DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Oct 24 - 11:31 PM

Last week I downsized (gave away) my entire collection of vintage embroideries, doilies, hand towels, placemats, table cloths etc. - except for one piece, a Willow pattern doiley where every stitch is over one thread of a fine linen, not ultra-fine handkerchief linen. Craft friends praise my small stitches, but they are uneven & rarely over 1 thread, so I need this beautiful piece to see, but not aspire to, small even stitches! My eyes are not up to such fine work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Embroidery Linen comes in various thread “counts” which are simply an indication of the number of threads per inch in either direction. A low count Embroidery Linen would be a 20 count linen. High count is a little more difficult to define with exact numbers however in general, a 36 or a 40-count Embroidery Linen for counted handwork is considered fairly high count. A 50-count linen would be suitable for very fine work as the counted stitches are worked over one thread of fabric.

My eyes, computer glasses & desk lamp bought from a needlework supplier might not be able to count the threads! Another site says handkerchief linen is 60 count!
~~~~~~~~~~~~

normal service will now resume ... My friend sells vintage linens & other lovely items at vintage/antique fairs. My collection was housed in a fabric covered photocopy paper box that had held 10 packets of paper, pieces were in oven bags, box was about 3/4 full. The collection included vintage doiley holders - usually cardboard either painted or embroidered. Now I just need to find a home for the box, I'll take a photo & show it to my favourite Op Shop, it's pink so some little girl might like to keep her treasures in it!

I also need to find homes for lots more lovely and/or interesting stuff.

sandra

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

Good job, Sandra! I have a lot of that stuff in trunks here, from the great aunt in Connecticut. And that reminds me that I have some fancy old tablecloths I could sell. Doilies. Antimacassars. Lots of crochet items.

This evening I made the middle eastern pork and eggplant (with tomatoes and onions) casserole from stuff in the freezer and pantry. It made a bit more than usual so I'll probably share some to my ex, who loves it. Since I won't be eating it over mashed potatoes (or will only eat it that way if I have no other carbs the whole day) I could treat it like a stew and have a larger single portion like a stew. The house smells amazing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 02:25 AM

Well done, Sandra!

I have some pieces from my mother's family, and also from Himself's family. The pieces I really treasure, tough, were made by my mother's Aunty Laura who made beautiful tatting; one piece is a tablecloth with a heavy cream linen centre and a very wide border of tatted lace all round. Laura died when I was just a baby, but my middle name is Grace after her daughter, who died as a teenager.

Once I am no more I will neither know nor care what happens to them but they are exquisite, so I will enjoy them for now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 04:50 AM

my friend has a lot of stock & recently sold all her large damask tablecloths (20? 30?) to a woman who runs a wedding venue.

She & her daughter-in-law do a lot of work for & at for their markets so I don't mind giving my stuff to her.

We've also talked about my extensive collection of antique & vintage needlework tools (baskets, boxes, kits, & smaller things like needles, pins, scissors etc etc) which I'd like to sell to a dealer, not bit by bit to people I know who collect, but she doesn't know of one in Sydney so she will take an item or 2 with her to see if she attracts attention from a someone who wants to branch out. Last major retailer of tools died a few years before covid, & smaller market sellers are no longer around.

So much to downsize & I don't want leave it all to my lovely sister, who has always lived with little stuff - maybe one painting & 1 lovely vase? - but then they did spend 17 years as expats in 4 or 5 countries & moved 15 times, so naturally came back with even less that they took!

sandra

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 05:27 AM

Sadly, Sandra, I have no female family members. Never had a sister, had two sons, have one grandson.

I have two nieces, but we aren't close.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 07:11 AM

Last year I contacted my cousin who I hadn't seen since her wedding c.1991. She has 2 daughters who will take the family stuff, hooray cos my sister doesn't want anything, besides she cleaned out Mum's house & as far as I know she only took the 30+ unused touristy tea towels which went into hers & other kitchens! I had 2 unused teatowels which until recently covered my winter woolies, but replacing my 2 sets of sheets gave me 4 pillow cases which did a better job of storing woolies.

I also have a niece but I haven't seen her for years, she lives near my sister & they are close, so maybe she got some teatowels & other stuff!

sandra

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 12:08 PM

Here is a link to Dr. Chip Colwell's So Much Stuff via Bookfinder. As I make progress through it this non-fiction research into human industry (my general term here to describe our business of making stuff) it feels more and more like a dystopian horror story. It's well worth the read, and if you ever needed a reason to declutter by sharing and selling existing materials, and to approach things in your household with a view to repairing before replacing, this is the book to set you on that path.

He illustrates the Industrial Revolution various parts as 1760 with mechanization with water and steam power and loom weaving; 1870 with assembly lines, mass production, and electrical power; 1914 with automation, plastics, and the vast scales of production. A fourth would be now - the computer revolution, AI, etc.

A paragraph on the bottom of page 189 makes the case for what came before and where we are now:

Up to World War I, factories in Europe and North America were producing more kinds of products, and more of each kind, each year. By one estimate, US industrial production increased by more than 1,000 percent between 1860 and 1914. Most people were having their basic needs met: food, water, clothing, shelter. A brief economic downturn in 1920 led companies to wonder if they were facing a crisis of overproduction. (They were.) Perhaps people simply did not need to consume more. So, companies turned to manufacturing not just goods but also the desire for them. . .

