BS: De-cluttering July

Subject: BS: De-cluttering July
From: GUEST,LTS pretending to work
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 08:54 AM

It's July today, so here's the new, uncluttered thread for us all to pile our garbage into.

I sorted a heap of craft and sewing stuff yesterday. I reduced one large crate into two biscuit tins of stuff to sort, and found some book ends that will be useful, should I ever get Limpit's shelf sorted.

I also found a black concert gown I started sewing last year. All I need to find now are the sleeves that were cut but never tacked on, and I can have a new gown ready for the concert in 10 days.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 09:54 AM

Excellent start, Liz!

You know the story about the Shoemaker and the Elves? He gets up in the morning and the shoes he cut out the night before are finished? We have the opposite here. The Mother and the Teenager is an account of how when she went to bed with a few dishes stacked neatly in the dishwater and arises to find a shitload more have walked into the general vicinity of the sink overnight. Oy.

But that over-large elf did help me move cabinets out yesterday, and we purged a bunch of lumber bits (now at the end of the drive) before we put those in the garage. We also disturbed a large number of mud-dauber wasps, a few at a time, in their hardened mud houses. They seem to love my garage, and their number one food of choice are black widow spiders. I didn't know we had so many around until I carefully broke apart one of these mud things last fall.

SRS

For reference purposes:

June de-cluttering

May, part 2 de-cluttering

March and April de-cluttering

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Becca72
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 10:25 AM

A woman I know gave me a very nice set of pots & pans...they all match! I've never had that before :-)
So the other night I went through the big cookware cupboard and cleared out my mismatched stuff along with a bunch of things in the waaaaay back that haven't seen the light of day in the 6 years I've lived in my apartment. I put everything into a big box and then Freecycled it.

Next is the tupperware cupboard...ugh.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 10:34 AM

The crud from the bedroom that is being done out has been disseminated all over the hall, landing and the little bedroom. Waiting for time to do a bootie.
Yesterday saw 3 of us at Ikea - there is now a newly decorated, carpeted and furnished room - minus mattress, curtains etc, but we are nearly there! Oh, and the door, which needs a bit taking off the bottom now! Then there's the rest of the upstairs and the rest of the house... Have just organised shed roof and roof timber repairs (shed is about 200 years old) and a new back stable-door and door frame.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 10:43 AM

Pictures, Andrea, pictures! Esp. of the shed!**bg**

I have had a slow start. Yesterday I did a lot of dishes and all of the laundry. I also cleared enough of a space on my jewellery table (remember that? It became a convenient dumping ground for a couple of weeks)to begin work on another necklace, a rather tricky one with six strands coming off of a marcasite brooch-turned-pendant.

As it turns out, my sisters may be able to come after all and go through their stuff!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 12:37 PM

Clearing out old containers from the fridge, found about 4 teaspoons of peanut butter in the bottom of a jar.

You can get a lot of mileage out of that dab if you give it a fingerful at a time to dogs. Especially if you manage to get it stuck to the roof of their mouth or on their gums. They're still out there happily licking up a storm!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 04:37 PM

I just de-cluttered my back yard of dog poop. It's a big yard, and I was about ready to join the pit bull in her wading pool by the time I finished.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 07:48 PM

I'm working on the freezer little by little....it's amazing how much stuff gets put in there and forgotten!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 08 - 10:01 PM

I've had a lot of empty space in my big freezer, but it is gradually filling with the staples--instead of buying five pound bags of flour every couple of weeks, I've bought 10 and 20 pound bags and put the extra in the freezer. Same with cat food and a number of other things I wouldn't have necessarily bought to freeze but I have the space and can stand to save a little (it'll help pay the electricity on the freezer!)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 02 Jul 08 - 03:31 AM

Dear Kat - your wish is my command!
I have just been outside with the camera!

Andrea xx

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 02 Jul 08 - 09:32 AM

Yesterday afternoon I hooked up the shop-vac in the basement, and vacuumed all around and behind the washer & dryer. Picked up lots of lint, but I also notice a hole in the dryer vent hose, so I have to fix that before I use it again. Fortunately most of my laundry is caught up for a while. Ahhh, the little things....

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Jul 08 - 02:45 PM

Very intriguing, Andrea! More later in an email!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jul 08 - 02:57 PM

Can't we all see them? Huh? Pleeeze?

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Jul 08 - 10:01 PM

LOL...I'll send Andrea an email and see if it's okay to post them to my opera.

I made a big decision today and de-cluttered in cyberspace and in my head. I contacted startlogic and told them not to renew one of my websites, "empathic life." After I started it, I realised I was not up to doing so much of that kind of work with the public, that I really prefer keeping that ability available for family and friends. It was a big decision because several people were really pushing for me to do it more full-time. It feels good to let it go, though.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 04:00 AM

Yes you can put them on!
I'm gonna get the hard hat on and go up there shortly to "edit" the camping gear. I might even get the roof box on the car today, two weeks earlier than I need it, 'cos there are able-bodied blokes here at the moment to help. One of them is doing a rub down at the moment...of my window frames!

I also need to see if the rat did much more damage than eating paper and shredding the black plastic bags I had wrapped stuff in. It all needs organising and sheeting up because the roof is coming off shortly.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 09:19 AM

Well that about takes the prize for decluttering - disposing of a whole roof!!!

Good thing you waited til after Wimbledon and Glastonbury - they're absolute rain magnets ... now if you can only get it replaced before the cricket starts up in earnest...

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 10:31 AM

Okey-doke here are the pix of Andrea's shed with the following for explanation:

I think the bottom half of the walls are the oldest, as some of the bricks are handmade - although they could have been reused, as they have been in part of the inner walls on my house (1903). I believe it was originally a stable or pig pen. It is attached to the big white house next door (the late 18th century farmhouse). The part of the farmhouse nearest to it used to be the hay loft upstairs, and cow byre below. My house (back view shown) was built as two smaller semi-detached ones on the site of an old barn, on what was the former fold yard.

The interior of the shed is a bit in need of the de-clutter. It houses gardening tools, camping equipment, and my coal. The portrait photo shows where a rat recently dug its way in (I got it). The big timbers are old gate posts, and the builder is going to see if he can use them to repair some of the roof timber that has rotted. The roof is just galvanised metal, and we want to either reuse it, or see if it is still available. If not, the alternative will need further roof timbers fitting, as it's not as rigid.

Pretty kewl, Andrea!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 11:29 AM

Hmmmm. Are Art Thieme, Micca, and Morgan in Andrea's shed? ;-D

Are the brick house and the white house related (are they both Andrea's photos)? I figured out where this stuffed-with-humanity and camping gear shed is on the white house. How are they related?

Hey, Liz, I got rid of a roof already, but it was a little before this official decluttering started. It kind of kicked it off for me, actually, looking at the newly roofed and painted house and wondering what else I could work on.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 11:45 AM

Oops, that's my general MUDcat album...Andrea's pix are the first six!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Irene M
Date: 03 Jul 08 - 04:00 PM

Katlaughing.
Thank you so much for sharing that. I have been having a nose at your Colorado pics. Have spent some happy times in Southern Colorado.
The first time, back in 95, I drove from Phoenix to Denver via Mexican Hat, Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Montrose, Gunnison, Colorado Springs etc.
Three years later I drove Denver, I70 to Moab, down as far as Mexican Hat, then back via Mesa Verde, Bear Creek Pass, Salida, Florence etc.
Going back to Arizona next April for my 50th, but will be looking longingly North towards the San Juans!

Sigh

Irene

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 12:12 AM

It's routinely hot here now and predicted to get more humid. It is not joyful when the weather gets like this, and I move slowly, but I did get a couple of things accomplished.

Yesterday I wrapped up the list (documentation) of donated stuff in May and June, so I can start up a box for July donations. I have a few items sitting around that need to go in that box already.

My kitchen counter is again a disaster area, but at least it is a disaster area of stuff to be donated or put away somewhere (that came out of the shelves I moved out of the room the other day). I'm taking much of tomorrow off from the house to kick back and hang out with some friends who have a pool and a brisket smoking. I have several things almost ready to put on eBay so I may put those up in the morning before I head out.

This afternoon I stopped by a Thrift store and bought myself some cotton short-sleeved knit shirts. These will dress up a denim skirt or jeans for casual dress at work without looking like I'm going to go mow the lawn or head to the beach. I have quite a few tops that I don't wear any more--they don't go with many of my skirts or pants now. Time to move them out. The new shirts are medium dark colors and a couple in black, and I have a nice turquoise denim jacket that I can wear over any of them to dress up.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 12:21 AM

I managed to get one group of LPs listed on ebay today. All by the same artist, all autographed. There was one "watcher" less than an hour later, so I hope this time something happens. My reserve is low, imo, and I started the bidding at .99 and I am only letting it go for three days. I have more stuff I am going to try to get listed over the weekend. Rog and I are going to clear the sidewalk in front of the house, right up against it. There's a clutter of chairs and boxes there. We'll do that in the morning before it climbs to 99 degrees or more. This weekend we will try to sort my sisters' boxes more. Arrgghh!

Irene, thanks! I am glad you enjoyed the pix. My sisters both graduated from Ft. Lewis in Durango; my other sister graduated from Western State in Gunnison. I love the Gunnison, Montrose, Ouray, Silverton, Durango areas and don't get to see any of them often enough! Is there any way you can come north when you visit again?

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 02:30 AM

Well, this is exciting. One of the books I listed at Amazon the other day has sold!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 11:43 AM

My dulcimer is frozen at a low price on eBay, with a day and a half to go, but there are now 29 watchers. I hope the extra ones aren't all just Mudcat spectators, that there are a few buyers out there! ;-D

I have a couple of other things listed, one has bids, and I'll list some more this morning. I'm going back and forth, baking cookies to take to a picnic this afternoon and doing eBay.

My next door neighbor is having some lovely new windows and casings put in. Given a few thousand extra dollars I'll do that here one of these years. That's way down my list of things-to-do, but it is on it.

I just did a little de-clutter in my freezer. A few weeks ago I bought some flour at the store Big Lots--I don't usually buy such perishable things there, but somehow I misread the expiration date. I was making cookies this morning and thought the flour smelled sour, odd. I had dropped it into the egg/sugar/margarine mix but carefully scraped all but about 1/4 cup off and tossed it, along with the contents of the canister and the other five-pound bag in the freezer (where I found confirmation on the wrapper--it expired in March of this year.) I've never smelled rancid flour before so it didn't register right away. Now I'll do the old fashioned thing with the little bit of expired flour in my snickerdoodles--I'll add more spice to mask any residual flavor (it calls for 2 3/4 cups flour, so most of the offending powder is gone).

Hey, at least I didn't drop them on the floor!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jul 08 - 05:00 PM

Hmmm...looks like all my plans for the weekend's de-cluttering in our driveway will have to wait. After a night of no sleep because he couldn't breath, I took Rog into the ER this morning. Got home about 1p. I was scared because some of the symptoms were like congestive heart failure. Thankfully it is bronchitis caught before it could become pneumonia. NOW, maybe he'll listen to his EMT-trained wifey-dear!

