettably, when property transfers in NM, water and sewer have to be rigorously tested but termites do not. On the upside it's not a woodframe house, so I'm probably not in danger of property loss, but, do I need to let the ants keep knockng down the termites til I track down a local termite guy or some do-it-yourself poison?

And the computer died today. The stupid cheapo new internal batteries that swell up and bow your trackpad area. Can be replaced by tearing off the whole back, but I'm so disgusted with the machine I'd rather retire it.   

I did backup everything yesterday, except I forgot the bookmarks list. I know that can and should have been synced, it just always struck me as creepy to do that.

2 steps forward, 2 steps back!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Sep 24 - 10:03 PM

You don't need to poison the property. You do need to know what kind of termites they are (they often follow water lines into houses). And get those logs out of the garden! If nothing else, move them to the opposite side of the yard where there is no building nearby and let the ants clobber them over there. About DE.

There is a company called Soil Mender that used to put out a can with DE that comes with a slim straw - the thing about DE is that it should go out in a really fine layer and the puffer (the bottle with the straw) is perfect. The straw goes in the top of the bottle and you puff it around on the ground. I'm not sure if they're out of production now, but DE never goes bad. This place sells them. All you need is one of these cans and then refill it with food grade DE as needed. I see lots of varieties of DE for sale on Amazon, most of them will be way over priced. It's a lightweight material so you don't need to buy 10 pounds of it. I'll look at my local nursery and read a few labels - if nothing else, I can mail you a box with some. Housewarming gift?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Oct 24 - 08:50 AM

I spent a good part of yesterday marshalling all the Wedgwood china promised to Nephew 1 on the basement work table. A couple of pieces are too beat-up to pass on, such as a coffee cup with an immovable brown stain and a covered dish that shed its lid knob (fortunately the knob itself is not lost). But Lord, what a lot of crockery! Unless Nephew 1’s car is far larger than I think it is, I think I’ll end up hauling at least half of it to Ottawa myself.

With the Wedgwood bound elsewhere, my crockery accumulation is sufficiently reduced that I can stop fretting about it. Everything that remains has a place to be that isn’t a cardboard box on a basement shelf, and I understand why I’m keeping it. My granny's ancient teacups aren’t what I’d call exactly “useful”, but they evoke such powerful memories that I can’t let them go. Yet. Ask me again in 20 years.

Summer may be waning, but in Perth County it’s still verging on hot at mid-day and not what I’d call properly cool at night. Rain is expected today, the first in a week, in a season that’s supposed to be bone-achingly damp. The trees are only just beginning to turn colour. I’m not eager for winter, but I wish autumn would get a wiggle on.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 01 Oct 24 - 09:47 AM

Thanks so much for the info! From the tube/tunnels I've seen around here, even way out on the road, and the sawdust coatings, it looks like they are Subterranean. Good idea, I can at least drag the logs out to the fenceline for now. (neighboring land is vacant scrub).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Oct 24 - 11:54 AM

Charmion, it seems that unless you yourself are going to throw away the less than perfect Wedgwood, then your nephew should be given that opportunity. They may have alternative uses for the incompletely-covered dish in the background around the rest of the collection (sitting on the counter holding pencils, pad of paper, scissors, glasses cases with spare readers, etc.) I sold the lion's share of my great grandmother's semi-vitreous Mercer Waldorf antique china because as semi-vitreous it was badly crazed and would let food stains through the tiny cracks. Not a good material for food, it's the same as subway tile, and I didn't want to soak them in bleach after every use. But there was one platter that remarkably had no crazing at all. So I kept that and it is displayed much as this one is. It's enough for me to tell my kids or other family members the story of working through the huge house that was my great aunt's when she left the contents to me and two of my father's first cousins. What a lot of work that was (and it turns out that antiques these days aren't the goldmine that we thought they would be 40 years ago.)

Patty, our conversation reminds me that there are termites in the pine stump in the front yard and I should check around to see if any of the roots reached the house. There is a water spigot in the front wall straight back that could be attractive to termites if they follow the root. Ugg. If I dig a small trench a few feet out in front of that part of the house I should be able to see if there are roots there.

I'm about 20% of the way through Chip Colwell's So Much Stuff and I can see the outcome is going to be stuff-gluttony for the human race. Here is a small section in the early part of the book bridging his description of human ancestors learning to make stone tools and Ötzi the iceman, who died more than 5,000 years ago with a cargo of stuff in his backpack:

With him, Ötzi carried a longbow and 14 arrows in a quiver, two birchbark containers (with one carrying fire), tinder fungus, a scraper, a boring tool, a bone awl, a retouching tool to make stone flakes, a stone flake, a stone dagger with an ash-wood handle and sheath made of leather, and a copper ax. He carried all this—and likely more that was lost to time—in a backpack made with an upside-down U-shaped frame with slats and netting. All told, Ötzi carried 400 things, made from stones, minerals, 21 plant species, and the remains of a variety of wild and domesticated animals. "It's a lot of things," Aldegani said. He estimates that all of it would have weighed more than half of Ötzi's own weight.

Because so much organic material typically degrades at an archaeological site, Ötzi offers a stunning view into the material world more than 5,000 years ago. He shows how far our ancestors had traveled from those first few stone tools Lucy's species had invented millions of years ago. Everything Ötzi possessed are things recognizable to us today—things not very different from what you likely are wearing right now (underwear, shoes) or have at home (matches, knives).

At some point between the rough stone tools Lucy's kind used and the iceman's overflowing backpack came the foundation for every thing in our modern world. [63-64]

Ötzi was about 5'2" and weighed 110. Keep sorting and selling. The more used things people adopt, the fewer new things manufactured (in theory.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Oct 24 - 04:40 PM

The covered dish with the un-knobbed lid can be repaired, and I will know better than to put it in the dish-washer; I'm not sure Nephew 1's wife will. The set has two, and with cats in the house, I can use a nice-looking covered dish. As for the worn and stained coffee cup -- dunno. It's not the only such item in the china cabinet, but I admit the walking wounded items total fewer than five.

There's a business in Toronto that mends broken porcelain and bone china. A few years ago, they fixed a teapot lid for me; I just mailed the lid and its detached knob to them, and a few weeks later it came back looking as if nothing had ever happened to it. That job was too fiddly for me to do myself -- very small parts -- and this one involves traces of old glue that must be removed before anything new is applied, and I have no idea how to do that. Besides, they will do a good job and I wouldn't.

I have an ancient willow-pattern platter that dates from probably the 1880s. It's huge, so large that it was probably used only a few times a year its entire life (e.g., Christmas turkey), and it would seem that none of its previous owners was in the habit of warming it in the oven, so the glaze is still in surprisingly good condition. Edmund loved it; all his most dearly held notions of hospitality could be expressed with it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Oct 24 - 09:28 PM

Happy Birthday, Keberoxu! Only 67? You're a young'un around here. :)

Roma and a few other tomatoes are blanched, peeled, and in a bowl so I can chop them up tomorrow then make a batch of marinara sauce. The kitchen is looking better but there is more to move as I prepare for company late this week. I have a pound of ground lamb thawing in the fridge for tomorrow (not for the sauce), and finished up the rotisserie chicken at breakfast today before putting the bones into a pan with water and making a small batch of broth.

Though I thought I was making an improvement as far as plastic consumption in the world, it seems that the laundry sheets I've been using have their own form of dissolving plastic that are harmful as they go through the water system. Same with the dishwasher pods covers. Polyvinyl alcohol is the thing that holds the detergent sheets together and is the exterior of the pods. Once the current supply is finished I'll go back to buying cardboard boxes of regular detergent for both machines. I'll use the bin the current dishwasher pods are in to store powder and put in a scoop (easier than pouring powder out of the heavy box), and find a similar way to manage the laundry detergent. What's old is new again. I have a recipe for making a dry laundry detergent with washing soda so can consider making some of that. Trouble is it uses a grated bar of Fels Naptha and that is made with coconut oil (I'm allergic to coconut.) I'll look around for other comparable soaps to use.

I didn't sleep well last night, it might have been a result of the flu shot I got earlier in the day. Hoping for a more typical night tonight.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Oct 24 - 10:59 AM

There is the classic kitchen "junk drawer" that holds everything from screwdrivers, measuring tapes and extra lanyards to the box cutter and a cup of all of the old dog rabies and name tags, and then there is the "small kitchen tools" drawer. Skewers, knife sharpener, cheese slicer, a few spatulas, and I keep a few clothes pins to serve as bag clips and extra jar lids. Except today I realized that the clothespins and the jar lids were having family reunions in that drawer.

The spare rings for canning jars and a few used lids are there to top jars that are going in the fridge or freezer, and there are some solid plastic and metal jar lids also (the classic "spaghetti sauce lid" type). But the canning rings had gotten out of control along with enough clothespins to hang an entire row on the outside clothesline. I've reallocated most of them back to their original canning and clothes management positions and the drawer opens without having to rearrange the contents.

In the "no good deed goes unpunished" online chat this morning, my young friend who is selling on eBay encountered her first setback - a return request. The item sold looked in good shape but in fact she didn't test it so didn't know it didn't work. She can do a refund and learn from this (I'll send her a file of the boilerplate conditions I put in all of my eBay sales.) We were going to have that conversation soon, I just didn't realize it would be this soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Oct 24 - 10:26 AM

While rummaging in the box room today, I came up with my undergraduate jacket. Designed and made 45 years ago for a teenage boy with hips like a trout, it's a bit stiff now and makes creaky noises when I move around, but by George it fits! Well, better to say that it fits as well as it did in 1979: I can zip it up and close all the snap fasteners. The sleeves are a tad long and there's room inside it for a heavy sweater -- but, in this climate, that's a feature, not a bug.

I'm told that Queen's University makes these in women's sizes now. In my day (class of 1983), it was somewhat transgressive for women to wear them. So of course I acquired one and wore it, and might as well wear it again!

The ketogenic diet has had me running low on calcium for six months, so it's time to adjust to a less restrictive low-carbohydrate regimen that allows me to eat yogurt more often, and drink milk at all. I felt positively gleeful yeterday as I nipped out for a two-litre carton of what we in Ontario call "homo" -- i.e., homogenized milk with 3.5% butterfat. A mug of cocoa has never been such a luxury.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Oct 24 - 11:17 AM

I have always kept track of my calcium through My Fitness Pal (since about 2016) - and use supplements to bring my daily intake to 100%. Now is not the time to be light on calcium! I aim at 1200mg per day (and am doing bone density stuff as a member of the osteopenia club.)

Guest arrives tomorrow, so I have to finish picking up and dusting around here. The flu shot arm ache disappeared after a day and there were no side effects other than that first sleepless night. One family member doesn't have a spleen (which filters out a lot of stuff that could otherwise make you sick) and a 90-year-old house guest, plus generally an older pool of friends makes it all the more important for me to get it every year.

Busy day today, including baking some regular bread to have here for my guest (and give some to neighbors across the street). For now that is a skill set that mostly goes unused.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 03 Oct 24 - 12:05 PM

Congratulations, Charmion. My University of Ottawa jacket still fits, but Deb bought it for me in my 40s so no real achievement there on my part.

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

Charmion, I saw your jacket in a FB photo - props for being able to still wear it all of these years later!

Getting ready to drive to pick up a friend so tonight I'll go and and link the phone to the SUV via bluetooth to listen to my audiobook for part of the drive. We'll see if I can stand the phone nonsense that comes with that connection. With spam calls as a distraction I have in the past disconnected the whole setup.

To maintain a keto-centric diet I'm going to take along a cooler with a couple of prepared things that can be eaten cold (tuna salad without bread part of a sandwich - use a spoon) or is shelf-stable (jerky). Non-wheat crackers and cheese. It's only a few hours, but I don't want to fool with trying to figure out where to pull over to eat lunch before I get there and I'm pretty sure that the woman who lives with a son who is the owner of a bakery isn't going to have keto in her fridge. I have a jar of tea that will go in a cooler of ice for - voilà! - iced tea (and two cups with lids and straws, so my friend can have tea on the drive back.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Oct 24 - 08:59 PM

Better to say I can wear that jacket *again*. For many years I was way too fat.

In other news, it’s finally cold enough in Perth County to start the furnace, though we have yet to see our first frost.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Oct 24 - 10:01 PM

However it happened, today it fits, and that's what counts! Nice to be in furnace weather, we have the air conditioner running this evening.

The odometer tells me that today's round-trip was of 521 miles to pick up a friend who will spend a couple of weeks in the area; a few days with me then the rest with family. When the average speed is between 75 and 85, the trip goes pretty quickly. And I got several hours of a new audiobook in. The big thing is that I finally figured out to work the phone and the bluetooth through the car. It used to startle me when it rang - well, it still does - but I know how to decline spam calls now so it's not nerve-racking. The dogs were ok with my absence since I left after I fed them breakfast and dinner happened right when I got home.

The SUV battery replacement a couple of weeks ago has thrown the fuel estimate gauge for a loop. It keeps adding to existing miles instead of resetting to the standard miles to be expected when I fill the tank. I'll query the blogosphere about resetting myself before I take my problem to the Nissan dealer. I'm avoiding them these days.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 24 - 06:17 PM

I'm creating digital content today as I work on picking apart the PDF file of a friend's children's book. She went with a vanity press and they're slow to promote it so I'm helping her with some parts of that. (She's 90, she has always wanted to put this story in a book, there are lots of issues with the process but she's 90 and is working on the book she has always wanted to do. The publisher has been doing a lot of foot-dragging but finally produced the art the way she wanted and now charges for extra stuff. So I'm working on some of that.) First things first is to get the art into a usable form. This is digital clutter at this point, creating a lot of files before deciding the few we'll use. Then the rest can be parked somewhere if she wants to do more.

It's hot and we have an air quality warning (orange) so I didn't mow. Tomorrow morning, then the signs go up.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Oct 24 - 07:09 PM

Lovely sunny weather in Stratford, and I actually did some yard work.

Not on my own initiative, of course — that’s so not me. But last night, just before full dark, a small boy knocked at my door and offered to rake my leaves for a dollar. With four huge maples and a birch on the property, my raking requirements are worth way more than a dollar, so this offer was the lowest low-ball bid in history. But the young lad had a very determined look about him, so I told him to come back in daylight, and I would pay him ten bucks.

At two o’clock, there he was again.

So we worked together and got the job done in about an hour and a half. My back does not tolerate much stooping, so my new friend did most of the scooping up of leaves off the ground and packing them into yard waste bags. He earned his ten bucks.

His name is Logan, he’s nine years old, and he lives across the street. He needs money to fix the rear brake on his beloved bike. I expect to see him again when the trees have dumped more of their leaves — they’ve only just started.

An interesting day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 05 Oct 24 - 08:02 PM

Young Logan sounds like a very enterprising feller, Charmion. Good for him!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 24 - 08:46 PM

That is a relationship to cultivate! I love it when kids step up like that, and when adults respond by taking them seriously, it's good for them. Good for you.

Picking apart book completed (saving a PDF as photo files of each page spread, then cropping bits that can be used for promotional files). I use the old computer for the newer software and now it is all back on the new computer and can be done with the previous version of Adobe.

Going back and forth between friend stuff and my stuff this weekend. I hope to finish listing some Libbey Duratuff glasses while my friend is out visiting with her daughter tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Oct 24 - 04:51 PM

A crustless quiche Lorraine was made for today's lunch. Classic recipe but with some small pieces of broccoli added for a lovely color. Friend has gone out for the afternoon with her daughter and they'll have dinner.

Mowing and putting up my signs this evening, then some document design for my friend. I have a box of glasses for eBay that have been on the verge of being listed for ages - maybe I can do that tonight?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Oct 24 - 11:23 AM

Marmalade today.

I haven't seen a genuine Seville orange in years, and even then I had to be on deck in the fruit & veg section of the supermarket on the one day in February or March when they were in stock or I would get none. People who make their own marmalade are getting scarce, however, so the grocers don't bring them in any more. Sigh.

For those of us who can't give up the habit, there's canned Seville orange pulp and rind from Robertson's, one of the big British marmalade makers. So that's what I use these days. If I don't count my time, and I buy the sugar on special, and especially if I put it up in re-used Mason jars, it's still less expensive than what you find in the jam and jelly section at the typical grocery store. My in-laws love the stuff, and it sells very well at the church bazaar.

So that's the plan.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Oct 24 - 11:45 PM

The day was spent hunched over the computer keyboard as I pulled together pieces I snipped from the finished book page PDFs to use as elements for promotional materials. It's a reminder of the work I did for the university library, now on a friend's behalf. So far we have a couple of versions of a promotional postcard, bookmarks, and a business card. All are made with InDesign so there are bleeds (the art goes past the edge so when the printer trims them the color goes all the way to the edge.) Even with the older versions on my computer we can get a lot done. (Adobe rents their software by the month now - I still have the installed software and own the original disks.) I've been meaning to redo my own business card (since I got rid of the PO Box) - now that I've created the template for my friend I'll use it to update my own card another day.

