BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 09:04 AM

frozen this way they'll be easy to take out one at a time

Yeah, we did that with a boatload of grapes once and a boatload of blueberries another time. They bagged up nicely, and the bag stays pretty loose if it doesn't get too much condensation. I've done burgers that way too, then stacked them in a bag with no trouble separating them.

===

Hey, is everybody set for sunlight issues for the winter? If not, or if you never saw the old thread:

SAD/Winter Blues/Sun Shortage: Solved

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 09:19 AM

WYS - yep, it's certainly that time (note to others: my beloved Byron died in early October, 2003. No matter how happy and serene my life is, the autumn has a tinge of sadness).

And not to worry, my dear one understands and cherishes me in my many-colored moods. As I do him!

We are in a bit of a bustle today, as we go down to the sea tomorrow- we will be sailing a 40-foot sailboat off Mount Desert Island, Maine for a week! Hunt paints portraits of boats and has been commissioned to paint this one, or one just like it - in exchange for the week's charter!

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 09:38 AM

!!!!!!!!!! Innat worth big bucks? I *see* you skimming over an ocean full of abundance of all sorts.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: maeve
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 10:09 AM

We are digging out the hellhole, looking for ways to keep warm, and figuring out how to manage without running water, heat, septic, and safe winter housing.

Great progress, y'all.

m

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 11:03 AM

Oh, my! maeve, that puts the rest of our preparations in perspective. Your trailer is insulated, isn't it? The "without" part, is that the house you're working on?

It's Monday and some of our special events that I will photograph at work start later this week. I have to finish photos from earlier events and want to stay caught up on that.

The living room has space for the antique folding table I will use (in addition to my rolling sewing machine cabinet) but they're in front of the lounge chair. I have a dining room chair nearby that I'll probably pull over to the table if I have much work, it's a better height and not so soft.

Must pack and ship a box of goodies to my son. I had planned to ship it last week but it was deferred by all of the funeral running.

It's still overly warm and very muggy out, so I'm postponing the yard work until this passes. It will pass, and shouldn't take weeks to do so. It IS September. Eventually even Texas cools down.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 11:19 AM

Maeve,

...figuring out how to manage...

I know you can do it (and I know you ARE doing it)--- gogogogo!

You and TL continue in our prayers-- mine, daily.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 11:35 AM

Just back down from a stint of Room prep, OMG give me strength. Good thing I only took 1/2 sheet of paper to write the to-do list, because I filled THAT up in no time. I did do some of the easy-peasy ones, like hanging up the (non-playable) bowlback mandolin to direct attention to the clothes hooks I also put up... I gathered up yet more trash..... Faulkner hung out.

I took down our band sign to put up the hooks. :~(

And oh I finished making up the double bed with a pretty topper, and moved the oil rad to a better location so the snack fridge could be left running....

Made a list of needed hardware-- my first and minimal purchases to get this space ready to make me some money. I really did have nearly every item I needed, as God has kept telling me for the last year in so many circumstances. "You already have everything you need...." Example: each and every bedsheet I reached for fit perfectly, with just enough to do the job and leave a spare set for our July AC re-occupation.

Still, it felt like a black hole of impossibility, so I took down all the window-coverings to let in the light! I will want to photo it in good light anyway. Tenant can close them all back up for warmth!


The plan is to start showing it no sooner than Saturday, tho I am sure I can shoehorn in the time to get it all done by then; it's just like the annual MIL visit except I'm doing this Room this year instead of the LR/allergen sweep because she can't make it this year-- her appendix burst about a month ago and she's not out of rehab in time for the annual first-week-of-October visit. And I have to clean the kitchen and loo to show, but I have learned that I can whip that in an intense hour.


HOCKEY starts Oct. 7 so I have to get to the LR stuff by then because we threw out a nasty recliner ydy. A bit premature, but before bedtime I went and dumped OJ all over it so-- bye-bye, filthy, broken PRISON of a chair... and in with a lightweight zero-grav temp replacement from the camping set.

Ydy I also took up a 2-1/2 gal container of non-fracked-up water for the tenant. We don't drink the well water, and I hope they don't either.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: maeve
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 11:36 AM

There is no house. The camper is not insulated. There is only the hellhole and the many barriers that are keeping us from building. We have no idea how we will manage. We know what we want to build but too many things stand between us and progress.

I'm sorry. I really shouldn't post. You all ARE accomplishing many good things and I'm glad for you.

Maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 11:46 AM

Your posts are welcome here, and you will figure it out. I'm so sorry it's so hard.