I will be mailing out two books, tomorrow, so I guess that counts for something.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 01:01 AM

Still the 4th here: Hmm..sheesh! The doc called us back just to check some more bloodwork and to do an EKG to made doubly sure he was good to go with the heart. So we spent another couple of hours doing that!

I DID put the dishes in the sink to soak, strip our bed and wash the sheets, water the houseplants, and scrub the toilet...all this morning before I got mad and said "We are calling the doc!"

Tomorrow, here we come!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 02:07 AM

Groan. . .

I have a bet with myself, and tomorrow I'll call the friend I visited today to settle it. I'll ask about that sweet tea he had at at the party. I'm willing to bet that it was sweetened with Nutrasweet (aspartame, a by-product of nerve gas or something equally as bad). This afternoon and evening I have had my classic Nutrasweet response (let's just say that my gut has been "de-cluttered," and were I to go in for future abdominal surgery they would only need to give me one of the blue packets, no need to take that nasty salty laxative stuff ahead of time.)

Another set of cups is ready to list on eBay, but I'll wait till morning. I don't like having them end so late in the evening. One item has just now closed and came in higher than some I've seen sold recently. There are a lot of watchers on the dulcimer--I'm assuming a few viewers might be interested Mudcat spectators but I hope there is a flurry of bidding tomorrow. I can't let this go for such a low price as it's at now. Pulling it late in the auction is bad form, and maybe folks will rally. Maybe I should have listed a reserve price. Lots to think about.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 07:05 AM

The White house and my property were once one small farm - a staithe - of which there were several in our village. They ran in long narrow pieces of land between the two main roads of the village. They have all been parcelled up and built on now. My house is built on the site of the old barn and fold yard.

The white house and my shed are attached by a little wall which was built to divide the properties. The original entrance to the shed was on the other side, if I interpret an old aerial photo right. Between my shed and the house is the old outdoor stairway that went up to the hay loft. The photo of my house was taken from the shed doorway. I suspect the shed has been altered over many years. It may have originally been a low-walled pen of some sort. It's a little bit tidier since I had a good clear out on Thursday, but there is a way to go yet!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Irene M
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 01:26 PM

SRS.
Diabetic chocolate always did that to me. Not that I am diabetic, but for about 20 years I was allergic to refined white sugar and dairy fat.
From time to time, I would get diabetic chocolate, don't know why, cos it tastes foul. By gum. 30 minutes flat!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 04:33 PM

Well, the post office was closed today!

Did get all of our clean clothes put away. Shedded the dog and vacummed up another dog's worth of hair. It's been so hot he is losing it in clumps...he must be roasting even though he spends most of the day stretched out on the floor directly under the swamp cooler vent!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 04:57 PM

Hope Rog is feeling better. It must be so scary when your breathing is compromised.

My dog is shedding chunks too. No matter how much I comb it out, more comes. I got a Hoover that's supposed to tackle pet hair, but the entry hole to the canister is really small and it's always blocking up! I wouldn't mind, but she's only a short haired dog! (Unfortunately, she is part Corgi).

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 05:41 PM

We went through that dog hair thing about six weeks ago with Poppy, the Catahoula, who has a surprisingly thick undercoat that was coming out in gobs all over the yard. She looked disheveled and we had drifts of dog hair around the back porch. The pit bull has a short smooth coat and she lost hair, you had these little baby-eyelash-sized hairs that would rub off on your hand, but it amounted to nothing.

I have stayed fairly close to the facilities again today, but did get some small things done. I took a bunch of cards and notes off of the fridge and taped or transcribed them into a spiral notebook I now keep next to the phone. Years ago I used to do this this way and it is efficient. I'd like the fridge to be clear of that stuff. I always seem to knock magnets off at times when I'm hurrying and have to avoid the crud on the floor or stop what I'm doing to round up the refrigerator stuff. So it's all coming off.

So the post office was closed--that explains why my mail wasn't picked up.

I have some extra peppers in the fridge and a few from the garden, and an onion I dropped on the floor (hard) that I want use use before it bruises, so despite all of the green tomatoes in my yard I'm going to go buy a few ripe tomatoes and make a small batch of salsa this evening. Mmmmmm! Those will go from little bags in the fridge to a couple of jars in the freezer.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 06:09 PM

Rog does seems better, thanks, though he did give me a couple of moments today when the doc says his coughing caused hypotension...basically stopped the blood flow for a split second...made him looking as though he was seizing up. I told him I didn't really mean it when I told him I miss working in emergency medicine!

I did get one more thing listed on ebay...a fun calendar for men's cologne "Trouble" from 1972. It's not in great shape but I was upfront about it and it is a fun item, so we'll see.

Tomorrow I AM going to do the dishes and maybe straighten the sidewalk out front!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 06:25 PM

I have made a date with my buddy Cecilia to go to the toxic waste disposal site next Saturday, the one day it's open before the end of the summer. (Gee whiz, my life is just buzzing with excitement!) Painting waste has been accumulating in the basement for a couple of years (yes, I confess), and Cecilia's situation is even worse -- not only has she been painting, she's been trying to rid her lawn of grubs. So next week we'll pack a picnic lunch and go wait in an endless exhaust-spewing queue of cars for our turn to turn in our household poisons.

I can hardly wait ... Yeah, man.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 07:40 PM

Beneficial nematodes are much easier on everything that those toxic things to treat grubs.

We have a disposal site in our county on the east side of Fort Worth that serves a lot of communities. It's close enough that even if I don't have much, if I'm going to be on that side of town I swing by and drop it off. I'd rather have it out of here once I find it than stockpile it. I took over an ancient kit for tanning hides recently--who knows what all of those things in the box are for, but they sounded ominous.

Clothes line is underway--a noble experiment, perhaps, and not necessarily for year-round use, but something I've wanted for a long time and I'm reusing some materials here to build it. When it is 100 degrees outside it seems just plain stupid to put clothes in the dryer and use power to heat up a box in the house and run the AC to cool the house at the same time. Photos once it is up and in use.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jul 08 - 07:42 PM

I did the dishes today! Thanks to Prairie Home COmpanion! (Makes it go much better.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 12:07 AM

The dulcimer was a huge disappointment--only $110! It is worth three or four times that. I should have listed a buy it now price, maybe that would have helped.

I've listed another set of cups, two more sets to go, then time to fold laundry. There's a heap of it concealing the living room couch.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 12:45 AM

Oh, jeez, Maggie! That's awful...it was worth way more than that.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 11:53 AM

I have the rest of the Japanese eggshell porcelain cup and saucer sets listed on eBay--four total. One must move on (but if they buyer of the dulcimer is a non-payer I'll manage it differently. Chances are that won't happen because he got such a good deal.) There are lots of things on the table in the sun room that need to go in the mail to someone who collects these things.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 01:12 PM

I hope he does pay, though if it helped you to get more for it in another way, that might be good. IF he doesn't pay, holler, okay?

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 03:20 PM

I took a huge step on Saturday-- went to Sears (they were having a big sale) & bought a washer & dryer. They really needed to be replaced, because they were old (castoffs from parent's house) when I moved here 18yrs ago. The washer was sounding really bad. So now I have two big manuals to read before I can wash anything. And to top it off, after the delivery guys left (they delivered it this morning), I couldn't find my cat Little One. I was so afraid she might've gotten out with the door open. About an hour later, she finally made an appearance. She must've found a new place to hide, because I checked all of the usual spots.

I guess there'd been a hole in the dryer vent for a while, because you've never seen so much lint when they pulled the old dryer out.

Finally went to see Indiana Jones & the Crystal Skull on Sat night. Can't spend too much time de-cluttering. Ha-ha.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 03:58 PM

SRS -- my gut has also been "de-cluttered" the past two days, but probably the result of a flu-type bug rather than artificial sweetener (most of which act as an almost immediate diuretic on me).

Feeling better today (missed work yesterday and slept the day away), but still had the collywobbles this morning.

There was an interesting article sometime in the past couple years in the New Yorker about the food chemists who developed Aspartame, Splenda and other artificial sweeteners. Seems most of them will not ingest them under any circumstances -- the very molecular make-up scares them silly.

Me? I avoid them as best I can.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 05:41 PM

Linn, I'll have to look for that article. I don't get very many issues of it read, though I've subscribed for years.

Kat, he took care of it this morning. He knew a good deal when he got it, I'm sure!

I realized today that as far as de-cluttering goes, I'M NOT THERE YET. My next door neighbor came in to get a coupon from the paper and the house, like always when she comes over, looked like the inside of a goat's stomach. [sigh] Selling tea cups gets the stuff out of here very slowly, though it does help pad the bottom line for other improvements along the way. Donations and garage sales work faster. I'll have to balance these three activities. But before that, I'll clean off the kitchen counter (again. . .), fold the laundry, and do a couple of loads of laundry.

The clothes line isn't ready for that yet, but I did finish digging up and knocking the concrete off of the base of the poles I'm going to use (the classic tall round posts that are used to support wooden fences). I decided since I was creating a lot of chipped up concrete to dump some of it in a back corner of the yard where I want to build up a pile that I'm going to transplant some agave onto. I put one big agave on the lawn level but this nearby mound will hold others, and I think will look lovely in a part of the yard that simply never gets watered (unless it floods, but agave are fastened down so hard they can withstand the high water once or twice a year down there.)

Anyway, much more industriously outside than in, I played Chinese puzzle in the yard this morning. I took concrete fragments, mixed them with dirt from around the posts I had to dig up and dumped them on the other side of the yard. I don't want gaping holes where these posts once were so I used a mix of concrete and some old concrete and mortar lumps and chips that line the back fence in my yard. These are from a large stone and masonry thing that was dismanted years ago and dumped piecemeal back there. I want the rocks and bricks but not the concrete and mortar, so I used some of that in the bottom of these new holes that I topped off with dirt. And I put some of the concrete and mortar in my new agave area. I'll put dirt and sand over it and plant it later this evening.

I guess you can tell who is more of a gardener than a housekeeper, if given the choice (though I have bread rising, beans simmering, and am going to make some salsa this evening).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 06:45 PM

Ah, well, sounds like he is someone who will care for it, at least. My ebay LPs didn't sell. I had some watchers and bidders but none of them met my reserve, which I thought was reasonable for three autographed LPs, but maybe I was wrong. I may just give them to someone whom I know loves the artist.

I do have the ebay bug, now, though, and have asked Rog to get a few things out of the closet which I want to list including a lovely pair of art deco boudoir lamps. I hadn't been concentrating on that closet, but it will free up some space, nonetheless and I don't have anywhere I can use them, so there they go, I hope!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jul 08 - 12:38 AM

I go in eBay spurts. For the last couple of months, little activity, but as it gets hot and I have to pace myself I find that giving myself an assignment of finishing a description or to photograph and Photoshop something, etc., is one way to get it done. I'm afraid I always fall in the "too much information" category at eBay. It isn't often I have something so mundane that it doesn't need some explanation or other.