A day or two more this week of our concentrated work, then I hand her off to her daughter for the rest of the visit. Before this is finished the sewing machine will also be involved - when you're 5' tall and buy a pre-made Halloween costume the hem must be adjusted. She has lots of costumes, but they're all in storage, so we work on a new one. (Storytellers live for the costumes at Halloween—any excuse to get into character!)

My absentee ballot arrived today and I went through the Vote411 page to see all of the information about the candidates and measures on my ballot (it lets you compare them based upon what they file about themselves—if they don't take advantage of this site connected to the non-partisan League of Women Voters, that's a clue about their worthiness for office), and will mail this back tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Oct 24 - 05:22 AM

If you could start a Marmalade Makers Meeting, Charmion, you might be able to persuade a local grocer to bring in a supply of Sevilles for the seven or ten of you, as a guaranteed group of buyers?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Oct 24 - 10:11 AM

We used to enjoy a good brand of marmalade back in the day. Can hardly imagine how good it must be if it is hand-crafted at home!

I continue trying to juggle my assorted cans of worms, and failing a lot. Sofa shopping and auction previewing were both fruitless, didn't even bother attending the auction. Gosh I don't want to spend my life haunting stores and garage sales!

Laptop computer died last week. Angry about the junky swelling batteries they all come with.   Decided to pull out the old peripherals and get a new tiny desktop. Nice young fellow at the shop set it up and told me how to put a Linux Mint partition on it so it will be dual-boot.   Have not plugged it in yet, I guess I have too many memories of teeth-gnashing sessions wrassling with Windows, even if set up, it won't be quick to get functional.

And unpacking. Set up utility shelves, unpacked 7 boxes of books, and glad to see them all. Also glad to have stored old computer screen, keyboard, mouse, speakers. Higher quality and didn't need to be trashed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Oct 24 - 10:46 AM

Yesterday I packed up the Wedgwood dinner and tea services for their journey to Ottawa. The task required four 1.5-cubic-foot boxes and about half a bale of clean newsprint. The only piece I could not somehow fit in was the coffee pot. It’s the tall kind that people just don’t use for coffee any more, so I don’t think Nephew 1’s family will miss it. I use it for mulled wine, and I think it might also work for a large batch of chai.

Tuesday used to be the day I kept clear of obligations so I could do occasional stuff like doctors’ appointments, but the choir has taken another bite out of my “free” time. Now the weekly newsletter must go out on Tuesday, so my butt must be parked in front of the computer by four o’clock in the afternoon. Geez, anyone would think I had a job with a boss and everything — well, everything except a paycheque.

Young Logan stopped by yesterday while I was working in the garage with the door open. He proudly asked me to guess how much money he had saved, brandishing a baggie full of loonies and twonies, with my two blue fivers riding on top. I wanted to warn him about tempting unscrupulous persons who might rip him off, but refrained. Instead, I introduced him to the notion of getting a tradesman’s estimate on the brake job his bike needs. He surveyed my lawn with dollar signs in his eyes, asking if it was time for more raking. I replied that he should wait until we could see a lot more daylight through the huge Norway maple. Satisfied, he wished me a good day and pedalled off.

It’s entirely possible that Logan has identified my property maintenance needs as a significant funding source.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Oct 24 - 11:58 AM

Charmion, the parent in me felt a little shudder at your description of the bag of cash. Advising discretion and offering an opaque zipper pouch at the next chore might not go amiss.

Patty, it sounds like you'll be hunting for a while. Do you have Freecycle in your area? If you were on Facebook you could look at their Marketplace (though I never do, partly because there is very little I need to buy, and I'm leery of an unregulated marketplace like that.) There is furniture sold on eBay (I'd go for any "local pickup" within a broad mileage of your area - who knows what shipping would cost). Amazon even sells furniture. (I just pulled up my Freecycle page and there are two antique bed frames being offered on the north side of town.)

Still working on promotional items for my friend so that's two of us hunched over the computer on this Tuesday. I think we'll have enough to make a run to the print shop this afternoon or tomorrow. I just heard the mail carrier plop closed the front of the steel mailbox (it has a strong magnet) and realized I haven't seen Informed Delivery in my email for ages. I was getting it twice, so of course if I canceled it one place both went away. I've hopefully restored it to one email address only. (I had two accounts when I had the PO Box and the House with each getting their own reports, the PO seems to have transferred the PO Box account to the forwarded address, but they waited a year after the forwarding order expired to do it. Odd.)

Watching the evacuation of low-lying parts of Florida today as Milton approaches has me doing my own mental calculations about where are the documents and emergency items I would load, along with dog food and gear, to get out of our little stream-side low spot, if the need arises here. Everyone needs a plan, because there is always something bad that can happen to your house or neighborhood wherever you are, whether fire or flood or tornado or hurricane, or as in the Pacific Northwest, volcanoes and earthquakes.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Oct 24 - 01:50 PM

Decluttering a tiny amount - my visiting friend likes one of the many pillows that are in the guest room, it was part of a set of flannel sheets that were used on that bed when it was my son's room. (I can still use them if she decides to visit in cold weather). Anyway, it's a perfect size and amount of stuffing to use between her knees when she sleeps so I've offered it as something to take with her tomorrow when her daughter picks her up.

Our plans for the printer have shifted to Plan B: the place I planned to go today had a suspiciously empty look in the Google street view so I called - they have the same number but moved to a new town and for now are outsourcing jobs. She recommended a printer nearby the old location who can help.

The TV is on, watching the storm progress slowly toward the west coast of Florida. It dawned on me that rather than building all new furniture and appliances to replace what is going to be destroyed, if the thrift shops across the country could be involved in a transport of used materials to there, it would mean less waste and the big manufacturers don't need to use new resources to make new furniture and appliances when many good looking serviceable ones are already around. It would also help clear out the glut of used stuff in other communities. And people in manufacturing can start learning how to repair items and put them back into service. #WishfulThinking

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Oct 24 - 03:26 PM

Re: furniture,
thinking back to Hurricane Helene,
it's ironic that North Carolina is a hub of furniture manufacturers.
I wonder how many of those got wiped out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Oct 24 - 09:59 PM

Dupont:

Hoping that some of the fog is lifting in my life ---then R reports a concern for the blip on his eyelid. He researched and thinks it could be cancer so became - after how long??? - aggressive about finding healthcare! Appointment at 2 pm Sunday afternoon (!!!) with a Dr. from the Jewish General!

I have one tomorrow with the oncologist. A mystery but scheduled some time ago. R will come with me! Last week, it was only blood tests so I went alone. First time and in my inexperience with parking in an abyss, I had no idea where I left my care other than I "kept going around and around..." It took security 2 hours to find it - I showed them pictures! How many cream/yellow/tan? cars could be down there?? I feared I would not have the energy to look and look; if I tired there was no place to sit! OK! Next time take a photo of the sign on the wall! I thought there would be cameras down there --but they were inadequate!

The upshot is that I sat and listened to 3 people chatting. Toward the end, I told them that I had no idea what they were talking about but appreciated their spirit. (my discrimination problem - even with the hearing aids finally working well!!! WE chatted a bit longer and found we live close together here in Chateauguay. We had met first thing in the oncology blood test dept that morning. May be some chance of sharing transport, esp since two had none.   

I have finally come out of the woods sufficiently to figure out how to wrest a change of Driver's license (appt 29 October), phoned re car insurance - a company I used before- and the nice man thought I could do the car registration at the same time. And my health card still has not arrived but is promised - maybe we can check at the hospital tomorrow. I miss my home but will be happy to be all in one place again - legally anyway! I hope to still be able to get home for a few days now and again.

R brought some firewood so I am having a small fire in the evenings, warming the den a bit for reading. Today, the heat had come on in the rest of the house; it is set fairly low for now. WE live mainly in the den, K and BR - which only requires a light quilt for now.

I managed to damp mop the floors, thinking of how to get the house clean enough for my son who may come in November. His grade 7 best friend is coming to Montreal (he grew up here) with his partner (I doubt he will stay with us!) but Taun likes a clean house. Jeff does also! I do too!

My energy has up and downs but I was able to go for a walk with a friend last week, along the river, and I feel better for having done it. Need to try harder to do it more often.

I still have not been inclined to make a pot and am giving serious consideration to divesting myself of all that; still have a full studio at Beaver which I am basically giving to my neighbour, along with minimal guidance (lack of energy).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 12:05 AM

Dorothy, I'm so glad to hear from you! The car parking episode is something we all fear - I also take a photo of where the car is parked in new situations. (In the days before smart phones we just had to park in known spots and hope to find them again, like outside the Sears entrance at the mall, etc.)

Tell R you can scare yourself shitless diagnosing your own health on the Internet. That said, if something is diagnosed, on several occasions I have gone into databases at the university and done keyword searches on the topic and forwarded the research articles. In case it comes to that. (Most recently, for late Mudcatter Richard Bridge, who was concerned about the painkilling aspects of different medications. I searched EU medical research sources and sent him several papers. I never heard if they helped or not. I hope they did.)

After visiting the print shop today I spent the evening correcting one item and created a new poster to be placed on the counter at her son's bakery with a QR code link to Amazon. The plan B printer was very helpful, and by the end of our visit, he and his wife were totally charmed by my 90-year-old friend, who was talking about storytelling and doing a presentation for adults - whereupon she did an impromptu version of that story there in the office and they were in stitches. The printer looked at me and asked "can we keep her?" He'll work on her order and ship them to her home, and she has a face and voice to put to that business, so I think she'll be ordering books and more promotional items through them. I told him if he needs any clarification, just tell her to call me and I'll sort it out. She's making the decisions, I'm just the helper.

I know it felt like a slow start, but I spent a day or more picking the book file apart for all of the pieces I used to make the other items. Now they're finished, I can make more if she needs them. She has a TV interview next week on Friday, and will be talking to various groups and the library, so will at least sell some locally. Of course her age is the novelty here, and she's enjoying this, and that's what counts.

Tomorrow breakfast here for us with my ex who was supposed to have dinner with us tonight. We couldn't get him on the phone (so I drove over to check on him this evening - when he answered the door I said "well that's good, you're not dead on the floor, but your phone is messed up." And we worked on that, finally restarting it to get a connection.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 08:55 AM

I had a fascinating half-hour yesterday with a nutritionist connected to my doctor’s group practice. She intensely interested in my experience with ketogenic eating, and immediately focussed on my reasons for consulting her, namely cholesterol, calcium and electrolyte levels, and long-term sustainability. She promised to do some research on populations (such as epilepsy patients) that stick to keto regimes for years at a stretch, and to refer me for more blood work.

Today I have passed the weight goal I set for myself six months ago, having shed 15.1 Kg, or a hair over 33 pounds. That’s two shirt sizes and more than that in trousers. Best of all, I still enjoy freedom from the constant yammer of carb cravings.

Since there’s no such thing as an unmixed blessing, instead of a double chin I now have a substantial turkey wattle. Sigh.

A bit more decluttering, too: a basic Wedgwood tea set (pot and two cups) and a French press coffee pot with two Royal Worcester mugs set aside for the choir’s silent auction fund-raiser. They will be out of the house by the end of next week.

This is the fourth anniversary of my husband’s death. I have busy day planned, with pool class in the morning, followed by lunch with a fellow Aquafitter, an afternoon of music library maintenance, and church choir practice in the evening. I had a good talk with Edmund’s favourite sister yesterday, and firmed up plans for Christmas. And so we soldier on.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 09:45 AM

Good onya, Charmion

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 09:59 AM

Glad the book printer arrangement is going to work out!

I did check out some of the sources you mention SRS, thanks for the reminder; not a hotbed of Freecycle here, but I should start monitoring Craigslist. And I may have to get with a friend who uses Facebook and make up a list of garage sales, perhaps I could handle forays on alternate Saturdays.

Yes, it would be nice if we could ship excess 'stuff' to Florida for someone who needs it. I wonder if the national Goodwill network already has plans to relocate truckloads of stuff, seems like plenty of donors would step up to help.

Meanwhile outside of a big metro, what I saw at auction and thrifts last week were stuffed furniture you better get a bedbug inspection on, and giant 'beds' and entertainment walls that were oversized arrangements of shelves, lights, etc., perhaps 400 pounds of excess. Nobody wants these. Nor the dark Victorian monstrosities they apparently descended from. Then there's some aging-badly laminate stuff. I think whenever decent small pieces come up, they get snapped up by entrepreneurs who paint and sell them in cute shops.   

When I visited High Point NC, the showrooms still exist, but darn few local manufacturers. Our overlords shipped 95% of production to Asia many years ago. That area is down in the Piedmont rolling hills area, not the mountainy places that got socked so very hard by Helene. But I imagine Helene still hit some local artisan makers in Asheville and NC hard. Those areas dependent on tourist traffic were just getting back on their feet after covid, and now this.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 11:35 AM

Charmion, we're here for you and we support you. Carry on, indeed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 12:28 PM

I third that, Charmion. You've kept yourself busy for more than just decluttering purposes, my guess, and generating those endorphins is a huge help.

You're right about every one of those furniture observations, Patty. But if you decide you want to do all of your shopping in one swoop, drive over with your trailer and I'll take you on the rounds of my favorite Goodwill stores here in the county. I guarantee you would return home with all of the furniture you need. And there is one store over in North Arlington that reliably has nice antiques. When my son was looking for furniture for his house we had recommended he try estate sales - they found a lot of the shelving they wanted that way. The good stuff is bought at the house, it doesn't end up at the thrift store after the sale is over.

My ex came over and had breakfast with our friend and me, and they were guinea pigs for a brand of pancake mix (I've always made it from scratch, but when I'm not using wheat flour I have to try the mixes.) Bob's Red Mill is always reliable and these were very good. Then as she packed up we found all of the bits and pieces around the house that she brought in last Friday (almost missed the oxygen machine power cord! That would have meant an extra drive today) and her oldest daughter has transported her to the youngest daughter for the next stop on this visit to the Metroplex. Is it too early in the day for a drink?

I usually volunteer on Thursdays but I'll push all of that till tomorrow. I may have lunch here on Saturday for a few friends in my university retiree group - since the house is clean I might as well get more use of it this way!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Oct 24 - 02:03 PM

The battery for the big Canon camera is charging - after which I'll head downtown and take photos of the Union Pacific's Big Boy #4014 - a huge old steam locomotive that is in town and on public view yesterday and today. I could use the phone camera, but this is enough of an occasion that the larger photos will be a plus. I missed the event that is associated with its appearance, but I'll be able to see it from a side road. I don't need to climb on it, just get a clear view.

Other items on the list of things to do—my orthopedic surgeon changed practices so records are transferred and I made an appointment at the new place. In case of emergency I'll already be in their system. Shopping. Watering (because it's still hot and hasn't rained in a couple of weeks). Sewing project. eBay. Plenty on that list to keep me busy!

Even though I'm not a 9-5 employee any more, I still enjoy getting to the Weekend.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Oct 24 - 09:37 PM

They had moved the locomotive from the downtown location since the event ended (it doesn't leave Ft Worth until Sunday, so there may be news of another place to view it tomorrow.) The tracks are next to the historic post office so I mailed a parcel (more decluttering) to the friend who was here visiting before walking through the building and looking for the train out behind it (instead of paying to park somewhere else).

This evening I finally thrashed through the seven veils of Amazon to reach the core of Alexa to get it to stop offering me sales on previous purchases. The yellow glowing ring of notifications sometimes tells me of weather conditions, other times of deliveries, and those are ok, but I'm tired of it telling me something I bought in the past is now cheaper, or some book I've never heard of is on sale. Despite the access via computer to most of it, #FYI some of these settings must be done on the phone app.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Oct 24 - 10:50 AM

I never let Amazon send me notifications in the first place, or indeed any other on-line retailer, and I routinely — and frequently — unsubscribe myself from their email distribution lists. I can’t stand the constant nagging, which I find almost as infuriating as the advertising on commercial radio and network television. If I could find a way to turn off advertising on Facebook, even at a price, I’d do it.

Perhaps the biggest reason for my persistent decluttering efforts is the feeling of oppression, bordering on fear, that hits me whenever I think about what I must do when I can’t manage this house any more. When Edmund was alive, I could count on him to take on more than his share of planning and executing any major project, and I believed that I would never have to move again. What a fool I was!

