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BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: maire-aine Date: 06 Mar 09 - 10:05 AM Got up early today to take the trash to the curb. Not much de-cluttering lately, just day-to-day maintenance like washing dishes & laundry. Our music group has lined up several gigs this month, so I've been spending more time practicing and organizing songs-- finding lyrics, practicing the guitar arrangement, do I need to re-write it in a different key?, all that kind of stuff. I don't do many "Irish" songs during the rest of the year, so when March comes 'round I need to catch up. We did a show last night at a local restaurant, and it went well, even though our lead vocalist was out of town. I ended up singing more than usual, but by the end of the night, there were song pages everywhere. Now I have to put the book back together, because we've got 2 shows on Sunday. Going to try to get out for a walk, because it's windy now but supposed to get up to 60F (15C) this afternoon, then rain later. Sorry to hear about your arm, Maeve. I hope you heal well and quickly. Maryanne |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Mar 09 - 11:15 AM Gardening tools on a cast--what a great image! I wish I were a cartoonist, I can imagine how it might look! A good by-product--you'd be well-armed when out shopping, to avoid being mugged! It's Friday today! I still have a lot to do today, but hopefully this weekend the warm weather will hold and I can mow and get some work done in the yard during the day, then retire to the house to eBay in the evening. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: GUEST,MAG at work Date: 06 Mar 09 - 11:32 AM Just snow flurries, S. We always get a warming trend in February and my buobs start up, then they get zapped in March. Every year. I don't know how they survive. I finished pruning back the rosebushes a couple weeks ago; now I just need to see how much winterkill they got in December. Lat time we had that much severe cold they dies back to the ground, but thanks to mulching they sent up new canes. Thank goodness I mulched this year. I decluttered my practice bench; want to dust off some songs before Portlan'd Singtime Frolics at the end of the month. I look forward to this every year. This weekend I sort of declutter by hiding stuff before the guy comes to set up my new computer on Monday. (Yes, I did it!) Mp way to hide the yardsale pile. I've never bothered to keep track of what I give to charity thrift shops. What if they don't give me a receipt? Is this really worth it? |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Mar 09 - 12:01 PM Good for you! What did you decide on? We had a speaker scheduled to come to campus a year and a half ago, he lives in Bangor, and that November he couldn't get here because of snow. He almost couldn't get here this week as well--we all were on pins and needles watching the weather reports as that monster storm blew through. He did get here, lucky for him, because our next attempt would have been to be sure snow wasn't an issue. I don't know if he'd have enjoyed Texas in July! ;) This evening I need to pick up around the house, lots of stuff has migrated to open counters and tables. I was hoping also to de-clutter a credit card bill, but I see today that my tax refund still isn't here. I read somewhere that they distribute refunds on Fridays. Maybe later in the day? SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: wysiwyg Date: 06 Mar 09 - 12:39 PM Won't be posting progress reports much, but Feb/March has been and will be re-purposing some spaces for new home-office/travel-office stuff. BIG project. A shifting-- a little at a time. Happy to have this project for the calories it will burn: a parallel advance on existing seasonal house/vehicle-uses and activities. ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Mar 09 - 01:21 PM At least tell us a little about the project, Susan. Is this a room in your house that was an office, a room that will become an office, or are you turning something else into an office, perhaps a travel trailer or popup camper? SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Liz the Squeak Date: 06 Mar 09 - 07:28 PM Did an amazing amount in the loft today - just by purchasing 3 small and 2 large boxes and consolidating piles of similar things.. and the addition of 4 shelf units. So now all the picture frames are in one box, the Christmas decorations are all in one corner, the PA equipment is on one pair of shelves, all my finer fabrics (the silk, damasks and fine linens) are in one box and there's a couple of bags waiting for another box to be purchased (84l Really Big Really Useful Box - fabulouso!) and filled. There's a bit more to do up there, mainly just small sorting but there's now room to do it and a place to put it. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: katlaughing Date: 06 Mar 09 - 09:31 PM Wow, LtS! That sounds terrific! Congrat, MAG, on getting the new computer! Maggie, thanks. I am trying to be good to myself and did feel better once I'd taken care of the office, yesterday. I had Morgan all day today and it was one of the best days he and I have had together in a long time. Everything went well, we had a blast (he kicked my arse at UNO!) AND he earned some more money by moving two bins, a box, and a chair for me, with my help... that stuff I was talking about moving to our bedroom etc. So now the dining room has a shabby-chic antique stuffed chair in among the houseplants and our bedroom has a corner filled with 78s, two bins, and a box of stuff to go through. I will start on that, maybe this weekend, though if it is warm enough, Rog has emptied the back of his truck so we can clean up the driveway and take stuff to the landfill. I also have some typing to do and the taxes are still calling.**bg** |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: mouldy Date: 07 Mar 09 - 03:57 AM That's what I have to do soon, Liz. My small bedroom is full of detritus, plus all the bits and bobs of fabric and stuff that I was using to make my dolls. All that has been put on hold until I sort out the house, and I need to clear the room for decorating. I may get Peter to board out a bit more of my loft, although I could possibly have enough room with what's already there. I also need to have a major chuck-out of a lot of my dough cutters. Many are getting seriously rusty. They can be replaced if I need to. (I have drawers full of cutters I have hardly used). I have one more charity box to get in and count, and the village post office says I can pay it in on Monday. However i still haven't attacked the ironing...that's this afternoon's job. I am shortly going shopping to pick up a few last minute things I need, and to pay some £2 coins I've been hoarding into the bank. Andrea |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Liz the Squeak Date: 07 Mar 09 - 11:32 AM If you add up all the £2 coins that are being hoarded, there must be several millions of pounds just sitting in jars, bottles, piggy banks and under mattresses... no wonder I'm finding it harder to get them in my change! LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Mar 09 - 12:28 PM As I first walked into my living room this morning and scanned through to the dining area, I could see that it is getting a bit messy. Not like before, but the gradual settling on open surfaces. I thought I made progress earlier in the week, but not enough to make the room look clear. I did clear off the dining table this morning and cleaned it and now I have a full mink coat lying on it. I'm going to work up from the hem and stitch a few of the pelts together (at the underarm area on the sleeves, a spot that always pulls apart first in coats like this) then I'll package it and list it on eBay. Its old but it's very big, and for a lot of years it was stored in cold storage. In the last 20 it has been in a closet, most of that in a plastic garment bag to keep it from getting dusty. I will offer it "as is" and as a possible candidate for remaking into other garments. It is "goddess sized" meaning there is a LOT of fur to work with! After an afternoon of clearing last week and several hours this week, my office looks much better. I must have recycled several hundred pounds of paper. This is an occupational hazard--if you're in the business of generating paper, you end up storing a lot of it. I talked a faculty member off of an html ledge yesterday. We've been discussing her web page (she's the dept. chair and the secretary who used to do this resigned a while back). It was a year out of date, and she didn't know how to fix it. I told her how to get permission to edit (to be able to save her work to the server), then how to open her page in FrontPage. "My secretary had it on her computer." "You can't use her computer, you have to know her password to log on, and she's gone, so it's gone. Maybe you have it on your computer." "Where do it find it?" "It's a Microsoft Office program, you'll find it in there." "Okay, got it!" You'd think that would be a formula for html disaster, a newbie who doesn't even know WHERE to find the program, but she did a great job. I told her how to save it into her computer to fiddle with until permission came through, and if she killed it, she could download it again and we'd work on it. She made the changes, but her images went away on her hot-link buttons (they were mouse-over applets--a pain in the butt, and some of the images were saved "locally" on her computer, messing up the links). I talked her into the code view (I was at home on the phone so I couldn't see where her images were stored) and figured it out and she managed to reset all of the "top" images on her links. The page looks right, the information for her lecture series is now up for this year, and she's going to make an appointment with the library folks who teach this stuff (we have a whole media classroom in the basement) to show her the basics. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Mar 09 - 05:23 PM I should clarify the coat repair--there is a part of the inside hem (between the outer pelts and the inner silk lining) that was loose, so I reached up into the coat from there and was able to work inside and out with a needle and strong thread to pull some pelts back together again. That has been accomplished and the hem repaired. It is a gorgeous coat. Weighs a ton (well, only five and half pounds, but that is still fairly heavy for a garment). Measured and photographed and now to the description and listing. I've been listening to Art Thieme CDs while I work. :) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: LilyFestre Date: 07 Mar 09 - 06:38 PM As I stated earlier, construction things never go according to schedule, so we adjust. Today the new cabinets were set into place after having some difficulty getting the old ones out of the house (they were put in place before certain doors were added to the house) so that slowed things down a bit. RidgePlucker now has the new cabinets in place and one of the new counter tops is resting where it will eventually be screwed on (most likely tomorrow), however, there is a problem. There is a scratch on the counter top that we didn't see until it was sitting here in our kitchen light. Hmmmmmmm. If we can't buff it out, it's going back tomorrow. This will be the second counter top we have had to return. The guys on the delivery truck aren't padding the counter tops, so DUH, we have scratches. With the amount of money that is spent on these things, I want my counter tops to be in top shape....not going to make do or settle with this one. HMPH. Sooo...it may be that we have yet another delay. *Sigh* I am loving the progress that is being made in our home but at times, it is incredibly frustrating. My office is shaping up nicely! I have a huge pile to take to our annual yard sale and am looking forward to getting it into storage (central storage spot where we all park our stuff for the year, free). Being that my office is as empty as it will most likely ever be, I'm thinking of painting it another color. It's a pale pink that I never have really liked too much. We'll see. Michelle who is so tired out today that her DH is making dinner. He's the best! |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: maire-aine Date: 07 Mar 09 - 07:00 PM About all the decluttering I did today was straightening out 2 side-by-side small junk drawers in the kitchen. I've been re-printing some of my song lyrics (in a larger type, sh!) and settling (once and for all, I hope) on the keys. It's been raining on and off all day, and coming down hard right now. I had the windows open yesterday. Hope it improves tomorrow, because I'll be criss-crossing the county for 2 separate gigs. Maryanne |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: katlaughing Date: 08 Mar 09 - 12:20 AM Good going on getting back in gear for ebay, Maggie. The only thing I did, today, was play Uno with Morgan and help him vacuum...what can I say, the kid volunteers!:-) I did do three loads of laundry and Rog and I put away a pile of laundry from last week. |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Liz the Squeak Date: 08 Mar 09 - 03:24 AM Laundry.. I knew there was something I had to do... my ironing pile is so big, there's a team of Sherpas halfway up it. All the crap in the front garden made it to the tip yesterday, some bloke took away all the children's videos that were in the front porch - he was very happy with them and I even got him another carrier bag I was so glad to be rid of them! Got the dining room mostly cleaned and today there's a 'putting stuff back where it belongs' workshop to organise... which incorporates a 'hunt for something important that the child has lost' which we seem to be doing more frequently. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Mar 09 - 12:57 PM I worked late last night to finish then save a new eBay auction (I lay them out in FrontPage then paste them into the eBay html editor), and I'll proof it today and launch it later. Liz, I understand your laundry dilemma. The cat is afraid to go near that end of the couch for fear of sinking into and getting hopelessly tangled in the laundry to be folded. I have a NetFlix film to mail back tomorrow that I'll finish watching as I fold. It's a lovely day for yard work, so I'll probably at least mow (must de-clutter the dog droppings first). SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: MAG Date: 08 Mar 09 - 01:50 PM I've had 2 days of the blue screen of death, so Im really glad the new 'puter is coming tomorrow. Today I am madly shovellin out, first the den where it goes, and then the trail back to the front door so the guy bringing it can get to the den without tripping. Nothing like a little incentive. It's a beautiful day and I could go out and spin the composter, and I may do that for a break; hate to not get out when it's sunny. |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Liz the Squeak Date: 08 Mar 09 - 01:52 PM Fsiled miserably at all tasks, have a stiff shoulder, no tidying done, only 4 cards made, nothing got put back and now the scanner has died.... Humph. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Mar 09 - 02:45 PM Liz, at least one thing you may find if you have to get a new scanner (try reinstalling it first, though) is that they have gotten a lot better for the price, and in many instances, you can get one much cheaper than a few years ago and they work faster and quieter. MAG, every time someone comes to the house I do this "through someone else's eyes" glance around and realize I still have a lot of work to do. The fact that I am pacing myself and gradually donating stuff during the year and taking it off of my taxes has given me moments of concern (versus clearing everything out in one fell swoop). Will the IRS really believe that with my modest income I am actually donating this much in material goods? I've thought about the explanation I would give, how to make it clear:
I'm trying to divest myself of this stuff in a methodical manner. One approach is to sell some of it on eBay. When I finally understand how much work is involved for the financial return on this particular type of item, then I decide if I want to keep selling, or if I want to donate it locally and claim the price that I expect to get at eBay. It keeps items of value here in the community and it means that local thrift stores will be able to sell the item for that generally modest price and keeps the items affordable for non-ebayers who don't want to pay shipping costs, who prefer to shop locally. I wonder if my pal (in print) Don Aslett has given thought to this kind of clutter turnover? SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: wysiwyg Date: 08 Mar 09 - 10:38 PM SRS, sorry, I did not see your question till today. There are 2-3 spaces involved in becoming office-y because... well, because. One is a guest room that can also be a VERY sunny office in weather that is not too cold-- it's drafty, but the winders don't open so I don't want to caulk them draftless till next fall-- in the hot summer I'll need all the drafts I can get. That space will receive a laptop and a small printer (both can be moved to the AC summer room if needed on a really hot day, but it's seldom that this guest room stays hot overnight so I think it will be OK most of the summer). It has copious, mostly-empty cabinet space and a built-in keyboard slide-out counter with more counter space all around it, all at the right height. It has most of the stuff ready to hook up, and I think Hardi is going to add wireless... Because.... He has one at home too, now in the dining room, that will need to be routered wireless. And... Then there is the traveling office which presently holds a different laptop-- a more rugged one that I'll take on vacay, workshops, meetings, etc., for which I also hope to find a tiny travel printer. All these have or will have re-allocated external hard drives and flash keys for moving stuff back and forth. The guest room office will be mainly for drafting work product in peace and quiet away from the backdoor-knockers and for either Hardi or I to go keyboard away without inviting conversational interruptions. But the "entertainment" desktop computer will remain in the living room for looking movies up in the IMDB or getting hockey news and, perhaps, hockey games via internet. That upstairs one is also mighty good for insomniac solitaire. :~) ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 09 - 12:57 AM Good news, Susan! Good luck with those plans. An item is now listed at eBay, after some last-minute consternation this afternoon. I double-checked to be sure I was listing mink, not muskrat. :) It is mink. Laundry is folded and back where it belongs, one last tiny load is in on gentle. The washer is making a new noise tonight when it spins. Not good. I ran a damp cloth up and down the clothes lines today, to clean off the general dirt built up this winter. I'm going to go back to drying outside now that we have warmer weather, longer days, and a better shot at clothes drying in an hour or two, tops. I had to swing by Walmart the other day--I try to limit shopping there to about once a quarter--and pick up a brand of cat litter that only they seem to carry. While I was at it, I picked up a supply of decongestants. They have inexpensive knock-off versions of OTC expensive snot-buster