(((Maeve/TL)))

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 12:03 PM

maeve, if you feel like sharing what it is you want to build, we can at least help to visualise it/dream it up for you? (I know first thing, visualise the "hellhole" cleaned out and filled up, right?) It must seem so discouraging and frightening to face winter not knowing how to cope with such great odds. Sharing those concerns and fears with friends might help a little bit. That old adage, sorrow shared is halved, joy shared is doubled or some such. These threads have become a good place to do so, so please feel free.

luvyakat

P.S. Any options open for maybe going south for the winter to a warmer clime for a few months? My son has just subscribed to the Caretaker's Gazette and will be sending me a copy if you'd like me to check it over for possibilities.

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: maeve
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 12:18 PM

Thanks, Susan and Kat. We know what we will build. We have no options for going anywhere else. We have no income. Talking about my concerns doesn't help me, but thank you for the kind offer. We know we have people rooting for us here. There are times when even that is no help to us.

What we need is physical help on site, and there is none. We will deal with what is; and do without what is not. Think Katie Cruel, that song that maybe should have been called "Katie Crewel".

Maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 01:23 PM

The thing about Mudcat is that we all speak in this common place but we're so spread out. Here I am bemoaning rattling around an empty house. There is room here, but travel to Texas probably isn't helpful to oversee work on the property. Even Susan's room is several states away. What we can offer is moral support, so I hope you'll continue to send us news of your work, and don't hesitate to ask if you need some material thing we can supply.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: maeve
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 01:26 PM

Thanks, Maggie.

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 01:37 PM

We "heated" our non-insulated popup camper last weekend. Of course the climate Maeve and TL are dealing with is much harsher as the winter goes on, but I'd be exploring insulating the trailer from outside, and plugging in an oil radiator, right about now. Or a teepee made from trees wrapped in old parachute silk.

Some of you (maybe Maeve) will think I am being too suburbanite or silly, but I spent a winter in an unheated tent, sleeping on the ground. My mother was my role model-- my great uncle spent several years, starting the first year in winter, in an unheated cabin he built from pine saplings and what cost, back then, $50 in lumber, heated by a woodstove with water hauled daily from the nearby creek. Built small to have the minimum space to heat. That was around Lake Champlain.

Why I say "there are always options" and that "I am confident Maeve and TL will figure this out" is that this-- sheer survival-- is exactly what human beings have been doing for thousands of years, and so I expect them to get through this winter.

"Species survival" is a tough instinct, stronger than our ability to hope. That's why when we lose hope, we tend to stumble upon solutions we had missed. That's why we're all here, now, despite having left warm Africa.

So I say, with all the compassion of one who has been there (and in many ways is close to a similar situation right now)-- Maeve, hang in there and keep flailing your way forward; you can and will do this.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: maeve
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 01:55 PM

We never, ever, lose hope.

We know all the survival tricks. We hope to remain alive. I have edited out my first response. :)

Friends here asked me to post, so I have done so. No more "progress" posts from me for a little while. I don't have energy enough to post in a thoughtful and friendly manner, and it is important to me to be able to do that. PMs and emails are quite welcome.

Thanks and have a great autumn. Happy painting, sorting, selling, baby raising, baking, building, painting, house hunting, weight control, etc.

Warm regards to all.

Maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 02:50 PM

maeve,

I'd like to suggest something. As we rattle along here and talk about things we're going to donate locally, if something described would be of use, please send a PM and let the donor know. I for one would be happy to send a box of useful items and I'd much rather send them to you if I knew you could use them than to heap a box on the already crowded counter at the Goodwill.

We in this loose association of de-clutterers have made a habit of sending each other things we picked up when we knew others were looking for them. Maryanne sent me an envelope full of handkerchiefs she found at a garage sale, for example. A small thing, but I love and use these every day. Extra bedding, towels, I have those out the wazzoo here from my aunts' estates and my father's house. With so little room there I would never send stuff unsolicited, but if even a couple of extra towels would be helpful, I'd hope the items themselves but also the knowledge they were sent with love would be helpful.

We can send lists via PM, no need to run all of this out in the open. But just say the word.

This is all I'll say on the subject, anything else will be via PM. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, and I certainly don't want to put you out of sorts by keeping this topic in play.

Take care,

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 02:51 PM

Well-put, SRS, that's kind of what I meant to say.

maeve, I have no doubt you and TL know exactly what to do and how.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 03:20 PM

{{{{Maeve}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: mouldy
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 03:53 PM

Maeve, there are some truly amazing people here, yourself included, and it's great to get some input from them, even if it isn't always what I would want to hear (although it mostly is). You are doggedly fighting your battle, but there is an invisible army at the back of you, holding fast to you both.