That line about the Tea Party’s ideal government — “so small you could drown it in a bath-tub” — aptly describes the house move task I want to face when the time comes. So the decluttering will continue.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Oct 24 - 11:25 AM

The Amazon ads crept up on me; now they're nipped in the bud. I just opened a couple of my several Gmail accounts (they each have a different function that more or less works the way I intended) and deleted hundreds of promotions. This is inundation season from political causes and candidates. (And ironic that on the day I went in to quiet the Alexa pitch machine, a printed holiday catalog arrived in the mail from Amazon. That is a first.)

My mom had the idea to move and be in an easier place to manage after she retired, but she ended up in a more complicated house just as full of stuff. My father had a small house but it was crammed to the gills with stuff. My great aunts on both sides of Dad's family kept an awful lot of stuff. I've thinned out a lot of what arrived here thirty and forty years ago, but there is a lot more to do. As I made the drive to the ex's house this week to see if it was just his phone on the blink or if he had suddenly expired, I had an intense 10-minute reality check before I knocked on the door. At the top of that list was "so much stuff" and how to be sure the kids know how to find the important documents. And realizing a move is inevitable.

Charmion, based upon your reports it sounds like you've done an amazing job of clearing up the extras, as have Sandra and Jennie who occasionally report in. It sounds like Dorothy has a big job of just taking stock of the various locations where pottery materials are stored, and Patty is operating on a slim number of items that fit in small cargo trailer (for a couple of trips). We haven't heard from Jon in a long time - I wonder about his health - his whole family is in that sprawling house and I imagine the work will be left to siblings.

I have a couple of collections I need to start addressing seriously now, if I want anything to happen with them. I have stuff for my convenience, and family antiques that I thought would go to the kids, but who knows what they might want. My nextdoor neighbor did an estate sale before she downsized and moved and perhaps that is what I should do at some point.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 12 Oct 24 - 03:30 PM

Take a lesson from me, Stilly: I had lots of DVDs and copied them all to a hard drive and gave the originals to charity shops.
Then the hard drive crashed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 12 Oct 24 - 05:50 PM

Which is why I still hang on to my CDs.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Oct 24 - 07:38 PM

The biggest collection (my Dad's) is on cassette tapes, reel-to-reel, CDs, DVDs, etc. And paper. It's an archival project on a fairly large scale. I need to buckle down like Art Thieme did and just get it done. I'll be donating it to a university.

I started a list and there are three of those big projects that I've let slide for a while. Perhaps a good start this fall and then try to finish some of it in 2025? This project has me looking at some of the equipment I'm using versus what is available that will do the job better or faster. The scanner I use at the museum has been discontinued and I find a few on eBay for a fraction of the cost. That would speed a lot of work. To be continued. . .

For years I loaded photos from my phone to my computer with Dropbox, but they kept pushing the paid version at me, so I turned it off. I tested it again this summer but today have decided to stop since it doesn't work like it did in the old days. I get better results with Outlook (paid - not bad, about $75 a year). That'll virtual declutter means one less phone and computer app.

This afternoon I spent time trimming in the back yard then took clippers into the kennel and behind the back fence to cut out all of the hackberry seedlings popping up along those wire fence lines. And that was enough, it's still too hot to spend hours working outside. I'll mow tomorrow morning.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Oct 24 - 11:31 PM

Last week I downsized (gave away) my entire collection of vintage embroideries, doilies, hand towels, placemats, table cloths etc. - except for one piece, a Willow pattern doiley where every stitch is over one thread of a fine linen, not ultra-fine handkerchief linen. Craft friends praise my small stitches, but they are uneven & rarely over 1 thread, so I need this beautiful piece to see, but not aspire to, small even stitches! My eyes are not up to such fine work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Embroidery Linen comes in various thread “counts” which are simply an indication of the number of threads per inch in either direction. A low count Embroidery Linen would be a 20 count linen. High count is a little more difficult to define with exact numbers however in general, a 36 or a 40-count Embroidery Linen for counted handwork is considered fairly high count. A 50-count linen would be suitable for very fine work as the counted stitches are worked over one thread of fabric.

