BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011

Subject: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 07:48 PM

Today didn't slip past me, but I was out taking care of work that kept me away from the computer. Here is the May 2011 thread.

My wall is finished. I probably should have sprayed it a bit with water, the mortar is cracked in places as it dried, but it will do. Once it has flowers all over, the wall will age gracefully. A large tarantula moved in as I was working on the mortar, a large velvety and brown spider that moved over to a crack and made him or herself at home. I love it that the wildlife see possibilities here. I need to finish shoveling the dirt that is piled in front of it - that will go on top and in other places around the yard that need a little leveling. But this is a major project I've fussed about for literally years, and now that the bulk of the work is finished I can set about decorating it with flowers. Xeriscape, as usual, but still, with flowers.

The dogs have been washed and I put peroxide on a couple of hot spots on Cinnamon. I'll begin giving her an antihistamine (the vet recommends Zyrtec, so I get the knock-off brand at Sam's club- a year's supply for under $20).

eBay box mailed, and I'm going to list the tiller on Craig's list tomorrow. No point in listing when I'm not going to be home to show it. Today was payday, so the timing is excellent.

I hope people who have been under the weather revive and take a run at the projects they're wanting to do. If I can finally build that darned wall, I can do anything. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 05:32 AM

Yesterday I went on a "Health Walk" organised by the local authority. They are weekly, for an hour, on public footpaths around the village. For those across the pond, the UK is networked with old paths which were originally for workers to go from their cottages to their places of work, or people to go to the church. They go through woods and across fields, and the land owners are required to keep them usable as they are defined as "rights of way". Round here, they seem to do this really well, with cleared lines across the crops. (Back thirty five years ago, I did find a stile (wooden structure for crossing fence, owned by the local authority) covered with barbed wire, while parts of the hedges were smoothed down to allow the hunt to jump them.)

Anyway, the walk set off along paved village estate paths, then through a publicly owned meadow, a cut down through a wood by a loud alsatian in the garden of a larger house, across a field of ripening rape (the stuff oil comes from - canola?) with poppies, like an Impressionist painting, past a car breakers' yard, and up through another wood to the open land belonging to the village. The pace was easy, and i felt better after it. I'll be going on more of these. There's another one at the next village as well.

I think it's run on the principle that money spent on organising these (one leader, and two others to make sure no-one drops behind un-noticed) is minimal, and it helps to save money on health issues later.

I then set off for the cherry farm, and remembered I had to sort out the insurance for the flats, so did that, bought cherries, bean and pea plants. Back at home, I put more soil in the raised bed for the legumes, dug out some compost from the bin and mixed it in with the soil, topped it off with some bought "topsoil". In my book, topsoil does not come with included black plastic. It was much more like a compost as it had no mineral component. Anyway, I planted out the dwarf runner beans, and some peas, and then watered everything. I had managed to kill the seeds I tried myself for these plants by allowing them to overheat. This morning I put in some seeds directly for the climbing runner beans.

The cherries are "Early Rivers" and they are much sweeter than last years, which were late - these are really early. I suppose eating cherries counts as a healthy activity!

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 08:55 AM

Last year's cold tub in Dog World will be this year's cold tub-- on the front porch right in the middle of my sales biz, which is a FR effort for ministry travel expenses. We hope to open the sale Saturday, and each week it's open will feature different items. This week (if we can be ready) it's a brand new AC and some bed rails to make a twin a toddler-friendly space, a wheelchair, and misc.

Funds raised go not only to my own ministry travels but others on Commissions on which I serve, and local parishioners traveling for ministry ed. It will be administered by someone else.

Upcoming weeks when I can fit them into my own travel sched will include furniture, knick-knackery, linens...

The pedometer, now that summer busy-ness has kicked in, will be spot-checking.

Ydy both halves of the flesh explored Lambs Creek. I was able to load the scooter myself for the first time. Riding time 45 minutes, a good limit for the first half of the month.

Another activity ydy was hustling up some water containers for a friend's surprise visit, and a photo visit with his daughter.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 12:25 PM

This time of year I rinse my dishes in a big tub of water, then I scoop it into buckets and go out several times a day to pour the water on the plants that need them. It really is astonishing how much water we let run down the drain simply to rinse off our fingers or brush our teeth. So I have a bucket in the sink to catch that barely used water, and it goes to the garden. One of these days I'll rig a line through the window out to a cistern of some sort, to save a few steps.

I sent gnu information about the food strainer/grinder I use (borrow) for canning my tomatoes and making juice and sauce. It's getting to be that time of year again. I need to declutter the sun room so I have room to work for food storage activity. (I had some peaches for breakfast this morning that I canned last summer. Mmmm!)

I need to make a list again of things to do, and I need to start addressing the work/play yes/no dialog I find going on, now that I've been reading this procrastination book. "It feels good to be on time" vs "I can take just one more look at facebook before I leave." Etc. I need to lose weight, so I need to manage my evening meal better so it's earlier in the day. I'm good at putting it off until after the sun sets, and having that second glass of wine that means I'm layering on calories instead of burning them when I go to bed.

To this end, I'm going to clear the kitchen counter and pull out my prettiest tea making cups, equipment, pots, and find some herbal teas to substitute for evening wine sipping. Perhaps the reward of using a pretty cup and little pot will distract me from the anticipated enjoyment aspects of a glass of wine. I'm pretty sure it is the calories, the sugars, not the alcohol that is my habit. So I need to switch from calories to no calories, and still have something to sip in the evening. I'm also going to have to find a way to make myself stop what I'm doing and come in and eat earlier.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 12:39 PM

It is a shame to have to stop when there is good daylight and you have the energy. Could you make up something ahead of time in slow cooker, or a big salad with some protein, eat outside and get right back to work for a few hours? mg

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 12:43 PM

You're right, and I have begun to manage it occasionally. I walk the dogs at 7pm with a friend, and she always eats before the walk. I've been trying to do that more often, and it needs to become habit.

I think I need to fix it ahead or have components so I can eat a light meal in the evening then resume work. Sandwich, salad, whatever. I should make lunch my biggest meal, and dinner less of a calorie source.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 01:04 PM

I've been thinking about the water issue - we're well below usual rainfall for the time of year, and we aren't on the wet side of Britain. No hosepipe ban, yet. The trouble is that all my water pipes are on the front of the building, with nowhere to run waste water to catch it - I don't own the frontage. And, apart from the downstairs loo, the water is on the two upper floors, and it would be difficult to carry water down. The problem there is the cold water that runs through before the hot - I really ought to catch it somehow. The taps (faucets) aren't a style that a hose would fit on easily. I could, if I could get it into them, use plastic camping containers, I suppose.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 01:11 PM

And I haven't done much today - that healthy walk took it out of me a bit. Chased a new cat out of the garden. Paid the windowcleaner - who did not do the ground floor at the back. Picked about 6 strawberries.

I have eaten enough out of the cupboards in the utility room that I have been able to move the bottled fruit and marmalade out of one of the cupboards, into which I have been able to put some of the laundry stuff, so making the place look just a bit tidier. But not much.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 04:20 PM

The LR is full of boxes to put in the car to go to the country. The shed is "almost" empty. One good truckload would do it - if the truck did not need an exhaust system. I know today is Thurs because I had to park on the other side. I was going to make an extra car trip but it is nice and cool so I thought I would get some tomatoes planted, Did five yesterday and three container ones today. Then I could not find the rest of the carefully saved egg shells. I'll search some more later. I sat down for lunch and got involved in raccoon sites.

Added to previous comments on a newspaper site: A man was arrested in Toronto for beating on mom and kits with a stick or shovel. The comment section was an opportunity to do some education. Received an email this am from a woman near To. who was delighted to read my blog and I am delighted to meet her. Makes the effort worth while and, hopefully, I gave some of he others food for thought. "I challenge you to read my blog...."

After rush hour, I shall bring the car around and load it for tomorrow. Hmmm It's cool and I have time... I could walk to the library. GOOD idea. Maybe I'll remember where I put the eggshells.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 08:23 PM

Something today reminded me of this interview with Peter Walsh on the Nate Berkus Show.

"If you declutter your home it will save you 40% of the time you spend cleaning." That's a keeper!

A coworker has been diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer. She's going through radiation and chemo now, and is not eating much. A friend tells me she loves pumpkin bread, without the nuts, so I picked up a can of pumpkin and will dig out the oldest recipe that I have - the one with lots of oil. My friend thinks the extra calories in this instance might be helpful. I also have a lower fat recipe, so I'll copy that one also.

I need to pick up around here. It's building up again, all of the level surfaces are collecting things. Nothing new there, is it?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 10:47 PM

Walk accomplished, we won't see Susie and Zeke for a few days because they're headed out of town for the weekend. It has been very good for me to have someone to walk with; I haven't talked to another person so often about so many things for a very long time!

I searched for the receipt from getting the tiller fixed, but didn't find it. I do have an owners manual (found and saved the PDF on the Internet) and the parts list (same source). I am writing the description tonight and will call the repair shop in the morning to see if they can look it up and tell me what they know about it. And they might even have a suggestion about selling it.

I found my pumpkin bread recipes so will scan them and send both to a co-worker who asked about them. I have taken this to the office in the past as a holiday gift, so she knows what one of the recipes tastes like. I'll time my baking so that this is very fresh next time I head to campus and can deliver it. The woman going through radiation and chemo is working half-days as long as she feels up to it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 12:41 AM

SRS,

   Chemo often leaves a horrible taste in one's mouth for a week or longer. I found that really sour things (sour patch kids, lemons, etc) helped. Maybe your friend might like a box of sour patch kids to go with that pumpkin roll. Just a thought. If she can tolerate yogurt, Chobani Greek yogurt is great (raspberry and lemon are both tart)...15 grams of protein in a small cup....great for getting protein in when you don't feel like eating much.

My goal for this month is to have my office cleaned out (it's MUCH more organized now)....all yard sale items to be priced and a new paint color decided upon. I'd also like to have the front porch cleaned off and turned back into a place of respite instead of winter storage/gear/feed bags and buckets. We also have a fire pit that I'm anxious to get in place and a pool to open for the season.

   Any kind of formal exercise is probably out for now as I've injured my foot...something on the top of my foot to the outer edge. I have no idea what I've done but it hurts like heck. If it's still this painful on Monday, I'll be in touch with my doctor. If it goes away on it's own AND the weather stays as cool as it was today, I'm hoping to go to Zumba. That's great fun! Informal exercise hopefully will include hiking a few trails, taking a day on the weekend to walk the local Rails to Trails, fishing and....wait for it....KAYAKING!!!! I wasn't able to kayak at all last summer...I was far too weak after the chemo but I think I'm up for it now!! HOORAY!!!! Jeremiah will be joining me! He has a special life jacket with straps that go between his legs and attack to the top part, a piece to keep his face up out of the water and a handle for a quick grab out of the water. I am sooo excited to take him out!!!!
    Also this month, there are a ton of Relay For Life activities going on, an ovarian cancer walk, parades to walk in, etc. and can't forget the gardening!!! I have 4 cancer/endocrinology appointments this month as well.
   Oh...and one last thing, I have a little boy who is walking more and more, who loves to climb and can crawl like the wind!!!!

Busy, busy, busy, oh so happily busy!!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 03:49 PM

This morning I glanced at a To-Do list I stuck to the fridge last year; most of the big ones were still open. I'm happy to announce that all of the items on that old list were finished. In the last 12 months I cleared and extended the garden, did a lot of compost tasks, I got all of the concrete, mortar, stone and rock building work done on both the front wall and the keyhole garden. I also had phone wiring listed, but since I don't have a wired phone any more, that isn't necessary. I will make a new list and make a note of completing some data wiring to two rooms (uses a different jack), a modification of the old plan. Whew!

I mowed the front lawn early this morning and did a little watering and transplanting. I have more transplanting and weeding, but I'll pace myself and save most of it for evening.

It's hot but breezy out, and I was in the shady part of the back yard with the dogs this afternoon when the grandkids from next door came out into that yard. We had quite a pleasant conversation over the back fence.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 04:09 PM

Survivor Shirt? Check.
Teal Beads? Check.
Teal Bracelets? Check.
Survivor Bracelet? Check.
Teal Ribbon? Check.
Camera? Check.
Viking Helmet? Check.

Look out Relay For Life, HERE I COME!!! WOOOO HOOOO!!!

**************HAPPY DANCE********************

I'm figuring a couple miles on my feet tonight at the very least.

Be well Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 05:27 PM

Busy weekend to begin an exciting summer, Michelle - sounds like you'll have a great year! I like the description earlier of the baby life jacket for on the water. He should enjoy that!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 06:24 PM

Pedometer: 3425 yesterday.

May numbers averaged 2500 steps per day with a high of 4000+, so June's goal is to average 3400.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 07:51 PM

Wed. and today - hour exercise with Morgan at the cardio-pulmonary rehab classes. The OTs were great, helping him with each station. He went like crazy and we all wished we could bottle some of his energy.

It's been a very busy week and next week looks the same. He will start summer school, we think, on the 13th? Don't know for how long, but I'll still have him half days.

I continue to lose weight.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 09:13 PM

Today's action was porch re-arranging with Hardi, and later, a scooter trip towards Ansonia, where I learned that I MUST bring the dog I thought we should bring tonight, and did not bring. But TBTG I had brought my cell phone, shoes, slippers (warm hands), and warm shirt. I'll have to rethink what needs to be standard on board for these trips away from the van, when also away from amenities. A scooter is not like a horse that can think, for itself, about getting you out of the trouble you steer it into. (Not like Dipper, at all.)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 11:21 PM

Relay was FABULOUS!!!!!!

I got 2 tattoos, walked a few miles, made new friends, passed on something special to a total stranger and spent time reflecting.

If you have never been to a Relay For Life event, I HIGHLY recommend it, especially from dusk on. There's nothing like it.

Time to call it a night. I volunteered to help work an early shift at a chicken BBQ fundraiser (for the Relay For Life) and then on to some yard sales!!

Night Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 11 - 01:37 AM

Laundry is underway, kitchen is cleaner, but not finished. More weeds have been pulled from the berm, and tomorrow I'll make a push to try to finish it. Bills have been paid, and I've updated contact information in anticipation of phasing out the house phone. I've reached the point where it seems silly to have another number beyond the one I carry in my pocket.

No response so far on my Craig's List ad for the tiller. I'll see about running one on eBay (I'll see if these things sell on eBay first) or else I'll load it in the truck and take it to the shop I called today. He said he buys them at the wholesale price, probably half of what I want in my original ads. If I can't get rid of it, I'll do that.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 04 Jun 11 - 03:19 AM

Yesterday I finally got round to some correspondence I had been putting off in the morning, had a snooze and went out shopping. Bought some more cherries, but ended up with far too many to eat immediately, as the bag broke as I got into the car, so the people gave me a new bag of two pounds, while I still had the rest of the first lot.

So I squashed them all into a preserving jar and went through the bottling process.

The supermarket had had some reduced full cream milk and cream, so I used the hot water to heat that to make real clotted cream with the scalded taste overnight - it is odd how much the volume reduces doing that. This morning I skimmed it, and, having been reminded by reading a thread somewhere about Devon cream and junket, put rennet in the warm skimmed milk, with sugar and rosewater. Though the rennet is well past its use by date, it has worked. This probably does not count as healthy! Even with my strawberries. I'll have to make some scones for the cream. (I gather scones are the same sort of thing as American biscuits. Plain flour, baking powder, butter, water, handle very gently, bake and eat warm.)

Before all that, I scraped out as much as I could of the bottom layer of my compost bin, using a hoe, jammed the upper layer down into the resulting space and filled the top with vinca and geraniums. I now need to scrape out the comfrey slurry from the water tank and put it on top of it. The bin design is a bit flawed as there is only one place to access the compost, and some of it will be sitting at the back for years. It looks lovely stuff, though. Though there were some odd things in it - an old bread plastic bag, for example. I must have been a little careless on one of my trips with kitchen waste. No sign of the mice, or the frog. I suspect Weasley, with his friend Douglas (the ginger cat), may have limited the mouse population.

I also realised that I need not have the hammock frame covered with an unsightly tarpaulin if I remove the cloth part, and it looks a lot better. This is a folding hammock, which conveniently shuts up to about six and a half foot high, and is very awkward to move. A mistaken purchase, I think.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 11 - 11:39 AM

Your process with cream is a mystery to me, but interesting! As far as scones/biscuits, scones are a richer, sweeter version of what we call baking powder biscuits. I make my biscuits with water, not milk, and though I tend to use butter now they're often (usually) made with shortening.

I've been adjusting the rope lines on the clothes line, and will next hang a load that washed last night. Had a good over-the-back-fence chat with the next door neighbor - when you have great neighbors, those are a special kind of conversation, aren't they? Anyway, more laundry to wash, and I need to finish moving the dirt in front of the berm. I delayed putting out my soaker hoses this year because I wanted to move one stone wall first, and now that I have a clear path around that corner of the house, I'll arrange them and get them going.

There are several partially set up or ready to do projects here that I probably should list on my fridge, and check next year to see if I completed them. :) Things I already have the materials for so there is no more expense, just the performance of the job.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 04 Jun 11 - 02:00 PM

SRS,

Have you listed your tiller on FB? Sometimes people will buy a used item (of that size and price range) more readily if they know you.

The Chicken BBQ was a hit, packed up lots of dinners and sold even more halves of chicken. I have to say, it was DELICIOUS!!!! I bought 2 extra halves of chicken so we have some for dinner tomorrow night too! YUMMY!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jun 11 - 07:07 PM

We got at it in the yard this morning. Rog mowed the front & side yards, then weed whacked. I finally got out in the driveway to tie up my sweetpeas. That terrible dust bowl day we had a couple of weeks ago laid them low and they just didn't bounce back. They look great otherwise, very full and almost ready to bloom. I couldn't find the string, so I used some old yarn I've had for years, saffron coloured, so it looks quite colourful already. I deadheaded all annuals and watered them and the perennial garden, and also picked up trash and pulled a few weeds before Rog came round with the whacker.

Then came the big job. There is a "volunteer" Russian Olive tree which came up several years ago, in the driveway, snug up against the picket fence. I've been wanting him to cut it down for ages, but we've only trimmed it now and then. It was blocking some light for my redbud tree. So, today, Rog went to work and lopped off all of its branches, some quite substantial ones and I can't believe how much sunlight comes through there now! I kind of feel badly, trees are such a precious commodity out here and ROs don't require any care, but I think I will grow used to it looking so nude. We will keep it trimmed back. We also have a row of them at the back of our property line, so it wasn't the only one. I was able to help by dragging all of the branches part way to the backyard where Rog stacked them, way back. We have a good-sized fenced in what must've been a veggie garden, which became our sort of compost spot. Huge ruts from irrigation, we think, and not manageable until we have more time, cash, and desire, but in the meantime all branches, christmas trees, etc. get added to the pile. It's not what you would call a real compost heap, but if we ever woodchip it all or whatever, we could get some mulch, plus we know there are small critters and birds who like its "wildness."

We came in just at lunch as it was really starting to get hot. Ate lunch, then I started sorting through the two boxes of papers I pulled to get rid of from the filing cabinet. There is an office paper recycling thing parked at the grocery store parking lot, so when I am done shredding sensitive stuff and removing all the staples, we'll take it over. How do you like my one-finger typing? I sprained my right wrist and have a splint on and, in tearing up papers, I messed up my left index finger, it is on ice at the moment! **bg**

Do any of you remember Bartles & James wine coolers? For the first time in about twenty years I wanted a cool, alcoholic drink. Margarita wine cooler sounded really good. Both liquor stores said they don't make them any more and they had no alternatives. I found a b&j website 2011 and they do still make them, but they are only available back East! I am past wanting one now as I am cooled off, but I did find a recipe and will try it out this summer. I just don't drink, but every once in a while a margarita or amaretto sour sounds really good.:-)

















b&

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 11 - 10:36 PM

That was a big job, Kat! Sometimes coming in from a hot day a cold beer has that same attraction for me. So much better than a coke or something else sweet.

I finally finished removing the pile of dirt at the curb. The last few buckets got moved this evening, and there are little piles of dirt in flower beds waiting to be worked in tomorrow. A couple of them needed to be higher, so that load of topsoil from next door was the gift that kept on giving, once I had enough behind the retaining wall.

Shopping today, picking up essentials. It seems every two or three months I run out of everything at once. Salt, soy milk, flour, etc.

Some of the laundry is finished, and what I really need to tackle (still!) is the paper around here.

I'm turning off the computer to see if when it reboots I can reset the Malwarebytes program. First thing it did, upon installation, was block (without confirmation) a page I use all of the time. I need to get it unblocked or get rid of the "professional" version (14-day trial) of this program. I usually use the free version.

Grrrr.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jun 11 - 11:27 PM

SRS, I hope you really celebrate your wall accomplishments! It must feel so good to see all those things done on last year's list!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 09:35 AM

Ydy's yard sale met all of my goals except one-- it wasn't hot enough to sell the AC, so I held firm. LOTs of traffic, and that means getting the word out on summer repeats, free. Lots of tweaks to setup done (and planned), and therefore lots of walking. Should have worn pedometer; est 5,000 based on how beat I was, plus TOO many trips up and down the hardest stairs on the property-- ouchies. Made some money for the min-trav-fund, too. Hours I set (and permanentized on the signage) were perfect.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 11:26 AM

There's a patch of a weed grass in the garden to pull out today, and I have to finish transplanting a few things. It's so hot I have to be careful when I do it. Last year I let the volunteer tomatoes grow where they wanted, and it became such a thatch I couldn't walk between the plants. I'm trying to avoid that this time round by moving the volunteers that are in the wrong places.

Another load of laundry to hang, and I need to address paper still. I have used newspaper under mulch in the garden, and I'll continue that, but I still have too much, so it's a trip to the recycle bin this week.

