April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!

Subject: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 02:15 AM

Starting this thread in the wee hours after a busy weekend of editing. I didn't get off to a good start in my garden this year, it isn't planted yet. I'll take some time this week to do it.

Here is last month's thread.

I hope to hear reports soon of spring reaching our northern-most participants in these threads.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 09:32 AM

Yeah, wash away clutter. And thereby plug gutters, drains and sewers. Please, recycle or give it to Goodwill, etc. or,if it's Truly Awful, to someone you don't like.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 09:52 AM

I believe it is time for me to get into this game. The house is grubby, the cellar is a mess, and I am now home-based, reponsible for organizing my own work for the first time in years.

Ottawa is lurching slowly through spring, whch is actually a good thing. The maple syrup producers need several weeks of temperatures straddling the freezing point (daytime highs averaging 5 Celsius, nighttime lows below freezing), and we are getting just that. Last year was a disaster; a freak heat wave before the equinox stopped the sap run and brought all the fruit trees out in bloom weeks early, only to be blasted by a snowstorm and heavy frost in early April. Thousands of Ontario orchards were knocked out of production, and I haven't seen any local hard fruit in the stores for a year.

I quit my federal government job two months ago, and am finally getting adjusted to setting my own goals and priorities. I began a fairly intense get-fit program of three gym workouts per week and keeping a food diary, and that is producing good results. Since New Year's Day, I have lost 20 pounds, and the exercise is rebuilding the rotator cuff of my left shoulder, injured 35 years ago and severely weakened since then by disuse.

I have yet to figure out how to add music practice to the weekly routine without neglecting other things, such as housework, that I feel duty-bound to do first. I hate muddle and dirt, but I don't want to hire a cleaner to do it for me because I am not earning at the moment.

I look forward to following others' home-front adventures.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: ranger1
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 10:00 AM

Working on clearing clutter from the kitchen table. I'm motivated, as I've lost a refund check for the former out-if-state storage unit somewhere in the muddle. Also, Kaylee has been "helping" by knocking things off the table. I start work at the park tomorrow, and I hope that will get me into a schedule.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 10:04 AM

Welcome Charmion!!!!

We did an intense clean up yesterday so today things look good...so good in fact that it inspires me to do more! YAY!

Today begins the Annual Yoga Challenge. The Challenge is to do 30 days of yoga (at a minimum as there are 2-3 available classes daily). I hope to do at least 5 days of yoga a week, more if I can get myself out of bed for the 6:15am class. We shall see. I am excited about it!

Tomorrow I go for my tumor marker check up....so hopefully tomorrow morning will be one of those days when I CAN get my rear out of bed and to the early yoga class as time will not allow for the other classes in the day.

I'm down 3 pounds this week....hooray!



Michelle

PS. There are yellow crocus tops peeking out this morning (that's a first)!!!

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 11:19 AM

Charmion, welcome to the group. There are several years' worth of discussions, one month at a time. If you're looking for a published bit of inspiration, I used Don Aslett's Clutter's Last Stand. He started out as a house and business cleaner, and wrote a book about cleaning tips with one chapter on de-cluttering. He received a huge response to that chapter so expanded from there. You'll find that he's quite philosophical about why and how we hold onto too much stuff. And this one typically ends up in used book stores, so you can probably find an edition of it for a few dollars.

The last push on a publishing project today, then I get on with life as I know it. My kitchen is looking pretty good. As I waited for my tea water to heat yesterday I cleared the counter. It didn't take long to put things away (in other rooms) and wash dishes.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 12:46 PM

Maybe dunb gardening question: The weeds are already up. If I cover them with mulch will they die off and let the bulbs survive?

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 12:51 PM

No. Weeds are persistent little buggers. Pull them out, lay out the black plastic and then the mulch.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: GUEST,Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 04:04 PM

I'd rather be out cycling, so I am.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 07:54 PM

60 minutes of pretty intensive yoga! I can't say I enjoyed all of it tonight but I am glad I did it and feel amazing!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 08:10 PM

Jeeper's. Do not put down black plastic where bulbs are hoping to come up! Maybe you could just scrape the weed tops off if the bulbs are not poking out yet.

I am still waiting for the snow to leave in the city. In the country, it is not generally planting time for most things until mid May. I see a spot down at the saw mill where I can put a garden and will start working on that the next warm day that I can.

Landlord has given notice. We need to vacate the cabin by 30 June. Hence, the living space R has been planning for the mill will be our temporary home as there is still no money for buying even a cheap place. We will be focussing on moving stuff to the mill. Have already taken quite a bit this week.

Went on Thurs to pick up glaze materials. Then straight down to cabin. Made up some test glazes without needing the new bag of Superpax. This was good because when I looked at what I had bought, it was the WRONG thing. I phoned and they are mailing me, no charge for the mailing, the Superpax.

Anyway, I have been at the cabin since Thursday aft. Went to the St. I. Cafe on Thurs eve. and in Ormstown on Fri eve. R came down with a load of stuff for the saw mill on Thurs eve and went to unload it on Fri. Went to auction on Sat and: About 11 am - "There isn't anything here we need, we may as well leave." At 2 pm, we went back to the saw mill for the truck and trailer. My car was full. After loading the trailer: beautiful queen bed, 3 boxes of bedding, a 60 inch TV, sofa, etc, we drove back to the mill and left it in the yard and went for supper, phoning a friend to join us who phoned another so we had a nice social meal and went home to bed.

Sunday: Unloaded at the saw mill after cleaning up the yard at the cabin. Then looked at R's plans for a mini living space there and for my pottery to be - with lots of windows and possibly a deck and wheel chair ramp. I firmly believe EVERY place needs to be accessible. And since we have a surfeit of wood left over from the saw mill's previous life... as a saw mill. So far, it will be a storage place for R's excess from the city and, majorly, will be a factory for our friend who makes amazing wooden doors and windows. And whatever other enterprises who can rent some of the thousands of square feet of space. Hopefully, the electric will be hooked up in the next couple weeks!   R has been collecting doors and windows for a while. There is a trailer for staff who need to overnight.

Somewhere in this weekend, we made trips to pick up an upscale, second hand propane stove and later a matching frig from the same place. We did not have enough money for both the first trip (not realizing there was also a matching frig available until we got there) and I was not smart enough to go to an ATM - which would have saved a second two hour trip. $600 for both was too good to pass up! It was not the ideal frig for us but....It was there and cheap and looks good. For the mini K at the mill. At least for now.

Today, the folks came to finish off the syrup season and helped R put in the trailer a very heavy antique cupboard he had stored in the shed!!! Then I cleaned up the straw that had gotten scattered in there. One bale covers a huge area! I bagged it for the garden to be and left the landlord's shed fairly clean. R went off to the mill and may return any hour now!

Sounds as though we cluttered more than not but it actually has filled a lot of gaps which needed filling and that de-clutters the mind.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 08:34 PM

SINSULL, I think you'll have to get out there and weed before the bulbs come up. I find that if I weed (wear gloves) right after a freeze that the weeds come out easier than when they get going for spring and put out more roots.

Finished a big project today. I need to proof it in the morning and probably make some corrections, but it's ready to go. Now I can get on with other stuff around here.

Today was my first in about 10 days of not taking the heavy duty decongestant this morning. I may take something mild this evening, I can still feel a tickle.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 08:35 PM

DP, sorry you have to decamp.

Charmion, you can find old threads in this series by the links at the top and bottom of each one, or by a filter search on CLUT. We discuss fitness/activity level stuff here too.

mg, AFAIK silver marks are usually like this: one is the maker's stamp, one is the quality stamp, and then sometimes there is a company logo stamped.

===

OK. The report from today's PT/Doc visits.

PT: She was back to the deep and painful work today of pulling adhesion tissue off my bones. It's like digging thru flesh to find creeping, tough spaghetti strands trying to climb thru my muscles to attach to my pelvic and hip bones. She plucks these like bass violin strings, and I provide the soundtrack (screamed/tearful cuss words mostly). My "job" while she does this is to lay still and relax into her relentlessly pushing hand.....

Hardi learned how to do some of the stretching of the shallower adhesions today from my PT. (We can do those at home for the tissue closer to the surface, i.e. from pubis towards navel.) For the deeper/snakier strands going hip to hip, which also are trying to adhere to hip bones, she prefers to do those herself just once per week. But the ones we do (which she also does) can also be done on the Friday before Monday PT.


The Doc: She agreed with the dosage adjustment I'd made in my thyroid meds, prescribed accordingly, and agreed that we should monitor closely. So I am happy to go back again in 6 weeks (she is on a 3-week rotation sked so that works great). I do not have to be my own doctor any more (but she does like patients to be partners). The anemia numbers are sliding down towards illness-- but not as fast as I thought. Questions about why the thyroid issue is peaking (when sunshine should send it the other way) remain for the next visit and pre-visit testing. In this slide I'd gained 10 pounds with very few extra calories, which I am sure will melt right back off again. She OKd the workout sked the PT had issued, and all 3 of us agree that it is to be phased in, not accomplished overnight.

More iron-- canned greens with fresh stuff, curried, like Saag Paneer. Twice a week.


So-- bottom line, I get to resume ramp walks tomorrow and phase in the rest as the improved thyroid function prompts.

She also agreed that she is now well up enough on all my health history that I can file the older stuff in office storage, which means I can take about half of the Life Binder's contents out to make room for new stuff that will accumulate. Buh-bye reminders of missed diagnoses, hello new woman's life!

~Susan

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 08:45 PM

(Of course you CUT HOLES for the bulbs to poke up through)!!!! I guess I thought that was a given! Silliness!

Jeepers yourself!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 13 - 10:49 PM

Huge project almost finished today. The proof copy is at work with one of the folks working on this exhibit (the 84-page booklet is a list of all of the citations for faculty and staff authors last year). I didn't have to compile it, but I had to massage the data into a published document. I'll proof it tomorrow and take it back to the printer. Since we're doing a digital document it won't take long. This was my biggest publication to date, and thought it was a lot of work, I learned a great deal. That's what I liked about it.

So, my lawn needs mowing, the poop needs scooping, garden needs planting, the house needs cleaning. The evenings this week will be put to good use. I was at a community meeting tonight so though I may put in a load of laundry, I'm not going to try to accomplish anything else. I have a book I want to finish reading. That's enough.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Apr 13 - 08:37 AM

Good Morning!!!

   I've been to yoga already this morning! Forty five minutes of stretchy bliss!!! HOORAY! Now I'm off to have my tumor marker levels checked.

Have a great day everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Apr 13 - 09:31 AM

The locksmith came and repaired the rattling doorknobs, non-latching latches and the back-door deadbolt lock that was literally hanging off the door, begging any passing burglar to apply his favourite jemmy.

Fifteen minutes of skilled work was all it took to do away with a five-year irritant.

For our next trick, the garage door guy comes this afternoon.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Apr 13 - 02:41 PM

Wow! The place will feel like new!

More final touches today, I'm off to the printer in a few minutes.

A while back in a dedicated thread Susan asked about what people are doing for personal improvement. Not to bring that entire discussion here, but this is so small, it doesn't merit a thread. A few weeks ago I went back to brewing a cup of tea in the evening in a cup that I'd dissolved a pack of gelatin in. It doesn't change the flavor of the tea at all but does wonders for my fingernails. Now I'm trying to remember to do that at least once a week, better twice a week. I don't think daily gelatin is called for, but I want some in there to keep my nails healthy.

I'd accidentally trimmed my big toe nails too short a number of weeks ago, and as some of you probably know, that can lead to an ingrown nail or at least an annoying nail until it grows out. Years ago a nurse friend showed me a trick - take a cotton ball and spin off a little bit to make a thick thread. You use your nail file or something narrow and sharp and tuck the thread down into the groove beside the nail and let the thread wrap under the top of the nail. You can trim it so it barely shows, but that thread in there keeps the nail from digging into the skin/nail bed as it grows out. I did that and am almost at the point where I'll be able to trim my nail straight across and have no more painful spot on each big toe.

Yeah, I know. Possibly too much information, but I suspect some little tricks (another one being Alice using muslin on her face instead of a wash cloth) are good to share because they might just help someone else.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 02 Apr 13 - 03:07 PM

I am eating chia seeds and also green coffee with rasberry ketone pills..see if it will shake this stubborn weight off.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 02 Apr 13 - 07:32 PM

I've got the further documentation together to hand deliver tomorrow after I have a good catch-up lunch with a friend in Portsmouth whom I haven't seen except on Facebook for waaaay too long.

Of course, I have to put Tom's lunch together before I leave.

Been pulling more stuff out since I moved the jelly cupboard, going through it and either filing it appropriately or, better still, throwing it out. Lots of rubberstamp catalogs from the '80s and graphic design magazines that are long outdated. The occasional piece is suitable for the library sale, but a lot of very heavy stock photo catalogs, etc. went out in today's trash.

Discovered that getting the bathtub plumbing sorted out (or maybe it was the new shutoffs) also gave me normal pressure again in the bathroom sink. Wow. Amazing what happens when you get something attended to professionally!

I woke up much too early this morning so really wasn't particularly ambitious, but got Tom attended to, emptied the dishwasher and did several loads of laundry. Getting the trash to the road was a major workout, too.