That is followed by a long quote from Edward Bernays in 1928 in Propaganda where he says a factory can't afford to wait till the public asks for its product, "it must maintain constant touch, through advertising and propaganda, with the vast public in order to assure itself the continuous demand which alone will make its costly plant profitable."

How does one push back at such wasteful and extravagant behavior? This is Capitalism illustrated, but changing minds of the world means putting a halt to so much production and waste. To reuse and repair. To taking "fashion" out of our vocabulary. I have about 50 pages left of the book, but as I read I realize that I've fought this struggle all my life - wanting the antique, the vintage furniture and equipment because of their beauty and function, I am an organic gardener to keep the lifecycle of plants and compost and fertilizer within this little bit of the ecosystem. I buy parts to repair things. I make things instead of buying them.

But you can see there is a problem. So many people have no thoughts about buying and discarding vast amounts of manufactured materials.

We on this thread are methodically decluttering, but we also buy new things as needed. I try to get stuff at the thrift store (small appliances, good pots and pans, glassware, etc.) This is the biggest environmental challenge ahead of us - if we stop all of this big industry, we stop pumping CO₂ into the atmosphere, but this only happens if all of the people employed in all of those industries find useful and satisfactory local employment growing, repairing, and offering services.

Thinking out loud (or with pixels) here. Feeling a sudden bigger push to really get this going, and somehow spread the word. And it isn't lost on me that as I change my diet to remove the processed foods (mostly carbohydrates) that that is another huge part of the problem.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 03:27 PM

The next chapter starts with the Collyer brothers and I have several chapters left. We are in a planned obsolescence pickle (or downward spiral).

Food shopping today, and am continuing in my determination to buy things in either no wrapper (produce - and I have reusable light tulle bags for it) or in metal or glass for the best recycling options.

For the first time in ages I not only swept the kitchen and dining area, I mopped. The dishwasher is now running and later, laundry. I'm keeping up with things like this as I feel better. I looked at my records - the statins started in April of 2021, and it was an insidious cumulative effect. After a bit more than three months off of them kitchen cleaning is no big deal. It doesn't seem that it would normally be considered a sign of good health, but being able to do normal jobs without it feeling like it takes more focus or energy than I can muster is notable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Oct 24 - 11:07 PM

My ridiculously expensive Breville toaster-oven began beeping at random last Thursday. The frequency of the beeping increased gradually until this morning, when it didn’t stop until I unplugged it. When I came back from church, I toted it downstairs to the basement.

A very, very long time ago — possibly in 1958 or ‘59 — my parents acquired our first toaster. I think Mum got it with Gold Bond stamps. It’s the flip-flop kind that must be tended, with no controls and no moving parts except the hinged doors. With its exposed heat source it was dangerous In a household with small children, but no one got hurt and the house did not burn down.

My brother has it, and it still works.

I wonder if he’d lend it to me.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 08:07 AM

Mais certainement, ma chère sœur !

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 09:25 AM

Good food for thought on the manufacturing of excess 'stuff', but I guess I'm not as anxious about it. It is less of an issue down in the lower income brackets where homes are only so big and budgets only go so far. (Though we all know of many a heavily cluttered small dwelling).

As income inequality grows, I think a lot of stuff is getting recirculated as hand-me-downs, donations and garage sale material.

In my travels I am staggered by the amount of fuel we consume, and the sheer volume of food and goods that get shipped around. As the population grows, one wonders how we can outfit and feed 8+ billion people decently, including those in the third world who have rising standards of living, and need to have more and more goods.

The suburban 'aspirational' buyer is easy to sell to, and they are piling up hoards of extra stuff; Christmas china, a dozen bins of Halloween decor, always some new cute stuff to acquire, closets full of fast-fashion. This is the group which needs to experience some king of shaming about their excess, but if the 'minimalist' movement didn't work, what will?

On the thrift shop front: found a decent used furniture shop, got a great and very needed floor lamp and bookcase. At the thrift, got a $5 DVI monitor small enough to keep in the rig for use when traveling with my tiny PC, in lieu of ponying up for a new laptop. And lo and behold, not only does it still work great, the weighted base from the olden days means it will not fly around or tip over.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 01:30 PM

Acquisition of things is baked into the human condition regardless of financial status. Unless you're truly nomadic it's easy to accumulate a lot of stuff. Small houses can be crammed full of things that accumulate in a way that is astonishing. "It might be useful one day" or "I can fix this" - reasons for keeping things. We used to say our parents were a product of the Depression, where they learned to not throw anything away; perhaps that is part of the impetus for the last 100 years. Podcast of Colwell interview on KERA, Jan. 3, 2024.

A friend from the 1980s fell and hurt her back badly enough that she had to take early retirement (Social Security). That was her sole income. Her home was paid for but her son-in-law never finished a repair in her kitchen so the only running water in the house was in the bathroom. To that add every magazine, book, mailer, anything that entered the house and never left. And predators who conned her into donations . . . anyway, there are a lot of places where the accumulation is part of mental illness. Twice her daughter and I helped clear things out, it just went back to what it looked like before.

But the case you make for the easy purchase of fast fashion by a large segment of the US population is made worse by their propensity for tossing anything they don't want or can't return into the trash. The resources that are piled up at the dump are scandalous. I've remarked frequently in recent years that adding Civics classes back into high school classes is needed, but perhaps classes like Home Economics might have a revised curriculum in order to pivot and address some of these issues. I have a couple of books by Adam Minter about thrifting and the second-hand economy I probably bought after interviews on my local NPR station. They've moved to the front of the "to read" list.