I am recycling all over the place in the yard today. One post is up and concrete in place (using a "down and dirty" dry method):

USING DRY FAST-SETTING CONCRETE DIRECTLY OUT OF THE BAG:

Excellent results can be achieved under certain circumstances by pouring dry fast-setting Concrete Mix around the post directly from the bag, allowing ground moisture to finish the job. Pre-wetting the hole and pouring in a small amount of water after the dry mix will hasten setting.

I didn't let water stand in the hole to soak in, I poured in a half gallon, then the concrete mix, then poured the other half-gallon on top. One of the contractors at Home Depot told me years ago when I was starting out with stuff like Thinset and mortar and concrete that "people always think it is going to take more water than it does. Don't use too much!" I just now went out and poured a watering can full of water on top of the concrete and around the general area, to keep it moist for curing. I am SO looking forward to having a clothes line again!

Linn, thanks so much for the citation! I'll be able to get a copy of it with what you sent.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Jul 08 - 03:20 AM

My gut has also been de-cluttered this morning (and it's only 8.20am) so it's a day up here in the 'computer room' sorting stuff and keeping a clear path to the bathroom across the landing...

Today it will be the craft boxes that get a good going through. I have so much craft paper, it's getting to be a joke. Trouble is, I can never resist a bargain so when I see a pound weight bag of mixed fancy papers in the local craft shop, for half price, I'm waiting with open purse!

My goal today is one black bag full of rubbish out of this room, and two orange bags of recycling. I'm a quarter of the way there with the orange bags...

Progress report later dudes!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jul 08 - 04:09 PM

I'm embarrassed to say that I brought some papers home from work that I've misplaced. I've looked for them for a week now, but I may have to reproduce them (meaning have my boss reread the article and make his remarks again) and go from them. Darn.

One big box out the door this afternoon. I have a few more I have to prepare.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 Jul 08 - 04:19 PM

I guess I am taking a day or two off. Rog came home from work; I am hoping to keep him home as he sounds awful! I may get some books listed on Amazon, but other than that, it's pick m'boy up at 330p, send him home at 5p, get some supper, then relax, maybe!:-)

LtS..here's thanks for GOOD news on your medical tests, etc!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Jul 08 - 04:32 PM

Total failure on all fronts.... mayhap I can manage a bath without forgetting something!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 12:15 AM

I moved a lot of the bulk out of the kitchen and dining room (again!) this afternoon and evening, and stacked boxes in the sun room and packed up a few more eBay things.

The fridge was getting full of containers, so we had a dinner of things that needed to be eaten. Pork chops (grilled last night--good!) and peaches (bought last week--also good!), garlic bread, yellow straight-neck squash (picked this afternoon--that was ceremonial, eating the first stuff from the garden), bread pudding for dessert (had some dried bread I wanted to use) and as a bedtime snack, the rest of a watermelon from last week. I think we got all of today's veggie and fruit group in one sitting. My fridge looks better.

Liz, lets hope baths are manageable. After a day that started with mixing concrete and along the way included a bee sting (not that I felt it, I found the stinger in my calf probably a half hour after I came in from the garden where I thought I'd brushed against something sharp), I am going to enjoy my bath!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 03:51 AM

I have now got to de-clutter my yard.

There is a gorgeous pink damask rose, which had come into bloom and fallen over due to weight of flowers (it is a big old bush). It used to be supported at one side by a rose arch, but that was taken down a couple of months ago, and it hasn't got a fix on the new one. So yesterday, seeing as it was best way finished flowering, I truncated it. It has gone from a sprawling, blowsy rampant thing to just a very tall bush. Some of the lengths I removed must have been over 10 feet long. So now I have a builders' sack (the sort they use a crane to lift off trucks)full of rose, plus a load piled up. and more still on my little garden. At least I managed to get at the elder that was growing through it, but there are a couple of young ash trees still to deal with. It had got that bad that it was forcing the rhubarb beneath the rose - I had the most tender very long stalks! Now I have a pink garden from all the petals which have fallen.

And I get a new back door today - the stable door I have long desired.
If only Ruth would move her stuff into her new (and very tidy) bedroom, I could move onto the next stage of the house!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 03:56 AM

That sounds like one of those Victorian melodramatic novels - the Rhubarb beneath the Rose!

So far today I've fixed and sorted a chest of drawers, Why is it, all the clothes I took out of it, won't fit back into it, even though I've weeded them?

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 10:50 AM

Always happens, Liz.

Most embarrassing thing in that vein of late was me wondering where the hell a lovely stripey top had vanished to - so upset was I, as I had only worn it once, that I went and invested in another....only to shortly after find that it had been crammed so much that it had got pushed out of the drawer and into the back of the unit.

Just deposited the builders' bag of rose at the dump. The green wheelie bin is now full, and I should just be able to lug the rest off in the big bag in a couple of days when I am next going near a tip. (Going to get the wellies on and visit the Great Yorkshire Show tomorrow).

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 01:02 PM

Another item listed, another box out the door today.

Andrea, I've seen clothes do that creep out of the back of the dresser drawer in my daughter's room. Not a problem now, she's outgrown much of what was in there and isn't living here now.

I went to the thrift store last week and picked up a few nice short-sleeve cotton knit shirts to wear to work. I need to cull a corresponding group of shirts that are too worn for work or that I don't wear for whatever reason.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 01:40 PM

Can anyone tell me why I'm keeping 3 Tshirts that are covered in paint slodges from various decorating stints?

I only disposed of 2 shirts but there is a goodly pile to go up into the 'auxilliary' cupboard of stuff that't too nice to throw, too small for me but too big for Limpit... the cat likes sleeping up there so he's happy.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 02:02 PM

Four more books listed on amazon. Slowly but surely!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 08 - 11:50 PM

It's only virtual, but I accidentally fried an email program on my computer and lost several hundred messages and photos.


Shit.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 12:10 AM

Oh, crap! Any chance you can get any of it from people you may have emailed to?

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 01:30 AM

No, nothing too pressing, but it is annoying that system restore wouldn't set that program back.

There were photos of the new grand-nephew, though. I'll have my sister re-send them.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 12:24 PM

Liz, it's for the same reason I have 2 old traditional fisherman's slops, and a pair of 1980s leggings covered in emulsion paint - You think you'll wear them to protect your "good" clothes, and then you mislay them and so wreck even more clothes.
Mine turned up in the fancy dress cupboard, aka spare room wardrobe. They are about to be decluttered, as I now possess a boiler suit, which I found, unworn, and quality control dated 1989. Seemed a shame to waste it!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 04:07 PM

I have a real Government Issue Porters Brown Overall somewhere in the house.... of course it's in pristine condition whilst the 3 tshirts are literally stiff with paint....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 01:48 AM

Anyone want an eggplant? I have several in the house and see a couple of dozen more (at least!) coming along quickly. I need to "de-clutter" my veggie garden!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 04:05 AM

I'd certainly have them, but I don't somehow think we'd manage to get them into Yorkshire in one piece!

While at the Great Yorkshire Show yesterday, I got a really efficient pet grooming comb from one of the trade stands. It cost a lot, but boy, does it work on my hound! It has a swivel head with two separate types of comb. You first use the big toothed one very gently to loosen all that undercoat, and then the second, which is like a nit comb, pulls it all out. I have never seen so much come out of her, and hopefully it will give my poor vac a bit of an easier time! It's called the Groomit Deshedding Brush, and it's for use on all sorts of long/short coated animals. Apparently Glasgow police force bought 30 of them! (Their base is in Glasgow). And no, I don't work for them!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 06:47 AM

So that's the dog de-cluttered!

Still working on my computer room... still failing miserably but I did finish the clothes sorting. All I need now is the step ladder so I can put the unwanted stuff up in the top cupboard. My usual method of overhand hurling it up there isn't working, more falls out than stays in.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 11:12 AM

Neighbor came over to pick up her mail today--and the house is no better, overall. [sigh]

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: GUEST,Fort Worth Mom
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 11:50 AM

This post is for Stilly River Sage. I saw on an earlier thread that you have a son being treated for Pectus Carinatum in Fort Worth. We're going to meet with a pediatric surgeon today, and are discussing our options. I would love to visit with another mom who has experience with this condition, and your decisions in the treatment process. My son is 13 and is horrified at the thought of a brace, but I'm a little less than ecstatic about the alternative of a major surgery. Any tips or recommendations you have would be most appreciated!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 12:29 PM

The brace is absolutely the way to go. I did a lot of research because the brace wasn't even offered here two years ago. Open chest surgery, cracking the chest, cutting ribs loose, it is a horrifying idea. My son wore the brace when he got home from school and took it off before he left for school each morning. The first week it hurt getting used to it, but then it was okay. We see Dr. James Miller, with Cooks, and we all learned a lot--my son was more or less the FW poster child with this procedure.

You aren't a member or I could send you a PM to give me a call.

Send me an email at work with the pectus subject line.

dwyer at uta dot edu (you know how to make that into a real email) Send your phone and I'll give you a call.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 12:39 PM

P.S.--I telecommute, so you won't catch me on my office phone. Email is best.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 12:59 PM

My brother came over this morning and helped me get some of my sisters' stuff put away. There was a huge box of stuff on our front sidewalk, right by the front door. He moved that into smaller boxes and put them away in my storage caravan. He also carried off some empty boxes for me and took one box out from the house to the caravan. It was really nice to have his help and get it done as Rog hasn't been able to help since last week.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 01:48 PM

Is a "caravan" a travel trailer with a fancy name? ;-D

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 02:11 PM

**bg** I use that term in deference to our American-language challenged UK friends! (Actually, I LIKE calling it that, instead...it's more exotic-sounding...:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: GUEST,Fort Worth Mom
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 02:15 PM

Thank you, SRS. I've sent you an email.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 05:51 PM

With that reminder of an anniversary of sorts (two years next week that the PC brace has been worn) I cluttered my appointment book with checkups before the school year starts. Physical, dentist, etc.

My house still doesn't look any better. I'm headed outside next--the dogs need to be de-cluttered of a little dirt. This morning I watched Cinnamon as she carefully sniffed what looked like toad poop (full of bug wings and carapaces) then head-first roll on it. Is there an emoticon for a raised eyebrow?

`:-/    >:-/   ^\:-/

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 12:24 AM

Another box of eBay items ready to list tomorrow. At one listing a day, I wonder how many years it would take me to get rid of the extra stuff here?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 11:00 AM

I am beginning to think my stuff isn't pristine enough for ebay. One more small item did not sell.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 11:20 AM

Sometimes things don't sell, and it isn't worth trying again, but since you already went to the trouble to describe and photograph it, you might wait a week or two and relist it. There actually haven't been many things that didn't eventually sell, and when they didn't, it was usually because I was unwilling to drop the price as much as I could have. I usually base the decision on what I find in "completed listings" to see if it has been listed and if anyone is buying the item.

We're down to the last few hours and my mom's field jacket is attracting some interest. It looks like reenactors are collecting uniform pieces. This one is missing some buttons but is otherwise in good shape (though it's musty from years in a closet. I said in the ad I wasn't going to try to wash it--something this old might need special care). It's going to waste here, so if someone has a desire to relive those days I'm happy to pass it along. Better than recycling to a rag broker!