Pulled some shoes out of my closet that I don't wear any more. They were cute, and comfortable to stand in, but not comfortable to walk in (an important distinction!) I'm not weeding clothes right now because I am now making a concerted effort at weight loss, so I'd like to shrink myself into wearing them. I'll accumulate some Goodwill stuff for this week also.

I'll clear my desktop now, then head out for a while in the garden. I've already set up sprinklers, but mostly have been in the kitchen emptying and cleaning canisters for stuff. I had some quinoa that was pretty old, and I decided to try keeping my sea salt in a mason jar (we'll see what happens to the lid).

Just had a call from a friend in Arizona with a laundry list of things she needs help with. I'll put a few links in an email to her to get her started, and finish up on that next week. Gotta go hang up my laundry in the yard and get moving.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 11:58 AM

There's a new housecleaning plan in the offing. In retrospect, I can see now that the yd-sale prep piloted it. I'm delegating all the things I detest about cleaning (and can not presently do by myself) to hubby, and doing the queenly things I LIKE to do, while we both listen to music. I know it seems like a no-brainer but it only took 18 years to get there, for us both, to meet in the middle.

It might make this too-huge house manageable for the first time since we moved into it in '94. The best part-- when he tires of it, or is too busy due to work crises, I now have the funds to pay Adrian to take Hardi's role!

In the cleaning, that is. :~)

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 02:44 PM

What happened to Mudcat yesterday? If anyone has an alternate link to some site where one could find out what's going on, please post it if you would.

Enjoying reading everyone's posts, and wishing I was in a pastoral countryside with functional paths around town. We are in suburban sprawl hell here, not even sidewalks.

Decluttering definitely took a long holiday for Memorial Day, but we are revving back up, though hindered by blistering heat. Shoulda cleared out the garage while it was pleasant.

I got a shredder to help with the massive paperwork purge underway. I did not realize these things need oil almost constantly? I'm dabbing 5W20 on sheets of paper and feeding them through, they say every bin change, which seems a bit extreme. Can I do it less often, can I get away with 5W20 or should I buy some mineral oil (hell will freeze over before I guy Shredder Oil), and does having oily paper make it bad for the recycle bin?


Signed up for more electronic delivery of financial stuff, can't wait for that to slow the flood of mail. But meanwhile, you buy a few clothes online and you get catalogs every blessed 2 weeks, as if a person who just bought clothes is anxious to buy more the next day. Aaarrggghhhh.   Is it hopeless to try to contact the offenders and get them to stop?

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 04:05 PM

The Devon cream thing started because there is a move to have "Devon Cream Tea" a protected description, because there are people who serve cream teas with squirty stuff from cans, instead of proper clotted cream. The proper stuff was originally made using fresh milk direct from the cow, heated overnight over a waterbath. In my youth you could buy it in markets from huge bowls, with a lovely crust on it. Apparently, Cornwall and Devon are the only place not in the Levant where this is done, and it is suggested that the people were taught to do it by Lebanese sailors who came for the tin trade. Cream made in Cornwall is available around the UK, but does not have the proper old scalded taste. So I imitate the original process. Very rarely.

I was wrong about the scones - it's milk. When did I post it? Was it one of my late nights? Some versions use buttermilk - probably originally the stuff from butter making, not the commercial stuff. with cooking, it's sometimes hard to know what other people are going to know or use the same name for.

How do you pronounce scones? Over here there is a division between scone rhyming with stone, and scone rhyming with on. There is a national difference between Scotland and England, and a class difference. Apparently there are people who regard those who use the "other" pronunciation as being "wrong". I use the Scottish "on" version.

There is another right way, wrong way argument about how to eat the cream tea scones - does it go butter, jam, cream, or butter, cream, jam? It may depend on whether you're in Cornwall or Devon.

Today I set off for the garden with a long list of tasks, each of which depended on carrying out the previous one, and designed to end up with the summer bulbs given me by a friend's mother planted in the pot currently containing Solomon's seal from my mother's collection. I managed to top up the potato bags, lift some primulas, and remove ivy from the fence behind the shaded site for the Solomon's Seal before it started raining. Which is good, but left the garden with a heap of ivy and forsythia prunings. I saw the mouse, and the frog jumped away when I was lifting the primulas. Glad to see him - though I don't know if he is the same one I saw struggling with the frost.

Instead, I finished putting up a bookshelf rack, and added three shelves, stacking them with more books out of boxes, so I have a pile of boxes for the dump tomorrow, plus the last of the wardrobe unit. I also put all my photographs and those from Dad's into one of the Ikea boxes I got on my last trip. I've put the boxes against the wall under the shelves and stacked some other stuff on them pro tem. It's looking much more like a room now. There's still more shelving to go, but I don't expect I have enough brackets, and they aren't made any more.

Had a little snooze in the sfternoon, after salmon salad lunch.

It stopped raining, and I went out to top up the organic-not-harmful-to-anything-but-slugs slug stuff, and the beer in the slug trap. Do you have slugs and snails in your arid areas? I also pulled the forsythia bush into a more vertical position and roped it to a hook in the fence, as it had slumped over and was overwhelming a peony (sp?). I hope it manages to get used to the new position. A couple of robins came in succession to use the birdbath.

I picked some more strawberries, and noticed that the Albertine rose from my grandparents' home has really taken off and is ready to be planted out from its pot. It needs to go where there is sun as it is susceptible to mildew, which has hit another of my rescue roses which I put in the shade.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 04:07 PM

Several mile walk on the Rails to Trails today. It was hot but we were all sunscreened up and there was a lovely breeze. The whole family went. What a great way to celebrate National Cancer Survivor's Day!!!!

Yard sale plans in progress here. I have committed to a date and time with a friend. I can't wait to get the stuff OUT OF HERE!!!!

I'd say a third of the baby clothes part of the yard sale pile have been rewashed, folded, priced and repacked.

And today....well, it was a turtle hunting expedition! We saw deer, peepers, turkeys, a heron, turkey buzzards and turtle eggs that have been recently laid but no turtles. All the more reason to do it again!

I love getting outside with my guys....makes my heart soar.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 04:30 PM

How wonderful, Michelle.:-)

patty, you can always check mudcat on facebook...max usually posts something there, I think, if there are problems going on. Also, I have never heard of oiling a shredder. Have had mine for years and never done so and it works fine. As to the catalogues, if you go to their websites, there is usually an "opt-out" choice, but may take some looking to find. I usually tell them when I order to NOT send any catalogues and NOT put me on their list. Most of the time that seems to work. If, I didn't do that, I will call them and tell them to stop which they will do, but not until after telling me it could take a couple of mailings for it to take effect. Good luck!

Penny, love your descriptions of the local traditions, flora and fauna!

Rog mowed and weed-whacked our backyard, today. Huge, tall weeds and grass. Morgan came over and helped me sort our recyclables into separate bins by the back gate, then came in and helped shred more papers.

It is in the 90s now, so we are inside, blinds drawn, swamp cooler on. I think I will try to talk Rog into helping me move some books and get the library truck out of the house into storage.Otherwise I will shred more papers, lie down and read, maybe even snooze a bit.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 04:43 PM

I'm in for a cool down, I'll go back and read the posts this evening. I have untangled and positioned most of my soaker hoses in new places this year. There is mulch in a few beds I weeded, and I need to dump a load of weeds on the compost. Then I'm going to go get some planting stuff for the wall garden. (That is Clementine's Wall, by the way, named for the kitty buried in front of that area, next to the little pine tree.)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 07:35 PM

I love this list site: www.tadalist.com

It's a fast, easy, free way to create a ta-da list or a grocery list or a list of what you want to take to the next festival...love it!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 07:37 PM

I've roughly weeded and shaped the berm, and in a few minutes I'll head over to Home Depot to get a couple of bags of humus and some bedding plants to put in the end near the wall.

Lots to do to get ready for a meeting tomorrow morning, so I'll make that trip quick, but I want some closure on that work that I've been pondering for literally years.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 08:18 PM

***CHEERING FOR SRS********

I bet it feels SOOOOO GOOD to have finished it! Can't wait to see the flowers you add!

YAY!!! You inspire me!!! XOXOX

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 10:31 PM

Thanks for all the feedback, kat. I will start contacting the junk mailers. As for mudcat news on facebook, I've been avoiding facebook, but should have realized that would be the backup plan, so many people are on it.

I have loaded lots of stuff in the car to go to various destinations tomorrow. It doesn't look any more cleared out around here than before, but I think that's because a lot of the stuff leaving was closeted, and because the carpet didn't used to have bits of paper shreds in it.

An old mandolin is leaving, too. I'm keeping the one with the better tone and losing the one with the nut that needs replacing. I'm just going to pass it to a musician tomorrow, because she'll know someone who knows someone who can use a starter mandolin that needs a minor bit of work done. High time it gets some use!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jun 11 - 10:38 PM

Saqdie had her firt ponying trip with the scooter today, and had a RIOT!

Penny, I am sure it's "scongs." :~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 11 - 12:14 AM

There is a google linkup for mudcat also - you'll see it occasionally in one of the random boxes on the main forum page if you're signed in when you visit.

I was hoping to find portulaca (a rose-like succulent, excellent for xeriscape) but had to settle for zinnias. I wasn't going to a second place. I also had 4 ornamental sweet potatoes to plant so they can drape over the wall. I had already done some of my soil preparation, mixing in my compost with the soil as I filled in behind the wall. I picked up a couple of bags of humus, and after spreading that, I planted, then used the rest of a bag of free mulch to mulch the bed. I mixed a couple of gallons of molasses (dissolved in a cup of water, then poured into the mix, plus an organic liquid fertilizer and some "Garrett Juice," a compost tea concoction available at feed stores around here. Also added a little plant wash (a kind of good-for-many things soap that helps with mildew, insects, etc.) The sprinkler ran for about 30 minutes over the spot. Tomorrow I'll see if it is still there, or if the neighborhood feral cats decided to visit. I suppose that is more detail than necessary, but if any strangers visit the thread and wonder how organic gardeners plant a bed, this is it. :

And speaking of bed, I'm off to bed. That was a lot of work today.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 06 Jun 11 - 12:03 PM

Tkanks, kat. However, it isn't right to describe my accounts of anything on the west of this island as local. They're all Celts (and earlier peoples), and Kent is full of incomers (has been since the incomers were Celts themselves!) I know we're little, but the divisions are many.

Penny (having a lazy day after taking old units to the dump and getting a new stock of cherries.)

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Jun 11 - 03:43 PM

I must be decluttered enough to be functional-- in one afternoon, I assembled displays for two Convention tables and cleared an old laptop to give away. Everything was right where I thought it would be, no fuss.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 11 - 06:37 PM

Well, darn. I've lost a small electronic item that I know I had in my hand last Tuesday. Trouble is, I set it down somewhere in my cluttered house and now I can't find it. Right now I might be looking at the case, just sitting there in plain sight amongst all of the other items sitting around. Time to get serious about picking up and putting stuff away.

It's so hot out today that I'm saving my yard work and dog walking for later. I guess I can keep putting things away until it's cool enough to go out.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Jun 11 - 08:33 PM

Dishes done, sink empty, 3 loads of laundry done (only 1 load left hanging on the line...oh I LOVE hanging laundry on the line!!!), salads made for the next few days (temps are supposed to get in the upper 90s...UGH...so I cooked ahead), chicken roasted, baby toys picked up, high chair wiped down, coupons clipped, bed made, baby on schedule, floors swept, rugs vacuumed and list made for festival gear needed for this weekend! And I got in a short walk. :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Jun 11 - 08:34 PM

And one last thing (the biggest thing really), I cleaned out the fridge!!! Scrubbed it all down inside....MUCH better!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 11 - 11:58 PM

Good job, Michelle! I also love hanging the laundry on the line - it takes me straight back to my early childhood in Seattle when Mom would hang the clothes and we would play nearby (or between the lines - I'm sure we heard about that!) I listen to the world around me as I hang the clothes, and I feel the moisture already evaporating and cooling the air between the parallel lines of laundry.

Dinner tonight was a chef's salad, and I included a home grown tomato. Wonderful - there's simply nothing to match them. I sauteed a chicken breast while my dogs raced around the back with Zeke (might as well let them get accustomed to his visits, since he'll spend 2 weeks here in July). After that adventure I came in to make my wonderful salad.

I've made progress with my desk. Papers put away or in a place waiting to be filed. No mp3 player still.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 02:19 AM

Did manage another shelf support yesterday, and seem to have emptied all the book boxes, though there are a couple of free standing piles that need homes. Also a couple of book cases with two layers of books.

What is now daunting is the number of boxes with other stuff in, without anywhere to put it.

Today I have to dig a few foxgloves up to give to a friend with a wildlife site. And comfrey to go in the compost.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 10:15 AM

I noticed today that the barn out back (not ours) is getting taken over with climbing weeds. I LOVE looking a them but it looks like the wonderful sound old traditional barn is eventually going to be pulled apart by them.... hoping to catch owner/our landlord... he has one summer left of kids-at-home, so..... but it's not my declut!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 12:45 PM

... spent a delightful and powerful morning with Sadie (sorry Faulkner-- she's maturing nicely into a peaceful age), up in the landing room that adjoins the whole upstairs. Lovely-- laptopping away for Convention display pages in the room next to the AC-- a nice cool place to work in the hot summer, since the AC easily handles the space when the dividing door is open.

In all, a lot more convenient that laptopping up in the sleeping attic ever was. I think I also see a clean, harmonious, less cat-haired, semi-private space for the Rector to meet with penitents, up there; there is a series of doors dividing this rather odd house to keep some things private while others are public.....

Even without refrigeration it is a well-equipped kitchen up there, still, with only a little clearing up to do to make it really nice again.

So good to be getting back on schedule, and back into the structure that was working so well!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 04:12 PM

Supposed to hit 101 here today. The object becomes not increasing the garden, but simply keeping what is out there alive.

Co-worker is ill frp, chemo and radiation, and her uterine problem wasn't addressed surgically. When the doctor saw her cervical cancer he closed her up, so the uterine problem is also still giving her pain. She likes pumpkin bread, and amazingly, this lady is trying to go to work 1/2 days as long as she can (a month and a half more of treatments to go). I'm making small loaves of pumpkin bread and will take them over tomorrow for her to eat, and extras to freeze. I hope this helps her eat, she has lost so much weight.

When not doing this stuff, I'll keep picking up around here. There's plenty of that left to do!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 04:13 PM

"frp," is supposed to be "from" - fat fingers off the home row.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 05:32 PM

Baby to the doctor this morning, time with Nana, errands run, stopped by the pharmacy and am finally home. It's been a long but good day. I didn't do an ounce of cleaning or decluttering today....yet. Lately the urge seems to hit later in the evening.

Tomorrow it is supposed to be 93 degrees, our highest of the year so far. I have intentions of doing nothing except keeping the iced tea cold, maybe a little swim in the lake with the baby & time working in the rooms with AC.

I am a delicate flower and wilt in that kind of heat. *wink*
(Ok, just kidding but really....anything over about 85 and I do get sick....always have)

Love to all,

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 05:45 PM

It hit 96 today, and after spending time in the garden laying out my ingenious plan to spike one of those ribbon sprinklers on an angle so it would spray sideways into the garden, the darned connection at the beginning of the hose popped off. I don't think clamping it tight with pliers will work, it should have been pinched in some kind of machine. I don't remember where I bought it, this has a been a reserve sprinkler for a couple of years. I'll pick up another one and try again later. [sigh]

I've filled in a couple of more sweet potato vines on the wall and put one more small squash bedding plant in the new bed that I put a soaker hose in over the weekend. I'll see what happens there. I also pruned some shrubs to leave at the curb since it's bulky waste pickup in our neighborhood this week.

I'm finished outside for now, and I probably won't go out again till evening, to walk the dogs.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 10:49 AM

It's been hot here, too. Yesterday, Morgan and I went out in the morning when it wasn't too bad and watered, etc. I slept wrong a couple of nights ago and messed up my left foot, so should not have gone to exercise on Monday. I am paying for it, now.:-) Doing sit down stuff and will elevate it, later. Found out at the nephrologist's yesterday that I have a kind of anaemia connected with the kidneys. I've got plenty of iron and it's not too troubling, but I did get a certain hormone shot which helps to build red blood cells. The only reason I could get it was the insurance company okayed the thousand dollar price tag. Yikes! The nicest thing were the last words from the doc concerning my kidneys,"You're doing good and you will do better!"

So, while I feel full of energy (had no idea of any anaemia as I have been doing so much and felt good), no exercise class today. We will finish shredding papers and not much else. I hope Morgan's dad gets off fairly early this afternoon. He's a good kid, but this is one time "Mama" would like to send him home early.:-)

I am excited about an indoor plant. It is a huge, rangy thing, a night blooming cactus orchid, Epiphyllum. I've had it for at least 10-15 years and it's never bloomed. You have to get up in the middle of the night to see it, apparently, as it blooms once then closes as soon as the sun comes up. The blooms can get as big as a dinner plate and are supposed to have a wonderful fragrance. Well...mine has TWO small bugs BUDS:-) coming out. Here is a photo of someone else's: CLICKETY. I hope I catch mine when they do open!

Have had two more books requested and sent out.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 10:41 PM

Kat, I hope those are Buds, not Bugs on your orchid cactus! :)

Hot today, so of course, I cranked up the oven and made six small loaves of my high-octane pumpkin bread. They were delivered to a co-worker this afternoon who in turn took them with her when she picked up another co-worker going in for blood work.

On my drive home yesterday I scouted out an antique store in East Fort Worth that has a lot of stuff, one of those overflowing places with scarce room to get through the aisles. I've driven past it many times, but never gone in. The owner is rather eccentric, doesn't own or know how to run a computer - she should be selling this stuff on eBay. I may do some research then pick up a few things to sell. But BEFORE I do that, I have to clear out a lot of the stuff here.

I have to shift my habits to getting to bed earlier and getting up to work in the cool of the day. I walked the dogs at 7:30 tonight and even though it was cooler, Cinnamon clearly was not happy with the walk. She'd do much better at 7am rather than 7pm.

I've worked in the yard some, and will tomorrow also. Early. I'm off to bed now.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 11:18 PM

That'll teach me to proofread! LOL!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 11:00 AM

Kat has a Beer Cactus? ;~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 11:02 AM

Working at home today, and doing some picking up and putting away. I was up early, walked the dogs (they're much happier when the road is cooler to walk on) and moved some hoses around in the yard. I have to refine this new layout, but I expected that.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 11:52 AM

It's not been hot, and it's been raining in showers.

Yesterday I went on a long trip to spend the second part of a birthday/Christmas garden centre voucher (see why delay below), collect cuttings from the people who live in my grandparent's last home, and turn a cheque into cash for the flats gardener.

I wanted to buy a chiminea, and they weren't in in the Spring - also the giver of the voucher bought it at a chain which has no outlets near me. I've got a little pottery one, in the colour it would be if I smeared it with leaves. This is now standing on a tower of flagstones, and has had its first curing burn - shortened when I noticed that the neighbour's window was open. I had checked for washing. I've placed it so I can see it from the study window, when I've finished in there and have the desk in place.

With the rain, I moved indoors, and loaded the second Ikea box with old science magazines and Nat Geogs. Then I went through old Open University stuff and put the keeping stuff in a storage unit, and the rest ready to recycle.

The storage unit is weird. I bought it years back at a secondhand furniture shop in a Kentish village. It is three yard wide boxes made of wood veneered chipboard, stacked on each other, and each has a drop down flap at the front. When I bought it, it had been assembled wrongly, with each box set back a bit to allow access to the flaps, which had been placed so they would have closed with no gap to grip them to open them (as I found on my first attempt to assemble it sensibly). On top was a drawer covering a veneered top, and fixed with brass plates at the side. This is now on its own legs in the spare room as a dressing table. The unit did well for keeping school stuff, but now there's no need for that. The top level has computer stuff, the next OU stuff, and the bottom other documents. It isn't full yet, but the room looks better.

I'm moving things which have been in cardboard boxes into plastic ones, so have another lot of boxes for the dump.

I think the smallest spare room may have to just be a box room for the not possible to be uncluttered stuff.

I've another set of books for Oxfam. I'm reading through some things to add to the bag. The current one is about the Ark of the Covenant...I picked it up at Oxfam because it contained a sentence beginning "Whether Boyle (that's Robert Boyle of the law about gases, early scientist) actually succeeded in making the Philosopher's Stone is unclear..." and couldn't resist it. It finishes by revealing that the Knights Templar managed to send the Ark through a portal generated by a vortex formed in Chartres Cathedra; between a copper disc and a large lodestone. I may have been uncluttering my room, but I think I may have been cluttering my mind!

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 02:51 PM

Where HAVE I been?? Oft times suffering from toxin overload and feeling like.... In between times, getting some things done. The shed is almost empty and needs a truck - for big stuff - which has not been happening. Maybe tomorrow. Then I can take it down and see our two beautiful flower beds. The sunny one includes the terribly stunted rhubarb of which some have recovered and a couple still need CARE. I managed to plant 8 tomato plants before the heat hit. Still have 10 and 6 pepper plants to get in. I do NOT go out in this heat.

However, a special invite to a garden tour yesterday took a special trip to the country. Took a load of stuff mostly loaded by R who does not mind heat. I endured the heat for the sake of the gorgeous garden. Then unloaded at the house, had lunch(3 pm) and started home. The "for sale" house just along the road had another pile of neat stuff in the trash pile. I picked it up and took it back and put it in the garage. Most importantly - a folding table which is just what we need to do a pottery thing at the Apple Hollow Music Fest next month!! We plan to take a wheel and clay, etc and let people try their hand playing with clay.

On the way down, I had picked up cheap groceries and dropped off a pile of stuff at the thrift shop where I spent 50 cents for a useful wire cupboard shelf, already put in place. Some of this new batch will also o to the thrift shop.

Then, about a half hour from the city, R called and told me the building in front of one of his was on fire! My immediate response? Wonderful!!