My eyes, computer glasses & desk lamp bought from a needlework supplier might not be able to count the threads! Another site says handkerchief linen is 60 count!
~~~~~~~~~~~~

normal service will now resume ... My friend sells vintage linens & other lovely items at vintage/antique fairs. My collection was housed in a fabric covered photocopy paper box that had held 10 packets of paper, pieces were in oven bags, box was about 3/4 full. The collection included vintage doiley holders - usually cardboard either painted or embroidered. Now I just need to find a home for the box, I'll take a photo & show it to my favourite Op Shop, it's pink so some little girl might like to keep her treasures in it!

I also need to find homes for lots more lovely and/or interesting stuff.

sandra

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Oct 24 - 11:45 PM

Good job, Sandra! I have a lot of that stuff in trunks here, from the great aunt in Connecticut. And that reminds me that I have some fancy old tablecloths I could sell. Doilies. Antimacassars. Lots of crochet items.

This evening I made the middle eastern pork and eggplant (with tomatoes and onions) casserole from stuff in the freezer and pantry. It made a bit more than usual so I'll probably share some to my ex, who loves it. Since I won't be eating it over mashed potatoes (or will only eat it that way if I have no other carbs the whole day) I could treat it like a stew and have a larger single portion like a stew. The house smells amazing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 02:25 AM

Well done, Sandra!

I have some pieces from my mother's family, and also from Himself's family. The pieces I really treasure, tough, were made by my mother's Aunty Laura who made beautiful tatting; one piece is a tablecloth with a heavy cream linen centre and a very wide border of tatted lace all round. Laura died when I was just a baby, but my middle name is Grace after her daughter, who died as a teenager.

Once I am no more I will neither know nor care what happens to them but they are exquisite, so I will enjoy them for now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 04:50 AM

my friend has a lot of stock & recently sold all her large damask tablecloths (20? 30?) to a woman who runs a wedding venue.

She & her daughter-in-law do a lot of work for & at for their markets so I don't mind giving my stuff to her.

We've also talked about my extensive collection of antique & vintage needlework tools (baskets, boxes, kits, & smaller things like needles, pins, scissors etc etc) which I'd like to sell to a dealer, not bit by bit to people I know who collect, but she doesn't know of one in Sydney so she will take an item or 2 with her to see if she attracts attention from a someone who wants to branch out. Last major retailer of tools died a few years before covid, & smaller market sellers are no longer around.

So much to downsize & I don't want leave it all to my lovely sister, who has always lived with little stuff - maybe one painting & 1 lovely vase? - but then they did spend 17 years as expats in 4 or 5 countries & moved 15 times, so naturally came back with even less that they took!

sandra

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 05:27 AM

Sadly, Sandra, I have no female family members. Never had a sister, had two sons, have one grandson.

I have two nieces, but we aren't close.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 07:11 AM

Last year I contacted my cousin who I hadn't seen since her wedding c.1991. She has 2 daughters who will take the family stuff, hooray cos my sister doesn't want anything, besides she cleaned out Mum's house & as far as I know she only took the 30+ unused touristy tea towels which went into hers & other kitchens! I had 2 unused teatowels which until recently covered my winter woolies, but replacing my 2 sets of sheets gave me 4 pillow cases which did a better job of storing woolies.

I also have a niece but I haven't seen her for years, she lives near my sister & they are close, so maybe she got some teatowels & other stuff!

sandra

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 12:08 PM

Here is a link to Dr. Chip Colwell's So Much Stuff via Bookfinder. As I make progress through it this non-fiction research into human industry (my general term here to describe our business of making stuff) it feels more and more like a dystopian horror story. It's well worth the read, and if you ever needed a reason to declutter by sharing and selling existing materials, and to approach things in your household with a view to repairing before replacing, this is the book to set you on that path.

He illustrates the Industrial Revolution various parts as 1760 with mechanization with water and steam power and loom weaving; 1870 with assembly lines, mass production, and electrical power; 1914 with automation, plastics, and the vast scales of production. A fourth would be now - the computer revolution, AI, etc.

A paragraph on the bottom of page 189 makes the case for what came before and where we are now:

Up to World War I, factories in Europe and North America were producing more kinds of products, and more of each kind, each year. By one estimate, US industrial production increased by more than 1,000 percent between 1860 and 1914. Most people were having their basic needs met: food, water, clothing, shelter. A brief economic downturn in 1920 led companies to wonder if they were facing a crisis of overproduction. (They were.) Perhaps people simply did not need to consume more. So, companies turned to manufacturing not just goods but also the desire for them. . .

That is followed by a long quote from Edward Bernays in 1928 in Propaganda where he says a factory can't afford to wait till the public asks for its product, "it must maintain constant touch, through advertising and propaganda, with the vast public in order to assure itself the continuous demand which alone will make its costly plant profitable."

How does one push back at such wasteful and extravagant behavior? This is Capitalism illustrated, but changing minds of the world means putting a halt to so much production and waste. To reuse and repair. To taking "fashion" out of our vocabulary. I have about 50 pages left of the book, but as I read I realize that I've fought this struggle all my life - wanting the antique, the vintage furniture and equipment because of their beauty and function, I am an organic gardener to keep the lifecycle of plants and compost and fertilizer within this little bit of the ecosystem. I buy parts to repair things. I make things instead of buying them.

But you can see there is a problem. So many people have no thoughts about buying and discarding vast amounts of manufactured materials.

We on this thread are methodically decluttering, but we also buy new things as needed. I try to get stuff at the thrift store (small appliances, good pots and pans, glassware, etc.) This is the biggest environmental challenge ahead of us - if we stop all of this big industry, we stop pumping CO₂ into the atmosphere, but this only happens if all of the people employed in all of those industries find useful and satisfactory local employment growing, repairing, and offering services.

Thinking out loud (or with pixels) here. Feeling a sudden bigger push to really get this going, and somehow spread the word. And it isn't lost on me that as I change my diet to remove the processed foods (mostly carbohydrates) that that is another huge part of the problem.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 03:27 PM

The next chapter starts with the Collyer brothers and I have several chapters left. We are in a planned obsolescence pickle (or downward spiral).

Food shopping today, and am continuing in my determination to buy things in either no wrapper (produce - and I have reusable light tulle bags for it) or in metal or glass for the best recycling options.

For the first time in ages I not only swept the kitchen and dining area, I mopped. The dishwasher is now running and later, laundry. I'm keeping up with things like this as I feel better. I looked at my records - the statins started in April of 2021, and it was an insidious cumulative effect. After a bit more than three months off of them kitchen cleaning is no big deal. It doesn't seem that it would normally be considered a sign of good health, but being able to do normal jobs without it feeling like it takes more focus or energy than I can muster is notable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 11:07 PM

My ridiculously expensive Breville toaster-oven began beeping at random last Thursday. The frequency of the beeping increased gradually until this morning, when it didn’t stop until I unplugged it. When I came back from church, I toted it downstairs to the basement.

A very, very long time ago — possibly in 1958 or ‘59 — my parents acquired our first toaster. I think Mum got it with Gold Bond stamps. It’s the flip-flop kind that must be tended, with no controls and no moving parts except the hinged doors. With its exposed heat source it was dangerous In a household with small children, but no one got hurt and the house did not burn down.

My brother has it, and it still works.

I wonder if he’d lend it to me.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 08:07 AM

Mais certainement, ma chère sœur !

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 09:25 AM

Good food for thought on the manufacturing of excess 'stuff', but I guess I'm not as anxious about it. It is less of an issue down in the lower income brackets where homes are only so big and budgets only go so far. (Though we all know of many a heavily cluttered small dwelling).

As income inequality grows, I think a lot of stuff is getting recirculated as hand-me-downs, donations and garage sale material.

In my travels I am staggered by the amount of fuel we consume, and the sheer volume of food and goods that get shipped around. As the population grows, one wonders how we can outfit and feed 8+ billion people decently, including those in the third world who have rising standards of living, and need to have more and more goods.

The suburban 'aspirational' buyer is easy to sell to, and they are piling up hoards of extra stuff; Christmas china, a dozen bins of Halloween decor, always some new cute stuff to acquire, closets full of fast-fashion. This is the group which needs to experience some king of shaming about their excess, but if the 'minimalist' movement didn't work, what will?

On the thrift shop front: found a decent used furniture shop, got a great and very needed floor lamp and bookcase. At the thrift, got a $5 DVI monitor small enough to keep in the rig for use when traveling with my tiny PC, in lieu of ponying up for a new laptop. And lo and behold, not only does it still work great, the weighted base from the olden days means it will not fly around or tip over.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 01:30 PM

Acquisition of things is baked into the human condition regardless of financial status. Unless you're truly nomadic it's easy to accumulate a lot of stuff. Small houses can be crammed full of things that accumulate in a way that is astonishing. "It might be useful one day" or "I can fix this" - reasons for keeping things. We used to say our parents were a product of the Depression, where they learned to not throw anything away; perhaps that is part of the impetus for the last 100 years. Podcast of Colwell interview on KERA, Jan. 3, 2024.

A friend from the 1980s fell and hurt her back badly enough that she had to take early retirement (Social Security). That was her sole income. Her home was paid for but her son-in-law never finished a repair in her kitchen so the only running water in the house was in the bathroom. To that add every magazine, book, mailer, anything that entered the house and never left. And predators who conned her into donations . . . anyway, there are a lot of places where the accumulation is part of mental illness. Twice her daughter and I helped clear things out, it just went back to what it looked like before.

But the case you make for the easy purchase of fast fashion by a large segment of the US population is made worse by their propensity for tossing anything they don't want or can't return into the trash. The resources that are piled up at the dump are scandalous. I've remarked frequently in recent years that adding Civics classes back into high school classes is needed, but perhaps classes like Home Economics might have a revised curriculum in order to pivot and address some of these issues. I have a couple of books by Adam Minter about thrifting and the second-hand economy I probably bought after interviews on my local NPR station. They've moved to the front of the "to read" list.

Along with things, a tremendous amount of food is thrown out, not composted. I read recently about the invention of a spice-embedded paper that can be used with fresh produce to help keep it fresh longer. Smithsonian article. I fear it's simply a thing to use in an overstuffed fridge to keep food that we've forgotten about fresher longer before it gets tossed. I can see industrial and commercial use of it.

Meanwhile, the kitchen got some more reorganization. The cupboard with a number of pyrex bowls with plastic lids I'm using those more now was difficult to navigate. I've moved out a couple of things that I rarely use and made access to all of it much easier.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 06:57 PM

I mowed part of the back yard today with the "bag" setting on so I could get cuttings to put in the compost pile (I usually use "mulch"). I then emptied the last 5-gallon bucket of kitchen waste and dumped another bag of cuttings on top of it. I'll finish mowing tomorrow. For now, there are a 3-gallon and a 2-gallon bucket beside the kitchen door. The bigger one was just too heavy if filled to the top (and it was too easy to do that). The bucket is in the trash, I can't think of another use I would put that stinky thing to. Plant something? Hmmm. I have until Thursday's trash pickup to change my mind.

I also did my sparkling water shopping at the nearby discount grocery where a 12-pack of Topo Chico is much easier to lift than the 18-pack from Costco. I can lift the heavier items, but it's easier if they're not that large.

The pocketbook was decluttered when I paid off the heat pump loan, in the 24th month of a 36-month loan. There's another, bigger, heat pump looming to die one of these days. I want to be ready for it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 08:23 PM

Charmion - many years ago we had a sandwich toaster, one of those that you put two square slices of bread with filling in between, and it made either two triangles or two rectangles. I forget which. Himself was making himself a toastie with some leftovers between two bread slices, and for some reason the lid wouldn't close.

Now, some of us would check to see why this was so....perhaps the crust had caught , or something similar......but no. Being a bloke he just pushed harder to close the lid, only to find out that it was the electric cord which was stopping the lid from closing.

Much arcs and sparks was the result, and a bit of a bang....I seem to recall the power to the whole house went out as well.....it was most exciting. Our sons thought it was hilarious.

We subsequently bought a different model sandwich maker.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 09:19 PM

speaking of toasters, back in the 70s/early 80s my office had a vintage toaster & a colleague decided she wanted to make toasted cheese - perhaps if she had turned the toaster on it's side it might have worked ... maybe not

I can't remember now the consequences - did our lights go out? or did we just have the beautiful smell of grilled cheese in the office?

One thing I'm sure of, we would have needed a new toaster.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 09:59 AM

Charmion, the toaster will be on its way to you via the post as soon as we assemble a box and have packed it properly.

Will advise.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 11:01 AM

I have a two-slice toaster that advertises itself as wide enough to fit a bagel (half a bagel, at any rate) but the small convection oven on my counter is still considered a "toaster oven" though I haven't made toast in it. I have made garlic bread and open face cheese sandwiches (this is clearly the invention that Sandra's coworker was anticipating and JennieG's better half wouldn't have defeated, at least on that day).

All of these years later I'm still using my Dad's old microwave oven (in his day he managed to let it get moist enough inside that there is a seam on the back lower inside edge that shows a bit of rust, but it still works). Skillets and pots that came from family like one of Dad's old crockpots and a 1 quart lidded cast iron pot from Mom (who bought it for me and said she would season it before sending. She died, and at her estate I had to tell the others the story of that pot to get to keep it. Sheesh.) I have my great aunt's cast iron skillet with the lid (a friend calls it a "chicken fryer" because of the taller sides).

We could look through houses and describe a lot of items that came from family, not purchased new, but that's a good thing, it means we kept functional items in service.

The book has spent scant pages on philosophers Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, the most space on Locke, and a bit of Kant - brief but important observations that instead of a people in total communal situations or slavery we should each own ourselves, and an extension from that is our labor, and before you know it, the products we make. And the place we call our own in which we keep our products. . . world views about land ownership when viewing nomadic American indigenous travel across lands they knew and used, and concludes that the mega rich are super-hoarders. I can't argue with that.

I regularly refer to one of my favorite parts of the Brooklyn Museum - the fourth floor where they have expanded (looks like since 2022) the decorative arts area. It basically looks at things we use and how they are designed to be beautiful as well as functional. Every time I go there I want to polish my toaster, my tea pot, my clothes iron, and put them on a shelf for display. With that toaster, Charmion didn't just describe a functional item, she described a beautiful item.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 11:25 AM

Thank you, Andrew! That’s so kind.

I don’t need a toaster much these days but, when I do, nothing else will suffice!

In other news, my Internet service is back.

The router quit on me yesterday when I was cleaning in anticipation of dinner with guests. I picked it up to dust the shelf it sits on, and poof! The radio — on a satellite station — went silent. I tested the plug and swapped the power cord, but to no avail. So I put on a CD and went back to work; everyone knows that dinner guests inevitably examine the parlour rug for cat hair content.

Fast forward to eight o’clock this morning and me on the phone with Wightman Telecommunications, the local internet service provider. “Okay, since the problem isn’t the outlet or the power cord, would you please press the power button?” I turn the device back and forth, up and down, side to side, looking for a button marked “Power”. No such button is in evidence. Then I look again at the left-hand edge of the device and examine it even more closely. (Imagine 70-year-old eyes struggling in dim light.) Sure enough, I finally spot two tiny, almost invisible, matte black buttons, one of which is labelled “On/Off”. I relay this information to the technician and press the tiny button. Instant lights. Within five minutes, much humbled, I was back in the 2020s.

When I picked up the router to clean the shelf, the palm of my left hand squeezed that edge of the device and pressed the button that I did not know was there. All the ensuing confusion was what happens when we don’t do “Naming of Parts” with every new machine.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 02:23 PM

It occurs to me that the flip-flop toaster is small enough that it doesn't have to take up counter space when it's not in use. (The Breville toaster-oven is enormous, occupying almost half the largest stretch of work surface in the kitchen.) For a couple of years, the equally large and ridiculously expensive fancy blender that Edmund couldn't live without has taken up the entire top shelf of the cabinet on the left side of the stove. I think it's time to admit that I'll never be one of those people who lives on smoothies, and find a new home for that blender. The flip-flop toaster can live on its vacated shelf, along with its European cousin the waffle iron.

I hardly ever eat bread any more, but very occasionally I will have an afternoon treat consisting of a crumpet or a tea cake with marmalade on it. The flip-flop toaster handles crumpets and tea cakes better than all but the most sophisticated pop-ups and toaster ovens, at way less than half the size of the Breville. Of course, that's because you have to stand over it, but if there's one thing I have plenty of these days it's time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 03:24 PM

I have a Kitchenaid blender that takes up half of the counter beside the stove, the place it lives because it is least in the way of most kitchen activities. It's too heavy to put away somewhere and get out for use, and I use it about once a month. You're creating a more civilized space it sounds like by downsizing to the vintage toaster.

I have a question for Dorothy next time she passes through - are you familiar with Mudcat member Guy Wolff? He put up a video of a recent firing in which apparently catastrophe could have happened, but didn't. Can you describe what might have happened? Would the excess heat break the pots? And the glaze ran? So he can polish some of it off after they cool?

Finished mowing in the back, and am hoping that by hitting much of the now the dried groundcover plants they will fling seeds and get even more established with the next growing season. Now to clean up and run errands.

Since a couple of years ago when I had the big Persian carpet cleaned I've been meaning to take the other two small ones in. Today I came across a video of a carpet being cleaned (looks like it lived on a barn floor or was caught in a flood!) No wonder it's expensive. I'll add them to my "to do" list - keeping existing possessions in good shape. I also have a pair of boots to take in to have resoled. Supporting the trades this week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 05:06 PM

I have a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer, the kind with the tilting head, with a boxful of accessories — wire whisk, dough hook, the lot. The only thing I have used it for since Edmund died is Christmas fruitcake, which is more efficiently made with a sturdy wooden spoon in a jeezly great stainless-steel bread bowl. I think I should sell it, or maybe donate it to a charity silent auction or raffle, as it’s in perfect condition and new ones cost a bomb.

An old-fashioned hand mixer, the kind that fits in a kitchen drawer, would be more suitable to my very occasional ventures into meringue and whipped cream country. I ‘m sure I can find one at Goodwill.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 11:22 PM

You could find one in the bottom drawer of the kitchen island here. It gets used rarely, but there are some things it is simply the best tool for. Meringue, as you mentioned.

Boots dropped off for repair (new heels) and two antique Persian rugs dropped off for cleaning. Shopping managed, but stores kind of wonky because of (my guess) a solar storm flaring this week hitting some of the electronic infrastructure (card readers on the blink.) We were warned about it but I guess the news didn't filter down to the clerks in the stores, but they were being resourceful to collect payment. The reader started working just as I got to the register at Costco, and payment was declined only once at Aldi before it went through.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 11:24 PM

Dupont:

Stay away too long and I have to sign in!