Along with things, a tremendous amount of food is thrown out, not composted. I read recently about the invention of a spice-embedded paper that can be used with fresh produce to help keep it fresh longer. Smithsonian article. I fear it's simply a thing to use in an overstuffed fridge to keep food that we've forgotten about fresher longer before it gets tossed. I can see industrial and commercial use of it.

Meanwhile, the kitchen got some more reorganization. The cupboard with a number of pyrex bowls with plastic lids I'm using those more now was difficult to navigate. I've moved out a couple of things that I rarely use and made access to all of it much easier.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 06:57 PM

I mowed part of the back yard today with the "bag" setting on so I could get cuttings to put in the compost pile (I usually use "mulch"). I then emptied the last 5-gallon bucket of kitchen waste and dumped another bag of cuttings on top of it. I'll finish mowing tomorrow. For now, there are a 3-gallon and a 2-gallon bucket beside the kitchen door. The bigger one was just too heavy if filled to the top (and it was too easy to do that). The bucket is in the trash, I can't think of another use I would put that stinky thing to. Plant something? Hmmm. I have until Thursday's trash pickup to change my mind.

I also did my sparkling water shopping at the nearby discount grocery where a 12-pack of Topo Chico is much easier to lift than the 18-pack from Costco. I can lift the heavier items, but it's easier if they're not that large.

The pocketbook was decluttered when I paid off the heat pump loan, in the 24th month of a 36-month loan. There's another, bigger, heat pump looming to die one of these days. I want to be ready for it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 08:23 PM

Charmion - many years ago we had a sandwich toaster, one of those that you put two square slices of bread with filling in between, and it made either two triangles or two rectangles. I forget which. Himself was making himself a toastie with some leftovers between two bread slices, and for some reason the lid wouldn't close.

Now, some of us would check to see why this was so....perhaps the crust had caught , or something similar......but no. Being a bloke he just pushed harder to close the lid, only to find out that it was the electric cord which was stopping the lid from closing.

Much arcs and sparks was the result, and a bit of a bang....I seem to recall the power to the whole house went out as well.....it was most exciting. Our sons thought it was hilarious.

We subsequently bought a different model sandwich maker.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Oct 24 - 09:19 PM

speaking of toasters, back in the 70s/early 80s my office had a vintage toaster & a colleague decided she wanted to make toasted cheese - perhaps if she had turned the toaster on it's side it might have worked ... maybe not

I can't remember now the consequences - did our lights go out? or did we just have the beautiful smell of grilled cheese in the office?

One thing I'm sure of, we would have needed a new toaster.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 09:59 AM

Charmion, the toaster will be on its way to you via the post as soon as we assemble a box and have packed it properly.

Will advise.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 11:01 AM

I have a two-slice toaster that advertises itself as wide enough to fit a bagel (half a bagel, at any rate) but the small convection oven on my counter is still considered a "toaster oven" though I haven't made toast in it. I have made garlic bread and open face cheese sandwiches (this is clearly the invention that Sandra's coworker was anticipating and JennieG's better half wouldn't have defeated, at least on that day).

All of these years later I'm still using my Dad's old microwave oven (in his day he managed to let it get moist enough inside that there is a seam on the back lower inside edge that shows a bit of rust, but it still works). Skillets and pots that came from family like one of Dad's old crockpots and a 1 quart lidded cast iron pot from Mom (who bought it for me and said she would season it before sending. She died, and at her estate I had to tell the others the story of that pot to get to keep it. Sheesh.) I have my great aunt's cast iron skillet with the lid (a friend calls it a "chicken fryer" because of the taller sides).

We could look through houses and describe a lot of items that came from family, not purchased new, but that's a good thing, it means we kept functional items in service.

The book has spent scant pages on philosophers Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, the most space on Locke, and a bit of Kant - brief but important observations that instead of a people in total communal situations or slavery we should each own ourselves, and an extension from that is our labor, and before you know it, the products we make. And the place we call our own in which we keep our products. . . world views about land ownership when viewing nomadic American indigenous travel across lands they knew and used, and concludes that the mega rich are super-hoarders. I can't argue with that.

I regularly refer to one of my favorite parts of the Brooklyn Museum - the fourth floor where they have expanded (looks like since 2022) the decorative arts area. It basically looks at things we use and how they are designed to be beautiful as well as functional. Every time I go there I want to polish my toaster, my tea pot, my clothes iron, and put them on a shelf for display. With that toaster, Charmion didn't just describe a functional item, she described a beautiful item.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 11:25 AM

Thank you, Andrew! That’s so kind.

I don’t need a toaster much these days but, when I do, nothing else will suffice!

In other news, my Internet service is back.

The router quit on me yesterday when I was cleaning in anticipation of dinner with guests. I picked it up to dust the shelf it sits on, and poof! The radio — on a satellite station — went silent. I tested the plug and swapped the power cord, but to no avail. So I put on a CD and went back to work; everyone knows that dinner guests inevitably examine the parlour rug for cat hair content.

Fast forward to eight o’clock this morning and me on the phone with Wightman Telecommunications, the local internet service provider. “Okay, since the problem isn’t the outlet or the power cord, would you please press the power button?” I turn the device back and forth, up and down, side to side, looking for a button marked “Power”. No such button is in evidence. Then I look again at the left-hand edge of the device and examine it even more closely. (Imagine 70-year-old eyes struggling in dim light.) Sure enough, I finally spot two tiny, almost invisible, matte black buttons, one of which is labelled “On/Off”. I relay this information to the technician and press the tiny button. Instant lights. Within five minutes, much humbled, I was back in the 2020s.

