Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014

Subject: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 201
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Mar 14 - 01:08 PM

Here is the winter 2014 thread. Let's get a jump on spring a few days early. I see on facebook people are reporting success in clearing out bags of debris from indoors and out. Keep up the good work!

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Mar 14 - 04:00 PM

COUNTRY:
Spring is still a future hope up here! However, I checked the forecast and we are to have most of a week above freezing after today - 18F and sunny! So today, instead of getting to the glazing that I had meant to do today, I drove 10 minutes to the "dahlia man" and found a marvellouos big greenhouse full of beautiful tropical plants - from mandevillia for the spring market to 6 foot banana trees! Such a treat for me! I LOVE greenhouses/plants....

He was at the Market on Sunday and said he has soil for planting so I went to fetch some for my heritage seeds. ending up with a huge bale of soil of which I have used a miniscule amount to start the pepper seeds - 5 varieties. He and his wife were delightful and seem such contented people- with their beautiful, thriving business -on line and at markets, and a lovely home in a very rural setting. Sunday, he handed out dahlia muffins and had a recipe for them! They also gave me flats in which to plant the seeds including mini greenhouse covers for them. The peppers are started now, in the sun room which is HOT today! Later I will start other plants. The flats have tiny cells for 8x16 plants so I still have room for lots more. If I need to pot them before good pepper weather, there are lots of small pots under the snow in the city.

On the way back to the mil, I dropped off a book at the library, pots at the cafe, picked up newspapers at Geri's - sick and not up for a visit - and a bag of stuff at the thrift shop. Also tried to convince a young fellow that looking suspicious while smoking next to the book drop was not a good idea. Not seeming to get through to him in English, I popped into the adjacent youth centre and explained my concern to the staff and let them deal with it.

Two hours before I need to leave to go back to city for dancing. May be time to do some work in studio. Plan to come back down tomorrow also as I really want to GET THINGS DONE! Right now conflicted between sitting on computer or work in studio.....

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: GUEST,Lilyfestre
Date: 17 Mar 14 - 06:16 PM

Ah yes. Spring cleaning! I think I'm feeling it! The sun was all shiny yesterday and I couldn't help myself...I puttered around the kitchen cleaning up small piles of stuff that were making me crazy. Three bags of Jeremiah's too small clothing, library books to go back, magazines to go the preschool (for cutting practice), a winter coat out to the car to head to the dry cleaner, bathroom decluttered, a few loads of laundry done, some organizational puttering in my sewing room and I'm about to go do some more stuff in the kitchen. I like the snow and I don't mind the cold temperatures too much but what I don't like is all the gray and now the mud. I am looking forward to the leaves coming back, the grass and the color of all the bulbs we have planted over the years. Yes...I miss the color and the sunshine....it clearly makes me feel much more energetic!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 17 Mar 14 - 08:04 PM

After my counseling session with Edie at Hyder House, I'll drop off a couple bags at Goodwill. Today I picked up a Freecycled cannister vacuum cleaner, but it's not out of the car yet.

And some of those 1980s rubberstamp catalogues had to be pulled from the trash as a friend wants to send them to a friend of hers (because of the artwork, I guess).

And I just made a commitment to the Epilepsy Foundation for a bag of clothes at the end of the month -- the last few suits of Tom's left in the closet and I'll see what else I can scare up.

I swear baskets breed when I'm not watching. Where do they COME from?!? I keep getting rid of them, but there's always way more than I have use for.

Hey, Stilly, it's not spring here until the snow disappears! (And I see the first snowy egret.) And the temperature gets consistently out of the teens Fahrenheit.

I'm looking forward to snowdrops, winter aconite, daffodils...and May's ladyslippers. If a woodchuck eats off the flower heads this year, I will be really, really upset! (When the snow melts, I can, perhaps, spread around some more large carnivore urine.)

Linn

Linn

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Mar 14 - 08:38 PM

CITY:
Maybe, Linn, you could just pee on those plants. But ground hogs, I've had them walk over my feet as they ambled out of my garden! As for baskets! Breed they must!

I have seen bare ground - in patches but I am not sure we are through with snow.

I managed to unload the kiln and then washed the dishes and had a bite to eat, then it was time to leave. Was nice to leave the K clean! I plan to go back out tomorrow asap to work on glazing in a good block of time.

Folk dancing was a bust - too many had on fragrance; The mask is not quite adequate for that and my brain started to get angry. I only danced two dances. The second one the music was too loud and I had to dance by myself with my fingers in my ears. Next time I shall take ear plugs. But the fragrance did me in. Rather distressing after driving over an hour to get there. I really sat and thought about it before leaving the mill; did not want to leave but knew if I stayed I would just sit there on the computer until 10 pm. Well, I can fill water jugs to take back to the mill and get back down in the am.

I keep hoping for an email from the dance organizer so I can address the concern about fragrances. Tonight, I was amazed that I was clearly dancing behind the group with my fingers in my ears, the instructor did not have the decency to turn down the music. Very discouraging but there is no other place to dance.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 18 Mar 14 - 09:30 AM

Last spring/summer I emptied Tom's commode in the area. Alas, that was AFTER the woodchucks ate the ladyslippers... Will do what's necessary to prevent a repeat.

Linn

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Mar 14 - 11:17 AM

City:
The jugs are filled and waiting but I am not getting back to the mill today. The washing machine is arriving. Hopefully, the dry laundry as well. This will drive me to at least get laundry done and the laundry room stuff out of the LR. Hmmm, having written that, R finally got up to go show a machine to someone, "Then I'll pick up the laundry and then get the washing machine ----if Joe has moved his trailer..." (He did say noon a while ago but time has no meaning to R.)

I really need something good to happen. We agreed this morning that my sensitivity to chemicals seems to have worsened. I realized a few minutes ago that I cannot even feel happy about spring because in May the farmers will poison me again. I could weep.

R suggests we move to the Laurentians but our community of friends is in southern Quebec. Also the mill and all the work he needs to do there. OK, we cannot move to the L and that is good. Maybe go away for a week or so in May, somewhere there are no black flies? If no raccoons need to be fostered. OR... Can I give my life to kits when it is going to cost me 6-8 weeks of my life, of being sick, incapacitated, angry, powerless... A resounding, NO! R is going to visit the farmers in the vicinity of the mill to find out about the spray schedule and what it is. Based on the schedule, I really need to plan to be elsewhere. (That was me thinking "out loud", than you.)