I was going to post a moan - radiator corroded and leaking, and several doors sticking just when the surveyor is coming tomorrow on behalf of my buyer's mortgage company. Somehow, in the grand scheme of things, it suddenly seems rather petty.

SRS - I agree about the "one-butt" kitchen (never heard that expression before, but I like it). I will just have to do something about the size of said butt!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: LilyFestre
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 05:13 PM

Hey Maeve,

   It's good to see you here!!! :) I'm sorry things are so hard but you are right in that you can never, NEVER EVER GIVE UP HOPE!!!!

Our house is in spectacular shape after a busy morning doing last minute things, a trip to the store, dinner prep (I finally on a menu of: Tossed Salad with cucumbers and freshly picked red cherry tomatoes and yellow miniature plum tomatoes, rolls, grilled chicken, stuffing, a cranberry crunch salad, gravy and buttercup squash from our garden. Pete made some apple crisp that is currently bakng in the oven and smelling OH SO GOOD!!! There's vanilla ice cream if anybody wants some and a fresh pot of coffee too.

   I've dusted, washed chair covers, swept, put laundry away, cleaned out my car, cleaned out the fridge and sent lots of peelings out for the steer. And last night before we went to bed, we shucked all the corn that was ready to be picked, blanched it and packed it for the freezer. I think we had a total of 8 or 9 quart bags packed full....ready for a cold winter's dinner of shepard's pie!!! ;)

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 06:16 PM

Well, I got the ad placed to run for one week. The guy taking the ad said the kids are really getting squeezed out of the market by the gas co. people and the outrageous rents they are willing to pay. He was so glad to see a student rental ad, he gave me a discount on the ad and it cost about half what I had estimated. Which is good because the work I did up there today resulted in a "to purchase" list I can move on, tomorrow, instead of having to wait till Wednesday or Thursday.

The second stint up there resulted in two medium-large bags of trash and a floor clear enough to lay the last two rugs. I also spent quite a bit of time checking all the outlets and what is plugged in where and planning how to limit additional plugging into the extension cords-- not because I am worried about the electric bill so much but the fire hazard.

A task today was inserting a dressing mirror behind the curtains that create a faux window where one is needed. Nice how it bounces the light around and gives a place for the tenant to check their clothes. The clothe=s rack will go nearby and the toiletry/clothes shelf is there as well.

I'm wavering about purchasing a microwave for the Room. If they want one, WalMart is right on the way here and I'd rather not encourage the use of it. Not much room left to put it, either, on the shelf that would have held it. Hm....

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 06:17 PM

Michelle, is company there yet, or are they arriving in time for this delicious dinner?

I agree about the size of the butt, Andrea - mine, not yours! Gotta get more exercise and try to get into some of my better looking trousers. :-/

One of the dogs has a sore toenail (a cut right at the base behind the nail on her toe, done while digging in a rocky area) - the same kind of injury I did to myself a while back with an accidental jab next to my fingernail. I ended up with a little herniated bit of flesh that wouldn't heal back behind the nail. My doctor used a bit of liquid nitrogen to kill the little flap and the nail healed. Right now it's actively sore on the dog's foot and I'll give it a couple of more days to see if it will heal on it's own or if I have to take her in. While it's like this I'm not taking her out for walks. She'd go, but she'd be in pain. It's a curious kind of injury, but can be debilitating.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: gnu
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 06:20 PM

203.2. That coconut cream pie is just within reach but I am at a plateau again it seems. Tomorrow... wall washing... and thinking about pie.

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 06:25 PM

Good job, but what torture! Since part of what makes dieting so difficult is the deprived feeling, it seems that a small piece of pie is in order, with a good meal so you don't get such a surge of sugar that you set up a sugar habit. Don't keep the entire pie nearby. Just eat one piece and be done with it. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Alice
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 07:30 PM

Today was kind of a weird day.

I guess you could say my exercise today was unexpected. I had to haul out flooring material from the bathroom that was water damaged. Some stuff went in trash, some stuff hosed down and drying in the sun in the driveway with a fan on it.

One completed project, another listing on Etsy.
print - Girl, Cat, Lighthouse, Book cover Illustration


A.

