Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!

Subject: Summer 2014 Exercise right to declutter
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 14 - 02:38 PM

The previous season's thread has taken us from the awful cold winter of 2014 to the possibly odd summer of 2014. Onions are stunted here, different weeds and pests are showing up. Perhaps the weather gave them the toehold they needed.

The house is much better than a few years ago when these threads were started. I still miss seeing Kat's contributions and knowing that even if she wasn't writing much she was reading along.

Households are losing occupants these days. The sad loss of Linn's husband Tom, the inevitable moving out of my youngest as he moves to Seattle to work after graduation from college. My oldest still lives nearby and has a major stash of stuff at my house, so the default guest room is now my son's former room. With these changes comes a shift in how things work and why things were positioned where they were. There will probably be a lot of "aha!" moments this summer.

Susan is packing and moving to a future retirement home in Ohio, I'm sure there will be many more adventures. Dorothy is always in a state of motion and I think another move is due soon (if I've read the posts correctly). Michelle never slows down, and Alice and Maryanne are in the background somewhere puttering. I hope they drop in occasionally! Andrea was doing all of the building a while ago and shifted to a garden project - how is it progressing?

There is lots to report if people come in for a cool-down and fill us in. That's what this is right now, a pause in the weekend mowing after I tuned up the mower (at least I added a new spark plug and sharpened the blade).

Charmion, Eliza, Claire M, Q, and a few unnamed guests stopped by last quarter. Let's see how far we can move these declutter projects and how much weight we can lose (those who need to) in this most productive and energetic time of year (north of the equator, in case there are some Southern Hemisphere readers still).

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 14 - 02:42 PM

I forgot to mention that Liz the Squeak used to participate here and I see she's back posting to the 'cat. I hope she'll tell us all about the work in her garden, how many kittens she has re-homed (a special kind of declutter work!) and of course, how are the tits in the back garden.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: GUEST,MAG at library
Date: 01 Jun 14 - 03:13 PM

so busy de-cluttering the yard of weeds i haven't had much time to de-clutter anything else. (including following the 'Cat.)
did switch out the cold weather clothes from the warmer weather clothes but don't seem to have decluttered them that much, except for being actually folded and put into drawers.
can't find my guitar stand which makes me lazy about diddling a bit. ouch. can't find my cake carrier, which limits what i can take to potlucks.
I schedule committee meetings at my house specifically so i must periodically shovel. that doesn't necessarily declutter.
oops; i forgot; i replaced my busted shredder and have been going through (um dee um) boxes of paper.

happy halfway-between equinox-and-solstice, everybody.

MA

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 01 Jun 14 - 10:01 PM

Today was not a great day. Seems as if my body exacts some kind of punishment for having a lovely day (yesterday). Didn't get to bed last night until 1 a.m. (Too much fun...but only two glasses of wine). A cramp in my thigh rudely awoke me at 5:30. Sigh. Faded by 8 and napped. Woke up for lunch, some computerification, and the cats teaming up to majorly annoy me. Sigh. Took another nap, so absolutely nothing accomplished today except for finishing a book, feeling a little bit better, and talking to a friend.

Tomorrow I'm going to a memoir writers group at the Portsmouth library and then ordering the composting toilet, since I talked to my handyman on Friday and he can do the floor, too. And maybe the plumbing (outside faucets) since my plumber is not returning my phone calls.

Yesterday was a truly lovely day. Actually started Friday night with an exceptional Press Room session which included some old friends I haven't seen for awhile, nine fiddles, a bit of opera, and banjo bookends. After emailing everyone the information I'd promised the night before, I did yard work. Yard work is double duty. I'm not only getting the necessary Spring work done (lots of leaf schlepage, raking the leaves out of flower beds and the driveway, filling and planting the pots on the deck, moving rocks and pe gravel around), but trying to get back into shape. I need to find time to start slow but START walking again. Anyway, yesterday I spent a lot of time mixing planting mix (the sandy loam I have in a pile, peat moss, and bagged garden soil), filling the rest of the deck planters, moving large flat rocks into place and grooming the path up the bank through the rockery.

Then I made sure I was tick-free and changed clothes to go see a friend's band playing Greek and Turkish music in Portsmouth. And THAT was a lovely evening at a table with more friends, listening to the music and watching both the Greek dancers, but the belly dancer during the "intermission".

So it was basically a good weekend despite today's lack of sleep and general malaise.

Should be a somewhat productive week -- appointment to get Medicare worked out on Tuesday, oil change for the car on Wednesday, and Jeri and I are going to see "Malificent" on Thursday. Should have time for progress on a couple other fronts as well.

Linn

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 14 - 12:04 AM

Peat moss is a sterile medium so don't use too much - your soil is best when there is a lot of biological activity. Get some compost mixed in, or some of those leaves and whatever humus you have on the forest floor.

I overdid this weekend, but especially today. I've been pushing to catch up in the yard after the extra week away last month. I'm getting there, but for now, the front and back have been mowed, I did all of the edging out front, and I did a lot of weeding in the vegetable gardens. I sharpened the mower blade this morning and that makes a big difference.