guiafed drugs. While I was there I looked at the box ($14.50) of "50 precisely pre-measured doses" of "minerals" for the neti pot. You read the ingredients and do the math (sodium chloride = salt and sodium bicarbonate = baking soda) and you wonder why on earth someone would pay that much for way less than 50 cents worth of salt and baking soda? I'll mix up some of the cheap stuff here at the house and use it before bed. Okay, off my soap box. . . SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Penny S. Date: 09 Mar 09 - 05:25 AM It's really encouraging reading this - at the top I was thinking I hadn't done anything much. But I've cleared things in the kitchen and bathroom in order to let the plumber get at the stop cock and the cistern (been waiting two weeks now...duh). And I've started on the computers eliminating duplicate files now I've got both mended and back to work. I must go and get the very old cabbage out of the fridge. I am trying very hard not to let food waste develop, but it's a bit of a problem when I get depressed about cooking, combined with the tenant downstairs being on a shift where he sleeps in the morning under the kitchen. My move is on hold, as the survey wasn't helpful - the place needs more work than I anticipated, including the storage mezzanine floor - suitable for light storage only as is. And the vendor doesn't want to bring the price down. I've spent so much time persuading myself not to be disappointed I'll regret him changng his mind. I've been knitting up some recycled yarn from a charity shop cardigan. And I've sorted out some more seldom worn clothes for Oxfam and laundered them. Difficult to combine with sleep problems leading to lie-ins and daytime naps! Penny |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: maeve Date: 09 Mar 09 - 07:48 AM PennyS- You are moving forward; that counts. Sleeping when you are able counts too. When you sleep you are allowing your body and mind to be cleansed, decluttered, restored. maeve |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: mouldy Date: 09 Mar 09 - 08:01 AM The charity collection is banked, most of the ironing is done, and most of the washing up too. My bag is just about packed, and I am off to the other side of the world tomorrow, leaving behind a couple of table tops which are now visible! (Trouble is, all the mail which arrives over the next few weeks will end up dumped on them!) Andrea |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: LilyFestre Date: 09 Mar 09 - 09:30 AM Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....FINALLY! The new kitchen cabinets are IN! The counter tops are ON! The sink is IN and WORKS! The dishwasher is in place but not yet hooked up...wait, what? Why? I'll tell you!!! The new kitchen floor is going in today...it's the one thing that we are NOT doing ourselves! The installers are here and I am beside myself with glee!!! LOL I'm just about freakin' GIDDY!!! Things have been ripped up for way too long and the chaos of construction is overwhelming sometimes! I do have to say, though, that the new paint, counters, sink and cupboards look FANTASTIC! When it's all done, I'll have to post some photos for you!!!! WOOO HOOOOOO!!!! I'm a happy, HAPPY girl! Michelle |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 09 - 10:00 AM Sounds like you'll be bouncing off of those kitchen walls for a while, Michelle! I've been knitting up some recycled yarn from a charity shop cardigan. What a clever idea! Find an ugly knit garment with great wool? Take it apart and make something else from it. And without the difficulty you would encounter if it were fabric, cut into shapes you are constrained by. That's really interesting! What are you making? If you can keep your daytime naps to 20 minute or less "power naps" they won't interfere with your nighttime sleep, but they are remarkably refreshing for your thought processes. It's a state of total relaxation that is so useful, like meditation. If I sleep for too long then I'm groggy for a couple of hours, and the nap is counter-productive that way. Ah, Monday. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 09 - 01:40 PM Quite a few lookers at eBay and it has a bidder without being a day old. Good! I put in verbiage this time about bidding now, not waiting and maybe forgetting and missing it. I wonder if that made a difference? Potential fur buyer: If you've read clear down to the bottom of this auction, chances are this looks like a nice coat, with a reasonable starting price, and you will choose to watch, perhaps bid at the last minute if you remember. Won't you be disappointed if the winner gets it for a price you would have happily paid? Why not go ahead and bid now? Name your maximum price, stick to your limits, and watch to see what happens. In these times of fiscal uncertainty, bargains are all the more welcome, and if