DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 24 - 11:25 PM

You're doing better than I am, though I have made progress at increasing the protein in my diet, with fewer carbs, and staying at my daily limits. I need to get more exercise.

Patty, are you far away from the fire danger? Your field trip to Colorado may let you cool off, but take the long way around if you have to on your way back home. How is your prospective property as far as fire services? A local fire department, or volunteer one? Stay safe out there!

Listing small items on eBay this evening. About to call it quits to go read.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 19 Jun 24 - 11:21 AM

Good morning from Isleta Pueblo near Albuquerque. There was a small fire burning west of town last night but no danger here. People very concerned about Ruidoso, so many people love the area or know people there.   

But our travels were far away, only affected by a bit of smoke haze traveling on the winds as we got near ABQ.   Hope a rain front comes through the state very soon.

Splendid time to be in Colorado, 70 degree days, 50 degree nights. We made 3 trips up from South Fork through Creede and to the Last Chance Mine. You start out following the Rio Grande where it is a clear tumbling trout stream, then climb into the mountains, fresh evergreen scented air, lupines blooming, very blessed to get to do that.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 24 - 08:28 PM

Patty, I did a quick look at that mine. Silver - means there can be any number of other interesting related minerals around. Is there an old tailings area that people are allowed to dig through? I've hiked up to mines in the Cascade Mountains and found small samples that were discarded in the mine operation. I've made any number of hikes up Vesper Peak in Washington, twice to climb the peak (it's a lovely climb and at the front of the range to have a great view of not only other mountains but of the Puget Sound area and across to the Olympics). On the route up I always was picking up crystals and minerals (you can't leave them along the way to find on the way down - that never works). I've also made the trip in order to hike around the modern copper mine tailings and higher up to an old garnet mine. (The copper mine is a shaft; the garnet mine was a surface operation, as far as I could tell.)

Charmion, does summer aggravate your allergies or asthma? The smoke from fires last year, for example? Pollen, dust, and heat itself (with associated lower humidity)?

Today I used up fridge stuff for another batch of my yellow squash casserole (without pasta). Onion, bell pepper, garlic, oregano, and olive oil are the base. I used two types of sausage (Italian and a local pork sausage with lots of black pepper), along with a batch of diced portobello mushrooms. Tomato paste thinned to sauce consistency, and some red wine (a few spoons of it scooped out of a jar in the freezer). Came out great and will be meals for the next few days. I also thawed a chunk of baguette to make a half-size bread pudding. The amount of bread and sugar is small compared to milk, eggs, butter, and dates, so not as bad as many other desserts. In my evening reading I'm learning more about the science of fat and oil (and polyunsaturated vs saturated) in diet, and my next book will be Grain Brain by Perlmutter and Loberg. And looking into the science of cholesterol-lowering statins.

More eBay stuff listed as I push to clear the front room and plan to move in furniture from my sewing studio. This will be a full summer of work, but worth the trouble. Selling these things on eBay supports paying off the heat pump loan faster since I expect the larger heat pump to die one of these days. Our weather now is warm, but it's weather we're used to (if the big heat pump goes out I may sleep on a cot in my office until replacement). The New England states that are getting our typical June temperatures seem to be suffering; later in the summer our temperatures will be 15 to 20 degrees higher and really miserable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 20 Jun 24 - 12:03 PM

Well that casserole sounds great. I've been eating either 'road food' or 'feast food' lately, neither too good for me. We hit two of the better restaurants near Creede, well worth it as a special event but no good as a regular thing.

The mine has several things going on; most people come for mine tours, but there's rock and mineral sales tables, a jewelry and gift shop, and access to tailings. As a club we were given access to the 'better' half of the tailings, 1/2 mile down a switchback road, which contained a lot of 'sowbelly agate' and pale amethyst. I might have done better in the other half looking for micros; just got some cuprite and silver-bearing galena, and who knows what I'll find in vugs when I do some splitting. Paid no entry fee, just $2 a pound for my bucket of keepers which came in at $20.   

Honestly, I prefer hounding alone and perusing old abandoned tailings piles on my own, but a lot of times club field trips and these fee operations are the best or only way to get access.

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

I'll note that in view of the reading I've been doing, I seem to be tilting toward the Keto diet myself, I just wasn't aware of it until I started revisiting the whole cholesterol/statins area of thought. Dr. Amen states that one side effect of statins is lowering of certain enzymes that affect mood via digesting fats. When I look up one of those in particular I see that supplementing with it when you're on statins can cause side effects of its own. Better, I think, to remove the statin than to add more stuff (all of those ads you see about taking CoQ10 if you're on statins - that's another one of them.)

The thing about the use of statins is that it's the answer to a popular idea that blood cholesterol has an effect on heart disease. It isn't backed by science; every time a study comes up that shows no connection between the two the powers that be suppress it. On page 53 in the Taubes book I'm reading now he shifts from examining the fraught science studies to show a link of fats to heart disease. For years one powerful and well-positioned researcher (Ancel Keys) had held fast to his hypothesis that saturated fat caused heart disease, but the studies weren't conclusive. He only accepted results from studies that seemed to confirm his bias. "Believing that your hypothesis must be correct before all the evidence is gathered encourages you to interpret the evidence selectively.^[24]"

After science failed to support the link, popular culture stepped in. In the 1960s counterculture ideas about humans eating less meat in order to feed the planet, and books like Erlich's The Population Bomb are where the "anti-fat, anti-meat movement evolved independent of the science.^[42]" And that is when George McGovern got involved. "It's possible to point to a single day when the controversy was shifted irrevocably in favor of Keys's hypothesis—Friday, January 14, 1977, when Senator George McGovern announced the publication of the first Dietary Goals for the United States. The document was "the first comprehensive statement by any branch of the Federal Government on risk factors in the American diet," said McGovern.^[44]" From there you look at who wrote and edited it, it wasn't the product from one of the medical research institutes, it was people still pushing Keys' hypothesis. "Once politics, the public, and the press had decided on the benefits of low-fat diets, science was left to catch up.^[53]"

I'll conclude this little book report with this: ("Most drugs have multiple actions," notes the University of Washington biostatistician Richard Kronmal. Saying that statins reduce heart-disease risk by lowering cholesterol, he adds, is like "saying that aspirin reduces heart-disease risk by reducing headaches.^[77]")

This comes from three different books I'm reading now. And I'm reminded of the few acquaintances who seemed displeased that I started statins (after resisting for years). I had the thought "it can't hurt," but over a couple of years on them, I'm realizing that they can hurt. I won't describe my symptoms here, but I've noticed changes, particularly in the last year, that have bothered me. The sleep study results may also tie into this. I've finally made the connection. While I'm forever on Levothyroxine and watching my sodium, I'm off the statins.

Resuming regular commentary: now it's out to lunch with my daughter, where I have several bins of stuff to hand over that she can use in her costume design work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 24 - 06:25 PM

Patty, that was a disciplined collection day if you got out with only 10 pounds of rocks!

I don't want to scare anyone with my remarks above - I don't have heart disease so the treatment of cholesterol is simply because of the amount measured during blood tests, not because there is anything else going on. And I'm continuing to read (newer studies in particular); if my doctor protests my stopping there are other products we can look at, but she's going to have to have a good reason for trying another.