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: LilyFestre
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 09:36 PM

Company arrived just as I finished writing the last post. As it would happen, they knocked on the door before I hit the send button...so YES they were here! Everything went really well and it was good to see them. I forgot how different people from New England can be than the people from here...makes me long to be back in Vermont!!!

Anyway, dinner turned out great and I made plenty so there are lots of leftovers for lunches or dinner this week.

Funny how things work out....after they left, my girlfriend called and asked me to meet her for lunch tomorrow. Another friend emailed and asked me to come over to her house late tomorrow afternoon. She is doing mission work in Ethiopia soon (her son and his wife just adopted a 2 year old from Ethiopia and my friend got to go along) and she wants to share about her adventures. Also, her time to hold Jeremiah has been very limited and she wants to play with him. I'm really looking forward to that! If I hadn't done so much work in the last few days, I'm not sure I'd be able to do BOTH just because I'd want to have stuff done....anyway, it is ALL done and I'm going to enjoy an afternoon out with friends tomorrow!!! :)

Now it's time to relax...we're watching The 19th Wife on Lifetime. The movie has actors that we like to refer to as, "Another fine graduate from the John Black School of Acting." Cheese fest. :) I read the book earlier this summer...very interesting about an off-shoot of the Mormon community that still practices polygamy. The history of it fascinates me.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Sep 10 - 11:54 PM

It fascinates me, too, Michelle. My head is spinning from all you have done, again! Glad you get to have some fun with your friends, tomorrow.

I know I did stuff today, but it sure doesn't look like it! I photographed the first two things I will be putting in my shop at Etsy, a personal-sized creamer & sugar bowl, really pretty with gilt edges, and a scary-looking carved wooden mask from Indonesia, then I went there to write my profile which, when I hit send, it promptly ate. That was this afternoon when I was too mentally tired to redo it right then. I will try to reconstruct it tomorrow morning. The avatar and banner that Alice did for me look SO perfect. I really WILL try to get it up and running tomorrow, though I do have an appt. at 11a which will take about an hour. If not then, it will probably have to wait until Thursday as I am working with my brother Wed. AM to get him going at CDBaby and/or blogging and/or FB&MySpace, then I have Morgan the whole afternoon because Weds. they get out early! And, there is no school this Friday, so I'll have him all day, as far as I know.

Oh, I know what else I did. I decided to jump in with both feet and publish the redesign of my website. I am not entirely happy with it and need to add more, esp. a bio of some kind, but at least I think it's better than the bland-but-pretty I had before. I wanted it to be less busy and more consistent; looked at the websites of a couple of authors I've read and liked theirs, so used them as "inspiration." I know I am a rank amateur and I used the templates that startlogic provides, but I did use one which allows one to change certain things and I know just enough html, I think, to make it work. Jack Campin has mentioned a couple of things I need to check in the bad website design thread as I asked, but all in all I like it better than what I had.

It's been fun to go on paperbackswap and see the book credits add up from all of the books I sent out last week. There will be more from the ones I sent this morning, too. I will be able to request at least ten books within this week, so my reading material will add up! Of course, I'll be listing more to go out the door, so I won't be adding to the clutter more than I was.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: mouldy
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 05:18 AM

The surveyor is due any minute - he's running late. Freya got me up at 5.20, so I am not in the best of moods (at 10.15), especially with a 3 hour drive this afternoon. So far he's 45 mins late, but they did ring to say he was caught up in some traffic nightmare between here and York.

Peter is probably picking a key up this morning, and he says he'll probably fettle the doors tomorrow.

I need an aspirin! Too much caffeine trying to keep conscious. At least I've got Freya down for a sleep.

Andrea

(She's with me because her mum is on a training course in Leeds this morning, so that she can give the flu jab. Her comment - "I didn't sign up for this gig so that I could stick things in people!")

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 09:13 AM

Fettle keys? Whazzat?

===

The next few days I'll be offline more than the last week. My head is spinning with all that's on my plate-- breathe, one thing at a time, combine things when possible. For instance Ed's wife died a year ago today, so we just wrapped him into our day's plan including the music to work on after tonight and oh yes let's ask Bud to join us, to further their manly support which started at a campfire here a few months ago-- time flies! Then there's the REST of Tuesday-- where's that grocery sale flyer??? I'm lost in piles of unorganized LR re-cluttification, aaaarghhh! And meds came in ydy's mail to restock pill sorters..... I need a nap already.