When I picked up the router to clean the shelf, the palm of my left hand squeezed that edge of the device and pressed the button that I did not know was there. All the ensuing confusion was what happens when we don’t do “Naming of Parts” with every new machine.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 02:23 PM

It occurs to me that the flip-flop toaster is small enough that it doesn't have to take up counter space when it's not in use. (The Breville toaster-oven is enormous, occupying almost half the largest stretch of work surface in the kitchen.) For a couple of years, the equally large and ridiculously expensive fancy blender that Edmund couldn't live without has taken up the entire top shelf of the cabinet on the left side of the stove. I think it's time to admit that I'll never be one of those people who lives on smoothies, and find a new home for that blender. The flip-flop toaster can live on its vacated shelf, along with its European cousin the waffle iron.

I hardly ever eat bread any more, but very occasionally I will have an afternoon treat consisting of a crumpet or a tea cake with marmalade on it. The flip-flop toaster handles crumpets and tea cakes better than all but the most sophisticated pop-ups and toaster ovens, at way less than half the size of the Breville. Of course, that's because you have to stand over it, but if there's one thing I have plenty of these days it's time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 03:24 PM

I have a Kitchenaid blender that takes up half of the counter beside the stove, the place it lives because it is least in the way of most kitchen activities. It's too heavy to put away somewhere and get out for use, and I use it about once a month. You're creating a more civilized space it sounds like by downsizing to the vintage toaster.

I have a question for Dorothy next time she passes through - are you familiar with Mudcat member Guy Wolff? He put up a video of a recent firing in which apparently catastrophe could have happened, but didn't. Can you describe what might have happened? Would the excess heat break the pots? And the glaze ran? So he can polish some of it off after they cool?

Finished mowing in the back, and am hoping that by hitting much of the now the dried groundcover plants they will fling seeds and get even more established with the next growing season. Now to clean up and run errands.

Since a couple of years ago when I had the big Persian carpet cleaned I've been meaning to take the other two small ones in. Today I came across a video of a carpet being cleaned (looks like it lived on a barn floor or was caught in a flood!) No wonder it's expensive. I'll add them to my "to do" list - keeping existing possessions in good shape. I also have a pair of boots to take in to have resoled. Supporting the trades this week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 05:06 PM

I have a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer, the kind with the tilting head, with a boxful of accessories — wire whisk, dough hook, the lot. The only thing I have used it for since Edmund died is Christmas fruitcake, which is more efficiently made with a sturdy wooden spoon in a jeezly great stainless-steel bread bowl. I think I should sell it, or maybe donate it to a charity silent auction or raffle, as it’s in perfect condition and new ones cost a bomb.

An old-fashioned hand mixer, the kind that fits in a kitchen drawer, would be more suitable to my very occasional ventures into meringue and whipped cream country. I ‘m sure I can find one at Goodwill.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 11:22 PM

You could find one in the bottom drawer of the kitchen island here. It gets used rarely, but there are some things it is simply the best tool for. Meringue, as you mentioned.

Boots dropped off for repair (new heels) and two antique Persian rugs dropped off for cleaning. Shopping managed, but stores kind of wonky because of (my guess) a solar storm flaring this week hitting some of the electronic infrastructure (card readers on the blink.) We were warned about it but I guess the news didn't filter down to the clerks in the stores, but they were being resourceful to collect payment. The reader started working just as I got to the register at Costco, and payment was declined only once at Aldi before it went through.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Oct 24 - 11:24 PM

Dupont:

Stay away too long and I have to sign in!

Intrigued by the toaster, etc! We had a toaster in PA but my son (that era) needed a toaster oven - FOR BAGELS!! I found it good for other things and had my own in my own home from thrift shop, of course. Recently we found it useful in summer to avoid the big oven! So we found a larger one on a local site and went to pick it up as we were on our way to a music event. When they opened the door with great delight - we knew each other from other local music events and they told us of one we were missing. We now have their daughter's toaster oven AND a "real toaster" because R likes toast. Then, I frequented a cafe near Beaver with terrific soups and toast - but the toast is done in a panini? I like it so much better that way and also make sandwiches in it. So these three devices clutter our counter to good use.

De-cluttering has become increasingly on both our minds. with my cancer looming - still lightly!- and R just had the blip on his eyelid diagnosed as a carcinoma.... He expressed mild regret for the hundreds of books in the cellar! He (SRS) has enough of a science background to have a clue. The doctor on Sunday diagnosed it immediately with some space age thing and sent us to the hospital for a biopsy. Today was NO fun! Traffic was a nightmare, parking garage similar to the one in which I lost my car last week. What parking???? Eventually we were helped to an obscure space by a valet (kept the key!) and we found our way to the correct dept. I was exhausted already. Given an appointment for 29 November ---WHY not by phone????? Found our way back down to the parking with no idea where the car was - "D"! R finally found one of the valets and retrieved the car. What felt like a hard day's work to me had taken less than two hours (free allotment). Both disappointed because we thought we were going to get the biopsy! We came home and R stayed home reading the Atlantic to ease the pain. I cooked a wonderful roast pork dinner with lots of veggies and terrific apple sauce with good Mac's from a local orchard. I may go get more tomorrow after the tires; the orchard closes in a few days.

Tomorrow: tires get changed to winter! We have been having a fire in wood stove but finally turned on some heat a couple days ago. Put the "winter" quilt on the bed.