Friday is here. Is Rog going to be up to some puttering in the driveway? And we haven't heard from WYSIWIG for a while--is this the family vacation/family visit time that is going to set her back (because after a visit you have to start clearing up and moving out so much stuff that was left behind or rearranged).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 03:51 PM

Yeah, I think Susan is doing the vacation thing. Rog, hmmm...don't know. If he is up to doing anything, I don't think it will be the driveway. We've got tarps over most of it, for now and my sisters say they will be down sometime this summer, so maybe it will just have to sit.

I have two bins in the living room I am going to empty this weekend. They are things that were on the bookshelves we took over for the tv and audio gear. There's still space for most of them, on other shelves. I just hadn't done it, yet.

Only this weekend and next to get the shutters painted and up, the kitchen painted and new kitchen floor put down before Micca is here!**bg** He will be lucky if I get everything dusted and the frig cleaned out, wiped down, and freshened! At least I know the floors will be clean as the gal who does them is coming the day before he gets here! Oh, and I MAY get the shutters done.:-)

Seems we are all kind of bogging down a little. I remember, it was now or the first two weeks in August that a bunch of the businesses I worked with back East, when I sold specialty ad. products, would close down completely for vacation. Maybe that's what we all need to do?

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 05:07 PM

I managed to unclutter the CD shelves and get everything in, including the new purchases... and then I found a pile of the wretched things under a bag... humph!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 06:34 PM

Kat, I try to keep moving, but we're now into the triple digit weather, 100 today, 103 tomorrow. I move slower, plan ahead, take more breaks. Even in the house. But a break is an appropriate choice this time of year. Today a reason for a break came up--the mustang grapes are ripe. I saw a neighbor picking some today and I'll go get some tonight or early tomorrow. Maybe early tomorrow is better. A friend is going to make jam and jelly with me on Wednesday evening (next week) and I emailed him this afternoon with the grape news. These grow on a very large hackberry tree across the street from me. The vines are so high on the tree you can't begin to reach them all, and the tree is so large around the circumference is easily 100 feet, all hanging with grapes. I guess I'd better get myself some canning jars this weekend.

Maggie

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 12 Jul 08 - 04:32 AM

Still waiting for Ruth to start on her old bedroom. She is supposed to be cat-sitting at her sister's, while they are in NZ. Rang me this morning to ask if I would take over the honours from tonight as she is off to a dinner engagement about 2 hours away in Staffordshire, and won't be back till Thursday, which is when I go to Scotland. I didn't mind that much, as she was off to Staffordshire tomorrow anyway (boyfriend).

Her sister ain't home for 2 weeks, so when is this room going to get done?!

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 08 - 02:58 PM

When pigs fly? That's my guess as far as when my daughter will finish working on her room.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 12 Jul 08 - 03:14 PM

I think she may come back to find the old room emptied into her very stylish new room!

Andrea

(I wouldn't be so mean as to hire a skip...would I?)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Jul 08 - 03:49 PM

That's what I'd do, Andrea. Just put it all in her new room and leave it for her to order the skip!:-)

It's been getting close to 100 here, too, Maggie. I definitely slow down and pace myself when it gets that way, though I think my system is working better than it has for most of my adult life. With the valve clicking along, it seems my body is able to cope with the heat better; it's just not slaying me like it used to do.

I managed to empty a bin just now. Put some of it back on the shelves, which looks a little cluttery, for now. The rest, books, I have sitting here waiting to be loaded onto amazon AND I think I am going to start listing at biblio dot com, too, esp. some of my more unusual books.

So there's my work for this afternoon, if I don't take a nap. Neither one of us got any sleep last night, my fault. Poor Rog gave up at 6a, just as I finally got to sleep. We're doing shifts. I got up at 9a, he went back to bed. He got up at noon to move his truck so I could get the car out, then he went back to sleep.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Jul 08 - 07:04 AM

Yesterday was Household Hazardous Waste day in Ottawa, so I called up my buddy Cecilia and we went to the dump, the car full of paint cans, aerosols, solvents, dead batteries, dead compact fluorescent light bulbs, and bug killers that didn't work on the local bugs. The gate to the dump -- sorry, regional landfill site -- is on a concession road on the edge of the municipality, and I was not at all sure I would find it.

No fear -- at 0905, five minutes after opening, the line of cars snaked hundreds of metres down the road. When we passed the entry gate, we could see a couple of kilometres of cars ahead of us snaking through the regional compost farm (true!) to the hazardous waste facility. (I can actually type that without wincing; have I gone native?)

When we actually reached the HWF, crews of bouncy young people in white overalls briskly emptied the car of its load o poisons and we were out of there in jig time. However, all the way home we were speculating on what people without access to a car are supposed to do, not to speak of people who live in small apartments and don't have room to store their poisons until Hazardous Waste Day rolls around again. The city holds this neatness festival only about four times a year.

It's very nice to reclaim the space in the cellar that was sacrosanct to the paint cans and used solvents, however. Of course, it filled up immediately, with stuff that had been languishing on the floor.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Jul 08 - 12:30 PM

Not quite what I think of as top priority, but Rog is doing some major decluttering of his space in the kitchen: desk, computer, two file drawers full of electronic equipment. Amidst it all, he is hooking up speakers to a stereo system my sister left so we will have a decent radio, phonograph, cassette player out there. He wants to transfer our vinyl to his hard drive. Because of what he is doing, the kitchen is getting a good going over,too. I have emptied a large bowl which served as a catchall and put all of its contents in the trash or in little drawers of a nine drawer antique bx unit I bought last year then didn't know what to use it for.

I've also put away some more clutter in the living room. We are going to compost a large standing orchid which I just didn't take good care of and put away the mini-tramp as I was told by a physical therapist not to use it for quite awhile. So, THAT will open up some more space in the dining area. I am also doing a bunch of laundry; all of Rog's winter outerwear which he finally brought in from the back of his truck.

Still more to do, but this will be good for the day as we get it done.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jul 08 - 03:30 PM

Last night I hung up my first load of laundry to dry in the back yard. How nice! The lines look good and the yard looks more business-like on that side, but it isn't unattractive. I have to go hang up another load in a minute, it just finished washing. Knock wood, but the pit bull seems to "guard" the laundry from the other dog. One can conjecture that she has experience with laundry hanging out from before she arrived here.

I picked mustang grapes again this morning and a friend came over to help. I sent him home with this batch to enjoy cooking up (he has a cone-shaped gadget meant for juicing grapes). We'll make our jam and jelly on Wednesday.

In the true de-cluttering fashion I've listed a pair of jeans at eBay. At least one item a day is my goal. I'm waiting for a couple of more sets of cups and saucers to sell (one person has bought two so far) and I'll ship that out of the house. I need to pick up around here, the decluttering process does kind of spread things around.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 12:17 AM

Well, I didn't get anything close to what Kat did in the last day or two. I have been doing more food preparation and yard work (of course, it's hot so I'm baking my brains out in the yard or heating up the whole house with my bread baking). I'm working on a table that will be used for cooking and baking outside, but I'm not quite there yet.

Kat, who knows, maybe that maligned orchid will thrive in the compost? Drop it on the heap roots down, foliage up (if there is any) and see what happens. ;)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 12:44 AM

Oh, don't sell yourself short, Maggie. I WISH I had a clothes line already up!:-) It doesn't look as though I've done that much, tonight, but I suppose it will look better in the morning. The mini-tramp didn't get folded up and taken out and Rog hasn't done the litter boxes. I also have a very full sink of dishes to do tomorrow. BUT, I did get all of the laundry done.

I thought by listing the old books for sale, I would be de-cluttering. My office now has stacks of them everywhere, it seems. It is slow going, as I have time. I am going to organise them better, tomorrow. Only a little over a week and Micca will be here!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 01:04 AM

I'm waiting for the bread to finish baking before I head to bed. I did finish the dishes and empty trash, but these are daily, not decluttering, things. That's the rub--getting past the regular stuff to get to the extra stuff. I have put a sample pair of jeans on eBay today, and if this week they don't sell I think I'll load all of them up, calculate the price, and donate them. They do occupy a lot of space and if you have the right kind of clothes they can sell easily on eBay. But if you're selling exactly what so many others are so the demand and prices are low, it becomes a lesson in wasting time. I'll be better off getting back to donating and seeing that corner love seat again.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 03:55 AM

"and put away the mini-tramp" See now, this conjures up some very strange images for us Brits.... tramps being hobos or bums....

So I now have this picture in my head of Kat putting a midget hobo into a cupboard....

ARGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!! Not the thing I need in my head on a Monday morning!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 09:40 AM

I flashed on an image also, but "tramp" stateside it has an additional meaning that is more prominent these days. I see a little tart, a Jon Benet knock-off, being stuck in the house, not getting to go cruise the bars. . . (Did anyone else ever grow up thinking the Disney cartoon was about a lady who WAS a tramp? A friend of mine years ago pointed out that I should be easier on Disney. The film is about a down and out mother who, among other things, has no visible means of support, etc.)

Web page design today, not much chance for cleanup. But when I take time to eat lunch I'll find some task that I can not only start, but finish. And while I'm working today I'll be passing by a new stack of paper on the floor (moved there when I had to refill paper in my printer). I'll whittle that away before it breeds and spreads.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 11:03 AM

LMAO, thanks for the larfs, LtS! I hadn't even thought of that image!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 06:34 PM

It looks like rain. I'm tempted to go work in the yard, but maybe I can find some spot in there that needs clearing out that I can do before it's time to cook dinner. After so many long hot bright days the heavy overcast is welcome. (It's quite humid, though, and that loses it's charm after a while).

Hmmmm. Maybe I need a list for myself of that kind of chore, then I'll feel like I'm getting something done as I cross them off of the list.

I'd like to clear off the kitchen counter again. The trick is--don't put the stuff anywhere else EXCEPT where it goes, or else toss it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 08 - 12:43 AM

Taking stock around here this afternoon I concluded that "disk cleanup" and "disk defragment" would be a worthwhile de-clutter. Now Ghost is running a full backup, and it's taking more than an hour. Tomorrow I'll install a new version of an old program (hence the backup--I'm not always so diligent, but I bought this over Amazon. While it looks okay and unopened, I still play it safe.)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maeve
Date: 15 Jul 08 - 11:02 AM

We were out the door early this morning, to clear out our rented storage space. Now the car is full of my mother's things, and we have 2 truckloads in the driveway. Sound familiar?

About one load will be donated to the local fire department auction. A second load will decease when I toss or give away my teaching materials. The remaining furniture includes family and other antique pieces. I suppose in a way it's good we're in such a severe drouth here. It can all stay in the drive for a day or three, with no rain remotely likely.

We need the car emptied, so I'll have to arrange to deliver its contents to my mother and stow it all for her.