It STOOD between their building and the historic Lachine canal. Without it, that bit of land can be purchased and made into better parking, lawn, etc. It was a paper recycling depot with transports coming and going all day long. Sometimes one waiting in the parking lot and even one or two in the middle of the street!

The parking lot is entirely part of R's property - the company had right of way only - so the trucks were damaging the parking lot and drives and making dreadful noise and pollution all day.

Well, it is gone. The fire fighters did, however, knock one wall over on top of a ten ton machine (also knocked over) and a travel trailer as well as dumping lots of debris on the property. Hopefully the company's insurance will pay for this foolishness. It will of course take time and effort to get all that sorted. I can only hope for the best possible outcome. The road was still blocked this morning when I dropped R off.

The country home is a source of pleasure. There is light at the end of the move tunnel and also for the pottery making. I am soon going to go get some clay - a trek to the north of the city.

What an exciting life, ehh!?

Last Saturday I made R's life exciting. We were "exploring" in the country and he bumped into a friend who lives nearby. W said he had pieces R needs to get the stove in place (a stove extension cord!). So we went to W's. I waited and waited and ..... ...decided to go to the nearby gas station and fill up.

"She left without me!!!!" W was going to have to drive him somewhere! He was SO upset- both of them! W felt guilty for keeping R and R was sure I would be furious. Then, R thought - THOUGHT! Maybe she went for gas... I really thought he was that smart. I just laughed!!! I knew this would happen with W. So we bought a beautiful plant for the town balcony and set off for the Saturday music event, stopping at a yard sale and buying two beautiful corner etageres for my pottery display. We could not get them in the car with the other yard sale purchases of the day so I made a special trip down on Monday with a load. But there was no one at the house so I left a note. (Sunday we had to come into the city.)

Jou Tou is a totally amazing group. They were at the one cafe on Fri and the other on Sat. Irresistibly fantastic! The open mike was good too and I felt well enough to sing "my" song - The Frozen Logger.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 05:31 PM

I have really enjoyed reading what you have all been up to! I had a fairly quiet start to last week, and then spent 5 days away, 3 of them at a music festival. Didn't get back till Tuesday.

Anyway, Ernie is coming to fit my lovely old stove tomorrow, and I spent this afternoon and evening getting the kitchen units out, and the oven, hob and fridge down to the recycling. All this with the help of one of my morris friends who happens to be a joiner, and who wanted the units to use in his workshop. My kitchen now consists of the sink unit with attendant dishwasher and washing machine, plus the extractor hood from over the hob. The dining room is now my kitchen, and we're cooking on gas....camping gas!

I went back to my friend's house with the last load of units, and had a look at his wonderful veg garden. He even got a 30 foot greenhouse with the house. Lucky beggar!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 11 - 10:44 PM

I'm dripping sweat just reading what all of you have been doing. And a fire! Wow!

I rotated sprinklers this morning to give each vegetable garden a good soak, after an early dog walk. I'm going to bed earlier now to up early to make use of the cool air. I think the dogs were much happier when the pavement was cool (though Cinnamon still wanted to drag me back to walk through fields and woods). I called Susie and she's game for walking earlier. (She's pretty amazing, by the way, with everything she's doing. More about her one of these days.)

This evening I cleaned up produce. My onions have now been brushed off (dirt) and trimmed (roots, tops) and are in a cardboard box in the laundry room. The garlic is also a bit cleaned up, but I left the tops on for now. The kitchen counter has various fruit and veggies on it but less of everything else.

I did one load of laundry, and after not having a lot of success with the iron earlier this week, I went ahead and put my various trousers into the dryer. Line drying things that are meant to be dried in heat means that those wrinkles are there, no matter how hard you try to iron them out. I still have some other things that I'll hang out in the morning.

My side yard is looking better, but I have to move a bunch of rocks from the wall I'm still demolishing, so I'm planning to re-do the temporary wall that sits on the concrete drive. I am going to leave one cluster of stone where it is because it is a rather beautiful and sturdy part of the old wall. I'll make it into a part of a garden there. I didn't like the wing wall, but I did like the stone and how some of it was arranged, if that makes any sense. I'll see how much has to come out around it before it looks right.

My ex is coming over tomorrow midday to help me load the tiller into the truck. I can't start it by myself and I don't want John across the street trying to run it (I think he's 78 now - this is too much for him). I'll take it over to the small engine shop on Saturday and see how much he'll give me for it. It has blocked a corner of the garage for a long time, and will allow me to rearrange things in there now.

Now for something completely different: I was listening to the local NPR folk/rock station and they were playing Neil Young. I flashed immediately back to the Jimmy Fallon skit that he pulled Bruce Springsteen into. (Will Smith's pre-teen daughter recorded a song called "Whip My Hair" that Fallon re-visualized as if Neil Young sang it. It is hilarious. And if you get the Terry Gross interview with Fallon where he tells you how he talked Springsteen into it, you have a good laugh ahead of you.)

Sleep tight!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 10 Jun 11 - 12:06 AM

Reading about the fire on line, I see that five fire fighters were taken to hospital due to heat. It was 33 C in Montreal and some of them had to climb to the roof of R's building - so four stories - with all their equipment to keep it from catching fire - it was - and to pour water down onto the fire below. He took them juice and water.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 10 Jun 11 - 04:43 AM

Exciting. But what's going to happen to the paper recycling set up?

I finished the day with cutting through the stems of ivy on a fence - unfortunately some of it is coming through from the communal garden side, so I can't eradicate it as completely as I want. It will just need regular cutting to stop it overshadowing the garden.

There's washing out today in nearby gardens, so no burning.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 10 Jun 11 - 07:53 AM

Part way through the stove installation procedure. Ernie has lost his brush up the flue! It came unscrewed! He's got to go up onto the roof and force it back down from the top...stand by for a room full of soot!

Andrea

ps - we found an old wedding band on top of one of the kitchen wall cupboards yesterday. All I can think is that the builders found it about 3 years ago when the units were put in. It's an odd place to put it, however. Anyway, I have identified it as Birmingham 1928. It appears to be 9ct rose gold, or at least yellow gold with a higher copper content than nowadays. I wish it could tell its story. I can see somebody taking it off to do the washing, and then being very upset when she couldn't find it again! What is the present kitchen used to be the old wash-house, perhaps.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 11 - 01:38 PM

Andrea, I love finding things that belonged to the former tenants of the house - not for the value, but as you say, for the possible story. In one instance I found a box in the attic with framed awards and holiday ornaments and was able to find the folks they belonged to and return them. But other things, odd things left in the garage, other things from the attic, have gone into the decor around here now. Or have been reused.

My Internet has been on the blink for much of the week, and the tech is supposed to be here sometime from 3 to 5 today. It's up right now, but I won't dawdle. It's like during business hours my Internet isn't working, as if someone is tapping into it and taking my access. It's working right now during the lunch hour. Odd, eh? I can imagine someone a couple of houses up (where there is a crackpot family) doing something like that. I had an apartment one time where we were watching TV one evening (M*A*S*H - my favorite program!) and it blinked out. I heard something outside and saw a guy on a ladder putting a splitter on my cable connection on the top of the building, and he ran a cable across the gutter between the apartments and into the one next door. "I'm with the cable company" he said, but all of the apartments were wired, not needing new cable.

I called promptly the next morning and complained, saying I knew they were stealing my connection. They were over there within an hour and fixed it. I couldn't believe it that evening when the babe who lived next door actually knocked on my door and complained that their cable wasn't working. I told her that they had tapped into my service, and they should consider paying for their own account next time. She looked puzzled.

My ex came over this lunchtime and helped my load the tiller (what a bitch of a job!) and we also moved the wrought iron bench while we were at it. The porch in back looks much better. I'm almost ready for it on the side yard enclosure where I want to place it for now.

Better send this while I can.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 10 Jun 11 - 02:15 PM

In the loft at my last home I found a blue crocheted doily, which went to Oxfam eventually, and an old bakelite telephone with a sticker saying "CAUTION, THIS TELEPHONE IS NOT SCRAMBLED". Unfortunately this got lost at school.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 10 Jun 11 - 03:17 PM

The recycling can move elsewhere; it will have to to keep going. The building is a huge pile of debris. This location was not really adequate for all the traffic it generated. Really hope R can buy the property; it would be such an improvement.

The fire was major - four-alarm, 125 fire fighters, street blocked 24 hours - a major street. I saw the smoke - black billowing clouds of it - from miles away. The cause? A garbage ruck/recycling collector caught fire down the street a few blocks. Fire engine came and "put it out". Told driver he was good to go. He took his load to the depot and dumped it......

"WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES..." This morning dawned crisp and cool - 62F. Oh Joy. I feel human again. Another load ready to go and I started taking the skin off the shed. Put a load of clothes out to dry on a makeshift line. Now I am getting ready to see what else I can accomplish!

The yard sales last Saturday- (exploring means...). I wanted a small portable vac to clean up the hearth. They were on sale at Canadian Tire last week but i said, "Oh no, we'll find one at a yard sale..." And we did! It fits nicely in an enameled pot with lid, right on the hearth, that R got last month. I have wanted a clothes line in the city yard - one of the umbrella sort - same yard sale! And a small trash bin for the country - a step and it opens type - $1!

It is a total nuisance to be so weather sensitive but at least I no longer get dreadful weather headaches - green tea has eliminated them.

Andrea - what a neat find! A mystery to be solved!

Load car!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 10 Jun 11 - 05:20 PM

Went to the dump with the ivy and more cardboard boxes, and bought cherries again. I've been getting a couple of pounds every other day.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 11 - 06:56 PM

Tried returning a malfunctioning hose (bought a while back, never opened it till this week.) They don't carry it any more, so I'm probably out of luck, unless it came from someplace else where I spot the same model later on and take it in for an exchange. I'll leave it in the pickup for just in case.

Internet access is fixed! There is a filter up near the pole that keeps the television signal from coming through since I only subscribe to Internet. That filter was blinking in and out, blocking everything. It looks so much better - I should have called a couple of weeks ago, I've been seeing this happen for a while. Now I know, so of course, now that will never happen again.

I'm pleased with how the patio looks now. I shouldn't have left that wrought iron seat back there for so long.

Lots of things to do this weekend, and it looks like I'll be doing it in the heat.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 11 - 10:51 PM

Tonight is Friday night, but I've decided to walk the dogs in the morning while it's so hot, so I probably won't stay up late like I typically would. The dogs had a great day today, they like the early morning foray around the neighborhood. I am a night owl who must change my stripes (talk about mixed metaphors!) in order to accommodate these morning walks. But I think it is worthwhile, because this evening as I worked on other things I kept realizing it was so nice to not have to stop what I was doing to go for the walk. I enjoy meeting Susie and Zeke, but it always interrupts something else. Now, it's the first thing I do and everything else follows.

The improved Internet is such a relief. I was feeling like my new computer was dying. It had been a problem longer than I realized, now that it's fixed and I can see the difference. Hindsight is 20x20, isn't it?

Spaghetti tonight, with sauce that included tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, and oregano from my yard. Broccoli and mango to round off the meal. I turned on the television in the kitchen and found Jamie Oliver's program (Food Revolution) which was quite inspirational. He really knows how to make the point about the value of eating healthy food.

The kitchen is clean, dishes finished. I haven't completely cleared the counter yet, but a lot of what is on it is fruit that is ripening, so that's a good thing.

A load of laundry is finished, and I've been sweeping around the house. I need to dust next.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 11 Jun 11 - 03:40 AM

Well Ernie came back after lunch with a gappy old brush, which he sent up and after much wiggling and jiggling, brought it down along with the escapee brush and a load more soot. Once more I have tide marks where it overshot the sheets! He spent a few hours cutting steel sheets to fit the random shapes of the opening (registration plate) and at the moment there is a foot or so wide gap in the middle for the flue pipe and its plate to go in. He said he would spend this morning in the shop tidying the stove up, and he's planning to be back about 10 on Monday to do the rest of the fitting.

I went up the road, after Ernie went, to where my friend's son is having his wedding party this afternoon, and helped wash a load of folding wooden chairs in the marquee. (Followed by a shared Chinese takeaway). Everyone else has travelled at least an hour and a half to get there - it's about 13 miles away from me!
Some of you may know the lad - it's Ian Stephenson, who came over with Bill and Sam a few years ago. He's marrying Emily Ball, who is also in 422. There will be much ceilidh fun this evening...the bar was up and running last night!

This morning I will try and de-soot what is now my kitchen, then its a good clean up before the wedding party!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jun 11 - 09:50 AM

Great morning walk, and as typically happens, I ended up visiting with a few neighbors who were out early. If not for the dogs, I wouldn't have met a lot of these people as easily.

Yard work this morning, then work around the house. Many things on my list, but let's see what I feel inspired to do. Now that the Internet is working properly it is tempting to hang out, but it would be a waste of a cool morning.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Jun 11 - 11:06 AM

Andrea, please pass on my "congrats" to Ian! I well-remember him and Sam on live Mudcat radio with video. It was brill!

I have done nothing except keep my foot up, tender a swollen finger and try to figure out why I have a few itchy spots on my lower palms and wrists. I think it may be from a possibly latex grip on the cane I have been using. I have been out to docs' for other things, all of which turned out good and did have Morgan on Friday. My foot is better, finger tendinitis, or whatever it is, kept me awake until I put it on ice last night.

I will do some laundry today and we will go to the health food store. Rog may clean the gutters and I may sweep and pick up around the house. I know I will finish paper shredding. Morgan loaded a couple of trash bags of already shredded paper into the car, yesterday. He starts enrichment classes on Monday from 8-12, so no exercise buddy for a few weeks. I missed last Wed. and Fri. because of my foot.

SRS, your veggies, etc. sound delicious!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 11 Jun 11 - 11:58 AM

I've finally planted out the Solomon's Seal on the shady, damper side of the garden, practically under the forsythis. The root system had entirely filled the large pot, so it needed to be thoroughly soaked to remove it, and then a huge hole dug. I hope it takes well - some sites say it needs acid soil, though a relation apparently grows in limestone pavements up North. The soil in that part of the bed is quite good, deep and brown.

I cleared more ivy from the fence, and cut back the Virginia Creeper to discourage it from taking over the garden.

I then could fill the pot with compost, and plant out the bulbs from my friend's mum.

Finished by hosing down the patio, and coming in to wash my feet (no socks, and clogs let them get a bit composty).

Two more strawberries.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jun 11 - 05:03 PM

I found two beautiful tennis-ball-sized tomatoes hiding in the bushes today. Most of it is tucked in underneath, not much new fruit with this heat.

I've been in and out all day; it's 95 now, not much wind. I did spend a couple of hours on the phone helping a friend get a virus out of his computer. I've soaked an area where I plan to dig out the grass and put down newspapers and mulch, to keep a lot of the weeds from creeping back into the garden. And tomorrow in the morning first thing after the dog walk I'm going to trim and then mow. It has to be early now, or else by streetlight.

The kitchen is looking good, I've brewed a couple of jars of tea to keep in the fridge. One is my green tea with lemon balm, the other is a commercial quart bag of peach tea. I have some black beans I cooked and I'll add to a taco mix this evening (I have to grind the meat and such, and I'll use mostly my own veggies for the dish.) If my daughter can come by tomorrow I'll make a loaf of bread and we'll have our traditional first BLT of the summer sandwiches again. Mmmmmm!

I am spending some time in the house these days - and I'm experimenting with these new LED lights. I picked up one last month, a bright white one, and when I put it in the fixture on the fan in my office, I found it too bright (bluish). I moved that to the sun room fixture, and this month I bought a warm light (both are 40 watt equivalent bulbs). They're supposed to last for 15 - 20 years and cost next to nothing to run. Right now they cost about $17 - 20 each to buy. I need to keep receipts, they count off on the taxes. I suppose if I bought one a month I'd have a couple of hundred dollars for an energy tax credit.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jun 11 - 07:10 PM

Time for new glasses: SRS is NOT experimenting with LSD lights!!! :~)

===

My decluttered wheeled suitcase held my downsized toiletries/pillows/travel essentials leaving the other hand free for the new laptop case and my purse. WINWINWIN!!!

===

My scooter transported two jam-packed displays (incl all visuals on laptop), for TWO Convention tables, a 4' tall doll who rode in a non-existent jump seat, AND and a heavy (old) laptop to pass along to a friend, which another friend carried off to deliver to him! WINWINWIN!

===

OUT.OUT.OUT.WIN.WIN.WIN!!!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 Jun 11 - 12:30 AM

Multiple yard sales today, got some GREAT deals for my wee one.

National Cancer Survivor Day Celebration at my hospital. My surgeon was the one giving the speech today...I heard him long before I saw him and even commented to my mom...I hear my doctor!!! Sure enough! Afterwards, I went to say hello and he greeted me with open arms, said he KNEW I was going to be there today and that he loved my hair!!! I love that he knows me by name outside his office!!! I also got to meet his wife and to tell her that I think she is married to a very special man and that he saved my life. Kinda teary about it, but that's ok!!!

Got new walking shoes on the way home and stopped at Sam's Club for a few things.

I was on my feet a LOT today and I'm having an issue with my foot that has been ongoing for a few weeks now. Monday I'll be making an appointment to have that looked at.

No decluttering going on here in the past few days...busy with Relay For Life stuff, a survivor breakfast and running around in general.

Tomorrow will be a day to catch up.

Sweet dreams Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 11 - 10:50 AM

I've been up for a while out in the yard (this time of year I have to get up earlier), but it's already pretty hot, so I'm pacing myself again. Sprinklers running so in the front the grass will grow over the berm behind the wall, and on the other side, to keep my squash and tomatoes happy. I have two vegetable beds going in the front yard now.

Side yard vegetable bed needs more work today - to remove more Bermuda between them, retrieve more free mulch, and to finish moving more rocks from the side of the front where that wing wall is still partly in place.

All of that said, when I come in to cool off I'm going to look at how to rearrange my sun room. Yesterday I must have swept the kitchen floor four times, because I kept forgetting and walking through the house with my gardening shoes. I need to push things away from the door and have a shoe-changing station there that I notice and remember to use. Indoor shoes and outdoor shoes make a lot of sense.

Michelle, sounds like you had a great day yesterday. Susan, if I had LSD lights I think these posts would be pretty loopy! (I've heard stories lately, though about lab work testing the drug starting up again, after a 30-year hiatus). Kat, how are you feeling?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 12 Jun 11 - 01:37 PM

The wedding went well, despite it raining all day and being very cold! It was a proper home made country style wedding of the "old school", and there was a fabulous atmosphere.

I managed to vac some of the soot out of the carpet, but I think it's going to need more than that! It will have to wait, though. There is too much stuff in there. Ernie will be coming to finish fitting the stove tomorrow morning, and I have 4 days to get all the stuff out of the bathroom and airing cupboard - and find somewhere to stash it! I also need to fill as many water containers as I can, as I don't know how things will be at first regarding a supply of water onto the yard. They may have to set up a temporary stand-pipe.

Oh well, I've a festival next weekend. If all goes to plan, I will return to a building site.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 11 - 02:50 PM

Andrea,

I envy you this new stove you'll eventually have in your house. My fireplace is a big ugly thing that I never use because it doesn't draw well. A pellet stove or some kind of insert would be wonderful. If I ever fill in the six inch step down "sunken" living room I'd take out my hearth before pouring concrete in the room. If I did that, I'd take out the chimney altogether and put floor to ceiling windows. (That's for after I win the lottery).

My next door neighbors have a spot next to the new patio where they want to put a few stones to make a path from the yard through the edge garden around that patio, so I'm pleased that I'll be able to reciprocate for all of the dirt and urban conglomerate I picked up over there in early May. I have lots and lots of lovely limestone rocks, many sizes, so I'll be lugging some of those over there later.

My kitchen is completely clean this afternoon. Every counter was cleared then scrubbed, and only the things that should be there were put back, so it looks inviting now. Next comes clearing the breakfast table. I haven't tackled the sun room yet, I don't think this was procrastination so much as triage - the kitchen really did need the attention more. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Jun 11 - 08:15 PM

Andrea, progress takes many forms. SOOT is one of them!

Well, almost everything has made it to the country. I will be the next five years or so sorting it out. Exciting to be finding things that were packed two years ago. Ahh! the legs to the wee coffee table! I was so afraid they were lost and it is a unique antique which I really like. So I spent time sorting and placing while R went back to the city yesterday and came back for a music event with MANY wonderful local musicians - from blue grass to rock and roll. Then rains started and we had to run home with the truck and managed to squeeze it into the garage so we could go back (only about five minutes.) Then we were unloading the beautiful glass curio cabinet - piece of cake - and the VERY HEAVY queen size hideabed. Squashed my hand and put a piece of frozen meat on it - no ice, of course! But there is now.

R got the sofa in alone being a stubborn Scot. Such a nice LR now. Sofa, love seat (matching - the only new ones of my life - about ten years old but still new - and brass lamps (all from yard sales!) with burgundy shades bought NEW some years ago!

Lots still to do. But this week will focus on domesticating the city house. Insurance inspector arriving next Monday and the place is a disaster. But the shed is basically empty and can be removed. The The weather is to be coolish for a couple days so I can do that and plant the tomatoes and peppers. Then work on the inside the rest of the week when it heats up outside.

Remembering to water the hanging basket - upstairs on the balcony - is daunting. I think an alarm on the computer is in order!

Guess It's time for supper.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 Jun 11 - 08:18 PM

Laundry on the line, floors swept, carpet vacuumed, old shower liner washed (cloth), new shower curtain up, tub scrubbed, car half unloaded from my adventures yesterday (lots of new clothes for the wee one, I even have purchased ahead for next winter...lots of cordoroys for .25 a pair!). He now has a winter coat, snowpants, boots, 2 other pairs of shoes, a few more toys, several books, about 6 CDs of kid music of different varieties), dinner made and picked up, kitchen table picked up (still needs my attention) and I am making an unexpected overnight trip tomorrow so I still have to pack for that. I'd like to get the car totally unloaded as well.