Intrigued by the toaster, etc! We had a toaster in PA but my son (that era) needed a toaster oven - FOR BAGELS!! I found it good for other things and had my own in my own home from thrift shop, of course. Recently we found it useful in summer to avoid the big oven! So we found a larger one on a local site and went to pick it up as we were on our way to a music event. When they opened the door with great delight - we knew each other from other local music events and they told us of one we were missing. We now have their daughter's toaster oven AND a "real toaster" because R likes toast. Then, I frequented a cafe near Beaver with terrific soups and toast - but the toast is done in a panini? I like it so much better that way and also make sandwiches in it. So these three devices clutter our counter to good use.

De-cluttering has become increasingly on both our minds. with my cancer looming - still lightly!- and R just had the blip on his eyelid diagnosed as a carcinoma.... He expressed mild regret for the hundreds of books in the cellar! He (SRS) has enough of a science background to have a clue. The doctor on Sunday diagnosed it immediately with some space age thing and sent us to the hospital for a biopsy. Today was NO fun! Traffic was a nightmare, parking garage similar to the one in which I lost my car last week. What parking???? Eventually we were helped to an obscure space by a valet (kept the key!) and we found our way to the correct dept. I was exhausted already. Given an appointment for 29 November ---WHY not by phone????? Found our way back down to the parking with no idea where the car was - "D"! R finally found one of the valets and retrieved the car. What felt like a hard day's work to me had taken less than two hours (free allotment). Both disappointed because we thought we were going to get the biopsy! We came home and R stayed home reading the Atlantic to ease the pain. I cooked a wonderful roast pork dinner with lots of veggies and terrific apple sauce with good Mac's from a local orchard. I may go get more tomorrow after the tires; the orchard closes in a few days.

Tomorrow: tires get changed to winter! We have been having a fire in wood stove but finally turned on some heat a couple days ago. Put the "winter" quilt on the bed.

Aside from energy, very little decluttered - just a whole bunch of cobwebs!

Thinking of Charmion and her major loss. It never ends, only lessens in intensity if we allow it, and still may come in great nasty waves when we least expect it. You seem to have done a monumental job of de-cluttering, which can be both helpful and hurtful. I had a recent visit from the "love of my life" and his latest partner. I asked him how long it had been - 48 years! It's complicated -Life and all it entails.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 04:35 AM

Reminds me of the Derry Girls episode where it was revealed that Protestants keep the toaster in the press.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 08:11 AM

Anglican from the cradle, Thompson. Just sayin’.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 01:12 PM

Never having watched that program I looked it up. IMDb says nothing in any of the 19 episodes about a toaster, so it must be a minor plot point? The B or C story? What kind of press - printing, clothes, etc.?

Older dog is spending the day at the vet, the younger one is kind of rattling around the house feeling lonely. The older blue heeler would be perfectly content to be the only dog here but this younger one needs a playmate.

As of this week I am no longer the only family member with pets. My daughter sent me a photo yesterday of a striped brown and black domestic shorthair who turned up on their property a few weeks ago and lived under the shed. Seems it was always friendly but perhaps shy at first. No longer. Vet clears her as healthy and she will be spayed in two weeks and now lives in the house. My daughter's wife has posted about it on Facebook, noting that the "universal cat distribution system made a stop" at their house. She is named Nutmeg. The photo is of the cat asleep on the chair beside her, kneading the lap she's next to. That lucky little cat landed in the right place at the right time.

I finished the book last night. Interesting conclusion, giving me ideas for the name of next year's thread, and hopefully enough inspiration to speed up putting things up on eBay.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 01:58 PM

In Ireland, Stilly, a press is what we call a cupboard or (in the kitchen) a cabinet.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 03:08 PM

Sign of improving mood - began the excavation of That Chair. You know what chair.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 04:32 PM

I have a pole-type coat rack in my bedroom so the armchair doesn’t become That Chair. Left to his own devices, my husband would have kept at least half his wardrobe on That Chair.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 06:42 PM

I had in mind it might be a closet, but all I got out was "clothes." Close, kinda.

In my room it is the cedar chest that plays the role of The Chair.

The 10-year-old blue heeler is home from the vet and a bit out of sorts. We'll see how she approaches dinner, but I talked to the vet and he said they're nothing going on in her mouth (bad tooth, infection, etc.) so it's in her head, that she isn't fond of her current dry food. She's very energetic, nothing wrong there. He said dry is better for their teeth, so I'll work on this. I took a small set of portable pooch stairs out to the SUV so she could dismount easily (she was a little wobbly still this afternoon). Not happy with the steps since she has never used them before. Recheck next week so I'll leave the steps in the garage and she can use them to get in and understand more about what they are.

Cooler today, finally. The Capri pants I was wearing were a little light, so it'll be jeans tomorrow. So nice to feel chilly!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Oct 24 - 12:14 PM

The chickpeas soaked overnight and in the morning I'll grind up a fresh batch of felafel dough for tomorrow's lunch. I looked up how to make them without the usual 1/4 cup of wheat flour to bind it. My recipe book also has bulgur as an ingredient that I'll simply skip, but something needs to help consistency. The Interwebs tell me that I can use chickpea flour instead so I've pulled that package from the freezer (I have several non-wheat flours to choose from). Another option might be to add some psyllium but I didn't see anyone suggest it (an ingredient in gluten free tortillas and pancakes that binds but still lets it be flexible.)

Favorite pair of ankle-height boots have been re-heeled and are ready for pickup. This instead of discarding and buying new. Two rugs dropped off the same day will be in the shop for much longer for cleaning (and cost a lot more to retrieve). When I pick up the rugs I'll decide then if I also want him to repair one end that is close to unraveling; he said we could clean them first then decide on that, and that way I'll spread out the sticker shock.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 18 Oct 24 - 06:01 PM

Taking a break on a day of unpacking book boxes, breaking down dozens of empty boxes which have been piling up, and general tidying. Feels wonderful to have some daylight floor space opening up in the library/office, even if there's still half a wall of boxes hanging about.

Also dug down into the big boxes and found the heavy winter coverlets; needed one this week on a trip in the RV and will need one in the house. We went from balmy and calm days to chilly and windy. Darn shame for the snowbirds beginning to arrive.

On the toaster front, I discovered if an item is too fat for a slim one-slicer, you can air-fry it for a few minutes. Everything on the counter should multi-task and pull its weight!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Oct 24 - 07:50 PM

It sounds like the house is coming along, Patty. And because it's your house you can just kick back when you want.

Cat sitting is a fraught process, tomorrow morning I may be taking one to board at the vet where they can more consistently stuff the little guy with small amounts of food. He isn't eating enough to maintain his weight even with my several stops in a day. Owner will decide in the morning after breakfast when we see if maybe he simply didn't like what was being offered earlier. She has finally realized that the reason she is so stressed is all of this stuff with her cats. I hated to interrupt her few days away, because I think the relaxing is good for her, but she indicated that this might come up.

Meanwhile, my boots look good, and the new heels will probably outlast the rest of them. Brief conversation with the owner brought up politics and I told him I hoped he voted, whoever he votes for.

Juggling a lot tomorrow, but getting a good head start tonight.

Forgot to mention (or maybe I did) that I paid off the heat pump early. The credit union had already mailed the next 14 months worth of coupons when I paid it, so I happily shredded them. And since it's paid off I dedicated a few of the dollars no longer going to that payment to a couple of good causes. Donation to Planned Parenthood (the Texas branch this time) and another political campaign. But I think that's it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Oct 24 - 11:03 AM

I renewed my United Way donation schedule yesterday. It's taken off my civil service pension at source so I don't even think about it, let alone have time to come up with spurious reasons to begrudge it.

One of my favourite winter garments is a boiled wool waistcoat (vest to Americans). It is now almost laughably big on me but I'm not giving it up unless and until I can find another one just like it but two sizes smaller. Today we are enjoying what passes for Indian Summer in these parts -- bright sun, forecast high of 20 degrees Celsius -- but next week will be a different story: solid rain setting in by Thursday, with frost at night and highs around 10 degrees Celsius. I'm not parting with any of my flannel shirts either, even if the cuffs come down to my knuckles.

Congratulations on paying off your heat pump, Stilly. Every debt sent packing is another deposit in the bank of FREEDOM!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Oct 24 - 07:40 PM

I finally started a spreadsheet to keep better track of those donations. If you don't you'll get annual donation requests from groups every few months and I always wonder when I last paid. I know I'm actually giving annually now, and I picked up a couple I'd let lapse.

Got a good workout in the kitchen today as I cut up a lot of lettuce for salad (the salad spinner after washing lettuce is a concentrated upper body workout if you overstuff the spinner basket) then made tahini sauce, made the tea for iced tea, and finally, made the felafel balls and had them ready when guests arrived. Not a lot of food, but I don't seem to have cooked as much this summer (because it's summer, mostly). One thing about the ADHD meds, they make it easier to plan and execute a meal like this without getting distracted from what you're doing. Last Thanksgiving was amazing that way.

I'm halfway through the long weekend of cat-sitting activities; I got the little guy back on track eating enough so he doesn't need to go to the vet for extra attention. I'll head over there for the dinner meal so I can get home in time to watch Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. I'll miss Sister Boniface - I haven't watched many of those but as goofy as they both are, that one is more contrived. I haven't quite figured out what her exact period is, but she seems (like the Father Cadfael mysteries) to be out of sync with the actual skills and philosophy of her fictional "time."

Dishes running, laundry needs folding, and there are always papers that need filing and general picking up around here.

Felafel was good, and the carbs in chickpeas aren't as high as many other grain or bean-type foods. Along with the salad and tahini sauce it was pretty high in protein and fat compared to carbs. And it turns out all of our group are adjusting our diets lately, for various reasons. One guest is now cooking for one, another thinks he's borderline diabetic and finally has access to health insurance (eligible for Medicare and an Advantage plan) and the other is dealing with allergies. It's always something!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Oct 24 - 10:52 AM

Laundry finally pulled out of the dryer and folded or hung up; the Capri pants were this time not put on pants hangers, they're part of the "folded" and were put back on the shelf till next summer. At the same time I've pulled a couple of long sleeve shirts to the front of the rack. Clothes change with the season.

Cat sitting will run a day short since it seems the pump from the well at the country house is not working. She'll head home in time for the cat's dinner and I'm sure to their delight lots of treats from someone who is there all day long. Just as well, I have other things to do. She has another trip coming up next week

It's time to rearrange the stuff in the garage and change out a couple of the boxes that usually ride around in the back of the SUV. One that will be added back has more winter-type supplies (a blanket, a large frost scraper, etc.)

The donation bin is being added to after emptying a couple of weeks ago. I'm looking at some of the t-shirts in my closet with messages that are becoming so worn they're not legible (the trouble with those heat-attached art pieces versus silk screen). They're too worn to donate but still have a lot of life in them. I have a couple of shirts I'm using with the blue heeler this week that are about worn out from her use, so perhaps the closet shirts will become dog recovery shirts when the current dog shirts get trashed. (Right now Pepper is rocking a red cowl neck cotton knit shirt that stays in place better and looks great with her black and white merle coat.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 11:44 AM

I have now set aside two comparatively big-ticket items for sale: the Kitchen-Aid stand mixer, and a circa-1960 Danish settee made of beautiful walnut with loose cushions. It's the only settee I've ever seen that a reasonably fit woman (such as I) can carry upstairs -- or down! -- by herself without risking her life.

I never should have bought that settee. I thought it would work in the sitting room but it never quite did -- too long for one spot, too short for another, back not quite high enough for comfortable reading. But it's a fine piece of Mid-Century Modern furniture and some decor enthusiast will gladly take it off my hands.

As for the mixer, the kitchen is like it was never there.

I should add the Blend-Tec blender to the Items To Go group, and make up my mind what to do with the Breville toaster-oven. (Maybe Habitat for Humanity after a good scrub, with a warning about the random beeping.) The ancestral flip-flop toaster is wending its way from Ottawa by Canada Post and, when it arrives, the batterie de cuisine will have returned to 1975 standards. Except for the fancy coffee mill. I'm not giving that up unless it, too, starts emitting random beeps.

The doctor's admin person telephoned this morning with the results of my latest blood tests: cholesterol and electrolyte levels are within the normal range. I take this to mean that I can stop fretting and get on with living my best ketogenic/low-carb life. I'm a bit peckish; time for a nice piece of cheese!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 12:18 PM

Good news on all fronts, Charmion! I have a whitewashed Mexican pine loveseat that I've moved around the house, unlike your Danish modern that doesn't quite fit, this fits very well but I have to decide where I want to leave it. Right now it hosts dog paraphernalia next to the back door so no humans may sit on it, but I am almost sure I've figured out the dog food thing with my blue heeler and if I can get to where they both eat one type of food, I can remove the second large food bin in the antique trunk and fill it with the dog stuff, clearing my bench for me. Yes, that's vague - I could fill the trunk or fill the bin with dog stuff. Not sure which yet.

A dive into the closet this morning. I've put the sandals away in one wire drawer where they live 3/4 of the year. I took a look at shelves I usually forget about and realized happily that a skirt I used to wear years ago fits again, though the t-shirt I used to wear with it is getting rather worn. Another lovely skirt with a wide elastic band looks good except the elastic has expired adding half again as much circumference to the waist. Put a new waistband on, wear a belt, or use it for something else (sewing project)? I pulled a shopping bag with a large leather satchel to list on eBay, and there are a couple of others in there I should also list (not used much). The bag I'll offer to the younger women in the family first. (Daughter, Daughter-in-law, and partner of son.)

There's still a bulky (18" cubed) safe on the top shelf of that closet built-in, somehow attached to the wall behind the drywall. It wiggles but won't pry loose. Never had the combination. Maybe it's time again to see if I can find a way to get it out. Patching that part of the wall is easy enough, but I fear I need to make the hole larger before I patch it, to see what is going on with the safe's anchor (probably screwed to a stud).

In the pantry I'm pulling out too-old-even-for-me home-canned jelly a half-pint at a time and dissolving it into the 3-gallon bucket of water in the sink and then pouring the contents over parts of the garden. The sugar is a perfectly good stimulator for the soil, an easy fertilizer. Might as well use it where I can get the most good from it now. We haven't had rain for weeks so I'm still having to water parts of the yard to keep things healthy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 12:59 PM

Stilly, I too have a good sturdy skirt in which the elastic has expired. I hate to get rid of the skirt just because of the elastic, which has cracked and crackled and broken into various pieces inside the waistband. It would be quite a job to open up that neatly-sewn waistband in order to extract the broken-up elastic and install new elastic, but with a garment this serviceable it might be worth it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 02:30 PM

I'm planning to take the waistband off and redo the elastic. It is a job - but by the time the elastic wears out again it probably won't matter. The first skirt I mentioned is unusual in that it has pockets; I might add pockets to the other one while I'm at it. Both garments are gathered at the waist and have a crinkled fabric look (so if you sit in it once it doesn't show creases the rest of the day) and not so full through the bottom of the skirt that they make me look like a blob. Worth keeping on hand.

This morning I missed a meeting at one of my volunteer places - completely forgot, even with the calendar reminder on my phone. It's time to pull out some of the training materials and read through them myself. I think this week is otherwise back to normal with a nothing back-to-back on the calendar.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 06:37 PM

sometime back a friend pulled out (dusted off???) her crinoline to use under her Colonial ball grown - the elastic had stretched so I knotted it, leaving a tail about half a metre long!! We were both giggling ... probably not the only ones in the Hall.

I was lucky with a winter velvet skirt a couple of years ago, I was able to thread some thinner elastic over one track of the rotten elastic so didn't need to unpick all the channels, I just needed to use a sharp needle to get over the side seams.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Oct 24 - 11:45 AM

More sewing in my future - not just the skirt. I'll modify the shirts headed for the dog bin. One of the trashed t-shirts the dogs wore post-surgery had a "normal" neckline, but for dogs that hole is large enough that if they happen to snag the shirt on their own back foot (step on it) they can actually walk out of the shirt through the neckhole. The old one has a large dart sewn into the back of the neck narrowing that orifice. The thing is, if they want they could shred the shirts in no time flat, by themselves or through roughhouse play, but they all seem to understood this is the accommodation to live with if they don't want to wear the "Elizabethan cone" (the huge plastic cone of shame that clobbers the bodies of other dogs and legs of humans nearby and makes exit through the dog door difficult.)

In the pantry I've pulled out a flat of canned relish and pickles from 2020 that will go into the compost, jars into the dishwasher. There is another flat of jelly down there, and I'm continuing to dissolve more of it to be poured as fertilizer over various plants that benefit from a boost. I plan to put in a garden in next spring so these jars will be used for canning tomatoes and making non-sweet (or low-sugar) relish and pickles, and pickled okra (for the neighbors who love it).

The neighbors notice if I have a garden or not. In the past when my knees were so bad I didn't do much one year, but after the first surgery and I could do the work, people stopped to say they were glad to see the garden and hoped I was well. So in the spring if people ask, I'll let them know that statins aren't for everyone, case in point.

Charmion, we'd love a report about the arrival of the toaster and where it will live. It sounds small enough that it should be in view where it can be a work of art when it isn't being a utilitarian item.

Dorothy, did you get your ballot mailed?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Oct 24 - 08:42 PM

The brave little toaster has arrived in Stratford and settled into its new home. It works just fine, but it’s no work of art — more than 60 years of wear and tear have done a number on its chrome plating. And I like the look of empty space on the kitchen counter.

My right arm is still sore after yesterday’s COVID booster, but I don’t mind. I’m still very grateful for the vaccines. Flu shot next, when the pharmacy has a spot in its schedule.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Oct 24 - 11:57 PM

You sent photos - thank you! of that incredibly uncluttered cupboard and of the little toaster that could. Perhaps if I notice any of those in Goodwill I'll know how to promote them on eBay, should I choose to pick one up.

I moved some Tupperware bowls (a nested set) to a lower shelf in a low cupboard, and the measuring pitcher (mine also has a lid) fits on top of them. These are the last of the brand that I still use regularly, and now are much easier to reach from this place. It clears out obstacles in my Pyrex shoulder-level cupboard where the bowls used to live. This makes the kitchen more efficient and still allows me to use fewer plastic containers.

This afternoon I headed to the town where I used to work and hoped to find fresh 3-litre bottles of olive oil, but they haven't arrived yet at the Halal market. Soon. I did get a smallish bag of chickpeas and some sesame seeds, but in the future I'll buy those at my local Winco in the bulk section. Winco will never have the olive oil, though. After shopping I attended a talk in the university speaker's series that was really top notch. I debated about going by myself, but in the end it wasn't a big deal. I parked close enough and the walk back to the parking lot is well lit and there are still a lot of people out at 8:30 in the evening.

Trash day tomorrow. Will I have enough to bother to take to the curb? (The question should be: how is it that the neighbors find so much to throw away and not recycle?)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 24 Oct 24 - 09:24 AM

Hurrah for "the brave little toaster" "that could"! :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Oct 24 - 08:16 PM

I'm back to my volunteer schedule this week and the archivist and I did some organizing in the collection I've been scanning since 2020. Now all of the rest of the boxes of archival plastic sleeves of slides are arranged in folders so searching them (after searching through the metadata I'm entering when I scan) is easy. We both had worried that the last few boxes might need a lot of work, more folders added and the over-stuffed boxes partially emptied into new containers, but that was not the case. It's easy to put off a job that you fear is going to be complicated, and now we both know it isn't. It'll still take a long time, but it's in good order. Now to do something similar with my personal slide collection (that's why I initially started this volunteer project—to get my hands on the scanner and slides there and decide how I wanted to handle my own).

