DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I think I'll go sew for a while.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My wonky shoulder is especially looking forward to its arrival.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My intentions are irrelevant. Cats do what they please.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great news about the pants!

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

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

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

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 May 24 - 03:46 PM

The Ministry of Health informed me today that there's a new COVID variant about and it's time to get needled again. Sigh.

Last summer's go-to pants are a bit big, and I have taken in my belt by another notch.

One of the niblings whose post-secondary education I've been subsidizing will graduate on 3 June. I must find something particularly flamboyant to wear for maximum embarrassment value when I leap to my feet to clap and cheer when he crosses the stage. His sister still has two years to go ...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 May 24 - 11:41 AM

We have a lunch appointment but before we leave the UPS driver has to bring a new oxygen machine and the box must be opened to receive the new device and the defective machine sent back in it. I think the driver has orders to that effect. We have a backup plan if the driver isn't timely (I'll stay and wait for the box and my ex will take the friend to lunch with our daughter). Hopefully by having a backup plan we won't need to deploy it (our inoculation against Murphy's Law).

I was ready to make the last big push but with guests and skunk cleaning this week there has been no chance to get caught up in the garden. I despair having good crops if it gets so hot again as last year.

On a different front, while sorting eBay electronics I pulled out a dual cassette player (a Sony big one - found at Goodwill a while back) to set up in my office next to the computer to start transferring my Dad's taped recordings into files in the computer. I'll test the player today. I have one that was his but one of the compartments doesn't open (it was forced open or shut and killed that mechanism). It's way past time to work on all of this, but I have the whole array - reel-to-reel, cassette, turntable and CD players here with a receiver if I need that to power any of them.

I'm here at the front of the house and nothing has come by but my friend just got a text that they attempted delivery. Not at this house they didn't. Great.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 May 24 - 04:29 PM

Thanks! In the world of household annoyances, I think bed bugs would be worse. A friend in New York City has occasional episodes in his apartment building and it sounds dreadful. I'll take skunk over that.

Pepper (Australian cattle dog/blue heeler) has a dense coat and apparent robust reserves of skunk in the area under the left side of her face and neck. Each time I massage in enzyme spray on her I have to soak my hands and let the spray dry or I smell it on me if I touch my face.

A box of the French cobalt Luminarc glasses sold and was handed over to the mail carrier this morning. eBay tells me that my 90-day sales total is ~$275. I bet I can push that higher.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 14 May 24 - 12:55 PM

So much sympathy for the skunk situation! I imagine a major flea infestation, or perhaps a flood, might be worse, but not much else would do that much damage without taking down the entire house.

Keto continues to go well, with a surprising reduction in my grocery bill. The various things I eat tend to be expensive, but the range is not great and does not include any compulsion purchases (looking at you, ice cream) or restaurant meals.

I would not, however, recommend this regimen to anyone whose family life and/or social circle includes dining for pleasure. When I imagine Edmund's reaction to what constitutes supper for me these days, I know I would fall off the wagon immediately. "Is that really what you're having for lunch?"

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 May 24 - 10:59 AM

The house is now a bunch of skunk hot-spots, as the general stench clears and the sources reveal themselves. New rolled collars arriving tomorrow and today I'll prepare the new flat collars to put on the Invisible Fence devices. (I have to drill two holes then use a match or lighter to singe the nylon edges to keep them from fraying.)

My friend is conducting business at the kitchen table, on hold with the manufacturer of her portable oxygen machine. It is over 10-years-old and finally stopped working and from what I hear she's having a new one shipped to my house overnight. Something tells me I'll start getting junk mail from a whole new set of sources after this. (In her late 70s she bought this thing with a lifetime warranty, and at 90 is replacing it, something the company probably doesn't have to do a lot of.)

