DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Apr 25 - 08:12 PM

Busy week around here. I got a chance to do '4WD Driver's Ed' in the nearby mountain range with an experienced fellow. Had a great day learning how to navigate 2-track roads without falling off or high-centering, visited some old mines, collected a few goodies. Then had another great day doing my first live open-mic, went well if not perfect.

Today I met with friends and then spent the afternoon gathering food from various places; got some cheese in Mexico direct from the producer, visited a farm market I had never bothered to go to before, stopped at the small produce stand, went to the meat market (closed) and then the local grocery.   Was looking forward to doing some cooking, ditching some of the processed foods.

The moment I was all stocked up, got a call that it's time to go help sister in Florida by Friday, thought it would be in a couple of weeks. Glad to go but mighty peeved about the groceries! Will freeze some and pass the fresh stuff on to the neighbors.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Apr 25 - 09:13 PM

I would be sure to cook the Mexican cheese; it can be a source of gastrointestinal discomfort (I learned from experience when I lived at the border). It can go in the freezer in the meantime. Maybe if you cook up a storm before you leave you'll have a gift to yourself of many prepared meals. I hope all goes well with your sister.

Today I got the tiller to run (the last attempt was probably the usual problem - the "on" switch wasn't in the right position). I worked two of the four beds beside the driveway. I put in red potatoes in the bed closest to the street and tomorrow will work on the one closest to the garage for tomatoes (I'll pick up tomorrow morning at the nearby nursery). I plan to put in some okra seeds around the potatoes (so the okra doesn't shade the potatoes while they're producing but by the time they're dug out the okra will be big and producing on its own.)

A bunch of boxes (offered by a friend to use for my eBay shipping) in the garage were stacked out of the way. There were burlap bags of mulch out there and I used most of it, with one bag left. Tomorrow I'll go get more mulch (the free stuff at the nearby city site).

Meanwhile, I called my representatives today to ask them to act responsibly. Not gonna happen, but I made the calls anyway.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Apr 25 - 12:16 PM

This morning I got under the hood in the Dell; the GForce graphics card is using up the PCI-Express x16 card and blocking one of the x1 slots; at most I have is the x4 slot if I want to add more USB ports. The wireless card is tiny but probably the easiest to change. There are extra DIMM slots if I want to build out RAM. There is dust everywhere.

I may have to work out something with Sandra regarding my vet meds that I buy from her neck of the woods. I'm sure when the company pays for shipping to here it is a deeply discounted business setup, but the boxes are small and lightweight. Who knows what the Trump crap is going to be doing in the next month or two when I need to buy more. Of course we'd be mailing gifts. The reciprocal offer is extended to declutterers who may need something from around here. Let's hope our Congress decides to step up and take back it's control of the marketplace.

More garden work today and setting up a sprinkler. Gotta pick up a bunch of mulch and the front and back yards both need mowing. I'll bag some of the clippings and use them to start this year's compost pile. This may not all happen in one day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Apr 25 - 11:37 AM

Some of today's garden chores have to happen in a specific order. The wheelbarrow has soil in it from a project that I'll finish eventually, but for now, it will go into the large-capacity soft-sided "Smart pot" for this year's crop of sweet potatoes. But where to put that pot? Then with the wheelbarrow empty I can start moving compost from an old pile into the gardens in front and till it in. And I have to mow in the back so will catch those clippings and put them in the newly-relocated compost bin (that currently sits around the finished pile from two years ago.)

When I head out to run errands I'll take recycling to the village bins then stop and get a load of mulch, though the sequence will be more along the lines of drop recycling, see a friend, lunch with my daughter, then stop for the mulch.

The Duratuff glasses are about ready to photograph and list (after many trips through the dishwasher). The friend I'll see today is the source of the well-padded boxes for mailing glassware (her frozen cat food is delivered in them.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 10 Apr 25 - 10:34 PM

Dupont:

OK! the very good news is that I do not need to see Dr for 6 months!!! The blood tests (yesterday) were GOOD! Once again needed to get Security to find my car in the 3 level of Hell but, I had taken a pic - it did not show the necessary numbers and I was very late so did not spend time looking for more = late because getting parking took forever! They quickly found the car and guided me to the paying thingy. And I came back across the bridge feeling somewhat lighter!