Maryanne, I know where my cake carrier is, but I've been trying for ages to replace my egg slicer. You know the kind with wires to slice anything on the base (shaped like a mushroom but that also fits the egg)? No one seems to carry them now. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 02 Jun 14 - 09:08 AM

Ayuh, I do that. Dried leaf mulch, too, is in the bottom of the deck pots. And I've got plenty of compost. It's just that the loam that I bought years ago is so dense with sand that I have to put peat moss in it to loosen it up or it will smother.

The previous load of loam (alas, from many, many years ago) was wonderful. Got it from a pig farmer. Rich, black, had to watch out for the occasional shard of glass, but otherwise it was gold. But the pig farmer had died by the time I needed more. This load (which has been sitting around for way too long) was a disappointment. HAS to be blended with organic matter or it's lethal. But because it has to be mixed, it's lasting forever. Nothing's perfect, I guess...

Checking out the memoir writers group this morning...

Linn

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: GUEST,#
Date: 02 Jun 14 - 09:55 AM

"Exercise the right to declutter!"

Better exercise the left also, else one's muscular symmetry will get all out of whack.

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Jun 14 - 12:09 PM

City:
I have had not-enough-energy-to-do-anything days even in my 20's so I know they will happen. Still do not like it but... When the body, and mind, say "REST!" we really need to pay heed. Cutting the grass last week really was much and again I have forgotten the scythe as well as the rake, etc. Darn!

Came back to city last night as R had to be back in city to get things done - many business crises. "Why?" is a futile question. So I found the energy to trim pots - the few I did on Sat as I demo'ed at a friend's shop to attract customers and those lids and a few bowls. Hopefully, when I go back on Tuesday, things will be dry enough to match lids to little jars and finish filling the kiln for a bisque firing. The jars have been taking up a shelf for a few months while I got up the energy to make darn lids! So this will de-clutter most of a shelf!

Terrific music at cafe on Fri. The demo on Sat was fun. A block of the main street was closed from 11 am to about 4 pm. Durham County Poets played for a while - so terrific! There were things for kids and a plant exchange, and more. Not as many people as I would have expected, however, those who attended enjoyed. R and I had lunch in town then went back to the mill. We phoned friends in NYS re visit but not a good day - they had 5 dogs with diarrhea! Maybe from beef bones?

I wanted to go visit nearby friends but R got into reading an 1882 book, still saying he needed to go to the city. Read the whole book and it was too late so ... I accomplished nothing but computering. Too tired to do anything else but the visit would have been nice.

Sun morn, we slept in and I made breakfast and we went through the "need to go to the city" routine. He had been going on Sat after breakfast but ended up enjoying the street fair instead. Sun, he read some more, did a few other things and hooked up a hose so I have water near the kitchen and I won't have to keep filling jugs in town. We drove a short distance to a neighbouring farmer to pay him for work done. R spent some time visiting with him and obtained info re spraying. This man owns hundreds of acres and will let us know before he sprays - Round up!!! He does not think the aerial spraying will be close by so as long as I am in the city or stay away from the areas being sprayed, I should be OK. So this was a useful visit.

I was so stressed by R's not going to the city routine that after he finally left - about 2:30 - I took a few hours to dredge up the energy for trimming. I finally got started after 6 pm and finished at 8:45, packed up and got to town at 10:15. R came home at midnight - after I phoned to tell him what time it was, then went to bed.

That trimming was hard work! Woke up this morning aching. R left before breakfast - about 8:15 so I took hot bath and am still in recovery.

My cell phone died on Friday so I have to go deal with that - very high stress for me, seems I just got this one in the fall? Groceries need to be bought and maybe I can finish that grass. Maybe I can pack up more non-essentials here in prep for the move to the apt.

I was not looking forward to yet another move but I thought it would be nice to have a decent place to live - a newly reno'ed apt. The last time I looked at it, with R, he has had fire engine red tile put as the back splash; it literally hurts my eyes. So much for having a decent place to live. It is the ugliest K I have ever seen - shiny black cabinets, beautiful bamboo counter - but very little counter- badly designed beyond all belief and ugly.   

"We're not going to be living there." DUHH! Even two months in that horror would be too long and I dread how long it might take for prima donna Bruno to do the work on the house - with R needing him here and there for something else. It could have been really beautiful. ..... Sitting here in despair contemplating packing a suitcase... Wondering what will happen when we - it had better be "we" - plan the new K for here. How much more am I willing to put up with? This life is exhausting and stressful.

Well, this gives new meaning to that line, "And the only reason I'm hanging around is to find out that the heck is going to happen next!" (Arkansas Hard Luck Story)

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Jun 14 - 12:21 PM

Having contemplated what I just wrote, I believe the best plan is to refuse to move into that mess and just stay at the mill. I want to be supportive of R but that does not mean being a door mat and that is what I am if he does not consult with me about a place in which we will be living - even for a few months.

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 14 - 02:56 PM

I vote with you on this, Dorothy. Tell R he's outnumbered. :)

After dinner last night I took a couple of aspirin to head off the stiffness I knew I'd feel this morning, but at midnight I got up and took a couple of motrin because I could feel my feet trying to cramp up. I drank more water also. Even though I drank fluid yesterday I was still a bit dehydrated. I keep bottles of Gatorade-like drinks around for this kind of weather and drank one of those also. Welcome, summer.