So, I can go upstairs and get a bit of work done while I wait for the washing machine - maybe a lot of work done, the way R's concept of time operates. Waiting is one of my least favourite things; waiting is powerlessness. The dishes are washed and nothing else can be done down stairs so up is where I need to go - "Nowhere to go but up"!

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 14 - 11:28 AM

I remember that episode with the woodchucks. Emptying the commode there doesn't make the garden sound very appealing.

Thursday is the first day of Spring (on the calendar) but my neighbor across the street swears that the best time to plant tomatoes is after Easter. That's too late for me this year, April 20, but I'll have the gardens worked and ready once it seems like the soil has warmed up enough.

Yesterday I picked up the three Lord of the Ring books at the library because my copies date back to when I was in college and they're falling apart. I read some Amazon reviews about the maps in some of the books - in the late-1980s or so a woman redrew the maps but LOTR purists complain that she got things wrong. On the way home I visited my half-price bookstore where they had several shelves of many volumes of the books so I compared the maps and editions. I settled on a single book with all three sections and with the clearest old maps. It seems to have trimmed a little off of Tolkien's original map of Mordor, but I can refer back to the older book (and they never actually travel that far south, which is probably why it was trimmed.)

Anyway, I now have the old set of the books on my library shelves and the newer book I'm reading. I pursued this edition because I'm rereading all of these books (and The Hobbit) before watching my Director's cut version of the LOTR films (they left a lot of stuff on the cutting room floor that was restored in each director's cut). And because I want to get back into the habit of regular reading in the evening, not just for a few minutes at bedtime. No surprise that something has to go to get that time, and that something will be facebook. I'm not reading it nearly as much now and I set up groups that I can glance at to follow the people I really want to know about.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 14 - 12:02 PM

P.S. I have two copies (from my Dad's house) of the large fold-out map of Tolkien's Middle Earth, a faithful representation of his maps in the book. But with a large volume, the extra map, and a tablet with a bunch of multi-color tabs that I use to mark areas I think I might want to refer back to, this is getting to be a large reading project! I remember wanting to look back in previous readings, to clarify what someone said or who someone was, so I'm marking those likely spots with tabs. Just like in graduate school. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 18 Mar 14 - 08:49 PM

Not a garden, Stilly. Just the area up at the head of the driveway populated by wild flowers...pink ladyslippers, foam flower, star flowers, and false lily of the valley. Only the liquid from the commode since the cats are no longer outside cats which is probably what kept the woodchucks at bay all those years. (But the woodchucks got the liilies I planted when I tried to start a flower bed at the top of the turnaround. Every year just as they were ready to bloom, the buds were eaten. Until they died.)

I "watered" the hosta bed inside the turnaround from Tom's commode as well. To keep the deer at bay.

We're in the middle of the woods. And I have a composting toilet. You might say I've got my shit together. That compost as well as the kitchen compost gets used on either the flower beds or the potted edibles. This year I need to get some of the well composted goat manure from my neighbor up the hill.

Waste not, want not...

Linn

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 14 - 11:04 AM

Hump day. Spring-ish weather this week. Cold mornings (relatively) and nice afternoons and evenings. I need to get some seeds into the small 4" pots sitting beside the kitchen door.

Found a few more things to list on eBay, and I need to pack up some things that are going to Goodwill. Maybe I can do that on my way out this morning.

One item I listed on eBay is a sand cast aluminum frame that is very pretty but doesn't really go with anything else here. Got it for $3 at a thrift store and cleaned it up. I have been thinking about using it, but instead listed it with a high price on eBay. If it sells, I won't feel bad (and wouldn't you know, it has a watcher!)

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Mar 14 - 04:43 PM

CITY:
TIME??? The washing machine arrived about 5 pm. I spent the day making celery soup, going to the Market for sausage which enhances the soup and a few other items. The soup is a real winner and this sausage, from a butcher who makes it right there in front of anyone who visits, is delicious mild Italian. He assured me there were no chemicals added. I also bought two Quebec grown chicken breasts.

Having done all that, the afternoon stretched ahead so, thinking I would be interrupted any minute, instead of potting, I FBed and other computer stuff. I am finding FB less interesting, hence, less time consuming but some good stuff on claybuddies, to learn and also to share.

So I helped wrestle the newer washer into the laundry room and fed R who proceeded to read for the next few hours. About 9 pm, I lamented that it would be good if he hooked it up; I could have been doing laundry for the last 3 hours! (There is LOTS to do!) So he went and -- came back informing me there was no cold water. Maybe Bruno forgot to reconnect the cold water after he did the hot water tanks.

THAT"S FOUR! Let me know if you do not know the story about "That's 3!" I wish I had enough money to hire my own workers. R suggests laundromat - which I detest. I suggest turning on the water at the mill as the weather is warming. There is an excellent washer there!

He did reconnect the dryer this morning and, after he left, I wrestled the washer closer to the dryer to make room for the recycling bin. Then I reorganized stuff that was in there so there was room for more so I have more room on the K shelves for better organization. Much improved. I am not going to mention that the old washer which I could only not use for a "large" load was far better than this one which is small and has no water choices. It is weird.

I did suggest a few days ago that we just put the old one back in place rather than go to the trouble of getting another one, since we are HOPEFULLY gearing up to moving to the apt in VSP, if Bruno ever finishes it, so the K here can be totally reno'd. I have moments of fearing I shall be living in that apt the rest of my life.

He did his bit, this morning, by, finally!, removing about 4 years of papers from the LR & K areas where I had stashed them in self defense - a banana box and another box went to the office where they can gather more dust. Now there is an empty book shelf, maybe two, and some paper even went in the recycling bin! I do feel moderately de-cluttered!

After my laundry room event, I had a nice lunch and took a hot bath. Then looked at the real estate site for a cheap place near the mill. At this point, I am looking at vacant land, cheap houses on not enough land, possibilities - desperation. Seriously need privacy for raccoons since I am illegal. But also need a legal place to live since we have been informed the mill is not. I am ready to settle for a camp in the woods. I am already carrying water! Only need off the grid toilet and grey water disposal. Roof, bed... Desperate is the word. Nothing popped out to me. I need to keep on top of it in case something new comes up.

Goat manure sounds great, Linn. I believe it is the best - domestically.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Mar 14 - 07:06 PM

Today I am well into a large project to reduce the number of dust-catchers in the house: I am going through our very large collection of CDs one by one, and adding those that haven't been to our iTunes library. Although we have been using iTunes for the better part of seven years now -- how time flies! -- only about half the CDs have been ripped. This would not be a problem (like it's a problem ...), except we are now confirmed iPod users, and whatever isn't on iTunes doesn't get heard.