Since I made felafel last weekend and the small deep fryer was still out (oil and all) I soaked chickpeas yesterday and today made another batch this evening. My ex was over for dinner and I sent quite a few home with him, along with most of the tahini sauce. I kept enough for one more meal here. I need to use chickpeas more often, they're one of those good carbs.

Another case of old canned goods are decanted into the compost pile and jars in the dishwasher. I have at least one more case to go. [Sigh] I'm tossing the output of labor from the garden and canning two and more years ago. I should have done a better job of giving some of this away.

Next I need to decide what to do with the mustang grape juice in the freezer. The highest use would be to make jelly to give for the holidays perhaps - and be sure it is all given away. It can go into some of these jars liberated today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Oct 24 - 11:56 AM

After several days the last of the political emails have been unsubscribed. When they arrived they loaded into their own folder and occasionally I looked to see if there was something worthy of a donation, but at this point the parties are swimming in cash and the folks making money now are the consultants doing all of the begging emails.

Several cases of canning jars are sorted into their respective sizes with two cases of mixed jars within reach in the pantry. I use them for food storage and freezing so those get used enough that these boxes are convenient. The rest are stacked on the floor under the pantry shelving. I have a feeling there is a case of expired jelly still lurking somewhere.

More cat-sitting this weekend, so a chance to think about efficient ways to make each run count for more than just cats. Gym and museum stops are at the top of that list. Cash from cat sitting this fall is earmarked for the cost of cleaning two more Persian carpets.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Oct 24 - 03:51 PM

Loaded up on produce for the dogs and me today, and this means the evening will be spent preparing some of those to be frozen (cutting up strawberries) and cooking others (carrots, potatoes) for the upcoming dog meals (they get fruit or vegetables on top of the dry in their bowls twice a day).

The fresh pickles I made a while back are past their prime; most of them have been used but there are a couple of jars headed to the compost, and some small cukes bought today will go into pickles for next month. It's best when I grow my own cucumbers with the particular varieties that are best for pickles (they are hybrids with names that indicate that's what they're for). Next spring I'll get back into the pickle business.

It looks like the rest of October our days will be close to 90^o, but then a good chance of rain brings us into the 70s on Halloween and the week beyond. Often times with forecasts the days of rain keep moving further out on the calendar, but so far they seem to be set. Probably has to do with Halloween itself - so many children expressing wishes for no rain but not strong enough to defeat the more powerful silent wishes of parents for rain. :) Not scientific, but there you have it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Oct 24 - 03:16 PM

I got up tired today, did morning church and decided to bow out of Evensong — I would like to be functional tomorrow.

My favourite diner is going out of business; today is their last day. The owners somehow struggled through the pandemic, but they haven’t had a holiday in years, they’re losing money, and they’re not getting any younger. Keto regimen kicked to the curb for the occasion, I ate their very last order of huevos rancheros smothered in green salsa with blobs of Frank’s Hot Sauce, and now I feel like the boa constrictor who swallowed the pig. Worth it, though.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 24 - 05:48 PM

Huevos rancheros is already pretty much keto, isn't it? Eggs and cheese? Vegetables in it, and the salsa? But it does sound like an excellent occasion to eat in whatever form offered. :)

Cat sitting is concluded, my friend texted to say she is headed home a little early so no dinner run. Gives me more time to work on some of my stuff this evening. My shopping is also mostly concluded, what is left can wait till tomorrow.

So much to do around here. I need to make a couple of lists, because there are different categories of things. All of it seems lately to have resulted in pieces of paper sitting around to serve as mnemonic devices for said tasks. Then file or shred or recycle the paper.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 27 Oct 24 - 06:07 PM

Dupont:

Cool cloudy, grey, damp but no precipitation! I managed to get most of the firewood organized to be undercover. Rescued another large plastic bin to be filled.

Weather going below freezing tonight - just a bit. I have not yet dealt with the Canna but covered them. Less and less is getting done; Getting things done one day means nothing the next day.

Tomorrow will be "do nothing" as Tuesday I must go deal with govt re driver's license, car registration. I have a total neurosis about dealing with govt in Quebec - the contempt for my lack of French is nerve wracking. At least the hearing aids will help! And the nice man at the auto insurance company assured me that I was in their computer from my previous time in QC and also assured me I should not have any trouble. Well, he was nice and assuring! It does help!

Robin has been away - in the city and the country and the USA on business. I had a weird day when I wondered what was going on - for weeks I have heard my pulse strongly ALL the time, with or without hearing aids. Then on Sat at 9 am, it Stopped! I stayed in bed for quite a while - wondering... Later it started in again. I find it quite strange when it does it (all the time now) and disconcerting that it quit! I really want him to be here if
I need him. There is NO ONE else. No friends anywhere nearby and those at a not too far distance have their own serious concerns.

OOPS, that reminds me that I told a new friend that I would try to come to the church concert tonight! It is just about a block away but I shall have to drive - for safety and energy sake.

I am living with a strong feeling that "nothing matters anymore". I shall have to do some cleaning as son in coming around 8 November - for a week.

YES, my ballot went in weeks ago!! With the help of nice folks at the library!

If these pills are helping...I feel pretty lousy But then, I did get the wood mostly covered.

OK, remember to take pills to concert in case I am not home by correct time. Go get decent clothes on and go get a place to park...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Oct 24 - 12:54 PM

Dorothy, does the Canadian health system cover things like home helpers going to patient homes for a few hours a day or week to take care of some of the basic care and cleaning? It sounds like something to get set up with if Robin is going to be simply away at work or out of town for days at a time.

Spent an hour on Malwarebytes chat last night again sorting out my account. I use them for real-time browser security and VPN. The last configuration (in May this year) ended up with four devices but scattered between two accounts. Now it is one account with four devices. And since we were reworking the account he sent a link to a discount (35%) so I'm set for two years. VPN on the phone and tablet are good for when I'm out on public WiFi but want security. VPN at home is most often used to view videos in other places that are otherwise blocked to US viewers. The guy's name showed up as "Michael Jordan" and the mature me resisted asking any basketball questions.

There is a hint of skunk in the house and yard this morning, but there are no bodies in the yard or direct hits on dogs so I'm not sure what the story is. At breakfast this morning I decided to go back to basics as far as fussy Pepper is concerned. A bowl of dry food and nothing else, and after that I broke up and handed each their share of a banana. For some reason mixing it together is beginning to mess with an OCD part of Pepper's head.

When the trash went out today (small grocery bag) I decided to drop it in the large bin and then top it off with the pruned limbs off of the huge Maximillian sunflowers along the driveway. Now that they're dry they're dropping seeds everywhere, so I'll send a few of those to the dump. Most yard waste goes in the compost, but these are woody and tough to break down. I also toss them over the back fence to add to the branch debris discouraging trespassers from strolling through that back part of the yard.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 Oct 24 - 09:50 PM

Dupont:

Beautiful Cold day!

Yesterday's wood moving earning me a day in bed - on computer mainly and some reading time. So, eyes burning, remembering what SRS said recently about eyes and computer... And so to sleep!

Oh, nice thought about home help, I shall check into that. Have already heard they are hard to come by...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Oct 24 - 09:52 PM

Tonight's dinner confirmed it for blue heeler Pepper - she simply doesn't want her carrots or broccoli touching her dry food. She happily gobbled down everything in two stages. When they can't tell you in words they tell you by refusing the food offered and hope you'll figure it out. It was her refusing to eat that had me thinking her teeth might be bothering her, and is the reason she has stitches in her belly now. The fatty tumor that had formed was removed while she was under for teeth cleaning and exam. So I guess something helpful came out of all of this. $500 later. . .

I'm starting a new box of items to take to the group that collects art supplies for area teachers. A friend who taught art in middle school used to send home small samples of paints in Rx bottles when her students were finishing work at home; I'm setting aside those bottles (sans labels) and a few other things that would serve the art classroom. This reminds me that I should see if I can reconnect and see how she's doing these days. She, like me, moved out of the old neighborhood (probably also giving a huge sigh of relief - there were some real busybodies over there) and I'd love to catch up. This reminds me of a couple of other people I should look up . . .

Dorothy, do you use any readers when you work on the computer or read books? You can easily find them made with Blue Blocker lenses and they aren't any more expensive than regular readers. That might help as far as sleep after reading a screen.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Oct 24 - 06:12 PM

I may never eat beans again.

On Sunday I indulged in my favourite diner dish: huevos rancheros. In Ontario, at least in Stratford, they are served with traditional Canadian-style baked beans. The only consequence I expected from that choice was a sharp up-tick in weight, but what I got was a nasty visit from the Diverticulitis Fairy.

The belly-ache struck about suppertime on Sunday, worsened steadily over night, and by dawn I had decided to call a stand-down until I could dare leave the house. Monday was unpleasant, but I slept through the night (tired out, I guess). Today, the lower gut still hurts but at least I can do stuff -- a good thing, because the car was due at the dealer's in Kitchener at 10:00 am for its semi-annual spa day with the mechanics.

The trip to town featured a rainstorm of biblical proportions, like driving through a car wash but with heavy traffic and bolts of lightning. Visibility was dreadful. Nothing bad happened to me, but I saw several vehicles evidently in distress at the side of the road. Once at home, I took to the comfy chair and stayed there until even the cat got bored.

Time to recombobulate has gotta be one of the greatest privileges of all.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Oct 24 - 12:29 AM

Baked beans? Not refried beans or a side of black beans? Were they mashed up? (Just curious - I'm sorry they seem to have spoiled the effect of what should have otherwise been a nice farewell dinner.)

This evening I cut a boneless leg of lamb into personal-sized portions and they're all wrapped and in the freezer. Fresh fruit has been cleaned and frozen, and I am organizing the fridge as we are now one month out from the US Thanksgiving. I need to figure out what I'm going to cook and if I need to load up on anything. It may well be lamb this year - my D-I-L is vegetarian except she will eat lamb (and suffer after, apparently, but she loves it). A turkey breast has less leftover, so some of each of those two would work. Family will be expecting my homemade dinner rolls, and I'll make a batch, but I'm also going to try making a batch using the gluten-free baking flour from Bob's Red Mill (so if I do a turkey breast I can have a sandwich.)

I have some recipes they like that could work for Thanksgiving, such as cranberry duff that is like a thin cranberry upside down cake with non-wheat flour. Of the two things I'm avoiding, wheat and sugar, I'll err on the side of sugar for that recipe.

In dog world, the tummy stitches come out tomorrow morning. Not a visit I look forward to; but it's the last appointment in this sequence. Meanwhile, this morning I found out one reason why breakfast isn't always as popular with this dog - the neighbor had upped the number of biscuits he was giving them in the morning and those things are large. I asked him to keep it to them sharing - break one in half for the two of them once in the morning. No wonder she's gaining weight even as I reduce the food in her bowl!

I have to finish the fence back there, with a gate, and then he can step through and hand each dog the biscuit without having to toss and hope one doesn't steal from the other. They can't go right up to the fence because of their Invisible Fence collars, and that is intentional. But he is welcome to come into the yard and if we have a gate it will only be between our yards, no one else would have access to it. I've been talking about that darned thing for ages - it's time to finish it. We're still in the high 80s but tomorrow should see a shift and rain for several days after before staying the 70s. Then I can work out there comfortably.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Oct 24 - 12:33 PM

Yup, baked beans — like Heinz, but with onion, garlic, thyme, and a touch of vinegar as well as molasses, mustard and tomato. And not mashed.

I first encountered huevos rancheros in a US Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, which is also the first place I saw widespread use of hot sauce. Without the hot sauce, the food there was essentially tasteless.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Oct 24 - 02:23 PM

There are stories and a couple of photos of Hillary Clinton pulling a small bottle of hot sauce out of her handbag when she was eating out or at various functions. It's standard in several forms here. My favorite general one is called Tapatio, particularly good over scrambled eggs, omelettes, on anything like tacos, burritos, etc. Hot salsa is another category, used in large amounts, a juicy kind of tomato pepper vinegar relish (plus spices) also very good over eggs. Kamala also apparently favors hot sauce, and since she grew up with an Indian mother and it is my experience that Indian food is often hot and there is hot sauce everywhere. (I had to use my "Just Read" browser extension after turning off my ad blocker to read this Houston Chronicle story.)

Say what you will about the trustworthiness of Hillary Clinton. The candidate who could make history as the first female U.S. president has been nothing but transparent about the fact that she's a hothead.

"Sriracha, Tabasco, tomatillo or what?" a participant of a town hall hosted by "Good Morning America" asked Clinton in April.

"I have a collection of all that and many more," she told the fellow fire-breather. "I started using hot sauce back in 1992 because I read an article that said it would help my immune system stay healthy." Ever since her husband's debut presidential campaign, she's stayed on message. "So far, so good!"

Clinton's liquid fire of choice is Ninja Squirrel, a brand of sriracha available at Whole Foods Market. But she also relies on a fresh hot pepper every day, she told National Public Radio, crediting the ingredient for "one of the reasons I'm so healthy, and I have so much stamina and endurance." (Science backs her up. Chilies are rich in folic acid and vitamins A, C and E; eating hot sauce also triggers the release of stress-lowering endorphins.)

Meanwhile, in the Pepper department at my house, the t-shirt she wore for the last couple of days was attractive but is now so torn up that it went into the trash. She had stitches removed (and ointment over the little holes) so needs a shirt for two more days they said. I took a shirt recently culled from the closet and stitched a three-inch dart on the back of the neck so she can't walk out of the neckhole. It looks good on her.

Yesterday a box of Gibraltar Duratuff glasses were listed on eBay, today I have a dozen Pilsner beer glasses (came from a friend's estate, but I never did get around to using.) They will go through the dishwasher, get polished for photos, and probably listed a few at a time. Packing a dozen or more is difficult and heavy and riskier that they arrive all intact. They took up a fair amount of space on the built-in shelves in the den, so I can spread things out (and consider if there is more on those shelves to move to the eBay list).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 30 Oct 24 - 04:45 PM

Charmion, if you eat a little seaweed - nori, dillisk, whatever you're having yourself - with beans it tends to lessen their dramatic effects.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Oct 24 - 07:55 PM

Thompson, I think that ship has sailed for me. The problem is that my lower gut is already significantly compromised by diverticulosis, so high-fibre foods are too challenging. If the problem was farts alone I would go out and buy dulse tomorrow, but a severe belly-ache that isn’t over three days later is a whole different matter.

The first such flare-up hit me about 20 years ago, and I’ve had them two to three times a year ever since. (There were plenty of doctor visits and fancy imaging adventures — X-rays, CAT scans, gastroscopies — along the way.) Until Sunday, I hadn’t had one since just before Easter, coincidentally about 10 days before I started down the keto trail.

As soon as I stopped eating high-fibre foods, most of which are high in carbohydrates — the less-threatening symptoms of diverticulosis (notably the constant flatulence) just up and vanished, and until Sunday I didn’t have so much as a twinge of discomfort, let alone a full-blown diverticulitis flare complete with sleepless nights and low-grade fever. But within a few hours of eating a single flipping serving of beans I was squirming in pain.

I’m bright enough to take the hint without letters of fire on the wall.

Meanwhile, normal life goes on. Today was spent taking a fellow chorister up the road to Clinton for cataract surgery, waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for her to emerge from recovery, driving her home, and then hanging around for a couple of hours to ensure that she continues to recover properly from the anaesthetic. We aging ladies have to hang together!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 30 Oct 24 - 08:09 PM

Dupont:

Re Beans: I believe in ACV [Apple Cider Vinegar -- added by mudelf] for gut stuff. Still have my copy of Vermont Folk Medicine. Took a bottle to Mexico in the 80s for possible problems - a little in my water at each meal. Doing that today and it is solving a gut problem.

Got Drivers License yesterday. Left here early enough that it didn't matter that I was lost in Valleyfield and had to stop for directions - nice man at a tire place printed them out for me! I was forever at the kiosk, leaning on the counter and hoping the incipient vertigo (a new nuisance) would not get worse before I could get out of there! Was still with me today.But I have gotten rid of it- ACV.

Checked possible side effects of Ibrance last night. Made a list and sent in email to pharmacy in Ottawa. Good response we agreed to take a week off. My med stuff is readily available in both provinces but they have not gotten the idea of switching me totally to QC! They were (ON) however, kindly helpful! But they keep telling me to see my doctor - getting a doctor in QC ????? or ON where it took a few years - to get a darn fool.

Friend Rita texted me this am before 9 am! I was non-functional! But got back to her. Did I get my wood stacked yet? "No" but it is not a hurry and I want to do it myself in bits - something physical to do!

Enjoyed the day in bed because tomorrow I need to take the car back to V for its safety inspection. The trip down is 39 min when you know how! Neighbours were doing yard work on the warm day!

There seem to be a bunch of neighbours across the street. If they are out tomorrow, and I feel well enough, I may walk over to see if I can hire someone to clean the house.

And if I have the energy to stop at a pharmacy, I will look for those glasses - and more batteries for hearing aids which are behaving nicely this week. Now, have to wait until 9:30 to take pills.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Oct 24 - 09:06 PM

Dorothy, trying to avoid vertigo and stacking firewood don't seem to be compatible activities. Maybe the neighbors across the street can help with that also when you ask about someone to help clean.

Charmion, I will perform a similar escort to and from a surgery event for a friend in the first full week of November. I did this about three months ago (she needs a surgery on each arm) and will be better prepared for how to help her out, knowing what to expect. (I'll pick up a rotisserie chicken at Costco instead of paying a small fortune for tiny birds at Tom Thumb, like I did last time. Having food ready-to-eat when you're recovering is a nice touch.)

Dishwasher has run its course and the glasses are cool. Time to find the packing materials and decide which boxes to use. I'll list them tomorrow, and it will be two or three new listings instead of one. When I do it this way if someone wants more glasses at a time they can indicate they want combined shipping; it means I have to repack, but usually ends up costing them a bit less in the end. (Just so they don't buy all three - then I'm back to the original problem of safely packing that many glasses in a large box.)

More sewing this evening to modify a couple of more shirts for the dogs. Pepper can test another one tomorrow, and then she's finished with canine couture for now. There is at least one more of the previous shirts that needs to be tossed (just as well because when they're dropped in the trash can the shirts block the smell of the wrapper from the lamb I cut up yesterday). Trash day tomorrow so I need to go out in the morning to cut more sunflower limbs to add to the trash can full of lamb drippings and dog shirts.

The beer glasses are out of the dishwasher and look good.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Oct 24 - 09:53 PM

Apple cider vinegar might have helped when I was forty. At this point, I’d rather follow the indication I already have — stay low-carb, and no beans.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 24 - 12:34 PM

November is one of those months when a number of annual bills automatically renew, causing an automated sticker shock. Good thing the heat pump is paid off, because those plus the vet bill are looming large this month. Some of it can be shifted over time to other months, but it takes planning.

More sunflower branches went in the trash this morning, along with a couple of items I hadn't planned on until I read an article in The Atlantic. Here are the first two paragraphs:

For the past several years, I’ve been telling my friends what I’m going to tell you: Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid.

In 2018, Turner published one of the earliest papers positing that black plastic products were likely regularly being made from recycled electronic waste. The clue was the plastic’s concerning levels of flame retardants. In some cases, the mix of chemicals matched the profile of those commonly found in computer and television housing, many of which are treated with flame retardants to prevent them from catching fire.