The yard was looking lovely this morning when I left.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Jun 14 - 09:36 AM

City:
When I get cramping in feet/legs, I realize magnesium is needed. Take a 1/4t mag citrate "Calm" which I really need to take daily to counteract the effect of choc which, although it says it contains mag it would seem not to be sufficient or perhaps not available. Too much sugar may also increase need for mag; I am still considering this.
OH my, SRS, So glad YOUR yard looks lovely!

I did not finish yard yesterday as I needed to go deal with phone: Drove to mall and the young man took the battery out put it back and told me "It wasn't turned on." I felt a bit "duh" even though I had tried to turn it on several times. When I got home, it was off and no amount of take it out and put it in and turn it on.... Back to the mall today on way to mill...

On way back from mall, stopped to do groceries and took them home and unloaded - frozen stuff/hot day - then went to another store for the stuff I had not been able to get. Oh! Air conditioning in car does not seem to be working!!! Not good! Stop at garage on way to mill...

Watched the end of "my" cooking program where he used quinoa and there were a couple interesting dishes - chick pea curry and tahini salad dressing. Went on line to get recipes, checked a couple clay sites and copied some useful info. Deleted emails, etc.

Watched the news while supping and went to folk dancing, last of season. My legs got stiff; I suspect re-action to working on wheel on Sunday. Left a little early and could hardly walk when I got home! Better this morning, thankfully! My body is aging in spite of my best efforts!

Managed to get the recycling and trash out in time; have not been here on Tuesday for a couple weeks so it was important. R got a call at 6 am and had to rush out so I was awake but may have dozed and got up about 8 to take the nux vomica which seems to be making a difference.

Did online bill payment after a furious phone call to one card company which changed "payment due date"; after a call months ago when it was supposed to have been changed to "after the third because my money comes on the third" - oh yes no problem! So, this morning I go to pay it and it was due yesterday - Furious phone call; dumb woman who kept repeating the same thing until "I don't CARE when the statement is dated. All I care about is the payment due date. You are wasting my time..." And finally, "And I have a few more words you do not want to hear, Good bye" Click! Let's see how long it lasts this time before I go through the same thing. The bills are paid.

Time for bf and go to mill, by way of mall and garage, to plant and go to group -and remember to bring the tools back this time, she says hopefully.

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 14 - 01:06 PM

I'm doing some of my gardening in the morning before heading to the office and today I trimmed the tops off the onions in a couple of beds. They'd been knocked over like something walked through the garden - this morning I found a lot of pill bugs or "rolypoly" bugs, so after trimming I hand-watered and then went through and sprinkled some Sluggo Plus. It's an organic product for snails and slugs and the spinosad in the small pellets kills the pillbugs. I think they've been weakening my onions. The onions I trimmed I left 4-5" of the green on top to see if that will do as someone suggested here recently and let the bulb grow more and not lose the top entirely.

I cut up the green tops and they're spread out on cookie sheets to see how they turn out dry. I suppose I could have put them in the freezer to freeze dry them. I'll see how they look when I get home and maybe finish the process in the freezer.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 14 - 10:10 AM

The onions looked good yesterday evening and I slid them into the freezer. It dawns on me now that that isn't a frost free freezer so the moisture won't be sucked out. I'll transfer them to smaller pans that fit in the frost free side-by-side freezer later today and that should pull the moisture out so I can bag them and not have to keep them in the freezer. They'll be big green bits of onion that I can use in salads or topping on pizzas, etc.

No news on the car repair yet. A co-worker described a long wait for an out of town repair a couple of years ago (in her case, a dead CPU - yes, cars have computers). It's unusual for me to have to go through this but at least it isn't unheard of. We're almost at the end of the third week of waiting.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: GUEST,MAG
Date: 04 Jun 14 - 01:32 PM

i don't see my handle above; is my cookie gone again or something?

I saw malificent yesterday, in 3-D AND IMAX. i am spoiled forever. and an intelligent reimagining of the story. enjy. tell me what you think.
i have/had a depression in the front yard right next to the planting strip where the previous owner had some plumbing done. i had hoped to make a rain garden there, but just can't afford the retrofitting it requires, so am making (another) bed in the front yard. i have no shortage of good loam, as the stretch of backyard the previous owner used as a dog run has many inches of it. the dog has been gone for 3 years, so it is supposed to be safe to use. most of the volume is from years of leaf mulch. when i moved in 30 months agoi started digging back there, in order to put in the ground covers i brought with me, and discovered that about 6 inches down the whole space was covered in pebbled rock. the nice white marbley kind. so, bo ground covers there. the plants are still in large pots which are in a line down my front sidewalk. the neighbors like them, thank goodness. in digging the stuff out (ouch?) i have discovered a trail of round pathway stones that lead nowhere. as i used up the newspapers i had been saving to line the new bed the living room has been looking better. I left the hose in one of my large raised boxes, and yesterday found a baby slug on it, so have plastered everything with Sluggo. i knew they were here and there, as i see the trails.didn't think they were in the boxes; silly me. i also have put down a lot of diatomaceous earth, as something, i think ants keeps taking the seeds i put in.

u notice how i would much rather play in the dirt than clean the house>

yhank you for listening ...