But The Room-- good thing I did so much ydy because I will not be back up there till late tonight or tomorrow, soonest. The ad runs tmrw and Hardi agrees with my Action Plan:

<> Take calls Wednesday/Thursday, return them Friday, get email addies to send applications/pix. (Draft app tonight)
<> Send app/pix out via email and check references Saturday-Monday.
<> Meet qualified applicants in town at their choice of coffeeshops-- their choice/turf will tell me how cash-poor they are. :~)
<> Continue cleaning kitchen and loo in prep to show the shared spaces of the house. Organize back porch and pick tenant parking area with coming winter snow/plowing needs in mind.
<> Go over interview impressions with Hardi (he wants minimal involvement) and pick one or two to show the actual space. Schedule move-in with the lucky winner.
<> Get keys made and install lock on "their" door.
<> Move-in; start a week of settling details of shared space use.
<> Hire my cleaning lady to save my LR!
<> Declut LR so cleaning lady can CLEAN.

Note to self: remember, this rental is paying me to MOVE.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 09:33 AM

PS the last round of house-org resulted in being able to find, get (and plug into my SAD light's extension cord) MY oil rad to heat up the distance-learning studies desk in our LR.... the house heat is OUT (Hardi is calling our landlord) and my tea has gone COLD along with my feet!!!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: LilyFestre
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 10:56 AM

Usual morning chores are finished (laundry, sweeping, dishes, etc). While Jeremiah settled down into his morning nap, I sorted out more of his clothing that no longer fits. The days are getting cooler so I have tucked away some of my less favorite summer outfits for him for the yard sale in the spring. Warmer clothing was sorted and organized (onesies, pants, warmer shirts, jackets, etc). I also dumped both of his diaper bags and have repacked just one. Tonight I'll pack a bag of warmer things to keep in the car for him...the just in case clothes....just in case he wets through something, just in case he wears too much of his lunch, just in case he spits up on something other than his bib, just in case he poops out the side of his diaper (EW...it has happened more than once already!) or God forbid, just in case we hit bad weather and slide into a ditch or something. Clothes and food for the baby will be in the car 24/7. It's time for me to go get ready for my day out (Jeremiah's too!). I'm looking forward to it!

Have a great day everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 12:00 PM

Michelle, welcome to motherhood! There was one day when I was changing Moonglow's diaper that was so involved I've never forgotten it. I had to change a poopy diaper that had shot out the leg and she was kicking - by the time I finished I had to change the sheet on the changing table, everything she was wearing, and everything I was wearing except my bra. Yup. It can get that bad!

Forewarned is forearmed. Maybe. (At least keep your sense of humor handy!)

It's difficult to imagine feeling cold right now. It has been so warm for so long, few of the cool-down breaks we usually get in a summer. I spoke to a coworker friend at work yesterday about a print job, and he asked "while I have you on the phone" and described the state of his tomatoes and peppers. "Is this normal?" Yup. They just didn't do much this year and didn't respond to all of our various forms of prodding. It was too darned hot!

One load of laundry washed and dried, another to go in today, and since it is whites with sheets I'll dry these on the line. I'd like to dry everything outside, and if necessary, I can, but I have to agree with my son that some things just aren't meant for line drying. He didn't like towels on the line (I don't really mind, they get soft soon enough) but some of my clothes that are permanent press dry with creases that I can't even iron out. So those garments will go in the dryer.

My new antique hankies found in one of the trunks are completely finished with their soaking and oxy-bleach treatments and look great. I'll wash them with the rest of my hankies and then iron and use them. I have some dishtowels I've subjected to the same long soak in plain water than soak in oxygen bleach, and some of them are ready to go in the laundry now. Others may never get much lighter. That's okay - but it is nice to have these new old-fashioned linen and cotton towels for my kitchen.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 03:31 PM

At lunch today I made one of my favorite rice dishes that can serve as a side dish or an entre. Chicken soup stock and rice with seasoned cut up chicken breast and mushrooms. Usually I'd make this in the dutch oven or one of the heavy pans, a one pot meal. Brown the chicken in the pan then add the water and rice and mushrooms. Cover and simmer the usual time it takes to cook rice, and dinner is served.

To brown this chicken I had to use a little skillet, I didn't want to add the chicken to the rice without the extra cooking. So it becomes a two pan dish, but I think I'll still do it this way anyway and concentrate on how I can use the steamer basket and add broccoli or cauliflower or something up on top at the same time. This was my birthday present to myself. It doesn't have the largest cooking pot, but even with this small cooker I have to use at least 1 dry cup of rice for it to work right, and that ends up enough for at least a couple of meals. I use rice as a leftover so no problem.