Not much work getting done this week, and it has been a carb fest. We haven't pulled up Netflix to watch a movie yet, but have watched some of the Trump trial reporting. But wait! My friend's daughter and grandson called and are coming over to pick her up for the day, so I have a few things I can get done.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 24 - 11:48 PM

Poor Pepper - she was also skunked, but wasn't so obvious about it (was hit face and neck, not in the mouth like Cookie, about 10% of the hit by order of magnitude). This evening I've been spritzing her with the enzyme and checking back as it dries to see if she needs more. That answers part of the mystery of the moving skunk smell. Both of them had rabies and name tags on rolled leather collars that are now in the trash and will be replaced. I'll also drill new holes in flat nylon collars for the Invisible Fence devices (they wear those in the yard but are removed when we go for walks so they can cross the Invisible Fence boundary). And I have a couple of more beds to wash tomorrow, foam pad and all. The cover of one of the newest beds is out on the patio and still stinks to high heavens, even after a trip through the laundry and Odor Remover spray. I'll keep spraying it until the smell subsides. I'm sending a couple of sets of my clothes through the laundry after spraying them with the enzyme to knock out anything I picked up from the dogs. Before fixing dinner this evening I sprayed my hands front and back and let the enzyme dry, removing the smell there that kept surprising me if I touched my face, etc.

So far it has been an expensive week. Between picking up dog supplies all over town I picked up two 90-day prescriptions. Maybe Tuesday will be better.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 24 - 12:13 PM

Patty, I think I would slowly back away from both of those houses, keeping your eye on them until you're in the vehicle with the doors locked. And check the backseat for any murderous stowaways.

It seems my house guest and my ex both have fairly impaired senses of smell. Neither of them finds the burned rubber acrid spots around the house to be a problem. Here I was thinking the only thing that could fix it is to burn the house down.

Last night I sprayed skunk odor remover on the floors, then when I couldn't sleep at about 3am and realized the dog had been coughing and snorting skunk stink out of her mouth as she moved through the house I needed to aim the enzyme spray at everything from about three feet down that she would have broadcast to. So I got up and walked through the house and did another spray. It did help, but we're a long way from good and I don't know if the skunk is out of the garage yet. I had the ex come over to pick up the friend, but she still wants to stay here until Thursday so they're out for the day while I get more supplies and a new mop (the old one died and no more "automatic" replacements heads for the self-wringing mop are available).

A plus for today is we set up a Zenni account for my friend and got her measurements and prescription entered with a pair of glasses she likes. She's comparing one place today in town then will decide to get those or order online. A pair of high-end progressive lenses in a light titanium frame for $175 - the in-person place would have to work really hard to beat that! (By the way, did you know that on your glasses Rx the OD is "Oculus dexter" for the right eye and "Oculus sinister" for the left? I get the left/sinister part. Dexter is apparently latin for "right." And here I thought it was just a good name for a dog.) :-/

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 13 May 24 - 11:15 AM

Oh no, a skunk invasion and undone floor cleaning! Yikes what a day. Hope your guest has a great sense of humor.

I ventured out to drive by a couple of homes for sale yesterday. I was prepared for them to be weird. The first one was actually shockingly serene with great views, though burdened by a second dwelling that 'needs a lot of work'. But, a mile on gravel roads in and out every time you leave the house? Maybe if I already had a jeep, but not when my daily driver is a motorhome. Wish I had grown up in the country, it might seem more do-able.

The second one also had an enviable set of views and ready access to the Florida Mtns, the Tres Hermanas Mtns, and Mexico. I walked the fence line, discovering the property has a big concrete billboard advertising a hot springs 50 miles north of there; I'm guessing it's 70 years old. The reverse advertises a pet B&B with an arrow pointing to the property. Which has a series of dog pictures woven into the gate. Along with a hidden statue of a dog on a post. So, is the weird gutted nature of the house because it was used as a kennel, for heaven's sake??? Did the people who put in the nice Spanish door give up their renovation because the floors permanently stink?

But wait, there's more. HUGE piles of poo on the driveway and in a little grove of trampled tall reeds, almost like a standing nest. For wild burros? Roaming horses? There are barbed wire fences everywhere but this stuff is inside the house's fences. So if I moved in and spent months trying to get it livable, would I also be dealing with irate burros determined to keep their home in my yard? Have you ever heard these things hee-haw at your window at night? Talk about nightmares!

Just when you think the househunt has showed you every kind of weirdness imaginable, it gets weirder!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 May 24 - 09:31 AM

let us all sing 'when will they ever learn' to Cookie!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 24 - 01:25 AM

You know all of that time and work I spent mopping and scrubbing the floor in the den today? Cookie undid it in a matter of seconds Sunday night by getting skunked then running into the house to try to roll or rub it off. On rugs and dog beds and drooled everywhere (it sprayed her right in the mouth.)