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 14 - 02:39 PM

MAG, are you typing this on a phone? It takes forever, doesn't it? It sounds like some interesting challenges and discoveries in the yard. I love the idea of pebbles and pavers back there that you can move around.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Jun 14 - 02:58 PM

nope; i'm on the 'puter - i'm just a lousy/lazy typist.

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 04 Jun 14 - 07:16 PM

City:
Stopped to deal with phone yesterday on way to country. At the mall: may be battery, may be phone; we have no batteries here and cannot check. There are batteries at AN.

AN shopping centre is almost back home again, a pain to park near and walk several blocks. They had NO batteries and I ended up with a new phone although the old one was only 7 months old. It is going on 2 pm by the time I get out of there.

Stopped and made appointment re car air, stopped and visited with folks and picked up newspaper. Near 4 when I got to mill and finished loading the kiln, broke 3 of the new lids, turned the kiln on and off at intervals to dry the rest of pots well enough, went to writers' group and back to mill. Repeated the short-term heating process a couple more times before bedtime. Spent a great deal of time trying to figure out phone, spent about 45 futile minutes trying to get customer service, ended up with a page of questions. Customer service is definitely an oxymoron.

This morning, grateful for a good rain yesterday,I planted some more seedlings and pea seeds and four basil. Put a monarda outside the box. They spread so vigorously in PA, it was horrendous; prob not so much in colder clime but I was not taking any chances. Washed about half the dishes and rushed off to car repair. Got a ride into the town, rec'd $ for a couple sold pots, chatted with a few people, decided to walk back to garage. Long walk, sore feet, got to a point by the river and realized I could have shortened the trip considerably by taking a more rural route - through a field and some high reeds but a third as far.

Air works now!

Back to city with sore feet, a change of shoes helped. Stopped for bread and cheese to eat on way. Went directly to AN with phone and list of questions. Got all accomplished and took notes - except blue tooth connection. Walked back to car and returned with blue tooth. YAY! Now I know how and can add R's phone to it also so he can use it when driving my car.

Got back to my car, on a quiet residential street, and a man told me he enjoyed my bumper stickers. We talked about how to remove the faded ones; I have several new ones to put on but removal is a pain. THEN we talked about music and musicians we each know; he had recognized me from events... Then I started back to house, calling R to see if we can do dinner out. Still waiting to see. Deleted 80 or so emails and watched part of the news, put groceries away and ---I'm hungry!

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 14 - 11:30 PM

The car is ready but it doesn't sound to me like the repair is complete. I think there was a smashed sensor (I spoke with a dealer near my home today and got a lucid answer - finally) and I'll have it replaced when I get it home. I can get home, but if the sensor blinks out, the car defaults to third gear so there could be some slower driving to keep the RPMs in the proper range.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Jun 14 - 05:30 PM

City:
Good luck getting home, SRS. It always feel better!

R came home too late to go out so we had the fallback - packaged ravioli and sauce. And bed! Something got him up this morning and I woke up enough to make breakfast but the break in "routine" caused me to forget to move the car - ticket, oh well. I had gone up for a hot bath and R came back in late am - too late re parking.

Two loads of laundry, changing of the bedding, washing of dishes and not much else. emails deleted, search done and results of possibly available NYS rehabbers sent to a guy in Brooklyn who is determined to rescue a small raccoon. Most rehabbers are overwhelmed by now!

Also tried researching for a cookbook combining diabetes and vegetarian - simple recipes, not exotic.... for a friend. Gave up since I have no idea what constitutes a diabetic diet! Need to research that first; I might even need it someday. But to look at a book means a trip to a bookstore or bigger library - English!; cannot tell what is in a book without opening the cover!

Watching the news - and computering. May even make it to restaurant tonight.

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: GUEST,#
Date: 05 Jun 14 - 06:25 PM

Dorothy, give this a read.

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: GUEST,msg
Date: 05 Jun 14 - 07:32 PM

test, to see if i am reinstated

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 14 - 01:06 AM

I was away for 13 hours, most of it driving. The car runs, it was a horribly expensive repair, and I think they diddled the transmission to make it work with the flawed sensor. I'm not sure how they would do that, but the RPMs are pretty high now and it runs rough when it idles. I need to get Chevy to check out this "repair." My mileage wasn't as good on the way home, not by a long shot. It was up to 40mpg on the way out, never got above about 29 on the way back (I reset the calculator to get a measurement without reference to previous numbers).

Laundry is in, dogs are in, I'm headed to bed. I had to wind down after a lot of iced tea on the road.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 14 - 11:32 AM

I'm working a compressed week this summer. The last couple of weeks haven't been typical because I was trying to position myself to retrieve the car without taking more vacation time. I accomplished that. Now I'll work Monday through Thursday and have a three day weekend. I'll try to make good use of that time.

Is anyone still working on special diets, exercise plans, yoga, physical therapy, any other physical fitness activity? Andrea, are you still doing the belly dance? I think I finally have the disruptive stuff behind me so I'm going to go back to the alternate day fasting (for any new lurkers, more information here, the plan I'm using is about 38 minutes into the program that originally appeared in the UK as part of the science program Horizon).