Aside from energy, very little decluttered - just a whole bunch of cobwebs!

Thinking of Charmion and her major loss. It never ends, only lessens in intensity if we allow it, and still may come in great nasty waves when we least expect it. You seem to have done a monumental job of de-cluttering, which can be both helpful and hurtful. I had a recent visit from the "love of my life" and his latest partner. I asked him how long it had been - 48 years! It's complicated -Life and all it entails.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Thompson
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 04:35 AM

Reminds me of the Derry Girls episode where it was revealed that Protestants keep the toaster in the press.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 08:11 AM

Anglican from the cradle, Thompson. Just sayin’.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 01:12 PM

Never having watched that program I looked it up. IMDb says nothing in any of the 19 episodes about a toaster, so it must be a minor plot point? The B or C story? What kind of press - printing, clothes, etc.?

Older dog is spending the day at the vet, the younger one is kind of rattling around the house feeling lonely. The older blue heeler would be perfectly content to be the only dog here but this younger one needs a playmate.

As of this week I am no longer the only family member with pets. My daughter sent me a photo yesterday of a striped brown and black domestic shorthair who turned up on their property a few weeks ago and lived under the shed. Seems it was always friendly but perhaps shy at first. No longer. Vet clears her as healthy and she will be spayed in two weeks and now lives in the house. My daughter's wife has posted about it on Facebook, noting that the "universal cat distribution system made a stop" at their house. She is named Nutmeg. The photo is of the cat asleep on the chair beside her, kneading the lap she's next to. That lucky little cat landed in the right place at the right time.

I finished the book last night. Interesting conclusion, giving me ideas for the name of next year's thread, and hopefully enough inspiration to speed up putting things up on eBay.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 01:58 PM

In Ireland, Stilly, a press is what we call a cupboard or (in the kitchen) a cabinet.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 03:08 PM

Sign of improving mood - began the excavation of That Chair. You know what chair.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 04:32 PM

I have a pole-type coat rack in my bedroom so the armchair doesn’t become That Chair. Left to his own devices, my husband would have kept at least half his wardrobe on That Chair.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Oct 24 - 06:42 PM

I had in mind it might be a closet, but all I got out was "clothes." Close, kinda.

In my room it is the cedar chest that plays the role of The Chair.

The 10-year-old blue heeler is home from the vet and a bit out of sorts. We'll see how she approaches dinner, but I talked to the vet and he said they're nothing going on in her mouth (bad tooth, infection, etc.) so it's in her head, that she isn't fond of her current dry food. She's very energetic, nothing wrong there. He said dry is better for their teeth, so I'll work on this. I took a small set of portable pooch stairs out to the SUV so she could dismount easily (she was a little wobbly still this afternoon). Not happy with the steps since she has never used them before. Recheck next week so I'll leave the steps in the garage and she can use them to get in and understand more about what they are.

Cooler today, finally. The Capri pants I was wearing were a little light, so it'll be jeans tomorrow. So nice to feel chilly!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Oct 24 - 12:14 PM

The chickpeas soaked overnight and in the morning I'll grind up a fresh batch of felafel dough for tomorrow's lunch. I looked up how to make them without the usual 1/4 cup of wheat flour to bind it. My recipe book also has bulgur as an ingredient that I'll simply skip, but something needs to help consistency. The Interwebs tell me that I can use chickpea flour instead so I've pulled that package from the freezer (I have several non-wheat flours to choose from). Another option might be to add some psyllium but I didn't see anyone suggest it (an ingredient in gluten free tortillas and pancakes that binds but still lets it be flexible.)

Favorite pair of ankle-height boots have been re-heeled and are ready for pickup. This instead of discarding and buying new. Two rugs dropped off the same day will be in the shop for much longer for cleaning (and cost a lot more to retrieve). When I pick up the rugs I'll decide then if I also want him to repair one end that is close to unraveling; he said we could clean them first then decide on that, and that way I'll spread out the sticker shock.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: pattyClink
Date: 18 Oct 24 - 06:01 PM

Taking a break on a day of unpacking book boxes, breaking down dozens of empty boxes which have been piling up, and general tidying. Feels wonderful to have some daylight floor space opening up in the library/office, even if there's still half a wall of boxes hanging about.

Also dug down into the big boxes and found the heavy winter coverlets; needed one this week on a trip in the RV and will need one in the house. We went from balmy and calm days to chilly and windy. Darn shame for the snowbirds beginning to arrive.

On the toaster front, I discovered if an item is too fat for a slim one-slicer, you can air-fry it for a few minutes. Everything on the counter should multi-task and pull its weight!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Oct 24 - 07:50 PM

It sounds like the house is coming along, Patty. And because it's your house you can just kick back when you want.

Cat sitting is a fraught process, tomorrow morning I may be taking one to board at the vet where they can more consistently stuff the little guy with small amounts of food. He isn't eating enough to maintain his weight even with my several stops in a day. Owner will decide in the morning after breakfast when we see if maybe he simply didn't like what was being offered earlier. She has finally realized that the reason she is so stressed is all of this stuff with her cats. I hated to interrupt her few days away, because I think the relaxing is good for her, but she indicated that this might come up.

Meanwhile, my boots look good, and the new heels will probably outlast the rest of them. Brief conversation with the owner brought up politics and I told him I hoped he voted, whoever he votes for.

Juggling a lot tomorrow, but getting a good head start tonight.