God damned dog.

The skunk is still in the garage. I left the door a few inches after moving the SUV out. I blocked the dog door into the back end of the garage (after Cookie pushed through the defective dog door cover I put in place and got herself trapped in there again with the skunk.) I have a hose with hard spraying nozzle that I'll deploy tomorrow if need be. I had to do this once before, in about 2006, when Cinnamon and Poppy cornered a skunk in the garage.

I have a house guest who may want to leave first thing in the morning.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 24 - 06:40 PM

Ah, yes! Squeegee thing = Silicon broom. It got a workout today. No text warning yet but we're at the "any time now" arrival of my friend. The guest room is ready, the hall bathroom is clean with an extra glass for dentures, etc. A batch of bread pudding is cooling (for dessert or a decadent breakfast) and rolls are rising. This is the carbs for guests menu. If she is true to form, there will be a restaurant to-go container with part of her dinner to stash in the fridge.

Much of the afternoon has been pouring rain and my new weather radar radio did a loud squawk, announced possible small creek flooding, then turned off. Exactly what I wanted. Looking out front at the green wet yard with a burst of orange daylilies inches from the office window. Since I've been mopping the heat pump is cooling low (for me - 72!) to pull moisture off the floors before I adjust it up again. The hall outside the office is clearer with a bench moved and boxes flattened. Having guests helps you see the house through others' eyes. I see a house the needs a lot of work, but it will do for now.

The dogs tell me it is dinner time but they are 22 minutes early and their bowls are in the running dishwasher.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 12 May 24 - 06:07 PM

The entire afternoon has been given over to cleaning upstairs — the music room and my bedroom. The bedroom needed the whole route march, bed yanked across the floor, rug tossed out, and bales of cat hair rounded up with the silicone broom before I could damp-mop the hardwood floor and dust the baseboards. I probably missed a spiderweb on the ceiling, but I’m done for the day. Plus, my back hurts.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 12 May 24 - 03:07 PM

I have had more than my life’s share of sorting and purging papers, starting with my mother’s, then my Dad’s, and finally my husband’s. All three of them were terrible packrats, hanging onto letters and photographs, legal documents dating back to the dawn of time, and every manner of brochure, pamphlet, guidebook, catalogue — if it was ephemeral, they stashed it lovingly.

Me, not so much.

After Edmund died, I had to empty his office and dispose appropriately of his client files and work notes. It was the depth of winter and the shank of the pandemic, before the first vaccines, so I was stuck in the house anyway. I eventually burned, shredded, or scrapped (depending on sensitivity) the entire contents of four full filing cabinets. I don’t miss any of it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 May 24 - 11:03 AM

keb, I sympathize, it is so time consuming to fish through paper stuff and get it purged. Sometimes it's straightforward shredding, sometimes it's a long trip down memory lane, it's tough. I'm still glad I was never a 'just throw every thing away, immediately' person. There are treasures to me in some of these boxes of stuff.

As we age, a lot of these 'keepers' need to be ditched or passed on. Photographing and scanning helps me to keep the image or the words and lose the poundage.

Thanks both of you for the info on Bandelier area. Those are good papers and they are bookmarked for next trip up that way.   I'm not really looking to collect rocks in general. I'm more targeting microcrystals which usually grow in vugs in rocks, usually in old mines or tailings piles.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 24 - 10:49 AM

The morning is heavily overcast. Mother's Day is a sodden one for any folks with plans to brunch on restaurant patios. I need to do more garden work but not till after lunch; I put off some of the cleaning until this morning and am going so far as to move furniture before using that squeegee thing for pet hair on tile floors then mopping as I prepare for my houseguest who arrives after dinner with her grandkids.

The amount of hair and dirt has diminished remarkably since March when the old Labrador retriever passed and I'm still realizing (and remarking on) how much of the mud and dirt and HAIR was his alone.