Apparently black plastic that is otherwise ok is ejected in regular waste-stream recycling plants because the optical sensors can't see the black color. So there is a shortage of good black plastic, and that's where e-waste steps in to fill the demand for recycled black plastic. They tend to be treated with flame retardants and "another paper from 2018 found that flame retardants in black kitchen utensils readily migrate into hot cooking oil."

The other things that need to go are the most of the non-stick cookware. In one of my two free reads at America's Test Kitchen this month, they say that

As Dan Jones, associate director at the MSU Center for PFAS Research, told us, different PFAS chemicals may have different levels of toxicity too. The problem is, we don’t know as much as we’d like to about all the different chemicals. The two best-studied PFAS, PFOA and PFOS, have been phased out of use, at least in the United States, but many others exist and remain in use, and their health effects are less well known.

That "remain in use" part would be me and all of my thrift store non-stick bread pans, a large skillet (to make lefse), and probably more.

The article says "it's not clear that the PFAS in your nonstick cookware actually migrate into your food when you cook" - but we can see all of these coatings gradually scratched or peeling off.

It's always something.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 31 Oct 24 - 11:19 PM

Dupont:

with a few loose ends yet to go, I am legal in QC - health, auto, driving. Need to tell auto ins company of move and change address on myriad other items - is there a list on line? I keep thinking: Oh! and...

I keep being told to stay active - the firewood was my activity!

With the nasty side effects intruding, I read more about this med and am informed that 30% of women may last 53 months. At 87, I am surprised they are giving me this expensive stuff; I suppose it is the experimental aspect. That's OK. My body is happy to have a week's break. No vertigo today. Just itching and some sporadic discomforts.

Negotiating with a fav musician to obtain the actual words to his songs I love - I love hearing the feeling in them but would like to know the words. They will be an important part of what sustains me through whatever piece of "53 months" I last. This is not gloomy; this is OK.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 01 Nov 24 - 05:55 AM

Charmion, a few of my friends have been put on a diet called FODMAPS, which cuts out all beans.

Fermentable: foods which do not fully digest/absorb in the intestine so ferment in the large bowel.
Oligosaccharides: there are two groups of oligosaccharides that cause symptoms; Fructans and Galactooligosaccharides. These are poorly absorbed in all people as we do not have the ability to digest them in
the small intestine.
Fructans are also known as fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and are chains of the sugar fructose of different lengths. Main dietary sources of these are wheat products (bread / breakfast cereal / pasta), some vegetables (e.g. onion, garlic, artichoke) and as an ingredient added to some processed foods as a
prebiotic (e.g. FOS, oligofructose or inulin).
Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are chains of sugar galactose. The main dietary sources are pulses, beans, legumes and cashew or pistachio nuts.
Disaccharides: Lactose is a sugar found in all animal milks. Milk and yogurt are main sources of lactose
Monosaccharides: Fructose is a simple sugar but in excessive amounts may be poorly absorbed by some.
Polyols: Polyols are sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol. These are poorly absorbed in most people. These occur naturally in some fruits and vegetables, but are also used as artificial sweeteners in sugar free chewing gum, mints, and other low calorie or sugar free products.

The diet seems like a nightmare to me, but most of the people who are on it seem to choose some parts of it and not bother about others.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Nov 24 - 09:14 AM

Thompson, the low-FODMAPs diet is close to the ketogenic regimen I started in April, except that keto people avoid most fruits and all starchy veg. Both diet types are so restrictive that docs describe them as diagnostic or therapeutic — designed to identify and/or treat a particular problem within a limited span of time.

After six months of keto, I had gone down two sizes in trousers and my blood glucose level (the problem) was bang on normal, but I was low on sodium (God knows why) and short on calcium from avoiding milk. Cue the return of more carb-dense foods, starting with milk and yoghourt.

The dietician at my doctor’s office shares her profession’s obsession with cholesterol (mine is normal), so her list of foods to resume eating started with meat alternatives — in short, beans. I usually follow professional advice — why buy a dog and bark myself? — but that list went into the bin on Monday.

I’m almost back to normal today if still a bit sore below the belly button, but I’m taking a final sickie because I can, and to catch up on admin crap I couldn’t tolerate earlier in the week. Great-niece No. 1 has claimed the fancy blender I have to re-home, so I’ll deliver it to her on Sunday, when I’m going to town for a tune session. I have some expensive (if bought new) winter clothes that might fit her, so I’ll take those, too.

Gee, ain’t it fun to get old? No, don’t tell me — !

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Nov 24 - 12:04 PM

Charmion, this week's book is Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, and in the current chapter he is taking the concept of "Nutrients" for a spin. I read a criticism of some of Pollan's theories in the big Taubes' book, I think it's the "more vegetables, less meat" part. So far they both cast a critical eye at the Western diet and food industries.

At any rate, Pollan discusses how the only way some of the science folks could discuss types of food without the big food companies coming down on them was to break everything into neutral components to discuss. Nutrients. Protein is general enough, it can be meat or fish or poultry (so the beef or chicken producers don't complain). Sugars have a huge lobby. And both of these authors describe the problem that nutritionists don't really understand how Food works. They understand what the party line is as far as parts of food, the nutrients, and for many of them all things are created equal (e.g., all sugars are the same. Except they're not.)

Rain is headed this way and on Sunday the clocks change ("fall back"). I've waited months to reclaim this hour.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Nov 24 - 12:50 PM

This week my sister in law is having a segment of small intestine removed due to a chronic infection. Sounds dreadful.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Nov 24 - 05:33 PM

If they had to resort to surgery, Don, your SIL must be in a bad way. Fingers crossed!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Nov 24 - 09:20 PM

Dupont:

OK day. Went to Bank to cash govt cheques as in infusion after giving the govt all my cash yesterday. Then stopped in at a community group. Still trying to figure out where the office is, Joanne, the only one I recognize, greeted me effusively as usual. And a Sandra joined in. I suggested they know where I live they could drop in??? Also mentioned the book someone borrowed in January. Joanne said she would look into it. That was the sum total of today's energy! Came home and picked up computer. Looked for auto ins, making a few phone calls - phones that were dysfunctional and people who did not speak clearly. Got an on-line quote and will think on it. The current company is only Ontario. They have sent me a form to sign on line - I'll try! after I sort out the new stuff.

I, by the way, have never bought, or used any black plastic spatulas nor those no-stick pans. Only stainless or glass. When my Dad was dying of Cancer (1962), the doctor told us to get rid of all the aluminum - we did. Never bought Tupperware either - a distrust of plastics generally. Dupont- the company in Delaware that developed the motto: Better living through plastic" was just a few miles away. They came to the New World in a sailing ship and brought their entire library. Visiting an exhibit at one of the estates they had donated as a park/museum, I was quite impressed that they brought their library! I am not impressed that they started out manufacturing gunpowder then plastics... But the public gets to visit their discarded estates with marvellous gardens.

Now I take my pills and go to bed!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 02 Nov 24 - 06:23 AM

Gee, ain’t it fun to get old?

Old age isn't for weaklings!
Milk and yogurt, by the way - maybe leave out the milk but go for the (live, unflavoured) yogurt, which isn't as harsh on the old intestine?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Nov 24 - 12:28 PM

I eat live, plain yoghourt every day, milk (300 g servings) about three times a week. My innards handle milk just fine, and there’s nothing wrong with my cholesterol levels. I have the bloodwork evidence!

As for black plastic, I have a spoon that belonged to my Dad, which makes it so old that it pre-dates widespread recycling and the very term “e-waste”. My two non-stick pans are used only for eggs and fish, with wooden or silicone tools, and they’re the best quality I could obtain. I’m not particularly chemically aware, just stingy.

A crisis is brewing in the choir board, so next week will be emotionally fraught. I do not plan to take a lead position on either side of the dispute, but I will fall in briskly behind the Program Committee chair in her support for the conductor’s plan (actually a Program Committee plan) to hire an orchestra for the spring concert. It’s about money, control, and big city vs small town values, so it will be ugly.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 24 - 12:13 PM

Hiring an orchestra is a great way to support the regional artists; maybe that one contract is enough to bring them into the black and keep them going. Win/win. What is the alternative, local volunteers with lots of rehearsals? Good for them socially and practice-wise, but who gets to do all of that work?

I didn't get to the clock in the SUV last night but the rest have been set back. I've decided that with the time change and fall still not really quite happening yet (we're still in the 80s this week) I'll act like it's here and do some fall cleaning. All of the bedding is off, including the mattress pad, and that going through the wash with the thermal blanket to distribute weight so it doesn't go "tilt." (Anyone else play pinball in their youth?) The thermal blanket is a loose waffle-weave that is the only one I've used so far this autumn. I layer others on top of it as the season progresses.

More laundry later then vacuuming and dusting. Keeping myself busy and playing my own CDs (after my weekly gardening radio show) so no more hourly news for a while. I'm exhausted from all of the politics. My offer is still out there to drive people to the local polls on Tuesday. I hope to get a nibble or two.   

It's getting dark out this morning and the radar shows a storm headed this way, a batch of green with a core of yellow and that has a core of orange. Yes, please! Heavy rain without the gully-washer of the red in the radar. There is rumbling now and the blue heeler is fussing about it. She'll spend the time in my office closet where I have a bed for her.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 24 - 09:14 PM

Flipping through @Threads this afternoon I heard a brief talk by Dr. Francis Collins of the NIH on research into how music that we really like creates great dumps of endorphins into our brains. He mentioned he's doing this research with Renée Fleming. Forgot his name but knew hers so I was able to find an article. Singer Renée Fleming Shares the Healing Power of Music
The star soprano has helped spearhead a study on the positive impact that music can have on the brain.
However your program committee manages the concert, just know that it will help a lot of people. Keberoxu, are you singing again in any holiday concerts or big name one-off oratorio performances? (And how's the new car?)

This evening I have more CDs playing, Bach and Berlioz. The ones that always give me a thrill, including Passacaglia and Fugue, Toccata and Fugue, etc., and Symphonie Fantastique. After that Chopin Sonata #2, and concluding with Brahms Hungarian Dances.

This evening I'm also making the next batch of granola, and have learned my lesson after the last batch when I was running low on things and didn't want to run to the store. It's one thing to use ground flaxseed to help bulk it up a bit (in lieu of all of the carbs in a bunch of oatmeal) but entirely another to use whole flaxseed if you were short on sesame seeds. Sesame seeds are bad enough in your gums after you eat them, but whole flax seed is like adding razor wire to the recipe.

Packing boxes for beer glasses are in place and now to figure out how many best fit in each and what extra padding to deploy.

Humid as hell after thunderstorms on this first day of Standard Time. Some years we've already had a hard freeze by now. The bedding is all washed and in place, and I have a little lap quilt (4'x6') that a coworker gave me years ago to toss over my feet if it gets cool. It's too soon to get out anything more. (The exchange happened after a holiday party at the library - I had a nice cashmere fluffy sweater from Ross or someplace that I put in the "Chinese gift swap" event - Patty ended up with it and it was odd, I felt like it was always meant to go to her (things change hands frequently in those games). I mentioned that (because she worked in one of the coldest parts of the library) and the next day she brought this quilt. I was astonished, but I love it. I've modeled other lap quilts after it.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Nov 24 - 08:34 AM

Stilly, the Stratford Symphony Orchestra doesn’t need help from the Concert Choir; in fact, we need them. With a loyal army of fans and volunteers, the Symphony sells out every season. Most of them are professional musicians with steady gigs, especially teaching and session work. Serena the Fiddle plays with the Symphony when she’s not working with pupils in her home studio or knocking out tunes with me and Mary Anne the Guitar.

Winter is marching into southwestern Ontario, too. Last week was chilly and grim — leather jacket weather. Due to an air mass rolling northeast from the US midlands, this week will be warmer — weirdly warm, for November — and very wet, so it’s ball cap and raincoat for me.

Last week, I pruned my coat closet and sweater drawer of garments that are now laughably big on me, and yesterday I took them (along with the fancy blender) down the road to London to pass them on to Great-Niece No. 1, who should not spend money on stuff she could get from me for free. Fortunately, she was brought up on thrift stores and rummage sales, so there’s no hesitation about Auntie’s cast-offs. Her eyes lit up like highway flares at the sight of the blender — good move on my part there.

I’m still wearing my size-extra-large raincoat, however. It’s rubber-ducky yellow, made by North Face, and I can wear it over a bulky warmth layer (e.g., quilted jacket) in sleet or wet snow. The Internet has yet to come up with a comparable garment in a less enveloping size, so I’ll keep it even if it makes me look like an eight-year-old who just inherited half his big brother’s wardrobe.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Nov 24 - 10:54 AM

Brahms, Beethoven, and Rimsky-Korsakov on the CD player this morning. No radio. The only radio I want to hear today (it goes off with a startling alert) is the weather radio. The moist warm air that Charmion noted is part of a really long front that is down here also, raining on many Texas counties. It's what we got overnight. Fingers crossed there are no tornadoes or snowstorms or flash flooding events in the next 48 hours.

Yesterday's laundry marathon was concluded with the putting-away of everything - that is sometimes the slowest part of the operation. Today is sewing and eBay and now that I've moved the gardening cart out of the way in the sunroom, back to the jigsaw puzzle.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Nov 24 - 01:41 PM

Damn. I just realized my Harris/Walz and Colin Allred (senate race, Texas) were stolen overnight. They could have leaned over to grab one sign but the other two they had to advance into the yard. I reported it, but who knows if anyone will be caught doing this today. The sheriff should know this kind of thing happens and watch out for people after hours. Oh, wait, our village contracts with the sheriff and they don't go around here 24-hours. I've put out a query on Facebook asking if there are spare signs around.

I had an old Biden/Harris sign in the garage so taped over Biden and put that out. It's closer to the house in front of a window but visible from the street. Us old broads are resourceful.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Nov 24 - 11:06 AM

We had a lovely soaking rain yesterday so when I took my HARRIS sign from the porch (where I parked it overnight) and shoved the wire legs into the ground it was easy to put in place. Soon I'm going to have to mow again now that the grass has gotten the "grow again" sign from the rain and no hard freeze to make it go dormant.

The first box of beer glasses is packed and the day will be spent puttering with the rest or working my jigsaw. Just not listening to the news. Ok, maybe news on the hour on NPR, but not the constant drone of exit polls.

I have some sewing to do also, and while I'm in there, pull some of the unused embroidery thread and send it to my son's partner. She's getting started on various projects and the infusion of more thread may give her a boost. I should send her the entire box (one of those multi-compartment storage plastic drawer things people use for nails and screws and such.) Keep a few colors for if I need them for something small, like the amount of yarn I have here now (not much).

The house is very quiet right now. Time for some endorphin-pumping music.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Nov 24 - 06:51 PM

Dupont:

Finally posted a plea for house cleaning on Chateauguay Chit Chat. half a dozen responses flew in! I asked the first one to phone me. She did everything she could to get the house looking OK for son's arrival which he upgraded to tomorrow afternoon. We delighted in her already being here!

A fine young woman whose goal in life is to be a house cleaner! She worked quietly and confidently for two hours. Found an extension cord for the shop vac and used it. No muss no fuss! Definitely the best that could be done! I had started the morning by trying to vac the staircase - only lasted about 15 minutes - got halfway! I happily paid her $40/hour for her two hours. And me not being wrecked!

A trip out for a few essentials - an hour at most - was all of yesterday's energy.

My effort to connect with a few of the women I met at a local group elicited a call this aft -- my phone never rings more than once a day. Francoise is coming by at 9 am tomorrow. I am barely conscious at that hour but shall make a supreme effort!

Warm enough this aft to sit on the front steps for a while several times. Started a book - Creatures of the Rock by Andrew Peacock, 2014. Adventures of a young vet who aged during his 30 years in rural Newfoundland - starting with learning Newfie English! Been there! It can be exceedingly different! Interesting so far- two young vet students figuring out how to castrate a 600 pound boar without getting killed!

R on way back - sometime tonight with any luck. Letter telling me to come and have a retake of photo for drivers license. I hope it can happen at the one ten minutes away! And have not yet managed auto insurance - phoned 3 dif offices and none had clearly functional phones. I had no idea what they were saying - in English.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Nov 24 - 07:23 AM

I have just checked to see how many months are left on my mortgage at the current rate to pay off my house, and I will use the time to hurry up my decluttering so that when that time comes I can easily sell and move out of this state. It's bad enough being in the US with Trump, and being in Texas compounds the injury. I don't know if I'll be able to get the rest of the family out, but it is worth the effort.

While I was tossing and not sleeping last night I worked out a list of the things I need to start doing as far as cosmetic repairs. The structure is sound (well, except for the foundation - but if I have the work done on that in a really wet winter the house will be as close to level as it ever is and possibly make the work less expensive). Paint is cheap.

I was really depressed this morning when I finally decided there was no point in trying to stay in bed any longer, but now I find I'm really pissed off, and that is a better way to approach what is coming. We need to make the most of the next two and a half months and case harden as much of our lives and the government as possible. I'll be setting up monthly donations to the ACLU.

Pardon me while I go feed the dogs then get ready to finally finish that backyard fence, and while I'm back there, measure the side door in the garage to order a replacement.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 06 Nov 24 - 04:05 PM

IN answer to your question, Stilly,
having decluttered my old car and replaced it with
a newer used car,
I'm getting things done this week:
tomorrow the registration and paperwork,
next day the state inspection sticker.
And I'm driving the car with enormous care
so as not to get pulled over
when I have neither registration nor sticker ...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Nov 24 - 06:13 PM

If you move to upstate New York, Maggie, I’ll come visit.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Nov 24 - 08:29 PM

That would be lovely! There are several Mudcatters in that area. My brother is in New Hampshire, near his daughter and grandchildren, a possible destination, but my heart (and my son) is in the Puget Sound area. Dorothy's old stomping grounds also. I have to split myself from one child to live near the other. One in Texas, one in the NW. Those are pretty much my two places to choose. I told the ex about this thought today, so he can consider it.

Here at the house more sunflowers are in the Rubbermaid can for tomorrow's trash. And I finally cut my way through the large (12") root at the back fenceline that pushed my fencepost crooked. I'll straighten the post and backfill with some fresh concrete (leaving the old footer still on it). I pulled out the electric reciprocating saw and after a half hour going back and forth with the saw and crowbar was able to cut the root. Soon I'll reinforce the concrete footer then finish that chunk of fence.

Saturday AT&T installs the new Internet. The fiber cable is faster and cheaper than Spectrum that has jerked me around for a long time. Today I called and said that since I never saw the speed they promoted I wanted to drop back to the lower speed and price. No can do, apparently. All accounts are the same high price. So I told him no thanks and goodbye and now I hope they don't tank my Internet service before Saturday when I'll call to cancel. Good riddance.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Nov 24 - 08:08 AM

I caught a cold last week while preoccupied with the big, bad belly-ache. Now the gut problem has eased up and the cold is bronchitis, for the second time this year. I am so bummed.

Nothing says “misery” like coughing myself awake to the sight of Trump’s smug face on the front page of the Globe & Mail.

My weight has skidded to 63 Kg, a bit less than 140 pounds. That’s about the size I was coming out of recruit school. Of course, I was 5 cm taller then, and carrying a lot more muscle. My fancy electronic scale and the charts on even the most respectable medical websites say I’m still a bit over-fat, but I’m not sure those charts apply all that well to a woman of my age. I’ll persist with the low-carbohydrate diet, however; not for weight loss but because it’s apparently what my guts prefer. Never argue with your entrails; they get the last word every time.