Our garlic is growing like crazy (planted last fall)...the tops are very tall and I can't wait to try it (will have to wait until this fall though). Summer squash seeds are poking up, the yard is looking better all the time!

Night Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 11 - 11:34 PM

Michelle,

When the garlic starts to send up the flower scapes, cut them off before they bloom so the energy doesn't go away from bulb formation and into the flowering activity. And when the plants start to turn brown, the ends of the leaves start turning first, any time after that you can start harvesting your garlic. I don't think you'll have to wait till next fall if you planted them last fall.

I pushed a couple of more newspaper squares of mulched area along the weeded pathway around my keyhole garden. I also finished the laundry, it's down and folded. I decided to dig today and I'll mow and trim tomorrow. Great dinner, healthy, and early to bed.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Jun 11 - 11:49 PM

I'm doing okay, SRS, thanks for asking. I will be calling the doc in the morning to look at my finger, though. It has been red and inflamed with a lot of pain. Ice cubes in a wash cloth most of the night helped, then hot salt water soaks today AND not using it!:-)

So, Rog was a trooper and did the dishes, even reorganised the bins of pans, etc. under the cupboards, did the litter boxes, and all of the trash, plus he took out six garbage bags of shredded papers. Morgan and I did two of those before. I did the rest one handed, today. So, the basket is finally empty! I also swept up the paper scraps whilst sitting in my chair (foot is better, but still sore), then Rog emptied the dust pan.

I get to see my osteo doc friend on Tues. for a 1.5 hour treatment and catch-up. That will help a lot!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 09:14 AM

I'm joining the ranks of the converted when it comes to rising early to get work done before it gets super hot. The dog walk happening first thing is great because it doesn't interrupt anything else later on. My brain/metabolism is adjusting to the earlier hour as I also adjust to getting to bed earlier. Not so remarkable, perhaps, but it is a life changer around here. I feel like I get a lot more done in a day in the early hours rather than trying to work on things late in the evening.

Monday is trash day and a few doors up there was an intricately built bird feeder on the trash. I'm not going to use it for a feeder, I'll let it be yard art. I have one out there already, so this will make it a "collection."

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 11:02 AM

Apparently the trick to decluttered officing is not the packing to go to things-- but the return "unpack." I feel so overwhelmed by all the tasks to harvest the energy that was generated by the displays-- great stuff really-- that I know it must be a sign of where the next declut has to get busier.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 11:12 AM

Car unpacked from all yard sale goodies, giant mountain of *new* baby clothes to wash upon my return. Cooler packed, purse/diaper bag packed just for this specific adventure, one bag of clothes for us all. Packing the minimum and knowing it will be just fine!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 03:24 PM

The tiller is history. I didn't get much for it, a pittance, but I wanted it out of the garage and didn't want the task of working on it to get it to start on the first pull of the cord to convince someone they should buy it. This shop knows how to start these. The fellow at the mower company told me that the rear tine machines are more popular now (mine was front tine) and that in the end he may end up taking the motor off and selling it separately. So, that cash spent on it is long since gone, there is a little back, and I have the space back again.

There is a potluck at work tomorrow, and I simply signed up to bring something from the garden. I think I'll thaw okra and do breaded fried okra to take along. I'll cook it in the morning right before I head over.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 03:46 PM

I was hoping to have a little burn in my chiminea today, but it got sunny, and people's washing went out. I dug a new patch of garden, where the comfrey used to grow. It has been absolutely brilliant at breaking up the soil, so it is really soil-like.

I hardly needed the mattock. There were a couple of odd bits the mattock could not do anything with. I couldn't wash down to its base, either. A very thin sliver of concrete, set over a foot deep, fortunately not near enough to the surface to be a major problem, but a bit of a puzzle. And, in line with it, a broken flagstone, also set vertically, also very deep. They are quite close to the edge of the path, and parallel to it, so may have something to do with that. (Well, I say path, but I mean route fom the back gate, marked out by the odd small stepping stone, interspersed with weeds.)

I've put a layer of mushroom compost, topped with the comfreyed soil, and then added some of my own compost. Bought topsoil goes on next. Two of the edges are marked with the last of the concrete mini boulders, some with moss on. I've nearly cleared the last of the mushroom compost pile back to the patio surface.

Then I'll seed with quick salad stuff, lettuce, salad leaves, and radishes. And slug pellets, and spray susceptible plants with coffee. (I lost some salads in a propogator tray on top of the chest where I keep the tools last night!)

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 06:11 PM

I was planning to mow and trim this evening, but the high right now is 102^o so that may not happen. Depends on how cool it gets in the hour before sunset.

Papers bundled up to take to recycle bin. I'll keep a stack to use in the garden, and I will pick up more free mulch soon to use with the paper. With this, the kitchen and dining area next to it are looking about as neat as they ever will. I want to arrange a seating area outside my side door, where I'm stacking rocks. It's hot, but that will be in the shade, so I think I'll putter with that this evening. It would be nice to move the wrought iron bench over and then consider how to redo the seat on it. Maybe turn it into a bench, and for special occasions, get some indoor outdoor cushions? Rocks first, then plan the bench.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 10:55 PM

It was still way too hot to start mowing or trimming as sunset approached, so I'll see what tomorrow looks like. I went shopping, loaded up on veggies. I have been walking the dogs almost every day, exercise that I haven't been reporting here, but needs a mention.

There's a lunch potluck at work tomorrow, and I signed up to "bring something from my garden." I think that "something" will be fried okra. I have a bunch in the freezer still and this is the perfect accompaniment to the various things people are bringing. And my boss loves the stuff that comes out of the garden, so if no one else eats it (heck - this is The South - scratch that!) he will, and might take extra home. I tote buckets of veggies to the office every summer and I never bring the contents back home with me. (There was a discussion on the local NPR station today at noon and I called in - promoting my front yard garden and the conversation it generates.)

Off to bed soon.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 14 Jun 11 - 03:45 AM

I hope you got all of the comfrey root out, Penny, or you'll be harvesting it again!

Ernie got the stove in situ yesterday afternoon, and back-filled part of the chimey opening behind the registration plate so that it doesn't fill up with soot. He's coming back later today to finish the fitting. There are lots of mysterious flat plates which he thinks are to be put in for log burning, but he was going to call its previous owner last night to double check.
It's funny the tricks fluorescent light in a windowless room plays on you - I thought it was brown. It's not. It's a well-worn black!

After Ernie went yesterday I filled a load of water containers ready for the water going off. However, Ali the builder is being mysteriously quiet... Anyway, I have a bookshelf of cookery books to get out of the back lobby and the bathroom and airing cupboard still to deal with by Thursday, so I've plenty to do.

Hope your finger's easier, Kat.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 14 Jun 11 - 04:05 AM

I expect I've missed some of it. This is the third extraction. The major plants have gone to a friend's wildlife site. everything else goes into the old cold tank with water so I can use the liquid after it's drowned.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Jun 11 - 09:04 PM

A day of unwelcome bed rest at least gave me time to catch up on audiobooks for which I volunteer.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 14 Jun 11 - 09:12 PM

read up on Dr. Johanna Budwig of Germany who had great success with a mixture of yogurt or cottage cheese and flaxseed oil in people with cancer. SOmething about sulpher bonds. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 14 Jun 11 - 10:01 PM

Glad to be back home. Lots of driving and lugging of gear for my family but had a great time. I spent most of this morning laying on the dining room floor laughing myself silly!!!

An extremely busy week coming up.

Night everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 15 Jun 11 - 03:34 AM

The stove is up and running - well at least it has survived its trial firing! The metalplates were just on 2 sides if the inside, which doesn't make a lot of sense, but we have put them in. They don't appear to fit the shape.

Anyway, there's a couple of pics of it on the good ol' FB.

Still waiting to hear from the planning officer about the windows, and the builder about the water. He's probably trying to round up the plumber and the electrician.
One thing I will have to do some time is get onto British Telecom about the phone line to the Post Office which only just clears the present roof line. I have made the postmaster aware, and we both think it can be moved further up his wall, which will lift the whole line. The problem is, it's the main line to the Post Office itself, and so it will have to be done at a time when it's shut. I'm not sure it's my responsibility to contact them, but maybe I should make them aware.

Bookshelf shifting today, and finish shifting stuff from the bathroom.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 11 - 09:36 AM

Your photos are great, Andrea - that is a lovely stove!

Truck has a brake light going on, so off to the dealer. They said it might be a sensor. I've experienced no difficulties with the brakes, but this isn't something to ignore.

I'm in full summer mode these days - living outside as much as inside. I need to finish some of the declutter of pots, rocks, and such outside my side door so it finally looks the way I envision it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 15 Jun 11 - 09:48 AM

Oh, what the hell?....100!

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 15 Jun 11 - 02:02 PM

The builder says he will be probably coming on Tuesday, weather permitting, as he has to finish building a wall for Lady Voisey in Etal (name dropper). This will, at least, give me chance to get all the washing done from my weekend at Beverley Festival!

Other than that, I got up to date with the washing so far, and managed to shift the books and shelves. However, I have still to put the books back into the shelves, which are at the foot of my bed at the moment. Still, there's only the bathroom cabinet and various toiletries to shift now, and they can be done on Monday afternoon and evening, when I have my last shower at home for months - hopefully!!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 Jun 11 - 02:46 PM

Andrea, do you mean you will be without water for months?! I love the stove!

My finger is slightly better. My osteo doc friend had me draw a circle around the red part so we can see if it enlarges. She recommended an x-ray and an ortho-guy whom I will see on Friday.

I went back to exercise for the first time since a week ago Monday. Was able to do the regular ten minutes on the treadmill since she really worked well on my foot yesterday. Couldn't do the Nu Step,though. It hurt too much. I also did ten on the "grinder" that's the pedal wheel thingie that sits on a desk which you use your hands and arms to pedal.

I was able to run a couple of errands on my way home so Rog will be able to come straight home from work instead of stopping to get things we need.

I had Morgan the past two days, but today his dad is home. He loves his enrichment classes and has been a blast to have over. He's doing a great job of watering my trees, annuals, and perennial garden, earning his contract wages.:-)

I showed him my sketch book from a metalsmithing class I took for a couple of years at college. He loved them and asked if he could draw on the empty pages. He took some of my ideas and made them his own. He was so excited, told me we should have them made into jewellery by a metalsmith. When I told him how expensive could be, we decided to keep designing and maybe try some Art Clay-Silver when I can afford it. When he left, he jumped off the two steps outside and joyfully exclaimed, "I want the whole world to see my designs!" Had to smile and laugh at his exuberance. I love the times we have together which are so creative. What a joy and privilege it is.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Jun 11 - 04:38 PM

The camping cot I use in the van has been getting a bit of a re-do the last several days-- the mattress is not thick enough to hold a fitted sheet real well; it's too wide to put it inside a zipped sleeping bag, so I stitched the longest pillowcase for it that I've ever seen. I took a flannel flat sheet that was sized perfectly-- it wrapped without needing any cutting-- and I stitched up the sides and head to make a giant bag/reversible mattress. Also slid a compressed-foam camping pad into it for a little more structure. Just in time for my next foray, too. Now I can wrap it in its tarp and get it outta my LR!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 11 - 11:42 PM

Yesterday at Home Depot I poked around in the bathroom accouterments - I got their last 2 non-PVC vinyl shower curtains. Mine have been up for ages, have been washed many times, and were ready to go, but I didn't want any more PVC fumes. In my bathroom I took down the cloth outer shower curtain and will use only the translucent curtain for a while. Nice to have a change sometimes.

Good thing I did that shopping yesterday, I don't think I'll spend anything for months after today's truck repair. The ABS/Brake lights were blinking on occasionally on the dash this last week, and I knew I needed the annual inspection, so I took it over to the Chevy dealer. Maybe they'd top the brake fluid, easy. Nope - the computer that runs the ABS system was failing and that sucker cost $1300 to replace. [gasp!]

Time to get serious about selling stuff on eBay, or time to get a part-time job to pay off some of these bills.

This evening I made a run over to my free compost place, and while there ran into an old friend from the library where I work. He'd been a graduate history student research fellow working for a professor who had a research center in the library. Nice! Met his wife, and they live nearby. I am going to plan to have them over this summer - this is the kind of duo who can sit down and literally talk about anything and everything - my kind of people. And my truck is full of compost mulch for working in the garden some more next weekend.

Kat, take care of that finger. Susan, that sounds like a great solution for the cot. I had a skinny foam mattress on my cot also, and I think I simply folded a flat top sheet all around it, and because the cot was so narrow the top sheet stayed tucked in.

Trash day tomorrow. Gotta pull it together. I always put so little out there compared to the neighbors, but I was busy this week and have a bit more. Sometimes they don't realize that bag is all I have. Now when my trash is so small I take it next door and leave it in her trash can to go out with her larger bundle. Most of what other people put in the trash I recycle.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 16 Jun 11 - 03:14 AM

Kat, the water will be disconnected so that the kitchen and bathroom can be demolished. That just happens to be the only bit of the house with plumbing, apart from the outbuilding in the garden (which has a loo and vanity basin) and an outdoor tap which just happens to be on the kitchen wall.
Plan A is to try and keep the water supply to the outbuilding, which may or may not be possible, and hopefully set up a supply in the yard (the builders are going to need a water supply). Plan B is me going begging water from the neighbours. I have started apologising in advance for the green fug and flies that could be my companions soon!

I have put my large bath mat in the spare bedroom, along with the camping toilet, and I will be able to have all-over washes. If things get too bad, I have access to my sister in law's weekend cottage, which has an electric shower. Luckily there is a launderette in the village, and I have a dryer! Hanging washing may be a bit difficult!
I lived in a Land Rover and tent for 4 months (albeit 30 years ago) so I know I can do it - you just need to look at what CAN be acheived.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jun 11 - 09:26 AM

Andrea, it would make a lot of sense to have that annex on it's own later line, so you can use one line or the other if needed in the future.

Seems to be a week for underdogs - the Dallas Mavericks won the first championship series in their 31 years as a team, and the Boston Bruins the first hockey championship in 39 years. So last night when I was picking up compost at a city park a little bitch, recently nursing pups, groveled up to me to be petted. Sweet, beautiful, needs food and attention. When others arrived she scooted out of sight. I'm going back this morning with a leash and water after delivering the dairy drink to my co-worker and see if I can catch her and take her to the Humane Society. On the long chance that her owners come looking (I bet she was dumped). I might consider adopting her if she is healthy, after they have her for the waiting period - I have been thinking I need a different aged dog from the two I have here now. But this is a long shot. She has different eye colors, is a little bit pit, a little bit something with off-colored eyes. Will report later on my efforts.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 16 Jun 11 - 11:46 AM

Sounds intruiguing. She obviously is not long in the local "pack" as she seems to be well down the order, and obviously is too nervous to start and assert herself. Keep us posted.

Just chilling at the moment. Had another maintenance session on my shoulder a few hours ago, and am off to Zumba in about 30 mins. Haven't been for 3 weeks. This should be interesting!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Jun 11 - 01:18 PM

Ah, thanks for the explanation, Andrea. We had to haul all of our water for years on the "mini-ranch" in Wyoming, so can empathise!

I have finally done it! This morning was a rare one with no appointments or interruptions, so after dropping Morgan off at school (they went on a field trip, see the Desert Rat picture posted on FB), I sat down with the hard copy of Prairie Child and finished the copy editing! All 297 pages. It's been sitting on my desk, like an accusing lump, bugging me to "get to it!" Now I can go through it on the computer, fix the few things I noticed and have it ready, I hope, to send to Create Space at Amazon and have it published. They are a little picky about formatting, but I think I have it well-done with their template. Wish me luck!?

Also watered outside all by myself and have done a load of laundry. Soaked my feet and then hands in a foot bath with epsom salts last night. Seems to have helped and will repeat later today. Doc will take a look tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon, Morgan called to see if he could come over. Instead I picked him up and we went off t the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. He'd never been there. Oh, boy! We took some photos along to match picture frames. They were all half price, so I got three beautiful ones for a couple of bucks. We were there at least an hour looking at everything. He loved it and wanted old adding machines, a piano, and a few other sillies. The adding machines didn't look as though they were workable, but I'll keep an eye out for one. They can be so much fun for a kid. So, I got even more exercise, yesterday, and, as a consequence, the big, dark chocolate bar I ate from the health food store did not add any weight.:-) I've lost another three pounds in the past ten days. Breaking 200 is coming close, almost 60 lbs lost since the first of the year. I love it!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 16 Jun 11 - 01:41 PM

Susan, I use a single duvet cover...which is roughly what you have made!

kat, I remember my Dad using his adding machine, with the handle at the side (still have his last unused paper roll!)

I've had such a wasted day today (see thread of that title). Except that an envelope arrived with vouchers from John Lewis, who run my credit card. So I went there to spend them. The usual rule is something that I will use frequently, but would not otherwise have bought. This time it was a bit more utilitarian. A bathroom bin for wet wipes. These are advertised as flushable, but the water companies differ. So I have baby pad disposal bags, but nowhere neat to put them. Until now.

And that's it for decluttering.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Jun 11 - 02:50 PM

Duvet cover, yes.... but flannel will probably allow an additional flat sheet to stick to it and not get rucked up every time I move. So for cold weather it's the sheet and for hot, the mattress pad.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jun 11 - 04:18 PM

Case of high calorie drinks delivered to the office today, and then I drove back by the park site and that pooch was hanging out in the shade by the compost hunker. I posted a description of taking her over to the Humane Society in notes on facebook. I was thinking of listing here, but decided on a wider audience. I can't afford all of the early exams and possibly treatment a starving stray is going to need. I have to hope that she's healthy enough that the Humane Society will keep her to adopt out. I'll check in to see if she's in the system next week.

On an entirely unrelated note, I have observed that since I stopped drinking carbonated soft drinks that my fingernails are much stronger. I usually trim them if they get very long because they break easily, but now they're longer and not brittle as usual. Makes me wonder what nutrients I wasn't getting with all of the stuff washing through every day.

Time to throw in a load of laundry then get back to my scanning.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jun 11 - 07:42 PM

I have been using a little program called "Sticky Notes" that comes with Windows (in Accessories). It's literally like a yellow sticky Post-it note that sits on the screen wherever I decide to stash it. I crossed off an item today. I've been meaning to streamline some of our banking but had always put it off. Sometimes you just have to stop thinking "one day I'm going to [fill in the blank]" and just act for today.

Since I ran some errands this afternoon I'll do some work for work this evening. It has been so hot outside that I pace my self with that, but I might put in about 30 minutes in the yard before it gets dark.

Are we really half-way through June already?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 11 - 10:22 AM

There were a couple of garage sales set up along the route when we walked the dogs this morning, but those folks will suffer from the heat.

It's a little overcast this morning, but no rain in the forecast. Small chance next week. I need to think about breaking out the pump to water the turf by using the creek water.

I always have yard work this time of year, but I need to turn my attention to more in the house, decluttering via eBay.

How's it looking for everyone else?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 11 - 09:31 PM

Talking to myself today. :-/

I've been experimenting with the scanner settings and software today, after earlier attempts at scanning a lot of documents for work. Now I can skip a lot of steps I was doing before and set the size file I want and go straight to PDF. Along with the scanning I'm working on an article about the scanning - I'm just adding ideas as they occur to me - I'll massage it into shape later on. It feels good to figure out some of these more sophisticated features after all of this time.

It hit 102^o today. Things outside are moving slow and staying in the shade. There are guys putting a roof on a house a few doors up the street - what a job. I put a load of laundry on the line at about 8pm. I'll bring it in before the sun is completely set and run it on air for a few minutes in the dryer to knock some of the wrinkles out.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 11 - 11:22 PM

A stack of filing is out of the way now. I looked at the sun room and decided to take care of a smaller task instead. And I also took my wheelbarrow to the back and dumped a bag of grass clippings I picked up at my neighbor's house earlier today. Put the wheelbarrow away in the roomier space where the tiller used to sit. I planted a few of my okra seeds collected from last year.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 01:27 AM

Super crazy busy here. A 5 hour trip downstate on Monday, drove back on Tuesday, meeting until 10:00pm on Wednesday (good meeting, just long), trip to my hospital (90 miles one way) for an appointment...no sitter so it was just Jeremiah and I, Laurel Festival activities all day today and tomorrow I will be walking/riding a float when necessary in a 2 mile parade route and attending a funeral in the evening (friend lost her 15 year old son to an asthma attack that turned into full cardiac arrest.) The following days are looking a little less full and I'll be happy to have a bit more time at home.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 08:59 AM

I forgot to add that yesterday I got a tattoo along with my 88 year old nana!!! (Henna of course) It was GREAT FUN!!! Photos will be up on Facebook by tomorrow!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 10:20 AM

Late this week Zeke will be coming to stay for 2 weeks, so in addition to my usual yard work, I need to dog-proof places that my dogs can't reach (their collars don't let them close to the fence). He's kind of willful when Susie walks him, so I'll have to see if I can walk all three dogs together. I'll teach him to do the same things my dogs do - sit beside the bowl and wait until I tell them to eat, and once I have control of the food, I'll have more of his attention.

I'm finishing my morning tea, then I'll go mow the front. These days my only caffeine is two morning cups of tea, no pop, and though I don't want to eliminate caffeine completely, I might cut it down to just one cup.

Oh - good news! I pulled some capri pants off the shelf where I'd stashed them earlier this summer because I couldn't fit into them. I must have been losing some weight because I can get into them again. Hurrah!!! (I'm still a chicken as far as stepping on the scale.) When it's so hot I need to have all of the extra pairs of pants because I sometimes end up changing clothes a couple of times a day. I'm headed to the thrift store for some more extra large dark blue t-shirts - turns out they are the most UV protection (UV a and b can go through your clothing - who knew?).

On the accountability side of things, though I haven't reported it consistently here, and we don't walk very fast, I have been walking my dogs every morning for 30 to 45 minutes.