Besides, we have so many CDs that the collection is only genuinely accessible when packed into an MP3 player. Otherwise, we are tripping over the things, and they spread all over every piece of furniture.

Kinda like the books, which are another issue. Unlike the content of the CDs, most of our books have no electronic delivery system, so they get the shelf space.

Because I'm not acquiring any more bookcases. Really, I'm not.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 14 - 10:06 PM

I'm using online music more now - Amazon gives me digital versions of most of the CDs I buy and at work it is easy enough to stream as I work. I have a huge CD changer I could set up at home, but I'd still have to keep the cases handy for information.

Today I had a lightbulb moment - decided that some of the extra coffee mugs can be taken to work and put in our pseudo kitchen area. I did that a couple of years ago, took them to the kitchen near that office. Time for another purge of the cupboard. I'll take them in tomorrow (they're sitting in a box on the counter right now.) I also have a lot of vintage cups from old Pacific NW folk festivals and events from my Dad. I wonder if there is an interest, or if every old folkie on the site has their own similar collection? :)

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 20 Mar 14 - 04:21 AM

Discovered a very motivating way of getting the house thoroughly Spring Cleaned. Invited an estate agent to come and value our tiny house. (We're not moving, but we wanted to know its worth.) That was a week ago and my word, we've had a real blitz! Husband went up the Municipal 'tip' with tons of stuff, both recyclable and non. (They have a little shop up there to sell your good stuff for charity) His car was loaded. Delved into all our drawers, cupboards, the attic, the greenhouse, the garage and it's amazing what you store and do NOT need. Then I got busy with hoovering, dusting, mopping, washing curtains, cushion covers; even cleaned the cooker. The cats were disgusted, they hate upheavals. Finally the house was unrecognisably smart. I'm usually clean and tidy, but this was something else. Lady came, and would you believe it, our house has gone up in value by £13,000!! Obviously not just because it's clean; house prices have really taken off. But we were so pleased. Hah! Feel real satisfaction - job done!

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Mar 14 - 10:30 AM

Good idea, Eliza! I've been meaning to invite a friend over for lunch, and I know if I do I'll be racing around picking up and vacuuming before she gets here. There is always the disclaimer that "my house is a work in progress," but it doesn't need to be a dusty work zone.

I'm making time for reading for an hour or so in the evening, but now I need to back it up a bit because I'm going to bed a bit later than I want. I created a reading zone that I also want to refine. It's a comfortable chair and lamp setup, but I need to move the chair and lamp to a more logical looking place. Right now it's smack in the middle of the front room.

I have wrapped and bagged a few mugs to take to work today, and there are a couple of others that my daughter needs to claim if she still wants them. I've been looking at some types of china online and will keep an eye out at estate sales so I can replace my much-dissipated Corelle set. They may be hard to break, but when they do, they shatter, and over time we've lost several pieces. I can move to a grownup set of china now, if I can find a nice looking set at a moderate price. If I bring in a new set I'll take out the old ones, make it an even exchange.   

I have to do my income taxes. The file and the blank forms are now on my dining room table where I need to make myself sit down and do the work. Something I should do now so I'm not up against the last-minute deadline in a few weeks. This is the first year in many I haven't had to fill out the FAFSA forms (for kids going to college).

Today is the first day of spring, calendar-wise, and it is a lovely sunny day here in Texas. My heavy-lifting declutter work will wait till the weekend. How does spring look for the rest of you? Sounds like Eliza had a great plan to get a jump on it. Charmion, have you conquered the dust?

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 20 Mar 14 - 03:04 PM

Isn't it funny Stilly, how mugs tend to multiply? We had far more than we needed, and they were among the stuff that went to the recycling tip. I do so feel for you with the Income Tax paperwork. I do the Tax returns for my husband, and it really does my head in! You're so wise to get ahead with it. Hope you can find some nice china that you'll enjoy and keep for years. My old Irish auntie took a great delight in fine china and linen, and I reckon I've inherited that interest. I feel very sorry for those of you still coping with snow. Ugh! Hate the stuff.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Mar 14 - 03:36 PM

Eliza! What a great project and grand result!

Country:
R left early this morning to drive to country to pick up stuff he bought at Sunday's auction. "de-clutter" is not in his vocabulary, or anywhere is his concept of life. Charming small roll-top desk needing minor repair has been added to "how many desks DO you have!" OK, not my problem. Beautiful old medicine cabinet - if we ever have a place to put it for real. Good thing he has lots of storage space - 1000s of sf. Not sure if that is fortunate or unfortunate?

I came down also and we met in Huntingdon where a property had been erroneously listed - by a realtor I shall NEVER have anything to do with. Incorrect listing plus non-responsive to both email and phone.

But all was not lost. We stopped at the cafe Racine, where my pottery is nicely displayed. R had a wonderful lunch and we split a scrumptious strawberry tart. Vanessa gave me the remains of a choc mousse cake her dad made. We can have it on the weekend. Of course I bought a couple pastries. They are beyond wonderful. Surely I will settle down after I have had one of each!

The three of us talked a bit about buying a property together so I have spent some of the afternoon looking again. We do have similar requirements and we each have income and R offers a modest down payment. Could we LIVE together or find a place where we can live sort of separately? Possibilities. Dear Emily Dickinson. R went back to the city.

I did have a nice lunch and read a bit before going on line. Now I have two hours before writers' group and am wanting to do something useful. So off to the studio to see.

Smells like SPRING. Close to 40 F outside and thawing like mad! - for another couple days then cold again. Should be seeing some bare ground this weekend!!

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 11:04 AM

Well, we've had our first (and I hope last) piece of spam in a declutter thread. Decluttered!

Today several eBay items will end. Something new to eBay is a button you can click to automatically relist three more times, but since some of these are clearance items I've unclicked them. In the old days you had to struggle to relist items more than once, and they charged for listings and used to give credits if you didn't sell and relisted. They've simplified their system and finally acknowledged that some things just need to run for a little while before the right buyer comes along.

I'm testing a new source of cloud storage. Mega.co.nz has 50GB of free space, and I tested it by uploading a file of photos (that I have stored in DropBox). They aren't terribly fast for the free accounts and after a while they throttle the upload speed. I just ran a test, I think it would work well for smallish general files. In this day and age Win8 devices are intended to use with Cloud Computing sites.