Did some more research on cellulitis and foot pain caused by poor circulation, so maybe I can do some little daily things that will help Tom get more mobile and avoid recurring cellulitis.

Tried to nap a bit mid-day before making lunch. Not sure how successful that was, but it made the cats happy.

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 12:33 AM

The kitchen is cleaned up but I have a basket of laundry that didn't get folded and I haven't seen the surface of the small kitchen table for weeks.

For the last week I had a small table beside my office desk so I could work on the laptop and the desktop computers at the same time. The desk the laptop usually sits on has been a bit cleared because of this. I'm going to clear and dust before I put the laptop back on it's side of the room.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 08:49 AM

Had my port flushed and accessed yesterday. It had been about 11 weeks since the last time that happened...should have had it flushed at about the 8 week mark but things kept coming up, etc. I am happy to report that it flushed just fine and the blood return flowed perfectly!!! HOORAY! :) Now we wait for the tumor marker results.

I will say that one of my levels was very low (18, instead of in the 30-100 range) and when we were going over results, I told them I thought this particular one was very low as I've been feeling really sluggish...everything just seems like an effort lately. Sure enough, I was right! A new script has been called into the pharmacy and soon I should be feeling better! :) HOORAY! It's getting to be spring time outside and who wants to be lacking energy then? Tis a busy time of year around here!

Today we are adding to our family....twin calves! :)

Later Gators!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 11:45 AM

I have a bunch of books and I've listed samples on eBay a few people look, but I think they're really best for a specialty used book store that has mystery paperback novels. So I'm going to box them as a wholesale lot and list it that way.

It's April, coming up on time for Earth Day, and there is an event on campus that will recycle stuff like VCR tapes. I held onto a box I packed back in January (I could have shipped it and paid to have it recycled, totalling about $45), and I'll pull out more from my shelves before the environmental activities start up and see if I can't haul a whole bunch of these over there. The tape itself isn't recyclable, but the cases are. I'm not getting rid of all of them, but the lion's share that I can reproduce with downloads or disks from NetFlix can leave the house.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 12:23 PM

SRS, A while back in a dedicated thread Susan asked about what people are doing for personal improvement.

It's lost in space (low thyroid levels no doubt)-- what thread? I think I do not have it Traced.

~S~

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 02:10 PM

Back from the gym -- dead beat. Singing lesson this afternoon at 3:30; better have some energy back by then.

The inestimable Ms Pinch, my personal trainer (hark at me! A personal trainer!) put me through the usual hour of purgatory today, but this time after the hour of cardio instead of before. (The gym staff were summoned to a meeting at the time usuall appointed for our hour of power.) I dragged my tail the whole time, and poor Pinch feared that I would plotz. Note to file: don't leave it all on the elliptical machine.

I have decided to quit the choir I have been irritably singing with for several years now. The guys in the back row won't shut up when the conductor is giving direction, and the repertoire doesn't do anything for me. Worse, for the up-coming performance we have to wear ostensibly War of 1812 costumes, an idea I just loathe. The performance is 13 April, and my whole being is saying No.

Question for the committee: Would I be a Bad Person if I handed in my bonnet and resigned now? They have plenty of women and don't actually need me.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 02:28 PM

Spent some time in the barn this afternoon. I just love the smell of fresh hay and new animals.....their antics are something I could watch all day long. :) Got some photos of this year's garden area too...always fun to take a few photos now when it's empty, then full of young seedlings and more as they grow. I also took some photos of the hoophouse where we have been growing lettuce and parsley all winter long. We had some other things in there but we ate them. HA! ;)

Tonight I am going to try the late yoga class!

Either tomorrow or Friday a large dumpster is being delivered to be filled with seasonal ick and things that just need to GO already (not suitable for yard sale or donation). I'm always excited to clear up the mess that winter leaves behind and to make our yard family friendly for warmer weather. :)

The sun is shining but the wind is quite cold today....it's a GORGEOUS day to be outside...and bonus? It leaves our faces cold and pink which I love. :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 03:41 PM

Charmion, I think if you're not enjoying the activity, there is no reason to stay. On the other hand, if you give them notice that your last performance will be that particular concert, then would there be a going away party? A small ceremonial departure that wishes everyone well would be good for all.

I need that kind of cleanup around here, Michelle. I have a bunch of pots sitting on the patio by the sun room door that needs weeding or tossing. And oddball stuff that needs putting away.

Susan, I was thinking of your most recent "Mudwimmins" query.

We haven't heard from Kat for a while - I hope the recovery is steady and noticeable. And I hope Morgan is having a good spring - has he been over to visit?

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 03:56 PM

HOORAY!! The dumpster was just delivered...2 days early and we can still keep it for the time agreed upon!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: ranger1
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 07:37 PM

Charmion, if you're not enjoying making music, run like hell. Music is supposed to make us happy and bring us up, not make us irritable.

In other news, I got a major decluttering project at work completed that has been irking the living daylights out of me for a year. My predecessor and his partner in chaos had a bad habit of shoving everything in the back room of HQ, a building that is technically the manager's quarters. There was no rhyme or reason to any of it and things were piled so high and so deep that there was stuff in there that Andy, my boss, hadn't seen in four or five years. One of those items was the GPS unit that we needed for a project ASAP (I started back yesterday from seasonal layoff). I figured since it obviously wasn't in one of the top layers, that I might as well organize while I was at it. It was in the back corner buried three layers deep and two wide and at the bottom of the back pile. I also convinced Andy to buy several storage totes to put spare uniforms in, as they take up a full quarter of the space in there. Once in the storage totes, they can be stored in the attic. Another large part of the items in that back room belong out in the interpretive ranger's office on the porch. I also recommended purchasing several cheap tackle or tool boxes to put together kits for the various programs we do. They can then be stacked neatly, as well as being labeled and easily found when they are needed. I'm so good at work, why can't I be better at home?

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 08:59 PM

One hour of sun salutations. I believe she was trying to kill us this evening. LOL Another night of dripping sweat all over my mat. I worked for every single calorie burned this evening. I am most happy to say I did the entire class without breaks in the middle of things when they were feeling uncomfortable.

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: ranger1
Date: 03 Apr 13 - 11:08 PM

Way to go, Michelle!

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 09:58 AM

Ruth my voice coach talked me off the roof yesterday and convinced me to go through with the choir performance, holding my nose the whole time if necessary, and then quit and never look back.

In other news, we are departing on an extended road trip holiday soon, so for the next couple of weeks I shall be squaring away the house for our absence and lining up projects for when we get back. High on this list will be dealing with boxes of stuff that I inherited from my parents and have yet to either integrate into our lifestyle or move along elsewhere.

What, for example, should one do with photo slides, when one does not possess a slide projector, and very few of the pictures are of family, friends, or anything personal? Thanks to my packrat mother, I have hundreds of commercially prepared slides of various tourist attractions. I'm thinking landfill. Opinions?

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 12:47 PM

Tumor markers are in and all is well!!!! :) My thanks for your continued love and support! :)

In other news, I've been busy cleaning today so I can play tomorrow! :)

Yoga later tonight. BRING IT! ;)

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 02:58 PM

This morning I padded into the kitchen to put on the tea kettle and had a painful surprise- there was a wasp hidden on the patterned tile that I stepped on. Hurt like a sonofabitch. Yes, Microsoft, that is how that is spelled.

I'm limping after putting on a baking soda poultice then washing with peroxide and putting on some antibiotic ointment. The last sting in the yard a few years ago led to an infection (from the stinger, the doctor supposes).

Tomorrow is Friday, correct? I have a meeting, so I can't take the day off. I just blocked off Monday as vacation day, hopefully nothing will come up. There is a thing on Saturday, but I think people who are covering it can take their own photos. I need some uninterrupted time in the yard and garden!

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 09:01 PM

Day 4 of the Yoga Challenge complete! Today we did standing balances held for long periods of time. Hard on the arches of the feet. Leg and arm muscles were still trembling when I left. I am feeling strong!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 09:38 PM

Wow..I need to ramp up the exercise...

I also would like step by step instructions of how to sell on ebay if SRS or anyone feels like telling us.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: ragdall
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 10:07 PM

SRS,
Spring is indeed reaching the north. Swans, geese and ducks have arrived in the thousands, http://www.flickr.com/photos/diffuse/8611187935/ Robins are greedily gobbling fallen berries, http://www.flickr.com/photos/diffuse/8617700943/ and my house is rising again from behind high snowbanks, http://www.flickr.com/photos/diffuse/8619924787/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/diffuse/8621072114/ In less than six weeks we should begin to see leaf buds and green grass sprouting again.
rags

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 05 Apr 13 - 01:45 PM

Wasps like to live in unsavory stuff, SRS. Lucky you didn't get blood poisoning. Most likely to get stung when the weather is changing and the wasps are a bit logy. I got stung on the hand once in the middle of the night -- the wasp was in the toilet paper roll, of all things. And another time at dusk when I put my hand on the car door handle.

Just put a guitar into the car so I can have a friend look at it and give me an idea of its value. It's missing the nut. I bought it REAL cheap with the intent of selling it for some sort of profit. (The case is worth more than what I paid for it.) I've tried Googling it, but there's not a lot of info out there.

Did some laundry and will now declutter the bank account by paying some bills.

Other than that, I feel as if I can't get out of my own way today.

Yesterday, getting Tom to and from his cardiologist wore me out. Wore him out, too, but he got some really good exercise out of it. Made it all the way in, etc. using his walker. He needed a wheelchair to get back to the car, though. (And somebody else navigated it for me, while I got the car open and in an accessible position.)

There's so much I should be doing but I just don't seem to have any energy the past couple days.

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: ranger1
Date: 05 Apr 13 - 02:28 PM

The yucky virus I've been battling with all week finally won. I feel bad about calling in sick during my first week back from seasonal layoff, but better today than tomorrow, when I have an advertised nature program scheduled. I did get some work-related stuff done at home today, though. I have high speed internet here at home, at work, we're still on dial-up. Had about 11 mb worth of photos that needed to be sent out and it would have taken my boss forever to send them from the park, so I took care of it this AM from home.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 05 Apr 13 - 08:41 PM

Replacing the nut would cost more than the guitar is worth. So I'll put it on Craig's List for $25 and see if there are any takers. If it doesn't sell, it goes to Goodwill or Savers. Cubic footage.

Paid some bills, so I should feel accomplished.

Went to the Press Room session, left early but developed a raging headache on my way to the car. Hope I'm not coming down with something.

Should have brought home something that I didn't have to fix for Tom's supper, but heated up leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes for him as he wanted. Almost had an argument over that, not sure what about, exactly. I think he's tired, too.

I feel as if everyone's making demands on me in one way or another. I think it's time for bed. At least Tom has clean sheets even if I don't.

G'night.

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 13 - 01:24 AM

It's the weekend - garden, here I come.

Rags, those photos are stunning as always. You have a great environment, a great long lens, and patience. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 13 - 01:03 PM

This isn't a political thread - a non sequitur post was deleted.

Laundry is in, next I'm headed into the yard. This morning I searched a little more for computers for Art, we're getting close to being able to make a decision and ship to his son.

This week on PBS they replayed Food, Inc.. The link is to a discussion about it on Now on PBS. It might be available streaming online from PBS, or you can find it at NetFlix, etc. Rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd bring this up as far as the diet component we include with our fitness side of these threads. I've never seen it all of the way through, but always came in and saw big chunks of it. I still didn't catch it from the beginning, but it reminded me of something I've thought about myself - pacing yourself on eating by simply fasting every so often (looks pretty difficult) or having a day of modest eating every so often. This documentary film in fact puts forward a plan for a modified fasting day every other day, in which you would eat a meal of fruit or veggies in the middle of the day and the rest of the time drink water or tea. They say black tea, but I think herbal and green would also be good. On the regular days you eat your normal foods.

Has anyone seen this and/or tried that approach to eating? A plus in this is that it lowers some of the hormones that contribute to cancer growth (which is I think my top reason for thinking this is something worth trying).

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:20 PM

Yee Ha! Another eBay box is going to leave the house on Monday. I sold a DISH DVR from several years ago. I'd had the membership for about five years, and it got too expensive, so I dropped it but the boxes were mine to keep. I realized recently that I could unload them and clear out one shelf in a cupboard. One went very quickly, and this one was ready to sell when I got a message from eBay that the sale had been cancelled and I should wait seven days to hear from DISH. Fuck Dish. They have nothing to do or say about my selling something I own, and there is no copyright infringement in calling something by its name. I relisted it for a 3-day sale without the name and it didn't sell, but there were others for auction with the name, so I again listed with the name and it has sold. Dish wouldn't have so much interest in their older equipment if they weren't gouging on the new stuff.

Meanwhile, I'm pacing myself in the garden - this is my springtime conditioning period - I am not in shape yet and I need to lose weight. This post is during a rest break. I don't have any intention of overdoing, and am working up to a much better level of fitness with all of the yard work and dog walking.

So that's my fitness and declutter story for today!

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Apr 13 - 10:30 PM

Yesterday: Walk and fun at a playground with Jeremiah

Today: 60 Minutes of hip openers at yoga and a walk

Hip openers are painful while in the process but the after is amazing...it's almost like my hips are drunk...all loosey goosey. YUM.