At least we'll get back the fee paid for this month and won't have to scramble to pay it again in August. Tiny little steps, here. No time or energy for anything close to what is needed.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 08 - 12:49 PM

I hated having to use one of those lockers--they're so ruthless if you miss a payment (I never did, but that didn't stop me from worrying about it) and there is the nagging fear that someone will break through a side wall or the roof and remove your stuff anyway. I had estate stuff in a locker in Washington State after my parents died, and I managed to get it moved to New Mexico, where I was buying a house, but when that fell through I ended up leaving it there anyway because I didn't have anyplace here to put it. And after the divorce a bunch of my stuff ended up in two of those pods in the driveway. When I bought this house in 2002 it took a few months of renovations before I was ready to fly to Albuquerque and drive a U-Haul back (and I loaded the truck by myself) and then next, to get the pods delivered and all of that unloaded. My house and garage were full to the gills, but it was so nice to not be spread all over the place.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 Jul 08 - 01:21 PM

That's why my sisters' stuff is sitting in our driveway. They couldn't afford the payments on the storage place and the rest of us were tapped out in helping them. I have to say, though, the manager was really nice. As long as he heard from me, he wouldn't do anything with their stuff. They wound up with a bill of $500, but he let me pay only $200 to take it all. It is a relief to have it out of there.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 08 - 02:23 PM

One more eBay box out the door this afternoon. When I do the math, considering the time this thing spent in storage and the low bid it went for on eBay, I'm out a lot for having bothered to keep it. By the time eBay collects their cut for the listing, it's like I paid to get rid of it. Definitely time for more donations, at least on paper it adds up at tax time.

When you start doing the math it all catches up to you.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jul 08 - 12:25 AM

Instead of de-cluttering this evening I've been cooking eggplant parmesan to put in the freezer. The eggplant were extremely prolific this year. They're producing several a day now; next will be the tomatoes, which are small and will be seedless because I had to spray them myself (with Tomato Bloom stuff) and some are beginning to turn pink. There are a lot of them also.

Tomorrow it's jam and jelly making--should be interesting! I like generating this kind of stuff for around here. It is a useful thing, though it probably doesn't save any money, and certainly doesn't save time.

I'll take a load of thrift store donations when I go to work tomorrow. I have had little luck with a mint condition pair of men's jeans, very reasonably priced. They've been up for three days and six people have looked at the auction. I was probably two of those when I proofed the listing. Sometimes clothes sell well, but with stuff that you can get anywhere, it's not so easy. If I had several pairs all the same size, I could list them as a lot, and those sometimes sell better. But one each of several types, it is a crap shoot. Might as well donate them.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jul 08 - 12:37 AM

100!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 16 Jul 08 - 04:30 AM

101! (Are we anything like Room 101?)

Shed will be somewhat de-cluttered later today as I will be loading a large part of its contents into my Volvo for 2 weeks' camping in Scotland. And yes, I do sort of take the kitchen sink...and the wok, steamer, portable BBQ, gas heater, toilet (got to take 2 as I was toilet-sitting(!?) one of them until my niece got round to picking it up; she didn't so it will be left with her when she joins us on Saturday). Don't think I'll take the gazebo this year as I have a new and smaller-packing sun sail.

I also have to make sure that what is left can be safely protected by tarps, as hopefully, weather permitting, the roof and door will be renewed while I am away. The power supply for the ponds, mower, etc is also in there, and will have to be covered.

Hall is still filling up with boot fair junk - sorry - bargains. Would have done one last Saturday at York, but it wasn't on because of the races.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jul 08 - 12:57 PM

I didn't know Volvo made cars that big, maybe this is a bus . . .

;-D

More virtual desktop clutter cleared. I finished editing an essay a graduate student sent a couple of weeks ago, his first for publication. Needs polishing, but I think it will fly.

Clothes will go to the thrift shop, as promised. I may manage completely empty that corner love seat again. That would be nice!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: mouldy
Date: 16 Jul 08 - 02:09 PM

If I can't cram it into a Volvo, I need a truck! (It is the V70 station wagon, so it's the vehicle of choice for antiques dealers, and others who need to shift furniture from time to time!) Mind you, I have left the shelf units (with bits and bats on), garden tools, pasting tables, sun lounger, and the coal behind in the shed! The car is more or less packed and awaits my friend's luggage tomorrow morning. I'm off to my regular session tonight, so have left the squeeze box accessible.

My late husband was the master of cramming cars full of stuff, and I learned from him the value of "cram-holes". One year we got a frame tent, table and 2 chairs, box of food and other bits into an MGB Roadster. It did help that we had a boot-rack for the suitcase, but even so, we had to make sure the roof would go down ok.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jul 08 - 03:07 PM

[sniff] This is the kind of time that make you remember those funny, endearing traits, isn't it? I am glad that you are out camping on your own, that you didn't stop doing these things.

Off to the office, myself. One must pay the bills in addition to de-cluttering.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jul 08 - 12:10 PM

Made several jars of jelly and jam to store in my neat pantry shelves. The juicing was easy, and I'm glad I had a good selection of large clean jars on those pantry shelves to store the juice in before we made our jelly. The new system as I de-clutter is working and is always rewarding when some new project comes along and I can easily find what I need and store the results.

I forgot to take the thrift store clothes with me, but I go by another donation station later today so will drop them there. I have to clear up the pots outside my side door, it has gotten to be more of a narrow path as things get set out there. Time for more garden de-cluttering. I wish it wasn't so darned hot out!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jul 08 - 11:18 PM

Big bag to the thrift store, and I made myself sit down and document all of it and add the photos already for the IRS file.

The love seat isn't completely clear, but the boxes on the floor around it have been placed on the love seat so the path is clear.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jul 08 - 03:37 PM

Is it just me here all this week? I had a back-channel conversation with Bill D, it sounds like he is doing a big job of de-cluttering at his house. I hope he'll report in occasionally to share his progress. I'd happily take some of his beer bottles off of his hands if they are fresh and full and cold!

Friday nights I enjoy because there are a couple of BBC mysteries on PBS. A couple of beers, televisions on all around the house, and I can ramble around listening to my mysteries while working on pulling together eBay projects or de-cluttering.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Jul 08 - 04:17 PM

You aren't the only one here, but I think you may be the only one doing anything constructive - unless we're all too busy to post!

I've decluttered my bank account by buying the DVDs of the stuff on my digital recording box. It was up to 90 programmes but now it's down to 70+.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jul 08 - 04:30 PM

So you record things, and if you like them, you buy the DVD? That means they're worthwhile enough to actually watch again. I have stuff on my DVR that I haven't watched since I had the satellite turned off, so I guess they weren't that pressing. :)

Clearly there are some folks who are aware of what we're doing, but are too busy to post. I haven't meant this to be a blow by blow account, though it may seem that way at times. I don't list everything, no point in that, for many reasons.

I am enjoying my new clothes line out in the back yard. It saves me running the dryer in this 100 degree weather, heating both the clothes and the house in the area around the dryer. My next door neighbor has a large tubular wind chime that I swear, when I'm out in the heat and the dappled shade by the line under the trees, it sounds like stepping into the Twilight Zone. One dog lies on the ground next to the basket and keeps me company, and she seems to be the self-appointed laundry guard. She won't let the other dog near the area when clothes are hanging.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jul 08 - 02:17 AM

The school district just dropped a bomb on us--after years of trying to get people to accept uniforms but meeting concerted resistance, they've done a rather Bush-like end-run around parents and are insisting the dress code isn't a uniform, but is a set of standardized garments that I know right now my son will revolt over. Why is it that even with more-than-ample higher education I'm reduced to wanting to walk into the principal's office and swear black and blue right in his face? They are such IDIOTS! They will spend so much time studying the kids to be sure they're dressed right that they'll completely miss important things--liked education.

So, I guess I'll be making room in my son's closet for this new wardrobe that I must buy but I can not afford. No denim (!) such as jeans or jumpers, no t-shirts (must all have collars) no logos or art (except the garment itself, like IZOD, etc.) One color garments, seven approved colors, no dots, stripes, prints. They could publish a new magazine: Constipation Illustrated.

Okay. Back to the salt mine. I did other stuff today, garden work. Maybe tomorrow I'll clear out more donatable items.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maeve
Date: 19 Jul 08 - 09:09 AM

I'm still here, just working a lot. I decluttered two pressboard cabinets from my dad's things. Put them out beside the road and away they went this morning. Today I'll take our recycling, along with some things I'll sort out of my teaching stuff, to the town shed, and see what I find there that's on my mental shopping list.

I moved over one hundred digital photos from our camera onto the desktop, and have again begun moving them to Flickr and to zip discs when I can. SRS, you asked a bout a picture of our new gate in the last thread. When I can oblige, I will be glad to.

I really need to clear things out of the kitchen so I can set up for canning and freezing.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 19 Jul 08 - 05:39 PM

I'm still here, too, but haven't done much de-cluttering this week. Had other things on my mind. I found out on Tuesday that the project I'm on has been cancelled/cut back/postposed/whatever you want to call it, and my position won't exist after 31-Oct-08. I get to apply for another position with the company, but there are about 20 people applying for 10 positions, so I have to be prepared for the worst. Don't want to do all my de-cluttering now, because I may have lots of time on my hands in a few months (ha-ha). They'll be conducting interviews in the next week or so, and I should know by mid-August whether I get one of the jobs. Please wish me luck, and prayers if you're so inclined. Thanks,

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jul 08 - 07:47 PM

Maryanne, good luck with that. But when you do get the new job, you'll be so busy you won't have time to de-clutter. If you do it now, then either way, you'll have more of your house and less stuff in your way when that time comes. (Just a thought)

Took gadgets and household recycling to the recycle center along with a big plastic Wii advertisement sign (it was the thought that counted, but it wouldn't stay on the wall). Goodwill staff left the drop point before I got there so several bags of items await the next trip. I didn't get it all, there's more for tomorrow.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Jul 08 - 07:57 PM

I got one box carried out to the car for the goodwill or sally army. Trying to get the house and yard cleaned up before Micca hits town on Wednesday, plus Rog has a friend coming by on Tuesday. I did get the front walk cleared up and swept, today. Our son came over to service the swamp cooler on the roof and Rog took the power washer to it. Both of those really needed to be done. Rog sitll is not feeling totally up to snuff, but may get some weeds whacked tomorrow. Our daughter has said she'll mow the front yard. I will muck out my office tomorrow and do dishes. Laundry is in today. I want a clothesline, too!! That's probably it for me until Micca's visit is done, but I'll check in anyway. Keep it up, ladies and gents.

Maryanne, good luck!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jul 08 - 11:38 PM

I love my clothesline, Kat, it feels so natural to do it this way. Four 25-foot lines are enough for one large load out of my washer, with some room to spare. (I also love that it is something I designed and built and finished myself!) We're in the low 100s every day and it makes no sense to put clothes in the dryer and run that heat in the house. I didn't have the clothes line now I think I'd be laying the wet laundry out on the concrete to give it a real quick dry. Sssssss! The dogs are very accepting of this laundry activity (knock wood!) and lie nearby in the shade of one of the pine trees and watch me work.

I forgot to mention earlier, I have a 22 pound box full of Interpretive Naturalist journals that I packed up this morning to mail to the nature center in town on Monday (they know they're coming). The nature center is way on the opposite side of town and it is a wash, pay the gas money or pay the postage. Paying the postage saves me a couple of hours, anyway. These journals have been in a box on my coffee table in the living room forever, so it's nice to move them.