At lunch I handed over a bag of fabric and storage containers to my daughter and bagged the rest that we don't want that can stay in the SUV until my appointment to donate. And between now and then if I find anything else suitable it will join the fabric. After lunch I scanned at the museum, but I didn't make it to the gym after that because I forgot my bag of fitness clothes and shoes. It's around here somewhere.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 11:49 AM

Revising the plan for craft items intended for donation: I found another box of my friend's items to go in that stash, but I am of a mind to go retrieve several gunnysacks full of mulch, so all of the boxes will be stacked neatly to the side for now.

Made it through the week until Friday with only mis-identifying the day of the week (out loud) once; for some reason yesterday felt like Monday. Maybe it was the holiday on Wednesday that threw me off.

I spent a few minutes near dusk yesterday to finish harvesting the potatoes, and now need to use the tiller to rework that bed for more crops for the summer.

More research into statins shows that while the onset of symptoms can start right away or be gradual (I'd estimate after a year they really became troublesome), the resolution once it clears your system averages about three weeks. I'm saving links and PDF copies of the articles I find helpful for future discussions with my doctor. I'm only using articles that cite their sources. Diet-wise I'm still reading, figuring out the foods most beneficial to the intersection of things going on personally. Taubes' book on Keto is on order. Since his books tend to be discourse on his reviews of the literature I hope to find more recent source material.

And on a completely different note, after last month's skunk event both dogs got a bath after which they had softer and better smelling coats, and I'm thinking the one or two a year they usually get are less frequent than I like. We're six weeks out from that last bath and at least Cookie could stand one again. I do it myself, they don't go to any groomers (I'd have to pay a premium for them to struggle with Cookie!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 06:15 PM

Another unnerving email scam arrived today, this time asserting that my subscription to FedEx, Kinko's and Geek Squad services had been renewed to the tune of $349.95. Need I mention that I never had any such subscription, and indeed have never done business with any of those companies? I don't think Kinko's even operates in Canada.

The heat wave continues. I have acquired a dress of the type we used to call a "shift", made of some Space Age material that does not wrinkle, stick to me, or otherwise show evidence that I'm sweating inside it. It's the closest I'll get to comfort until the weather breaks. Oddly, we've had several spectacular thunderstorms this week that had absolutely no effect on the heat. Back in Ottawa, a frog-strangling thunderstorm usually breaks a heat wave.

Down to London and back yesterday for Great-Nephew No 3's graduation from Fanshawe College with a diploma in police foundations and investigative technique. The city's largest arena was jammed to the rafters and I found the last possible street parking spot within the city limits only half a block from the door. Between Western University and Fanshawe, convocations alone must account for a goodly proportion of London parking lot operators' annual profit. It was a cheerfully uninhibited occasion, with graduates' families and friends cheering loudly as they crossed the stage. After shaking the President's hand, each graduate was met by a capped-and-gowned official who delivered a hearty hug.

Not at all like my graduation more than 40 years ago, where I knelt before the Governor of Queen's University, who swatted me on the head with her mortarboard and pronounced me a Bachelor of Arts while a minion slung an academic hood around my neck. I don't remember any of my classmates jiving across the stage or blowing kisses while the crowd went wild. Things are better now.

The guest room closet is now full of clothes culled from the box-room, where I keep out-of-season garments and stuff I haven't yet brought myself to part with. I will pack them up and take them to Goodwill later in the summer .... Hmmm. Why wait? "Don't wait for fall, do it now!" I can also part with the hangers they're on. What fun!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 24 - 08:52 PM

Charmion, most of the scam email hits the spam filter and never makes it to my inbox, but lots of calls come in daily, and I've taken up a new trick for the phone scammers. I don't answer most calls, but if I do and it's some asshole who wants to buy my house, I announce that I hope they will vote blue to elect Biden this year (and listen to THEM hang up!) Quite satisfying!

I got into the yard today and harvested most of the acorn squash and this afternoon I pruned the lower branches off of the redbud tree that I planted in the front yard a few years ago. (Three?) Now it has a more "leggy" look - you can see the lower trunk, it isn't just a mass of branches from the ground up. It looks like a small tree.

Last week a new pair of readers arrived from Zenni and after a few days of testing I like them, so I ordered another pair (a bit different so I can tell them apart) to use when I go work at the museum or other screen things around the house. The first pair lives next to the computer.

I turned on the news this afternoon to see if the Supreme Court had sent any more decisions, but no. Wednesday is the next opportunity for news of their decision regarding Trump's immunity (poppycock!). It's time to turn off the news and stop giving that felon free rent in my brain. I'll sew for a while and start the next audiobook in the Louise Penny series. Three Pines, here I come.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 12:20 PM

At 11am it is already 92^o so I'm finished for now, but I took a couple of large boxes, flattened them out on the ground under a large tree in the front yard and poured two of my burlap bags of mulch over the top. I've moved some of my potted plants onto that spot and watered, and I'll move more this evening. Pretty much anything that survives this summer will have to have some kind of shade. And with those pots under the tree, the tree will get water when the pots do.

A while back my daughter brought down an odd collapsible laundry hamper that didn't work the way she hoped and suggested I put it on my free sites. I listed it yesterday and someone grabbed it a couple of hours later. I did suggest it might be good for a dorm room or RV, so it can be flattened to about the size of a textbook when not in use. In my experience the laundry hamper always has something in it and when it gets full or I run out of underwear I do laundry. Maybe the taker has something else in mind to store in it.

Charmion, were you able to get that third rug back? Will it go in the bedroom with the smaller bed and new mattress?

Shopping yesterday at Costco brought a case of sticker shock; it was a trip with my ex and for things like packages of frozen fish and a large leg of lamb, all pricey, and cases of sparkling water. My ex doesn't buy canned water himself himself, I don't know if my daughter does, but both were here last week and each went looking for a cold can and I was out. The lamb will be cut apart, remove the biggest chunks of fat and package the lean meat in ~8oz portions to freeze. When cooked it's down to about 6oz, a good portion size.   

One of the free sites had someone looking for scraps of floor tile, and he thought he'd be in town this week and could pick it up. I'll go pull that out of the garage and have it ready. I've tried offering it on the free sites before and there were no takers, so I'll jump on this one and try to unload all of it. Everything else I work on today will be indoors, it's just too hot for now.

I just read about a haboob (dust storm) traversing New Mexico. If it isn't one thing, it's another. Stay safe and dust-free, Patty!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 24 - 10:06 PM

I have a taker tomorrow afternoon for a bunch of scrap porcelain floor tile, and while unloading the stack from the back corner of the garage I found 3 more boxes nearby (unopened) that I need to decide what to do with. I could put them down in my closet, or the laundry room, if I have enough. If I decide not to, I can contact this person later and offer them the rest. (This taker is someone who does artisan tile work with broken bits.) Meanwhile, one shelf in the corner of the garage is now clear.

My list of things to do indoors during the heat is growing. There are two faucets in bathrooms that need replacing (between three sinks). I need to re-do the kitchen sink faucet. There is a roller on my garage door that is wobbling and needs replacing; I have spare rollers, but figuring out the exact right spot to stop the door so I can make the exchange is a challenge (one to take to YouTube first). I replaced one a couple of years ago and don't remember how I did it. I think it has to break off before I can replace it.