your bid does happen to be the winner, you'll have the best quality coat of this type at a great price and I'll have more room in my closet! Happy bidding! I have spoken with a friend whose roommate is good at fixing mechanical things. I discussed the possiblility of offering a good dinner and a cash incentive, if he thinks his roomie would come fix my washer. After that noise last night it would not spin. Something is broken, but what Sears charges to fix things is enough to make me want to try something else first. Fingers crossed I can get a schematic of the machine and figure out what part I might need to buy (or what part he can repair or put back into place, whatever). SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: maeve Date: 09 Mar 09 - 01:49 PM Once upon a time in a thrift shop, I spotted a oversize, very heavy sweater a friend had knit. The yarn was a heavy single ply she had spun. I took it apart, unravelled and respun the yarn into a lovely and lofty 2-ply I can use for something different. All the old-timey knitters I know reknit used sweaters into new projects. maeve |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 09 - 02:29 PM All of my "knitting" consists of threatening to knit a new cat out of all of the cat hair around here. |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: LilyFestre Date: 09 Mar 09 - 03:42 PM WOOT!!!! WOOT!!!! My kitchen floor is FINISHED!!!!! OMG what a HUGE difference it makes in here.....my heart is banging away with excitement..LOL..how sad is THAT? ROFL But it's TRUE!!! I think I may have to kill the first person to walk in this house with muddy shoes!!!! *contented happy sigh* Michelle |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 09 - 05:30 PM Like a brand new house, eh? Sounds nice! I need a different tile one day in my kitchen. I have an exotic tile that the family who built the house chose, perhaps reminiscent of their native Lebanon. Trouble is, the moment anything falls on this elaborate pattern it virtually disappears. This is good in that dirt doesn't show, but just try to find a pill or button or any other small thing you've dropped. Lots of lookers and several watchers on eBay. It's a nice welcome back after an absence. MAG, how's the new computer? Did you kick enough of a path through to get it set up easily? SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: MAG Date: 09 Mar 09 - 07:14 PM Congrats on the new kitchen, Michelle. Nothing like having things the way you want them. YES SRS; I'm typing on the new'puter right now. I went into my profile to change my email addy so I kept my Mudcat name and everything. and it's nice the house is also a lot cleaner and tidier. The 'puter guy said I couod maybe sell my old monitor for $25 - $30, so I', saving it for my yard sale. Which could happen any time now; it's actually almost looking like spring, and yard sale season. My one disappointment so far is that I tried to get WFMT in Chicago so I could listen to the Midnight Special stream, and it wouldn't come up. The home page seems to be under construction but they still should have a place where you can access shows. I hope it has not gone to a pay system; last I was able to listen it was not. I'll check the archives to see what good folk radio is available. Heaving a sigh of relief, Mary Ann |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: maire-aine Date: 09 Mar 09 - 07:25 PM Good for you, Michelle. I kinda know what you're feeling. About 4 years ago, I had my bathroom remodeled. It turned out to be better than I even imagined. I still have a good feeling whenever I go in it, esp. when I take a long hot bath. I'd love to do something to my kitchen, but I don't have a plan in my head yet. Maybe in 2010. I hope you enjoy every minute of it. Maryanne |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: katlaughing Date: 09 Mar 09 - 07:44 PM We just got some fiscal news today which may mean we can put some sticky tiles of some sort down on our old kitchen floor. It would be so much easier to keep clean and look so much better! Enjoy, Michelle! That's good on ebay, Maggie and what you wrote is brill! Good luck with that. I think big items like that and my glass piece probably do better on there than little things. I've only sold one thing out of several small things. I think I will let ebay rest for a bit and concentrate on loading my books into the bookstore online. |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 09 - 10:55 PM I found the owner's manual for my side-by-side fridge/freezer. I haven't found it for the washer yet. They both need work. I have a couple of other places to look for that manual. I guess if I have to haul laundry to the commercial laundromat for this week it won't be too bad, at least I can dry it at home in the dryer or on the line. I need to find some little job I can start and finish