Yesterday was a kind of down day, I think the allergies were part of it, but also the prospect of continuing to work in a basement in a room where most of the staff vote to keep the overhead lights off and work in little pools of light in front of their computer screens and small desk lamps. Yesterday a job was listed in a nearby Dean's office and on the fifth floor with lots of lights and windows. I walked over to see where they are and said hello. I will be applying.

TGIF - I'm looking forward to a weekend of working in the yard. The energy level rises when the sun is bright and the temperatures comfortable.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 01:25 PM

Got a run of a couple really constructive days going...

Yesterday I made more inroads in making space on the bedroom floor. AND I consolidated a few wire baskets of papers, got them into boxes for easier accessibility, and got a lot of ephemera into page protectors and sorted into "dated", "undated" and "file elsewhere" piles -- and those piles into suitable binders or places.

Laundry and dishes done, too, and kitchen spiffified. (Some things are never actually finished...)

And, more importantly, I got signed up for ACA health insurance -- which I'll actually only need until Medicare kicks in on June 1st. But I'd been kind of stuck on a LOT of paperwork and odds and ends. Still feeling the PTSD from last year's debacle, plus having so much to fill out and file because of Tom's death, etc.

And went to the first meeting of the six-week grief group that I signed up for.

Now have to head to Portsmouth early to meet with a reporter doing a story on "Celtic" music sessions in the Seacoast area. He was unaware that the Press Room session has been going on for over 30 years -- decades before any other sessions showed up. Well before any of the pubs where the other sessions are held opened in the area. He also was unaware that in 1976 The Press Room became the first place north of Boston to serve Guinness on draught.

Linn

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 01:33 PM

All that sorting and filing is therapeutic I expect, Linn. I hope the grief group is proving to be helpful. So sorry for your loss. Eliza x

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 02:49 PM

Back in 2005 we had a burglary at the house. They got computers and other electronics. My neighbor interrupted them just as they were getting into my bedroom, no jewelry taken, but they'd opened a couple of drawers. Later that afternoon when I got home and walked behind the Sheriffs deputies into the room one said to the other "they really turned it over in here." I had to tell them that no, they hadn't. It was just that I had a lot of boxes of stuff piled in there to keep it out of the rest of the house. When I told friends and family this story they burst out laughing - but I decided it was time to get all of that junk out of my most personal space. I moved it around the house (and most of it is out of the house now) and arranged my room so it was comfortable and attractive. The best thing I could do for myself. I don't walk in at bedtime and see a bunch more work that I need to do some day.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 06:46 PM

A co-worker is getting the gardening bug - she has grown things in pots previously but this year is putting in some raised beds. I've pointed her at a list of a few of the organic tips I use that will give her the most bang for her buck, and if she comes over to a place near me to get a couple of yards of top soil I'll have her over to see my garden. So much to do in my garden to get ready for this year's busy growing season, but there is a lot of year round herb-type activity to show off. I'll have to dust off a couple of my blog links and send them to her.

I need to take the pruning shears to a few shrubs that got hit bad over the winter. They'll look wretched with a few green limbs and the rest dead. They can come back from the roots or not at all, but I'm not leaving them the way they look now, like tumbleweeds, scattered around my landscape.

This might be the weekend to also level my greenhouse. The weather is nice, we had some rain to make the digging a bit easier, and I need to do it before the dogs completely drop the back side of it into a trench they have been digging. Once it's level I'll do more with it (because the doors will close properly and I can regulate the temperature better for spring use. In the summer it is like an oven).

On eBay things have relisted and/or ended today without any sales. A couple of items are due to go to Goodwill tomorrow. That big chandelier ends later and will probably relist rather than sell - they usually take a few weeks. (I'm offering eBay observations for Linn, but if any of you have specific questions go ahead and ask them here, find the old eBay thread where I posted more information, or send an email.)

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: GUEST,Lilyfestre
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 06:52 PM

I've been out of the house every day this week for the entire day...I have one more day before I can spend some time here!!! I am beat.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Mar 14 - 06:53 PM

Oh my, SRS, Reminds me of when my flat in Montreal was broken into, circa 1971. Surely a drug addict - equipment left behind- and they did find a few things worth selling - my wedding band and engagement ring amongst others; I did not need them anymore but they were worth a few dollars. The worst was - my flat was well organized and very tidy, everything carefully stashed- but the everything had been pulled out of every drawer and closet so it was difficult to walk around. The police were unimpressed, "Why do you have so much stuff?" Even though foot prints went through the fresh snow into a building at the end of the block... Some family heirlooms and my "important papers" were left in boxes in the trash and employees at the businesses on the other side of the alley were kind enough to phone me so I could fetch them back!   --And as I stood looking at the mess, the cat-in-care vomited in my jewelry box!

Country:

This 2nd day of spring has turned right beautiful - crystal clear sky and sunshine, but already gone below freezing after a thawing two days. Smelling Spring in the air is a real joy!

Yesterday I did manage to wax pot bottoms in prep for glazing before dashing away. After the meeting, I succumbed to on line searches. Today, I did errands, drove by a house for sale, had a healthy lunch and convinced myself I would be happier if I got some work done in the studio.

I organized, added a couple more shelves and filled them, sorted and gathered glaze materials, mixed a large batch of yellow, and washed the complex glaze sieve in prep for next glaze making - midnight blue I think, and maybe a couple more tests toward a medium blue and a turquoise. Great sense of having DONE THINGS! And relegated two boxes of old copies of Ceramics Monthly to recycling - only because they had gotten wet and were useless. I had markers in most of them but could not turn the pages and - Oh well!

Now I shall dash away to the other cafe for music.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 14 - 02:35 AM

One oddball item sold on eBay (a garage sale category piece) and if they pay early tomorrow I can hand it over to the mail carrier when he (hopefully) delivers an Amazon package. I found and ordered the type of veterinary shampoo I like to use on my dogs, and I'm going to give some to Susie (who adopted the three dogs from my co-worker who died of cancer last fall). One of those dogs has had skin issues and a good shampoo might help. So, one item out, two in, but the things coming in are replacements for things that are going away or were used up.