While working on eBay stuff this evening (after another listing sold today) I realized I could set my laptop on the library table in the den (it has been on a bakers rack in the kitchen forever). A couple of months ago I bought an antique chair ($5) at a garage sale that now sits at that table in the den, and it is just about perfect. I can work there on various projects and watch the large TV (where the Hulu account that my son shares with me is installed). I've researched the next set of vintage glassware to sell while catching up on early episodes of Elementary, I've never seen the entire program and now I'm following along early episodes (reviewing those I have seen) before getting to those episodes new to me. It's one of the best written and most clever programs produced in the last 15 or so years. I don't remember why I didn't see the last two years of it, except it was probably because I missed episodes and like to see them in order.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 10:26 AM

I stooped the wrong way yesterday and strained my back. I now require the attention of Physio Guy.

But — my health insurance was recently switched to a new carrier, and I’m fairly sure that it won’t cover treatment for this very old injury without a prescription from the doctor, which will require an appointment, which could take weeks.

Not a happy bunny today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jun 24 - 01:00 PM

It may be an old injury but it is bothering you today. The logic of the insurance folks is non-existent, isn't it? They always say "no" first.

This morning I gathered up tile fragments that had been dropped over the back fence. I don't remember why, but it didn't disappear into the landscape so since someone is coming to get tile scraps I dug out of shelves in the garage they might as well have what amounts to about two more shoeboxes (volume) of this; it's all from the same tile work in the house.

The last of the French cobalt tumblers left the front porch this morning, now is the time to turn to vintage Libbey Duratuff Gibraltar in various lovely colors. I am glad to see robust sales of it on eBay. Years ago I was planning to sell things on eBay as a regular side business, but got sidetracked. I'll have to decide, as I sell all of this stuff now, if it is worthwhile to resume shopping for items at thrift stores and estate sales. For now though, no.

I'm considering keeping a Scandinavian tine bent wood box that came from my Mom's house. I didn't know what it was until I started researching it; the box may have been a housewarming gift when she moved to Ballard (a Norwegian neighborhood of Seattle) after she retired. With all of the stuff around here, there aren't that many Norwegian artifacts from my childhood. This could be a memento with a story (I'll have to ask my sister.)

More heat wave today, so the work continues indoors. I did the tile retrieval this morning when it was still cool.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 24 - 10:51 AM

Small stack (~40 pounds) of tile is gone, and I'm considering what to move off of the floor onto that garage shelf.

This morning I was out at 8am to mow the front and be finished by 9. The trick is to mow when it's still cool but not disturb your neighbors too early. Next time I might start at 7, though, since I know at least one of the neighbors is up at dawn. It was already 87 when I quit. (I put my fitness tracker in a band around my ankle and registered about half of my daily step goal while mowing.)

Before mowing I took my sturdy step ladder to the garage, disconnected the electric garage door motor, lifted it about 24" and propped the wheelbarrow under the bottom edge (so it wouldn't roll back down and pinch fingers!) From there I could pop out the all-but-demolished door roller, slide in the new one, place it onto the edge of the track, then remove the wheelbarrow and slowly lower until the new one popped completely into the track. Reattach motor and it's good to go. Whew!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jun 24 - 08:25 PM

I'm definitely feeling better after an acupuncture treatment at the physio clinic. Still stiff and sore, and I definitely don't enjoy bending over to clear the cats' litter box, but better. And the new insurance carrier doesn't want a prescription form. Alas, the annual cap on physiotherapy is still $500, and each treatment is $70.

The garden crew came today and did their usual bang-up job, leaving the property looking loved and cared for. I now have the beginning of a yew hedge across the back of the patio; now all I have to do (famous last words) is water it every day for the rest of the summer. Most parts of the yew tree are poisonous, which is probably why they grow so well in Stratford despite rabbit depredations. At least I hope the rabbits know that yew is poisonous, because the fluffy little fuckers have nibbled to death everything else I've ever planted in that stretch of dirt, and I'm don't want to become a serial murderer of bunny-kind. The neighbours don't like them any more than I do, but I don't think they want to start finding little corpses in their gardens.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Jun 24 - 09:45 PM

Dupont:

Trip to Bancroft was good: The hydro was still off when we arrived so we - very tired! - used candles and soon to bed! The trip had entailed another visit re hearing aides during which the Audiologist talked and talked and the office woman found an online instruction manual, printed it out for us and gave us clues about how she could help - Face time even! Ms Blither was not very useful but gave us a small something or other that will help turn sound up or down as required. We'll see!

Late back on the road, I drove madly to the little cheese factory to pick up the pre-ordered peanut butter cookies; It closes at 5 and at a couple minutes before five, he phoned and begged, "We're just getting off the 401..." We were there at 5:03 and the gracious woman gave him the precious cookies! The next cheese factory closes at 6 and although I drove - scared the daylights out of R - we were there at 6 and they were closed up tight! ---We went there on Monday and got our cheese and the nice women told us we could call next time!

So much for wild rides! We slowed down and got a bite to eat Quickly! and I messaged a friend, "We can be there at 7:15" that was deemed ok for a short visit --- not so short! When R saw the gorgeous canoe! and we had our tea on the new back deck that juts out into the forest in a lovely curve. We all sat and watched the birds and enjoyed the bug free!!! evening with scintillating conversation! About an hour of delight and then went on so our friend could get to the open mike at a nearby Legion.

Arrived at Beaver just before dark, found the candles and looked at the freezer ---TOMORROW! But tomorrow we did town stuff - farmer's market, visit with our friends to see their welding - very fine! Then to the Carriage House to see Pat and talk and receive some cash for sold pots - not much but that's ok. Then to Lake St. Peter for the community event - an evening of conversation and music AND I had brought a few things for the "Take what you want" tables - gone! And we went home to Electricity!! and BED!

We had left the freezer plugged in so clearing it was not as bad as Mush! Took everything out on the porch and emptied spoiled stuff into a bucket which R took out to the swamp and dumped it. The bread is deemed OK. I got it into the frig, which had been mostly empty and R cleaned out the freezer and left it open until I go back again and need to use it.

On Monday, we hit the cheese factory and then stopped for tea with a woman who lived ten years on the same property where I spent ten years- my fantasy home! "Someday I'm going to live at the end of a road with no Hydro"! I did and then Lisa did - when she sold it she had enough money to get her Master's degree in Art! A welder and photographer.

I plan to go back next week; will have a months supply of meds. The trip showed that I CAN drive it myself! And no more med visits until end of August!!!

NOW my ears hurt from the aides so I am taking a break! I would like to get my money back and be rid of the blither. And, hopefully get some in Montreal. I had no idea it was going to be important to be closer, and think it would not be so difficult if that woman listened, and let us have answers we understand!

Today I spent a length of time trying to find more info on the company - reviews of how other people felt. I wanted something like Consumer Reports does but found nothing at all.

Surviving the hot spells with lots of opening and closing of windows and use of a fan. And the attic trapdoor open enough to let hot air rise out the "chimney" in the roof.