While it was cooking I did another load of laundry and washed up all of the dishes. I have ants, tiny itsy bitsy things that run really fast, near the kitchen sink. I'll get the diatomaceous earth and give the area a dusting tonight and see if that takes care of them.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 03:56 PM

Baby powder works really well and smells good, too, SRS.

If you all want to see the stupendous avatar and shop banner Alice made for me, I have that done, at least, on my shop: Kat Laughing at Etsy. I worked on my profile, welcome thing, and policies. In between had to cancel a coumadin clinic appt. so I could go get a sick grandson from school and wait for his mom to come home to take care of him, which freed me up to do this. So, I've got the whole day, but am going to lie down for a short bit before I start listing items. Have to make sure I have all the proper info and best photos, etc. First two items will be, I think, a decorative mask from Indonesia and hand-painted, English china, personal-sized sugar and creamer set, really pretty with violets and green leaves, with gilded rims.

Thanks, again, Alice. I love what you did with the peek-a-boo cat!

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: LilyFestre
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 05:06 PM

Kat,

   I LOVE the banner!!!

Alice,

   You do GREAT work....it's PURRRFECT!!!

=^..^=

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 05:31 PM

Great banner, I agree!

This afternoon I asked a question about an event and it opened a huge amount of work. Oy. But I asked early enough that I think I can help these folks promote an event that I haven't seen much about so far.

I need to get moving and list that next eBay item. Last weekend was understandably complicated, but the only way I'll move some of this stuff out of here is to keep something listed all of the time.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 07:22 PM

I made an appointment for Cinnamon at the vet tomorrow. She injured her foot last week and it isn't healing. I had a similar injury (next to the nail) and if I had a thermos of Liquid Nitrogen I'd dab some on the bit of flesh that has extruded out between the nail and the skin and won't let the skin heal over. It's just like when I gouged beside my thumbnail and a bit of flesh extruded beside the nail and wouldn't heal.

When it happened I tried for weeks to bandage it and keep from bumping it on things (ironically, I was trying to put the dog's rabies tag on the collar on and stabbed myself with the spiral keyring thing they give you with the tag). My doctor decided the best way to heal it was to kill that little bit of extruding flesh with the nitrogen. It worked. Now to convince the vet I know what I'm talking about. She gouged her toe when she was catching a rat in a pile of rocks last week.

I've put in a busy day today, and though I tend to come and go doing some of this stuff in the evenings, I'm going to step away from the office work for a while and finish up some of the things I have to do here. A load of laundry is hanging on the line, and I need to do some mowing. I've started packing my son's box to mail tomorrow. And I need to do that eBay listing. A lot for the evening.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 08:42 PM

"Whoopsie!

Etsy just had a hiccup."

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Alice
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 09:31 PM

Well, kat already had the basic black cat idea and her choice of fonts, so I just put it all together. Glad it worked out!

Now, kat, when you get some items in your shop, I can include something in one of my Etsy image collections called "Treasury". That's what I've spent a lot of time making today. It helps to connect to others on Etsy as you post links to other shops, not your own.
Alice Flynn's treasury lists, 16 images in each.

I'm finding that the Etsy management really works at helping artisans help each other.

I stumbled across a maker of wood and silver Irish whistles on Etsy. He does not have a shop graphic, so I made one for him and sent it... don't know if he will use it, but he also has an interesting site showing photos of his whistle making process.

Her is his whistle shop
TYIAM
Here are the photos of his whistle making process:
theflutemaker.com

We had another hail storm with wind and rain again today.

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 10:14 PM

You have been busy, Alice! Those are great Treasuries! I read an email Etsy sent me today with a bunch of stuff about current trends and upcoming stuff for Oct., etc. There's a lot there all at once, but I can see how they really support one another quite well and it is obvious putting some real effort into it counts.

Thanks for your comments about the banner and all, gals. Alice I'd appreciate having something in one of your Treasuries! Will reciprocate as soon as I have some time. The next three days are going to be filled with other people/stuff.:-)

I think I still have mental fatigue from writing and reading so much online, taking photos, researching and writing up item descriptions, etc. Not quite ready to put items up, but when I do I'll be sure to share!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 10:22 PM

My goodness but a lot of work goes into those flutes! I've seen similar pages for other instruments. It makes you wonder how anyone can sell these once they're finished, they're so beautiful, but also, the wage these folks pay themselves is low when you look at the time that goes into these. As with Alice's paintings - it isn't the easiest way to make a living by any means. etsy certainly has high quality photos on the site. It is very appealing visually.