I'm curious to hear from Dorothy - how is the country life, and did they empty out the shed/garage that she'd been working on. And Susan, how is dog world and all of the zones you've worked out at the house. Liz, are you feeling better and are you still sewing? Michelle is as hot as a two-dollar pistol these days, we know she's moving forward and making progress. :) Kat, is the finger better? Sounds like you got a lot done the other day. And Morgan - he's like having a secret weapon, isn't he? Penny, Andrea, maeve, how are your house and garden projects going? Maryanne? Some of the rest of you who drop in occasionally? I thought I'd ask - when it gets so hot it is harder to get things done (for many of us) than if it is cool out.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 12:16 PM

Thanks for asking, SRS. Yesterday was way busy and I am off to go places this morning, but I have more good news from the docs and will "tell all" when I have more time later today!

luvya'llkat

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 12:54 PM

Kindle!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 01:56 PM

I know mowing at midday is the worst kind of sun, but after I finished the other things I needed to do, I decided to get it done before it gets even hotter. I'd say I was out there 30 minutes, wearing hat, bandana, long pants, etc. And I am finished for now. No more work in the yard until I've finished a few things in the house.

I weeded and moved a soaker hose this morning. There is a volunteer cantaloupe in the front of the garden that has several various-sized fruits, and it's in a fairly okay place. I wish my squash would grow as vibrantly as these melons.

So, in the house: the sun room awaits. That's all there is to it. Bread has been made, laundry from the line last night was tumbled for a little while on cool in the dryer to take out some of the creases. Now I need to approach The Mess.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 04:09 PM

Weather alert this afternoon, up to 104^o. Brought the dogs in for a couple of hours during the worst of it. They're acclimated to the heat, but when it gets so high, even they have a hard time. And it's still only a spring day in June.

Progress on decluttering the wire shelves next to the outside door in the sun room. Big trash bag is filling up, seeds all put where they belong, plastic recycled, things put away. I'd misplaced a 1 cup measure a few months ago that I found in there.

More green tea and lemon balm brewing for this week's ice tea. As I work, if I can clear a surface to bring in the small television with the built in DVD I'll move it in and watch one of the movies I should have sent back to NetFlix ages ago. At least I can listen to it while I work.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 07:27 PM

Yesterday was busy. Morgan came over at 730a, we had breakfast, then piled in the car for my appt. with the orthopaedist. Rog and Morgan went over to the station where Rog works while I saw the doc. Xrays showed perfectly normal joints, etc.!! No arthritis of any kind! First time in a long time a doc has told me I have something "normal!" However, from using the walker, pulse ox, and typing whilst injured, I have a bad case of flexor tendinitis in both index fingers (but, luckily, my fingers do not lock in position.) I will use topical treatments, rest, etc. and go to an OT person, then see him in a month. He said it "would get better." Thank goodness. He's a funny doc with deadpan humour. When he told me what it was, I asked what he would recommend for treatment. He looked me right in the eye and immediately said he'd suggest "amputation." Maybe ya had to be there to get the humour, but we both had a good laugh, then we talked seriously about how much a person relies on their thumbs and index fingers.

Went home for a quick lunch, then I left the boys at home and went to the pulmonologist. He put me through my paces on the treadmill and various breathing tests for about two hours, all the while explaining to me what he was seeing. When he listened to my heart he was very pleased because he could no longer hear something which was associated with the out-of-control pulmonary hypertension, which means it is even better than last time I saw him! All in all it was a great visit and he doesn't want to see me again, barring emergencies, until October. He is very pleased with the way everything is working together.

He and his wife are an unconventional pair. She opens the office when he gets there after morning rounds at the hospital and she brings their twin 4 year olds, boy and girl, there, who have their own play room plus plenty of room around the office. They are friendly and sweet kids. They also have twin 24 yr old boys!His wife is from Syria and just a hoot to visit with; very friendly, open, supportive and sweet, BUT I would not want to get on her bad side. She was telling me about what she thought of some of the hoity-toity "boutique" tanning salons around here. She's a lot of fun. Told me next time to bring Morgan; children are welcome.

I was so elated, grateful and excited I could not sleep last night. Two benadryl, 1/2 a xanax, 2 tylenol, a snack, nothing helped. I finally fell asleep with the robins' morning sun song, then woke when my son called at 8a! He went to a wonderful shop, after hours with friends of his and the owner, called Rebecca's Herbs and wanted to tell me all about it. He told me to let him know if I want any of her products. I think I'll look for a tea or spritz to help with sleep.

Today, we went to the post office to mail out some books; to the new sally army store where i found a globe, current, for Morgan for three bucks and a pad of graph paper for him. Then to the grocery store, then home. Laundry, lunch, put foodstuffs away, rested, then we both went back to the old office and...are you ready for this? We emptied the library truck (cart) keeping about a third of the books and boxing up the others for selling/donating!!! The truck will go out to storage tomorrow. I cannot believe we finally got it done!!

Oh, and we also dropped off the bags of shredded papers at the recycling tip near the grocery store.

Now, we are going to have supper and look for a good movie on netflix. My fingers have about had it. Time for an epsom salts soak, methinks!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 08:08 PM

Great news and good activity level, Kat! And how's the book? Has it been sent out?

I burst through the blockage of boxes and eBay and return (Cabella's) items into the sun room. I've decided that instead of having containers of old pens and pencils everywhere I'll toss or donate most of them and keep good functioning pens in various places around the house. So I have some in the trash and some in a bag for the Goodwill. I've also identified several things to list on eBay this evening.

I keep coming in to the computer--it's just so darned hot out that I can't spend much time out today. The dogs were in for a couple of hours, but we're past the hottest part of the day now so they're in the yard. It wouldn't be good for them to be in and out all of the time - it would be bad, in fact. But when it gets to those triple digit days, I need to give them a break. My house isn't super cool, but it's about 20 degrees cooler than outside.

eBay, here I come with some of it, and maybe a run to the municipal recycle bins. Next trash day I'll have a bit more at the curb than usual.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 12:12 AM

SRS, in a few words: "I hate MSWord!" Various problems as I go in and make the minor corrections. When I print, it prints blank pages at the end of certain chapters, with no printed number on them, yet the numbering skips a number to the next chapter with text. So, example: it goes from page 29 to page 31 with no #30, except when it prints and then it is blank with no number. I tried deleting the pages which are blank and that just messed things up, then I tried to just move the text up to the blank page. Plus, the left margins are off just a hair in each chapter after the first paragraph. It was NOT that way on my hard copy and I did nothing to reset it when I opened the file.

Sorry ya asked? Thanks for letting me vent!I'll be lucky to get it ready by the end of the summer, at this rate!

Off ta bed, now! Try to stay kewl...104 is too much!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 03:59 AM

After my wasted day (see thread of that name) I couldn't do much yesterday as a friend was coming over. I've adjusted the border of the latest bed, and propped up the compost bin where it had distorted a bit, being on a slope, moved the potato bags apart a bit.

Bought some more compost from Lidl for potting up some of the plants growing from cuttings and brought from old gardens, and for topping up some of the potatoes.

I dropped off my friend a little way from home so he could walk through fields and take photos. While I was waiting for him to arrive, I put up another strip of shelf support, three shelves and moved some books about, getting some more ready to go to Oxfam. I have run out of brackets. Eventually, I will buy some new shelves that run the whole way across the wall, and that will make more efficient use of the brackets, but at the moment, it's much more haphazard.

Over the past nights I have slept without the usual breaks, and woken much more heavily (if that makes sense). This coincides with using an aromatherapy device consisting of a jar with a sponge soaked in oil scented with marjoram. I take off the lid, and have it on the dressing table beside the bed. I'm going back to not using it for a few nights to see if it is it that has changed my sleep, or coincidence. If it is, kat, maybe you could use marjoram oil to help.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 08:56 AM

Today has turned out to be an indoor day. I had intended to go out in the garden pm, but we now have a downpour.

Earlier, I sorted out the small bits of fabric to put in the emptied basket for patchwork at the top of the house, and then put all the empty jamjars on their sides into a cupboard in the utility room, emptying another cardboard box. I should have thought of that before. I'm not going to make jam yet - I have a lot to finish first, and a pack of Seville oranges in the freezer for marmalade. (We had a family meeting on marmalade day in January, so I had to delay the session. And as I haven't finished the last lot yet, I'm waiting.)

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 10:10 AM

Nice out this morning, but I'm sure it will be another hot one today.

I've shelved some of the books in the sun room that were in bags on the floor. They're temporarily in my mostly-empty craft cupboard (that's where I'm going to be putting my glass and crystal, and I've started putting some of it in the upper shelves). I got a look at the titles I was thinking about selling on eBay, but I may save myself the trouble and take them down to the used book store. I swept out the area and have a lot more access to the table top. Today I'll work until that's clear, wash the blue sheet (my background for most of my auction photos) and set up again for some of the sales I'll list today and this week.

I finished my tea, so it's back to the sun room.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 01:02 PM

Found more stuff to put away in the craft cupboard, and other things that are in the trash (I had a bunch of inexpensive vinyl table cloths that had a cotton backing - but they're not in good enough shape to give away - they come from the rough kid years). That trash bag is bulging, and I have more if I need them. It feels good to get rid of stuff that, much of it, was sitting around just waiting for a reading on it's disposition.

Healthy lunch coming up. I'm glad I'm a size smaller in the pants, but I wish these spare tires would go away sooner rather than later. :-/

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 07:47 PM

Made my rounds, Goodwill got a couple of boxes, Half-Price Books got a box, then I started loading up. Fur strips (narrow boards) to reinforce a couple of sections of fence (they're fine, but I want them to be better than fine) and a couple of other stops.

My drink this evening is red beer - a mix of my home-canned tomato juice in the glass, topped with beer. Healthier, makes the beer last longer, and it makes me happy to be enjoying the juice from tomatoes I grew.

This is an eBay evening. I have quite a few things I dug out of the tangle that I'll go ahead and list. It's about time! Kind of an odd mix, perhaps, but that's okay. I want the space and can use a few bucks from it.

All in all, quite a productive weekend.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 09:11 PM

Turned a kingsize flannel sheet into an extra-wide king sheet to fit our x-wide king bed; it needed wings attached (taken from a twin sheet) to hang over the sides.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 09:19 PM

Went fishing today!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 09:46 PM

It's been a blustery day outside, but non=productive in that it hasn't brought any rain, yet.

Inside, we were both tired. Stayed up 'til after midnight; got up late. Managed breakfast, a load of laundry, the cat boxes and a ride up through the orchards. We tried going to the humane society to look at dogs, JUST to look, but they weren't open until later and we were too tired, so came home.

We watched another episode of George Gently, a BBC Detective Inspector show, then Rog was called to work, so I watched another episode. Now, it's just gone past supper and we've one show to watch then to bed. Morgan will be here about 7a tomorrow! He'll be in school half day whilst I go to exercise and later go get some bloodwork done, just routine "fine tuning" as the doc said.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 11:13 PM

Is this a good detective series, Kat? I do like mysteries that have more mystery than mayhem.

It is so dry and windy here that the laundry on the line was done way faster than it would have been in the dryer. On a map from Weatherbug this afternoon there was a storm that shows us at the bottom point of a series of storms down the middle of the U.S. tonight. I think we have cooler weather coming by mid-week, but right now, it's fingers crossed that the garden and yard don't shrivel, and I'll bring the dogs in during the hottest part of the day if it is over about 102^o (that is a dog's normal body temperature).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 11:47 PM

It is, SRS! Think Inspector Morse with his sidekick only set in the 60s in Northumberland. It's avail. on instant at netflix. Really, really well done and very recent. Here you go: WikionGG.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 12:00 AM

Nervous energy, can't sleep.

Floors swept and mopped.
Table cleared.
Meds for the week sorted out.
Checkbook balanced.
New photos added to Facebook.
Paperwork and local lab requests ready for tomorrow's visit to the lab/tumor marker check/port flush & access.

Might do some dishes. Maybe not. We'll see.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 11:35 AM

You'll be fine, Michelle - this is your usual jitters before the standard follow-up. It is to be expected!

Lots of stuff to do this week. I'll report as I finish. This morning I identified a shelf that I've been using for one job (holding plants in the bay window) that I may reassign. Looking around to see if there is a better place for it.

I'm making a push to eat more fruit and veggies, keep the weight loss momentum moving. This is the best time of year to lose weight (a conversation I had with my veterinarian, but he's right - your brain isn't trying to hold on to every stored calorie, like in cold weather).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 03:00 PM

Back earlier today from Beverley Folk Festival, and washing done and dried. I will be going to wash today's clothes and towels before I go to bed, because TOMORROW THE WORK STARTS!!!!! I have to be around early in the morning to let the builder, plus electrician, plumber, joiner and labourers on the site to turn off the gas/water/electricity to the kitchen, and to fit my temporary back door. So tonight it's the farewell shower, and an early night.

Glad your check-ups went well, Kat....and Michelle, I hope all continues to go well with you, too.
SRS, I really don't know how you do so much in that heat! I wish we could have a little bit of it - we have yet another cold and wet front coming over, and a northerly wind forecast, with showers after a rainy start to tomorrow. I have lit the living room stove. Not full blast, I'll admit, but I was hoping to hold off for the time being.

Better go and unscrew the bathroom cabinet from the wall....

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 03:28 PM

Andrea, it will be an adventure! Take photos all along the way. This is the kind of stuff you could blog about.

I'm watching a program now where they're talking to a couple of "coupon divas" about their shopping. Thing is, they end up with so much stuff they don't need to get to the stuff they want, I'd think it would go out of date. Talk about clutter! Take it straight to the local food bank.

This morning I washed and stacked bunch of pretty porcelain plates that I decided I'm not going to sell on eBay. They are in the sun room near the crystal. Instead, I have an older larger set for 12 of all of the pieces that I'll probably sell. They're mostly crazed - those micro cracks that let water through when you get them wet - I can't use these for eating. I'll keep a couple of big pieces that are in good shape, and sell the rest piecemeal. If people are trying to finish a set, even if it's an older one they won't use, perhaps they'll buy them. Otherwise I might need to find a mosaic project that calls for broken china. (!)

Nice lunch today, and this evening I'll make a batch of blueberry muffins for the next couple of breakfasts.

Scanning up a storm today. I'll take a break in a few minutes and head outside - it is supposed to be only in the high 90s today.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 11:27 PM

Well, didn't make the muffins, but I did bake myself a "Dutch Baby" (big popover) for dessert. I put a few more pieces of porcelain into the sunroom cupboard. Brought in the small rugs from the line. I washed them on ultra gentle, but next time they'll get a little more agitator action, knock out more dirt.   

Lots to do tomorrow, not much of it near the computer.

Still waiting to hear from Dorothy and how that new cabin is working out.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 11:43 PM

Scratched exercise today, something just kept pushing me away, even after I got there, out of the car and walking in. It was uncanny, as if a wall were there pushing me back, so I decided to pay attention and go home. Went back to give bloods for routine tests.

Got Morgan at noon. He put the books from the boxes back on the truck for me and put them by my desk so I can either list them or decided who to give them to. He also emptied all of the trash for Papa whom he has taken it upon himself to now call "Pops" which is what my mom called her dad, but he didn't know that. Really took me aback the first time he said it. Made me smile thinking of her and my granddad.

I have to call the dentist first thing, tomorrow. I broke a tooth eating a fried potato which Rog kind of over-cooked, beyond crunchy.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 06:45 AM

Very wise, Kat. I am a believer in listening to your body, (even if I choose to ignore what it's saying sometimes). Hope your tooth gets fixed okay.

The men started arriving at 8am and it is now 11.40am. I have no water or gas, and the power is off to the kitchen. The bathroom fittings have been ripped out, and the loo and washbasin are stacked on the yard ready for re-use. The remainder of the kitchen has yet to go, but the joiner is moving the old back door onto the dining room/lobby doorframe, so i have a lockable door. The plumber is hoping to make a new water supply from the main to the annexe tomorrow...

It is also pouring with rain.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 07:42 AM

Huge motivation given yesterday: People who have had chemo for ovarian or breast cancer and lost a significant amount of weight are much more likely (I think he said 85-90%) to NOT have a recurrence.

I did not know that.

Still no results on my test. Waiting for 8am to come so I can call and talk to someone.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 11:39 AM

Well.... I'm close to rock bottom. I could use some encouragement (not advice).

THE SITUATION: Since getting onto the increased dosage of the one heart/BP med that worked-- I was getting BPS of over 200/120-- I'm just so cold all he time that I can't stand the beloved pool. It IS the warmest pool in town... And even the hot tub is a problem there, because the women's shower is just one stall, for one person-- because once I get out, if that shower is taken, I am SOL and freezing.

I do not mean unpleasantly cold. I mean the kind of cold that makes me weep in misery and spend hours getting warm again.

And I have to take that medication, period.


Anyway, because it lowers HR so much and I can't walk across a room without feeling like it's a major aerobic effort requiring a stop-exercise rest (according to the hitherto-reliable Perceived Exertion Scale), my activity level and thus my muscles (and metabolism) are shot. So much so that when I pull a muscle I cannot rehab it on land. The last month has been a descending scale of function within an ascending scale of pain.

An old HS chum is in a similar fix-- broke a thighbone and can't rehab it on land. But she has no pool, and WE DO, TBTG and our Bishop's generous partnership.


So it's off to the hot tub after a big lunch for very, VERY slow stretches and joint rehab. By July 1 I should also be starting into the cold pool for short stints of deeper water work. And taking a thermos of hot water... and watching for times the shower is free and....... or hoping for hot days when I can just come outside, get in the hot car, and drive home wet to OUR shower.

And weeping, but not misery-weeping. Overcoming-type weeping. And don't nobody give me any shit over it!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 12:49 PM

That does sound like a predicament, Susan. This time of year I would love to have an outdoor shower with the solar heated water that I can mix with tap to cool it down. With all of the rain you guys have had lately, I doubt finding a solar source of warm water for after your swim would be easy. Good luck getting to the shower.

Kat, I wonder if you're talking yourself out of the exercise? I'm thinking of the little internal scripts that the author of that Procrastinators book talked about. (You know, the voice that says "hit the snooze button one more time" or "I'll take the stairs later so the elevator is okay this time.") Maybe it's something you don't enjoy, and not feeling like it is a way of opting out. Is there another exercise you can do instead?

I'm at the office today, working on signing up a Mudcatter for our holiday program. I've tried this a couple of times before, but this time it looks like it'll work. More on that if it happens, but I'm thrilled to tap into this great Mudcat network.

I'll pick up dog gear this evening from Susie (Zeke's owner) and she'll have enough food with them for a couple of days when he goes to Houston with them. They're back in a couple of days and then they fly out for two weeks, so then he'll come to our house. So I have until Friday to be sure the fences are Zeke-proof. They're newer fences, but my dogs have never been up against them with the Invisible Fence collars.

I put some china in the sun room cupboard last night and set a serving bowl on a stand so it is a pretty display when the doors are open. I have more things to move in there this evening, and I also will start listing eBay stuff. I think I've about cleared enough of the table so I can get back to photographing things in there.

We had a little rain last night, only about 1/3 inch at most, but every little bit helps these days. My garden breathed a gasp of relief, brief though it was. Mostly I'm still in the house looking out, contemplating how to keep the veggies alive, get the seeds to sprout, and keep the turf alive for the dogs this summer.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 01:01 PM

No, not talking myself out of it, SRS. I actually have been looking forward to it. I do think I have a little anger at the OTs there who have offered no help/suggestions about gripping with the sore fingers, etc. but maybe they have to have a doc's order to do so. Now I've been to the doc, I will talk with them and see what we can do to adapt. The good thing about where I go is they monitor BP, pulse and O2 sat. rates during the hour. There is another gym with the hospital which I can "graduate" to when I get the 12 weeks done with this one, but I would have to pay for it while insurance is covering all of this. I will be looking into the pool there to see what they may offer for exercise. My girlfriend doc told me of one down valley, but that'd be too far for me and take up too much time, plus no medical monitoring.

Andrea, sounds like a real, but good, mess, in that it will lead to just what you want! Good luck with getting some water on.:-)

Can't get into the dentist until tomorrow and it's not the guy I like best, but it'll be okay.

Did a bunch of pick up and put away this morning (instead of editing:-<) I will do that this evening, I hope.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 06:47 PM

Last busy day for a few days...I am SO looking forward to having some time to be at home!! Lots of walking and carrying of things today.

Michelle

PS. There is a sauna in that locker room that is a cozy spot to hang out until the shower is free.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 08:08 PM

Re: sauna, nope. That's off limits due to BP issues. :~( But the good news is that the hip HAD healed enough for the stretches today to break the resulting don't-hurt-me stiffness. I was also able to approximate a working pace for the deep water workouts with these meds, to discuss with doc at July visit.

And then I came home and took it easy to see what soreness would result from breaking the "rigor mortis," stretched out flat so as not to sit on the sore spots. Doing pretty well. Hurts less than this AM. Good thing I had listened to the body: "Go NOW. Do THIS. And only this!" When it said, "OK, stop NOW, get out, go home," I DID.

Back at it tomorrow.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 09:04 PM

My plate is filling up to overflowing for the next two weeks. I picked up Zeke's food and a key to the house today; they're taking enough food for his trip with them for a couple of days, then he's here starting Friday. At the house, without my two dogs there, he's a big galumping baby who will chase toys in the pool for as long as you'll throw them. I'll make a point of taking the dogs up to play, but I'll take Cinnamon by herself the first time to see if she even likes pools. Poppy won't, and if Cinnamon is shy of the pool then I'll take just Zeke up every so often to swim.

I went by the humane society. The dog I turned over on Thursday afternoon isn't up for adoption yet; she would have been examined probably Monday and the guy at the counter said it's usually another three days after they've been on that hold list that they might be adopted. I'll go over on Thursday and see if she made it through and what her heartworm test shows.