Other chores for today - boxes need to be flattened in the sunroom hall and a bench I'm going to put back where I first kept it (beside the door for changing shoes or setting packages upon entering). And I need to decide about the glider swing that is indoors now but should probably go out on a covered porch. The little dog has adopted it as her own and I'm sure she'll follow and use it wherever it ends up.

Cooking. I'll make some muffins or bread as a welcome, and plan to not eat many of them as I continue the low-carb diet. My yeast dinner rolls with a slice of fried sausage are awfully hard to resist, but would be a great quick breakfast.

Mother's Day is another greeting card holiday but we use it for the excuse to call or go out for a meal (in close proximity to the actual Sunday if not on the day). Have a good one, all of you who celebrate it! (The gardening I put off is to pick up a few bedding plants - there might be a Mom Day sale at the neighborhood nursery so I'll go over when I finish the floors.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 May 24 - 12:45 PM

Patty, I haven't nailed it down precisely, but there is a large roadcut on NM Highway 4 between Jemez and Bandolier, in the Valles Caldera area, right before a picnic area, where I stop to pick up chunks of obsidian when I'm on my way through. It's on public land, at one time it was National Forest but since then I think the land was added to the Valles Caldera National Preserve. I found a 2021 article about the general distribution of obsidian in the Jemez area. Rhyolite and obsidian are the focus of this map and article. Here's an NPS report about the Valles Grandes history that might be a long evening of reading. When I drove through in the past it was still the Santa Fe National Forest, now it's the new NPS site. Still, picking up rocks on the highway would probably go unnoticed. This account from a blogger who went collecting in the caldera (from 2012). NPS rules - look, don't keep. But they aren't searching cars or people, is my guess. It's not like Petrified Forest where they do sometimes search vehicles. Anyway, as large as the Jemez obsidian range is, you should be able to find USFS or other land where you can pick up some. This document from the American Geophysical Union website says

Obsidian is pretty common in the Jemez Mountains, particularly in the Banco Bonito rhyolite. Once you leave the Valles Caldera (a National Preserve), you’re in the Santa Fe National Forest; casual rock collecting is allowed, as long as you’re not carting off massive amounts of material (no more than a bucket per day). The best place to find bits you can legally collect is in the East Fork of the Jemez River, which you can get to using the Las Conchas trail.

(I should also say "stop me if you've heard this before" - I know we've talked about rocks and places to pick them up.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 May 24 - 09:48 AM

pattyClink, I lived in New Mexico for over ten years.
I visited the Bandelier National Monument a few times.
It is near Los Alamos, if you ever passed that way.

Right now my apartment is basically a very expensive form of storage.
I am going slowly with the decluttering.
I even signed a new lease with an increase in rent,
just so I would not have to rush to get the decluttering done.

A lot of stuff in the apartment has to go,
I probably can't keep it where I will end up next.
So I am looking at ways to donate it instead.
Then there are all the papers headed for the trash.
That one takes time as the papers have to be sorted first.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 10 May 24 - 09:35 PM

I'm on flat land but at 4000' elevation, in the Basin and Range where the mountains are discrete units you can avoid unless you want to go explore them. But, one does not get here without going through a few remnants of the Rockies. I do plan carefully to avoid twisty roads with too-high grades, such as the road through Cloudcroft. The nearby one that goes through Ruidoso is a much better bet. I don't recall the Bandelier one, but Flaming Gorge is one route I'll not take willingly again.

My vehicle can quickly be switched to manual gearing, 6 of them, so it's a little more work to go through mountains but works fine. As far as braking, I studied up on that. One starts a downgrade at 45 mph no matter how angry those behind get, then stay in the right gear for your speed, and 'surge brake'; firmly but briefly brake now and then to keep your speed down, then coast a while, then surge brake again. Never just ride the brakes. When people have to do that they are either hauling too much weight for their engine, transmission and brakes, or they started the grade at or over the speed limit, and then quickly get out of control.

Honestly, I love driving the open road, though not crazy about mountain driving. To me, nightmare driving is anywhere that I am in city or construction gridlock or have to sit through the same light 4 times in a row. I just want to crawl through the windshield and get out of there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 24 - 05:54 PM

After about 90 minutes of weeding and trimming there is a lot of stuff lying on the turf to wilt down overnight before I mow tomorrow. I rolled the three stump pieces closer to the curb and will take them off of the pages where I offered them. Starting this evening anyone driving by who wants them may take them (or they'll go in the trash on Monday).