It, not too slowly, dawned on me that I could regain my life - started cleaning up the potting room. messaged my son who requested some plates! And sent me a pic of a bowl with the desired colour - I don't remember making that!! but it must be in a bucket at Beaver!(All the glazes are) I feel all things are possible - last week, I felt nothing was! It has been a rough year! A year I doubted I would have - I was quite pessimistic about it and just wanted to be done with it.

Hope the trip to Beaver will be helpful for Robin; my new outlook did not even seem to cheer him up. Maybe spring will come...

So, yes we are going to Beaver next week!!! I have been SO homesick! I checked with two dif friends today and assured Pat I would bring back some pots for the shop.

Over a year since I threw a pot so will start slowly with some smaller pieces before making plates - I find them challenging!

Enjoy Spring!!

I am still struggling with the hearing aids -connected to my phone - between them, they seem to have trouble keeping it together. But I manage most of the time so it is tolerable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Apr 25 - 11:29 PM

Great report, Dorothy! Congratulations on the medical progress. It sounds like you're ready for spring and moving forward!

Tomorrow a little computer surgery to replace the WiFi/Bluetooth card. I'm also ready to start tilling and planting the garden after bringing home several burlap bags of free city mulch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Apr 25 - 03:36 AM

yah Dorothy, onwards & upwards!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 11 Apr 25 - 11:15 AM

Big Huzzah for Dorothy!! Let us savor life and this lovely spring!


Regrouping today, after my trip got scrubbed as I was enroute to airport. Kind ticket ladies there allowed me to reschedule for next week. I'll spare you the details about doctors and insurance jerking people around.

Made the most of the long otherwise-wasted trip by pursuing stops in Las Cruces, so the day turned out fairly fruitful in a couple of ways. When in doubt, stop at a Whataburger and ponder one's options.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Apr 25 - 11:17 AM

& Stilly, to answer your recent enquiry - Sandra, are you still donating or gifting craft stuff or did you finish that work? What is the end goal, to simply clear where you're living now, or are you eventually moving also?

hmmmm. I live in a small apartment block (20 apartments over 4 floors)- 38 stairs to climb, with an extra 10 when I leave by the back door to take out my recycling & rubbish & I have chronic back & leg pain. I'm still finding homes for stuff, & I do need to move one day, but the effort is too hard. Real estate prices are crazy, we have a housing crisis, but my renovator's dream would be worth a fortune if it was empty & could be painted etc.

Today at Craft I made a little felt bunny & gave it to a knitter friend who likes rabbits! I have a lot of craft material & unfinished projects etc that need sorting & distributing.

I've been working on unfinished craft projects - one was from 2008, according to a photo I took at the time, oops! - including other felt toys which will soon leave for a hospital gift shop where a friend volunteers.

But there is still a lot more needing sorting

One big job is sorting the stuff on the floor - I do have unoccupied shelves that can take the floor stuff, then I could vacuum .... sigh

sandra

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Apr 25 - 12:29 PM

Around here "investors" buy up homes and rent them out, so it's difficult for everyone else to find good houses to buy. (Alongside that problem, the private equity market is something that should be disabled - that's another part of our financial issues here - they buy businesses, take them apart, then leave the wounded operation now having to pay rent for the property they once owned.)

The wheelbarrow has been emptied into the 45-gallon Smart Pot (I'll add compost to it also before I'm ready to plant sweet potatoes). I have a small raised bed kit given me last year that I can't figure out where I'd use it so am handing it over to my daughter at lunch (along with a burlap bag of wood chips).

Computer work will await till this afternoon. For now the nano plug is out and I'm using a regular wired mouse. Once I get started on a project like this I want to completely finish it, hence not starting this morning when I would have to stop for lunch. The work will be in removing then reinstalling the Bluetooth drivers. I'll only resort to the company's drivers if MS or Intel don't have something to do the job.

What I do have time for now is to wash the SUV, then climb into the shower for myself.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Apr 25 - 05:29 PM

Last year a friend gave me a boxed raised garden bed kit that is I think a 4'x4' square with corner supports, 6" tall on the sides. I never found a place to use it so today I handed the box over to my daughter who has to relocate her raised bed because the current spot gets so much sun last year's garden was burned to a crisp. This kit will I think get that relocation started. She can set it up in the new spot and then start moving the raised bed from the old location and have two beds to use this spring/summer/fall growing season. Spacing them apart by 3 - 4 feet gives a path between and it begins to look like a real garden. I have built raised beds down the side of my driveway and at this point have four of them and a separate stone-walled bed I'm reworking into a fifth. (Today she told me about having tree frogs in her yard and on the house. They're like my toads and lizards here, at night the frogs cling to the screens over the windows and catch bugs attracted to the light. Yards full of reptiles are healthy places to garden.)