The ex called today and said he didn't understand why he was getting statements from his auto insurance company, that if he didn't put our son on his account soon they'd put him on automatically. He wanted to know why I wasn't paying for his insurance. It's because he never drives my truck, he put his dad's address on his driver's license (that's how the insurance company knows he's a registered driver at that address), he doesn't have a car and he is gone nine months of the year with no access to driving. I didn't receive any notices, and didn't know what arrangements he had or hadn't made.

"Do I tell him he can't drive my car?" was the question. I told him to call the other insurance agent and see what the options are - but I called back a little while later and spoke to my son. I told him if I have to put him on my insurance that I will only do it if he goes out and gets a job for the rest of the summer. If he won't do that, to help pay some of his own expenses at school, then he won't be on anyone's insurance. His dad had no argument with that! It's time he started contributing to this enterprise. He's a smart kid, and he works hard in school, but he also needs to understand that people work.

We shall see!

Storms looming. Good! I hope for rain, without damaging winds.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 12:19 AM

"Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can't change.
Life's too short to be anything... but happy."
- Anonymous

I think this is perfect!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 02:13 AM

I couldn't agree more, Michelle!

Susan, I really hope you get some form of relief before long. You must get so frustrated at times.

Yep, there will be a new water pipe being dug in today (not what was budgeted for, but a damn good idea. The archaeologist has to be here too, as they are digging a trench...not that it will be deep enough to find anything, but that's what his remit is, and you never know, something may turn up!

We had a dance out at a very quaint pub in a village called Etal last night, and then we all went off for a solstice dance to Duddo Stone Circle, which is a few miles north of there, and which required a hike of about a mile around wheat fields. We had a Springer Spaniel with us, and it was amazing to see him "springing" in the wheat. I have been meaning to visit the circle for a while. I think I may escape up there with a picnic if we ever get any warm enough weather!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 10:14 AM

Andrea, my father always enjoyed telling us stories about his Springer spaniel named "Jack" who did that springing at appropriate moments when they were out hunting. He was a sight to behold!

My dogs are excited about the bin of Zeke's dog food in the living room over by their stuff. Something is happening! Today I'll sort out their stall (take out the dog houses for now) and give them fresh hay. They'll have a couple of days to accustom themselves to the extra space (they don't sleep in the houses when it's hot, so they would be cramped with three dogs in there, sleeping in the remaining open space). Also time to check out the fences.

I took another pair of pants from the "don't fit" shelf to add to the ones I wear now, but when they're zipped I still have a pretty astonishing "muffin top" at my waist, so I'm not planning to wear these much until I lose more weight. I am making progress, but need to lose a lot more before I'm happy about my clothing choices.

There is no point in hoping rain will water my yard - a "20%" chance is such a long shot around here that I treat it as supplemental to my regular watering. I have a xeriscape yard, but it still needs some water. I'm running sprinklers while they are allowed, and then I'll switch to running the soaker hoses (not visible and use a fraction of the water). This is my day, an even date, and I pulled out a tall sprinkler that needed some attention (found the teflon tape, finally, and have now stored it in a more logical place).

I just went out and moved one of the dog houses. So of course, they're taking turns going into the one that remains. I may have to rethink this. They're just like little kids. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 10:57 AM

I can almost see the dogs taking turns, looking a bit confused. Cute!
Apparently there were some big storms that passed through our area last night, I was sleeping and didn't hear a thing. YAY.

I had an early morning phone call from a cancer patient this morning, 2 months out of treatment and in free fall. I think we'll be meeting in person later this week. The cancer community support in this area still amazes me....

Two loads of laundry are hanging to dry, dishes are in the dishwasher, groceries almost all put away (I stocked up big time yesterday on a few things), kitchen floor swept, breakfast made, lunch for my husband packed and now I'm taking a break. :)

Jeremiah has a book in hand so I think we'll do some reading. I love that!!!!

Have a great day everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 05:18 PM

Thanks, folks. I do get frustrated, and even moreso when some people (sometimes docs) have seen it as depression. Geeze, I just get down for a coupla minutes, but then I get back TO IT! And I do not need to be numbed out with meds just to make their screening/referral-routine checklisters happy!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 06:07 PM

I returned that noisy car-battery cooler this afternoon, and part had to go on a gift card, so I poked around, not wanting to have to drive back to use $12. I found a pair of sandals in the clearance rack that are just what I've been needing.

More china is in the sun room cupboard, and another box was emptied that I can use for eBay shipping. I've found several things that I prepared for shipping that didn't sell, so I may give them a second try before donating them. There's a lot more room in there. I've been looking through some of the ideas I could live with from Martha Stewart Living (like this one) and this one I've put into use here at my house. I picked up a couple of packs of bungee cords to use on a smaller wire rack that things occasionally fall off of. I need to look at the contents and see if I still want to keep everything on it.

I took some time off to do this running today, so I'll spend the evening writing and scanning. I've pulled out a couple of brautwurst and will cook them in beer with peppercorns and have them on a roll with sauerkraut. Mmmmm! Meat, veggie, grain all in one great sandwich.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 10:00 PM

We are probably no supposed to trade or barter here but I am in need perhaps (might have found one) of a double cassette player so I can copy some old cassettes..sort of a music therapy situation. If anyone can sell one for a garage sale price plus shipping, please let me know. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 11:37 PM

Mary, I don't see why we couldn't exchange items, but it doesn't usually come up. I have my Dad's double cassette, but one side is a bit on the fritz as far as opening and closing, and I use it. It was a fancy one he had in the bank of receivers and players. And there is one I also use on my Aiwa set that has all of the bits in one. But I am probably alone in using these things these days - I would suggest you check out the Goodwill - I see those things down there all of the time now, people upgrading to other kinds of players. Most places have a plug in area, so take along a couple of tapes and test them out.

The compost bin has been emptied, the yard policed and I made another bucket of "dog droppings tea" to pour over the compost pile once I poured in the bin contents into the middle of the pile, before burying it. And then I piled on the old hay from the dogs' stall. Both dog houses are out now and it's more of a bunk house for the pooches rather than a place with separate compartments. I'll see how they like it - it'll make it easier having a third dog in there when there are only two dog houses.

I've been running a sprinkler selectively around the various vegetable gardens. No rain in my yard despite the chance for it this week.

I researched several programs for identifying duplicate files, then downloaded one called Duplicate Cleaner to go through and identify my duplicate photo files. I ran the scan and started removing duplicates. I see the places where they're coming from so I stopped after a while and closed it after deleting only a few hundred duplicates. I'll go get rid of the source of many of the duplicates then run the scan again and see what is left.

Time to clean all of the garden and dog dirt off of me, run a load of laundry, and head to bed.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 11:55 PM

Thanks..but I am in a place where it is impossible to buy things except clam shovels..I have checked the two local thrift stores..but even buying a pair of socks or shoes here is almost impossible without a car to drive to another state. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 11:57 PM

mg, I'd give you one if I had it. You might check at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore or Sally Army or Goodwill. They all seem to have such things at reasonable prices. (We've been frequenting them a lot, lately, and I've noticed.)

Well, we saved my tooth, but only by putting on a temp. crown. I go back in two weeks for the porcelain crown. I went to exercise, first. Managed about 20 minutes before we all decided it was not a good idea for my fingers and foot. Then I went in for another of those $1,000.00 shots. Home for lunch and to rest, then Rog took me to the dentist.

Two loads of laundry done. My house-cleaner/girlfriend is coming to do the floors, tomorrow, plus the O2 company's respiratory person is coming to re-evaluate me for a lower dose of O2 which will mean a smaller, lighter pack to carry which means I'll be able to get around a whole lot easier. Yippee!!!

Yesterday morning, Solstice, I woke up to a big beautiful blossom on the jungle cactus plant I mentioned up thread. I couldn't smell anything because my nose was stopped up and, true to reports, it did open in the night and gradually fold up in the morning. It was so unexpected and such a delight. I had a hard time getting pix because of the angle.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 12:59 AM

I spent a glorious day AT HOME!!! I never even left the front porch!!! Jeremiah and I played (new photos up on Facebook in a few minutes) and I got a lot done around the house....some of it was smaller stuff that was just bothering me and I'm glad to be done with it. I am planning tomorrow to go much the same way!!! YAY!

This weekend, Pete is going to be installing 2 new air conditioners...one in my office and one in the baby's room....both to be used on a minimal, as need basis only. Jeremiah will NOT be sleeping with the AC on, I just don't think it's good for him. He has a small fan that does just fine. And my office...well, you've seen photos...it's going to get worse before it gets better. The Yard Sale is coming up soon but in the mean time I am using that space to store things. I can't wait to get that stuff out of the house!! I still have lots of pricing to do.

I had to file a formal complaint against a new to me, medical professional. I hated to do it but poor treatment from any medical professional is unacceptable.

In the meantime, I had my first healthy glucose level today. YES!!! I am having to do intense monitoring (for now) to track how my body is processing things. This means 7 glucose tests (finger sticks) and 4 daily insulin injections. I'm beginning to look like Swiss cheese but I won't have to do all 11 daily injections...maybe it will be cut down to 6 or so. It's worth it to me. I want to be healthy. I want ALL of me to be healthy!!!

Night Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 09:28 AM

Wow, Michelle, I didn't realize you were doing that many pokes and injections. And at this point, if you've met a medical professional who isn't professional, then a) you'e one who would know what to expect and b) you're one to protect other patients from a recurrence of poor treatment.

Kat, I've been seeing an ad on TV for some kind of lightweight oxygen system that they say "the insurance company will tell you it's a luxury, but have your doctor prescribe it," along those lines. If I see the add again I'll get the name.

Mary, I'll take a couple of cassettes along with me next time I head to the Goodwill. They have a whole wall of appliances, so I'll see if I can find you a double cassette player/recorder that works well. They typically price these things from $10 to $20. Would that work for you?

I watered the yard thoroughly last night, and ran of load of aundry to hang on the line this morning. Today I'll stay here and knock several things off of my list of things for work and the house. I was careful not to stir up much dust in the dog stall yesterday, but I woke feeling a bit like I've caught a cold. I should have used the neti pot last night when I finished, but I used it this morning to cleanse the sinuses and it already feels better.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 03:08 PM

I have running water again, even if it's down the yard! The roof is off the extension, and one wall is down. The builder said it was a good job I was doing the work now, because the back wall is in a poor state. The yard is full of the debris, and very soon they will have to barrow it off site across the back of the terrace. I feel sorry for them, as it's an awfully hard job.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 03:27 PM

Andrea, was there asbestos in the roofing materials? Did they have to do any extra encapsulation of the materials as they came down? Is the wall that is in a poor state one of the walls that you were planning to work on now?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 03:36 PM

Thanks..the guy from work did bring his in..weighs about 20 pounds..but I will test and see if it works and then I am set. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: gnu
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 03:37 PM

I was pissed off today. I went to Wallymart to buy thread a few days ago and they had jeans for $8 but I didn't have time to try them on and I figured since prices change on Fridays here they would still be on sale. They were $15 today. I got NEW jeans on accounta the old jeans I could finally wear again after SOOO many years are now too big.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 10:37 PM

Warning: Under Ambien Influence

So. I have diabetes. I need to really take a much closer look at exactly how many carbs are in things. Ok. I can do that.

My cholesterol is high so I need to eat things low in fat. Any fat being used should preferably be olive oil.

If I lose weight, the recurrence factor of the cancer coming back drops dramatically. So, calories are limited.

I'm stuggling with exactly I can eat.

The ambien doseage hasn't changed but I am noticing a much faster effect now that I'm not eating as much.

So what the hell AM I supposed to eat!?!!??

Low carb, low fat, high veggies, low fruit. Ummmm. *Sigh*

I'll figure it out. It just amazed me how fast the ambien is hitting....it has everything to do with what my intake is.

I'm off to check my bedtime blood sugar and then another insulin injection.

Good times.

;) Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 11:17 PM

Michelle,

Look into the connection between taking a fibre supplement and cholesterol. I watch Dr. Oz occasionally, and he did a talk about that on one program recently - not only does fibre help with elimination, but it is what the bulk of the cholesterol sticks to as it goes through your system. The best price I've found are the fibre capsules that Sam's Club sells. I've used these ever since I went in for my first colonoscopy and the recommended it.

Omega 3s, the good oil in wild fish like salmon, but also in mackerel, sardines, anchovies, etc. I love salmon when I can get it, but I also really like sardines. I buy the big fat cans of the whole fish in tomato sauce, but I also like the Brunswick kippered snacks that Big Lots sells for about $1.25 or $1.50 a can. Stand over the sink and eat it because you're going to need to wash your fingers, fork, and the can so the smell doesn't take over the house, but they're wonderful. (Kippered is smoked.) Just two tips I can offer.

I rearranged the rest of the pile of rocks on the driveway by the side door, building a rather robust short wall and I used the dolly and moved the chipped-paint wrought iron bench over inside the enclosed space. I'm going to look into using planks to reinforce the seats (there used to be a latex seat thing stretched out, but it doesn't need to be bouncy). I'll put down pieces of plywood, or perhaps a lattice work of furring strips, and then use one of the inexpensive outdoor cushions you can find at Home Depot, Lowes, Big Lots, etc.

A couple of batches of dishes have been washed, and another dishpan full awaits. I have a pan of bread pudding in the oven, made from the end of the last loaf I made. This is such a great dessert or breakfast. :-) I've cleared out some in the garage, I've filled the treat pocket in my fanny pack that I wear when dog walking, and I have Susie's house key on my pocket key ring, ready to go get Zeke in the morning. I'll get him first, then see about walking all three, but at first I think they'll need to burn off energy.

One of my okra seeds planted a few days ago is already sprouting, and some of my Swiss chard that I planted a little earlier is finally sprouting. The sweet potato vines (the real ones) are beautiful, and the ornamental ones on the wall out front are also looking good. In the future I might just plant real sweet potatoes by the wall! The tomatoes got some wind last week and I see a few new fruits. I have my fingers crossed that the plants will outgrow the brown leaves and branches that looked bad last week - they are improving. The bird bath was cleaned and filled. The yard is happy.

Tomorrow the dog adventure begins!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Jun 11 - 11:37 PM

Thanks SRS. I'll check it out.

In the meantime, I passed out for about half an hour, got up, checked my blood sugar, did more insulin and decided the hell with it and had some blueberries. They are good for me in most ways. :)

I had a blast playing with Jeremiah today. My living room looks like a Toys R Us explosion but it's ok...we had FUN!!! And today he carried on all kinds of conversations and giggled at himself and his interaction with the cat. I LOVE watching him.....such an amazing time. :)

Night.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 24 Jun 11 - 01:38 AM

Rad up on metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. Chances are you would only have to give up starchy and sugary carbs, regardless of cholesterol situation. Hopefully there is a doctor somewhere who understands the biology of all this. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jun 11 - 10:11 AM

I walked up to Susie's house and got Zeke, and when we got back down here I went through the house to the back, where the dogs were so excited to see him. I let him go for a few minutes while I put them on their leashes and he got into the kitchen trash. [sigh]

They're all outside now, and when I'm not there they are much calmer. Zeke is used to having several people pay attention to him, so he's watching the windows to see where I am. Poppy is the same way. Cinnamon loves having the other two dogs back there. Cinnamon has a swollen spot under her chin again, and a spot on her tummy I want the vet to see, so we have an appointment this afternoon. That means Zeke and Poppy alone in the yard. Interesting. She'll probably hang out in the garage the entire time. I gave him a bath because despite all of the time he spends in the pool, he still smelled rather doggy. Funny - I have outside dogs who don't smell very doggy. He's more of an inside pooch.

I am wet and smell like a dog, so I'm headed into the shower and dropping my clothes in the laundry. It could be a long two weeks!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Jun 11 - 10:43 AM

Hardi was able to purchase Bianca's BFF yesterday: Ms. or Mr. Anjelica Daisy Joiner.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jun 11 - 11:16 AM

I'm not able to tease much information out of that, Susan. Do you have a new dog, a new child, a new roommate?

I feel much better after a shower, and the dogs are hanging out. I suspect as mine start barking at things beyond the fence in the woods that Zeke will get an education on wildlife. Wouldn't it be a shock if Cinnamon catches something; she does every so often.

eBay awaits, and I think this weekend is when I'll get a bunch listed. The sun room is much improved access-wise, and I've uncovered several things to re-list. And cleaning. High temperatures are supposed to hover in the 98 - 100^o range, so there will be some morning or evening yard work also. I have some planks to use on a workbench thing I have been meaning to build for a while. I have a rule for myself, not to buy ahead for projects if I haven't finished what I already bought stuff for. That results in a lot of cash tied up in inventory. Must stop doing that.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Jun 11 - 06:58 PM

They are two playdoll/puppets for multicultural and social ministry group process work in various settings-- program materials. (I believe I have posted about Bianca before.) Dressing them and creating packable dressup variations is a challenge to keeping decluttered.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 01:45 AM

We have made it through the day, and the dogs, while still excited about being together, have settled down into an easy companionship. When I go out they tend to vie for my attention, so I don't spend much out there without a handful of dog treats - then they're totally at attention.

I took Cinnamon to the vet - a trip I couldn't afford, but at the same time, she had a couple of spots and a tooth I was worried about, and I'd have spent the summer afraid I was withholding treatment of something more serious. It was expensive because it did involve an antibiotic for a spot on her chin (allergic reaction to the plastic in her wading pool, probably - something we'll just have to live with, but I'll treat it now) and a jar of the antibiotic ointment to last for some time to come. Hell, if I'm going to throw money away on my truck I might as well throw it away on my dog, also!

I have had a NetFlix DVD here for what is certainly a new record - months, I think, without sending it back. My son has made great use of the account, so it's not like I threw the monthly fee away. I have it playing this evening, on the computer monitor in a corner, just to give it a quick review, then tomorrow I'll declutter my NetFlix DVDs back in the mail.

I've made progress in the kitchen, and have emptied out some of the storage area in the sun room - it's amazing how many telephones I have around this house. They're all in one box now. I probably can't completely empty the old computer hutch that now holds all of my packing boxes (mostly flat on top), but at least I can organize it better and compress the stuff in the room. One day I'll get rid of that. I still have a lot of boxes and bags sitting around in hallway areas that once I get rid of them, will make the area look a lot better. Maybe some of that this weekend, since I don't have any money to spend doing anything else. :-/   

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 12:38 PM

Dog walk accomplished, and except for one small tangle with two snappy littler Jack Russell terriers that raced out of their yard and thought they'd like to take on 200 pounds of dogs, the walk was calm and relatively easy. They know they're going home to eat afterward, so they're the model of cooperativeness!

I mixed up a batch of liquid fertilizer, compost tea, molasses, and a little orange oil and plant wash and did the foliar feeding routine around the yard. There are a couple of more asparagus sprouts coming up where I honestly didn't expect any of them to make it, and I'm now also getting okra and chard sprouts.

The sun room and my eBay listings await. I've made enough progress that I'm inspired to finish the job. You know how that goes - when you can begin to see what you visualized, the reward is in seeing what you wanted it to look like.

I hope some of you are seeing enough summer to have your gardens start producing. I'm the opposite, I could use more rain so my garden will produce!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 01:48 PM

I am ready.

Watch.

Me.

Go.

XOXOXOXO

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 06:51 PM

Report back, Michelle!

This morning I moved enough stuff from the tabletop in the sun room that I found the four china pieces that I thought I'd packed (a long time ago) in a box to put on eBay, but I couldn't find the box. They were umwrapped and under other stuff all of the time, and now they are standing in the cupboard, propped on stands and looking lovely.

One NetFlix film sent back, another will go on Monday. I listed one eBay item so far and have several more for this evening. A gallon of my green tea with lemon balm is brewing. I drink about a gallon a week, so this has become a Saturday tradition. I need to do laundry, but I'm not sure about hanging it on the line with the new dog here. I don't know if he'll leave it alone. He's pretty frisky, I might be better off using the dryer this week and next, or just hanging small things on the line that he can't reach.

I took a frozen lasagne (I think) out of the freezer and it went straight into the oven. I also have a chicken defrosting to bake in a while. I think my son might be here a couple of days this week so I'll have some food for him that doesn't require any more than reheating in the microwave.

Pretty day, hot but not as hot as last week. How's it going for everyone else?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 06:52 PM

(It was "I think" on the lasagna because it *might* be eggplant Parmesan. It's been in there a while and those two items generally look the same when they're a frozen brick.)

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 07:14 PM

Well, I wrote a post a few days ago but it disappeared into the mists of chaos. Henceforth, I shall write them in Word and then copy. But not right now.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 07:47 PM

The Love of My Life & I just finished planting 90 pounds of potatoes. We are an AWESOME team!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XOXOXOXOXO

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 08:41 PM

Wow! You're growing enough potatoes to feed the surrounding households all year! I put in just four plants this year, to see how it would work, and I ended up with at least 20 pounds of potatoes. I can't imagine the harvest if you start by planting 90 pounds!

Listed another item, and fed the dogs. It's too hot to walk right now. We'll walk in the morning, and maybe tomorrow afternoon I'll drive the dogs up to Zeke's house and we'll let them try the pool. Tough to leave right now because I have a chicken roasting beside the mystery casserole.

I don't want to skip using the clothes line unless I'm sure it's necessary, so I've put in a call to Susie to ask if Zeke will leave the laundry alone. I think she said she's used a line at other houses, but I don't know if he knows to ignore it.

My hall and side doorway are looking so much better as I clear out the cardboard - a stack is there to take to the recycle bin, and I have a stack of Goodwill stuff also. If I wasn't so poor I'd just give a lot of it away. The things I sell on eBay are the items that I found have a history on the site but are also easy to pack and ship. I increase my ranking a little and the cash slowly adds up.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 09:40 PM

SRS,

   We grow as much as we can for the year! There are photos up on Facebook of our little homestead.