And the antihistamine has alleviating my coughing incredibly!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 24 - 10:49 AM

Dorothy! What a gush of news! It sounds like all cylinders are firing in your world! I don't envy you cleaning those freezers, but those cheese and cookie shops - oh, my! And the visit on that new deck sounds devine.

I subscribe to Consumer Reports, and while they don't release their comparison guides as neatly as they used to in the print form, I pulled up my account and it says they have hearing aid brands and retailers. I just found an article about over the counter (but they also talk about prescription) hearing aids and I think there will be a couple of buying guides. At any rate, I can save these as PDF files and get them to you.

The recently adopted process of getting off of the computer earlier has several benefits. I'm reading more long form material (books, articles, journals) instead of skimming things on a screen and it feels like it is resetting my brain. What I'm reading is a mix of things, but the nutrition information is top importance and very helpful. I've also shared some of it to my son who has a problem with migraines and an answer is suggested in my reading (get off of wheat - he was my kid who ate exclusively flour products for the first five years of his life.)

Last night I had the TV on across the room, I wasn't sitting and watching it, I was 20 feet away treating it like a radio with occasional photos - and I photographed three sets of stuff for eBay listings. I'll process the photos during the day and get them listed before I am off of the screens again.

Yesterday I mixed up a batch of brine and assembled three jars of cucumber spears for fresh pickles. I'll do one more jar at least today. They're not the best cucumbers, but they're fresh and will taste good in a few weeks.

Since we're into heat index weather I worked on reinforcing a wonky Goodwill little Igloo cooler (the lid latch broke off) so it will sit on my porch with ice and bottles of water for the mail carrier and Amazon and UPS folks. The last cooler was a small barrel shaped one with a wide screw on lid and harder to open and stuff with a couple of bottles and ice. I taped on my same cobbled-together graphic of a water bottle with the message that it's for the delivery folks and thanks for working in the heat. I think this is my fourth summer of a cooler on the porch.

And right now since there is a cleared-off shelf is available in the garage I'll do a little organizing before it gets too hot.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 27 Jun 24 - 11:35 AM

Charmion, my guess is that rabbits know not to touch yew trees.

Around here the garden predators are deer as much as rabbits;
between the two of them they eat vegetable gardens right up.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 24 - 04:43 PM

People should eat more rabbit and venison.

Going through cupboards and reducing the number of wheat products is revealing to me that I still have quite a few rice things here, though white and refined rice products are not so great for you either. Sugar is the other ingredient to reduce, and it is present in many forms as well. The emptied storage jars will now be used for interesting non-wheat types of flour as I work out a few basic recipes for bread and flatbread, to start with.

We're under a heat advisory (heat index of 112 today) so my time outside is brief, but it is possible to make progress in a few minutes if one pays attention and does just the thing you headed out to do. I have some galvanized fence posts propped up in the garage and took a few minutes to remove the attached braces that supported fence crossmembers. (Side chore: I swept up some mouse droppings from around the posts and they went out with the trash.) There's a vintage band saw in there that I've never used and I'll offer on one of the buy nothing sites (I don't know if it works - so giving it away confers no obligation to test it first - it cost me $25 at a garage sale about 20 years ago). The tiles gone, the fence posts streamlined, and that saw out of there makes a lot more room in that corner of the garage. I'll have to "walk" (wiggle and pick up one side, then the other) that saw and it's stand to get it out.

But surprise! I got ready to list the saw and looked for an operator manual online to print to include - it turns out this one was recalled in ~ 2008. So my offer now is for the non-working saw and the table and the parts with it, if someone can replace the part that isn't safe. Let's see if that walks out easily on its own.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jun 24 - 08:29 PM

Today I bought a new bathing suit. It’s size 12, and loose on the bottom end while barely adequate at the top end. I think this will be my last one-piece. The “tankini” type looks less likely to present this problem.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 10:19 AM

Tankini is the choice I last made and is one I'll stick with.

I've moved things around in the garage and done some modest sweeping (in order to not stir up dust from mouse droppings). There are two offers up right now, and I may taken them both down again. I put up bags of pasta and frozen tortillas on the private FB group, thinking at the end of the month there might be a mom needing to stretch the budget. If someone does claim it I may add a jar of pasta sauce to make a meal. The bandsaw is problematic - whoever sold it to me may have known it was recalled, or maybe didn't. They could have gotten more for it by sending a part back to Ryobi for the recall offer (at the time.) I could take the saw mechanism off and put the table at the curb and see if it goes away that way. I suspect it can be repurposed in a workshop. The recall is the problem (they didn't just fix it, Ryobi wanted all of them back and destroyed.) I'll give the online offers until this evening to get a response before going to plan B. All of this started because someone announced she was looking for scrap ceramic tile and I now have a more organized area where the yard and garden gear in the garage resides.

I've made progress on the eBay listings, and as I learn about some of these items I realize they are things I could focus on in the future (if I decide to go back to buying thrift store stuff to sell.) The glass has a history and old online catalogs are available to pinpoint production years. But wait - I'm trying to empty the front room so I can do other things with it, so I'm not heading out to shop any time soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 03:33 PM

Only 3 p.m. and I've already gotten a lot of decluttering around the house accomplished today. I haven't had the time or energy to do ANYTHING in that regard (well, a little bit of organizing in my head) for the past two months — I've been in a bureaucratic marathon of crossing imperative time-sensitive things off lists...the usual annual bumf as well as the 5-year renewals, which all seem to come at the same time. And this year, it seems, that everything takes two or three times longer than they should. My eyeglass saga has been going on since April, what with postponements, reschedulings, and do-overs. There's no incentive like an electrician who will be needing space to fix a problem...

I guess I need to fill you in on the backstory if you haven't been reading about it at Facebook.

Haven't had the time to be here much in the past two months as I was kept at a gallop while juggling many things — some annual, some bureaucratic, some related to a friend giving me a 2010 Subaru Forester in May (so I now have transportation insurance of two older used cars with high mileage), some just the usual birthday month car registrations and inspections.

My eyeglass saga (I haven't worn contacts for over a year) has been going on since April. Got a call yesterday that the replacement left lens is in where I ordered the second pair of glasses, so when that's installed sometime in the next week (they're so short staffed at JCPenney Optical — where I worked over a decade ago — that I'll have to call first to verify that the shop's not closed for the day) the saga will at last be over for the time being.

I thought the light at the end of the tunnel was near at hand, but, fix me for being optimistic. I discovered early Wednesday evening that I have a problem with an important electrical circuit in my house — the one with my modem, which is not easily moved. The breaker snapped off twice. The modem isn't just my computer and wi-fi, it's my landline phone (my primary phone — my cell phones are for emergencies, travel, or power outages) through Comcast. As of late yesterday morning I've accomplished a workaround by plugging the UPS into a heavy duty extension cord running from another outlet, so I'm more or less okay for the time being. But there are lights out at the door and on the stairs and I can't use my laser printer (which had been running off that extension cord because having it on the same circuit as the computer and modem kept tripping the breaker).