Sometimes I wonder what kinds of things my kids learned from me that they're using in their lives now. My son went to a protest march last weekend and my daughter is working on her garden, so I can see that some of it got through (will work on finding good protests for her to go to also, like at the Tesla store near her workplace - she lives in a rural conservative area now). She is raising chickens and dealing with a bully in the flock (giving "time out" to a chicken!); he is doing an amazing amount of cooking because I always cooked from scratch and rarely brought home processed foods. Being self-contained and resourceful in this political environment is probably a good thing for all of us.

Time to stop playing, turn off the computer, unplug stuff, and put in the new WiFi card.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Apr 25 - 07:19 PM

Another trip to the high-school-student-employing bookstore
with a carload of books . . . it never seems to end, but it's getting done.
Also some more clothing donations put in a drop box.
And moved some cardboard cartons so they didn't clutter up the floor.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Apr 25 - 07:39 PM

Also got a haircut on Thursday, long over due,
so I have decluttered a fair amount of unneeded hair.
It was getting downright shaggy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Apr 25 - 07:50 PM

Keb, did you always have enough room there or are you having to create paths as you work? (A question that comes to mind when you mention cartons cluttering the floor).

The finished compost piles (2 and 3 years old) in the back have had the tiller treatment and two large wheelbarrows-full so far have been shoveled into the beds in front. Once I get the compost moved I'll till those front beds and work in the compost. I have a sieve to shovel the compost into and then sift it into the wheelbarrow to remove roots, big chunks, plastic, anything not needed in the garden.

There is tons of weeding to do in the front, and I can put compost in those beds also before I mulch them.

This morning I attacked the forest floor in the den. I swept, and the next stage is the battery-powered brush to start scrubbing the dried muddy path across the room now that the rainy season has passed. I also need to work my way through the house with the duster. #SpringCleaning

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 13 Apr 25 - 07:23 PM

Impressive efforts, keboroxu and SRS!

In an effort to round up anything worth donating, I wound up doing a big seasonal sort of clothing and bedding today. If I don't do this in both spring and fall, things get out of hand. This time I was more ruthless than usual and threw some things out. And a few things I thought would fit from earlier thrift shop buys are going right back to where they came from. Happy surprises were the usual 'oh, that still looks good' items coming out of boxes and onto hangers and into drawers. Unhappy ones were the jeans and blouses which almost fit last year but are now 'no way'. That's okay. Passing a few on, keeping a few for goal inspiration to do better.

I may regret it, but I have enough clothes that have 'had it' but are made of great and durable material, I am just starting a tub of 'fabric' to be used in some future way. With new fabric being both cheesy and outrageously priced, why not keep the great poplin or black watch wool or terrycloth items, to cut up for projects?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Apr 25 - 07:39 PM

More compost shifted from the old piles to the front beds and the decision must be made about where the portable bin will be set up this year. A lot of tall grass awaits mowing that will be tipped into it for a good start on the process. (Tomorrow.) I also need to trim some of the raised beds along the edges (the blocks holding the planks in place have shifted and need to be reset. I should also get some pieces or rebar or other long metal objects and pound them through the middle hole of the blocks so they stay put.)

The dogs killed a young male squirrel today and left him neatly arranged in the middle of the kennel in the den. Sweet. Like they'd brought home a friend and put it to bed. It is now swimming with the fishes in the pond behind the house (a wide spot in the creek), and I'm sure the birds, fish, and turtles will process that protein quickly. Nothing goes to waste.

Several days of intensive cat sitting started today, and I'll use those trips out as the springboard to other activities in the vicinity. I downloaded an audio book I haven't finished to listen to at the gym and I have a friend with plants to dig so put buckets and a shovel in the SUV.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Apr 25 - 07:44 PM

Follow-up from PattyClink - I heard on the news today that people are noticing thrift stores as a source of clothes now that tariffs are in place. It's where I always get my jeans, and some of my dressier blouses and sweaters. Those of us who regularly shop there may have some competition. And yes, keeping the good fabric makes sense.