tonight. To feel like I'm getting somewhere. Maybe clean off a desktop, if I can actually put the books and papers away and not just move them. I think this is a response to the prospect of big bills to fix two major appliances. I'll take back some control from the machinery in the house. :) Open the pod bay door, Hal. Know what I mean? SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: mouldy Date: 10 Mar 09 - 03:36 AM Enjoy the new kitchen, you LUCKY lady! I remember being so proud of mine and keeping it oh so clean and tidy for quite a while (which is quite a feat for me, believe me!) When I get back from NZ in April I have to prepare to remove mine in order to work on the damp floor, but the upside is that I will have to put new worktops on when it goes back in, a new flooring, and redecorate. It will hopefully look like a new kitchen when I'm done....then the house goes up for sale not long after that! Andrea |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 Mar 09 - 01:49 PM Kat, I sure hope I got my eBay description right. That auction isn't a day old yet and it has 16 watchers. I made a ham-handed attempt to answer a question in French (I read a little, speak none). It feels like spring--humid, overcast, wanting to rain. Trees are bursting into bloom overnight. Redbud stand anonymously in the sparse prairie all year, but right now, they are splashes of bright dark pink scattered in the landscape. They make the roughest patch of shrubs look elegant. My tree is a late bloomer, but soon. And it feels like a time for change, a time to clear out the house again. I think the thread header is right, it just took a couple of weeks to catch up to it. :) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Penny S. Date: 10 Mar 09 - 07:20 PM I'm knitting a cardigan - it was a cardigan when I bought it. It's a multicoloured chenille type yarn and it looked to me a bit like my mother's rockery in summer, all pinky mauvy rock roses, and various greens of foliage. I wore it once and decided it needed a welt knitted on the bottom and the cuffs, and while I was looking at it and thinking what colour would work, I noticed that the previous knitter had not worked with alternating balls, so there was a great solid lump of pink over the left front. So I unpicked it to start from scratch. I went around all the knitting shops I could to try and find it so I could get a spare ball, but could not identify it, until I did a search for knitting yarns on the web. Eventually, after much examination of tiny little thumbnails, I tracked it down to a firm in Wales, who dye hanks to order, and got my extra one for emergencies. (Colinette Isis in Dusk) I'm just going down the sleeves now, but might have to redo them - the shaping isn't working well. The previous owner had stitched it together with huge stitches in embroidery cotton, but I've knitted it on circular needles and picked up stitches for the sleeves after grafting the shoulders, so there's no actual sewing at all. I try to do all my knitting that way now, having found it to be traditional - it means that any of my tension fluctuations match around the garment so I don't get the left front different from the right. Penny |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: JennieG Date: 10 Mar 09 - 08:35 PM Sounds lovely, Penny! This year we are going to have the mother of all clean-ups, de-clutters, whatever you like to call it. Our plan is to clean out the house in which we have lived for nearly 22 years, raised two children in, and collected 'stuff' in; then sell the house and move out of Sydney to a country town to enjoy our retirement in peace, away from heavy traffic and other problems that living in a city brings. I retired at the end of last year and Himself is to join me on Friday, only a couple more days to go. We also have a couple of trips away in our little RV planned, and a trip to Canada later in the year to see our younger son and his sweetie again. Then it will be bye bye Sydney. Can't wait! Cheers JennieG |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 Mar 09 - 09:47 PM I wrote an answer but it went away. . . Penny, you sound like an expert. My mother used to knit and crochet, and I have a sweater she knitted for me in elementary school, and I hope my sister still has the lovely fine pearl-colored shawl she crocheted. It had an ornate kind of scallop all through the piece. I remember the work that went into deliberately making gaps in the pattern. The IRS has not come through; I should have been prepared to be disappointed. I wanted to de-clutter my file of bills to pay (and pay off the last couple of larger ones). Maybe tomorrow. . . though I will expect a letter explaining a math error and a much smaller check. Par for the course. (I was sure I had the math, it was easier this year, but maybe that was just an