Since I really didn't have time to enjoy my birthday month much (traditionally I celebrate for at least a month), I decided while talking to a friend this morning that the festivities (one of which will be a B.D. lunch at Krista's in Cornish, Maine) will be extended for another month. Not much on my July calendar yet. Just the early morning Fourth of July celebrations that we provide music for up at Nottingham Square (for the hour preceding the reading of the Declaration of Independence) and taking a friend to see "Crazy For You" at the Ogunquit Playhouse. (I trade putting up a bunch of posters in a town 30 minutes away for the tickets — otherwise I couldn't afford even one, let alone two tickets.) Of course, I don't know what will be required for my electrician to attend to my circuit problem.

It's never-ending, isn't it?

Linn

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 24 - 08:56 PM

Linn, I'm glad to read how you're doing - I suspect most of us see our daily existence as a series of problems to resolve that get in the way of the things we intend to do.

That wiring issue sounds like one that needs to be at the top of the list. I have a wiring issue that I've finally figured out and next time I have the electrician over will get fixed. My current office is in the space that used to be the old garage, and the outlet where my computer (and affiliated) equipment is plugged is on a ground fault (GFCI) breaker in the circuit breaker box. Any time it rains hard the thing trips. Now that the room isn't in the garage or exposed to outdoor stresses I need a regular circuit breaker in its place.

Taking an extra month to enjoy your birthday - why not? I guess my next one should be plenty long since it is a particularly big one (one I couldn't have imagined, yet alone visualized accurately, when I was a youth). Mine is coming up in September (two days off from Charmion on the date and I think we're the same year.)

This afternoon I had lunch with my daughter then headed east to my work/university town for some shopping. The Halal market had 8 or 10 interesting non-wheat flours that are now in the freezer (until I have the canisters cleaned from pasta and ready to reuse). I made a list of products to try after doing some research, and these were a good start. What I didn't find there I will probably find via companies like Bob'$ Red Mill.

Today there were takers on both free offers and they'll be picked up soon. I was worried they might be too odd for people to be interested in. It is surprising what people are willing to put in a passenger vehicle; to the one who wants the saw stand I responded that no, I don't think it will fit in a back seat (of anything.) So they'll come by on Tuesday with a pickup when they're in town. I'm not making it a race for who gets it first; whoever asked for it first gets a reasonable amount of time to retrieve it.

This afternoon I picked up more fabric from the friend whose house was severely decluttered recently. We sat in the living room on regular furniture and talked for a while before I left, and that wouldn't have been possible before. Most of the fabric is in the washer and will go to my daughter or the donation project for art teachers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jun 24 - 01:10 PM

I gave myself an hour in the heat this morning to trim gardens and lawn edges around the driveway (there was a lot to do). I'll sweep the dry grass and weeds this evening when it's cooler (and maybe during the day a nice breeze will blow it away first). I wore a facemask to spare my sinuses the dust (allergies are already keeping them unhappy.)

Pasta and bread are on the porch for pickup; the taker is someone who has already been here for an offer in the past, makes it easy.

Summer stuff. I'm working on using some parts of my house more efficiently. I pass through the den dozens of times a day, but haven't spent much time in there until I recently set the laptop on the library table, that got me thinking about what else I can improve. The setup of the den TV includes several connected devices, all through a Kenwood receiver that I found for a great price at Goodwill. My Dad's two big speakers are the only ones connected, I hadn't set up any extra surround sound speakers it can use, but I got some (from Goodwill). They've collected dust in the front room, so this weekend my goal is to set up some of those. (The overarching goal this summer is to clear the stuff in the front room such as the eBay electronic items and some family heirlooms no one wants or needs in order to make better use of that room.) This is another illustration of that Chinese puzzle with one space that Linn referred to recently. Finding that space to work with is a challenge!

Also along the lines of what Linn discussed about how things are plugged in, I set up a new Anker power strip next to the receiver and player electronics in my office, retiring the long heavy metal 1991 power strip that came from my Dad's house. It still works, but it has fewer plugs and they're not well spaced (in a world of wall warts and odd-shaped transformer plugs). Goodwill can have it.

I can't say that how I felt this week is the effect of getting better sleep, or of stopping the statins, or both, but I'm feeling more efficient, despite the debilitating hot weather. Getting things done. Starting small parts of bigger tasks and then finding it easier to go back and do more later. It has been a good week! (And looking forward to next - my daughter promises to bring me a bunch of the peaches that are now ripening in her yard - they're white peaches, my favorite!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 24 - 11:27 AM

There's a high-end "farmer's market" store near me that carries lots of specialty ingredients, naturopath items, items for various diet types, and high end products in the "normal" range (the flour made by Bob's Red Mill, for example). I found some of the gluten free bread I was looking for and checkout is eye-watering. $10 and more a loaf. I picked up one loaf and it's in the freezer. I'll be near an HEB grocery store in the next county (across the street from my dentist, where I have a cleaning tomorrow) and will shop there; online they show up as carrying some of the same breads, but will probably be less expensive.

That said, I spent about $40 on a dozen of the non-wheat flours, and plan to look up some of the formulas for different mixes. While standard wheat flour is in yeast breads, quick breads, muffins, pancakes, etc., there are different mixes of the non-wheat flour to accomplish the different outcomes. And where gluten is absent, sometimes adding other items to approximate it. Xanthan gum, psyllium fiber, etc. I ran several of the airtight canisters (ex-pasta) through the dishwasher last night and as I take the flour out of the freezer will decant into these with the labels in each canister.

Patty, how close are you to closing on the new house? What have you learned about your new neighborhood? Does the house have the usual amenities - water, electric, phone? Is it on a well or a municipal water system? Septic tank? Solar panels, wind turbine, etc? Internet?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 30 Jun 24 - 02:42 PM

Impressed with all the projects people are handling! Dealing with some very hot days. Way too hot to putter around in the storage unit after 9 a.m.

The house is supposed to close on July 15th, the realtor and banker seem confident that it will. The only utility I have to arrange to have continued is power. There is a well and new septic system. Phone and internet signal are good. The immediate neighbors are very nice, the others are very few in number, apparently they can be met if I catch them on daily walks.

Need to sit down and plan some moving-in tasks, but honestly I'm leery of doing much of anything til I have keys in my hand and sellers riding off into the sunset.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Jun 24 - 06:47 PM

Steak and pinot noir for supper. Urp.

This week, I really have to clean the house. It’s getting embarrassing.

In other news, I’m wearing my thin pants. They are not even snug. Soon I’ll have to — gulp — shop for new trousers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 24 - 11:07 AM

Good job, Charmion! My month was not so fruitful; after the first few pounds off I stayed at that level, though in the last four weeks managed a transformation in what I'm eating. Thanks for naming the author (Taubes) that reminded me of my previous food research (during 2016-2018 when I was being treated for PMR). I'm still wearing the exact same clothes as before, but that's ok. I've intended to stay in the size 10 and 12 zone, and the 12 are comfortable, not snug now. Medium t-shirts, etc.

This heat advisory is continuing - I don't remember them making such a fuss about hot weather before, I'm not sure if the humidity is making it seem more intense so they're issuing warnings, but this week will be hotter, with a chance of rain by Friday and the weekend. Too bad no rain on the 4th, it might reduce the number of fireworks.

My daughter brought me a bowl of peaches from the tree on their property and tells me "some of them should be eaten today." Mmmmm! I'll blanch and cut up and eat some and freeze the rest. I'll pick them up this afternoon after my dentist appointment.