A friend buys cashmere sweaters and does any repairs and sells them. The cashmere we get today is not nearly as good as the older stuff because of the marketplace and the way it is managed (in Mongolia).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 25 - 08:19 PM

The compost digging is moving along and there will soon be a good spot to set up the newly emptied bin. I've ordered a second one (called GeoBin - they are a durable flexible plastic that can be linked together) to give a large area so I can turn the compost from one side of the bin to the other. I prop it up with tall steel fence posts pounded in around the inside (they're made to hold up chicken wire fencing). That's to keep the dogs out.

Cat sitting is also underway for a few days and is more complicated with each trip she takes. I'll make today's last run in an hour. Meanwhile I have cooked carrots ready to add to my dog's dishes for their dinner (as soon as a Zoom meeting I'm listening to ends).

I was looking at my friend's house today and realize she has a gazillion hobbies and projects going - just like me. We both need to declutter. It's easier to see it in someone else's house than your own.

How's the Northern Tier weather coming along? Has everything thawed? Is the leak into Charmion's basement being fixed now? What is going on in Dorothy's yard (any of them?)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Apr 25 - 08:36 AM

More snow today, despite the daffodils in bud and the blue-eyed grass spangling the lawn. The basement is unchanged, if dry, and the realtor is coming to look at it on Thursday morning. Tony the carpenter has read my text messages but failed to reply.

Other preparations continue. Tomorrow’s pool class is a no-go for me because a burglar alarm technician is booked and the company won’t set a time of arrival more specific than “between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm”. So I guess that’s my cue to clean the house.

I have a new iPhone, the result of visiting the cellular service kiosk at the supermarket to update my data plan. The sales guy made a valiant effort to make sense of Bell Canada’s various service offers while his colleague wrestled with the billing woes of a Czech immigrant whose only government-issued identification is a passport with the wrong birth date, thanks to an administrative error in Soviet-ruled Prague. After a group effort to explain the existence and location of the nearest Passport Office, I found myself with three new friends and a complicated gadget that I have yet to master fully.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Apr 25 - 08:50 AM

Weather in southern New England:
we have had warm nights lately.
THis morning for the first time
it SMELLED like spring when I stepped outside.

Unfortunately, we are due for three freezing nights in a row,
starting tonight.
THen it will warm back up again.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 25 - 11:58 AM

Good old Ma Bell. We're most of us old enough to remember when it was the only phone company in town. I resisted going back to any of their service for a long time (I finally set up the Internet access a few months ago.)

The days of long distance bills are gone, but the monthly bill just to have a smart phone soars with those companies, so they're still getting their cash.

Shopping runs today, and waiting for a call from the doctor's office to see if I can stop taking the bone density monthly medication. I think it's beginning to cause a side effect (a low-level heartburn at times). Best to stop that before it becomes a bigger problem. A friend who took one of these meds for a while developed GERD that has caused her to drastically restrict her diet to avoid the symptoms. Another had the jaw problem of growing what her dentist calls "funny bone." The least time the better on this stuff.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 25 - 06:13 PM

Big sweep through town today, from my discount grocery, a nice haul of produce, and then to Costco. They had leg of lamb in stock, but the supply is getting low. I think they bring it in every 6 - 10 weeks; the meat is packaged to be stable in the cooler for many weeks. If these tariffs are going to kick in, Australian lamb is going to jump, so I picked up more than one and will spend the evening cutting portions to freeze. I suspect I'm not the only person stocking up on import items that are in the store right now.

The house is a mess. I need to make a stab a picking up some of the stuff on horizontal surfaces, working small areas of the house (it's a busy week, small assignments might get done, big ones won't.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Apr 25 - 01:37 PM

The burglar alarm technician is on the ground. The current system is not 5G capable, so a whole new control panel and set of perimeter contacts must be installed. At least the batteries will be fresh, so I'll be long gone by the time they need replacing. Putting a new coin battery in an awkwardly placed contact is one of the most irritating household maintenance jobs I have -- up on a ladder, neck cricked, struggling to pry the cover off a tiny electronic doohickey while the control panel nags persistently.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Apr 25 - 05:33 PM

I've watched the oak leaves from neighborhood trees (I have no oaks in front) pile up and get compacted along the length of my front curb, and no convenient rain storm to wash them away. This afternoon I took a large scoop and a broom and loaded them into a trash can and made many trips to spread them around the yard (they'll get mulched in tomorrow when I mow). That was a workout. My lot is shaped like a slice of pie, and these are all along the crust edge of it. :)

After the next check on the cats (I'm worried about the little guy, he may be needing his blood glucose checked) if I have a chance this evening I'll stake out the new spot for the compost enclosure (the extra piece so I can double it in size arrives tomorrow) and start mowing and dumping grass clippings in the middle of that area. These things have to be done in a certain order. There's no point in tilling and weeding the new garden area until I have the place to drop all of the stuff that gets pulled out of the beds.