Fibre-optic telecommunications service is widespread in southern Ontario. We made the switch about five years ago, when a local provider brought it to Stratford. It’s stable and much more consistent than the coaxial cable service we relied on before, and the provider’s tech staff are both skilled and downright nice. No regrets whatsoever.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Nov 24 - 01:28 PM

Charmion, if you start to hear about your weight loss from friends you'll know you've gone too far. That's what happened here, so I'm about five pounds above my target weight, and don't hear comments now.

I'm working my way through the Pollan book still and can see where Gary Taubes takes issue; they cover much of the same territory (and Pollan is very appreciative of the work Taubes did in Good Calories, Bad Calories - he calls it eye-opening and groundbreaking). Pollan suggests the science hasn't looked enough at what we get from plants (the things "nutritionists" haven't learned to quantify). Taubes has shown less curiosity about that, and is into avoiding carbs at most costs. Carbs = most plants. I'm looking at exchanging some of the yogurt I eat for a larger variety of small portions of vegetables and fruits. Staying pretty close to the "slow carb" designation (but with a few potatoes and carrots in the mix.) His discussion of the science of nutrition is pretty interesting, and also kind of depressing. The hardness and fastness of nutrition labels seems to be yet another myth.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Nov 24 - 02:27 PM

Pollan is next on my to-read stack. I just started on “Good Calories, Bad Calories”. Having already worked my way through “The Case for Keto” and “Rethinking Diabetes”, I don't expect to learn much that’s new, but I feel obligated to read it for myself before passing it on to anyone else — notably Great-Niece No. 1, who lives with the kind of corpulence apparently common among women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Nov 24 - 05:04 PM

You'll find that there is more gritty detail in the larger book, and lots of source material if you want to go look things up.

Have just completed the run to take a friend over for an outpatient arm surgery; she is at home and her medications were picked up and dropped off. I'll check in a couple of times today (since in theory the hospital wants someone to stay there in the first 12-24 hours). I can't stay there long because the smell of the cat litter is too strong almost all of the time. I believe her olfactory nerves must have been fried by the smell by now.

I have to examine my setup here to prepare for the new line for the Internet, and because I plan to use my own router I'll review instructions on that "passthrough" move. I'll have to clear a path to the modem spot (small shelves on the wall near the top of the small pantry, the line pulled through from the attic.) I'm fussy about how I want it done so will spend much of the time keeping an eye on things. The dogs will be in the kennel for the duration. I think the line will run a line from the telephone pole halfway down the back yard (at the fence with next door - the R-O-W runs across our backyards halfway down. Nextdoor neighbors have this service already and the installers buried the line across my R-O-W and under the fence and then through her landscaping before it exits her back yard and is installed on the side wall near the front of their house. Mine should be much easier (note to self - go scoop any dog droppings ahead of foot traffic back there.) I should go see what that box looks like on their house.

The savings from the switch from Spectrum to AT&T is the amount of the monthly ACLU donation, about $240 a year. Win/win.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 24 - 08:49 AM

What’s an R-O-W?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Nov 24 - 09:22 AM

R-O-W means "right of way" like the land bordering public roads.

Agree with the 'plants good' theories. So many micro-nutrients in them like flavonoids, carotenoids, that we know little about, that seem to really help with good health. Unless they mess with one's gut, we need them, but in smaller bundles. There is no excuse for a hybrid apple that weighs 8 ounces and has jacked up sugar content and minimal micronutrients. We need our fruits, but in small sane sizes.
"Eating On the Wild Side" by Jo Robinson is a fascinating book on fruits and veg and what's been done to them.

Home after a great trip to the mineral gathering in Socorro. To-do lists grow daily. Not only do dust storms leave drifts on the porch, there are little dust clots on the windowsills and pits in the stucco walls. Did not anticipating sweeping walls!

A great chofa was delivered, (sofa with chaise 'L') so it's starting to look like a decent home. Still tons of boxes, but some order is coming together.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Nov 24 - 10:44 AM

Thanks, Patty, another book to add to my list! And the true test of the new sofa is if you can take a good nap on it. :)

How are you feeling, Charmion? Are you going the antibiotic route to treat the bronchitis? And I should have spelled out right-of-way first time, a good journalistic habit. Am looking forward to dumping Spectrum and hoping the evil AT&T will behave itself. I should be able to mute all of the sales attempts (phones, direct TV, etc.).

Busy today but then the weekend off (just the tech here tomorrow - but I don't have to go anywhere). I need some peace and quiet.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 24 - 12:53 PM

No antibiotics yet. I’d have to see the doctor again, and I don’t feel up to fighting my way past the gate-keeper who answers the phone. If the cough is still bad on Monday, I’ll have to stiffen my upper lip and do that.

I am getting better, if not nearly as quickly as I would like. I cough less often and not quite as hard, and the “breathing razor-blades” sensation has gone away. But I’m weak, bummed out, and easily distracted, sure signs that I’m not ready for prime time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Nov 24 - 12:00 AM

This has been a hell of a week, but despite the exhaustion of political turmoil I've sorted out one thing I've put off for a long time. Inertia is a great reason for leaving accounts in place that you don't like if the change means a lot of bother, but I finally went to that bother. Today I've been going through various accounts I don't use anymore and logging off or unsubscribing, and have set up the new internet account so I'm ready for the tech to test my new service. I also have a long CAT 5 cable (yes, CAT 6 is better for the faster service, but it's here and will work) to run from the router in the hall to the computer to test it. I'm not going to let him fuss with anything else, and after he's gone I'll go into the settings and set up the IP Passthrough so I can use my existing third party router with the new fiber modem. In theory I won't need to change any of my setups or passwords, and I'm planning to change the stupid gibberish password that AT&T assigns to it's devices.

I promised the dogs a walk through the park tomorrow morning before the excitement begins. I may also run the vacuum and clear out some of the drifts of dog hair in the hall where the guy will work. He's also going to have to go into the attic, and I'm ready for that as well, having moved the shelves from the pantry (they block access to the modem area) and out of the way in the hall where the steps need to pull down.

Patty, I added your book recommendation to my GoodReads list so I don't lose track of it. Another long one!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Nov 24 - 06:44 PM

The Internet service provider exchange is complete. The most excruciating part is getting someone on Spectrum to simply close the account - they send you to sales and do everything they can think of to keep you. "Your personal modem was insufficient" - no, and it's blazing along at twice the speed right now on AT&T. "We'll lower your price" - you should have done that when I asked. "You paid for 10 days you won't be using" - I told her I don't give a fuck about that - and she went ahead and finally agreed to close the account. It's funny, the phone clicked over to hold when the F word was introduced.

Tomorrow is free of appointments so I'll work on eBay listings. I want to keep moving forward on emptying this stuff out of here. Lately nothing has been selling except the glasses, so I'll list more glasses.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 24 - 11:24 AM

I'm thinking about enhancing the landscaping in my back yard with a couple of small trees or large shrubs that are xeriscape in nature to survive our dry spells. When I finish the fence it will be time to look at moving compost bins and working around the big hackberry in the middle of the yard. If I start trimming it back I can put in better trees to make it look more like there was some design intended. In two or three years if I want to sell, they'll be established. I also have one tree that has died in the front, but there's a big project there first (removing the earth-filled tires from the berm in front - meant to keep cars from rolling into the yard and hitting the house). My handyman friend will probably do these projects with me - we'll dig out one side of the berm and replace the tires with big chunks of concrete that otherwise need to be discarded, and in back start low with the large branches and raise up the crown to let more light in.

This morning eBay; later, outside. Today is the day to stabilize the footer at the end post on my fence. The root is cut, just needs to be pulled away and the post straightened. I have a bag of concrete to mix in the wheelbarrow then scoop into each side of the new larger hole around the post. Once it's stable, the rest of the work will continue.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 24 - 07:01 PM

Instead of my virtuous list of chores getting attention I continued to struggle with the Internet setup. I think I've solved one problem without having to jump through more hoops. I'll use the Microsoft Defender program for the antivirus (it's already in there) and stop trying to add AT&T's free McAfee suite. That's several hours I won't get back, but I learned something, so it wasn't wasted time. Getting under the hood every so often keeps your computer and software skills current.

I set the speed lower on the Internet and it still is just fine, better than Spectrum. This month's bill is already set, but after next month it will be about $25 lower than Spectrum. The Tech support person was able to set that up for me.

Busy tomorrow then a couple of days off. Tomorrow is a social day, that is probably something I should do just because it's good for me.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Nov 24 - 08:03 PM

I went to church this morning and had to retreat twice to the vestry to cough. I should have remembered how singing shakes up the crud in my lungs. Fortunately, the congregation isn’t there for entertainment, so they don’t mind the disturbing racket.

Remembrance Day is tomorrow, and I don’t know yet if I’ll do the parade. I’m still coughing, of course, and the weather forecast is not promising: 60 percent chance of rain, and a high of 14°C. I’d rather have dry, and a bit colder. I was planning to wear my Burberry raincoat because I can wear my Victory in the Cold War medal on it, but in a high of 14° it will be too warm. I hate sweating under a woollen beret when I can’t scratch my scalp or wipe the trickle off my face.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Nov 24 - 10:49 AM

Coughed half the night again; no parade for me. Date with the doc tomorrow at three.

The sky is the colour of an old aluminum saucepan, with a cloud cover so dense that the weather radar page on the Environment Canada website is down. I have no idea how often I have stood in front of one cenotaph or another in such conditions, hoping the inevitable deluge will hold off until the last wreath has been laid and the marchpast completed. In Ottawa, this day is usually chilly and raw, with a snell wind that freezes fingers and ears while the icy pavement numbs the feet despite solid boots and high-tech “sock systems”.

On the whole, another day in the comfy chair is the wiser choice.

I don’t need to visit a cenotaph to remember those acres of tombstones, or Edmund’s uncle Jackie on the Menin Gate, or my Dad looking solemn and impossibly vulnerable in a Leading Seaman’s jumper, or the stunned atmosphere at CEFCOM Headquarters in Ottawa when news arrived of soldiers dead in Kandahar, victims of yet another IED strike.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Nov 24 - 10:50 AM

Dupont:

A week with my wonderful #2 son (61) has been all manner of gifts. The bottom line is that we (R, Taun and myself) are all realizing, and supportive of each other, that there is only one way out of this. I am sadly ready and hope to get off the world peacefully in the not too distant future: weeks? months?

Viewing this as the ultimate de-clutter?

Very little energy. Going back to bed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 24 - 11:30 AM

Good decision to stay in when your health isn't up to the event or the cough would disturb you for worry of disturbing others.

This holiday is one that is both personal and ironic. My father was found on November 18 by the nextdoor neighbor who decided he had been too quiet for too long. Looking at my last contact and his emails and appointments he missed, we know he in fact died of that pulmonary embolism after his evening shower on Nov. 11. He and my mother were both WWII veterans; she died on Memorial Day (six months later - that was a really rough time).

Starting the planning for Thanksgiving by first establishing when people can do it. Not always on the traditional Thursday. From there I'll figure out a menu. Today I've pulled out the Bob's Red Mill gluten free baking flour to test my first modified recipe for a Cranberry Duff dessert. I'll do some traditional foods we always eat including mashed potatoes and gravy, but if I can figure out how to make the gravy without wheat flour then I can have an open face turkey sandwich over a piece of non-gluten bread with the non-gluten gravy. There is usually never leftover lamb, the other meat we'll have (and a yogurt mint sauce for that is gluten free). Reminds me I may need to pamper the mint pot beside the kitchen door to see if I have enough for that yogurt.

Today is trash day so I put my modest bag of stuff that can't be recycled or composted into the large can then stuffed the can full of old sunflowers. I am slowly clear cutting the tall woody dead stand in the front. They grow 10' tall and sometimes as wide, into each other and the seedy heads tangle. This morning as I pulled them apart one of them struck back, a direct hit to the eyeball. That smarts but I think I'll survive. I'll use saline rinse (those single dose packs) to rinse and otherwise keep my hands off and see if that is sufficient. Note to self: gloves and goggles next time. There is a small galvanized can that rarely gets used but maybe I'll make a push with both cans to finish that whole tall thatch for Thursday's pickup.

_________________

Dorothy, I hadn't seen your post when I put up my remarks this morning. More in a bit. Dawg speed to you, however this works out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 11 Nov 24 - 01:05 PM

I have been invited to a gathering on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Hostess spent 30 minutes lecturing about gluten etc, so I guess I will have to give that kind of baking a whirl, and will have to do a dry run to see if it works. She mentioned having success with einkorn flour, which is apparently still wheat but low-gluten enough it doesn't bother them. I've used spelt in the past and liked it, but not einkorn.

For gravy, we always used cornstarch ,which is gluten free. You may know the caution about always mixing it with a little ice water, then slowly drizzling in the slurry to your hot liquid, stirring constantly til it thickens. I know it's carby but just thought I should mention it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Nov 24 - 01:50 PM

The other thing about foods thickened with cornstarch is that they don't keep. Within a certain amount of time (don't remember how much, but less than 48 hours), they tend to separate and "weep".

Tapioca (not the pearl kind) and arrowroot are effective thickeners that are also, coincidentally, gluten-free.

Pan gravy -- the reduced but otherwise unthickened juices from the roasting pan -- is also nice, and safe for your celiac friends.

Me, I don't think it fair to invite people to dinner, require them to bring a dish, and then lecture them at length about dietary restrictions. The host is responsible for ensuring that every guest will eat well, and if that means farming out only the un-challenging parts of the menu, or providing both conventional and adapted versions of particular favourites, then so be it.

Speaking as one who does her best to avoid sugar ... !

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 24 - 06:22 PM

I saw my daughter today between the various scheduled meetings and appointments (I took over my 25 drawer cabinet of embroidery floss for her to pick through) and we discussed Thanksgiving. I'm making changes to my diet, but I will still have some of the traditional things they expect - mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, but I'll also see about that Cranberry duff as an addition to the fare. Meat and poultry. Slow-carb vegetables. She understands (has been hearing about this for several months) so we're good. Now to find a date.

Thanks for naming some of the possible thickening agents for gravy. Cornstarch does have its limitations. I could keep a container of the drippings in the fridge and make fresh gravy each time I need it if I went that way.

Meanwhile, this morning Dorothy wrote:

A week with my wonderful #2 son (61) has been all manner of gifts. The bottom line is that we (R, Taun and myself) are all realizing, and supportive of each other, that there is only one way out of this. I am sadly ready and hope to get off the world peacefully in the not too distant future: weeks? months?

Viewing this as the ultimate de-clutter?

Very little energy. Going back to bed.

I am verklempt. Dorothy, I love you. If you need and can get palliative care it frequently extends life. You can continue chemo (if it isn't too nasty) during that time. Being comfortable is good for you, and I'm glad you had time with your son to really talk about it. My heart is still broken to know your cancer that took so long to get diagnosed and you're having to make these decisions now. Give our love to Robin - he's going to need it to sort out everything you two have built. I'd love to buy a cup or plate or bowl or whatever you have made that is around for sale if someone could ship it. Your work is gorgeous. ❤ ❤ (lets see if either of those gets through).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Nov 24 - 08:28 PM

Dupont:

Having eaten everything in sight - more or less, I am feeling some better. I thought of some writing I had done on wordpress about 10 years ago and managed to find it, copy it and move it into docs so I can dispense with wordpress, where I have done nothing since then. But I read it all and was impressed by my writing! I was far better back then - when I was writing regularly?

Over the last week I have been struggling, at times, with a loss of words - not remembering and having to describe what I wanted to catch the word. This malaise of the last couple weeks has been deep. I blame the Ibrance and stopped taking it. It has been over a week 'til I am, tonight, feeling better and hopeful that it has passed. There were days when I could hardly eat anything - chicken broth and a slice of bread.

Sunday/yesterday, I woke up barely breathing. We were still in bed and R felt it also - I really was barely breathing. He finally got up and went downstairs to talk to my son. I am very pragmatic about the fact that this cancer will surely kill me and would prefer not to be waiting around, also want nothing to cause me to end up being tortured in a hospital when we know nothing will help. I can feel the cancer gremlins nibbling on me, sometimes nipping me and mini pains are here and there, now and then.

By 10 pm, I had spent hours talking family history with Taun and we typed out a new, more tidy "will" and Taun - with his B Engineering in computerated automation - where's your printer? Well, there are two that stopped functioning and the one I bought in February (the day before my life stopped being reasonable) was still in the box, which was - still is - being used as an extra counter in the bathroom. In a few minutes it was functioning and Taun astounded R by hitting a button on the computer downstairs and informing R it was printing - upstairs!

Now I have two dead printers to get rid off - declutter!!- and one functional, and no inclination to print anything. We have a will! to put in a safe place with my body donor card. The box is still in place for the "counter". Magic Taun had somehow extricated the computer without moving the box. And he went to Philly today instead of yesterday. With his 3 dozen two day old bagels. No fuss - he just did what he felt needed to be done for us old folks. WOW!

He says he is coming back in a couple weeks with my #1 grandson -27 or so. Doubting I will make the wedding on 1 June.

One of the high points of our "family" conversations: looking on google at the neighbourhood in which I grew up, I told him that his grandfather and friends had built the house (about 1940) --- "Every time I drive on that road, a house my grandfather designed and built is just over there!" Now if I can just find the floor plan - in pencil on graph paper. It is not where I was sure it was so some searching must happen. That would be treasured by Taun as it has been by me. The house does not look as nice as it did. My grandparents nice home is beautiful. And grandfather Quantin's has been nicely improved. The memories!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Nov 24 - 09:57 AM

Dorothy, is there a Habitat for Humanity ReStore anywhere near you? The branch here in Stratford handles recycling of dead computers and their peripherals, including printers, and I’d bet money that’s something they all do. For your own sake, get someone to rid you of those non-functional printers!

Over the last four years I think I have hauled about three generations of computer parts to the ReStore. The house is much more livable without them.

I’m sorry to read that you’re feeling so frail and blue, and glad to note that food and rest perk you up considerably. Please update us on your thoughts and actions whenever you feel up to putting words together. We care.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Nov 24 - 10:21 AM

Dorothy, I need to either do something with my old Wordpress account or bail on it. Like you say, I think I wrote better then. (I felt like I had more to write about!) It's a question of adjusting that one or changing venues and subject matter. Scattershot all over a few social media isn't great communication.

I took myself off of statins this year, but I don't consider that as important as the one you took yourself off of. Maybe your doctor has a suggestion of a version of that with fewer side effects? Or sometimes there is a companion medication to help with those.

Since you looked at your hold homes, I've revisited a couple: my childhood home (the earliest one I remember) was upgraded and now appears to have a basement apartment. The house we moved to when I was finishing elementary school has had some changes (the front porch rebuilt) but the robust magnolia that we gave my mom for Mother's Day in 1968 is still at the corner of the front yard. The current street view from 2018 has a garage. The 2024 satellite view looks like they tore it off.

Good work on the printer setup, and I'm sorry Taun's bagels were a bit stale when he left.

Attacking the fence post this afternoon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 12 Nov 24 - 11:38 AM

When Zach de ka Rocha wrote "Rage Against the Machine," I am pretty sure he was thinking of a printer.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Nov 24 - 01:14 PM

Stilly, I hope your eye is recovering after receiving a punch from a sunflower.
Charmion, I hope your cough is clearing up at last.
ANd Dorothy, as Senoufou would say, you keep a'troshin'.