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Apr 13 - 12:53 AM

My back is feeling better after a couple of aspirin and application of a hot pad. I mowed half of the back yard and got about 1/3 of the garden shaped (raised beds, beveled) and planted. Tomorrow I should finish it - assuming I can still stand up or walk. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 07 Apr 13 - 09:51 AM

Maggie,

   When it's gardening time around here, my yoga teacher teaches class specifically to help people stretch out their backs....do you do anything like that? They really do help.

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Apr 13 - 01:06 PM

I have some back stretch exercises a friend sent (photocopies). I'll try that to day before I go out. Thanks!

Beneficial nematodes have been watered in. Last year's batch is still working, so these are boosting the effectiveness. Cut worms killed my garden in 2012 spring, but this year my friend who turned over the garden and weeded saw them only in one area, so I treated it more heavily. And I haven't planted there yet.

Generalized decluttering: this evening I'm going to pull a bunch of paperback novels and put them in one large wholesale lot on eBay. It may take a day or two to prepare - I type in the name of each novel. And if I find any that seem to sell well I'll sell them separately. Pretty soon the Earthday activities will kick in on campus and I can take the VCR tapes to recycle. I have a bag of clothes to add to the Salvation Army pickup, culled from my closet. As my wardrobe has to change for work I need to pull out things like knit tops that I don't wear around the house but that I won't be wearing at work either. I have way too many of them, so the least favorites are in the bag. Those I'm keeping for casual wear will be arranged neatly so I can tell what I have.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 07 Apr 13 - 04:14 PM

I'm off to Day 7 of the Yoga Challenge!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Apr 13 - 04:41 PM

This afternoon I decided to stop walking around the cooler by the back door that I was given over the holidays. I still hadn't found a home for it - the other one (okay for temporary holding if I defrost the freezer) is out in the garage. I found an office chair that is up on a shelf that can go in the Salvation Army stack and the new cooler is up in that spot. I also have one of the old printers the kids discarded to go. It works, just needs ink. And I'd better find the power cord and USB cable, but those are all interchangeable.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Apr 13 - 08:39 PM

The plus side of moving is that some stuff might be found surplus and disposed of although I did a great deal of that prior to last move.

My vision of bulbs coming up was that they would be too random for holes. One of my fav garden tools was a "japanese hoe" which made it very easy to scrape weeds off at the soil surface. Very easy when they are small.

BIG news is that we finally have electric at the saw mill!!! As of today, I can plug in the modem and have internet and sit in the car and use computer - the interior is still too dirty and cold. I am here due to the latest crisis:
Wednesday I thought I was going to have a quiet day at the cabin but shortly after R left for the saw mill, my cell phone rang (that is good news as it often does not work at the cabin. Anyhow, he had been stopped by the department of transport and both truck and trailer impounded!

Doing things in a timely manner is a terrific way to avoid clutter. I drove down and picked up him and the plywood he was taking to the mill for the electrician. Then I was down there without even a book! So I went to the thrift shop and the grocery store for provisions.

The trailer had a license plate registered to "a dead man" so apparently when a friend gave R the trailer he had not properly registered it. That was really a cruncher. That took a great deal of discussion and phone calls to Quebec City.

Well, it is now Sunday and they have had the requisite repairs, his driver's license is reinstated (a ticket had not been paid) - we had to drive to Montreal for that on Thursday but that was Ok because I had arranged to pick up a musician at the train at 4:30 and bring him out to the country. we stopped in St. I for the music and Allan played in the open mike.

Do stop at stop signs, pay tickets, register vehicles appropriately, on time. And more. The property manager had been "too busy" to register the truck and once it was impounded, it could not be registered until it was cleared - 5 pm on Friday. So we may have to drive back to Montreal tomorrow. So most of four days were shot and I have gotten nothing of my own stuff done, except this computer stuff. R has put in many hours on the electric. That is good.

Today, Jeri, Beer and R and I got to hear a marvellous Bruce Murdoch concert. He was in fine form with new songs and old songs! A real treat. Pierre Lachance opened and did a couple Murdoch songs as well, also beautifully.

E-Bay defeated me by the time I may have registered for it. I just give stuff to the thrift shop. This week a few things, including a pair of in-line skates R found somewhere. Unfortunately, the little green library had a $2/bag book sale and R bought 3 bags and I one - just to have a few on hand in case I run out and the library is closed. Sale is every saturday in April and they promised more books next week, she says with horror! I suggested we need to turn one of the buildings at the mill into a library. I shall be culling some books as I box them for this next move.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 07 Apr 13 - 10:27 PM

Awwww....I SO want to see Brucie in concert!!!! LUCKY DUCK!

Yoga was soft and stretchy tonight...still sweaty but so sweet. I think I fell asleep during savasana...I'm not sure if I was lost in thought or dreaming. Either way, it was heavenly.

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 08 Apr 13 - 01:42 PM

Was not only in a better mood on Saturday, but had energy and wasn't bogged down with "do I have a fatal disease because I have no energy and just want a nap"-type thoughts. Didn't have to go anywhere and didn't expect anyone. Seemed to get things done without even trying, including rearranging glassware from the boxes from the old hutch, to swapping positions for small glasses and wine glasses between the jelly cupboard and the built-in cupboard. Will have to grab a stepstool to put the "good" wineglasses away. Tom "helped" by breaking one of the utility wine glasses last week...

Wrapped some up to go to Goodwill or Savers, too.

Electric toothbrush bit the dust. Looked for a new one this morning, but didn't buy anything. Why, exactly, do drugstores carry a dozen different charging kinds and maybe another 8 battery-operated ones, but only have replacement brushes for 2? I am NOT going to buy one and have trouble getting brushes for it!

Tom and I had a PMFF board meeting yesterday afternoon, but I ended up going alone and including Tom via cell on speakerphone. That didn't work as well as we'd hoped, so I have to help Tom compose an email of his comments today. He'd gotten all set to go to the meeting and got as far as the steps off the deck and decided his ankle would make it too painful to navigate, so I had to get him back into the house and make sure he had everything while I went to the meeting.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed again as so much needs to be done today, although I've checked a bunch off the list. Tom needs me to do PMFF biz and I REALLY need to start raking the leaves off the hostas and crocuses and other spring bulbs in the turnaround. Hand pulled leaves off the bright gold crocuses yesterday, but that's something that needs to be done NOW.

Start the caregivers class tomorrow, appointment to get taxes done on Wednesday.

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Apr 13 - 03:31 PM

eBay box out the door since I'm working at home today. I put a note on my mailbox so the carrier knows to ring the bell.

I got a workout yesterday in the garden; now I'm ready to plant more bedding plants or seeds and I need to pick up some mulch.

Time spent researching Art's computer - there is wide array of options to choose from. I'm enjoying the process, but it is time consuming. I had to call Toshiba this morning to figure out how to get the search results I wanted from their site.

Linn, is there any opportunity to hire someone to come in for a half-day every couple of weeks and establish a baseline of neatness/kitchen scrubbing/bathroom cleaning - whatever - that will make it a little easier for you? I have to think really hard if I'm going to have someone come in to do something, but like with the plumber, if the work you really need done is taken care of, it makes life easier. Just a thought!

We haven't heard a peep out of Kat for a while. Are you feeling better?

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 08 Apr 13 - 03:38 PM

Got Tom's PMFF correspondence, etc. taken care of.

And got a substantial amount of the interior of the turnaround raked and fallen branches picked up. A few other things other than the dark gold crocuses are trying to surface. Daffodils in the rockery on the bank are almost ready to open.

Should be able to herd together a load of metal to take to Harding Metals to convert to small pieces of green paper.

What a gorgeous day out! Have a few other in and out tasks to accomplish. Then make kedgeree for supper tonight.

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 08 Apr 13 - 07:00 PM

I did an hour of yoga at the studio at 6:15am this morning, drove home, made breakfast, packed Pete's lunch, got Jeremiah up and around, took a shower, drove him to the sitter, drove 60 miles to get our taxes done (yes, she is THAT good), did some shopping, drove to the sitter, drove home, put the baby down for a nap, put on my jammies and am calling it a day!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Apr 13 - 07:08 PM

Wow! I'm tired just reading that, Michelle!

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: ranger1
Date: 08 Apr 13 - 08:10 PM

Had grand plans of getting lots accomplished on my two days off. I made my monthly massage appointment and walked the dog, and that's where it ended. Oh, well. Dog and I did enjoy the lovely weather today.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 08 Apr 13 - 09:14 PM

Ranger,

Sounds like a perfect day to me!!!!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 08 Apr 13 - 10:54 PM

Many thanks to the person who mentioned TAXES! Holey moley! And the time is NEAR! I am still in the country and will have to get to the city to get the requisite papers.

Ongoing clutter of the truck escapade continues; it has to be inspected before it can be registered but it has to be inspected 20 miles away and that requires driving an unregistered vehicle...OR the cost of towing!!!

Truck and trailer are in yard of cabin and R took my car to go to city to do needful things. The stress of the last few days have exhausted him but the electric is on at the mill and tomorrow he is bringing someone (Bruno) down to start work on sprucing up the building! Windows for my studio-to-be and lots more. He will eventually do the kitchen and all structural up-grades - of which MUCH needs to be done.

Meanwhile I am consulting with R as to the plan for the studio - wheels in front of low windows so I can see the sky! Kilns on the north-ish wall. Display area on the most visible wall. And books. Other work areas and glaze area TBD - in the middle somewhere as efficient as possible. LOTS of shelves! GOOD lighting.

Triaged: Pile of stuff - dead plaster of paris, straw, and raccoon poop - to go down to put on garden is ready for next trailer load, Trash to go on trailer to Montreal and ---I am still trying to get that BIG kiln gone - hope for this week? All this after the truck is legal - if it passes the inspection!

Tomorrow - HOPE to get work done in studio - glazing, a few more test glazes and maybe even throw some pots - she says very hopefully!

Thinking about working on garden after I get through the Farmer's Market on Sunday. Ground should be dry enough up on the hill to plant cold weather crops. Want to try some buckwheat - for beauty, and food if I can find a way to hull it.
Bedtime!

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 09 Apr 13 - 08:28 AM

Stilly, remember that photo of Faith Popcorn's desk and office? Our house is sort of the domestic version of that. Not anything anyone else can actually DO.

However...my up-the-hill neighbor has generously offered to help with some of the more strenuous tasks (or ones that are most efficient with two people) such as standing on a ladder to remove the decorative plates of the beams so I can wash them and then put them back up. She runs a pre-school, so when summer break arrives, she'll have some more time to help me out.

But so much of what I'm doing is having to go through stuff and cull, then decide what's the best way to give away, donate, or sell what is no longer needed.

I've also got to think about cleaning out my car as my "new" one will be ready some time this month. And, since we're going to be able to properly grade and gravel the driveway soon, I have to get about two-thirds of the firewood to its new home and get the rest of it restacked where it won't be in the way. AND extricate from what was plowed up this winter and replant the rhubarb and get the forsythia (and other plants) out of the holding bed/loam pile where they've been ignored for too many years and properly planted so I can also disappear the loam pile (at least I know where it's going) so that location can be included in the driveway.

If I stop to think about it, I'll feel overwhelmed, so I'm taking it one step at a time.

I'm off in about 45 minutes to the first caregivers' class. Got to get Tom's breakfast and him squared away first.

Later,
Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 09 Apr 13 - 03:50 PM

Dishes and laundry are done, salad is prepped for dinner tonight and most floors have been swept or vacuumed. I am off to yoga....my head keeps making excuses why I don't need to go tonight because the last two days have been stretchy yoga which means she will most likely try to kill us tonight.....I'm going anyway. I can do this. I CAN DO THIS. I have my water bottle icy cold, a towel to wipe the sweat from my brown and a nice clean shower waiting for me when I get home.

I also cut out 32 eye bags today...they still need to be sewn and filled...for my yoga peeps, of course.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Apr 13 - 01:35 AM

Never heard of Faith Popcorn - I tried googling an image of her desk and office - nothing totally catastrophic - do you have a link?

I got distracted last night by a guest post. It seemed odd, I started looking into it, and it seemed not only odd but insane. In the end I contacted IMDb because they had made a change to a famous singer's page on her say-so. I pointed out that this is certifiably wrong, and someone at IMDb is going to work to get John Charles Thomas restored to his own name and reputation. (Click on Joseph Toner.) She has apparently spent the last 18 months concocting bizarre stories and posting these confabs on web sites. And she claims she is being stalked - I think people are telling her to stop the nonsense and she doesn't understand. I deleted one thread here and altered the other one so it no longer makes the claim she wants.

Now, back to everything else I need to do (though it was an interesting foray into the New York Times database to dig up some of this stuff). We're supposed to have heavy weather come through in the wee hours, so I'm going to let the dogs in. They don't like thunder storms. The dishes are washed (no temptations for Zeke) and the fruit and veggies picked up this evening are also put up (ditto Zeke).

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Apr 13 - 10:01 AM

It's my birthday!!! I've been stewing about what I want to do today. Hmm. And then it came to me like a lightening bolt......I want to take cupcakes to my oncologist and his team, the clinic (where I received all my chemo) to share with the staff and those who are receiving treatment today!!! I also want to take cupcakes to the House of Care, somewhere I stayed often when I was receiving treatment. Yep. How better to celebrate having another year to spend with the people I love most than sharing it with the people who saw to it that I am still here to CELEBRATE!!!!!!! Yep. That's what I am going to do today. Danville bound within the hour!