A basket of office paper recycling is ready to go to the bins on my way out, then it's time to clean out the SUV seats and set up the third row. There are at least four of us carpooling to a protest on Saturday. I'm driving since I have a parking permit for a nearby downtown lot. We're going to have to take rain gear, it looks like it might be a soggy march.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Apr 25 - 06:45 PM

The house is as grubby as ever. With all that "free" time on my hands today, somehow I just could not be arsed.

However, the new burglar alarm is up and running, and I ran three errands. With that, and a fresh supply of coffee beans and my refitted rings back from Konrad the Polish jeweller, I feel very bourgeoise.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Apr 25 - 10:36 PM

I didn't set up the new compost bin site but I did mow the front yard. I want it to look good - this is the time of year when it is truly beautiful - the irises are blooming in various colors in several beds around the yard and other things are blooming as a nice accent (Salvia greggi in particular). Bonus points: I found an ancient broom in the garage and swept out the parking area that was full of leaves and tracked in dirt. With all of this I got a good workout.

Tomorrow the compost stuff will be put in place in the back of the back yard and the rest of the spring garden activity can proceed. This extra bin piece was my last purchase for a while (it came via Amazon - the only place that had it locally was Walmart and I avoid them whenever possible.) In the US there is an economic boycott this week - April 18-20 - of any big stores. Small local establishments aren't included, and if people don't have any other options, they've been told not to beat up on themselves if they must shop in Target or Kroger, etc.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 25 - 04:56 PM

This hasn't been a normal week. Cat sitting ends today and I can work on yard stuff this afternoon if the delivery gets here in time. Tomorrow is my eye exam (dilating them messes up my day so I always make the appointment in the afternoon) and Saturday the march.

I had an interesting conversation as I was approaching my house this afternoon; I stopped and rolled down the passenger window to greet a fellow on the bridge with a couple of fishing poles. (I'm the second house up from the bridge and the creek runs through the back of my yard.) I wondered if he was fishing for something in particular or what he's catching? He said he lives a couple yards away on the other side of the bridge and while he fishes other places around the state had never tried the creek. Apparently we have big mouth bass! He's releasing what he catches, and caught one of about 1.5 pounds. I regularly see smaller fish, turtles, birds, snakes, toads, etc., that live along or in the creek. It's an urban stream with lots of street and yard runoff so there's nothing in there I'd want to eat, but I've always been glad that it can support a diverse population. That brief view of recreational fishing in the neighborhood was such a nice departure from the stress of the world these days.

No bin yet, but I think I'll start mowing and pile clippings where I want it to go.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 17 Apr 25 - 06:38 PM

My 'stay afloat' thread has achieved the status of
'big-ass thread' at last.
It has helped to keep me out of mischief and trouble at Mudcat.
But I guess it is time to retire it since it is "closed".
That too is a form of de-cluttering.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 25 - 10:57 PM

Or you can start a new one. Or I could try to move a few of the last posts into a new thread for continuity (if I can find them?)

I set up the double-sized geobin and pounded in several fence stakes around the inside to keep the sides upright. The next door neighbor came out and I pointed out that it's close enough to the fence between our yards that she can toss her kitchen waste in. I had to leave ~ two feet of space to push the mower between the bin and the fence, but it's an easy reach.

My mowing has started and I tipped a half-dozen mower bags of wet grass clippings into the new bin. I stopped before the mosquitoes came out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Apr 25 - 11:13 AM

Gained a couple of pounds since the last weigh in. It's the carbs (the dark chocolate has some sugar). More protein for a few days will put things back to my desired level.

Day two of mowing to get the back yard in shape. And hand pulling a row of weeds along the back fence. Rain over the weekend should get the front raised beds in perfect shape to finish that tilling and work in more compost for planting.