illusion). SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: maire-aine Date: 10 Mar 09 - 09:48 PM Today was mostly running errands, in between the raindrops. Along the way, I stopped at the bookstore & bought a couple of garden magazines. This evening I went to a presentation about Native Plants for Your Yard and Water Quality, put on by the Clinton River Watershed Council (www.crwc.org). Getting anxious to start in the yard, but it'll be several weeks yet before I can do much work. I'll try to get started on the garage as soon as it stops raining. Maryanne |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: katlaughing Date: 10 Mar 09 - 11:55 PM We've plans for more decluttering this coming weekend. I bought Rog some new shirts, yesterday, so he will cleaning out his side of the closet. All of his shirts are literally threadbare at the moment. Time to let them go.:-) I am going to work on the taxes and get them done. I also have some more typing to do for my ex...that's been taking up some time, along with Morgan full-time now during spring break and his dad back to work full-time. He's great about helping, though, so I am sure I'll be doing some more before the weekend. We'll see just what and report back. My crocus all look so pretty and my redbud is putting out little buds. |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Liz the Squeak Date: 11 Mar 09 - 05:16 AM Not so much de-cluttering as consolidation this week... Got an unexpected day off today and need to make some more cards for sale at our concert on the 21st (ripe for those last minute Mothering Sunday cards), but also need to consolidate 5 boxes of fancy papers and scraps that can still be utilised into 1 or 2. Then perhaps I'll have a spare crate in which to put the cards I wish to sell! We have a wedding to sing at next Saturday so that takes another day of loft clearance out. On the positive side, I have managed to acquire some box files in which to store magazines so they can be put in the loft once I've scanned the useful bits onto an EHD. Must remember to buy a new EHD though... That should then free up most of a wardrobe which we can then fill with Limpit's stuff that's presently on her floor. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: GUEST,MAG at work Date: 11 Mar 09 - 11:15 AM Next project is to clean out the cabinet in the (miniscule) laundry room so I can actually store the cleaning supplies in there. It's full of junque; I don't know from where-all. |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Mar 09 - 12:11 PM Sh*t Sh*t Sh*t Sh*t Sh*t Sh*t Sh*t Sh*t ! The IRS says a form is missing. I called and was given a code and am still on hold, but "all indications are" . . . and it will be weeks more of waiting. Drat. |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: GUEST Date: 11 Mar 09 - 01:53 PM The rain finally stopped. I was even able to take my coffee out onto the front porch, since it's enclosed and the sun warmed it up. Haven't done that since October. Cleaned up the plant potting area in the basement, and collected a bag of trash to throw out. All of the old potting soil is going into the garage to add to the garden mix. While I was in that part of the basement, I found my aunt's good linen napkins. They must be nearly 90 years old by now. I thought my mother had tossed them out years ago. Anyway, I washed them and they're ready to use again. I'm really glad to have them back. Made an apple crisp, too. Maryanne |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: maeve Date: 11 Mar 09 - 02:32 PM Decluttered 1 temporary cast, wore new 6 week cast home. Slept. woke up. slept. Getting so much done, me. maeve |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: SINSULL Date: 11 Mar 09 - 02:40 PM Some people will do anything to avoid shovelling snow... Hope it heals quickly, Maeve. Mary, whose house is a mess since I stopped decluttering mid- toss. |
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Subject: RE: BS: March 2009 De-clutter & Spring Cleaning From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Mar 09 - 03:21 PM Interesting. That garment on eBay just took another leap. It's a classic situation: two newcomers to eBay (zero feedback) get in there and bid right away. There are tons of watchers, lots of looks, and about three bidders. After all of that work, it will probably be someone who bids once by snipe in the last six seconds who gets the coat. I suspect that it is the size of the wearer that makes this coat interesting. So many of them are smaller sizes, and this is for a way-Rubenesque stature. Papers papers everywhere. They're suddenly all over the place and not filed where I want them. I see my next de-clutter project. And a new, ongoing one for a while--hauling laundry to the laundromat until I can fix the washer. I'll get some reading in, anyway. Laundromats are always good for that. SRS |
