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BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: katlaughing Date: 01 Oct 10 - 04:21 PM I've not got much done except a load of laundry and made some salads for my brother and me for lunch, with Lean Cuisine personal pizzas. Rog was called out at 148a as all of the power went off at the station and the generator failed to kick in. Some idiot was drunk and texting whilst driving. Sheared a power pole in two and walked away! Anyway, I was up and down all night, watching to see when the station would be back on and Rog back home. I found I don't feel as comfortable alone at night without the dog. Rog didn't get home until 1230p. Lied down for a nap at 1p and was phoned three times before giving up and going back in. I don't think the people who work there could find their heads in the proverbial hole without him! So, now, we are both feeling really tired...it will be a low energy day and early night, I hope, depending on when he gets back. I will be picking up Morgan in an hour or so. He ran in this morning yelling at me to come look outside. There were the across-the-road neighbour's free-range chickens in our yard hunting and pecking. They were so cute and he just loves them. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Catherine Jayne Date: 01 Oct 10 - 04:39 PM Hurrah! I met my target weight last week and feel great! I've not been this slim and light since I was 16!! I've got my final dress fitting tomorrow...should have been last week but the dress had to be taken in another dress size. I've only lost 1 lb this week so hopefully the frock will fit. I recieved my confirmation through that I have a place on the London Moonwalk next year so I will be walking 26.2 miles over night in my bra with thousands of other women to raise money for the Walk the Walk charity for Breast Cancer. Click Moonwalk to find out more! |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: LilyFestre Date: 01 Oct 10 - 06:17 PM Catherine....that is INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO SO HAPPY for you!!!!!!!! Of course, I'm not surprised because you GO GO GO all the time!!!! WOOO HOOO! Will we be able to see pictures of you in your dress? Please???? And regarding me being lazy...you guys are too kind. Seriously. For example, the baby is now napping and I think I should be bringing in the apples from the car and getting them started but I'm tired...so here I am, sitting in my recliner with a book nearby and a plan to start dinner around 7ish. It's times like this when I do have my hands baby-free that I think I should DO DO DO. I just can't. Maybe I'll catch a second wind in a bit but for now, the dusting can wait...as can just about everything else. *stretch* Michelle |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: GUEST,mg Date: 01 Oct 10 - 07:17 PM The best thing you can do is to take the rest you need..apples can wait..if they rot they rot. I can tell you first hand that pushing yourself too hard too long is not going to result in long-term productivity. mg |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Oct 10 - 07:30 PM When the baby naps, you should take a nap. Naps are important and increase your energy level. Congratulations on the weight loss, Catherine. And the energy must be wonderful! I finished several design projects today, and have a couple of more things to finish this evening, and then I'll have crossed off several projects on my "to do" list for the week. Will de-clutter checking account today, to pay bills. It goes out so fast! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: katlaughing Date: 01 Oct 10 - 07:34 PM Michelle, sit! Stay!**BG** More in a PM, later tonight.:-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: maire-aine Date: 01 Oct 10 - 10:58 PM Hi, all. I haven't been doing much in the declutter/accountability area lately, so haven't had much to post. I do look in from time to time, but was really surprised to see 56 posts on the first day of the month. Ha-ha! The new kitchen light fixtures have been installed, and I also had the electrician fix 3 switches, replace the doorbell chime and re-wire the attic fan. Now all I have to do is patch a few little holes in the plaster and paint the areas where the old fixtures used to be. I'll probably touch up the paint around the two window frames at the same time. We had a lot of rain a couple days ago, and the grass needs cutting one more time. I need to dead-head some plants, and harvest some of my tender herbs, because it's supposed to cool off into the 50s next week. Tomatoes are all over with & I've pulled up all of the plants; maybe a few green ones will still ripen. Maryanne |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Oct 10 - 12:42 AM Good to hear from you, Maryanne! Sounds like your garden is doing much the same as mine. Most things are finished, though I get a cool-weather season that doesn't happen up north. Onions, garlic, chard, etc. Okra is still producing (I forgot to pick it today, so it'll be huge tomorrow.) Scans ran and did some decluttering in the computer. Washed the dishes, pulled laundry out of the dryer. The usual. I'm ready to hit the ground running tomorrow. Kat, you know there is an easy way to deal with the quiet of sleeping in the house when Rog isn't there. The animal shelter has the dog for you, if you'll go take a look. Maybe smaller, older, a different breed, but there is an animal there just waiting to love you to death in a new home. Whenever you're ready. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Catherine Jayne Date: 02 Oct 10 - 09:37 AM HI Michelle...I'll post a link of The Frock and me next week! So, dress fitting happened.....and I need another one on Wednesday. It's cutting it a bit fine but the frock needs to be taken in some more. My fitness instructor told me to eat more cake!!LOL!! It's all go here! |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: wysiwyg Date: 02 Oct 10 - 10:20 AM Well, I know a man named Adrian is coming over one day next week to do 6 hours of helping here laying some carpet, and I sure hope that date is on my Boss Clipboard because it is NOT anywhere else, and I do not know what day he is coming, nor what his phone number is to ask HIM! And that clipboard is..... somewhere strokebrain thought was a really good place to put it. Maybe he'll call me..... or maybe I'll find it when I do the chores I SHOULD have done (scheduled) on one of these recent "Stupid Pill" days. But I DID file my ed plan with the Bishop and Dean this AM. First things first! :~) ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Oct 10 - 11:27 AM Michelle, are you on facebook? I follow a group called Canning Across America (I first followed their Twitter feed, and have branched out). Send a photo of your canning this weekend if you get a chance! I'm sure your jars of pie filling and apple sauce will be beautiful - as are all canned goods! Lovely day. Have been drinking tea and paying bills, but I'm about to head out to the store (with my shopping list) and the post office (to find the water bill.) And I'll mow and work in the yard, I hope. I moved the chrome wire shelves to the sun room last night, and will consider how much of this gardening stuff should be transferred onto it. Or if it has a higher use somewhere else. SRS |
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Subject: ADD: Ninja Luke (memoir) in PY (Pennsyltucky) From: wysiwyg Date: 02 Oct 10 - 11:49 AM This is a story you are all free to read... or ignore. Near the end it becomes clear how it relates to clutter, because THIS is how MY porch gets put to bed for the winter. NINJA LUKE, PENNSYLTUCKY MAN Over the years we've lived here (since '94), the original landlady's vision has been fulfilled over and over again, and it typifies life here in Pennsyltucky (their name, not mine). In '94 Hardi was Called here. We needed housing, and on the quick-- sight unseen. This house was coming open for rent around the time we needed it. I called the owner, with all my tenant's-rights/advocacy experience in hand. We discussed what we needed and what they could offer. (I thought it was a business transacation. I was wrong.) "OK, then, we just need to sign the lease, " I said. "Can you mail it to us here in Chicagoland?" She laughed an old-lady-wisdom laugh. "Honey, we do things here on a handshake. You come on ahead. I expect the people in it now will be gone in time." (They weren't, so Hardi threw a mattress on the floor in an empty room, and bunked with them for the 2 weeks it took their new house to be completed.) We really enjoyed Iris and Walter. (I wrote about Walter once, here, in "Them Ducks.") Iris is in fulltime care now, I think, and it's her farmer-son Bruce (our age) who wears the landowner hat. Bruce succeeded Walter as Farmer. Over the years we've helped show Bruce's kids some of the facts of adult life, because he did the same for us. My son Dave still thinks of Bruce as one of his dads. Bruce and Peggy have four strapping young men, now, at various ages of development. This year it's young Luke (HS) who they send down when we need help in a hurry. (Hardi helps them in a hurry now that our teens flew the coop). It's a reciprocal relationship very common here. Why is Luke "Ninja Luke"? Over the summer I urgently needed an item from the house while we were on vacay, camping. Luke had been designated "housewatcher" for this year (we had another petcare helper, tho usually that has been the chore of one of these young men). So Luke, cellphone in hand, went on a hunt in my crazy and filthy house to locate the item. I guided him thru the maze of doors that divide off this house in sections. (When the property was in active farm use it made sense. Now I use it to divide doggehs.) It took awhile, and many turns, to get to the room I thought held the treasure. I said, "I'm sorry the house is such a mess." He said, "No-- it's just a little like being a spy. I feel like a Ninja!" We both laughed. "Ninja Luke it is!" (And he's HUGE-- in a dark alley he'd be so scary, because the good-hearted grin would be invisible.) The item was found and duly shipped after his excellent research on how to send mail to a PA campground site-- we had no idea how, and that's another story!-- but a parishioner works for the parks so Luke just called him up. A thank-you gift (per older brother Mark's recent, helpful guidance) went to the family. It was a "fat" note, get it? The next time I needed help I called Luke's cell. "Are there any Ninjas around?" I asked. "As a matter of fact I have an hour later today," he said, "if that is when you could use a hand." At the agreed time he appeared and blew thru what would have been a painful 6 hours for me. That day he learned how to do a number of things. "Call me any time, I'm your Ninja;" he said, and frowned. "But don't you worry about money--= we really do have everything we need." This is Iris' youngest grandson, the last of four who have been continuing her Country Living Curriculum. Each of them have been able to boss me like a man does here, and still respect me more than any man I have ever known elsewhere. You can't help but learn. They make me a Better Woman, and can always get around my stubborn insistence that while I understand they "can't be paid," I can't have help that ISN't "paid." But I get around them right back. (They teach me how.) Ninja Luke just left, having come on the hop to manhandle a dresser I thought I could unload-- and probably could have, if it hadn't been Saturday