I am sending virtual cupcakes to all of you too!!!

Love to all!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 13 - 10:48 AM

I'm off to Rochester today for the monthly support group that has been so helpful up there. I'll print my activity log to take, and note all the walking I will do in Ra-cha-cha. Of course I will dress in faboo casual clothing, this trip. Maybe I will look for a Salvation Army up there... have not seen one yet. GPS!

Also planned on this trip: lunch tomorrow with the rector of the church we have visited up there, a visit to a cancer-surviving friend there, and then back home (with all those warm memories) to the mini-mud-season at home.... and a long SLEEP: I am learning how to manage this monthly trip.

I have gotten all the driveway/yard's mud ruts as "ironed out" as I could with the van and my boots, so I look forward to coming back to a yard I can WALK in with trusty Service Dog Faulkner.

~S~

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 10 Apr 13 - 11:18 AM

Congratulations and Happy Birthday to Michelle, some of whose days would exhaust a four-year-old! You are living every moment you live and, hopefully, loving every moment.

From Cabin:
Nothing done in studio yesterday but I packed up winter clothes, sorted out summer ones and left some packed, sorted out closet for better access to what is what, packed almost a box of books - did not turf out any but put some aside to consider further, reduced 6 inches of saved magazines to 3 inches, quickly threw the discards into the wood stove, found and sorted through file on environmental illness, and de-cluttered the computer of about 2000 old emails - lots more to go and I have figured out an improved modus operandi for the info I want to save to file. Wrote a long email to a stressed friend. Actually two - one to catch up and another in response to her response. Suggested she email her husband so maybe he would "hear" what she wants him to hear.

As the afternoon wore on, I realized I was feeling not so great and my eyes were burning. Decided the wood I was burning must be toxic and the chimney is not drawing well so I opened the door and let fresh air in. Started feeling better. Fortunately I had gotten the cabin too warm and the weather was moderate. The wood came from the saw mill and seemed to have something on it - tar? creosote? I was dubious about it but thought the chimney would evacuate any toxins. Wrong!

A wild turkey walked along the drive until I opened the door to try to get a pic. No pic.

This morning, after a nice brekkie with R, who has gone back to the city with my car promising to launder a load of clothes, after I suggested I would try to fix the leaky washing machine, I fetched another plastic bin for more winter clothes and put the full one outside. The bedding is changed and R took the second bag of laundry with him so now there is no reason to try to fix the machine. Maybe I will look anyhow.

Feeling energized by the clayart emails with ideas about claywork by real life potters. Potters are rare. I only know of two nearby and they are neither at the level of expertise of the wonderful folks, and some not so, on clayart. Imagine a lengthy discussion on buckets - for glazes, quality, types of lids, where to get them free, why to buy them instead, colours, quality of plastic. Or a tedious discussion on the qualities of stainless steel, use of the correct terminology - 'til it becomes amusing as in "Gee, they are still on about that!"

So R and I thought of places we might get free ones. Etc. Cool people, picky people, helpful people, tedious academics - real life potters! I learn and laugh and groan, and, once in a while, post a thought or a thank you. And need to de-clutter over a thousand of those emails onto files: Venting, buckets, French butter dishes, etc.

But today, another drismal but not too cold one, I have the energy to glaze so off I go!

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Apr 13 - 01:23 PM

Michelle, that's an absolutely wonderful way to celebrate your birthday, and it gives everyone a vision of what success looks like. My son was in the NICU for 2 weeks after birth and for years went to the hospital's annual reunion. I told him that we didn't really go for him as much as we went so the staff and doctors and others could get a look at him - he is their success story.

Yesterday was up to 80, last night down to 40 with a bitterly cold rain today. Welcome to April in Texas. I think today's weather also fits the day Dorothy describes and probably most of the rest of you are seeing.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Apr 13 - 12:55 AM

The Salvation Army will arrive on Thursday ("today" for most of you waking up to read this). Getting rid of a mattress, an office chair, a printer, a humongous TV. Some clothes can go, but I didn't get all of them in one place.

The gravy boat and saucer sold on eBay. Surprised me - there have been very few looks, but it only takes one! Another box out of the house.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Apr 13 - 09:42 AM

I have caught a blankety-blank cold. Bloody hell. In 10 days, we are supposed to set out on a three-week road trip with Merlefest (Wilkesboro NC) at the front end and Indian Neck (Falls Village, CT) at the back end, and right now I have a snuffly nose, a sore throat and a thundering headache. The normal course of a cold for me is a segue to full-blown bronchitis within 48 hours of the peak of the wet and sneezly stage, which I forecast for the mddle of next week.

Well, it's wonderful what modern drugs will do for a girl -- or even for an old bat like me. Fortunately, my doctor knows my crappy pulmonary function well and is not stingy with the antibiotics.

I just learned that I am a candidate for a radical new treatment for asthma, which is the reason for my frquent bouts of bronchitis. The new thing is a drug called Xolair that targets a specific immunoglobulin implicated in severe asthma. The down side -- of course there's a down side -- is the cost, which is so extremely high that the second question at each level of the screening process (after "Do you have asthma?") is "Do you have extra health insurance that covers drugs?"

Having quit my government job, I no longer have such coverage, and the insurer responsible for military dependants is taking its sweet time in processing my husband's application for coverage for me. The dependant medical benefit pays only 80 percent of the cost of prescription drugs, and Xolair is so expensive that even 20 percent of the cost is thousands per year. On the other hand, uninsured medical expenses are tax-deductible, so I will never pay income tax again. Unless, of course, I win the lottery.

Meanwhile, I'm lying low, drinking tea with the cat, and doing my best not to get sicker.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Apr 13 - 12:04 PM

Charmion, I don't have asthma, so I'm sure what I had a couple of weeks ago is only a wisp of what you experience. Even with extra naps and drinking lots of liquid there are still a few days when your brain is fuzzy and it's hard to get things done. Take care of yourself!

I think the job of selecting Art Thieme's computer is finished. I had a couple of late donations come in and they put us into the next level of machines and I found one that is perfect! I've listed it in that thread to see what people think.

This morning the cheerful men from the Salvation Army happily carried off the queen-sized mattress from my hall. I can't sleep on it any more, but for someone who doesn't have a mattress at all, it will be a help. I also gave them a printer and an old but good office chair. They wouldn't take the 36" cathode ray tube television, I'll have to get that to the Goodwill where they still take and sell them. It works fine - if I sent along one of the converter boxes there is no guarantee it would be used with this television, but someone would certainly snatch it up. I could probably sell the box on eBay so I'll hold onto it, or at least research it first. This is a year when the more donations I can make the better as far as my income tax. It looks like I'll be doing an every-other-year process with donations lowering my taxes.

It's sunny and very cold out today. Not freezing, but humid and in the low-40s. I hope the afternoon will give me some quality time in the yard since I took a vacation day today.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 11 Apr 13 - 06:33 PM

I'd intended to get some of the usual deck plantage out of the holding bed (the loam pile that will need to be moved..SOON) and fill the long planters with soil today, but got a late start and by that time all my energy had gone south AND it was precipitating a cold, semi solid rain mixed with sleet. Arghh! More "mixed precipitation" and cold weather in the forecast for tomorrow.

Ranger1 is coming down on Sunday or Monday to help me move the part of the firewood stack that we intend to keep. But we'll have to do some rescue work where it's going, as my plow guy pushed up large rocks and driveway dirt into that area. It also has the 4x4s (and 6x6s) salvaged from the main deck which destructed years ago. I think we can use some of that to stack the firewood on. The good-sized rocks need to be moved back inside the turnaround which is where the plow guy inadvertently moved them from. (Took me twenty years to outline the turnaround with them...took him about 15 minutes to totally mess them up. That was a couple years ago when we only had ONE plowable snowfall.)

Need to transplant a forsythia from the holding bed, too. And move the loam pile as well (or as much as we can before I get the plants replanted).

Oops, supper's ready. More later, I think.
Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 11 Apr 13 - 07:02 PM

No yoga for me today.

No. Today I am tired. Jeremiah is tired. It is cold, rainy and foggy outside...a perfect day to stay home and do a whole lot of whatever we felt like doing. For me, that was dishes. The warm water felt so good on my hands that I did the dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher. I am on my 3rd load of laundry. The kitchen floor has been swept and the table cleared. I completed 6 eyebags. I indulged in some *invisible* thread to close the eyebags, however, what a pain in the a** that stuff is. It was hard to thread the sewing machine for obvious reasons but then it kept breaking. I'm chucking it and will never use it again. EVER. It was much easier to thread and rethread with the colors than mess with the other stuff!

I am going to a quilting retreat next month and am thinking ahead about what I want to take and how organized I want to be. Last year was our first year going. We arrived at the time they said the doors would open only to find that most people were already there and set up. We got stuck with tables in the middle of the room that were round. ICK. I want a rectangular table with my back to the wall. Last year I took my UFO's (UnFinishedObjects) in separate bags and thought I was good to go. What a mess. This year I have a sewing case with wheels so I don't have to haul that. I'm making a bag that will hold all my various sizes of mats and rulers. My projects are now in clear plastic boxes, fabric labeled for which project it was intended. I hate cutting fabric. I'm not good at it and I find it frustrating. I've decided I'm going to cut my fabric ahead of time for each of the patterns I'd like to work on. I have a few bags I want to make, a few table runners, a couple of Christmas tree skirts and one quilt that isn't TOO complicated. It will be a 48 hour retreat and we are welcome to sew all night long or to get up at 3am and sew to our hearts content....in our jammies, pigtails and slippers. Everyone brings food to share and the kitchen is open to everyone. The center provides 2 meals a day but honestly, there are so many things to eat in the kitchen off of the sewing room that there is no need to go elsewhere (although we all do...groaning that we aren't wanting to leave our sewing). Anyway...I'm having fun planning ahead. Now I know what to expect and I'm going to be READY! I just ordered 2 blow up mattresses for the cabin bunks. The little log cabins that we sleep in are divine...modern, very clean up to date bathrooms, a sweet porch to sit and chat or enjoy a cup of coffee as the sun comes up, pray, meditate, do yoga..whatever (4 adults to a cabin) BUT the beds, while pretty, are painfully hard. Last year we had to leave early as my mom could NOT spend another night on those beds....she was in such pain that she cried. This year we know better and will be prepared.

So yeah...a nice day at home. Puttering. Sewing. Planning. I needed this day. I really, REALLY did.

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 11 Apr 13 - 07:03 PM

That should read 16 eyebags!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 11 Apr 13 - 07:07 PM

Had a serious nap attack this afternoon. Totally out of the blue. I was going to head out and do a few errands (credit union, hardware store for seeds) when I discovered I just...couldn't. Sat in bed to read for awhile and found I couldn't keep my eyes open. Rufus kept me from floating to the ceiling while I napped (by lounging on my hip).

I could go right back to sleep, now that supper is over and stuff is put away. But will have to stay awake until at least 9:00 so I can read to Tom (we're reading Ruth Reichl's "Tender At the Bone"; I'm re-reading but he's hearing it for the first time) and then put him and the house to bed.

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 11 Apr 13 - 07:52 PM

Linn,

   I think it's just that kind of day! So glad you could catch a nap!!! Naps are the best!!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Apr 13 - 12:51 AM

Ruth Reichl is interesting - I've heard her on radio interviews a number of times.

This evening I loaded up a bunch of recycling stuff and took it down to the city hall bins. This is the reason I have so little trash at the curb twice a week. Lots of paper and cardboard, and a contractor's plastic bag so full that I almost had to drag it. I should probably use smaller containers and take it down more often.

I've been doing that every-other-day fast that they talked about in Food, Inc.. It doesn't feel bad, isn't too difficult to manage, and I've figured out a few things to make it easier. Do the dishes on the days I eat regular meals so I don't have to think about the food by washing dishes on the fasting days. Don't shop on fasting days, when I might buy more than I need. And this means that ever other day there is no cooking and the one midday meal is a collection of fruit or a sometimes veggies, supposed to be around 500 calories. I eat that around 3pm to divide the day fairly evenly, and I have a cup of bouillon in the evening. Drink water and tea during the day. I haven't gained any weight in the last couple of weeks and the pants I was wearing at work yesterday seemed a bit looser.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Apr 13 - 09:12 AM

You get garbage pick-up twice a week, Stilly? Luxury! In Ottawa, garbage per se is collected only once a fortnight, and compostable refuse (including grease, meat scraps and pet droppings) is picked up once a week. This schedule is not a problem from freeze-up to last frost, but the garage gets really stinky in summer.

The intermittent fast regime has as many critics as it has proponents, a pattern that always interests me. I have never found fasting anything but complete misery, while abandoning whole classes of foodstuffs -- cake and potato chips, for example -- comes more easily. I hope you find your chosen method to be sustainable.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Apr 13 - 11:11 AM

I think they pick it up too often - I don't usually have a bag at the curb more often than once a week, and sometimes it is only every couple of weeks. If everyone recycled the bins would fill fast down at city hall. I wish they'd do curbside recycling and reduce the trash pickup.