Forgot to mention (or maybe I did) that I paid off the heat pump early. The credit union had already mailed the next 14 months worth of coupons when I paid it, so I happily shredded them. And since it's paid off I dedicated a few of the dollars no longer going to that payment to a couple of good causes. Donation to Planned Parenthood (the Texas branch this time) and another political campaign. But I think that's it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Oct 24 - 11:03 AM

I renewed my United Way donation schedule yesterday. It's taken off my civil service pension at source so I don't even think about it, let alone have time to come up with spurious reasons to begrudge it.

One of my favourite winter garments is a boiled wool waistcoat (vest to Americans). It is now almost laughably big on me but I'm not giving it up unless and until I can find another one just like it but two sizes smaller. Today we are enjoying what passes for Indian Summer in these parts -- bright sun, forecast high of 20 degrees Celsius -- but next week will be a different story: solid rain setting in by Thursday, with frost at night and highs around 10 degrees Celsius. I'm not parting with any of my flannel shirts either, even if the cuffs come down to my knuckles.

Congratulations on paying off your heat pump, Stilly. Every debt sent packing is another deposit in the bank of FREEDOM!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Oct 24 - 07:40 PM

I finally started a spreadsheet to keep better track of those donations. If you don't you'll get annual donation requests from groups every few months and I always wonder when I last paid. I know I'm actually giving annually now, and I picked up a couple I'd let lapse.

Got a good workout in the kitchen today as I cut up a lot of lettuce for salad (the salad spinner after washing lettuce is a concentrated upper body workout if you overstuff the spinner basket) then made tahini sauce, made the tea for iced tea, and finally, made the felafel balls and had them ready when guests arrived. Not a lot of food, but I don't seem to have cooked as much this summer (because it's summer, mostly). One thing about the ADHD meds, they make it easier to plan and execute a meal like this without getting distracted from what you're doing. Last Thanksgiving was amazing that way.

I'm halfway through the long weekend of cat-sitting activities; I got the little guy back on track eating enough so he doesn't need to go to the vet for extra attention. I'll head over there for the dinner meal so I can get home in time to watch Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. I'll miss Sister Boniface - I haven't watched many of those but as goofy as they both are, that one is more contrived. I haven't quite figured out what her exact period is, but she seems (like the Father Cadfael mysteries) to be out of sync with the actual skills and philosophy of her fictional "time."

Dishes running, laundry needs folding, and there are always papers that need filing and general picking up around here.

Felafel was good, and the carbs in chickpeas aren't as high as many other grain or bean-type foods. Along with the salad and tahini sauce it was pretty high in protein and fat compared to carbs. And it turns out all of our group are adjusting our diets lately, for various reasons. One guest is now cooking for one, another thinks he's borderline diabetic and finally has access to health insurance (eligible for Medicare and an Advantage plan) and the other is dealing with allergies. It's always something!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Oct 24 - 10:52 AM

Laundry finally pulled out of the dryer and folded or hung up; the Capri pants were this time not put on pants hangers, they're part of the "folded" and were put back on the shelf till next summer. At the same time I've pulled a couple of long sleeve shirts to the front of the rack. Clothes change with the season.

Cat sitting will run a day short since it seems the pump from the well at the country house is not working. She'll head home in time for the cat's dinner and I'm sure to their delight lots of treats from someone who is there all day long. Just as well, I have other things to do. She has another trip coming up next week

It's time to rearrange the stuff in the garage and change out a couple of the boxes that usually ride around in the back of the SUV. One that will be added back has more winter-type supplies (a blanket, a large frost scraper, etc.)

The donation bin is being added to after emptying a couple of weeks ago. I'm looking at some of the t-shirts in my closet with messages that are becoming so worn they're not legible (the trouble with those heat-attached art pieces versus silk screen). They're too worn to donate but still have a lot of life in them. I have a couple of shirts I'm using with the blue heeler this week that are about worn out from her use, so perhaps the closet shirts will become dog recovery shirts when the current dog shirts get trashed. (Right now Pepper is rocking a red cowl neck cotton knit shirt that stays in place better and looks great with her black and white merle coat.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 11:44 AM

I have now set aside two comparatively big-ticket items for sale: the Kitchen-Aid stand mixer, and a circa-1960 Danish settee made of beautiful walnut with loose cushions. It's the only settee I've ever seen that a reasonably fit woman (such as I) can carry upstairs -- or down! -- by herself without risking her life.

I never should have bought that settee. I thought it would work in the sitting room but it never quite did -- too long for one spot, too short for another, back not quite high enough for comfortable reading. But it's a fine piece of Mid-Century Modern furniture and some decor enthusiast will gladly take it off my hands.

As for the mixer, the kitchen is like it was never there.

I should add the Blend-Tec blender to the Items To Go group, and make up my mind what to do with the Breville toaster-oven. (Maybe Habitat for Humanity after a good scrub, with a warning about the random beeping.) The ancestral flip-flop toaster is wending its way from Ottawa by Canada Post and, when it arrives, the batterie de cuisine will have returned to 1975 standards. Except for the fancy coffee mill. I'm not giving that up unless it, too, starts emitting random beeps.