The yard work and dog walking is still the preferred exercise for me.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: MAG
Date: 06 Jun 14 - 02:59 PM

'cat down?
decluttered the backyard of a lot of wild geraniums, which i think are cute, but gardening friends said to pull tout suite, as they are a prolific weed.
lots of space to put in crocosmia, a new hosta, and what she calls "native viola".
hope this goes.

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 14 - 03:59 PM

There's a new server that still gets a few tweaks, but it has been a lot more reliable for the last couple of weeks.

A friend at work called to offer me a case of Mason jars. They were apparently decorated for something and no longer needed, and he has seen all of my facebook photos of canned goods. I can wash off paint before I can with them. Every donation helps - I give away jars with the reminder to return it if they get a chance. A new infusion is always helpful. A neighbor gave me a box full that had a couple of really old jars that I don't use for canning - the star jars are on the counter in view. ;-)

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Jun 14 - 10:04 PM

This has to be short and sweet as my battery is dying....so...

1. My house is chaos...will be working on that tomorrow.
2. I have been invited to be part of a yard sale next weekend so purging and pricing will keep me busy this week. Goodbye baby toys....
3. I have been working on losing weight through Weight Watchers for the last 3 weeks. I am feeling motivated and am doing well. :)

Love to all!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 14 - 11:23 PM

Good work, Michelle!

And that offer wasn't one case, it was four cases of quart Mason jars. The lids and rings had never been used, they're still packaged. Someone bought them and wrapped the jars in construction paper to decorate tables. I'll undecorate them, run them through the dishwasher, and have them ready to go for pickles and whatever this summer.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jun 14 - 10:03 AM

Exciting news in the yard this morning, Cinnamon incessantly barking was at the edge of the "Invisible Fence" boundary barking at a large red-earred slider that was turned on its back and all tucked deep into the shell. I went back to the house to get the camera then released it into the creek. I'm wondering how it go over or under the fence.

More running to do with the transmission today, then back to the house and yard projects. Mowing, laundry, etc.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 07 Jun 14 - 12:26 PM

Will you post photos on FB?   I love turtles!!! So glad you were able to lend a helping hand!

I am happy to report that this day is off to a good start....dishes are done (except for some silverware), kitchen, hallway, bathroom and living room floors have been swept. Pete is going to unclog the vaccuum so I can do that. Later this afternoon I'm headed into the bathroom to do some major scrubbing. We have hard water and while the stains DO come up, it takes a LOT of elbow grease but it's time. :)

Michelle who is also putting things away as she goes.

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 14 - 02:11 AM

It turns out that the hole made by the turtle coming into the yard was the hole that Zeke enlarged to exit. When we realized we hadn't seen him for a while and started looking he'd been out of the yard for a couple of hours. They can travel so far sometimes! It took putting up signs at a couple of main intersections and someone saw him and called. He was hot and stinky - I think he'd been in the creek, possibly in people's compost. He had a bath, as did Cinnamon. Poppy seems to have hurt herself, she protests when I try to look - I think maybe she tried to follow Zeke and got poked on the fence wire. Watching her closely and a trip to the vet on Monday if needed.

What a day.

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 14 - 10:25 AM

I washed two of the dogs last night and that seems to have liberated all of the loose hair. What didn't end up in the tub is now floating around the house. Time to break out the vacuum.

We have a rainy morning, very welcome. I did mean to mow the lawn today, but now that things are hopefully settling after all of the car stuff it'll be easy to get back to a normal schedule. I'll be mowing in the cooler mornings now that summer has fully arrived.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 08 Jun 14 - 10:35 AM

We were all up early this morning and are all raring to go! I am in my sewing room for the day while Jeremiah and Daddy are out in the garden. Photosensitive meds mean I spend time in the garden after 7pm. However, later today we are headed to one of our favorite fishing holes so there will be no gardening for me tonight. Last night I planted lettuce and cilantro seeds and then filled 10 pots with flowers and one with rosemary. I did this in the moonlight..I was alone and it was so peaceful....could have stayed there all night.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 08 Jun 14 - 01:50 PM

I was decidedly down yesterday. I knew I was having trouble with even thinking about Monday...it's my birthday and it will be the first in 34 years that I won't be sharing with Tom. But I wasn't expecting the mood to show up so early...

A friend was having a...well, what would you call it? A remembrance potluck gathering marking the first anniversary of his wife's death. I almost called him and begged off, but then I figured socializing might help improve my mood. So I went but explained and said if it didn't work, I'd leave rather than dampen anyone else's spirits.

But it worked. Good friends, good conversation, good food... And then late in the afternoon we got singing. A friend who had a stroke five years ago just starting to sing again, and she sang a few. A couple more friends were there -- two guitars and two bazoukis. A woman who had heard me sing Mary Garvey's "Cannery Shed" ("Stella") at one of the Fourth of July gatherings at Demmon's Store in West Nottingham requested it, so I fulfilled her wishes. (And did "Astoria's Bar" a bit later. Thanks, Mary, for some wonderful songs -- I tell everyone who wrote them, where you live, and how similar the fishing industry out in your neck of the woods is to ours here in New England.) After just about everyone left, we moved into the house (from the screened porch) and ended up singing until almost 11. Not bad considering I had planned to leave between 5 and 6...