Kat, do what you can to make the house look the way you want it to when Micca comes. And after he's gone you can untangle the stuff you crammed in a spare closet or in the office, etc. :) We know how this works, with company coming!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Jul 08 - 11:45 PM

Ah, thanks, Maggie, but there's nowhere to stuff it and I know Micca will feel badly if he thinks he's caused me any extra fuss, SO...what gets done, gets done and the rest he'll have to ignore. He keeps telling me he's coming to see Rog and ME, not our house!**bg** At least I know the floors will be clean, my cleaning gal comes the morning of the day he arrives.:-)

Good for you, for getting those off your coffee table! And, I can only hope I may get some kind of clothesline this summer. We talked about doing one like we had back East. It ran out of a window out to a big tree, with a pulley. It's very common back there. I'd just put it out my backdoor which is right next to the washer/dryer, but we can't decide where to attach the other end...there's things in the way.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 12:38 AM

I have two hollow metal fence posts, the type that hold up stockade fences or you at the corner of cyclone fences. I've loaded two photos to photobucket:

The post and apparatus and a close up look at the workings of it. High tech - NOT!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 06:20 AM

Kat - I've seen Micca's house - the more clutter and things he has to step over, the more at home he'll feel!

I'm supposed to be doing something constructive today but am not inclined to do so... some of those symptoms I didn't have 3 weeks ago when the doc examined me have materialised overnight. I get the results tomorrow morning so I'll let people know.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 11:19 AM

Thanks, LtS...he should feel right at home here, then.:-) Still holding you close and giving thanks for a perfect outcome for you.

Maggie, that is great!

We de-cluttered the car this morning and washed it before the 100 degree heat hits! There was enough dog hair for 2-3 more dogs, plus all kinds of detritus from a four year old, fast food drive throughs, etc. Then, I washed it! At least now, when we go out with Micca in his kilt, it won't look as though he's been in the "dog house!" **bg**

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 12:03 PM

Better a dog house than a cat house!

(or does it not have the same meaning over there?)

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 12:26 PM

I think it is the same, LtS, though with my cats, he may think he's in a different kind of one of those, too!**bg**

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 12:37 PM

Headlines:

Micca visits Colorado Cat House

photos at 11

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 05:22 PM

LMAO! Reminds me of the old oil boom bumper sticker, "Please don't tell my folks I work in the oilfields. They still think I play piano in a whorehouse!" (It might have said "cat house," I can't remember!)

I have made some headway. Washed the dog's bedding off the couch. Listed some more books at biblio, which gets them OFF my desk. Scanned in covers of several more books waiting to be listed. A couple of more things in my office and it will be somewhat presentable.:-)

Oh, and our dau. mowed BOTH the front and back yards! And, she gave the dog a good cool off with the hose, then brushed him some more after I'd already brushed off another total fur coat.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 06:48 PM

Let's see -- gave electric frying pan that hasn't been used in years (Tom just prefers not to use it) to a friend who is currently without a kitchen stove. She took the training bench, too, that no one on Freecycle wanted and, when I put it up at the head of the driveway with "FREE" on it, nobody wanted it.

Today dropped off more yardsale stuff at my friend's -- plus a bag of thread and zippers for her craft projects. I only do hand sewing, so went through my sewing tackle and handed off the excess to her. Then I dropped off a bunch of plastic plant pots and even more clay pots at my neighbor's -- and a couple duplicate vases. They have a farm stand this year and she may want to sell cut flowers.

Haven't had time to get rid of much else -- oh, I need to post the waffle iron on Freecycle before the day is over.

Really need to go through more stuff in the cellar and guest room closet -- and CALL the guy who buys magazines and the guy who buys LPs, etcet etcet.

Cubic footage!

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 08 - 10:55 AM

Exactly, Linn! Trouble is, the remaining clutter expands to fill the available space. Yesterday I ran out of dish soap in the kitchen so I went into the back bathroom to get the partial bottle of the same soap since I also use it for hand washing laundry items. On the way back to the kitchen I stopped somewhere--I haven't figured out where yet--and I can't find where I set that spare bottle of soap! It has vanished into the clutter landscape. That is so depressing! (I'll go shopping this morning and get more soap!)

Several boxes of stuff are leaving the house today, via the mail. I'm also planning a Goodwill run--stuff that I couldn't drop off over the weekend plus some more. While I was waiting for my bath to fill last night I headed into the closet and emptied one shelf of the folded pairs of jeans that I won't fit into again any time soon. They are three sizes down from where I am now. If I get back down to that size I'll treat myself to some new pants. I'll also take to Goodwill a bunch of commonplace kids games that are the last of the stuff on that living room love seat. Such an odd measure of progress, but it seems to work. (I'll end up with something new stacked on it soon enough, but for now it will be free.)

So Kat, is Micca going to sleep on the couch where the dog bed was? Is that why you laundered it? ;-D

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jul 08 - 11:00 AM

Naw, Maggie, we'd never get the dawg to give it up! Micca is going to stay where buffalo roam next to a peach orchard about a mile from our house at a B&B with a winery tasting room across the street!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 08 - 06:24 PM

Finished making the rounds, dropped off three boxes at the post office and four sacks of clothes and toys with the Goodwill.

Every little bit helps!

Sounds like Micca will be very comfortably situated. Is he expecting the heat (especially after Alaska?)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jul 08 - 06:34 PM

He knows about. I am more concerned about the altitude. When you combine that with the heat, there just isn't as much.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 08 - 12:43 AM

A box of mugs (large cups) are in the pickup for the next trip to work. I'll take them to the staff lunchroom and leave them there. They'll get used for coffee and tea in situ for a while, then they'll go home or to offices with folks. Devious, aren't I?

My de-cluttering move with eBay today was to slip an extra cup and saucer set in the box that left for Australia this afternoon. I had four perfect sets of a fine porcelain Japanese cups and saucers from my Mom's house. There had been a fifth set but the saucer had a little chip and the cup was broken into three pieces. I listed my sets individually and at the last minute another guy got the fourth set that my Oz buyer had been waiting for. It didn't weigh any more to slip in this last pair at the last minute, and I explained that while the cup needs to be glued perhaps she can use it for display if not for drinking. She had been disappointed at not getting all four. I don't need one remainder set (though they were beautiful) so they went to a good home. I think I'll get some good mileage at imaging her surprise and pleasure at the extra set (assuming she's good with the Gorilla glue). It's like Mr. Rogers (of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood) whose father used to leave pennies on walls and windowsills when he walked down the street. When asked why, he responded that he imagined the pleasure of the small children who would find the coins.

Say, Kat, do you have any regional specialty meals in mind for Micca? Isn't Colorado big on Mountain Oysters? A meal like that might help him overcome (forget!) any biliousness from the heat and elevation.

Just a thought!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 08 - 12:52 PM

Forward momentum is slow during summer heat when every move leaves you dripping sweat, but this morning I remembered some cans of paint in the back of a deep hall closet. Good thing, I was afraid I'd lost a color I used on shelves I built in my daughter's room. I like the color and was afraid I'd over-zealously discarded it during an earlier paint purge.

Wanting the paint in one place, I revisted the deep bottom cupboard in the kitchen. At one time this column of cupboards was the only "pantry" space I had, but the bottom two shelves behind the lowest door were never easy to reach and stuff was routinely forgotten. The second shelf still had a few forgotten cans of food.

I discarded some outdated veggies and old bottled water, relocated a couple of things from the front edge of the shelf that did get regular use, and filled the shelf with paint. Two cans of ugly gray go to the hazardous waste site.

Small step, but now that hall closet has a nice deep open space. I store the vacuums there, but I can probably make better use of this storage. The closet has two plugs because it used to be an exposed wall in the old garage space.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 08 - 06:34 PM

Kat must be out rounding up those Mountain ersters, 'cause I'm here talking to myself again today.

I'm de-cluttering my work email. Decided to get a run on the rest of the year by constructing the master calendar of events NOW before the semester rush is on. Lots coming up, I'm glad I started this now.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maeve
Date: 22 Jul 08 - 09:19 PM

SRS Not quite alone. We've been taking apart 2 good sheds in another town and will reassemble them here so at last we'll have organized space for poultry, garden tools and equipment and so on.

I also reorganized the greenhouse benches against the north end of the house, where long-term growing on can take place before special plants are ready for planting in a bed or farm stand sales. Next will be the empty pots to be organized into sizes and put into enamelled wire bins to be stored underneath benches in the greenhouse itself.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 08 - 11:22 PM

Hard work, Maeve. How many buildings do you have on your property, and how much acreage?

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Jul 08 - 11:28 PM

Here I am!**bg** It's been a busy day with a friend of Rog's coming to town from AZ and my cleaning lady here to do the floors.

I managed to list 9 more books at my biblio store, so they went off my desk to that shelf. Also, picked up a few things and put them away.

Maggie, I read your note about speciality meals to Micca on the phone just now. He said he's go two words for you and the second one is "off!" "And, the horse, etc." **BG** Gee, ya think he knows what Rocky Mountain Oysters are!? Tomorrow night's menu will be goulash with salad and garlic bread.

In the morning, I will do dishes and put a way a few other things which have been lying around. Morgan did some deep cleaning for me, today. He pulled the couch cushion off, which brought a bunch of popcorn crumbs onto my nice clean floor. He loves to vacuum, so he drags it out, gets really going in the back of the seat and found tow soup spoons!

OH, I also wrote up an ebay sales thing for two art deco boudoir lamps I am selling. Haven't started the sale yet as I have to weigh them and need Rog to get them out of the closet for me to do that.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 08 - 11:55 PM

I bet the first word is "sod," right? ;-)

eBay isn't a cakewalk, you have to do your homework. I have a suit of my mother's that I'll sell soon, but I realized as I started to describe it that it was one she had made in Hong Kong after WWII. No labels in it, but very fitted and beautiful. No one in our family could fit into it; if I were slim enough I'd still be a little tall for the waist. Anyway, to get a good price one must be thorough.

I'll go visit the Micca's adventures thread to see what is up.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 11:53 AM

Hello, all. Big new: I will be having plenty of time for de-cluttering after October. I decide to take a generous severence package and "retire". It's a little earlier than I'd expected, since I just turned 60, but I think I can make it. What a relief!

I could've applied for another job with the company, but I could've got it and hated it. Now I get to do whatever I want-- work if I want, or not.

What a feeling! Thanks for your good wishes while I sorted this out.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 12:55 PM

Congrats!!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maeve
Date: 24 Jul 08 - 10:37 AM

Stilly- We are restoring what remains of a small farm in Maine. Besides the house there is; a tiny chickenhouse, a small former chickenhouse used for small engine repair, and a newer shed given to us by family.

This spring we erected two greenhouse frames, one of which we've covered with plastic for growing. With the two "new" sheds rebuilt- and that will take some time- I'll reclaim the small engine shed for a studio, and we'll have a safer place for the chickens, our tools, workshops for us both, and a woodshed. We might just get the tools out of the kitchen and attic!