The house - oy. I dropped off a bunch of recycling yesterday, but have to round up more. I'm terrible about holding onto those gallon bottles the vinegar comes in, thinking I'll use them for something. I probably have a half-dozen around here that need to go to the bin also. At least the laundry was finished last night and I have a week's worth of clean underwear. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 08:57 AM

Back to the apartment.
Sorted through some papers for a change -- and threw them all out.
Just had to look at them one last time before I could let them go.
Also broke down and carried to the dumpster
some more cardboard cartons.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 08:08 PM

well done!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 12:36 AM

Keberoxu, good job! I also have papers to get rid of, and since we had rain this weekend I'll set up the burn barrel in the yard tomorrow and torch them.

Food prep today; I mentioned buying extra leg of lamb last week because of possible price hikes due to tariffs. I cut up and froze most of it. I haven't been buying anything for the past few days, another economic boycott. Big stores, all of them (so I simply didn't shop anywhere.) And I marched with four friends yesterday downtown. The event had 200 sign up and police estimated close to 3000 were actually there. It went well and the weather cooperated, but was humid so I was ready for a shower and a nap when I got home.

The little camera was deployed again; I'm going to have to check the settings each time, it doesn't seem to remember what I want it to operate at and a number of the photos were too blurry to use. I got several good ones, though, including the most interesting juxtaposition of the Statue of Liberty and Jesus Christ each with a sign in the park.

An eBay box goes in the mail tomorrow, and more listings need to go up. The garden needs another big push to finally get the rest of it planted. Now to put laundry in the dryer and give the dogs their bedtime treat.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 25 - 10:03 PM

The good news is my gardening stamina is much improved without the statins (no garden last year.) This afternoon I worked on the raised bed edges, pounding metal stakes through the corner planter blocks then digging out extra edge soil so planks stay in place better. Not all of them need it, but the bed where the potatoes are sprouting was kind of droopy around the sides. Everything else got trimmed and tomorrow I'll till the three other beds and plant this week.

I also cleared out around my potting bench in a private spot behind a fence near the garage. When I replaced the fence the I put a 10' perpendicular extension from the side boundary (creating a deep corner) so I can stash tools, the trash cans, the potting bench, etc., out of view of the street. I'm ready to start a bunch of seeds there (flowers for the various pots around the side and front porch). I've set up my garden watering hoses and need to set up a sprinkler for the vegetable garden—except when I got out my battery-operated programmable watering device that spends the summer on the back yard spigot I realized I was short a AA battery to replace the pair before I program it. Order placed on Amazon. I turn on water and it will turn off after X number of minutes, or when it gets to super hot weather I can program it to water before dawn so the code enforcement folks don't notice if my watering schedule doesn't match the city alternate side of the street rules. I'm not really a scofflaw, I don't bother to water the lawn in the rest of the yard, but the garden is important.

Freshly baked chicken breast for dinner (smells wonderful!) baked in the glass bowl convection oven. I found a Pyrex baking dish that fits inside so I don't have to clean the whole oven with each use. Yesterday I used it to bake a high-protein bread pudding (gluten free bread, only 1 T brown sugar for four servings, extra sweetener was Stevia and monkfruit drops.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Apr 25 - 12:41 PM

A heavy thunderstorm before dawn this morning filled various standing vessels; I see by the previously empty birdbath outside the kitchen window that there was about 1" of rainfall. That's good enough so later this afternoon I can till those veggie beds. (Yesterday I finished a writing project instead of gardening).

This morning I tipped a new bag of the regular "sensitive stomach" grain free dog food into the food bin, after finishing the last batch that I had mixed with a small bag of food from Aldi. The blue heeler has been turning up her nose at this regular stuff, so today I'll run by Aldi for another bag of their grain free food to mix in. Juicing it keeps her interested (but it leads to flatulence, the reason we get the special brand). This batch is a crossroads - decide to go with a bigger bag of the usual grain-free brand, different flavor, that makes her stinky, or keep adding to the less-stinky smaller bag and she's again stinky. First World Problems.

Testing the new dishwasher detergent, a powder that is packaged in a cardboard box. Using it volume-wise 1:1 it doesn't seem to clean as well; will adding more make a difference, or will I return to the Costco brand that comes in a plastic bin and continue to cut it out of the polyvinyl alcohol plastic case? Scientists testing assumptions about biodegradability. There are so many of these things around, will my not using them make any difference? This may be a real world illustration of "exercise in futility." How much trouble am I willing to go to? The boxed detergent costs less and it doesn't take any time at all to add a scoop to the dishwasher dispenser. But I may have to rinse more before putting dishes in the machine.