I think I've finally gotten everything that had to be done by this month done -- wrapped the list up by registering the car and getting it inspected, and then spending an hour and a half on the phone getting enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. (Argh!!!) Now the only things that have deadlines are PMFF stuff. (i.e. "normal" annual deadlines, not all the bureaucratic stuff I've had to accomplish in the past months when I've been least able to cope with all of it.)

Then after that was all done on Thursday, Jeri and I went to see "Maleficent" (not in 3-D or anything). I NEEDED some entertainment (and magic) at that point!

Heading across the river to Maine in a little while to go to see Judy Cook in a house concert in York. And maybe stop at the Weathervane for some calamari on the way home.

Linn

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 08 Jun 14 - 04:29 PM

Country:

Thank you to Guest for that good web site. I found it interesting and passed it along.
Not in a get-things-done- state. Either it needs to rain or the lack of nux vomica since Fri (forgot it in the city) is affecting my well-being. I did spend this morning sorting and organizing/re-organizing, pulled some weeds before bf. Ran out of steam at lunchtime. Filling the time reading and computering. Went to studio to try to generate energy but it has left town!

SRS reminds me of why I stopped by second hand cars. When I realized how much I had spent on repairs plus the current one was "making that noise again" at 4 pm on FRi when I had to leave for a month in PA on Sunday; my wonderful mechanic got me through it but I bought a new car that day for when I returned. I bought the cheapest new car - a Metro - but it did me well for 6 years and then a new one for another 6 (would have been longer but I had an inappropriate meeting with an SUV) and then my Scion since 2005 - I love it!

R and I spent most of yesterday going - an hour - to a pot luck for those involved in a craft show in Sept. met a few people, arranged where I would set up, paid and picked up PR materials. The 22nd year for this show on an old farm - like a step back in time. It seems in the middle of no where but close enough to a major N/S route that Montrealers can prob get there in less than an hour and, of course, love their trip to the country.

Then we drove back on a side road and looked at things, stopped at the country butcher, saw properties for sale - way too far. Wonderful visit with a couple who live right above Trout River where is is shallow and makes lovely noise over the rocks.

A quick salad dinner and R had to go back to the city to deal with more crises. He had managed to ignore his phone all day. He had a good day and now went to pay the piper. No point in me going, he will be working til... for a couple days. It is like cutting off the heads of the Hydra.

Then I wrote an email to the friends in NYS as I had called them in the am and then forgot them. This time, they really were ready for a visit.

Ad and friends put on a terrific Down East show on Friday and there were a number of Newfies on hand to clap and sing along. A grand time!

Well, I shall feel good about what I have accomplished so far today - found my summer clothes at last! I am trying to get all winter things in similar bins, beddings and curtains/drapes in certain ones, fabrics in other ones. Someday.... I WILL get some sewing done.

Do we realize how much stuff we have when it is nicely put away in a home? So far I have six mid-sized bins of winter and more yet to pack. And still have not found my winter jacket!

Realized that I am really only starting to be where I could have been last July if I had not gotten sick. The fields have not been sprayed yet. We are hoping the heads up, from our neighbour, will enable us to be elsewhere and the nux vomica will help me deal with any aftermath.

Really need/want to get a glaze firing in so I have new stuff for the Market on Sat. Outdoors is hot, heavy, damp. Hope...

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 14 - 07:07 PM

Dorothy, you're right about second hand cars, but in all fairness I think this one was on the fritz because of the road hazard I hit. Linn, that sounds like a great evening, maybe something to keep in mind in the future when you want to exorcise an anniversary. Michelle, your garden sounds magical!

The mason jars are all un-decorated and have been through the dishwasher and are back in their boxes. They'll get washed again before canning, but I won't have the extra work with it.

This evening I took a mix of some Bt in water and a small syringe (no needle, just the syringe) and with a little paring knife cut some slits into the side of a couple of squash plants that have been attacked by a boring worm. And I also injected some into the otherwise healthy plants nearby. Protection against future incursions, I hope. I picked three squash and I have four in the fridge that I bought a few days ago. The dogs will get those cut up in their dinner dish.

I think the volunteers I transplanted from the compost are burpless cucumbers from last year. I'll be clearing some more bed space and putting up a climbing structure for them in the next week or so. I have seeds in pots still too small to transplant for zucchini and a few other plants. And before any of that, I need to mow the yard.

This evening I took a party tray with a wire mesh lid to my next door neighbor. Along with the mason jars the friend handed me three melamine trays that each has a bowl (like for dip and chips) with the cover, great for out of doors. They have a wonderful patio they use for entertaining and I don't need three of these. She mowed my lawn for me while I was away, and that was a huge help, so this was a way of saying thank you.

I took a nap today, another long one that I probably shouldn't have, it might keep me awake tonight. I need to go get some exercise.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 14 - 09:11 PM

The mosquitoes are active so I didn't mow the front tonight, I'll wait till morning. In the back yard I did mow under a couple of trees and cleaned and refilled the dog tubs.