The doctor's admin person telephoned this morning with the results of my latest blood tests: cholesterol and electrolyte levels are within the normal range. I take this to mean that I can stop fretting and get on with living my best ketogenic/low-carb life. I'm a bit peckish; time for a nice piece of cheese!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 12:18 PM

Good news on all fronts, Charmion! I have a whitewashed Mexican pine loveseat that I've moved around the house, unlike your Danish modern that doesn't quite fit, this fits very well but I have to decide where I want to leave it. Right now it hosts dog paraphernalia next to the back door so no humans may sit on it, but I am almost sure I've figured out the dog food thing with my blue heeler and if I can get to where they both eat one type of food, I can remove the second large food bin in the antique trunk and fill it with the dog stuff, clearing my bench for me. Yes, that's vague - I could fill the trunk or fill the bin with dog stuff. Not sure which yet.

A dive into the closet this morning. I've put the sandals away in one wire drawer where they live 3/4 of the year. I took a look at shelves I usually forget about and realized happily that a skirt I used to wear years ago fits again, though the t-shirt I used to wear with it is getting rather worn. Another lovely skirt with a wide elastic band looks good except the elastic has expired adding half again as much circumference to the waist. Put a new waistband on, wear a belt, or use it for something else (sewing project)? I pulled a shopping bag with a large leather satchel to list on eBay, and there are a couple of others in there I should also list (not used much). The bag I'll offer to the younger women in the family first. (Daughter, Daughter-in-law, and partner of son.)

There's still a bulky (18" cubed) safe on the top shelf of that closet built-in, somehow attached to the wall behind the drywall. It wiggles but won't pry loose. Never had the combination. Maybe it's time again to see if I can find a way to get it out. Patching that part of the wall is easy enough, but I fear I need to make the hole larger before I patch it, to see what is going on with the safe's anchor (probably screwed to a stud).

In the pantry I'm pulling out too-old-even-for-me home-canned jelly a half-pint at a time and dissolving it into the 3-gallon bucket of water in the sink and then pouring the contents over parts of the garden. The sugar is a perfectly good stimulator for the soil, an easy fertilizer. Might as well use it where I can get the most good from it now. We haven't had rain for weeks so I'm still having to water parts of the yard to keep things healthy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 12:59 PM

Stilly, I too have a good sturdy skirt in which the elastic has expired. I hate to get rid of the skirt just because of the elastic, which has cracked and crackled and broken into various pieces inside the waistband. It would be quite a job to open up that neatly-sewn waistband in order to extract the broken-up elastic and install new elastic, but with a garment this serviceable it might be worth it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 02:30 PM

I'm planning to take the waistband off and redo the elastic. It is a job - but by the time the elastic wears out again it probably won't matter. The first skirt I mentioned is unusual in that it has pockets; I might add pockets to the other one while I'm at it. Both garments are gathered at the waist and have a crinkled fabric look (so if you sit in it once it doesn't show creases the rest of the day) and not so full through the bottom of the skirt that they make me look like a blob. Worth keeping on hand.

This morning I missed a meeting at one of my volunteer places - completely forgot, even with the calendar reminder on my phone. It's time to pull out some of the training materials and read through them myself. I think this week is otherwise back to normal with a nothing back-to-back on the calendar.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Oct 24 - 06:37 PM

sometime back a friend pulled out (dusted off???) her crinoline to use under her Colonial ball grown - the elastic had stretched so I knotted it, leaving a tail about half a metre long!! We were both giggling ... probably not the only ones in the Hall.

I was lucky with a winter velvet skirt a couple of years ago, I was able to thread some thinner elastic over one track of the rotten elastic so didn't need to unpick all the channels, I just needed to use a sharp needle to get over the side seams.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Oct 24 - 11:45 AM

More sewing in my future - not just the skirt. I'll modify the shirts headed for the dog bin. One of the trashed t-shirts the dogs wore post-surgery had a "normal" neckline, but for dogs that hole is large enough that if they happen to snag the shirt on their own back foot (step on it) they can actually walk out of the shirt through the neckhole. The old one has a large dart sewn into the back of the neck narrowing that orifice. The thing is, if they want they could shred the shirts in no time flat, by themselves or through roughhouse play, but they all seem to understood this is the accommodation to live with if they don't want to wear the "Elizabethan cone" (the huge plastic cone of shame that clobbers the bodies of other dogs and legs of humans nearby and makes exit through the dog door difficult.)

In the pantry I've pulled out a flat of canned relish and pickles from 2020 that will go into the compost, jars into the dishwasher. There is another flat of jelly down there, and I'm continuing to dissolve more of it to be poured as fertilizer over various plants that benefit from a boost. I plan to put in a garden in next spring so these jars will be used for canning tomatoes and making non-sweet (or low-sugar) relish and pickles, and pickled okra (for the neighbors who love it).

The neighbors notice if I have a garden or not. In the past when my knees were so bad I didn't do much one year, but after the first surgery and I could do the work, people stopped to say they were glad to see the garden and hoped I was well. So in the spring if people ask, I'll let them know that statins aren't for everyone, case in point.

Charmion, we'd love a report about the arrival of the toaster and where it will live. It sounds small enough that it should be in view where it can be a work of art when it isn't being a utilitarian item.

Dorothy, did you get your ballot mailed?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Oct 24 - 08:42 PM

The brave little toaster has arrived in Stratford and settled into its new home. It works just fine, but it’s no work of art — more than 60 years of wear and tear have done a number on its chrome plating. And I like the look of empty space on the kitchen counter.

My right arm is still sore after yesterday’s COVID booster, but I don’t mind. I’m still very grateful for the vaccines. Flu shot next, when the pharmacy has a spot in its schedule.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Oct 24 - 11:57 PM

You sent photos - thank you! of that incredibly uncluttered cupboard and of the little toaster that could. Perhaps if I notice any of those in Goodwill I'll know how to promote them on eBay, should I choose to pick one up.