A couple of prescriptions are ready this afternoon but I'll get them tomorrow morning. My pharmacy is in an Albertson's, and depending on the neighborhood the stores have different offerings. This is a small store an a well-heeled neighborhood and they usually have a good selection of high end steaks in the 50% off bin, but not this late in the day. I load up then use the FoodSaver to seal and freeze them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 24 - 02:20 PM

Patty, are you at a higher elevation in New Mexico for the summer? I've challenged my truck and SUV brakes on several occasions in that state - such as driving down from Bandolier, where there is one pass that smells like burned rubber near the bottom if you're following folks who are riding their brakes. (Years ago I worked in the Great Smoky Mountains where we talked to people about how to drive over the pass from Sugarlands to Clingman's Dome and down into North Carolina, suggesting they downshift the automatic to LOW to avoid some of that). I would not want to make any of those drives without separate brakes on the trailer! Like Charmion says, that is a thing of nightmares.

Last night I practiced another of the techniques I've been exploring for "crumb quilting," and have concluded that while some folks say "don't trim the crumbs, use them as they are," the offcuts from mask making have a couple of unusual angles that don't lend themselves well to piecing. I'll set up the rotary cutter and ruler and straighten some of these and see if I can't get a broader mix of colors in my test samples.

I thought I'd get smart and see if the public library has any DVDs of some of the PBS programs (Best of Sewing with Nancy, Love of Quilting by Fons and Porter), etc. that I want to use for techniques and ideas, but mostly they have print books. (Go figure!) One has an e-magazine that I could check out on the tablet to use in the sewing room. When I narrow the search to electronic results it shows murder mysteries with sewing and quilting in the title. There are quite a few! I'm trying to get out of the magazines on paper routine, there is too much paper around here already.

The time has come to start researching Internet providers. The two-year discount I'd forgotten I set up with Spectrum is running out in June and the bill will jump. Considering the improvement in speed and the advent of fiber optic in the neighborhood (and they say they won't raise the price) I may have to reconsider AT&T. Ugg.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 24 - 11:01 AM

The new weather radio arrived overnight. It came with a several page booklet of instructions so I'll familiarize myself with the basics then adjust to add extra counties to the southwest if it seems necessary. NOAA takes into account direction of travel and usually mentions the adjacent county weather activity.

The yard. Where to start. Throwing pulled weeds from the garden beds onto the turf means they can be mulched in when I mow. Free woody mulch from the city helps keep the weeds down once the beds are cleared. I use contractor heavy-mil bags that are robust enough to handle the dense mulch (and be refilled several times). I overfill them making them hard to move. Do I have the discipline to not do that so they are more movable, or should I look for smaller heavy duty bags to prevent myself from overfilling the bigger bags? It doesn't hurt if I end up with more bags. (At the mulch bunker I fill each bag part way before loading them onto a tarp in the SUV, then I use a 15-gallon tub to carry more to top off each bag.) It was easier when I had a truck. I did bring home several smaller bags of gravel last week and could reuse those.

Meanwhile, there are metal"eyelet" type things in the heavy duty composite head piece that the trimmer strings feed through on the gas trimmer. They keep popping out of place. Before I order a new head piece for the stringer line I'll use some Gorilla glue and see if that will keep the eyelets where they belong for a while longer.

All of this, of course, because I should really be indoors dusting, mopping, and more for a house guest arriving on Sunday.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 10 May 24 - 10:37 AM

Hope the allergies calm down soon for you, SRS. I know that feeling where your sinuses are just so inflamed you have to use naprosyn or something just to get them to calm down, never mind the other symptoms.

Made it to destination after a bit of gear-grinding over a few mountain ranges. Glad that was on the back end after getting used to towing the caboose. Enjoying standing still now, but lots of washing and cleaning awaits.

And, how lovely to have cool pleasant evenings to walk or sit outside; in winters it's nippy here after dark, and back in the South it's still humid and buggy all night. I'm in a fool's paradise til the summer sun starts blazing, but meanwhile it's looking good!