I got some exercise finally. I mowed the back yard this evening, got as much of it as had grass growing (so I mowed about 3/4 of the total area, which is still about 1/4 acre).

Tried steaming broccoli in the new rice maker. I'll use about 1/2 of the water they suggest. I stopped it when there was still plenty of water but the broccoli was already plenty tender.

eBay this evening. I have to work on my photos and description, then figure out how much this will weigh. I don't think I have a priority box that will fit it, but that actually gives me more shipping options. The post office will only let you ship priority rate in a priority box (even if you turned it inside out!)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: LilyFestre
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 10:43 PM

I had a wonderful time out with my friends this afternoon! When I got home, I spent the rest of the day trying to soothe Jeremiah who is teething and is mighty uncomfortable...seems to happen late in the afternoon more than any other time (which the Dr. said is normal). Anyway, Pete got home around 8:00pm this evening. Now mind you, Jeremiah has been fussy and crying for at least an hour and a half...nothing worked. He had just started to settle down when Daddy got home. Daddy took him and they played happily for about 3 minutes before Jeremiah started to fuss. Bedtime. So we both go upstairs, Pete carrying the baby...turn on the music, kiss him goodnight and BOOM....he goes to sleep just like that. I looked at Pete and said, "How does THAT work?" He smiled at me and asked me if I had given Jeremiah a superman ride on the way upstairs. Um...no...I had not. He said, "Well you have to give him a Superman ride up the stairs if you want him to sleep."
new every day! ;)

Truthfully, whatever the reason, I'm glad he fell asleep. The poor baby has been hurting and hopefully he will find some relief before morning (c'mon infant ibuprofen...work your magic).

Tomorrow we have a play date with the fabulous Miss Audrey who is 2 months older than Jeremiah...they are SO cute together!!! Then he will go to the sitter while I go to a Coping With Cancer Support Group. The topic of the month is Survivorship...What Happens After Treatment is over. I love this group of people....they've all been there and have a very good understanding about what it means to have cancer and what others are going through since they have been there themselves.

Goodnight friends. :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 10:44 PM

Kat, we cross-posted. I understand completely that mental fatigue you mention. Working on the computer, examining all of those photos, etc, wears you out. Mowing the lawn tonight wasn't just useful (the good looking lawn) or exercise, it was also time away from the computer. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: Alice
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 10:57 PM

aaarrgh.. need to vent a little.

I checked into my PayPal account and found a $50 debit from my bank account from a company that is all Chinese characters, located out of the US, and I can't dispute it yet because PayPal says I have to confirm it is me by having them call my LAND LINE. I only have a cell phone now... they won't call a cell phone. So, tomorrow I'll have to see if my bank will let me dispute it with them, as they have already taken it out of my account. PayPal is Snail Mailing me a form to confirm my address, since I don't have a land line here.

technology, technology
When it's good it's very, very good, when it's bad it's HORRID.

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 11:06 PM

Oh, Alice! PayPal, being owned by eBay, really should be a bit more up to date, imo. How many folks have landlines these days? Techincally, we have one, same number as our old Qwest landline, but it comes through the broadband connection and I hardly ever use it. I use my cell phone almost exclusively. Good luck with that.

SRS, exercise would have been a welcome change, I even thought about it, but I think I've been warding off Morgan's bug and/or super low blood pressure, which has been ongoing, just got to me along with waking up too early the past few days. So, resting my eyes on the bed for about an hour helped. Still, the mental fatigue is something, isn't it? Good luck to you, too, as you keep up your ebaying.

Michelle, I think sometimes it's just a different person which helps, but don't tell "daddy" that.:-) Kids and moms both just get tired when something is going on that it is hard for the kids to articulate and that's when a new pair o'hands can really come in handy. At least from my experience. YMMV, of course.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 08:02 AM

The effort to integrate the last year's new healthy habits (upstairs) into the craziness of downstairs life (outbound ministry-takeoff runway) has paid off. The heat is down (landlord due any minute), so I came down early. I moved AM exercises downstairs to turn on the oil rad before Hardi came down-- all I had to nab and tote down was one small item.

Used it, and then put it right back in the stairwell "up" basket for tomorrow. I like the exercises better up there! :~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 08:54 AM

Rental Room updates.

Today will be a work day while the ad runs. I will not take the cellphone upstairs-- let the calls pile up. I will build the application in email later today as a break from space-prep. I may also get to the store for the few needed items. I have decided NO FRIDGE, but to supply a small microwave-- that way they can take food out of the dnstrs fridge/freezer, take it up, and nuke it and eat it up there. They can even "buy" frozen, cooked meats from me, the bulk cooking lady. And bring down dirty plates, etc., when they find they have used all their clean ones and when the sink is open. (There is a deep windowsill up there that is plenty cold enough, even this month, to set milk overnight for AM tea.)