Dorothy, I've also tossed some magazines that I was keeping because of one article or recipe. I pulled out the articles and tossed the rest. A bunch of it will go to the recycle bin behind city hall tomorrow. And as far as our burglary, I think it is safe to say that dealing with the insurance company was like being robbed all over again. It took a couple of tries to get them to pay attention to the detailed claim I filed (I keep receipts and owners manuals, so I was able to reconstruct accurately what was stolen, but they ignored about half of the items listed on my inventory, probably hoping I wouldn't insist that they replace everything beyond my deductible). The worst thing those guys did was to steal the box of software. That's what really cost the insurance company.

I'm up late, winding down from a meeting at the library. Lots of old friends there, some good networking, and an illustration of how the new library setup is still lacking and falls back on the old library setup. It never fails that if I turn up at these meetings with a camera in my hand the woman who runs them now is relieved because she doesn't have to do something about photos. I take the camera to add to my collection because I've photographed this group for almost 17 years. And if the photos can be used by the library, fine.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 Mar 14 - 12:51 PM

Ah, the things I learn from here! It would never have occurred to us back in 1971 to have insurance! Nor do we have any now! If I were to own a house, as I have at times, I would have insurance. Although I am not at all sure it would be worth it. Clearly for some people it is.

As for the magazines: These are keepers; if kept in good condition, they can be resold to other potters. Unfortunately, moving is hard on magazines, esp when stored in damp places!

Dog skin issues: a good dose of vitamin A might help, even heal. I had a dog with sebaceous gland cysts years ago. For big bucks, I had the vet remove them. By the time the hair grew back in so had the cysts! Finally, (no one would touch her!) I tried vitamins. Her fur was beautiful in a short time!
Country:
A bright day with snow showers! Below freezing but supposed to warm??? And then be cold again. Spring in the north country.

R stayed in the city to work. I thought of going in tonight but now it depends on the snow. I may drive the 3 km to the library to return a "new" book that someone else might want to read. I will avoid all Scandinavian authors in future! Had bf in bed this morning, finishing the excellent "creative non-fiction" Into the Blue by Andrea Curtis. Then spent time googling her until I found a way of letting her know how much I appreciated her book (on FB). Also wrote a longish email to a 40 year friend because the book reminded me of her and she is also very book oriented.

Beyond that, the morning has not been more than watching the snow fall, checking through emails and a bit of FB, posting articles of interest, checking the temp in the studio, deciding what I shall do when I start moving and watching the snow fall. I do love watching it - when I am in a warm place!

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 14 - 01:41 PM

What vitamins did you use, and did they clear up the cyst as well? I spoke with Susie this morning, that is what her dog has on her eyelid.

Warmish, overcast and a little drizzly. I'll step out into the yard for a little while, then come work on dusting and mopping - things I haven't done much of for a while. I need to see about rearranging some of the equipment and furniture over by the television. I picked up a new and much-less-expensive Blu-ray player (thank you, Amazon!) to replace the one that doesn't play all Blu-ray disks and barely has any software working on it now. Samsung didn't update it much. The one I picked up will stream NetFlix and Amazon Prime - I don't want to watch all of their movies or programs only on the computer and I don't watch any of those on my phone. I have to look at the cables out already (some so I can play television broadcasts through the amp and house speakers) and add some so the DVD can plan through the amp also. I had some problems getting that to work before, but I also see I was short a set of cables in the setup.

Another device in there needs work before I can use it, and there's one I've never used. It may be time to declutter that part of the house.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 14 - 07:27 PM

I pruned some freeze-damaged shrubs in the front yard, but it's a cool clammy day and wasn't tempting to stay out there. I've moved to working in the kitchen and am looking at cookbooks (where they should live) and some of the small appliances. They're all things I use occasionally, but I could probably put a couple in the new pantry.

Paying more attention to the laundry because I was too slow taking them out of the dryer last week and had to do some ironing, something I'd like to avoid if possible.

Waiting on an eBay payment - if they don't pay there is an automated system in place that kicks in after four days and reports the non-payment. When it resolves itself the buyer either pays or is penalized and I'm free to relist. There are still things about eBay that are annoying, but they do try to make it a fair and safe marketplace.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 14 - 11:39 PM

I've walked past the stack of papers for the income taxes all day today. I think I need to do them tomorrow. This evening I finished raising the framework that supports the modem and router in the pantry. It was at shoulder height and I had trouble getting past it with my hands full. Now it is up near the ceiling. I've only intended to move those wires for about 10 years!

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Mar 14 - 12:30 PM

I'm really looking forward to the early-April trip to Camp Ridgebury:

. The housemate agreement is as firm as it can be till we meet to sign tge agreement negotiated, and if the chemistry is off there is time before I leave to run an ad and interview another.
. It's mud season here and not a thing I can do to ameliorate it but remove one person and one dog-- 6 mud-tracking feets-- and it's dry, at CR.
. The house here is mud-filthy but it's clean at CR. I can keep CR clean, and clean here when I get back!
. I found several music communities to join (and NOT organize) near CR whose song circles fit my travel sked, and here we have been working with a new band member we all love, to resume working with when I get back.
. I'm hosting an area group of peer-counselors at CR-- with someone else organizing and a different someone leading the evening, which is planned to result in a highly-skilled, ongoing support grp via face and fone-- while back here I'm still closely connected to a similar group in Rochester.
. The new dog needs a few weeks of being an only-dog and so does the old dog who is staying home while I take the travel dog to CR-- and just this AM they achieved being able to play together in the kitchen of all places.

And it's sunny as all get OUT!

♥♡♥

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Mar 14 - 01:38 PM

It may be spring here in North Texas, but this weekend has been heavy overcast and cool, though as I started to type a sunbeam broke through the clouds briefly. Tis the season of Benedryl and decongestants on top of my daily Zyrtec knockoff. The season of a yellow powder covering the car and most outdoor surfaces.

Today feels like a good day for cooking a batch of beans, but the stove was so crusty that it needed a cleanup before I started (I sometimes take a photo of the dish in progress, and didn't want to advertise my messy stovetop). Now they're soaking for an hour before I change water and cooking begins.

I think a nap is in order.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Mar 14 - 10:51 PM

City:
SRS: I used vitamin A which is good for skin and hair. The cysts cleared completely and her coat was shiny. Animals tend to respond well to vitamins.

Beautiful sunny day but cold today. Still, I hated to leave the country. I managed to work more on glazes and glazing and loaded the kiln but decided not to fire until the weather is warmer. The venting system is not in yet and I have to turn off the heater to use the kiln and open the windows to let the fumes out. So I need to be there to turn heater back on and close windows. I hope to get back down on Thurs and will fire that night. I look forward to seeing the new test glazes and a few new glaze effects.