We have what's left of the land that came with the old cape, about 40 acres of old pastures now mostly in softwood. Vegetable gardens (3), perennial borders, wildflower beds, propagation beds, and young orchards take up about 2 acres.

After ten years here it's just beginning to be as it should be in terms of healthy land, and buildings are now less likely to fall anytime soon.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 12:29 AM

Maeve, that sounds like a wonderful amount of space you have to work with.

I've decided to take tomorrow off so I can get down to business and clear out more of this stuff and get some more eBay items listed. I have an appointment in the middle of the day, but the rest of it is dedicated to a couple of projects that I want my son to help with. He heads to his Dad's for the weekend tomorrow evening, but I'll put him to work before then. It's difficult to get much done at the end of a regular work day PLUS the "second shift" of the regular cooking and housework. I think my son will go for it once he gets started--I told him "it involves power tools." Okay, just a drill, but it makes noise and you have to watch what you're doing, and he has to start somewhere.

Where is WYSIWYG these days? Still off on the family getaway?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 11:36 AM

We're bearing down on the last week of the month, the dog days of August loom. In a few minutes I have leave to take my son to his annual physical, and he's in the shower right now. In a timed move I'm going to see how many toys I can bundle up on the love seat in five minutes and take them along to drop off at the Goodwill drop spot we'll pass when we go out.

This afternoon is dedicated to decluttering. I want to reclaim my house from the stuff that is all around! I want to end up with a room full of pretty wood or upholstered surfaces inviting or gleaming. Ceiling fans going in all rooms, I'll have boxes ready and pack them as I work. But first, the toys. . .

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 11:58 PM

Hi, all. Major de-cluttering event today. The Salvation Army came by and picked up a sofa-bed that had been taking up space in my living room. Now that I have a real guestroom, I didn't need it any more. That frees up a whole lotta space. I got the bathroom cleaned, from dusting the ceiling fan to washing the floor. I was so pleased to have that done, I treated myself to an afternoon out. Went to see the chocolate exhibit in Dearborn. Yummy!. Everything you ever wanted to know about chocolate, and more. Oh, and I also weeded the crabgrass out of part of the heather garden.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jul 08 - 01:06 AM

I cleared off the love seat and made a small donation at the Goodwill this evening. I opened up some space in the fridge by cooking up a half-dozen eggplants and making them into shallow pans of parmesan that is now in the freezer.

I suspect your chocolate exhibit is enough to lure a visit from Liz, whether she has made any more progress or not.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Micca
Date: 26 Jul 08 - 10:13 AM

SRS we went out to dinner last night to a place called the Winery here in Grand Junction and they had Rocky Mountain Oysters on the Menu as a starter!!!! but I settled for the Garlic Mushrooms, if you ask me RMOs are a lot of B***s

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jul 08 - 11:50 AM

I think you made a wise choice, Micca!

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jul 08 - 02:01 AM

My back patio table (the one from the upside-down firewood cradle with new cedar planks) has been completed. I might stain it, but the holes and the carriage bolts are in place. This turns a piece of yard clutter into useful furniture.

I spent the evening enjoying the look of the televisions with the new DT converter boxes. Who knew that the old signals were clutter? The HD signal is amazing compared to regular broadcast. (Most of the extra cable channels on satellite WERE clutter! I do miss the old movies on TMC and Fox Movies.)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 27 Jul 08 - 06:54 PM

The area around my house (an old neighborhood in a suburb north of Detroit) got "skunked" last night. Is it skunk mating season, or something? It's everywhere, plus I had the windows open, so it got into the house too. But I also thought I smelled a gas leak, so I had Consumers Power come out, and I was right. There are several leaks at connections along the main line into the house. Probably nothing has been done to the pipes since the gas was originally brought into the house. The gas is turned of at the meter right now, so I won't be blown up in my sleep. But I need to call a plumber tomorrow. Facing a cold shower in the morning, but at least my stove is electric. The good news is that the diningroom tables is cleared off again. Back & forth, up & down, and so it goes. C-ya,

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jul 08 - 11:48 AM

What an interesting convergence of smells--they add the skunk essence to the natural gas so you're able to detect it if there is a leak.

I cleared off my love seat and this morning moved a small table beside it. For right now it is the place where a Dutch oven/roaster is going to sit, to be taken out that back door when I get ready to bake. I finished my outside table over the weekend and tested it last night. Here's an image. I can only run one device there--I tried to put the convection oven on that circuit also and it popped the circuit breaker a couple of times. But even one hot device out the door in the summer is good. I picked up some redwood stain to put on the table slats, I'll have my son do that this week. The slats are removable and I'll do a half at a time so I can use the other side for the oven.

The stick is there to thump or wave at the dogs to shoo them away from the hot lid when I get ready to open the oven. I think the heat will be the most off-putting part of the operation, but I still may have to move this table to the side door to remove all temptation.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 28 Jul 08 - 01:14 PM

What a good idea to move the roaster outside in the summer. I could do that, if I ever got the garage uncluttered.

m

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jul 08 - 03:52 PM

You could do that anyway, couldn't you? What's in the garage? The only delay in moving this roaster outside was establishing a good tabletop to use.

I've managed to move several heat-producing enterprises outside this month. The clothes line has saved on many hours of hot air circulating in a box that not only costs money to operate, but heats up that part of the house while it runs.

The tap water is so warm these days that you hardly have to turn on the hot water, and I need to go turn down the thermostat because we're not using all of the hot water we're making.

The roaster oven outside means there are several things back on the summer menu, like pizza. I shopped around, this Nesco brand is one that Sears and Target and other stores sell. It's an 18-quart roaster with a liner that can also do wet things like soup or stew. They make a 12-quart "convection" roaster but I wasn't convinced that the little fan in the hood was worth the extra money, plus it was too small for my cake pans or cookie sheets in it. The big one holds all of that, even a round pie pan.

Today I don't even need that. I could probably put a skillet on the concrete for a while and fry an egg in it. Were up in the 100-104 range for at least the next seven days, according to the forecast.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 28 Jul 08 - 04:15 PM

Had big plans to do a lot last week on Thursday, my day off -- then, thanks to a tornado that cut a swath through neighboring towns, we lost power for the next two days. (That also means no water and no phone.)

Since it was a deluge outside, couldn't get anything accomplished outside of the house, and it was pretty dark inside and flashlights can only do so much.

So...I still managed to have enough light to put up the "new" curtains in the guestroom and throw some things away and sort rubberstamps (I have hundreds -- used to be The Rubbersmith) and figure workarounds for the broken and probably unfixable drawers in my mapcase (storage chest for the stamps).

I'd Freecycled the waffle iron, but that wasn't picked up until Sunday.

When I got to work on Friday I found that my boss's ex-wife had moved out leaving him without a bunch of household necessities -- including dishes. Well, I had a perfectly lovely set of white ironstone that Tom (who does all the cooking) has refused to use for 27 years, so, voila, part of the cupboard gets cleaned out. Took him the plates on Saturday, small plates, cups & saucers tomorrow.

Pulled out some more stuff to take to my friend's yardsale and got that to her yesterday. Loaded obsolete software into the car to take to a friend who is coming to the Portland Harbor Maritime Festival (see Sinsull's thread) next Saturday -- and just before we leave, I'll load up the laser printer for him, too. Cubic footage!

With a few things out of the kitchen cupboard, there was long term storage (in a less accessible area) for the spare toaster oven (the price was right) and the icecream maker -- thus getting them out of the cellar and someplace where they can be found and used.

And I hacked back some more of The Kiwi That Ate Nottingham -- which pulled down our deck and is now, after several years of neglect, taking over the herb garden. Several years ago I had cut it back hard and started to dig it up, but winter arrived before the main root could be dug out. It's not only survived, but THRIVED, almost entirely bare rooted for at least three New Hampshire winters. But I've got a silver stake & shovel and it's going to be GONE soon!

Gotta go package up the dishware and put it in the car.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 01:32 AM

Wow! Think of what she could have accomplished WITHOUT a tornado!

It is so hot here now, 105 the last few days, and over 100 for the seven day projection, we move slowly. We go outside when it is cooler in the morning, or way after dark. Daytime forays are measured, usually very short, and have everything to do with rescuing the veggie garden or pouring water on shrubs. My garage got some clearing out a few weeks ago, but the next stage of moving some more planks will wait. You can smell the dry Douglas fir lumber in the unfinished garage walls, it's like stepping into a kiln.

The kitchen is looking better again, and there is a path through the sun room. Gotta list more stuff on eBay. With all of this heat, the electric and water bills will need the subsidy that online sales provide.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 10:34 AM

I'm home today, waiting for the plumber to arrive, so I did some work outside. Cleaned out the gutter over the garage door-- hundreds of tree seedling in there, plus lots of ivy mixed in. Also dragged an old marble tabletop (or something) out to the curb. Trash day isn't until Friday, but someone may come by and take it.

BG, so glad to hear you're safe, if inconvenienced.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 10:55 AM

I'm really looking forward to when some of the de-cluttering actually becomes VISIBLE!

Sigh.

Hacked some more Franken-Kiwi, but have to head to work now -- noon to 8 today.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 12:39 PM

You hauled a marble dresser top out to the curb? Most people like to have a slab of it on their kitchen counters. Have you thought of cleaning it up and using it indoors? I'd take it if I saw it at the curb. (I have a smallish piece on the counter, and if I'm careful it works well for making pasta, but it is kind of small for rolling out pastry).

Is any of this the vine you're cutting? I thought Kiwi grew in California and New Zealand.

This morning I de-cluttered the woods across the road from me (on a small scale.) Two years ago a big chunk of adjacent prairie was scraped clear and pads shaped for a new development. They didn't knock down the heaviest woods because they are in a flood zone, but when they were directing drainage from the development to the creek they cut a deep slippery ditch straight across the remaining woods. By the time they'd put in a culvert and covered it over the path beyond the culvert was brushy and the culvert area was still kind of muddy. Two years neglect of a wooded path makes it impassible, but I went out with my loppers and cut out the overhanging branches and cleared the way. I also worked out an new smaller loop (had to figure out where the worst of the poison ivy is so I can go around it). The prime spot in this new development is right next to our woods, and three houses in a row will block the short route we take through the woods and out onto that prairie-cum-development. Now we can go the long way around, across the now-grassy culvert, and out to a permanent greenbelt. (The dogs just loved that walk this morning--it has been so hot here and they get tired of nothing but staying in the yard, but much later in the day a walk in heat like this can kill a dog).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 03:16 PM

I don't know what it is (could've been a table top) or where it's been, but it's about 6 ft long and 2 ft wide, narrowing to about 1 ft at each end, and heavy as hell. It was left in the garage by the previous owner, so I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to have food around it.

The plumbers finally arrived and they've torn out all the old gas pipes. He's going to try to have my water heater hooked up before he leave, but he'll have to come back tomorrow to hook up the furnace and the dryer. The "joys" of owning an old house...

My boss is ok with me working from home tomorrow, so I won't have to burn another vacation day, thank goodness.