I moved some Tupperware bowls (a nested set) to a lower shelf in a low cupboard, and the measuring pitcher (mine also has a lid) fits on top of them. These are the last of the brand that I still use regularly, and now are much easier to reach from this place. It clears out obstacles in my Pyrex shoulder-level cupboard where the bowls used to live. This makes the kitchen more efficient and still allows me to use fewer plastic containers.

This afternoon I headed to the town where I used to work and hoped to find fresh 3-litre bottles of olive oil, but they haven't arrived yet at the Halal market. Soon. I did get a smallish bag of chickpeas and some sesame seeds, but in the future I'll buy those at my local Winco in the bulk section. Winco will never have the olive oil, though. After shopping I attended a talk in the university speaker's series that was really top notch. I debated about going by myself, but in the end it wasn't a big deal. I parked close enough and the walk back to the parking lot is well lit and there are still a lot of people out at 8:30 in the evening.

Trash day tomorrow. Will I have enough to bother to take to the curb? (The question should be: how is it that the neighbors find so much to throw away and not recycle?)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 24 Oct 24 - 09:24 AM

Hurrah for "the brave little toaster" "that could"! :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Oct 24 - 08:16 PM

I'm back to my volunteer schedule this week and the archivist and I did some organizing in the collection I've been scanning since 2020. Now all of the rest of the boxes of archival plastic sleeves of slides are arranged in folders so searching them (after searching through the metadata I'm entering when I scan) is easy. We both had worried that the last few boxes might need a lot of work, more folders added and the over-stuffed boxes partially emptied into new containers, but that was not the case. It's easy to put off a job that you fear is going to be complicated, and now we both know it isn't. It'll still take a long time, but it's in good order. Now to do something similar with my personal slide collection (that's why I initially started this volunteer project—to get my hands on the scanner and slides there and decide how I wanted to handle my own).

Since I made felafel last weekend and the small deep fryer was still out (oil and all) I soaked chickpeas yesterday and today made another batch this evening. My ex was over for dinner and I sent quite a few home with him, along with most of the tahini sauce. I kept enough for one more meal here. I need to use chickpeas more often, they're one of those good carbs.

Another case of old canned goods are decanted into the compost pile and jars in the dishwasher. I have at least one more case to go. [Sigh] I'm tossing the output of labor from the garden and canning two and more years ago. I should have done a better job of giving some of this away.

Next I need to decide what to do with the mustang grape juice in the freezer. The highest use would be to make jelly to give for the holidays perhaps - and be sure it is all given away. It can go into some of these jars liberated today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Oct 24 - 11:56 AM

After several days the last of the political emails have been unsubscribed. When they arrived they loaded into their own folder and occasionally I looked to see if there was something worthy of a donation, but at this point the parties are swimming in cash and the folks making money now are the consultants doing all of the begging emails.

Several cases of canning jars are sorted into their respective sizes with two cases of mixed jars within reach in the pantry. I use them for food storage and freezing so those get used enough that these boxes are convenient. The rest are stacked on the floor under the pantry shelving. I have a feeling there is a case of expired jelly still lurking somewhere.

More cat-sitting this weekend, so a chance to think about efficient ways to make each run count for more than just cats. Gym and museum stops are at the top of that list. Cash from cat sitting this fall is earmarked for the cost of cleaning two more Persian carpets.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Oct 24 - 03:51 PM

Loaded up on produce for the dogs and me today, and this means the evening will be spent preparing some of those to be frozen (cutting up strawberries) and cooking others (carrots, potatoes) for the upcoming dog meals (they get fruit or vegetables on top of the dry in their bowls twice a day).

The fresh pickles I made a while back are past their prime; most of them have been used but there are a couple of jars headed to the compost, and some small cukes bought today will go into pickles for next month. It's best when I grow my own cucumbers with the particular varieties that are best for pickles (they are hybrids with names that indicate that's what they're for). Next spring I'll get back into the pickle business.

It looks like the rest of October our days will be close to 90^o, but then a good chance of rain brings us into the 70s on Halloween and the week beyond. Often times with forecasts the days of rain keep moving further out on the calendar, but so far they seem to be set. Probably has to do with Halloween itself - so many children expressing wishes for no rain but not strong enough to defeat the more powerful silent wishes of parents for rain. :) Not scientific, but there you have it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Oct 24 - 03:16 PM

I got up tired today, did morning church and decided to bow out of Evensong — I would like to be functional tomorrow.

My favourite diner is going out of business; today is their last day. The owners somehow struggled through the pandemic, but they haven’t had a holiday in years, they’re losing money, and they’re not getting any younger. Keto regimen kicked to the curb for the occasion, I ate their very last order of huevos rancheros smothered in green salsa with blobs of Frank’s Hot Sauce, and now I feel like the boa constrictor who swallowed the pig. Worth it, though.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 24 - 05:48 PM

Huevos rancheros is already pretty much keto, isn't it? Eggs and cheese? Vegetables in it, and the salsa? But it does sound like an excellent occasion to eat in whatever form offered. :)

Cat sitting is concluded, my friend texted to say she is headed home a little early so no dinner run. Gives me more time to work on some of my stuff this evening. My shopping is also mostly concluded, what is left can wait till tomorrow.

So much to do around here. I need to make a couple of lists, because there are different categories of things. All of it seems lately to have resulted in pieces of paper sitting around to serve as mnemonic devices for said tasks. Then file or shred or recycle the paper.