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

The man who picked up the band saw and stand today said he wants to adapt the stand for another tool, and since I told him the saw itself was recalled he'll tell the friend who wanted to test it that they'll have to pass on that idea. He's learning carpentry from his father while his dad is still around to teach him. We also talked about the garden (such as it is this year) and I gave him some of this year's garlic to eat and corms for planting his own. Good visit (but hot!)

School supplies picked up by a new teacher who is accumulating materials for her first classroom. That is six inches deep of shelf space in the bookcase in my office; I've had that colored printer paper since my mom sent it decades ago. I can reorganize that entire shelf now (and will have a bunch of legal-size paper to give away soon.)

When I picked up peaches yesterday my daughter also handed over a dozen eggs laid by her chickens! Whoo hoo! I gave her a stack of egg boxes that had been stored in a cabinet from when the kids and I were decorating blown eggs. I kept them because I sometimes used the boxes to pack around heavy items I sold on eBay. Now they will return to their original purpose of protecting eggs.

When decluttering you can decide to chuck everything and shove it out to the dump, to the thrift store, to the curb. Or you can take time and learn something in the process. I've tried to move things on to people who can use them or places that will be able to find new homes. When I sell things from the family estates it means I've learned something about the era it came from, and I have notes and photos from the research, even if I'm not keeping the items. My house is so much more organized than when I moved in. Right now there are two rooms in particular that need work, and the garage can be reorganized. I resolved to never use off-site storage once I got moved into this house, and I resolved to park in my garage, and be able to easily get in and out of the vehicle, not have the space so full that pulling the car in was a fit like a glove. It needs work, but is useable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Jul 24 - 03:34 PM

Another bin-liner bag of clothing has gone out the door to Goodwill.

The box room is looking airier — the shelves above the hanging rods are no longer packed tight with boxes and baskets. Some remain, of course, but I don’t need a shoe horn to move them around. The hanging rods, once nearly full of off-season and special-occasion clothes, are half-empty now.

Edmund’s mess dress uniform (very fancy) and barrister’s court suit and gown are still in there, however, and I have no idea what to do with them. Not urgent — I’ll dealwith that issue when I have to and not before.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jul 24 - 11:23 PM

The friend who moved downtown, who I've helped with things, just posted a photo on her FB page of a fridge full of food. It was discarded by three other apartments in her building, and she found it all when it was still cold. Prepared meals (via delivery services), frozen foods, etc. Astonishing what people throw away. She's on disability and has so little cash; I think maybe she would benefit from some eBay tips. This apartment is a new building with some subsidized housing but mostly high-end renters, way different than where she moved from.

I made progress around here today, clearing off horizontal surfaces. I also processed food I brought home yesterday; froze individual pork sirloin and chicken breasts (in FoodSaver bags). My hands smell like cilantro because I pulled the leaves off of the stems and put them into a freezer bag that was flattened, sealed, and is now in the freezer. Tomorrow I'll make another zucchini casserole with some stuff from the garden that need using.

Will I jinx us by saying it's quiet tonight? Last night was very noisy with firecrackers. None tonight. We'll take the quiet when it's here. The rest of the week is bound to be a misery for the blue heeler. (And just as I'm typing this, fireworks went off. Damn.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Jul 24 - 11:38 AM

Dupont:

"problems to resolve that get in the way of the things we intend to do." And I am so stressed over that I am, currently, immobile. Maybe a post here will help me get out of the rut.

Yesterday, after days of misery, I wrote an email to hearing aide provider telling them I want my money back - and why. of course. "That woman" (audiologist) told me I had a 60 day trial period. But nothing in writing. In fact a whole lot of nothing - but her blithering on and on without giving me any useful info. So now I am "waiting" for a response. ETC...

Lest I get even lower than a snake's belly, I am trying to convince myself that the world will not end - due to the political state of the USA. I have dual citizenship and CARE!

Next thing is address change and I am finding it DAUNTING! So many to change! Start with Driver's license and car registration? The most daunting of all! Dealing with the Francophone bureaucracy!? I wonder if I can pay someone to do it?

Argh! email re CC payment! I misplaced one - it is in this house somewhere. We each searched - in car and house! So requested new one but it has been sent to Beaver. So! I just changed the card for that company and - next: Change address on card! That should be easy? She says hopefully. NOW! so something useful will be done today!?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Jul 24 - 01:21 PM

Dupont:

So! All the time between last post and this was spent changing address on two cards and figuring out how to access My income tax account - round and round until I finally found the correct next step. Clear as mud! But done! I suppose I shall owe them more since I could not find this until they sent me... And until I figured out that they were not going to email me and I would have to go round and round. Now if I can save the instructions, and various ??? I guess I need a log book/file folder ... It was late by the time I rec'd the Code needed. The ultimate declutter would be to get rid of all the darn codes and passwords and go back to dealing with human beings.

FOOD!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jul 24 - 04:39 PM

Dorothy, I started filing address changes in April of last year, and after two months I caught most of them. This was because I planned to close my post office box in September and I didn't want important stuff going missing. I wasn't getting much mail by the end, but I still find the "billing address" part of online accounts and forms with the old PO Box.

I've cleared major horizontal surfaces in the kitchen, though there are two that need work (the counters beside the stove and the dishwasher). Additional fabric contributions from the friend whose kids took charge is bagged for the donation appointment that is now 10 days away.

Several small things have been added to the donation bin in the laundry room, and while doing that I jostled the recycle bin and can tell I need to make a trip to the village bins. When I buy sparkling water in glass bottles it gets heavy fast.

This morning I started a computer desktop folder of shapes and symbols in order to design a small banner for the little metal post my next door neighbor gave me. The original cheerful banner is about worn out; this new one will have enough red and white stripes and a blue field with white stars to be clear, but in the center of it will be a crown shape over which I will set the red circle with a line through it indicating "no." I'm headed now to the fabric store to see if I can find some outdoor fabrics less prone to fading. I'll publish my results. Widely. Can you imagine 45 ever uttering Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown? It needs to rest in jail. Anyway, this is the best use of my time over July 4 that I can think of.

Cooking later this afternoon, making more of my zucchini casserole with sausage (without pasta - I like it this way better). Some of my homegrown onions and garlic need to be used, for starters, and I have a couple of sausages thawed and ready to go. I find I can use the casserole by itself or add pieces of baked chicken or and add mozzarella to melt on top for a Chicken Parm vibe (without the breading for now.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 11:19 AM

At the fabric store I picked out all outdoor polyester non-fade materials and got small amounts of each. The woman cutting the fabric asked what I was working on and I said a yard banner, then explained about a crown and a red circle. She held up her hand for a congratulatory high five hand slap. There are Democrats in Texas, but often maintaining a low profile. :)

This is a less-is-more kind of project - since it has to be pieced together it needs to use the fewest pieces that convey the message so it is something I can finish this week, not work on for ages. I'm playing with the InDesign software to work out the look. I have a white and red background and with a swath of blue and a couple of white stars I can focus primarily on a crown and red circle to finish the look.