I don't eat much in the way of sugary foods, I've dropped the potato chips (though I love the cracked pepper and sea salt variety that Aldi carries), desserts, etc. I haven't drunk soft drinks in years. Since there doesn't seem to be anything unhealthy about the intermittent fasting, I'm not worried about the critics. It hasn't felt bad to do it (unlike attempting the Atkins diet - that one is awful!) I think if anyone has serious blood sugar issues or diabetes, the question of attempting this would be important. Some of my pants that were getting too snug fit better this week. My midday meal today includes a mango, some clementines, an apple, and a slice of baked sweet potato. Right now I'm getting more exercise on the weekends than during the week, but that is doing the trick - a couple of hours spent pushing a mower is a great workout.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Apr 13 - 04:38 PM

Big executive decision on an editorial project today, to cut out a lot of stuff and simplify to the point of a few paragraphs instead of pages. Now that feels good! More later.

It's a lovely day and looks like a good weather weekend coming up. Full speed ahead in the yard and garden!

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Apr 13 - 09:40 PM

I looked at what other universities in the area have done with their undergraduate catalogs. Most are online now - and the library listings were very brief. We've been able to edit ours each year and I followed the pattern of the previous year and updated numbers and databases and it was a couple of full pages. But this year I decided to see if this was typical - it's a lot of work and I doubt anyone reads it. They follow the link to the library and learn what they want there. So I ran it past a co-worker who concurred. Then I edited out 3/4 of the information, removed all references to numbers of things (except books - but who reads books any more? Alas.)

So, I decluttered our catalog entry.

I also sent in the order on Art's computer. It's in Chris's court now. :) I'm so looking forward to hearing from Art again, and this time on a machine that will seem light-years ahead of the previous ones he has had. It's simply marvelous that we have this kind of community that will do this. I am honored to have been part of it. It was a lot of research, but I find this kind of project very helpful - having an idea of what is current in computing is always useful when so much of what I do has to do with people accessing our library via computer.

Lovely weather ahead, and I'm getting to where my time is a little bit more my own.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: ranger1
Date: 12 Apr 13 - 10:50 PM

All you spoiled rotten people with trash pickup! The town I currently reside in doesn't provide it, we have to either pay to have a private contractor haul our trash or take it to the transfer station ourselves, for a $.90 fee per bag. I wouldn't mind so much except for two things: 1) I work all the days the transfer station is open and 2) I no longer have a truck, so I have to haul the trash in my car, which happens to be a station wagon. I had to take an hour off work today to get my now quite stinky garbage to the transfer station. But it's gone now.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Apr 13 - 11:44 PM

Seems that a burning barrel might be a good investment, Tami - or are there regulations?

In college in the earliest days of recycling I used to sort glass by color, plastic and metal by type, and haul it to campus every month or so. That was in the late 1970s.

My kitchen is cleared up this evening and there is time to throw in a load of laundry before bed - with these taken care of the weekend is a little less busy.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Apr 13 - 12:42 AM

Found this link this evening about the "fasting diet." I'm doing every other day, this talks about 2 days a week. I think that after kick-starting this with 3 days a week that 2 sounds like a good maintenance plan. I'm not eating junk on the "eating" days, just normal healthy food. My trousers today weren't as snug as they have been.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Apr 13 - 12:18 PM

Hovering around the computer this morning, waiting for confirmation of delivery from Best Buy. It's a lovely day outside and the dogs and I took a walk through the neighborhood before breakfast.

Exercise will be mowing and digging as I weed the front gardens.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 13 - 12:00 PM

Well, darn! 36 hours later Best Buy hasn't budged - there is a page where you can check on your purchase and the computer for Art never got past the "order received." Customer service couldn't do anything about the fact that this order was hanging. I've cancelled it and will go to the store and see if I can order it and I'll call the store on Chris's end to be sure they have the order and will hand it to him. I have avoided shopping at Best Buy for many years because their customer service sucks, but I hoped we could make this simple transaction without their ineptitude getting in the way. I'll go to the store this afternoon and see if I can pay for it there and get it set for Chris to pick up today.

Must mow the lawn today. I'll get that out of the way and then go over to Best Buy.

I got started pulling the paperbacks from my eBay shelves. Rather than try to sell them piecemeal I'm going to make a wholesale lot and see if someone who wants some interesting but not always the biggest names books. These are from my Dad's estate - he read a lot of mysteries. I may sell lots of all the same author (I have multiples of a few authors) but the rest are going in the big box. My last listed item sold the other day, so I need to get more stuff listed. Momentum helps me declutter one eBay box out of the house at a time!

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 14 Apr 13 - 07:29 PM

Just had my rear end handing to me at yoga. Whew. I had to take a break today...she was rocking it HARD. Last week she was all about how even God takes it easy on Sunday so we would in yoga too. Not today. WHEW WHEEEE.

Even though it was a really tough class, I feel FABULOUS. I could walk all night..my hips are so loose and my legs feel great. Lots of spinal work tonight...amazing how much more comfy my body feels!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 13 - 07:48 PM

I finished mowing front and back and made the rounds with the string trimmer. I also feel like I've had a workout, but it probably didn't work every muscle group equally well.

It smells like new mown grass, the sun is shining, it's the "golden hour" so I got some photos, mostly in the back. I'll wait till morning to get good shots in the front, when the sunrise is coming over my shoulder.

The kitchen is clean (it's easier to keep it that way now - this is a fast day) and most of the laundry is finished. One more load tonight. I need to select my clothes for the week - lots of stuff going on, lots of long days. I'll iron what I need for the week.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 13 - 11:05 AM

I stood on the scale this morning. Since I was weighed at the doctor's office about three weeks ago, and since I started this every other day fasting (with one 500 calorie meal of fruit in the middle of the "fasting" day) I'm down five pounds. What really helps is getting the exercise. Now that we're into mowing season I get (minimum) a couple of hours of exercise at least once a week. If we have a rainy spring I'll get that exercise twice a week.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 15 Apr 13 - 11:22 AM

Stilly,

Be careful with that fasting stuff if you are increasing your exercise. It's not healthy my friend and you risk having a serious blood sugar low. I am diabetic and can tell you that lows are no fun....think confusion, headache, heart palpitations, excessive sweating, irritability....maybe even passing out.

Laundry is in process here. I just sorted out a bunch of clothing that had been in our bedroom all clean and folded but not put away. I put all our stuff away and Jeremiah's will be going into the nursery in a bit. He has SO many pieces of clothing and since I am storing outgrown sizes for the yard sale, his room is getting a bit overloaded. I'm hoping to have some time later today to bag things by size so they will be easier to price and display for said sale.
Dishes are calling my name and so is my quilting. I also have a large grocery list to work on as tomorrow I'll be gathering ingredients to make several dishes that I can pack and freeze as individual portions for my 90 year old nana who is living alone (and doing well I might add) after a year + in the nursing home. She doesn't like to cook anymore and has been eating a lot of frozen prepackaged dinners. As she has a history of congestive heart failure issues, those things are TERRIBLE for her...way tooo much sodium...and besides...they taste terrible. I'll be going there for a few days in the upcoming week so I want to take a car full of things for her that will be easy to heat and eat. Decent, healthy food. :) I'll also be there to work on her Honey Do list. Vacuuming. Dusting. Taking curtains down to wash. Grocery/med shopping. Taking her to get her nails done. Going for walks outside with her (as she should NOT be doing that alone...although I think she probably is), etc. We are also going to play cards. Her favorite is Phase 10 and in my recent birthday card she wrote that she is going to kick my behind all over the place! LOL She's still got a great sense of humor...signed her card with a drawing of a woman with crazy hair like hers and signed it Einstein. LOL I'm looking forward to my visit!
Have a great day!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 13 - 12:13 PM

I know, Michelle, if I felt like my blood sugar was too low I would eat something. This isn't a fast in the strict sense. I'm not increasing my exercise so much as getting into my seasonal level of exercise after the quieter winter months. It's one day of regular eating and one day of tea and water with one mid-day meal of fruit. If someone is diabetic it probably wouldn't be a good idea. If someone is close to being diabetic, losing the weight and getting the hormone levels to a better level would be something to do under a doctor's supervision. I'm not diabetic or borderline, this is simply a way to reduce the cancer-growing hormone (that results from eating proteins, red meat in particular) and at the same time to lose weight. I will admit that the immediate effect of losing weight is something that suits my ego, to feel better about how I look, but the long-range goal of reducing potential cancer risks (Mom died of breast cancer) is the main reason for taking on this routine.

I have an eBay parcel ready to go. I have more things to list but it's a busy week. If I want to get it done I need to do it this evening. I'll be processing photos much of the rest of the week.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 15 Apr 13 - 08:50 PM

60 Minutes of moderate yoga tonight.

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Apr 13 - 12:40 AM

The box of books in my office is full. There are more on the shelf, but this is a good starting point. I'll type up a list them and then put the lot on eBay. Quite a few of them had been grouped by twos or threes to sell as small groups, but except for some charismatic authors, that is a slow way to get rid of the books. As a batch they might intrigue someone who sells mysteries.

The kitchen is cleaned up, and there is one small batch of laundry to run.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Apr 13 - 11:39 AM

Tomorrow on campus is the Earthday activity, and some of you may remember that three or four months ago I had a bunch of VCR tapes to recycle. I kept the box till now and it's in the pickup so I can bring it over and have them recycled. Saves me about $40 (shipping and the recycle fee.) I should go through my shelves tonight and see if I can't find some more and take advantage of this once-a-year event.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 13 - 08:47 AM

Very busy week, day three. I dug out my Samsonite wheel thing that you can load a piece of luggage on and haul - I'll use it for my box of VCR tapes later today. I use it once every couple of years, but when I need it, it is so very practical that I always keep it around. Somewhere. I found it in the second place I looked today. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 17 Apr 13 - 12:11 PM

Major cooking and prep work going on here today. So far, I've peeled 10 pound of potatoes and made them into mashed potatoes, cooked up 8 pounds of hamburger, peeled and cut up 5 pounds of carrots and maybe 3 pounds of celery, cut and cooked down a mountain of onions, did dishes, cooked breakfast for my men and packed Pete's lunch. My belly does not like all this standing work so I'm taking a break with my feet up. I don't know what the issue is but ugh. I can do it for so long and then I MUST sit down...pain demands it.

I am waiting for the corn to unfreeze (cooking it in a pot on low low low) so I can assemble the Shepherd Pie into freezing containers that will hold enough for 2 meals. I will use any leftover ground beef to make beef BBQ which also freezes nicely. Shortly I will get the beef stew meat ready (dredged and browned) to hit the crock pot and then the chicken casserole which is pretty easy with very little prep required. I'll cook all the ingredients separately and assemble them in the freezeable/microwavable containers. And since our hens are laying eggs like gangbusters, I'm going to make custard later today (first time for everything)!

I have 15 brand new containers for the freezer and intend to fill all of them (and more if needed in older containers). I am primarily cooking to take food to my Nana so she will have decent meals that are easy for her to prepare.

Later this afternoon I will be making stuffed shells too.

Happy Cooking!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 13 - 04:57 PM

[slaps forehead] After lugging 25 pounds of VCR tapes to the e-recyclers on campus today, I learned that there are bins in the library and other campus locations where they can be deposited any time. I'm so glad I didn't pay to recycle those, and feel silly that I lugged that box so far and waited so long to do it. But I learned something very useful and I'll share it in the next library newsletter.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Apr 13 - 05:39 PM

In city, hopefully only for the day:
Working through at least 6 loads of laundry. Two to go. We were totally out of clean clothes!

Truck is still not inspected so, with R using my car and etc, I have had a rather unproductive two weeks. And the end of patience.

Lots has been accomplished at the mill - the beginings of my new studio with a beautiful Burgundy door and two big windows. Ideas abound - in my mind - for gardening up on the open area: maybe some buckwheat, using frames found out back for slightly raised beds, also framework for the wheelchair ramp (I am insisting on accessible). Thinking of cut flowers for farm market and .... Make vases, too.

Trimmed R/s hair and, of necessity, started vacuuming cabin - about half done before leaving this morning. Also raked leaves around the cabin and cleared the perennial bed in city.

Sold a few pots at Farm Market on Sunday. Found fabric at the store for an awning - with muted burgundy stripe on off white - for over the door and windows of studio and over LR-to-be window and door also. They gave me a small piece to take home to see if my machine will deal with it but I am thinking sewing may not be necessary. Snaps might do the job or heavy velcro - sewn on. My featherweight has done upholstery material with no problem so...

Fell flat on my face Tuesday. MOST distressing but R watched and informs that I stepped on the vines and then caught the other foot under. I did not have a chance! Said vines have been removed - with a vengeance! I have an interesting red dot in the middle of my forehead and a bruised palm, and a slightly dis-oriented shoulder area. All is healing and returning to normal. I am SO lucky! I am afraid I have always been a bit prideful about not falling or, at least, not damaging myself on those rare occasions. Hence the saying, "Pride goeth before a fall"!?

A long phone call with a friend (two hours on the phone on Saturday!) elicits the info that her 70 pound overweight daughter (almost 60) has lost 21 pounds on the fast two days/week diet. Mom is thrilled to pieces. I am considering it.