Later,
Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 09:01 AM

Damn! Damn and damn again! Last night after I got home from work I posted a long rant about my Franken-Kiwi -- but it's not here. Nothing after the last post before I posted.

Sigh. Lost in cyberspace.

Maybe I'll try to repost what I remember. (I did give what I think is the scientific name and a description -- and a description of the circumstances under which it was foisted on me.

Gotta go to work.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 12:31 PM

We had a lovely rainstorm this morning, after a month of hot dry weather. I feel re-energized. Tomorrow is the last day of July, time for a new thread soon, but what can I push out the door or onto eBay that will give me one last noticeable ("cubic footage!") difference this month?

I have to drive over for a meeting at the office late this afternoon, so I'll poke around beforehand, considering the possibilities of taking along donations to the thrift store or more things I can take to leave at work. We use a variety of household items in the lunchrooms--mugs, plates, cutlery, some utensils. If I had any spare bowls, that would be an immediate hit (for the microwave). To start, I have a stack of note paper to take in, picked up at the print shop. I'll put it in the office supply cupboard.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 02:06 PM

For the next few weeks, I will be working on de-cluttering my mind and my body. It came to me, I can do all I'd like to the outside clutter, but I really need to work on some internal and inner stuff, which ought to make the house clutter easier to deal with in the long run. So, I probably will not be around much for that time. Drs. visits next week, nothing dire just getting things to a more fit, comfortable stage, and some other changes in my daily routine. Love ya all and wish me luck!?

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 03:46 PM

Re-aligning the gray matter has to happen before the rest can, so there is no surprise here. Did the visit with Micca help with this decision? Having an out-of-town visitor may help see more than the house through someone else's eyes.

Good luck!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:00 AM

Good luck, Kat, on your inner de-cluttering. I could use some of that myself, I think.

I took a box & 2 bags of "treasures" to the church rummage sale yesterday. Maybe I'll have time after work to gather up a few more things for them.

The plumber had all the gas back on before he left on Tuesday, so I didn't have to miss a 2nd day of work . (Oh, darn.) So I started catching up on the laundry-- about half-done by the time I went to bed.

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 12:06 PM

Here's the second try...

I think my Hardy Kiwi is Actinidia arguta.

And, believe me, is it HARDY!!!

It was given to me by a plantsman friend back in the '80s or early '90s. It had been given to her and she figuratively ran screaming and dumped it on my doorstep -- ostensibly because my philosophy at the time was that "invasive" was my favorite word. Sigh. Guess I've lived to regret that. I DO like prolific perennials as I prefer to have as much of our "yard" in flower beds rather than having to mow it (we're on the front triangle point of 33 acres of trees), but that damned kiwi takes the cake.

First off, in order to get fruit, you need a male and a female plant. Most nurseries that sell hardy kiwis sell them in threes -- two females and a male. Second, they really need to be sturdily trellised and cut back vigorously every year. Sigh. Ignorance is bliss...at least for a couple years.

I planted it next to the high corner of the main deck (we had two decks -- main deck over the front of the house, smaller quarterdeck -- can you tell we sing sea songs? -- on the side of the house) and used a green rubber-covered dog cable as the trellising material strung between 6x6 posts on the superstructure of the deck. Didn't take long before it took over that side and the arbor "ceiling" and made that end of the deck full shade. Eventually, it started pulling down the superstructure. We eventually lost the whole deck and pulled what remained of it down. Alas, we've been too broke for the past few years to rebuild it. (Next go-round we'll use Trex or something like that as we did when we rebuilt the quarterdeck -- and probably roof it or a better party space. Depends on whether we win the lottery or not.)

That's when I decided to hack the thing back and dig it up -- and hope I could find a victim to foist it off on. So...I cut it back hard to the main stem and extricated the cable which left me with a bunch of wonderful "magic wands" of twisty dried stems. Then I started digging out the roots. The main root goes very deep; I don't know what I'll be in for this time, sigh. I had a lot of it exposed when we were overtaken by winter. And since the next few years were kind of crazy with the Job From Hell demanding way too much time and energy, it has survived and THRIVED despite being for all practical purposes bare-rooted through four or five New Hampshire winters.

So now I'm again hacking back to the main stem -- but this time, the roots WILL, indeed, be dug out before winter even if I have to resort to explosives or hacksaws. And this time it's going to DIE -- I don't wish it on anyone. It is truly the Kiwi That Ate Nottingham -- I don't even want to compost it; it'll get bagged and left out with the trash. I've got 33 acres but I don't want it anywhere near me!

And that, boys and girls, is the continuing saga of Franken-Kiwi, the hardy kiwi that ate Nottingham and turned the Bat Goddess into a raging, murderous Kali.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 12:16 PM

I think Kat is onto something, though I'm working through a mid-range category: not stuff out the door, and not the silvery strands of Harry Potter's pensive, but clearing out the communication gateways between actual and virtual. I slogged through an old account a few days ago and in the process couldn't remember an email password so reset it. And thought I remembered the new one but didn't so had to again reset it again.

Last night I found the first page from last week, and realizing how messed up this is, I am updating the notebook where everything has been saved alphabetically. Now it has tabs and I'm pulling out email, blog, and web chat accounts for one tab, online bill pay for another, online reading (newspapers, journals) for another, research in yet another.

The tipping point was when everything was too tumbled together. I'm also trying to streamline my email, with setting up new accounts to consolidate old accounts (and dealing with the stuff that doesn't forward). I'm ready to set up a spread sheet and download an email consolidation program (to go check a bunch all at once). Opera (the browser) apparently has a setup for that (IMAP) I may pursue. Mostly I need to UNSUBSCRIBE a lot of stuff I never read.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 03:22 PM

Major de-cluttering achievement!!! (Despite what feels like triple digit humidity.)

The Killer-Kiwi is now cut back to a foot or so of the original stem system! I just finished cutting one pile of vinage into baggable-sized pieces and only have one other pile to do that to.

Then (but not today) I can rake the collected dead leaves from around the base so I can get to the roots. I'll be able to see then how much I'll have to re-dig around the roots and attack the deep main root. Curmudgeon thinks it might be a good idea to dump a gallon or so of white vinegar onto the main root and hope the acid kills it.

Pulled some other weeds in the bed on the other side of the driveway, too, and discovered a small hosta that was NOT planted there.

Right now I'm resting up here at the computer before temporarily moving a bunch o' stuff here in the office to extricate the oversized Postscript laser printer and wrestle it into the boot of my car.

And then I might have to reward myself with a grape creamsicle float (grape soda and vanilla icecream) on the quarterdeck. (Followed by a shower!)

Still have to pack a bag for this weekend as we're heading to Sinsull's right from the Press Room tomorrow night.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 03:31 PM

Thanks, gals!

Maggie, I think it was having someone who doesn't see me day-to-day that really helped me to focus on how much I need to take care of myself, first, not just physically, but also the mental/emotional. There are some physical things I've been ignoring, but no more. Docs appts. tomorrow and Tues. and I'll get them sorted. After I do a sabbatical of a couple of weeks, I think I will be better able to handle the physical de-cluttering more than I have, recently.:-)

I have made one decision which I'd been struggling with...I may not feel this way in two weeks, but at this point, I am ready to box up the books and give them to the library for their annual sale and forget having my bookstore at biblio.com. We'll see.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 03:40 PM

Linn, take a drill and bore holes into the remaining roots and pour molasses on it, or put a whole bunch of sugar on it. The biological activity will take that root out very quickly. Mulch around it so it isn't an eyesore to look at.

Kat, I've thought about scooping it all out and starting fresh, without the cash but with the space. I have to admit that when I sell one of these now, I have that little burst of pleasure at finding a home for a family object and I do enjoy the cash. So that tends to win out, at least for now.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 04:25 PM

Molasses, eh? Vinegar is cheaper, but I like the drilling part. Something will work!

Just got the laser printer out to the car -- and Rufus didn't try to follow. I'd tried to lure him to the cellar before we walked the printer out, but for the first time ever, he didn't take the opportunity of the open cellar door and Mom halfway down the stairs to check out what's changed since the last time (earlier today) he was down there.

Now I'm moving stuff back into the office -- but we'll have a clear shot to the wall, finally. And I'm a little closer to the box on the bottom that has the '40s and '50s "Spinning Wheel" magazines -- when I extricate them I can call the guy who buys old magazines. A few more bucks; a bit less cubic footage.

We've got our (seems like daily) afternoon thunderstorm going now -- hope it clears off soon so Tom can do burgers on the grill. And that it will be a little less humid after the rain. (At least until tomorrow morning when a thick wave of humidity will invade the house again. I'm getting tired of this.)

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 05:26 PM

Vinegar is a fertilizer when you pour it on like that, it only works to kill on the folliage, it doesn't kill roots. And it does a better job on folliage in hot weather. The molasses or sugar inspires the bacterial or whatever microorganisms to digest the wood all the quicker.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:18 PM

foliage.

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:19 PM

It's to get to 101, today and tomorrow. I know its "dry" heat, but it's still too damn hot! I'd love an afternoon shower!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:34 PM

It's wet heat here. 1/2" of rain yesterday + 102 today = 400% humidity.

My son has done part of the painting on the table tops that go outside. It will look so good! We'll give it a while then turn the slats over and paint the other side. I'm thinking that when we make a run to get him some guitar strings we should go to a nice air conditioned movie also. Trouble is, what 16-year-old boy wants to go to the movies with his mother?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 07:48 PM

I feel as if New Hampshire is now a rain forest. Seems like every day brings thunderstorms in the afternoon -- today we had two separate ones. And, naturally, the last one arrived in time to foil Tom's attempt to grill dinner. Dripping humidity the rest of the day.

The humidity has been triple digit, I swear -- I HATE visible air!

Back on the root destruction, I think corn syrup is cheaper than molasses and probably should work as well. Interesting concept! Thanks for the info. (Yes, vinegar came to mind because of the way it does in weed foliage.)

Gotta go finish packing and wind down before sleep.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: maire-aine
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:00 PM

Wow! You guys are just a wealth of information. I have a scrub tree that I need to get rid of, so I think I'll try the molasses thing.

I just dawned on me that I will have several boxes of stuff from my office to bring home as I get ready to "retire". Where, oh where, am I going to put it? Maybe the "music room" will have to be sub-leased to the "office". Yikes!

Maryanne

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:39 PM

No movie, the trip out for strings is pushed back to tomorrow when I'll be in funds (child support. . . old story, a few of you may know that dance) and we can shop for school clothes and a few other things as well. One trip for several things instead of several trips. Maybe I can find something to stick in the truck for tomorrow and swing past Goodwill.

Maryanne, is the scrub tree chopped down? The molasses/sugar thing is what you use on the stump. Down here people hire stump grinders, but it's way cheaper to let the stump rot over a year or so and give it the sugar boost.

I'm not retiring any time soon, but doing some office de-cluttering of my work email. I have it down to under 1000 (gulp!) and I'd like to pare that down to under 100.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: De-cluttering July
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 10:47 PM

I've started an August thread. Amazing progress all around, and keep up the good work (and the stories. I love the stories!)

SRS