with tonight's service to save my back for. It was just like Luke. "Hi, it's Mrs. H," I said. "Hi," he said, "How are you?" "Well, I thought I was doing OK till I ran into a dresser it turns out I can't unload today." "Can I come right over?" he said. "Sure, I'll throw some clothes on." "OK," he said, and he gave me ten minutes and then showed up. "How should I do this?" he asked, because at home, his ma can't get him to help like this. (We couldn't get our boys to cooperate either, like other adults could.) So since I do not call very often, Luke has not had much experience handling non-farm or non-athletic heavy things. "Well, you grab here and tilt here and walk it across the porch," I said, and gave the now-coming-out-of-my-van dresser a good tug where I'd taken out a drawer to make a grab-point. "Or I can push it out to you from the other end." "Oh, OK, I see, I think I can get it." And out it came, and across the porch it walked, and he learned how to re-attach legs... and put in drawers... and put furniture cups between the legs and the bluestone-flagged porch floor.... And I gave him a message for Mark who made a surprise visit home this weekend. (We have a contact for Mark, in the parish.) And THAT is how I caught the flow on what is the only warm and sunny day we have had, or may have, for quite some time. Up on the hill behind, in Bruce's pasture, the beef cattle are trying to graze. They're running off hanging weight while gas drillers run machinery that I SWAR sounds just like a freight train taking all day to go by. By the end of October, an enormous flamethrower will be sending "War of the Worlds" klieg-lights up into the reflective clouds to terrify us all. Again. And my drinking water will be even MORE fracked up, but then I'm ahead of the game-- I already cleared the new winter drinking-water counter in the laundry room rebuilt after the 2000 fire blew THAT out. One of the mutual appreciations between us and the "landlord" is the fact that we stayed in the house, post-fire, and paid rent while it was unfit to live in, and they had the lawsuit against us thrown out that they had not known their insurance company had begun-- oh my, Iris was SO MAD the day her lawyer told her about THAT after the year of depositions we endured! "Why didn't you TELL me this was gong on?!?!?!" she said when she called us, from his office. "We thought you knew," we said, "and just tried not to worry." Building codes here BTW are very funny-- sitting in the lawyer's office doing a deposition about "our" "poor" fire safety practices-- with the ins. lawyers-- while staring at the lawyer's VERY unsafely-installed AC. Well, the ins. lawyers weren't "from here." We laughed with the local lawywer (a friend) about that the next time we saw him. Some people understand that THESE are the people I choose to learn from, when it comes to life HERE, in the hills. ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Alice Date: 02 Oct 10 - 12:13 PM Well, today is probably one of our last warm days, so I need to take advantage of that and de-clutter the garage work bench for the winter. Here is a great organizing example (photo)! A. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: wysiwyg Date: 02 Oct 10 - 02:28 PM I found the missing Adrian from upthread. He was right on my clipboard and it was right where I had left it. I had added the date we booked right on his ad-paper ad, and from there recalled the whole conversation perfectly-- I was to call a day or two ahead with a work plan so he'd know what tools to bring. Rugs! Carry, lay, cut, tack. I'll get the tacks when I go to Wally World later tonight for eggs-- because he's not coming the Thursday I recalled, or my alt worry Tuesday-- we booked the 4th and that's Monday AM, bright and early! I may even remember to ask Hardi where his knee pads are!
But viola! In that fashion I also found two of the three books I had told a fellow classmate we could share-- I read them long ago and didn't mark them, so they're hers if she wants to write in them (we start a class together next week).
~Susan |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Oct 10 - 03:09 PM These long entries are looking like stuff for a blog or another thread, Susan . . . Alice, that's a cute photo. Today I finished re-sorting and organizing my CDs. I had some of my own, mostly classical and folk, and I had a bunch of my fathers, that were about the same. These had more or less been merged for a while, but then last year I got that bin of 300+ CDs for $20. The woman was convinced no one would touch all of those high dollar classical CDs. Maybe she didn't know the names Angel, EMI, CBS, DGG, Telarc, etc. Anyway, I had them arranged on their own for a while so I could look at how the previous owner had collected, and enjoyed comparing versions of pieces, different conductors, etc. But this year I found I was having to hunt all over to find pieces I knew I had and that I no longer distinguished as those from the scholarly Mr. or Ms. X, and my own. So today I finished sliding my disks between those of the un-named collector. I had more Chopin, Haydn, and Vivaldi. We both have tons of Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart. The house sounds so nice on weekends (especially when I get tired of the public radio pledge drives) to have classical music in the five-disk changer so it just keeps going and going. Making my selections for the afternoon means none of the nonsense from our local commercial classical radio station, where they play only one movement from a symphony then a half dozen commercials. How's the canning going, Michelle? I've decided that today later (probably after dark) I'm going to slice up all of the peppers I have in the fridge and freeze them on trays. And I'm going to experiment with cubing, blanching, and freezing eggplant the way the Ball Blue Book says. And I'll finish the blog entry about my garden. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: wysiwyg Date: 02 Oct 10 - 03:22 PM http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=101795&desc=yes#2908066 |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: katlaughing Date: 02 Oct 10 - 03:29 PM Got some exercise in this morning by walking through two stores, health food/grocery store and supermarket grocery store and the post office all without the extra O2!! I've been going without for little bits, recently, but this was the first time I've done so much, for so long without it. It feels good...I am getting over the lazy breathing, again, which supplemental O2 can cause without a person even realising it. I had been on it for over a year this time; now I feel confident enough to go without it during the daytime. I guess I will try to get some books loaded up to Etsy and/or elsewhere this afternoon OR get Rog to help me in the office. I am still feeling ambivalent about the books. Half of me wants to just box them up and give them away to get them out of the house/office and open up that space. The other half thinks it would be a shame not to sell them to folks who might really enjoy them and/or give them to individuals I know. As I look at the spareness of the LR, I realise I am really ready to have that look throughout the house. Alice, love that picture!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: maire-aine Date: 02 Oct 10 - 04:14 PM I got up early this morning to bake a sour cream coffee cake, to take to a meeting. Used my mother's recipe, but I had never made it myself before; turned out fine. Thanks for the FB Canning Across America. I'll follow it. It's been raining all day, so no yard work today. Will try on Monday. Maryanne |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: LilyFestre Date: 02 Oct 10 - 04:19 PM I get an *F* for the day in decluttering. I went to a 10 mile yard sale. Six and half hours later, we called it a day. I found loads of great clothes and toys for Jeremiah (much of which will be wrapped up for Christmas) for a steal. My best deal of the day? Actually, I have 3 of them: A brand new apple peeling machine with a price tag of $30.00 for $5.00; a Hugger Mugger yoga mat for $1.00 (while my Manduka lives at the studio...this one will be for home)....normally a $35.00 mat and my biggest steal of the day? A WOODEN ROCKING CHAIR (dark wood to 19match Jeremiah's crib & dresser) for $20.00!!! It's an old, old chair in really good shape...a little worn at the edges of the arms of the chair from people using it to stand up...but to me, that's character and I LOVE IT! I also got 2 older cookbooks (think 1943 I believe and one from the 1950s) which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. And to make them even better...people hand wrote notes in them, added more of their own recipes and left newspaper or magazine clippings of recipes from that time period. The cookbooks were $1.00 each. I could NOT resist. I have no idea what the attraction is but I LOVE old cookbooks! I have a thing for objects that start with the letter B (blankets, bowls, (cook)books and bags). Weird, huh? Anyway, I've added to the mess today instead of taking away.....but in my defense (or my own justification...however you prefer to see it), the prices were good and I did not get one single dust collector...everything is practical and will be used, enjoyed and resold when outgrown. :) In addition, today is the annual date for the church antique sale and another town has 2 giant craft fairs...I am thrilled that I didn't go to any of those and spend a ton of money on stuff that would just sit around (although I bet there were some great pottery bowls at the antique sale or hand thrown ones at the craft fair that I would have loved). Extra bonus? I spent the entire day with my mom and we laughed ourselves silly....a wonderful day to remember. Michelle who failed Decluttering Class for October 2, 2010 |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: LilyFestre Date: 02 Oct 10 - 04:49 PM SRS....about the canning. That won't start until tomorrow. The apples are so fresh and they keep for a bit so we are waiting an extra day. :) I went to the yard sale today and am thinking about the 3 of us going out for dinner as I am tuckered...maybe even too tired to go out to dinner! We shall see! I am on facebook (love FB) and will look into the group you linked to...sounds like it's right up my alley!!!! I think the afternoon of classical music sounds good!!! I'm not a huge fan of classical stuff and I don't know much about any of it but I do find that when I put it on the CD player, there's something special about it. I really ought to play it more often (I have a few very basic CDs). It makes me want to curl up in a comfy chair with a cup of our favorite weekend coffee and a good book....and to watch the snow fly outside....while I listen and read in front of the fire. Yep. That's what it makes me think of! ;) Michelle |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: wysiwyg Date: 02 Oct 10 - 04:49 PM OMG, what am I gonna do (giggle chortle smirk yippee)-- I stumbled across a book I can REALLY get into-- theology! It's more fun than TV! More fun than Mudcat! More fun than.... music! But not as much fun as decluttering, which is what led me to spot it today while fixing and decluttering an antique picture from church I needed to scan for the website. And I have WHOLE BAG of "formation" stuff to paw through! I forgot this was sitting in my office, but it sure pays to go spelunking. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Oct 10 - 06:08 PM To get started this afternoon I cut up a very large trunk of crape myrtle from my next door neighbor's yard - when her yard guy trimmed stuff he didn't notice this go over the top of the fence. I'd left it by the garage gate and was going to haul it to my curb, but after trimming off the leafy branches I find a have a beautiful twisty multi-branch topped limb with smooth wood (the bark peels off of these). I think I'll bring it in and wrap lights around it for the holidays. It should look fabulous in the corner by the fireplace. If it won't prop I may need to get a bunch of smooth gravel and a stand for it. I loose points on de-clutter but earn one for recycling. It might do to use instead of a tree altogether - what a find! :) After that was out of the way I took the wheelbarrow full of cactus roots and pads I dug last week out through to the back gate and spread them along the upper edge of the bank over the creek. They should root pretty quickly. Right now I'm taking a breather from re-working the wall around my keyhole garden out front. I originally used smaller rocks to build it up and it didn't look that great. I realized that with the other large rocks I've used elsewhere in the yard (all limestone leftover from a big thing that used to be in the front porch area as a wrap around planter - dumped by the back fence years ago) that this looked funny by comparison. So I dug around the outer edge to get the grass out, put down mulch and am simply pulling the first wall down and using the bigger rocks and new rocks hauled from the back to build this about 6 inches out from the old. The garden will be bigger but will also look more like it fits here. I'm about 1/4 of the way around it now. I hadn't planted it yet so grass got established in the fill dirt. I'm having to weed the thing as I go. I think I'll do half of this today and half tomorrow. I'll set up the bread machine to make dough for pita bread while I make my next pass at the garden. There is also a trip to the grocery store in my plans today, and if I remember to get fresh lemons I'll bake an eggplant and make a batch of babaghanoush. Mmmmmmm! I need beer for snail bait, and maybe the cook will have some with a late Mediterranean dinner! :-D SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: katlaughing Date: 02 Oct 10 - 07:11 PM Morgan's Decluttering Contribution, Today at Mama's. I didn't ask, he came over, looked around and said, "I'm going to wash the dishes for you guys!" Did a good job, too. Otherwise, Rog and I finished packing a huge box of original (our daughter's) artwork, framed prints, and this and that to send to, Kyrstie, (same) daughter back East. She graduates from a two year college program next week and this is part of our congratulations to her...all stuff she remembers hanging on my walls which she loved and wants for her own, so that's a major declutter. Rog will send it out on Monday, then the table at the end of our bed will be empty!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Oct 10 - 08:04 PM I had to wash my own dishes again. . . Morgan is a cutie! Here is a look at that branch I described: Propped in the back yard so there's a little contrast. I tried leaning it against the chimney but the shape doesn't show so well. I think I pulled a few muscles out hefting those rocks (got about 1/3 of the thing finished). Occupational hazard, but I thought I'd clenched my stomach each time I lifted. Time for the ibuprofen and a shower, then a little shopping and in for the evening. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: katlaughing Date: 02 Oct 10 - 10:32 PM Thanks! I think so, too, naturally.:-) I think that would make a lovely tree for the holiday season, SRS. I plan to use our Norfolk Island Pine in the front window this year. It always gets a few tiny lights and ornaments, but this year I think it will be "it," so a bit more decorations and a real centrepiece since we moved it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Alice Date: 02 Oct 10 - 10:43 PM Morgan... cutest... dishwasher... EVER! SRS, for Christmas I used to use a birch branch I brought in from the tree in my back yard. I was worrying about the cost of getting a tree the first year we used it... I looked out back and the wind had blown down a big branch like the one you have, and that was it! It was from the same tree I painted with the birds nesting inside. Garage almost done. Made lots of headway there and I have more room in the garage now than I've had in a long time. I have to keep adding to etsy every day to get the "shelves stocked" with items. click I added a shirt transfer of the old typewriter that says, "keep calm and blog on". A. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: LilyFestre Date: 02 Oct 10 - 11:07 PM I have to agree...Morgan is THE cutest dishwasher I've ever seen! What a GREAT kid!!! You are one lucky Mama!!!!! Michelle |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: katlaughing Date: 02 Oct 10 - 11:12 PM Thanks, gals, I know...I give thanks for him every day! Alice, I admire your perseverance, so much. Beautiful! |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Oct 10 - 11:16 PM Your work is varied and beautiful, Alice. I hope you're getting some sales from etsy. Dinner over, wasn't Mediterranean, but was filling. Chicken and rice with okra and for dessert a big peach. Bread dough is rising for a regular loaf. Last week I froze half and that worked out very well. I'll try again tomorrow for the pita loaves. Finishing up some computer work and some casual cleanup this evening. I'm looking forward to finishing that keyhole garden tomorrow because then I'm going to plant it (seeds) and get cool season crops from that and the garden beside my kitchen door (which is badly in need of weeding). I also need to re-weed and plant the new garden down at the curb. There's a lot to keep me busy in the next couple of weeks if we get that much fall weather. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Alice Date: 02 Oct 10 - 11:59 PM |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Alice Date: 03 Oct 10 - 12:03 AM ooops, somehow posted a blank. No sales at Etsy yet, but it's too soon to expect much. Not even a month open and I really have to get more items listed and still working on promotion. I'm trying to focus on mostly eating plants, like Bill Clinton is doing to reverse heart disease. Weird, but I had a dream about Clinton last night... that he and Hillary had adopted me when I was orphaned, which is odd, as we are about the same age!! Tomorrow must dig up the last of the potatoes and compost everything to put the garden to bed. This summer went by WAY TOO FAST. A. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Oct 10 - 12:55 AM Dreams can be funny! Finishing a few loose ends from the week, then headed to bed. The house is gradually looking better, from one week to the next. It's nice to be able to see the progress. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: ragdall Date: 03 Oct 10 - 03:11 AM Yesterday was beautiful and warm, today was cloudy, cool and humid. After looking at the weather forecast for the next fortnight I realized today would be the last opportunity to do any painting/staining this year as the temperatures from now on will be too low for anything to dry. That motivated me to repaint my weathered white trellis with brown stain. I'd like to use it near the house through the winter as base for a bird feeder and possible also a bird bath. I'm hoping that it will be high enough to provide the birds and squirrels with a safe place where my neighbours' cat can't reach them. There is still so much I'll need to do before we hit the road again on Friday. It's difficult to get motivated and find the energy to do anything. rags |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: VirginiaTam Date: 03 Oct 10 - 07:57 AM enjoying reading the thread and following the links... nothing to report except I have resolved not to fall asleep in silly positions. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Catherine Jayne Date: 03 Oct 10 - 08:31 AM Did an hours spinning class this morning, didn't do as good as usual as my asthma is playing up a bit at the moment. We're hoping it'll all be ok by Friday. Seen the beds I'm going to order for the twins soon. House was cleaned top to bottom yesterday. I'm going to attack the ironing pile later once the kids are in bed. Mum and Dad arrive on Wednesday! |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: maire-aine Date: 03 Oct 10 - 08:59 AM At 4AM this morning the dead-battery signal in one of my smoke detectors started "chirping". Had to get up & take out the battery until I find a replacement this morning. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: VirginiaTam Date: 03 Oct 10 - 09:43 AM that has to be one of those sod's law things. smoke detector batteries will always go flat at the least convenient moment, ideally when you are sound asleep. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: wysiwyg Date: 03 Oct 10 - 10:29 AM Last night was an occasion to move quite few things around/away. A basil plant went to our chef; a set of missing OT pages were found at church, copied, and inserted into my OT notebook; a pair of slippers needed at home came home from church; some early Christmas shopping was done; a music-planning workbook went back to church because I do not need it at home any longer. Oh and a bagful of CD cases in my van went into someone else's van to go downstate, instead of into the church basement, where I still have two huge boxfulls to sort and ship to Catters. That one was really neat-- I tossed the bag into the van that picked me up for church thinking I'd have to lug them in and down, but a bandmate visiting town (and also riding in that van) wanted them, so I was able to just leave them for him. Some musicians' playbooks' index tabs turned up ydy and I set them out to take along, but by golly I forgot to look at the note I left myself so I failed to the grab them when we all left for church last night, but they'll go any day now-- they made it to my dnstrs launching area, and either a bandmate will pick up or I will deliver. This AM I discoveed that a small photo album I'd found and left for Hardi (he has zillions) was actually MINE from a (2004??) ministry trip I'd been wanting to report on, here. Strokebrain had hidden from me the memory of making the photo album, but I'd made a very nice one showing how our area related to the area I'd visited to explore small-church stratgies in rural areas-- conversation-starters in hardcopy form, for churches lacking computers. Today a used washing machine will arrive in my van, plus a brand-new AC and a used kerosene heater. I have to pay for these, so will probably sell some of it that we do not need. Friends are moving and anxious to empty their house quickly in time for their buyer to move in. ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: wysiwyg Date: 03 Oct 10 - 12:12 PM They say that what goes around, comes around; when he packed the van our friend tucked in "a little food"-- two large bookshelves-crammed-full's worth of canned goods. Gonna be fun sending THAT around-- all health food, too, from the looks of it. A LOT of soup to make this winter. Hm.... must be time for another Soup Supper..... hope it doesn't freeze while it sits on the front porch getting sorted and boxed up. So glad I designated that porch for storage-- it has a virtual loading dock built in. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Alice Date: 03 Oct 10 - 12:16 PM A $5 coupon to our local hardware store came in the mail. I need to get planter trays to put under pots I will be bringing inside for the winter. That was a timely coupon to arrive! I have green peppers in a pot on the deck that are still growing and spearmint and basil in a pot in the garden that I want to bring in the house for the winter. Reading news websites this morning, I came across an interesting video interview of the founder of etsy. What a young guy! No wonder they call anything over 20 years old "vintage". Anyhoo, it made me feel even better about being on etsy. Here is the video page:Business On Main: Etsy A. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Oct 10 - 12:34 PM ragdall I crave being back in that climate again one of these years! Your yard is lovely (and aren't you a cutie - I always have to decide when I get ready to run to the store - do I change out of the pants with the paint stains or just go as I am? I usually just go, if it's Home Depot, etc. and figure I'll fit in with the contractors.) We should each walk outside and take a photo of the front yard and back yard so we can see the season at each of our houses. :) Maryanne, do yourself a huge favor and change all of the smoke detector batteries at the same time. They'll one by one drive you nuts if you don't. I change them all out (we have 5) when I change the clocks in the fall, so it'll be time again soon. The batteries still have a lot of life in them, but for about $13 for the pack of batteries, it is worth keeping them at the top of their form and avoid that stupid chirping. The code in my village says I need the combination wired/battery detectors in each bedroom and in the hall outside (4) and one in my office (that could also be a bedroom). I stopped trying to keep a battery-only one on a nail in the laundry room because kitchen smoke would set it off occasionally. I should probably set one in the next room over so if a kitchen fire got out of control then it would go off. (No, knock wood, I don't have fires in the kitchen, but I do occasionally accidentally singe things, like most cooks.) The four in the bedroom side of the house go off in unison and are so loud they hurt. This morning I've been shifting the contents of wire shelves in my sun room, from the small one to the newer large one. I linked a few shorter bungee cords together and wrapped them around the shelves a few inches up to keep the contents from pitching off if it gets bumped. I think I can confine my gardening stuff to the bottom couple of shelves and use the top for storing things like my extra cloth grocery bags and a box of outdoor gear (hats, gloves, etc.) since it is beside the door I use the most. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Oct 10 - 01:30 PM Okay, here is a view of my yard today. Oct. 3, 2010 front yard. The back needs to be mowed before I take that photo. It's a jungle out there after the last heavy rain. On the far right side, near the cactus (that's still my yard) is that low wall I mentioned earlier. That's the one I'll be working on again today. The side is kind of pie-shaped beside the driveway. The house of course and the red crape myrtles are in the next door neighbor's yard. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: LilyFestre Date: 03 Oct 10 - 01:42 PM Spent quite a bit of time scrubbing our tub this morning. Little Baby Jeremiah is ready for time in the actual TUB (with a bath ring and mama) instead of just his little portable tubbie which he is getting too tall for (those little legs just fill it right up!). Anyway, the tub was in ok shape but we have hard water stains....fact of where we live. Last winter we installed a water softener but I couldn't get those stains to budge and they are UGLY. BUT....today I found that Comet and some serious elbow grease worked just fine. Comet, scrub, rinse. Add dry Comet to wet scrub brush making a thick paste, scrub HARD. Rinse. AHAH! It worked! I still have some orange spots but NOTHING like what it was. My tub is white under all of that. Who knew? I don't want my little one going in an orange tub even if I know it's been bleached. Looks good and I feel better. Michelle |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: katlaughing Date: 03 Oct 10 - 01:43 PM Alice, thanks for the video link. How neat!! I remember reading about etsy when it first started, in fact, I think it was on the Mudcat Crafters thread, years ago, but how cool to hear the founder etc. Wouldn't a craft night be fun!? Rog put away clean dishes, I've done a couple fo loads of laundry including the cover off of the dog's bed...it's time to put it away for awhile, at least, put some already folded clothes away, Rog swept while I scrubbed the bathroom and we cleaned up a bunch of miscellaneous in our bedroom. We also taped up the huge box to our daughter. It is by the front door on its way to Rog's truck and I packed up a box of stuff to a friend, plus had three more books requested from paperbackswap...so packaged those up as well as one or two to our son, so there is a pile of mail by the front door, also, which will go out tomorrow. After it is gone, I will take a picture of the LR window with the Norfolk Pine to share with you all. SRS, I'd love to see more of the gorgeous yards you all work so hard in, but ours looks like a wild mess...maybe a shot of my few perennials would do. The backyard is sad-looking. OH and we really don't have much in the way of Fall colour changes, yet, soon, though. I wish I could get up to the high country today to get pix of the aspens as they are golden, now, but it's just not feasible, today and they'll probably be done by next weekend. Rags, your backyard and trellis look beautiful, as do you. Looks as though you were having fun!:-) Rog is going to help me try to make a dent in the office, then I think I will try to get some more vintage books up on etsy or some other things. At some point Morgan is supposed to call me, when he gets done going to work with his dad, and we may go have lunch. He told me his dad's boss needed "another guy and that's ME!" But, as he is not getting paid, he could "take a break and call you any time, Mama!" He must be having fun because I haven't heard from him, yet. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Oct 10 - 03:07 PM Kids get so much out of seeing the example of their loved ones working. Good for his dad, taking Morgan with him to work. Spoke with neighbor this afternoon, she's doing some heavy yard work in front. My tiller hasn't been run for a while and I'm afraid would tear up her irrigation system, but this was a reminder that I should use it on occasion to keep it running. Had a late lunch, now back out to the yard. I have several CDs in the changer and will resume listening at the next break. So far it was Glen Gould with Bach's Goldberg Variations. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: katlaughing Date: 03 Oct 10 - 03:46 PM After about 2.5 hours of strenuous work, Rog and I have mucked out the office! That room has been calling me, my sanctum and Morgan's are in there and I didn't even want to go in to light candles and incense, it was such a mess. Rog has been a trooper, today. He carried about 3-4 loads of stuff out to the caravan for storage, stuff we use when needed, but doesn't need to be in here all of the time. He also hauled out trash and giveaways. We got my laptop set up, again, on the huge desk, with external monitor, keyboard and wireless mouse, (wait 'til Morgan sees that!), the rest of the desk cleared off except for jewellery making supplies, so now I truly can get comfy and CREATE! My first project will be something along these lines, MESSY CHAIN, as it is supposed to be THE thing this Fall. I think it won't take me too long to come up with a piece or two for Etsy. Also in the office, I used a narrow, tallish old nightstand with one wee drawer and two shelves to display some pieces of Beauty which I had nowhere to display, previously...a beautiful large seashell; some driftwood; a basket of small seashells and sea glass; two tiny pottery pieces with collected stones; and, a bronze-casting I made from a bittersweet vine which I'd dried in the form of a circle. I used to make dream webs using them. The bronze piece unintentionally looks like a "crown of thorns!" (Hmmm...another Etsy idea has come to mind!) We also got the shredder set up beside my chair in the DR and there is a box of papers which had been sitting in the old office, waiting to be be fed to the shredder. SRS, with all of your talk about your wonderful CD collection, I have become more determined to finally get all of the rest of my CDs loaded into my external HD, then put away in my 300 CD changer. That way I can listen to them, either way; one reaches the back of the house, i.e. bedroom, better than the other; they will be preserved both dust-free in the changer and on the HD. I am just about to order an external DVD/CD player for my laptop, but will also use it out here for loading the CDs onto the HD as it will be easier to reach than the built-in one. Thanks for continuing to inspire me to get more done! We're sure clicking along this month. Only the third and already almost one hundred posts! |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Alice Date: 03 Oct 10 - 07:04 PM Congratulations, kat! Clean office... big WIN for you! A. |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: katlaughing Date: 03 Oct 10 - 07:09 PM Thanks, Alice! Now, I might finally be able to get going with more stuff on Etsy as it is all back there, waiting for me on the shelves Rog put up last weekend.:-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Oct 10 - 02:28 AM A clean office is quite a luxury! Good work, Kat, and again, it sounds great about the access to the beading materials. I know enough people with tangled chains that didn't need any special construction - I don't know that I would want to wear the weight of that tangle around my neck on even the chain they show. But I'm not quite ready yet to even work on the modest single strands I have in mind. The back lawn has been mowed and I pruned a few branches in the way and little trees growing up in the fence line. The limbs are piled at the curb for tomorrow's trash. I worked on my keyhole garden a little more, digging and setting a few more stones around a big curve in the wall and filling in with three more bags of humus and top soil. I also did some shopping and found pot roast on sale so picked up three that are now cut into 1 and 1 1/2 pound pieces in the freezer, enough to last me for quite a while. I use this for my ground beef now instead of buying hamburger. I was thinking about grinding a pound of the last batch of that beef chuck, and took it out yesterday to thaw a little (it is easiest when it's still slightly frozen). It thawed completely, so today I made a small pot roast. With 2 carrots and potatoes it was enough for a meal this evening and leftovers for another dinner. I also made banana bread, so breakfast is handled for this week. Kitchen is clean. Trash is at the curb, linens changed, groceries put away. The garage has been adjusted because the weather is finally cooling. Window closed, door closed, and the dogs can go through their dog door now into their cozy hay-filled stall and dog houses. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: October+ fall declutter & accountability From: ragdall Date: 04 Oct 10 - 05:31 AM SRS, Your house and yard are beautiful. What a lot of trees and shrubs you have. rags |