Wonderful Jesse Winchester concert on Saturday. Second row, centre! I have never appreciated him as much as this time. It was incredible. He was incredible. Voice as instrument of great delight. And his whole body a performance of subtle amazement. Then there were the disappointed friends of Sunday whom I could have offered a ride! DUMB me!

Better go move clothes to dryer.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Apr 13 - 09:29 PM

The old tomcat died today. The house smells better already, but I will be hearing his baritone meow for a long time.

I have lost more than 25 pounds since New Year's Day, and now I'm looking critically at my wardrobe. Now that I don't have an office job, I feel very little inclination to buy new clothes except perhaps a pair of jeans that actually fit, and I don't mean fashion jeans either.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 13 - 10:31 PM

I'm sorry about the cat - how old was he? And yes, not only will you hear him, you'll probably feel him as you're falling asleep, when he hops on the bed like usual.

Great work on the weight loss! What are you doing to lose the weight? Are you at your goal?

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Apr 13 - 06:26 AM

When he arrived at our door -- literally -- Bill was a full-grown unneutered tom, with a broad skull, a deep voice and a powerful physique. He was probably two years old then, and he was with us for 13 years.

My " diet" is a food scale, a gym membership, and a website called mynetdiary.com. I weigh most everything I eat and enter it in the diary. Portion control and elimination of calorie-dense non-nutritious foods come easy that way.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Apr 13 - 10:56 AM

You're disciplined - that is excellent!

The title of the thread has finally come to pass here. I slept through the overnight rain so we apparently didn't have the thunderstorms predicted. But there was about 2 inches (by the back porch dog-dish measure) of rain - and the difference to the garden of getting rainfall versus water from the hose end is remarkable. I expect a growth spurt in the garden over the next week.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Apr 13 - 05:03 PM

Disciplined! Good heavens, I cannot even keep a "diary" for more than a couple days. No wonder Charmion has lost weight and I am still... Phooey!

still in city but hopeful. Really want to hear Terry Joe Banjo in St. I tonight!

One more load of laundry today as I changed the city bed clothes. Four big garbage bags of laundry and winter clothes ready to go to the country. I cleaned out the clothes shelves. Frig mostly cleaned of dead food; not as bad as I expected. Dishes washed. Sink empty and clean. Plants watered. Packed up pottery stuff, having given up on doing it here. Not dealing well with separate places. All in the head.

Walked to Canadian Tire -6 blocks - to look at plants but not 'til next week. So I did not buy seeds either. Went to grocery and carefully did not buy too much to carry home. Seeds were 33 cents! prob smaller packets but that's OK. Still time to look elsewhere before planting time.

It was chillier than I expected so I took a jacket we had bought R and found a hat and mitts! I think this is now MY jacket. I really like it! R would just get it dirty or lose it - like the last one we got him.

We drove way far last night, to get a door for $35?? Yes. It is a beautiful burgundy steel door with all hardware. For the mill. LR door and BIG window were installed yesterday! Bruno sent pics to R and it looks great. If you imagine new siding and new walls inside and...

In the one step forward and... While I did laundry, R was dealing with a stolen 15,000 pound fork lift???? And other business things. Life is sometimes more interesting than we would wish.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Apr 13 - 06:54 PM

Both my brothers have developed Type II diabetes, a bullet that I so want to dodge. I was tested last week and cleared, and I would not like to tempt fate. Also, over the last 10 years or so, I started having trouble with my guts, which turned out to be diverticulosis and lactose intolerance. So adopting a healthier diet and becoming a bit of a gym rat feels far more like a recovery and prevention plan than a discipline. The weighing, measuring and logging ritual makes me hyper aware of what I eat and how it affects me, and the impact of exercise on caloric needs.The diary tracks a wide range of nutrients, most notably sodium and calcium, and nags me when I'm getting too much of the one and not enough of the other.

It helps immensely that my husband is very fitness-focussed, and never complains or makes smart remarks about the scale.

I haven't done a lick of housework this week, thanks to the bronchitis that followed last week's messy cold, but I must at least run the vacuum cleaner through the place before Sunday, when we are leaving for a three-week road trip. The layer of cat hair on all the rugs casts a sort of veil over the oriental colours ... and that is not a good thing.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 13 - 04:35 PM

We've all been busy away from the computer, evidently. Two days have passed!

A few small throw rugs are in the washer soaking, I've done some dusting around the house (if I don't wait too long I can use that fluffy dust attractant thing that I fill with dust and then shake outside.) Dishes put away, and now I'm headed out into the yard. I'll do more laundry tonight and clear up the kitchen table. Now that I know I can take VCR tapes to a bin to recycle whenever I have them ready, I'll pull a few for taking in next week.

Right now, though, I'm going to spend a couple of hours working in the yard. It has warmed up today into the 70s, so it will be perfect out there.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 13 - 07:57 PM

Front yard mowed, and I enjoyed watching a female grackle run interference on the bugs I ran over. She was a row or two away grabbing bugs, and several times I watched with frank amazement as a small grasshopper or katydid would launch itself and she would take off and intercept it a few feet off the ground. Several times she disappeared with the big ones (taking to a nest?) and then return to eat and catch more.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 13 - 11:55 AM

I'm down a couple of pounds since last week. With this alternate day fasting if I mow on the day I'm fasting I really boost the calorie burning. I haven't felt any low blood sugar events - that doesn't happen very often to me anyway, but if I did happen on such an occasion I'd stop and eat or drink something.

Further research on eBay shows that large batches of books don't sell for any more than moderate sized boxes of books. I have some smaller boxes (a bit larger than a typical shoe box) that I can pack with ~ 20 books, so I'll do that. They're lighter and shipping costs (even as media mail) won't look so intimidating.

There is a batch of stuff ready to go over to Goodwill this afternoon.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Apr 13 - 02:36 PM

Gave my daughter my collection of vintage Hawaiian shirts today. Over 250 of them.

Also a suitcase of vintage ties.

My clothes closet now has some empty spots.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Apr 13 - 04:32 PM

Temp. minus 3 this afternoon in Calgary, a few snowflakes.
No outside cleanup yet.
Hope spring comes by May.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Apr 13 - 05:42 PM

Yesterday in Quebec was cold/windy/rain/sleet. A great day for R to fix the holes in the soffits at his parents' (deceased) home due to neighbour's complaint about raccoons. This after I shared at least one article last fall on the importance of tightening up buildings before winter. I got to help a couple times. COLD!

Before going, we checked out the progress at the mill, and "did" the library, thrift shop and fabric store, each a social event as well. Planning awnings for east and south facing windows. Have a agreed on fabric! Not doing very well on the de-cluttering - another bag of books and some work clothes for R and a cosy jacket which came in handy already. We can share it.   

Cabin today, alone! Beautiful day but still cool. After I indulged in a couple blueberry muffins I remembered I had planned to fast today since R has gone to do things elsewhere. Next time.

Managed to put away the prodigious amount of laundry, pack some books and a quantity of throw rugs. Cleaned the hearth and had a nice fire in the wood stove. Thought I would pot today but the heater has quit - sometime between last night and this morning. Bummer!!!

Hung up a "new" flannel sheet to air and a nifty piece of irresistible fabric from the thrift shop (outdoors because the detergent was smelly). Washed a bucket. Filled two large planters with soil and put them into a container to soak; hope to replant parsley and coriander from small pots - successfully, maybe. Wrote two lengthy emails and rec'd a call from a distant friend. Took labels off some good storage jars - after I found the "goop off" in the studio. The action of doing that caused the shoulder to hurt so much I gave up anything for an hour or so. Now contemplating what useful things to do next.

I am at the NEED BOXES phase of packing in prep for June move. Such a nuisance. I am looking forward to getting it done and organizing yet another abode. As windows go in, I assess our drapery supply. Too public an area to leave wide open.

R's b-day on Thurs. Thinking of what to do?

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 13 - 10:45 PM

Dorothy, I don't think I'm sensitive to scents like you are, but my mother was and was always having to air out her magazines after tearing out the perfume inserts and trashing them outside, never letting them into the house. I kind of average on the laundry scent, mixing a bottle of no-scent with the scented variety (Cheer and Arm & Hammer) so it is very lightly scented.

Q, that's pretty impressive. Will your daughter use the shirts for some kind of sewing project? I've seen spectacular quilts made out of necktie silk, and I can imagine Hawaiian shirts would be equally gorgeous. If she does, I hope you'll post links in a thread somewhere. Are you on facebook? Lots of this stuff gets shared there.

I have a box ready to mail and a bag ready to drop off at Goodwill. Clothes, shoes I haven't worn, household stuff. I ended up not going anywhere today. One more load of laundry and some ironing to get ready for the week. I love it when I can push stuff out of the house in weeks when I didn't bring anything new in. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Apr 13 - 12:53 PM

The Hawaiian shirts will be kept and probably offered one by one on Ebay. I was in Hawaii (1960s) before the interest spiraled and got a lot of them in goodwill, etc. shops, when they were lumped with other used shirts. Now, the goodwill stores sell them to vintage stores where they are sold at collector prices. (A new quality Hawaiian shirt, sewn in Hawai'i, made of good cotton, runs $75 or more.)

The ties will be used in costumes and perhaps a quilt. Most are good silk with some pure wool. In the 1960s, when I was hitting all the used and junktique stores, the local goodwills were loaded with them, and I picked out the ones made with good silk.

My daughter also was happy to get the old suitcases that they were in- she stages some local theater, and vintage props are not always easy to find anymore.
I had other vintage stuff she could use (gooseneck lamps, an old radio or two, that sort of thing).

The sun is ahining and the snow-ice is disappearing on shaded areas. Maybe up to 13-15 for a few days, and the grond will thaw. Spring is 3 weeks late here.
The city accepts yard waste delivered to local sites, but prefers it in large paper bags, which also can be composted. Bought them at Canadian Tire.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 13 - 01:44 PM

Stopped by Goodwill and the post office to drop off stuff. I read the postal regs so I'm still working on one box I plan to send soon.

Now that I know about the VCR (and other e-waste) recycling bin at work I've taken a look at the shelves in my front room with all of the old tapes stacked up. They're next to a bunch of paperback mysteries from my dad's house that are all stacked up. I kept the series of books that dad had been sending because he thought I'd enjoy them, but I haven't had time (and because they're out of sight, I'd forgotten about them.) I think I can reduce the amount of stuff in that corner in the next couple of weeks, bringing in a few at a time. If I decide not to keep the books I'll go the eBay route, or my local used bookstore. I'm a packrat, I'll probably keep the books.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 13 - 11:44 PM

Books on eBay tomorrow. Mostly mentioned to bring this back up to the top. What is everyone else doing to discard clutter this week? It's time for Spring Cleaning - what are your instincts telling you about clearing out clutter?

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Apr 13 - 10:15 AM

SRS: There are places where scents/fragrances are being outlawed in public places - schools, offices. Friends tell me a concert venue in NYS puts on their tickets to refrain from fragrances. It is a growing movement.

When I lived in PA, I had a credit card at a dept. store. I had phoned a couple times about receiving fragrance "samples" with my bill. So, when I picked up the mail on leaving home and had to hang it out the tailgate in a plastic bag, I drove to the store, marched into their office, slammed the offensive material on the counter and told them I would be contacting a lawyer if it happened again. It did not. Sometimes, the only way to get progress is to get tough! Another store heard me the first time.

Fragrances generally contain neuro-toxins which cause the brain to react in anger. I consider them assault - with a potentially deadly weapon except it is the person who is sensitive who might get angry enough to lash out. I mean this literally.

Yesterday, with great determination, I started the fast thing. with a small corn muffin for breakfast and green tea all day. Lunch was about one inch of a chocolatine; I bought one each for three of us and forgot. Amazingly, I did not feel the need or desire to gobble the whole thing!!

I bought some baby carrots and ate 3 at two intervals and later a piece of foccacia - after checking the calorie count. I am pretty sure I was under 500 c for the day and was amazed that I managed it.

I started out emptying and cleaning a kitchen cupboard - the source of moths!! All clean!! for now anyway. The I drove us to the Mill, ran errands for supplies, drove us to Montreal (50 miles), went to the bank and grocery, read for a while while waiting for R to finish a meeting. We loaded three doors into my wee car, picked up a parcel at the post office, checked on work at another site and drove back to the Mill.

Bruno had finished two more windows - the solarium to be, about 9 feet square will have two walls of window- east and south. Now there is a great view of the road and neighbours. B looked at me in amazement when I said, "Now I am planning what size draperies I need to avoid looking at THAT!" At the five foot level, we will still have a view of the sky - ONLY! I will use white, not too heavy; it is only the view I detest. Also the ghastly big yard light at the property next door. Actually, I am thinking about shades that roll UP from the floor level

I need about a 100 large, fast growing cedars to block the view and road noise. OR a six foot solid fence?

Read in the car as there is still no clean, warm place inside, and dragged R away about 9:30, driving us home and giving him a bite to eat before he took necessary bath. Today, I need to vacuum up the sawdust he dragged in!

Ate breakfast today and feel as though I swallowed a cow. R has plugged in a different heater so the studio is warm and I am hoping to actually get some work done today. He has taken his unregistered truck to the city "keep your phone on in case I need rescuing". I have my car for the first time in almost 3 weeks. No place to go!!