Doing more laundry - this time stuff that came back from Arizona with my son. His blankets, a winter jacket, things he might want to take when he moves to start his new job later this summer.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 14 - 12:53 PM

Heavy thunderstorm this morning at dawn, no mowing the front yard this morning. The car is in the shop, hoping they can sort out the electronics and sensors as they are situated now. It was drizzling when I got there so I walked the few blocks home rather than wait for the shuttle. Michelle, heads up - this storm is one of those that is sweeping east and north, probably headed your way in the next couple of days.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 09 Jun 14 - 01:07 PM

Yep.....we are supposed to get hit on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's gray here today and somewhat humid. Ick. I picked up two beautiful red dahlias that are covered with blossoms. Also, 60 chicks arrived in the mail this morning. Twenty five are meat birds which is something new for us. Eight are to raise to laying age for a friend who will then trade us a baby beef calf for the chicks. I should be doing something productive but all I want to do today is sleep.   *yawn*

Michelle

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 09 Jun 14 - 02:20 PM

Just came to the conclusion that I'm NOT going to get the cream cheese/rhubarb bars made today. Or much else "useful".

On the other hand, I've been very much enjoying lying in bed and rereading previous years' birthday threads started by Curmudgeon and the thread from when I broke my arm in December of 2007 and it snowed at least once every three days for over a month. Wallowed in the comfort and caring of those no longer with us...Tom, katlaughing, Barry Finn.

On my way to meet Jeri at Newick's for my birthday ten bucks off, I'll stop at the liquor store and get some Grand Marnier or some other orange liqueur (since I used my last on a mess o' strawberries) and on the way home I'll pick up some flowers. I need flowers...

Bittersweet day...but I am, truly, okay. Just another "first" in a year of firsts...

Linn

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 14 - 09:05 PM

I'm glad those threads were there, bittersweet as they are. So many people to miss, but so glad to have had them in our lives.

This evening I mowed the front lawn. There are some soft spots and it'll need mowing again in a couple of days after all of the rain. Looks good right this moment.

The car was pronounced to be fit and not showing signs of why the transmission failed right after I hit that road hazard. It means there will be no reimbursement from the insurance for the cost. It's paid for, but things will be tight for a little while. So what's new. . . It took a small bag of fresh garden produce - an onion and some peppers - over to the mechanic. He was very patient with all of my questions today.

In addition to the mowing I'm going to get a little exercise with the dogs. They need out of the yard (the right way this time!) and if Poppy is showing too much of a tendency to limp I'll leave her home in the house (so her barking doesn't disturb the neighbors).

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 10 Jun 14 - 06:27 AM

No good day goes unpunished...

Woke up at 2:30 a.m. Tried to get back to sleep several times (with and without reading by flashlight in between). Didn't work.

Finally said to hell with it, turned on the light and started doing something useful. Organized a couple things and then catalogued my DVDs, so I can make a digital list.

And NOW (6:24 a.m.), I'm going back to bed...HOPING to fall asleep. (Or the day will be a total loss.) Wish me luck.

Linn

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Jun 14 - 02:56 PM

I have far too much stuff..toys and clothes for Jeremiah, in particular. I have been sorting and sorting..who is going to come help me get all this stuff downstairs??? And tomorrow will be a day full of pricing...Good grief...it just is overwhelming. The yard sale starts on Friday....not sure I will ever be ready!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 14 - 07:11 PM

I've seen garage sales where everything on a certain table is X price - no tags. It does mean you have to collect the cash at each table, though. Or color code the table and put a sticker of the same color on each item, without writing anything. How do you price them?

My lower jaw is beginning to throb after a couple of hours in the dentist chair in preparation for a crown on a back molar. The temporary is in place now. Time for motrin and a power nap. I still want to get to sleep tonight.

I've spent a few minutes each evening this week working on those New Yorker labels and watching television. I also finished the NetFlix discs that have been here for a while. They're finally on their way back. When I finish these covers I'll list them and be able to clear off my dining room table - again.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jun 14 - 10:01 AM

I haven't decluttered a great deal but I did clear off (not just move but actually filed or recycled) the stuff on my kitchen counter. One item of interest was a box of clothespins. While in the Davis Mountains last month I did laundry a couple of times and the only drying is on a line. She had the most amazing sturdy wooden pins by Penley, from Maine (made in China, but to the larger specs). I searched out that brand and ordered two 50-count bags. What arrived was another brand of regular ol' clothespins. I contacted the seller (through Amazon) and pointed out they'd sent the wrong type. I hoped to exchange them, but they don't have any of what I ordered, and simply refunded the price and shipping. Said to keep these. So I have lots of the smaller pins, but would sure like to get my hands on some of the Penley sort. Those pin bags were on the counter waiting to be shipped, but now they're in the laundry room. And the pile of paperwork from the transmission has been filed. What an expensive month the last four weeks have amounted to.

Jaw and tongue are a bit tender. Taking soft food for lunch today.