Realizing 4 hours of work is all I managed each of last two days, in two hour blocks. Well, I AM retired, after all.

Made sure all the plants were watered in the sun room and the seed trays are moist. "Had" to finish latest novel; it was a fascinating combo of modern and ancient murders being solved and interconnecting. Getting faster at deleting emails and scrolling through FB, and more choosy about what I try to look at on the latter.   

Each departure entails clearing the frig of perishables and putting them in frig on arrival. I'm getting better at it. There is a great deal of a type of clutter involved in two "homes" - what is where and what needs to be taken or fetched back and how many days might I be gone factored into it.

Arriving in the city, there was no heat on and the K counter is covered with tools. The resident furry creature has made a mess of the place and is eating plants in places I did not think it could reach. Unhappy to see the creature come through the LR into the K where I finally saw that it is unmistakably a rat about 8 inches long, plus tail. I phoned R at work and reported. The live trap is on the roof - which is quite covered with snow. No wonder there has been such a mess. R thought it was a squirrel but now he is seriously concerned. Maybe he will DO something.

Apparently the tools were on the K table but he moved them to clean up the mess on the table. So maybe I can move them back to the table, hence de-cluttering the counter - food prep area - so we can eat. I tend to take umbrage at the places he puts tools as in "They should not be on the table; they should not be on the counter... You put them there; you move them!" But there is NO PLACE in this house for tools. The back shed needs to be torn down; it is full of junk; no place for tools. They are stashed in K cabinets and a defunct frig. Hopefully, the new K (in my lifetime?) will have a tool spot OR if he decides to add on a sunroom at the back, I suggested the blank wall have long row of lower cabinets and a counter for tools and workspace. With book shelves above! YEAH!

While I am dreaming: he assures me the apt in VSP is coming along nicely; no completion in sight but HOPE! This house is not pleasant to come "home" to. Even the mill with no running water is preferable. And far less cluttered. Because everything we are not using is stored "out there" in the rest of the 20,000 sf building! That's cheating!! I really am looking forward to the warmer weather so I can continue my work on "Stuff TO Go"!

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Mar 14 - 12:21 AM

I should try vitamin A for Zeke, to see if it remedies his itching. The antihistamine doesn't seem to be helping.

Kitchen clean, my boy's birthday banana bread baked. Laundry finished, and eBay parcel conspicuous on the kitchen counter so it gets mailed tomorrow. It's one of my "garage sale" items that could have as easily gone in the trash. You never know what some folks will buy.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Mar 14 - 01:22 PM

Mudcat is undergoing some programming discomfort this morning, I'm sending this partly as a test to see if it will go.

Lovely but a little cool still. I mailed an eBay package and a box of banana bread to my son for a belated birthday food.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Mar 14 - 05:31 PM

City:
14 F and sunny! Hanging in for the coming thaw!

SRS: "A" should help itching. Certainly worth a try. The change in my dog's fur was spectacular, esp for a 13 year old. Another dog won some dog food in a mutt show; within a couple weeks his fur was dry and flaky. I returned to "Warehouse mix" - I think it was a mixture of bags that had broken in the warehouse - and in a week he was shiny again. Dogs react quickly to changes in diet.

R tried to connect the cold water today but it seems to be a major undertaking. If it was only disconnected to put in water heaters, why can't it just be re-connected? Apparently not that simple. Nothing in R's world is ever simple.

In VSP, Bruno did not put a light fixture where he was asked. Oh well. Isn't there a way to park inside that building? An equivocal answer. A lot of those today. My head aches and I still cannot wash clothes. Time to make an appointment with the friend, near the mill, who offered her washer - just one load of essentials, and a nice visit. Soon it will be warm enough to turn the water back on at the mill and use the good washer and clothesline.

Took a hot bath this morning and am recovering. Email to dance organizer about fragrance worn by one member elicited a positive response; she will speak with him. Some states and areas have laws re fragrances. Quebec wants to prohibit "religious symbols" as in Muslim garb! I hope the election next month changes the government here. Also hope the nice man at dancing is willing to stop wearing that dreadful stench.

Resting until time to leave for dancing.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Mar 14 - 09:59 PM

Dusted a cabinet and moved around some components so I can stream more online sources to my television. I needed to replace the old blu-ray player, but as I read up on this new Sony one, I remember now that they are the tight-ass company as far as playing media. I have the old Samsung there also for any personal copies of DVDs that might not make Mr. Sony happy. You know how it goes when you swap out appliances, it invariably involves a dust rag and flashlight, extra cables, and the vacuum cleaner. I've set it up but now I need to read the book and I'd prefer to read Tolkien, so I'll see about the new player tomorrow.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 09:57 AM

CITY:
SRS! I am chronically amazed by your ability with, and interest in, all those electronic devices. I admit to now missing the TV and VCR recorder that I gave away after not using them for 3 years on Whidbey. My life has changed substantially and, once again, I realize that sometimes getting rid of things/de-cluttering can come back to bite me at a different place in life.

Tactical error yesterday: Do NOT take a de-tox bath on day of Folk dancing. The de-toxing leads to increased sensitivity and last night I smelled stuff even with the mask. Left early but managed a few dances- almost an hour, I think. On my way out, I stopped for a lengthy conversation with a Serbian dance instructor. I love Serbian and Croatian dances so it was fun to meet him. I lamented the lack of International dancing in Montreal and he told me he is moving to Toronto for that reason. I had hoped he could inform me of more places to dance in Montreal! An interesting meeting, I hope he will carry through on friending me on FB.

Need to work on spending less time on FB. I am gradually eliminating places I go and scrolling faster and faster past trivia. OF course, it helps that I am feeling better and WANT to DO things rather than sit and stare at the screen.

BF is done and R out the door, after more productive conversation about upcoming renovations and where we might live. During BF, there was a loud CRACK! and my chair tilted in a rather startling manner. The dear old antique chair broke and I wish to have it repaired - even if we did find it in the trash, it is charming. The good part, aside from I did not fall, was that R thought I had gone through the floor! "Any day now." I said. No question, this reno must be done! I have to come to terms with the fact that it can drag on and on and ... Depending on where R "needs" Bruno.

I am now suggesting that we move upstairs with a frig, microwave and toaster oven. I can cook stuff at the mill and bring it back, but most things can be accomplished with those appliances. But, I said, not if it goes into cold weather next fall.