The trash truck just went by but I didn't put out anything at the curb, nor did the across the street neighbors. We know that they pickup on just about every holiday except xmas and Thanksgiving, but if we don't put anything out then they finish faster on these days. (Personally, I wish they'd let them have all of the federal holidays and I'll stagger my trash pickup on those weeks.)

Last night's batch of zucchini casserole came out great, letting me use up my few garden onions and a couple of things that had been in the freezer for a while. Last time I cooked a Parmesan rind in it for flavor, and didn't have one now, but I can grate Parm over the top of it when I serve it.

For the rest of the world, it is Thursday. Here, it is the day the insanity of the fireworks will be at its worst. There were some going off last night and at bedtime when I give the girls a treat I had to go looking for Pepper - she was hunkered down in the tub in the hall bathroom. Whatever makes her comfortable! When she's really unhappy she won't eat. Good thing dinner is well before dark (if it is storming at mealtime I keep the bowl to give her later. Nothing will keep Cookie from eating at mealtime.)

I bagged some more fabric for the donations boxes that I'm scheduled to drop off on the 13th, continuing to add is something I'll work on steadily until then.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 03:50 PM

Would that be a red circle with a bar through the crown?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 05:51 PM

Yes it would!

Before starting that I thought I'd finish a small job - setting up two more speakers in the den - but that has grown to rearranging furniture (and some vacuuming) before positioning the speakers. I also read the manual and realized why some things sound quieter than others; all of the speakers positions are programmable so I'm probably getting results on my speakers from how the previous owner had the thing set up in their space, and why sometimes I hear nothing, like on some DVDs - surround sound is set to play things over speakers I don't have set up. I have to reprogram it. Setting everything in place for now will be enough, I can do the programming later. It meant a couple of deep dives into the front room to dig out more speakers.

But as I shifted boxes in that room I looked inside one—where on earth did a man's formal kilt come from? Finding it stopped the work, to examine it. I've set it aside for later. My house seems to be doing its own collecting without my knowledge.

The noise will probably start around dusk, so I have a few hours until Pepper is a drooling mess. If it wasn't so hot I'd take them for a walk (I was going to this morning but got sidetracked, and when it occurred to me again, it was already too hot.) Tomorrow is cooler and a chance of rain; too bad it didn't rain today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Jul 24 - 06:05 PM

My house seems to be doing its own collecting without my knowledge

YES!!!!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jul 24 - 08:36 AM

I felt great yesterday, so I cleaned the house. Now my back hurts again. Sigh.

It was probably the vacuum cleaner — not just hauling it downstairs and up again, but also the half-stooped posture required to operate it. Or it could have been the sheet music that arrived from England yesterday by UPS; the delivery person carefully ignored the table beside the front door to place two 5-Kg boxes on the doormat so I would have to achieve maximum bend-and-lift not once, but twice. So now I have that old, familiar toothache in the right-side lumbar region, evidence of an insulted piriformis muscle in spasm.

Buggery.

Off to the Y pool this morning for a session of waterborne physical jerks that should loosen things up a bit. I have another date with Physio Guy on Monday; he will tut, and possibly tsk.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 24 - 10:11 PM

There is a four-foot wide Mexican bookshelf made of a sturdy pine that sits behind my sofa in the den. I was keeping my back in mind as I nudged it across a span of several feet because the bottom shelf is packed with vinyl LPs that, as any boomer knows, weigh a ton. So far so good.

I got the speakers programmed through the receiver and redid a couple of the plugs so the TV sound now goes through the speakers if I want. This work came after I moved the TV from in front of the blocked off fireplace so I either need to bring the large mirror back out of my bedroom (it sits at the end of my exercise space and is handy there) or find some other thing to set on the hearth to hide the pink panel of insulation that fills the opening. I moved the large brass vessel that has held dog toys for a dozen years; it was set up for Zeke, and now that he isn't here and Cookie makes a mad dash into the yard with any toy I can't keep toys in it, they're in the trunk with the food bin. I need to teach that dog to fetch so she'll play nicely (join in) when we throw toys for Pepper to fetch.

It rained today and is cooler, but of course, muggy. I hear the leftover fireworks beginning to go off in the neighborhood. Too bad the rain didn't stick around longer.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jul 24 - 11:21 AM

Yesterday my scheduled collection tour at the museum didn't have any takers until a group of four arrived. I asked if they would like a tour, and the older woman (the teacher) with the group of young adults hesitated, that maybe they'd be better browsing on their own. I realized this was a special needs group, and to be clear without advertising to the group itself, I told her "I've worked with this demographic." She smiled and accepted, and it was just the five of us.

It was a nice 45 minutes with a brief overview about the building location and history, then looking at mostly 3D pieces (how did they make this?) What do you see here? Answering lots of questions and building my tour on their remarks. After photos with the teacher's phone I left them at the gift shop. This was an adventurous day trip to town, having arrived by train and planning to leave a few hours later. I was glad to draw on my professional background, where effective interaction called for an extemporaneous tour.

The tour schedule opened up this weekend so I'm also doing one today (where I anticipate a more typical experience).

Back at the homestead, I have an item listed on the FB buy nothing page awaiting moderator approval. I looked back at all of my past offers on this group and it adds up - shoes, shoe rack, barbecue grill, craft items, old fence panels, old light bulbs, several small appliances, plus a few things given away for friends and family. Add in offers via Freecycle and it has been a good year of donations.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 24 - 11:04 PM

More stuff has left the front porch, offered via the buy nothing page on Facebook.

I've worked out the design for the yard banner, now to create templates for three parts that I'll have to work with (applique onto it).

We had rain from Hurricane Beryl today, nothing worrisome, no wind up here. Mostly humidity.

A good long workout yesterday at the gym has me within an hour of finishing an audiobook that I've checked out several times. I usually listen at the gym and haven't gone much lately. My goal is to finish it this week, then locate a couple of others I started a while ago and get back into them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jul 24 - 10:45 AM

It's not Texas hot or Texas muggy, but Perth County is nevertheless not very comfortable today: hot and overcast with "risk of thunderstorms", and rain for sure tomorrow. I'm puttering about getting ready for an afternoon session of sorting last season's sheet music with a pair of fellow choristers. Before they arrive, I must put a nice bottle of chardonnay in the fridge. The Stratford Concert Choir library crew runs so much better with routine doses of chilled white wine.

Perrier for me, however. When you eat less than 25 net grams of carbohydrate per day, leafy green veggies (high in Vitamin A and iron) take priority. Tonight's menu is spinach salad with pine nuts, with enough cold rotisserie chicken to make up the protein quota.

My life has improved ever so much since I allowed myself to become a frequent flyer at the rotisserie chicken counter. They actually cost less than raw chickens that are not on special, with no pot to scrub. I can hear 40-year-old me sneering, but these days the alternative is likely to be fish from a can or a protein shake.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 24 - 11:45 AM

Rotisserie chickens at places like Costco and Sam's Club are always in the 4 to 4.5 pound range, and as a loss leader bring in so much traffic that it's worth it. I'm to the Sodium chapter in the Taubes book, and am continuing to do the math as far as my food choices. I've bought fewer rotisserie chickens since monitoring my sodium, but think I can add it back in without problems when doing a non-wheat low-sugar diet.