XOXOXO

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 10:13 PM

Do you store your potatoes in a root cellar? I don't have a basement and it's so warm here this time of year that the guy I follow for gardening (Howard Garrett is The Dirt Doctor) says he stores his potatoes and onions in a bin of peat moss in the house. That's what I'm doing this year.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 10:56 PM

We have a mud room where we store the potatoes, squash, apples, etc. It's an unheated room so everything stays nicely. :)

The living room has a floor!!! All the toys are picked up and the rug is ready to be vacuumed first thing in the morning before the toys find their way back to all over the place!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 12:00 AM

Have Jeremiah do the vacuuming. That ought to be one for the record books!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 12:33 AM

You know, he LOVES to push the (unplugged, not on) vacuum cleaner, the steamer and the broom around. If you didn't have to push so much when the vacuum was on, he's probably LOVE to do it!! ((Just kidding!!)) He does like to walk those things up and down the hall though....it's fun to watch...he just smiles and smiles!!!!

Mommy and Daddy smile too from very nearby. :)

Poor little guy was just up...bad dream I think. He snuggled into my shoulder as I rocked and sang to him. I hate that he woke up scared but I loved snuggling him and singing for him. He curled up with me in my recliner earlier today and we read stories....he can now identify Felipe the Phillips head screwdriver and any truck on any page!!! I asked him to point to the cow in the book and he looked at me and then out the window...where there is indeed a cow!!! :)

Sweet Dreams Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 03:57 AM

My potatoes always sprout, in dark bags, or in the fridge... I don't have a cellar - I do have a garage which will have a space in a cupboard. Would that work?
I don't use peat or sphagnum moss any more, as there's an issue over here with the depletion of bogs. Peat free compost is not as good with regard to water retention, but it's necessary.
This year's potato bags have much stronger growth than last year (I used growmore fertiliser), and the main crops are now flowering.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 08:54 AM

check out Monday, June 20, 2011 entry for some decluttering!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,LilyFestre
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 09:26 AM

Sandra,

Is that your blog? If it is...WOW!!!! It's beautifully written and I love the photos!!!! :)

About the potatoes....we store them in open/sides slatted wooden crates in a dark, unheated room. We get sprouts sometimes too and we also lose some. Have to be careful to get any rotten potatoes out right away as they will spoil the surrounding ones as well.


I don't have a voice this morning...caught a cold, maybe from allergies so it's nice to have a voice here!!!

Love to all,

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 10:19 AM

I don't use peat moss usually, this is the first time I've bought it in a long time. The bin I used is clear, and I need to put it in a darker area. I just kind of tumbled the potatoes in; I'll use them in the next month or so, this isn't a lifetime supply this year. The bin and compost is an experiment.

I did another industrial strength dog walk this morning. We don't go far, around a couple of blocks - I don't want to push my luck. I need to dig out one of those elastic glasses holder things to keep my frames on my nose; when they slip (it's sweaty even on morning walks) I have to bend over and push the frames with hands that are fully engaged in holding loops of dog leashes.

Scrubbed a compost bin to use for a while longer. I haven't built my worm bin yet and I don't want to throw out the kitchen scraps in the trash. Fresh like this the dogs would bother it, so I let it rot in the bin for a few weeks first. The tip about making dog poop tea to pour over the compost after I bury the bin contents is a keeper - I've used it twice now and they leave the pile alone. Even the visiting dog hasn't been tempted by what he can surely smell.

Sandra, I logged on and am following your blog. I never remember to go read them, but I bet Google has an ap for that for my iGoogle page. Anyway, I agree, it's lovely! And you did a great job on that Sunday - even though my closet was organized a couple of years ago and still looks pretty good, I find I'm wearing the same few outfits all of the time because there are things I can't wear (yet) in the way in there.

Fruit for breakfast today, and healthy eating continues. I want to wear some of those other clothes in my closet - I feel like every time I get into a smaller size I have more interesting things to wear. That's because when I'm heavier I don't spend a lot on clothes since I don't want to wear forever.

Out onto the porches for a while - last night I did one of those stealthy turn off the porch light maneuvers to go turn off the the faucet in my nightgown, and nearly killed myself stepping on things that don't need to be on the porch. They're all getting moved today.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 01:05 PM

Did some weeding, pulled up the rubber under-support thing for the bench seat, and hit my limit. The sun is beating down today. I've measured and packed and will now list another eBay item, then do some laundry. But that point I might be ready to spend another 20 minutes outside, next time measuring and getting the plywood ready for the bench seat.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 01:20 PM

We've been busy the past few days, doing the usual..laundry, etc., plus I saw the doc on Friday for my feet...my high arches are no longer high...time to go see a world renowned orthotics guy from Germany right down the street from us. Who knew!? Also spoke with the pulmonologist who told me my latest blood tests were even better and to keep up whatever I've been doing because it's working!:-)

I, too, have clothes in my closet I am looking forward to be able to wear, again. I was thrilled Friday when I asked Rog to get down a box which has three dresses in it. A friend sent them when they became too large for her. The are gorgeous ethnic Afghani dresses, very colourful with beautiful embroidery and comfy styles. When she sent them I was so sad because there was NO way I could even hope to wear them. Now, 55 lbs lighted, they fit!! Too hot to wear them, now, but this Fall and winter, they will be very nice for special occasions.

We met with the CEO and Chief Medical Officer of the first hospital I was in in Feb. There was a lot of negligence during both of my stays there. I finally wrote a letter and requested a meeting. Well, it went very well, I think. Rog and I both met with them and I recorded it, with their knowledge. They didn't deny anything. We will get a formal response next week.

The house isn't too bad this weekend. Morgan came over for supper, last night, and took out the trash AND picked up his "pay" for the week. Rog is trying to figure out a way to add a handrail to the right side of our outside steps. We have one on the left, attached to the house, but really need one on the right, but there's nothing to attach it to...it means digging post holes in very hard dirt and removing some plants and statues which I don't want to do, so I don't know what the solution will be.

Oh, on Friday, I also turned in the 12lb O2 tank, which I dragged around behind me in a small cart, for a nifty little unit which might weigh 2-3 lbs and makes me feel so much more mobile..not so dragged down. This came about because I am doing so much better. Able to go back to O2 on demand (with each breath) rather than continuous which required the larger unit. SRS, I'd be interested in the ad you mentioned, if you see it again. Thanks.

We have a whole week of close to 100 degrees each day. Ugh...time to stay in and cool.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 03:37 PM

Hm, I'm in the midst of another ThreeCycle, or is it a full V8. I call it a ThreeCycle when my van channels items among various households. I'm in 3 or 4 groups so I can often hook people up. It benefits me because I often have an item to give or get in the roundabout. Sometimes it's just for the other people, but it generates help when I am looking for an item, and we so often drive thru these other FC's areas that it's no problem to ferry items around.

The one I'm organizing now is kinda neat-- a daughter and kids are fleeing an ugly domestic mess, up to this area. Her mom (our age) has room, but no beds, and it's been a cold summer, so.... she needs twin mattresses. I have several incl two that came to us when my son in Ohio gave me their guest-bed setup-- they needed the space-- and we wanted to keep the bunkbed frames but not both of his mattresses.

I did want to keep one, but this lady's need is extreme, so..... but another mattress is up on offer at another FC so..... it should all work out well. And the one lady, who I delivered window parts to, another time, is holding a bag of jeans for my next yard sale... which generates cash for gas to do this and other ministry travel.


A design has come to me to make the front porch steps more accessible for ME. I think I need a steep, spiral staircase-type ramp. Like parallel bars that wind up and around, to go where space is kinda tight. Steep enough to challenge my fitness but not my knees. Narrow enough for a good grab but not a walker, etc. I am sure Adrian can build this-- framing turned out to be his best skill. Maybe his sched will allow this to occur while we are on vacay and he can be one of the house-checkers and dog-petters, too.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 04:09 PM

Hmmmm...posted something about free mattresses in the area but it disappeared.

Dishes done, carpet vacuumed, floors swept, etc. My Love is getting some things done around here that have needed his attention for a bit...busy day here on the mountain.

Busy baby, loves to *help*. :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 06:32 PM

I decided to take up Susie's offer to visit the house and let the dogs in the pool. The truck back seat was pushed up, the dogs loaded in, and we drove 3 blocks (the pavement is so hot, we'd be overheated again by the time we got home if we didn't drive!) Zeke was in the water in a flash, Poppy drank from it, I was getting Cinnamon into it, but she stepped off of the second step down and landed in the pool with a splash. Zeke thought she was there to play and splashed in after her. Poor girl made a beline across the pool but with no stairs just scrambled at the edge. I reached in, grasped her by the elbows, and pulled her out. I don't think she'll want to repeat that, but maybe on our next visit she can take a gentler entrance into the water. :-)

We came home, had a snack, and they're all now happily asleep in the back.

More to list on eBay, but I think I'll spend a little time in the garage first. That's what I was starting to do when I looked at those hot dogs and decided they needed a dip.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 07:19 PM

We used to have labs and it was SO MUCH fun to take them swimming! My cocker would probably love to go too but not the big dog. She doesn't even like when it rains!

Poor Cinnamon...


Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 12:21 AM

It has been an education for Cinnamon, not being the biggest dog in the yard this week. The pool was a part of her learning curve - she may well want to go in later, but only if we don't scare the Dickens out of her first! Poppy wouldn't consider it, and while I could throw her in, I think her level of trust would diminish, so I won't. (I still sometimes stand her in the wading pool, just to cool off her feet on really hot days, but that's not the same as a fully body drop into a large body of water!)

More stuff to list on eBay this week, and next time I make a run out I'll drop off Goodwill stuff. I didn't go anywhere today except the 3 blocks up to the pool.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 02:51 AM

Ah, Monday morning again! Still in bed at 7.40, but as the lads will be here in about half an hour, I had better get moving soon.

Yes, that was one of the unstable walls coming down. The back wall (the long one) was the one they were mainly talking about. The back wall of the kitchen, which is the back wall of the original outbuilding, will remain, but will not form part of the new build. At the moment the extension is at a slight angle to the main house, and the new one is to be squared up, albeit starting from right by it, so it's a bit of caution whilst excavating the footings close to that very old wall. The remaining void is to be capped off with lead flashings to take the rain away.
The heavy demolition starts today, as the remainder is stone, not brick. At least there's only 2 walls to do, and the long one has a doorway and 2 windows in it!

Michelle, there have been reports in the press here about research done at Newcastle University into the effect of a very low calorie diet on type 2 diabetes. I don't know if you can access them. However, they usually do recommend a low cal diet anyway. Oats are supposed to be good cholesterol shifters, and excellent soluble fibre. It's a case of porridge for breakfast! Good luck with tweaking with your food. Diabetes UK might be a good place to look for food ideas...I think you may be able to access recipes etc.

Kat, you are doing great! It must be so nice to have a small bottle with you now!

Andrea x

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 04:49 AM

Michelle & Stilly - I don't have a blog, the blogger is a friend of one of my friends - oops, if only I had explained I wouldn't have received all this praise. (blushing)

My place is still an enormous mess, but I am gradually moving bits out. I recently put away a pretty saucer & removed 1 casserole & lid, 1 pie dish & 2 glass plates I don't use. (patting self on back)

A few weeks ago a neighbour (carefully) threw out a gi-normous teddy bear that needed some repairs so I brought it home, sat it in my second chair & repaired it's muzzle & leg, then took it to a charity shop along with a shopping bag of clothes I had sitting around. I also took a look around before I left & filled another shopping bag with an assortment of unwanted bears from my collection!

It wasn't easy getting such a large bear in the back gate & up the narrow passage & stairs as I was on my way home from Craft Group carrying 1 big & I smaller bag.

Getting it & the 2 shopping bags out was fun, too, clutching a bear almost stuffed into a garbage bag + 2 awkward green bags led to a few giggles, especially when a toddler being wheeled towards me noticed the bear's head peeking out!

sandra

I have pics of some of my crafty stuff here & here

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 09:58 AM

Sandra, I clicked on the second link and found a familiar name as moderator on that site - Ragdall! Now there's someone we haven't hear from for a while, who is always doing interesting things. If you two speak or write, tell her to drop in and catch us up on her activity, please!

This morning was my typical start these days. Walking the three dogs, and we proceed up the middle of the road so the male isn't tempted to jerk me off my feet and go pee on something. He's doing very well, has realized we're out to walk, and that's all. My two are the ones who slow down (the pit bull drags on the leash hoping I'll let her pull me to a lawn to look for acorns or pecans) and Poppy always just pulls a bit ahead. So the visitor is actually the easiest of the batch, because he has learned something new and for my to it's business as usual. Two wading pools emptied and refilled, water dishes refilled, a ball thrown down the yard a few times, and I policed the grounds - all of that goes on the compost.

I'm pleased with the sun room progress. There is stuff sitting in the doorway to donate and to recycle, and then it'll be clearer in there than it has been for over a year. They say your entrance way should greet all who enter the house - it's like my warehouse has greeted people, and I'd like that to change.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 02:26 PM

Andrea's photos are pretty dramatic - that house is way-demolished right now! Talk about taking decluttering to extremes!

Boxing up a couple of quick eBay listings. Part of this is to put something back into reuse (wine corks - amazing what people will buy on eBay - I wonder what the craft is that uses them?) and partly because I haven't had a lot of activity for a while, and I think it makes a difference to show a steady level of activity as far as buyers taking you seriously. I always look at that.

Speaking of crafts (at least, the art end of that duo), we haven't heard from Alice for quite a while, and I haven't seen her on Facebook either.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 05:11 PM

We've had what is really hot weather for here for the last couple of days, in the high 80s (F) at least. I've had all the windows wide, with sheets over the openings sprayed with water, fans all over the place, the internal house circulation on, and I've lurked wherever it seemed coolest.

I watered the garden early, as things wilted yesterday. As it got cooler I was able to prune the virginia creeper again.

In the morning, because the study was on the shady side, I managed to put up the last tracks for shelves, and assemble and put a bench I got at Lidl, which fits well with the two boxes from the dump, and will be able to hold my box files. It's looking much tidier and more study like. I've also got some striped cardboard boxes to put the things, well, to be honest, the clutter, that can't go yet and yet doesn't fit easily into any category or space. But it got hot there in the early pm, and I had to stop and go off to copy recipes out of books I'm going to give to Oxfam.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 07:24 PM

I was able to do better at exercise this morning, then went to coumadin clinic. My INR (blood clotting rate) is right where it should be which means the easy bruising is done with for now.

Then I went to the health food store for some shampoo and stuff. When I left there, I was feeling so good about having so much energy, feeling so much more mobile. I was driving down a three lane one-way street, turned left onto another three lane one-way. I'd seen a motorcycle cop pull out on the other street, from the station and turn onto the same street as I, though he did NOT follow the law which says pull into the lane closest to you, first, then change lanes. He should have been in the same lane as I was.

I have never had a ticket in all 42 years I have been driving. I checked all of my mirrors, looked over my right shoulder and could swear he was in the far right lane, so I signalled and moved over to the middle lane. Next thing I know, he'd pulled me over for "unsafe lane change" claiming he was in the middle lane and didn't see me signal. He was very nice and I was polite, but I was really astonished as I am always very careful, esp. after living back East where no one gives much advance warning of lane changes!

Anyway, it's a $100 fine which I can pay and only have one point on my driver's license, or I can fight it and, if I lose, it would cost me three points. My insurance company said, if anything, it might raise our rate by $7/month for three years, but we have safe driver awards so it may not change at all. Rog says pay it and be done. My son-in-law says fight it and my Aries sense of justice says to have my day in court, but I don't like the idea of losing points on my DL.

So, to salvage the day, 'cause that was a real bummer, I had lunch at home with Rog, then took Morgan to the pool for the first time this summer. He had so much fun. I told him only for an hour. It was 83 degrees when I picked him up at 1230p. When we left the pool at 2p it was 92 and rising. The outside car temp, whilst parked, was 113. Too hot for me, so I've been inside with the swamp cooler on high. It's supposed to get to 100 tomorrow and high 90s the rest of the week, then higher on the weekend. Arrgghhh!

BTW, SRS, that pool is having a special one evening only "pool party for the dogs." Owners have to show proof of vaccinations, etc., then the dogs can swim and play all they want!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 09:09 PM

Lot of running here today.

Doctor appointment for me: Severe sinus infection
Doctor appointment for my love: Looking good!
Appointment at hospital for me: Foot x-rayed

Pharmacy. Home. Meds. Sleep.

*cough* *cough* *cough*

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 11:30 PM

Kat, it's near the end of the month. Perhaps the cop needed to fill his ticket quota? Sometimes just turning up is enough to win in court, but you might want to ask locally to see what the reading is of the police department and the court system. I have a friend who was pulled over and given a ticket when she knew she wasn't doing what the officer suggested. She went to court and described the lane she always drives in because of where she was going, and made the case for why the radar officer had seen another white car and the cop who stopped her got the wrong white car. She was excused.

I suppose you can turn his explanation on him - "Next thing I know, he'd pulled me over for "unsafe lane change" claiming he was in the middle lane and didn't see me signal." You need to make the case that you were watching for him and he failed to signal a lane change. Keep it simple. And plausible. We have all seen cops speed when they're not running their lights and/or sirens, we've all seen them weave in and out of traffic without signalling.

This evening I tested the space where my new bench is placed, at the side of the house. I sat with a glass of wine and looked out over the garden and the woods. It's a lovely area in the evening. I'm waiting for payday, when I'll go get a couple of outdoor cushions to put on it as the seat and back. Because of the size (64" wide) I'll probably have to get three sets of chair cushions and put them side by side.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 28 Jun 11 - 10:55 AM

A middle of the night ambulance ride for Jeremiah occurred last night. He is home, Mama & Daddy are rattled & both my boys are sleeping. I am doing laundry, dishes, picking up....blah blah blah....nervous energy.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 11 - 11:18 AM

We're making a date to take the dogs to the pool this afternoon. It needed some work, filling and "shock" apparently, because the pump had shut down. I don't know about pool stuff so Susie is having her son look into it. The high today is predicted to hit 103, so a 3pm pool date sounds perfect for the pooches.

Every so often I pull out issues of Martha Stewart Living that had great room design or decorating ideas and look to see if there is as little as one small idea to take and use here at my house. It's time to look for a few of those ideas again. As I move stuff in the sun room, I can start to make parts of it look interesting with some small display or thing on the wall, whatever.

Michelle, I hope you're feeling better soon. I've also had sinus discomfort lately - not sure if it's allergies or something more, but so far using the neti pot has helped.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 11 - 11:19 AM

Oooo - my screen was up for a while and I finished my post without seeing yours, Michelle. Tell us what you're comfortable with - I hope Jeremiah is perfectly fine now!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 11 - 09:28 PM

Loading more oddball stuff on eBay. Still working on clearing that table.

I had to bring the dogs in for a while this afternoon because it hit 105^o. They sprawled on the tile in the kitchen for a while, and then in my office. I put a photo of the dogs up on twitter, and I can see the stuff jumbled around the edge of the room. My work here isn't finished yet.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 02:59 AM

Yesterday was 3 guys shovelling and barrowing rubble off-site all day. The remaining walls should come down today - or at least start to: they are 2 feet thick, and stone!

Hope all is peace and calm with you now, Michelle.

Kat, I'm the sort of person who would just pay. Ian would have fought it tooth and nail if he thought he was in the right of it!

Andrea x

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 11:32 AM

Andrea, are the new walls also going to be 2' thick and stone? Is that what you were setting up as far as getting permission for the materials to use? Will they reuse as much of your original stone as possible, or was it historically incorrect for the site? How old would it have had to have been to be historically correct? (At what point did additions still count as part of the important part of the building?)

Cooling trend here today, our predicted high is only 100^o. I was up and out in the yard very early today, and all of my watering is done.

Gradually accumulating views and watchers on eBay. What else can I put up there? If it doesn't sell, it gets donated. One way or the other, it's out of here.

At the risk of uncovering another difficult story, we haven't heard anything from Alice Flynn for a while, and I see she is no longer on facebook. I used to enjoy seeing her new art work appear. Anyone hear from her these days? I know they were having a lot of flooding in Montana. Was she impacted by that?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 12:06 PM

In the last couple of days, I've assembled 12 neat cardboard boxes from Lidl, and sorted the contents of several other boxes into categories. I've managed to get Dad's old Dymo labeller working with the newer tape - not well, but enough to label boxes. I've put the last shelves up, with most of the books on them. All mixed up and some on their sides. But it's much more like a study now. Still more boxes to go through. I have one plastic box of stuff I can't think what to do with, and an old fridge salad box for small stationery odds and ends. Hopefully I will find somewhere for them.
Bin day tomorrow, so the old cardboard boxes will go, along with old papers.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: maeve
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 12:22 PM

Alice has her own blog, and she posted there yesterday, so I suspect she's just keeping busy with real life.

Maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 02:02 PM

Hmmm. (!) Maybe I need to revisit my blog - I think I have a link there. I mainly was wondering if our northern girl had washed away with the might snowmelt of 2011. That can keep you busy!

Like Penny, I have my father's old Dymo label maker and as old-fashioned as the things are, it can be extremely handy at times. And cheap - much less expensive and low tech compared to these little electronic label makers. When my son was little this thing entered the household and he loved it - so I gave him one of his own. There are still quite a few things around his room with his name or a remark made in label tape. :)

mg, is that cassette player working for you?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 03:17 PM

Thanks for the input, SRS and Andrea. I have decided to take Rog's advice and that of another friend who is very good at summing up the Big Picture, etc. I am going to pay it and may attend a three hour traffic school which I *think* would mean no points on my record. In the Big Scheme of Life, this is a blip and not worth making a big mtn. out of it. It does irk my sense of justice, but it's a battle I just don't need to pick at the moment.:-) (How's that for a jumble of metaphors?!:-)

I went to hand therapy, yesterday. He did ultrasound treatments and gave me some exercises to do, also to continue with Epsom salts soaks and paraffin therapy if I want. Went again, today and then to exercise. I was able to do more at the latter than on Monday, so there's progress. I go see a German orthotics specialist, tomorrow, just down the road.