Take down the worse than useless concrete block shed in the back and the unused chimney that is a sore point in the K, Put in a double door between K and sunroom - yes, sunroom out of those nice big wood-framed windows he already has, new walls in the laundry room and cabinets and lots of cabinets on the windowless wall of the sunroom, with a counter - for tools and a work space. May as well do it all at once and get it DONE!

Then, hopefully, it will be tight enough to keep out furry critters. Everything R might have done here is now on hold until he gets a humungous machine out of the ice (where it has sat 10 years), cleaned up and painted. Someone flying in from Guatemala on Monday to buy it!!!! That is de-cluttering of the best sort - like Stilly's E-bay stuff!

OK, gotta go pot! Want to have another kiln load to fire on the weekend.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 10:10 AM

Just been to the garden centre and selected my plants for three hanging baskets and six tubs. Colour scheme is scarlet and purple in front of the house (trailing surfinias, geraniums, verbena and petunias, with trailing bits of ivy) and in the back garden, peach and white to go with the absolutely ghastly orangey-painted fence. Also six bags of special compost, two tins of water-retaining gel and one large pot of granular slow-release feed pellets. Phew! Then, six bags of forest bark to put around the raised veggie beds. Keeps the weeds down a treat. But our greenhouse is now stuffed full. Daren't put these plants outside until all frosts are over, and there was a stiff one last night. I was a Very Good Girl at the garden centre, as the temptations are enormous. They had a whole new consignment of gorgeous jigsaws on country themes, farmyards, ploughing and canal boats etc. How I resisted I'll never know! Bit sad because there were loads and loads of Mothers' Day cards and presents, and my mum passed away years ago, and I'm not a mum myself. Never mind, it's only one day a year and I have many blessings in my life.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 12:54 PM

Eliza, if I had been with you in the garden center you'd have come home with a much healthier mix of planting and fertilizing medium! That special compost is probably mushroom, and that has been shown to be very unhealthy for organic gardens, plus it is expensive. If you can simply buy a couple of bags of cow manure compost (pay a little more and get a brand, like Black Kow, or Moo Poo) you'll do yourself much more good. And take the gel back and bring home six of bags of shredded hardwood mulch. Not the colored stuff (that's full of chemicals also), just hardwood, or the baldcypress no-float is even much better, to keep the moisture in. The pine bark mulch floats away in rain and it doesn't break down like mulch should to become part of the soil in the next year or two. The organic approach is just plain healthier for you. Okay, off my soap box.

Dorothy, I used to do a lot of folk dancing in my undergraduate college days. I loved the Eastern European dances also. Fast and vigorous with some wonderful footwork. As for others, I never could quite get the Scandinavian Hambo, but I loved the schottisches and polkas and such.

I forgot to take my antihistamine at bedtime last night so today I'm feeling the pollen today, mostly sneezing. I've taken the zyrtec now but I'll have to supplement with sudafed or a benedryl. I have a little pharmacy of cold, sinus, and cough medications in a file drawer at work. :-(

The new player is one that is set up to stream the various services I pay for. Most of them have NetFlix, but not many of them stream the Amazon Prime features. If I set up my laptop next to the television and stream it I don't get a full screen, I see the computer screen duplicated. I've thought about trying Hulu or a couple of others, and it seems the planned obsolescence of the players is in the software, not the hardware. While researching the new one I learned a few things about the old Samsung player, so it isn't out of the house, it has more life yet.

Now related to nothing else in this thread, here is a great video about modifying toy cars for disabled kids. They've put in features that inspire kids to strengthen weak areas (by where they put the switches, etc.).

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 02:12 PM

Hello Stilly! The compost is non-peat based and made from composted recycled green waste stuff, so I expect it's okay. (I used to make my own compost, but it got a bit too much for me.) The gel granules are only for the hanging baskets, and I mix them and the feed pellets in with the compost so it doesn't dry out hanging in the wind. The 'forest bark' for around the veggie beds is from local timber felling of pine trees. It isn't artificially coloured, and it actually does break down to make nice soil, which the weeds love, so I have to replace it every 3 years or so.
I do feel for you with the hay fever. My husband seems to be allergic to rapeseed pollen, and this year the farmers seem to have sown the wretched stuff in every field around our village. The recent warm weather has got it flowering early and he's doped up with Piriton.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 03:39 PM

If you're a former composter then you have the routine down - and hanging baskets are difficult to keep moist enough (and if they are, often the nutrients wash out). Around here putting things in pots is about as difficult has hanging baskets because its a lot climate and they dry out and bake the roots. Is the pine bark ground up? The stuff they sell around here in bags are huge mosaic discs off of the Ponderosa pine that come in to lumber yards. They take forever to break down.

The thing with allergies is to be enough on top of them with medication that you can move through the day, and not drug yourself so much that all you want to do is sleep. Rapeseed - do they make canola oil in your area?

It was a pretty drive in today, and I stopped for a quick pizza at a little place that plays CNN in their dining area. There was broadcast a long interview with a fellow from Darrington, Washington, the town that is cut off now because of the big mudslide in Oso. The Darrington folks will have to drive north to the Skagit River drainage and drive out to Sedro Woolley to get back down to the other side of the slide. I grew up west of there and drove that road many dozens of times (I worked in Darrington for several summers), and took each of my kids up there last summer to visit my old office and show them my favorite old fashioned 4-square school building in Oso. Now that enough aerial views are being posted I can compare the places I remember with where the slide hit. For all of my adult years there I was a first responder to fires and mountain rescues up in that region. I imagine friends are working there now, and I imagine I probably lost friends or acquaintances in that slide, but haven't read the obituaries yet. This is the time when having cable television at home would be useful.

Not exactly staying on topic today, am I?

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 04:39 PM

City:
6 and a half hours later, I am still on line with a break for a reading lunch. This is absurd! However, it was mostly not FB. I investigated family history and found our book totally on line! and 1001 pots, a major pottery event in the Laurentians, and Fusion, the Ontario Assoc of clay and glass artists and a few other things. Each was time-consuming and edifying, as in "Not that", "maybe this", "emailed about that", bookmarked this and this and... Still time to make pots today if I get to it. I do not feel it was time wasted. I also searched for some templates - for business cards and family crest, to no avail. MAybe in the country.