I've removed wheat and white rice from my diet but still have quite a few colorful fruits and vegetables, so am not at that superlow carb level, though it is much lower than before when bread was on the diet. It averages a third of my calories instead of 2/3 like it used to, and as time passes and the fruit and veggies I already have here run low, I'll choose lower-carb options and buy the higher carb stuff in lower quantities.

This morning I moved the wooden bench from the sunroom to beside the rail under the large case opening where the den and kitchen meet (and there is a 6" step down, so the rail runs along the edge for safety, with a 3' gap at the step.) This is moving a tile in that Chinese puzzle board, and it isn't necessarily where this bench is going to stay. The side entrance into the house is more open now.

I made a push yesterday to get ahead on the work for my part-time job so will spend more time on eBay listings, and I have several social events this week. I'm thinking it's still a good idea to wear the face masks; this month my son's partner and my sister both caught COVID when participating in group events. (My sister was at a family member's 50th wedding anniversary celebration that may have consequences - a lot of older folks attended. Fingers crossed that wasn't a super-spreader event.)

Dorothy, how are you feeling? Did you finish the address changes you were working on?

It's getting close to Patty moving into her new house. I hope there are some good stories ahead (of good news, not disasters!)

We haven't heard from Jon in a long time. How is everyone at your home? Are the care workers all keeping things humming for you and your family?

Who else is lurking?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jul 24 - 12:28 PM

The typical rotisserie chicken in southern Ontario supermarkets are fryers topping out at about a kilo in weight, but one easily provides four meals. I don’t go to Costco — it scares me, and the nearest one is 40 km away — and I’ve never seen a Sam’s Club on this side of the border, so I have no comparison there. Zehr’s, my usual source of rotisserie chickens, offers several seasoning finishes, but I always buy the plain so-called barbecue kind because — unlike real barbecue — the seasoning mix does not include sugar. Sodium isn’t an issue for me.

On Sunday I drove way down to the arse end of Oxford County to buy a piano bench that I saw advertised on FB Marketplace. It’s well made of local walnut and was lovingly refinished by the vendor’s now-deceased husband, and an excellent addition to my bedroom — it fits neatly at the foot of my bed and provides a spot for Watson to hop to on his way to his nightly slumbers. I have never liked putting a suitcase, laundry basket, or gym bag on the bed, and now I don’t have to.

Also last weekend, my friend Alden completed the first and (I hope) most agonizing phase of moving out of her spacious Victorian cottage in Stratford and into a tiny (750 square feet) granny flat in Guelph. When I picked her up at five o’clock on Friday, her son and grandson had the house mostly cleared and the movers were loading the bed and the kitchen table. Alden herself was more than tired; she was exhausted and perilously close to tears. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a human being so in need of a stiff drink, and by eight-thirty she was spark out in my guest room bed. I haven’t had any bulletins from Guelph yet, but I suspect that the drama is not over.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 24 - 07:16 PM

I inherited family stuff from my grandfather's sister. That great aunt was the youngest of 9 children and she lived in the house her parents bought in 1905 (in New England). My Irish great grandmother was 6' tall and slim, but her family, those I've seen photos of, were all stout. As in reinforced-furniture stout. Three didn't marry so lived at home with their mother. My great uncle was a talented carpenter and built the piano bench I brought back along with the Weber upright grand. The bench itself weighs like a small piano and is walnut with straight 2"x2" legs, braced, heavy lid, reinforced seat music compartment. With its straight lines it looks Mission style and doesn't match the piano, but it works well. (When facing a diagnosis of diabetes the great aunt, the only one of that family I knew, lost a lot of weight and lived to a healthy 94.)

After a trip to the dentist to have my teeth scanned for a night guard (the TMJ issue is more pronounced now) I ran by the craft store to pick up a small roll of Wonder Under, for appliqueing the banner together. Once assembled everything will be zigzag stitched around the edges. I saw a quilting program (PBS) this afternoon and it was perfect timing, they were making are pieces that involved this process, confirming my design will work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Jul 24 - 06:26 PM

"Reinforced-furniture stout" describes me all too well.

Tomorrow afternoon the surgeon will declutter me of a small cyst in my scalp. It is much better behaved after a round of antibiotics,
but it has to come out anyway.
It's day-patient surgery, I get to come straight home afterwards.

And with my luck it will be raining.

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

I hope that procedure went well, Keb. And after a couple of days of feeling tender that spot will be pleasantly un-bumpy.

This morning I spent a little time in the yard cutting down dead branches (with the reciprocating saw) then dropped pieces in the trash can. I've kept the branches the size I can run through my little electric wood chipper. I had such a small bag of trash today that it felt silly putting a parcel the size of a shoebox at the curb, so that's why the branches were used to bulk up the offering (I've meant to do that trimming for ages). After that I walked the dogs around the block and we stayed on the shady side of the street. I may take the long Fiskars lopper out and reach some more dead branches (several feet above my head) ahead of the next trash pickup.

I'd marked my calendar for 2 weeks out from stopping statins, and today is the third week. I feel more clear-headed and get good sleep; the difference between last week and this is that I was just noticing last week, this week every day feels good. Since I've stopped eating wheat it might be a combination of things I'm feeling.

I'm still figuring out carbs. There will be healthy fruits and vegetables, but I need to work out how much.

A yard sign arrived in today's mail from the League of Women Voters: "Vote Like Democracy Depended On It." This will go out in the yard when I have the banner ready.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Jul 24 - 02:35 PM

Well, my scalp is decluttered.

My position made things awkward.
Because of where the cyst was on my scalp,
the procedure could not be done with me lying down.
So they had me sitting up with no back support,
my legs dangling over the side,
and the nurse leaning right into me to keep me,
I suppose, from jumping off the table and running away.
I was more nervous and anxious than I needed to be, it was very brief.

So now I have to be careful how I lie on it in my sleep,
and otherwise leave it alone and wait until the sutures come out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 Jul 24 - 12:02 PM

Yikes keboroxu, that sounds un-fun! I had some scalp cutting done last summer, not something I want to repeat. Worst part was assistant #5 for the day decided it would be good to spray-glue a chapel veil of bandage material onto the entire top of my head. With water-insoluble epoxy. What was she thinking? After unsuccessful shampoos, had to work a hundred little hanks clean with acetone.

Just checking in with no good news from New Mexico. Miserable weather, very hot days punctuated by violent storms and a few power outages.

Foot-dragging by every firm associated with the house closing, 'not sure if it will be funded on closing day'.   

Cannot request electric service because 'address not in service area', because no one ever bothered putting an actual address in the database for the meter (keep in mind the property changed hands one year ago), and the comcast-like utility requires documents to prove their meter goes with this address which is 'not in their system'. Have requested help from the people who can/should help, no reply.

Thought I could at least go buy a bedstead at a nice used furniture store I scouted a month ago. Drove 60 miles to find it locked up on an 'open' day, during 'open' hours. Then while in the city found a good mattress on sale, but not in stock. I could give them money right then, or pay 30% more next week after sale is over, and make another trip to get it. Well, what's the point. I might find a bed at a garage sale that is a different size anyway. And may need to buy a mattress from a store that doesn't overcharge in the first place.

Sorry to vent, but that's what's up around here. Hoping this feeling of uneasiness lets up soon.