Spring is here - how are each of your gardens looking now? Any other veggie gardeners? I've dug potatoes and onions and been picking squash and peppers.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 11 Jun 14 - 03:02 PM

I am hanging signs for pricing the clothes...for example...All shirts .50¢ unless otherwise marked. I sorted everything by size. Toys are marked individually...or at least I hope they will be by tonight!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 14 - 12:42 AM

The kitchen is cleaned up, a load of laundry is finished. I plan a little garden work tomorrow morning before work, and may go in early enough to have time to go out for lunch with a friend in town. With the "compressed week" schedule I'm working (four 10-hour days) I don't have much time on my work days for anything but work, but I will have a three-day weekend each week.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 14 - 12:52 PM

Scratch the garden work, we woke to another thunderstorm this morning. It sounds like Michelle's garage sale may be washed out because of the rain that hit me Monday and moved into her area yesterday and today. The storm here today doesn't look as big as the one earlier in the week, so I don't think I'll be sharing this rain with Michelle.

SRS

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 Jun 14 - 04:04 PM

LOL! Thanks SRS! How about taking back the rain that is being called for in tomorrow's forecast? Hmm?

Most things are marked...maybe a half hour of marking left to do tonight. I'm dreading it. BLAH. I don't mind collecting all the stuff but I really don't like pricing it.

Weigh in was today, down a little bit when in reality I shouldn't be down at all. I did not behave myself last week.

Today I am off to a MUCH better start for the upcoming week ahead!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Jun 14 - 09:50 PM

City:
Monday brought a continued energy level and I measured out three new glazes. Tired of not being able to remember what test was on what pot, I put numbers on the bottoms of nine small bowls and the same numbers on glazes to be tested - and get it right this time! I figure if the bowls get to be sold, people will be delighted to be told , "Oh I used it to test that glaze..." Won't that be nice to have the first...! In any case, I was happy to take pots out of the kiln on Tuesday and know what glaze I was examining. Two wonderful, and totally different "turquoise" glazes: One is a deep satin blue green that is slightly lighter over my lovely white glaze. The other is a bright shiny light green-blue. They are very different; the one elegant, the other lively. Each an excellent glaze. The third test needs to be re-done. . I may not have stirred it well enough. The rest of the firing was good.

I started another firing on Tuesday afternoon, containing the other six tests, a couple more items in the new glazes and a test tile for a new batch of burgundy, made with city water in hopes that this time it will be my good old burgundy rather than the mess I got from using the high iron country water. I'll find out on Friday.

Between times, I managed a bit more sorting and organizing.

Took the two new pots to my writers group to see which one was preferred - 50-50! Both are well received. Then back to the city, where I and pots were well received.

Weds I went to bank an income tax refund and check out a pharmacy which was said to carry homeopathic remedies. It was rather farther than the one I knew of and connected to it but things must be ordered. So good info is to stick with the known and closer. Wended my way back and after lunch spent some time on computer until it was down to 25%. I had left the essential part of power cord at the mill!

So today, having to go in yet another direction a good distance to arrange to cancel an life insurance policy ( a good decision), and get the remaining value by cheque, I stopped at the Apple store and told a young staff my sad tale. He went in the back and returned, handed me the errant piece, "It's a gift!" Tech had a few lying around. I had suggested there might be some in recycling as, when my previous cord died, I gave it to them to recycle, never thinking of keeping that piece. Happiness is being able to come home and catch up with emails and all the rest! I really wanted to let the woman who had posted that elegant glaze know how well received it has been. Two others had missed her post and, after I described it, asked me to send them the recipe, which I did.

From the Mall, I went across town to visit the friend who wanted me to have a turquoise glaze. She was delighted with the dark one. Her mom (Parkinson's but mind was good today) liked them both. I gave Hannah a lovely cobalt/white would have been casserole that was damaged in my wind encounter last month. She showed me her collection of Dorothy pots! I knew this family - parents, and adult daughter and family and unmarried son- living separately in same triplex- are my very best customers! Her collection goes back years - maybe 20. No wonder I let her tell me what she wants and try to find it. She takes it very seriously. The next test will be another she may like - a denim grey-blue.

Weighing out grams of glaze materials is both time consuming and tiring; those three took me about 2 hours. The burgundy near an hour. The newly organized glazing area, with the rolling table, made it so much easier. With a spotlight on the scale and the materials right behind me, mostly within arms' length, it went as well as possible, with careful checking and re-checking of amounts. Very exciting to be getting these things accomplished.

The rest of today was catch up and tomorrow will be back to the country to see what the kiln offers and prepare for Farmers' Market on Saturday. I plan to arrange the new glazes to get comments, votes as it were!

Subject: RE: Summer 2014 Exercise the right to declutter!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 14 - 11:24 AM

Your glazes sound amazing, Dorothy. My father had a favorite potter he bought from over the years - a guy in Seattle named Sam Scott. I have received it as gifts over the years and kept a fair amount from his house after he died.

Yesterday was the worst as far as the apres-dentist discomfort. My gums are still tender from both the injection sites of the anesthesia and because they had to push some sort of material between the tooth and gum in order to get a good cast of a dry tooth. By the end of the day the whole left side of my face hurt. Silly me, trying to eat again.

Today is my day off and I see tall grass all around me - I'll be mowing front and back, and since we had a robust rain yesterday I'll have to mow again in a couple of days. In the house I need to revive my eBay activity. All of that car stuff last month meant I might have been away when a sale ended. The trick to eBay is not only to describe items well, post good photos, and ask a fair price and reasonable shipping, it's to be able to send it ASAP once payment is received. Slow delivery can result in cranky feedback.

SRS