R is, allegedly, renting a box truck to bring windows, doors, and more down for the Mill. He is de-cluttering other buildings, where he has accumulated stuff stored!

We were talking black tiles on top of the concrete floor of the solarium for a great heat sink. However, it occurs to me that simply cleaning the concrete really well and painting it black, perhaps in a swirly pattern with some midnight blue, would work as well. I even have two small rag rugs that are predominantly black. I bought them recently at the thrift shop, telling the nice young woman, "You can never have too many throw rugs!" (Maybe you can! I packed a huge garbage bag full the other day!) Other areas will have wood floors.

Reading a fascinating book calle Cheating Death by Sanjay Gupta,MD. About relatively new ways in which some doctors are saving patients - induced hypothermia for one. Current chapter on comas includes story of a doctor who came out a a coma long after he was thought to be "brain dead". He could hear and see what was going on around him while he was "brain dead". That chapter was, appropriately, prefaced with a quote from Edgar Allen Poe. I am wondering how many people were sent to the mortuary... Dreadful thought. I won't stay there!

Beautiful sunny day. May be in the 50s later.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Apr 13 - 10:51 AM

I did some spring cleaning in my car. It feels good to have it so empty. It's been a combination of winter gear, Toys R Us and random stuff that I kept leaving behind. It's MUCH better now. I've even changed the CDs I carry around with me. I've been listening to the same 3 CDs for MONTHS (which is ok, I do love them...but it's time)!

I have been away for a few days and I'm glad to be home.

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Apr 13 - 12:54 PM

Been mostly offCat due to ministry travel and helping a friend get ready for her wedding-- MOH having some health emergencies so there was a lot of fun stuff not happening. We went up to the mall last night and by the grace of God I WALKED what I have only scootered for years, with my trusty walker/seat to be sure I could sit as needed.

I still do not like shopping per se, but it bodes well for some museum touring Hardi and I have wanted to do-- which is how I knew I could mall-walk-- we went to a wonderful traveling exhibit last week dealing with the scientific background and economic/social underpinnings of what we now call "race," which until fairly recently was actually not a way of looking at the world at ALL.

The website has all the exhibit's resources, but in person it allows for relaxed, reflective, facilitated, post-viewing conversations. (I'm looking forward to networking with folks who have been in those, in their areas.) So if it comes near you, I highly recommend it.


"RACE: Are We So Different?" explores the stories of race from biological, cultural, and historical points of view. Hint: we're not all that different!

INCLUDED:

<> Everyday Experience of Race
: Learn about social and personal experiences of race in familiar settings such as home, neighborhood, health and education. Race and racism is not just inside our heads. It is built into our laws, traditions and institutions.

<> The Science of Human Variation: Racial categories are human-made. Humans are more alike genetically than any other living species. This section focuses on what current science tells us about human variation and our species' history.

<> History of the Idea of Race: Race has not always existed. Sorting people by their physical differences is only a few hundred years old. Discover how the development of the idea of race is closely linked to early United States.

There are hands-on activities for all ages!

~Susan

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Apr 13 - 01:47 PM

I spent this morning rearranging my countertops and getting rid of some typical kitchen counter items that I just don't use. Also, I have an antique hoosier coming to my kitchen soon...gotta really decide what I want to keep/use and do some reorganizing!

Jeremiah has just had a fun bath and now it's my turn. Then we are off for a walk...it's a lovely day outside!

*I keep telling myself that because the truth is, I'm dog tired. Gotta keep moving forward!

We are going to meet with a friend to decide on some kitchen lights for her house and then a team meeting later.

I just need a little oomph.

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Apr 13 - 02:26 PM

Michelle, I have a Hoosier kitchen (aka Kitchen Queen) and have had a number of uses for it. Right now it is where I park all of my dinner party stuff. Cups, napkins, paper and plastic plates (disposable), extra stainless steel silverware (the same batch my dad used for guests at his house), glassware, cake plates, table cloths, sturdy plastic plates (like for picnic, but also my Melmac), party trays, cookie tins, etc. Table place mats are in there, and the lower drawers (like the metal bread box drawer) have a few other items (batteries, pads of paper, extra cooking implements.) And with the pull-out porcelain-topped work surface, I can load it with either all of the plates and silver and cups and such, or I can load it with food for people to serve themselves.

In past year's I've used the top portion as a bar, but I don't really have enough bar stuff to make it worthwhile to use it that way. It used to have a really tall upper cupboard, where there used to be a flour bin/sifter thing, I think (not present when I got it), I drilled holes for those little L shaped shelf holders and put in two shelves. For a while I kept my cookbooks in there, but I have too many, so that is the cake plates and some crystal I use for fancy meals.

I'm working on finishing (one of these days!) a buffet for in the dining area, and some of this stuff will be moved in there, but most of what will go in the buffet is stuff that has languished in a trunk for years.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Apr 13 - 08:26 PM

SRS,

   I put a photo up of it when it gets here and is all set up! I can't wait to have it here!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Apr 13 - 10:38 PM

"I did some spring cleaning in my car. It feels good to have it so empty." Gee, Michelle, that's what I did today! It sure does feel good. I de-cluttered it of wood chips and sawdust, put the seats up and thought about a sign, "THIS IS A CAR! not a truck!" Took a cracked on the bottom red wash bucket to triage things - compressor in case of flat tire, whisk broom, water jug ... So they are not all over the floor but neatly tucked in the back and easily moved.

Other than some lengthy emails written, I spent WAY too much time on internet but it has been interesting and of some use as well. Then I drove down to the Mill to see what was happening, stopping at two groceries on the way and one on the way back.

Good job I went. R had just arrived with a box truck it took them all day to load. And B had the wrong windows ready for the solarium. R neglected to tell him we were getting a real patio door, frame and all. We can use the others elsewhere. I seem to have neglected to tell R that with the patio door set, we do not need yet another window in that wall.

Kept the food intake low.

A "check" light is on in car. I cannot figure out what it is I am supposed to check - probably the oil as a change is overdue. I am so unused to having the car, after three weeks, that it did not occur to me to take it to garage today or, at least, make an appointment. Priority for tomorrow.

Now, check on new listings for country properties - very cheap ones.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Apr 13 - 12:19 PM

I'm hitting my stride as far as this eating/fasting routine. My fridge doesn't have as much stuff in it, and what is in there is more veggies and fruit. I make a point of clearing up the kitchen sink on the regular meals day so I can more easily skip the meal triggers on the off days.

Today I am wearing a belt with my slacks. They're too loose now, but it's not quite time to try the next size down. I don't want to put on the next size down pants that are too tight and have them slowly become looser, I want to wait until they fit nicely and make the move. I'm really tired of too-snug trousers. :-D

I've reached a point where the three most likely triggers for dermatitis are out of my diet and my hands have cleared up. I will try adding back one at a time to see what happens, then back off and try adding the next. It could be a combination of items.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Apr 13 - 01:21 PM

Made appointment to have summer tires put on and an oli change tomorrow 8 am! Arghhh! But it needs to be done a couple weeks ago. Glad to have car cleaner for this!

Arranged to do two stints at a local museum - demo and maybe sell a few. Organizer phoned me yesterday and I called her early this morning - before she got out doing farm chores. Then talked with another potter who is interested in sharing the Mother's Day one. Looking forward to meeting a potter!

Sent R off before 8 this morning, made calls, drove to garage to make appointment - too hard for me on phone, came back to cabin, took hot bath, read while recovering, nice salad for lunch, have done all emails, de-cluttered some duplicate info on computer while looking for info I did not find. NOW, maybe I can get to the studio and actually work.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 25 Apr 13 - 11:23 AM

Been too busy of late to check in here much. And last week I had trouble keeping out of my own way.

Okay, deep breath...

Tom is breakfasted and ready to greet his physical therapist (who I thought was coming tomorrow). Compost is taken out, citrus vinegar cleaner is filtered and drained (still needs a spray bottle...and the other cleaner/air freshener's spray bottle needs labeling), laundry detergent made and measuring scoop found, box of baseball books for my brother all packaged up and set to go to post office after therapist leaves, one load of well composted compost onto back flower bed, appointment made for Tom's medical assessment (tomorrow), dishes out of dishwasher, more dishes into dishwasher, more stuff put on pile for library sale, more stuff cleaned out of car and phone call in to my used car guy for more info on when my new-to-me 2002 Subaru Outback will be ready and I'm about to answer a Freecycler looking for Christmas stuff which may get rid of another box of stuff, and a large bag of miscellaneous is in the boot of the car for the next time I'm in the vicinity of Goodwill.
Soon I can actually get to work on the projects on my list...;-)

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Apr 13 - 11:42 AM

Dorothy,

   I know what you mean about wood chips in the car, we have pellets and hay in there too (or at least there was)! Funny, my check engine light has been on as of late too. I added antifreeze (which was low) and oil. Lights are still on. I added gas. The lights went out. Then they came back on! I had a diagnostic test run at Auto Zone (or someplace like that) and it came back as an intake problem...most likely some some ick in my gas tank. The car seems to run fine. The check engine light comes on periodically and the oil light comes on sometimes when I step on the gas. Weird. Inspection is due next month so if it continues, I'll speak to them about it. Otherwise, it seems to be running just fine.

   My countertops continue to look beautiful. The rest of my house looks like a tornado went through. One of those tornados is a cute little boy but the other 2 tornados are less cute and should know better! LOL I'm working on some of that today but it's SO nice outside. I'm giving myself a time deadline and then we are just going outside to walk and hit the playground. Clutter will wait! Spring is calling!!!! Yoga is calling too!

Have a great day everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Apr 13 - 12:30 PM

Nothing new to contribute - though I have more boxes of books to try to get listed on eBay this evening. It is difficult sometimes - I'm tempted to keep them all to read, but I know I don't have time, so they do need to be moved out. If I decide I want to read any of these authors later I can get them from the library.

I wish I had a wood-burning stove. I'd love the hot air blowing into the house in the winter. I blocked off my fireplace with insulation two winters ago and my heating and cooling bills have been much lower since because that fireplace was poorly constructed and lets in a lot of heat in the summer and cold in the winter.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 25 Apr 13 - 02:15 PM

Well, the person doing the medical assessment landed at my door today, too. (We'd not actually TALKED to each other, just a surprise email this morning, I left a telephone message, and then she arrived, minutes after the therapist left.) So, okay, that's over with and the process is moving along. (We're applying for CFI.)

One more thing checked off the list.

I'm off to the post office now if the phone ever stops ringing.

When I get home, I'm moving some firewood around and then taking the rest of the day off (at least until supper).

BTW, finished the Ruth Reichl book a couple nights ago and started reading "Serve It Forth" from M.F.K. Fisher's "The Art of Eating" aloud to Tom before bed. Again, it's a reread for me (but I last read it in the '80s) but new for Tom.

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Apr 13 - 09:21 PM

Jeremiah and I walked a mile and a half today (not all at once) and played at the playground.

I went to yoga....she worked us...I'm loving it!!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Apr 13 - 11:23 PM

Does Jeremiah do yoga at home with you? I bet he's interested.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 26 Apr 13 - 08:24 AM

He does do some yoga with me and he loves it! He now asks me just about every day, "Mommy, are you going to yoooooga?" :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 13 - 01:42 PM

I didn't forget about those black and white 3-ring binders we talked about a while back. I was working on a box to send and keep it cheap. I was going to copy a couple of music books and put the pages in each binder. The binder is considered media when it is shipped with a book or journal inside. And since media mail is subject to inspection, each binder needed a document of some sort. I think I'll simply recycle some magazines, three-hole punched, and one per binder. It may look odd, but would satisfy the rules.

I scored a whole bunch of these binders today when Special Collections cleared out some they don't need now (we're moving floors for the summer so everyone is doing spring clearing out - I got some great picture frames that had been taken off of items that were donated and are now filed in mylar or other archival systems. I have so many things at the house that I've never put up because the framing would be so expensive. I know, clutter - but I could sell any I don't use.

So - binders are still on the table for those who expressed interest in them.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 26 Apr 13 - 01:54 PM

Maggie, I'm still very very much interested in the binders. While I'm trying to maintain a particular style for my major archival project, I always need binders for peripheral things. Including a recent archival project (fortunately not huge) that was just shipped to me -- the musical notes, collections, etc. of my friend Bess Foulke (Bryn Mawr, Class of 1952; she passed away a couple years ago) from whom I got the song "Aunt Clara" which she had learned from her college roommate's father.

That collection I'm planning on cataloging and then finding a safe and accessible repository for it.

I'm not sure what I'm getting accomplished today, but I did get at least one thing done that was on yesterday's list -- calling a friend in Canada who didn't have time to talk when I called her on Sunday.

Other than that it was just the usual stuff: shower and hairwash, breakfast, sponge bathe Tom and dry shampoo his hair, lunch, clean up the kitchen. I want to get out and move some more firewood over to where Tami is stacking it and I've got to move the CDs in the front seat of the car and turn the car around in anticipation of heading to the Press Room for this evening's session. Wow. Two weeks in a row for Tom!

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 13 - 03:26 PM

Good! I bagged a couple more (I didn't want to take them all at first, other people were picking up some. But I just looked, there was an orpan I've added to my collection.)

