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

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