Had Morgan, yesterday afternoon. We had so much fun. He wanted to play "spies." We started out outside, but he got stung by a bee, so we had to go to the "first aid station" i.e. the kitchen cupboard for baking soda for a poultice. He thought that was pretty neat. Then we played for about two hours inside. I drew him maps of his "missions" and lined him up with imaginary weaponry ala James Bond. It was a blast. He took the map home to show his parents.

I've been doing a lot of catching up on tasks involving the computer, tape dubbing, mailing, and filing. Starting out with a list each morning as I suddenly seem to have appts. and things to go do almost every day. Phew! This afternoon is my time to take a bit of a rest, then get back to it.

We had a very strong wind at one point yesterday. I didn't think much of it, but this morning I looked out at the backyard and a large limb was ripped downward on our weeping willow. It has a lot of branches full of leaves which, at the moment, are still green and draped over Rog's grape vine. It's been close to 100 degrees every day and will be for the foreseeable future. Rog will try to get out in the early morning this weekend to cut it down and up. The neighbour's goat will enjoy the leaves, etc. although I haven't seen her for a day or two and it looks as though they may be cleaning out to move. Their place looks like a junk collector's. They've had two huge dumpsters filled so far this year and there's still tons of stuff. Wonder if American Pickers would want to come round? **bg**

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 04:12 PM

Think I have the new laptop and new Kindle worked into my routine now and places where I'll use them de-goofed and nicely ordered. Now If I can get this laundry mountain folded I might be on my way to vacay packing. The last 2 weeks have been an intense period of prepping a project to survive my vacay and be well in hand with others involved and the finances involved. But in the meantime another work project has come up that will be serious FUN, when I get back! And maybe a new friend.

Yesterday's ThreeCycle went well, and netted me a bag of nice clothes for my sale.

It was brought home to me powerfully this week, also, where some of my good habits went. In retrospect I can see that I was clearing the decks for another huge segment of college-level reading that originally started as "recreational" reading. So I lost rec and gained another huge totebag full of professional "chops," while I htoiught I was backsliding. (No wonder my mind has been sending me what a friend calls the "Don't HURT me!" message!

Time to integrate them all and remake the schedule again, including funtime for summer gigs with a local band I was just invited to join.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 04:16 PM

Glad you have set your mind straight about what you are going to do, Kat.

The walls won't be 2 feet thick on the new build. They will be a sandstone outer with thermally lined blocks on the inside. Building regulations have definite rules on what how you build walls etc. The old walls are from an outbuilding, and are mainly whinstone (or whin sill, as it's also known) which is some sort of basalt (volcanic, anyway) and which is nigh on impossible to work, as well as being very heavy. Builders hate working with it because you can't easily cut or shape it, and it doesn't absorb the mortar - has a habit of sliding out of position. It therefore has to be built a little at a time. A lot of cottages are built of it here, because it was the cheap option.

Because the house is listed, the stone to be used has to be sympathetic to the overall appearance, and although the back is largely built of whin stone, the gable end which is visible from the road is mainly sandstone. The back wall of the new build will also be visible from a certain angle, so sandstone is what they want. I don't think they would want whin to be used, and most new work around seems to be sandstone. Any sandstone is being salvaged, and will probably used in the back wall. The whin, brick and other rubble is being carted away to a local firm with a crusher, where it's made into hardcore. The old lime mortar has deteriorated and crumbled, so the back is extremely dusty at the moment - and so is the house!

I've piled on a lot of weight this last week. Being a bit at a loose end, and not able to do a lot, I baked cookies and a cake for the builders....yep.....you all know what that means!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 06:04 PM

Did the builders get any? **BG**

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 06:55 PM

The baby and I are both still sick so I haven't done much. He did have a trip to the doctor and then to the hospital today but otherwise, we have been snuggling and just resting. He has spurts of perky which is a good sign.

Tonight I am thankful for pre-made salad mixes.

I am drained.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 07:12 PM

Michelle, get lots of rest, both of you! Andrea, do your best to co-exist with the builders and the dust. Kat, it must be even harder to deal with the heat when you're not feeling good, so I'm glad you can get out with Morgan in the mornings, but don't overheat in the afternoons!

I started tossing papers this afternoon. I was looking for something I couldn't find, and stumbled upon some stuff that I really should file and a bunch of stuff I don't need. I have two filing cabinets with stuff from graduate school that goes back 15 years that I haven't looked at for the last 12 years. I am going to recycle the lot of it, with a few choice articles set aside that I know I'll want. It's a waste of space in my cabinets when I could have an active file system for stuff that is sitting out in my office. (I was working on a second masters, the one that is more interesting to me now, so that stuff will stay put. Maybe one day I'll go on for the Ph.D.) I'm doing some culling tonight, filling a 12" x 12" x 12" box to fill then take over to the recycle bin behind city hall. A couple of those a day and I can start putting work stuff away instead of letting it lie around and get buried.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 10:14 AM

Oh dear, I am now mourning for that whin (dolerite, the form basalt takes if it cools underground). Roadstone! Still, better than landfill, which is what our Meeting House warden did with Kentish Rag from the garden.
I might feel different if I had not seen what the Italian lessee of one of the flats I used to live at had done to the Kentish Rag there, which I have hankered for. He's painted it white! If I'd known he had that in mind, I'd have offered him my concrete and swapped.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 10:28 AM

Thanks, SRS. I am very careful when it is so hot. I actually feel pretty good, though, sore fingers and feet.:-) I see the shoe guy, today, so that will be good.

We have a lot of thunder, today, with clouds and sunshine. A hint of rain, but doubtful. It is only supposed to get to 83,today, then high 90s until next Wed.! So, we will enjoy today. Morgan will be over this afternoon.

Michelle, I hope you and Jeremiah are feeling better. Be patient with yourself, sweetie.

OH! As I am writing this, I see rain pouring down out front with clear sunshine bursting through from the high east. It's so fun the way it does that out here. Bright sun whilst pouring rain. Lots of thunder and lightening, too!

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 12:29 PM

Kat, lucky you with your rain! Pitty poor Andrea with no bathroom or kitchen. Penny, these stone names you're describing are probably an entirely local name, and I looked it up. Is your "dolerite" a granitic looking mix of crystals? Keeping in mind I use that term only to describe the mix - granite usually has a lot more quartz, and it sounds like your dolerite has more feldspar. Basalt cools slowly on the surface so everything is mostly mixed together in a gray undifferentiated mass. Gabbro cools very slowly underground and has lots of crystals because they have time to form. And in the U.S. diabase (your dolerite) falls in between the two. Is that what you're seeing, and when you say "roadstone," does that mean you're actually putting it down on street surfaces, like they do with bricks here in the U.S. in some places (a hangover from older places with a historic look)?

I've emptied out half a file drawer since starting on that project last night, and added a couple of thick packets of reading material from one class. The file drawer things were articles I'd copied or gotten through interlibrary loan for work on my papers and thesis in grad school. Only the stuff germane to what interests me now is staying. And a couple of things given to me personally from friends. The rest is in the box, which is about 1/3 full now. Not so momentous as pulling a kitchen off the back of a house or removing the tarp-covered stack of boxes in the driveway (remember that, Kat?) - but psychologically it feels great to discard this particular academic baggage and move on. What stays is what I might use.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 01:20 PM

Kat,

   Did you see a rainbow? I love those kinds of storms!!

Jeremiah is doing MUCH better today!!! He is talking up a storm and playful. He tires easily so we are doing lots of snuggles today. He's still not walking as much but I suspect his back hurts from the spinal tap. He is moving MUCH more than he was...does my heart good. I can hardly scold him for doing things he KNOWS he should be doing...it's just so good to see him being himself!!!

I am not doing so hot. The doctor called in a stronger antibiotic for me this morning. Despite that, I have rearranged the living room, did a load of dishes, swept the floors, vacuumed the living room and have 2 loads of laundry hanging on the line, our bed stripped and a basket of loads of folded baby clothes. A friend gave us a large garbage bag full of outgrown clothes from her boys. Most of them are too big right now but won't be when the weather gets cold. So...I'm working on getting those all washed, sorted by size and season. All of that in between snuggles, of course. I'm hoping to dust sometime today too.

Have a good day everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 03:22 PM

Michelle, while you're on antibiotics be sure to avoid dairy products, they seem to make things a lot worse and work against antibiotics. I'd tell you to avoid sugar but I'm sure you already do, diligently!

I've emptied enough from two drawers to compress the contents into one drawer. That leaves me enough room to deal with this stuff sitting out on desktops in my office. I was watching Nate Berkus for a while yesterday, and there was a moment when the organizer guest gave a bit of tough love to a woman with a home office that was very disorganized. This like this, along with the Procrastination book, are gradually nudging me forward. Some of my procrastination has been because I hate to have to stop what I'm doing to go look for something that is around here someplace. I am slowly becoming a reformed character, as the clues fall into place.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 04:23 PM

Michelle, surely need to take yogurt to replace good gut fauna/flora that the antibiotics kill. But you accomplished so much in any case!

Tomorrow is Canada Day, my granddaughter's 26th B-day! That sweet little girl I took places in her stroller 25 years ago now has her own tiny girl!

The last couple weeks seem to have been busy. The garden is burgeoning. The tomato and pepper plants are all in the ground after much effort – removing large chunks of concrete in enough of an area to accommodate them, removing enough rocks to give them root room and then putting eggshells and very old manure in the hole and LOTS of water. The ones I planted two weeks earlier are clearly happier but the later may catch up. Many have green tomatoes and most have blossoms. Need to keep a log to see which ones do what – and how much!

I also repotted a couple (free) LARGE, and very potbound, plants R brought home from a defunct office. They will be good upstairs.

We spent about 3 hours at the Montreal International Jazz Fest last night. Lots of free concerts, here and there. The very best was a couple young lads sitting on the sidewalk playing their hearts old with superb djangojazz. We listened for a while then got a name and phone number in hopes of getting them to the café sometime.

Took a load to the thrift shop on Tuesday and brought home beautiful drapes for the BR and a set of queen flannel sheets! And a pair of running shoes for R. He goes through them so I get them whenever I can. Also got some good groceries, did banking and met a kindred spirit who was reading my bumper stickers. They are quite notable and I love watching people reading my car as I walk toward it! Sometimes they stop to talk.

House phone has not worked since last electrical storm. I could not Skype them or call on my cell phone. R tried on his cell and was on hold for ten minutes… So today, I went to a shopping area (mall) and went to the Bell Kiosk where they let me use a phone, dialed the number and I got a person right away!!!! And so, with any luck, it will be dealt with. We first had to find another phone to plug in to ascertain if it was the phone or the line ---the line.

But, OOPS, before I went "anywhere", I needed to get gas at the nearest! So also got some good bargains in groceries at the store nearby.

Yesterday, I wore myself out as an earthmover, moving two small piles of misplaced earth to level out the rest of the yard. I was tired before going to the Fest!

We had a wonderful visit from two Whidbey Island friends last Monday/Tuesday, so happy they could use the newly recovered 2nd floor BR! We did the Botanical Gardens, went to our fav Polish restaurant (of over 40 years!), showed them as much of the city as time allowed, including a trip to the top of the "mountain" at night. Mount Royal is a volcanic intrusion in the centre of the city, a huge park. Nice by daylight too!

So, we got some of the house clean and looking vaguely civilized.

This long weekend: music Friday at the café, a CD launch on Sunday at the café (!) and back to the city on Monday, via picking up a kiln – 2 hours east – to attend a party with close friends of R's – a son visiting from Japan.

I am happy that my FB raccoon page (Raccoons Montreal Raton Laveur) has finally shown up on Google. It is basic but bi-lingual. Between that and a new blog with a basic name "Raccoons in Montreal – Raton Laveur à Montréal" which I hope will also show up. One of the wildlife women offered help and twigged an insight! I was feeling an abject failure for this year's crop of kits – actually depressed by it, I believe. When she offered help, something clicked. I cannot do much for this year but will keep trying for the next year's babes. I still need to make the later bi-lingual but I want to see if it shows on Google before I put more time into it.

And!!!! As I came in from the yard a few nights ago, a young adult raccoon came over the wall and went up our tree to the roof! It was within arm's reach but I did NOT reach out but murmured sweet nothings to it as it climbed. 9 pm – raccoon cruising time!!

I spend a few hours each day on raccoon sites. I delight in those who are rehabbing, in the info - a lot of which I copy to file and in those folks who love raccoons as I do and are so dedicated to caring for them in spite of the dreadful attitudes of those in power – the state Dept(s) of Natural Resources, and the provincial and federal govts in Canada who have no concept of caring for animals.   

Time to quit. My eyes are rebelling.

Thus endeth the month of June! This year - half over. We have each done much!

"Every decision you make–every decision–is not a decision about what to do. It's a decision about who you are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do."
(source unknown)

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 07:03 PM

Kentish Rag is definitely local. Dolerite I think is fairly generally used in geology, but I see from wikipedia that N America has its own usage of diabase. The diabase article is interesting.
The Whin Sill in the north of England is a basaltic intrusion that cooled more quickly than the deeper rocks which would form gabbro, so has smaller crystals, visible with a handlens, where extruded basalt has a far finer texture, as you say. The crystals would be smaller than in granite, and the chemistry, as you imply, the same as basalt.
As the word whin refers to a plant, I think the name has moved to rock from the flora growing on the outcrop of the sill. (The sill is interesting because it formed the natural boundary used by the Romans for Hadrian's Wall, and also the islands of Lindisfarne and Holy Island.)

I took some more books into Oxfam, and bought a couple of unstrung bead necklaces which I have restrung with some of my own stock of beads. I'm not sure whether to keep them as gifts for people, or take them back as a donation for Oxfam again. I also attempted to restring and old necklace I got from my mother years ago. It has triangular beads with two holes which form an overlapping snakelike pattern, but I got the threading of the ends wrong where I added some beads to make the length better. I need some thread I think, rather than the wire I usually use, as it wasn't flexible enough.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 07:11 PM

Roadstone - broken up into small ballast chips to be incorporated into tarmac. One sees vast holes in beautiful areas with attractive rock ground up small. Not just in Britain. Greece is beginning to look like a cheese. Massive quarries all over the place. If it was going to be used as setts (local word for brick sized bits set in the surface) it wouldn't be so bad, as that would respect the material.

I've just looked at that wikipedia diabase article again. It's a hoot, skipping between the two words after explaining the different uses in different areas, and spelling dyke dike. It seems very odd seeing descriptions of the British Tertiary dolerite dyke swarms as diabase dike swarms. Various contributors either side of the pond I suspect, but mostly American, with their own local usage.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 07:15 PM

Just checked out Australia, to see how local dolerite dykes are to Europe. They've got them, too. And Canada, South Africa and China. Don't think that makes the term local. :-)

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 07:59 PM

Everywhere is local! :)

I moved from the file cabinet drawers to tossing some of the course notes. One book I'd had to photo copy to keep and read, with lots of post it notes and underlines is gone because I'd bought the book itself (takes much less space!) I moved the post-its over to the appropriate pages and marked a few pages where I'd made big notes to myself. Anyway, that 12 x 12 x 12 box is now half full, good work. I have a stack of folders and files that are probably duplicates of other things, but until I go through it all, I won't know. There's a book in that stack, so it isn't going.

Lots of looks, a few watchers, no sales yet on eBay. But I will persist.

Long weekend coming up. I'd love at the end of it to have magically transformed my house into the house I visualize. Dream on. . .

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 08:22 PM

P.S. - Dorothy, glad to see your report and that you've been so busy. And busy also seems to imply good health - I hope that's the case, finally, after feeling bad last spring.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 08:47 PM

Actually, yes, SRS. I think I have only in the last week gotten past the April poisoning which caused so many nasty side effects. Monday, I got up feeling me. Partly the cooler weather. Certainly nice to have some energy again. Being able to garden helps as I perspire profusely and that helps eliminate some toxins as well as giving me the sense of accomplishment.

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 10:47 PM

A work project that will need to make some progress while I am away in vacay got a good boost today-- that awful feeling that it's all going to be a mess to come home to (and pack a ton of stuff to take to the culminating event)? So I put in about 3 hours unpacking some stuff that had been dumped on the run over the last few weeks (lot of print/promo stuff), and organizing a go-to drawer for all the materials that project will need, ready to pack what is needed from it when go-day arrives a few days after we return from vacay. Reward? New printer Hardi hooked up for me, so now I can finally PRINT on my new laptop instead of trying to feed all docs to the old wheezing Gateway (ca. 2000 and rode hard) which the old printer could talk to.

And made space for the rest of the print/promo/pubs materials that those event participants will need! I think I can have them shipped direct to the facility hosting the event and just tote home the leftovers......

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 10:59 PM

Susan, I'm working on organizing my office space also. I know some of these vacations of yours last several weeks (what a luxury, if it's a great vacation!) so maybe by the time you're back and catching up this will be totally orderly.

I have a "christmas in July" package to send. One of the Santas from last year seems to have pooped out and the pinch-hitter is going to bat (it has been so long that that Santee probably forgot they sent the note to say nothing arrived.) It goes out tomorrow. [wicked grin] Love surprises!

The box in the office is half-full now, and I've brought a couple of more file things to purge. Maybe tomorrow morning I'll have a full box that I can go dump in the paper bin.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 11:26 PM

What happens if the box is not full? Could it still be dumped? Some people get really stuck on this concept...certainly no one here...mg

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Jul 11 - 12:16 AM

No rainbows, Michelle, wrong time of day for here, but I love those kind, too! BTW, if you can't do yoghurt, you can always pick up some acidopholus tabs to counteract the antibiotics. When I know I am going to have to take some such as when I go to the dentist, I always start the acidopholus tabs ahead of time or asap. Remember, I said be patient with yourself?**bg** Our bods need to rest whilst fighting off those bugs. Glad to hear the little one is feeling better; a spinal tap must've been very scary for you all.

SRS, you will be surprised one of these days when you look around see that each little step, and big ones, have added up to make a difference. Yes, I do remember the tarp and all that crap in my driveway!:-)

Met a wonderful expert doctor/shoemaker this morning and a resident from the local hospital doing a stint in his office. Also met his wife and their adorable little dachshund, "Sid." She was so quiet and sweet. I left my Birk sandals with him to build in some special orthotics, so my left foot still hurts because I am wearing my older Birks, BUT, he gave me a series of stretching exercises which will help not only my feet but my entire circulatory system. He was really quite amazing and world-renowned...just down the street from us all these years. The hand exercises are really helping with my fingers, too.

I got Morgan from school at noon. Came home, made lunch, then let him build a fort in the LR with chairs, my unused walker, sheet and a blanket. We had another rare ol' time taking out alien forces, etc. HE drew the map this time and did a great job of it. We will most likely have him all day, tomorrow, so probably another fort building day after he and I go to exercise.

I did sweep the kitchen this morning and did some laundry. The rain took care of watering. Rog will be cutting up the downed willow limb this weekend. The goat next door has a feast coming to her.:-)

Dorothy, I love raccoons; we had one nest in a garage once in Connecticut. Her little ones and she would feast on the cracked corn we had for our ducks. Unfortunately, she, or some other one, took a fancy to my hand-trained duck. We woke to find it dead one morning. I could carry it around with its neck stretched out on my shoulder, while it nibble at my ear. It would also sit on the arm of the sofa and watch tv, with newspaper on the floor for droppings. I don't blame the raccoon as that is nature and I could have been more careful about allowing them about and penning the ducks at night, but it sure did sadden all of us.

G'night all. Sweet dreams.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 01 Jul 11 - 02:40 AM

There is a ridge of whin here, and the majority of the small buildings and the field walls are made of it, as it was freely available. As I have said before, the builders hate it - it breaks tools, is very heavy and dense, is impossible to shape, and won't hold mortar easily. At Bamburgh, a few miles toward the coast, there is a bit more sandstone. There were local sandtone quarries around here, but the majority have closed. I think my new stone is coming from the Scottish border (at least, the company is based in that area!). The houses here are built of a mixture. My gable end even has bits of old brick in it!

The antibiotic that is the one to avoid with dairy stuff is oxytetracycline. Dairy interferes with its absorbtion. Otherwise it is advisable to have yogurt products to support the gut flora, especially if you are on a long course. The usual 5-7 day course of antibiotics wouldn't hurt too much, I guess, unless it's high dosage...

We have bright sunshine here, and it's forecast for the weekend (at the moment). The difference is that it may not get much above 68F!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Penny S.
Date: 01 Jul 11 - 05:05 AM

My study is looking a bit more like a study with some extra boxes in, rather than one of those rental storage places. And I actually found two things I was looking for this morning, where I looked for them, first time! The new reel of necklace wire, in a tub brought up from the ground floor to the first (or first to the second, if not UK), and an old reel of nylon thread, in a set of office drawers my mother kept her needlework things in. Trouble is I think that is too fine for the beads, and I will have to buy some more anyway.

Clock winding day today. After I have spent weeks trying to stop my grandmother's clock running slow, I seem to have over compensated. It can't be the weather, as the heat would lengthen the pendulum and slow it, which has happened to my mother's leaving school clock downstairs.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Jul 11 - 09:24 AM

SRS, no "luxury" about them, but we do enjoy a few weeks of actually seeing each other in person.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: mouldy
Date: 01 Jul 11 - 09:37 AM

One day I will find somewhere to put a longcase clock in this house...

The digger came today - a little Cat mini-digger. At the moment the lads are using it to help clear the last of the demolition. All walls are down, and Will (one of the labourers) is bringing down the last of the flue from the old gas boiler. There's a gaping hole into the old chimney to be dealt with at some point, but that's not my problem! Even my cat is getting more used to them being here and having his territory disrupted...he has been seen walking through while they are working!

I have a dance-out tomorrow afternoon, but I think I'll spend the morning wiping down a lot of the dusty surfaces, and that's most of them!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 11 - 10:32 AM

Here is the July thread.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Jul 11 - 07:05 PM

A few weeks of spending uninterrupted with one's spouse IS a luxury.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Exercise + Declutter = power-June 2011
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Jul 11 - 07:17 PM

Time...uninterrupted TIME.