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 26 Apr 13 - 09:32 PM

Afternoon at the playground with Jeremiah and friends (for both of us!) and another tough yoga class....oddly, I beginning to really enjoy that kind of class. Pushing myself feels pretty darn good!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Apr 13 - 11:52 AM

Getting our back alley cleaned today. Remains of lovage, poppies,mallow, daisies, and about four feet of grass between the fence and the graveled roadway.

If the majority of the householders along our block agree, the city will asphalt the alley and charge for it, but most of us turned it down- too expensive.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 27 Apr 13 - 04:37 PM

Still in country!
Michelle: Check engine light can be a real pain. It costs me each time. This time $20. to find out - nothing. Sometimes it is the gas cap not put on quite right! Only once has it been useful - a loose air filter. I had gotten the car serviced before leaving Seattle area and finally bit the bullet and had it checked in eastern BC. Feels rather like a scam! That light.

Clean counter tops are a marvel! Wish I had enough cabinets to do that!

Car sounds happier with its new oil! It always tells me - by sound of engine - when it needs a change.

I finally managed to do glazing and firing and it was GOOD!!! Trial glazes netted a lovely soft matt green and more tests to try. Previous 3 newly tested with combos netted a few interesting effects. I actually made notes on what to do next.

What to do next is make more pots and I did a bunch today and then stopped to go to library. Then realized I only wanted to renew books so I phoned instead - and have not gotten back to potting. Once I change clothes...

All test tiles are now stuck to a piece of plywood fore perusal with some craft "glue" so they can be taken off and put back - I guess until that stuff gets tired. I also learned that a glaze I have been using for years is really amazing when put on thicker! I was so excited I wanted to jump in the car and take it to show to a friend in the city! (It is a rich, dark turquoise with visual interest, rather than just solid. I'll post a pic on FB.)

After my fast day on Monday.... I have been pretty good but each day I wake up thinking I'll do it today. Breakfast goes fine then I forget and have lunch..... The log book lasted the predictable two days but I found it today and updated.

Good weather - around 70 - next few days! I bought some plants yesterday from the local horticulture class; a beautiful hanging basket, some perennials including a beautiful day lilly, a spider plant, and a couple fuschia to make my own basket.

A groundhog raced me up the driveway yesterday! It lives under the cabin - at the front. A big beautiful skunk lives in the back apartment! It watched me, from its front door, the other day as I got out of the car and walked to the back door. I watched it too!

Piles of stuff to do. Think I'll read for awhile and hope for a burst of energy.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 27 Apr 13 - 04:40 PM

Today has been fantabulous!

It started with breakfast with my honey, a class we have both been wanting to take (which was GREAT), a picnic lunch with Jeremiah and Pete, playtime on the playground, a walk down to the lake, a shortish hike to the other side of the lake, turtle, osprey, dragonfly and bat sighting (at 3:00pm...strange for the bat), a nap in the sunshine, time to relax and off soon to a concert!

What a GREAT day!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Apr 13 - 05:29 PM

I've puttered, cleaned the kitchen and cleared the peninsula island so I could set up pie-making materials. I made a short video of how to make a pie crust and pumpkin pie filling for the kids. My daughter doesn't like pumpkin pie, but she does like pies in general. And my son has been doing more cooking now that he's in a house, not in a dorm. These small videos of mine are unlisted and I send the kids the links. They can share with friends if they want, but mostly this is my answer to sharing recipes, in the way my mother put together a three-ring binder of recipes for us when my siblings and I started cooking for ourselves.

Out into the garden for a bit, and I plan to walk the dogs before feeding them. I've listed more books so I'll be doing more eBay listings this evening.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Apr 13 - 08:46 PM

yES i STILL WANT BINDERS.

~s~

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: ranger1
Date: 27 Apr 13 - 10:56 PM

My grandmother is decluttering her house and sending it north with my mother when she comes to visit. Trying to think of a polite way to tell them all to cut it out. I'm sure they have thrift stores of their own they could donate this stuff to!

One of the boxes in the first load my mother dumped on my doorstep was a set of antique dishes. I took the rest of the load to the local thrift shop, but I thought this one might be worth something, if I could figure out the easiest way to sell it that didn't involve my having to ship or list on some website. That was three months ago, and the dishes still sit. But not for long - a young, recently divorced single mom who was trying to get back on her feet suffered a fire a couple of months back. There was an article about it in one of the free semi-local papers, along with a phone number. I called her and asked if she's like the dishes, if she didn't like them, she could sell them and get something she'd rather have. I emailed her a picture of the pattern, she loves them, and now I just need to come up with a day where I can drive an hour up the coast and drop them off.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 12:46 AM

I got about $275 for various charismatic pieces in the antique china I had, but the bulk of it, dinner plates, lunch plates, various saucers, all went to the Goodwill.

I did some cooking for the week today, and I got out and weeded and put mulch in the garden. I was going to use bagged leaves, but realized those do better on the paths, so I have hardwood mulch for the tops of the beds. I'll put a load of laundry in tonight, set on the delay timer so it washes early in the morning. I think I'll have my first laundry for the clothesline. It's warm enough now.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 08:57 AM

Today is the day I get organized for an upcoming quilting retreat! I want to go through each item I intend to work on (they are already all bagged and labeled) to make a list of any last minute things I need such as fusible interface, batting, etc. I have a few things to cut still but that won't take long.

I have a new air mattress (we have sweet cabins but the beds are like concrete) that has been airing outside now for 3 days. I inflated it and decided that new plastic smell was just more than I could handle...I'll bring it in later this afternoon and get that all packed up. I need to find my twin sheets (I have one or two around here somewhere) and would like to wash them and get all that packed as well.

We are all to bring some kind of snack to share for about 30 women. I have thought about it at length and have decided that I am going to call the local market and order a fruit tray. We've had them for holiday parties and they are pretty impressive and the price is great. For $25.00 or so, I will have a HUGE platter of fresh cut fruit. Beautiful. Healthy. Hassle free.

Lots of laundry to do today too. I've been slacking. It's just been too beautiful outside to worry about cleaning!!!! Sometimes, it just has to wait!!!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 11:08 AM

That sounds like a great plan, Michelle. And isn't it just a year or two since you got into quilting at all? How many items (ball park) have you completed now?

No clothesline drying today. It is humid and though the chance of rain diminished, I have realized that I need to get new clothespins. The old ones have gotten pretty gnarly. Some will last into the season, but I should have taken them off the line in the fall and I neglected that.

I've just seen another tool I'm going to end up adding to my gardening collection. It's called a stirrup hoe, and it works for weeding without digging. Here is an example (YouTube). There is also a wheel hoe that can run a stirrup. As I'm out in the garden I'll be visualizing what the device might be that will do what I need doing. This is one I hadn't visualized in this way, but will do what I need.

Off to make a shopping list. Payday is Wednesday!

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 02:14 PM

Oh heck. How many projects have I made? A good 7 at least. I've got a few UFO's that need to go along and be finished up and some new projects to do too! I started sewing last April or so...it's addicting! :) I'll put photos up on FB after the retreat if I get anything done! :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 13 - 02:48 PM

I was waiting for an eBay auction to end and not wanting to wander off too far and miss it. Decided to clean the stovetop, to see if I can make it look brand new. It's a longshot, but it is a reasonable thing to work on for a bit this afternoon. (I got the item on eBay.)

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 13 - 11:51 AM

The self-cleaning process takes about 4 hours, but it turns anything on the surface to dust, including the tough brown baked on grease on the glass. I should have done this a long time ago. I wiped it down with a damp cloth and it's finished. :)

It is warming up here finally, so I'll mow the lawn at lunchtime before it reaches the high-80s. I did the front yesterday, I need to mow the back today. It is a great form of exercise; I get the full workout by pushing it, not using the self-propelled.

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 29 Apr 13 - 12:20 PM

It's a craptastic day outside today so I finished some of the household chores and have settled into my chair with a rotary cutter, mat and a pile of fabric that needs to be cut. Jeremiah is happily playing with his trucks. Life is good.

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 13 - 12:22 PM

We need a "like" button here.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Donuel
Date: 29 Apr 13 - 03:01 PM

I finished planting the moon flowers and morning glories during the all day drizzle. The new moon should he;p get them going.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 29 Apr 13 - 09:36 PM

In the city waiting for R so we can go back to the cabin tonight.

This morning at the cabin I got up at the 8 hours sleep time (bed after midnight) and made a quick breakfast so we could get to the city. While waiting for R to get off the phone, I trimmed the rosemary - put the trimmings to dry, cleaned a plant of aphids (I hope), took off some shoots and put them in a couple pots to root (I hope), washed the dishes, put out food for the critters...

Oops, we went the other direction and ended up at the mill. I spent a couple hours washing one door and its sidelights and some windows. All the windows and doors are filthy - about an eighth of an inch of crud from sitting outside in the city! They needed to be hosed down before installation. I used newspaper and a spray bottle of water/vinegar. LOTS!

Finally got to the city house: have done both provincial and fed income tax (2 hours), put in 3 loads of laundry. Two are dry. Had a light supper reading - current is a delightfully written book about working for the Hudson Bay company in the 8o's - at the end of its life as fur trading posts in the NORTH.

Also watered the plants and picked up boxes from the trash across the street and some, needed, bucket lids and one small (good size) bucket. Listened to a message asking to order a couple mugs - over and over and still could not decipher the phone numbers correctly. But she said she was a friend of,,, So I phoned ... and got her number, and an order for a couple tumblers. These folks... are my most faithful customers. I need to ask the daughter about holding an open house for me.

Well, I actually feel as though I have had a productive day - did not produce any pots but - you know. Got stuff done! Back to they dryer.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 13 - 10:38 PM

Laundry finished, the most urgent shopping finished (paying cash - trying to not use the credit cards until they're paid off.)

I don't want to turn on the air conditioner yet, but it got warm enough today that it could be an option. The forecast says we'll have a cool down later in the week, so I'll stick with the ceiling fans.

Dorothy, how long do you have for moving out of the cabin?

SRS

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 30 Apr 13 - 01:51 PM

Been meaning to post here lately, but keep running out of time. Today's caregivers class was sandwiched between yesterday's podiatrist appointment (for Tom) and tomorrow's appointment with his primary care. Got some suggestions from his podiatrist that may make Tom less susceptable to cellulitis. More work for me, but, hey, that's what I'm here for. Hope we can get some useful suggestions tomorrow from Tom's PCP.

It's frustrating. Ginkgo could really help Tom's peripheral artery disease, but it would be dangerous for him to take it because he already takes Plavix (blood thinner) and his blood pressure runs low and really can't take the possibility of it going lower.

Tom did get a good workout from his therapist today while I was at class -- transitioning (again) to using a cane. Still, it will be safer this Friday for him to still use the walker to get to the Press Room session.

For some reason I'm really tired and achy today. I didn't think I did THAT much raking and moving leaves around yesterday while Tami & Jason were finishing up restacking the firewood we're keeping out of the way of the driveway getting "done" next week. Over the weekend I got the forsythia and some other plants out of the "holding bed" (loam pile) which my driveway guy will move for me before he can start work.

I've also got most of the leaves removed from the back beds and what passes for a lawn. I hope I haven't lost too many plants because I haven't been able to do that for a few years.

I hope to fill a planter and get the borage planted today, too. And get a load of laundry going. Maybe a shovel full of sedums from the loam pile to the rockery...

Then I'm going to go upstairs and under-react by watching a couple episodes of "White Collar". Dinner is leftovers, so that won't take a lot of time. I really could take a nap...

Onward!

Linn

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 May 13 - 01:26 PM

Oh good, this thread is still running. Pasted from my FB group, April highlights included:

<> Using 2nd handrail to come down steps two footed
<> A trip up Firetower trail with dog (whole 10 minutes)
<> Going up Ron's drive
<> A month-long closet sorting project finally DONE-- all that altered stuff and new alts planned for what I wore during alts round 1
<> Tea and brushing the dog out on the ramp in the sunshine
<> Joining our choir as a temp replacement
<> Walking instead of scootering at a LOT of stores
<> Long walk/stand at Salvation Army and HUGE new-clothing bargains there
<> Being well enough to attend/work a funeral
<> Several trips to Rochester
<> Walking the RACE exhibit at a Roch. museum and making a new friend there
<> Walking to and at a hockey game
<> Sweeping my ramp
<> Taking retiring svc dog to PT
<> Getting off the floor mat by myself at PT
<> Cooking much oftener
<> Parking further from doors in parking lots

~S~

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 May 13 - 09:00 PM

Realizing that much of time on internet has been searching - glazes, kitchen cabinets, patio doors!, and the ongoing property hunt. Not just playing around. I get a lot of info, connect with people who are special to me and have picked up terrific info on various aspects of pottery making, firing, glazing, and more. -Lest I feel like a twit for being on line so much.

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 May 13 - 09:54 PM

Waiting on the May thread...... ;)

XOXOOX

Michelle

Subject: RE: April 2013 Showers wash away clutter!!!!!!!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 13 - 11:13 PM

Here is the May 2013 thread. I moved a few posts that were written today that moved without seeming out of order. And Dorothy conveniently posted one of her messages twice so each thread has a copy of that. ;-D

SRS