Stilly, or anyone: Almost every small plant I purchased at home depot recently has died. With plenty of water, the leaves dried out and fell off - one primrose out of three has survived and one foliage begonia out of three is still OK. The campanula has also succumbed - after furry critter ate all the blossoms but not the leaves. The two tropical foliage plants, purchased about a month earlier, with more leathery leaves are doing just fine. I was blaming it all on furry critter and certainly they have been partly eaten, esp the flowers, but for the leaves to dry from the tips inward??

Emails are gone, but a couple responses needed - later!

Now, try again to get upstairs!

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 04:50 PM

I doubt it bears on the problem, Dorothy, but Home Depot seems to have been selling plants that contain lots of neonicotinoids. Something maybe to look into.

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 05:24 PM

Another problem with the plants in a Big Box store is that they probably come from a different region entirely. If you plant in Canada plants that were raised in Florida, you may find they're not happy and will die. If you "harden them off" by exposing them to the weather before planting, keeping them cool but protected from the worst of the cold, that helps them adjust. Hardening off tips - I don't know about the wilting one, but I do the protected near the house method and bring them in if it gets really cold.

Starting seeds yourself is the best way to know if they're being raised in an organic way - I assume plants I buy at nurseries aren't organic, but as soon as I get them I treat them that way and as they grow they have the benefit of healthy soil, organic fertilizing and pest control and the results are going to be healthy.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 06:15 PM

OK, so I got a new thermometer to try to track basal (AM) temps as a way of trying to spot when my thyroid levels are slipping (doc's suggestion).

The first thing I realized is that tracking one's basal temp for any purpose requires a certain stabilty of lifestyle that I do not have. Sigh... so have dialed back on even MORE "usual" activities to try to establish THAT.

I'm also going to track (not sure how) when I have a day with actual energy. Like today. Something kicked in about 2PM that has been missing.... "Oh hi THERE you are...."

Frustrating? Understatement.

Also some nerves are trying to regenerate around surgical areas and the various complications, where I have a boatload of nerveless granulation tissue, so I'm "enjoying" phantom sensations and itching that has no skin sensation to go with it (again).

YUCK!!!

AFGO.

~S~

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Mar 14 - 08:00 PM

Stilly: These are house plants!
Guest: you are correct and I realized after that this is not a good thing to do; we are supposed to be boycotting the HD plant dept. I was just desperate for some flowers; Guess I have been slapped down for shopping at HD!   

Did manage 2 hours of potting which went by really fast. I stopped when shoulders began to tire. Then I made a nice ratatouille with chicken. With any luck R will come home before midnight. I have learned to only cook foods that will keep/season on the stove/ still be fine tomorrow - or the next day. I will eat some when next I get hungry- before midnight!

Written during the commercials on Big Bang!

Subject: BTT
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Mar 14 - 10:27 AM

Before thyroid treatment (BTT), I stored a bag that USED to be my camping-toiletries bag: a complete shower set with all the bells and whistles I then needed to carry to the showerhouse (or on any overnight motel stop). It was colored differently than all my other bags (I love to containerize by function), so DH could always spot it if I needed it quickly. Like if nature called (IBS) and I answered it quicker than I dug the bag outta the van. (I recall one memorable emergency stop at an isolated construction outhouse.... nononono)

Well, back then I tossed it into my closet ready for "the next trip," where I have seen it daily for years. When life eventually got better, I started downsizing (and then downsizing further) the amount of gear I needed to carry to make travel work-- basically these were adaptive items most folks do not need.

Eventually I got to where I could take what I really needed for overnighters in my large purse (which is actually a soft camera bag Hardi gave me). So the Toiletries Bag sat and sat.

The last tine I had repacked it, a flannel travel towel had not quite fit inside the zipper. So the bag was closed, pretty flannel bulging out, with a carabiner clip.


Well. Today I was casting about for flannel to make a cover for a pillow that will perfectly fix a chair. The pretty flannel eventually swam up out of my subconscious, and of course it was right there in my uncluttered closet waiting for me. If the flannel had not been held down tight under that clip, I'd probably have hauled it out and left the bag.

BUT. Since I had to bring the bag to a work area to open it... I found:

. A favorite lightweight (quick-drying), pretty plaid shirt I'd missed
. TWO pairs of the BEST undies I've ever found-- the first pretty ones I'd ever bought-- from a set of three, the 3rd being in my daily closet and worn way too often
. An almost brand-new BRA (I had to toss several from the nursing home era that they had bleached to death)
. Bagged toiletries I need for next week's trip to Ohio, to exchange for the tiny toiletries bag I mistakenly thought I could leave there
. A large supply of a prescribed drug (not expired) people and dogs can take for pain relief
. Two pill sorters I had planned to buy which, now, I don't, which I'd have bought TODAY.
. The carabiner is a heavy kind that does not break, and I needed one to replace the one I took off my purse 2 weeks ago at the dog shelter to secure a wonky crate gate


What I can't figure out is what the heck I put into one of the airline-sized bottles. One bottle is labeled WITCH (of course that's witch hazel), but what did I label DOG? Of course I'll open it and smell that to remind myself what I was thinking.

~S~

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Mar 14 - 11:03 AM

Old friends re-discovered, Susan, how lucky! I have several soft camera bags, most of them I use for cameras, but one I've also used as a handbag. And my daughter has one I gave her as a purse that would also hold her netbook.

My slow-motion low-profile eBay garage sale is moving along. Another item sold last night and goes out the door this morning. It's a lot easier to snap a couple of photos and post a short description (with some boilerplate text I always use) than to go through the planning, sorting, pricing, and running of a garage sale. And you can use "garage sale" in the heading, people seem to look for them online also.

Rain in the forecast today, and my garden will welcome it.

SRS

Subject: RE: Spring Cleaning, Declutter & Fitness 2014
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 26 Mar 14 - 11:44 AM

Our little village held a mass garage sale last year. Lots of us opened our garages (or just set up stuff in the drive in front of the house) The organiser advertised it for the whole village and we paid him a small sum each, which went to the church roof repair fund. It wasn't tiring because we were at home and could makes endless cups of tea for ourselves and any 'customers'. Some people (including me) sold scones, cakes and refreshments as well as 'stuff', and we got to keep the takings for ourselves. What I liked was the chance to natter, and also (leaving my husband in charge of our things for a bit) going for a tour of the village myself and seeing what was on sale elsewhere. All in all it was absolutely magic. Got rid of unwanted clutter, met lots of nice folk, (they came from other villages too) and made a bit of money. Not to mention the church which gained from the donation.