A good friend yesterday reminded me of the power of campus advertising if I really want to prioritize for a student of a particular vintage-- will look around in email to spot pals we already know to get word around via the "back door."

The BIG insight today as I loaded a backlog of laundry was this: "If you leave your clean stuff in the washer it's likely to end up wet and unfolded in your stairwell. On the other hand, if your dry, dirty laundry is left on top of the washer in a bag-- it's likely to end up clean and maybe even folded, in the same bag, in your stairwell, at no charge." (Because I LIKE to do laundry and I have to go to the laundry room to send them up some supplemental heat anyway.)

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: LilyFestre
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 10:45 AM

What an INCREDIBLE fall day!!! There's a bit of nip in the air with bright blue skies and loads of sunshine....my absolute favorite kind of day!!! Dishes done, laundry going, floors swept and I'm going to hop in the shower while the wee one naps. When he wakes up we are going for a nice long walk on a local trail. I can't wait to be outside today!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 12:54 PM

Every trip up to The Room is an opportunity for problem-solving: "WHAT am I going to do about THIS (or that) left-too-long problem?" I solve what I can and remove anything I cannot solve, to re-introduce later when possible. AFGO.

Like the padded arms for the desk chair. Heck, they been stained since before the nest emptied, oh, 12 years ago? Always "meant" to "do something." OK, so I figured out how to get them off, and re-cover them, and did so today, and enjoyed some music....; . But can I get them back ON? NOOOoooo...; the recharger for the cordless drill/driver is down one flight and up one flight just to GET it. So I'll leave them off for now! It's still a usable chair and the black metal arms beneath the padding are OK! And I'll email myself to bring down the damn charger tomorrow AM!

Still, Faulkner is more relaxed up there each time I take him (bodes well for summer heat relief), and I did get the damn electric blanket extension cord run (and made safer). And figured out how to make them ALL safer, which also needs.... the cordless drill/driver... which has to charge.... so... hey, tomorrow is only Thursday, right? :~)

The supplied laundry bin. I use it so I figger the tenant will. Dirty plastic to wash, with parts to cut off. Got it started with the hand saw then saw how many places had to be done, so I tossed it down to work on it LATER, and the tenant can have the one that has been in MY way in the laundry room INSTEAD. It folds! It rolls! It holds lots of laundry! Jeansjeansjeans! I don't need to let mine pile up in it!

Sheeshe, the stuff that has to GO when I think like a landlady instead of a tenant! :~)

I also got rid of more summer stuff (stowed it out of sight) and pillow-cased a few more pillows-- and sorted out from the tenant's linens the ones I like, for the camper that needs a few to match the sheets in there.

Hey, we got some nice news today. A guy we FreeCycled Hardi's good ole Specialized road-bike to-- wrote today that after several years' use, he just passed it on to a new teacher in his town. The Bike That Would Not Die, LOL. (A well-made road bike-frame can get endless new brakes, wheels, etc etc etc-- it's like a car chassis.) And the tenant got the same guy's mom's old sheets when he FC'd them after she died. Big wheel keeps on turning.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Declutter & Accountability Sept 2010
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 04:32 PM

pantpantpant

I am DONE for the day (unless Hardi can spre me a few minutes to lay 2 rugs and do some hardware).

I piddle around hanging a faux headboard, tiebacks on curtains, and policed another corner's dust bunnies/trash. I took apart a bed frame which cleared the space for the puder podium, and zip-tied the folding legs of a table that keeps wanting to fold itself up.

I got the description/policies drafted in email to send out and a pricing structure is emerging: base rate plus amenities but amenities can be bartered or paid.

I really like the policies-- they are strict only in safety areas and quite open in some "lifestyle" matters. I am comfortable with what I wrote about the realities of country life in a pastor's home, balanced with liberal doses of privacy. (Su casa su casa.) The references I will request are, according to a student friend, reasonable. (My past daycare clients were more than happy to provide a similar amount of info.) After a FAFSA, hey, what's another application.

After rugs, photo shoot. This will not only promote the ambience but be my documentation of how I want it left when the tenant vacates.

Even nit-picking as I tend to do, there is really not much left up there to do-- mostly cash my grocery check and buy the $34 microwave I spotted last week.

~Susan