 sj |
||
|
||
Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache
|
|
|
Subject: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Feb 15 - 12:17 AM It is going to take me a while to clean this up, but I'll post it all here now with a different title so it won't mess up the original if it is recovered. Subject: Declutter & fitness- 2015 -January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Jan 15 - 12:42 AM There are more readers than there are usual participants in these threads, but every so often we hear a great story from someone who has been lurking, decided to act, and the first thing we hear from them they've cleared up their entire house, or emptied a room of everything that was piled up, or simply made the first baby steps to get going on organizing their surroundings. Katlaughing was the friend and Mudcat moderator who started these, and when she became ill we kept them going because she enjoyed reading them. For anyone reading these who has been slow to act to remedy a clutter problem, if you decide to begin your own personal intervention on your own on yourself, this is the place you can read along, report in, or ask for comments. We'll run this quarterly and see how that goes. If you're using a device other than a computer and this thread has more than 50 posts, you'll see an asterisk and a small "d" after the number of posts (i.e.,57* d). Click on the number and the thread will open in 50-post pages, oldest at the top, or click on the d and the posts will open from the most recent first in pages of 50 (d for "descending"). Here is the thread that ran through November and December of 2014. You can click back through previous threads by finding the link back the the earlier thread, usually in the first post. Good luck everyone, in reaching your fitness and decluttering goals! SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-2015-January-March From: Rumncoke Date: 01 Jan 15 - 06:57 AM Well - I was getting somewhere with the decluttering - a bookcase emptied and given to my grandson - at 5 years old he is acquiring books and the ones he's outgrown are being kept for younger brother, but then my husband wanted to change the car and I had to find the registration documents. I thought they were in a folder in the front room - no, he says. So I look in the filing cabinets, I search the conservatory, the back bedroom, the downstairs middle room and the back room - I start to turn out all the cupboards and the storage boxes - desperation was setting in with less than 24 hours to go to the switchover, I was pulling out furniture and searching with a flashlight - and then himself appears and says it was in the front room all the time. So we have a new car and I have a week of sorting out and putting away to do to get back to where I was. Happy New Year, everyone. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness- 2015 -January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Jan 15 - 11:16 AM Rum, that is a timely reminder - I need to have my vehicle inspected (due at the end of last November) and go get the annual registration (due by the end of this month). I was waiting for the registration paperwork because supposedly this year you only need one sticker on the car - show the inspection paperwork to the registration folks and the sticker covers both. But I don't think this new plan is in place yet. Maybe next year. I have a small car and would like to have less stuff on the windshield (windscreen). I was in bed last night just before midnight, but then my phone on the bedside table started making noises as my kids texted me happy new year wishes. :) The kitchen and that dining area are in great shape - my gift to myself is a clutter-free kitchen. Now I'll move to other parts of the house (dust, vacuum, mop), and after I finish that in the living/dining room I'll set up is a work space (for the time being) on the dining table. I have sewing I need to spread out for cutting. I have some furniture I want to move (after the rooms are dusted) and as usual, have paperwork to finish and mail, email, or fax. Since the temperature this rainy morning is 31o I know this is an indoors day. What looks like rain drops on metal and glass will soon be sleet or freezing rain. Despite the cold weather outside, there seems to be an active ant nest coming through or in an exterior wall that is sending little pests up into my plant window area. The last thing I need is to try to clear out my potted plants soil, so I've put down ant bait on little cards along their pathway. This liquid has borax (called "Terro" and a bottle is $3 at Home Depot) that has worked well throughout the rest of the house. Bathrooms, kitchen, closets, I'm slowly knocking them out. Perhaps this is the last hurrah. Have a healthy, happy, ingenious and prosperous New Year, everyone. Don't just clean and declutter your houses, offices, etc, also get exercise. Take a class or take a walk, set up a box and do step exercises in front of the television, do SOMETHING that helps you reach the body image you know is the healthiest you. SRS P.S. I took out the "arrows" I had in the thread title surrounding the year - they were stopping posting unless you knew to take them out. Sorry about that. I'll find some other eye-catching (but mudcat legal) character to put there instead. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 01 Jan 15 - 11:44 AM Mill: OH MY, Rumncoke!! I fear it did make me chuckle. I'll bet it will not take you that long to put things to rights as it is so much easier when you have already had things in place/organized. Filing cabinet prob has an "Automobile" file but the habit of putting EVERYTHING into it needs to progress? So far this morning I have managed BF, email-deletion, a couple written, and a fed-up comment on "sugar and Shakes". R is still in the city. It is still too cold to use the studio. I finished the Anti-Cancer book - EXCELLENT! Read a short novel yesterday and am ready to continue reading The Brain that Changes Itself. I also re-organized a large K cabinet. Very helpful! The sewing machine beckons! The snow is falling; I think it is for real today. lovely to see - and know I do not need to go anywhere. Except to the K for another cup of green tea. A quick check of FB and then I will be onto the sewing machine and some hand sewing. Hope everyone is having a healthy day! Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: LilyFestre Date: 01 Jan 15 - 11:44 AM Today is the day that some of Jeremiah's toys go into his bedroom so he can play independently. Until now, ALL the toys have been in the living room where he is supervised 100%. He is now almost 5 years old and we feel he is ready for some independent play time. He is VERY excited about it! Mind you, his door will be open and he is maybe only 12 feet away but it will be HIS time and I think it's a good thing! I'm sure this transition won't happen all at once but today is the day we start! On the fitness front, my goal is just to move more. :) Happy New Year Everybody! Michelle Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Jan 15 - 12:39 PM Michelle, public/family space for some activities is a good policy to start early - as they get older it leads to easier habits with technology. My kids had their shared computer in the livingroom until my son was a junior in high school. My daughter is 3 1/2 years older and was always stuck in the living room, but when he was the only kid at home and didn't have to share any more I moved it into his room. When you have kids in high school AP classes you can't tell them to stop doing their homework and go to bed and I couldn't sleep at night for the light and noise from the living room. By that age and with that schedule, we were all ready for the tech move. Dorothy, that green tea sounds wonderful. Sleet on the trees now. It looks lovely but is cold and sloppy. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 01 Jan 15 - 10:26 PM Mill: Clearly suffering today from overdose of disturbed dust yesterday. Could not get my brain in gear to do minor repair to sewing machine so looked at hand stitching and realized eyes were too itchy. Yep, I could have taken an antihistamine and did not; it has been years since I did this to myself. I have to wear a protective mask to organize!? If I am not better tomorrow, I shall take one. I did manage to do some more organizing of sewing stuff and other things. Washed eyes with dilute green tea once and that helped but now realize I needed to repeat. Mostly just muddled my way through the day with a short call from R and a long one to sil, who has FINALLY improved her diet to the point of - yeah! After 15 years of my bugging her, she had to have a heart attack (last summer) to "get it". Green tea is good stuff. R had not been to bed for 30 hours (when he finally called this afternoon) and clearly was not making it down here. Mid afternoon he was muttering about taking a nap and then borrowing a truck and trailer to fetch a fork lift from north of the city! I informed him that he would sleep 'til morning. I phoned him about 8:30 and he told me I won that one and went back to sleep! I am tired of being here by myself - with it too cold to pot; otherwise I would have felt productive. I am chaffing at the bit. Maybe on Sunday. If I had known R was not going to make it, I could have gone to visit someone but I could not reach him; he left phone elsewhere! I have managed to read and listen to some music while organizing and spend some time on FB. Now I am ready to give up. About an inch of snow. May be more tonight. Up to 27F but going down again tomorrow - Sunny and cold! Oh well. Post - Top - Home - Printer Friendly - Translate Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: W y s i w y G ! Date: 01 Jan 15 - 11:27 PM Um.... CRAZY itchy ears have been an issue for me for years and I may be on the cusp of healing the cause and the effect.... skin behind my ears bleeding from scratching. Have tried a million things too complicated to list. Then I realized I've itched more than anyone I know, since babyhood. Since before ANYthing I could have done to cause it. So I decided that for whatever reason, I must produce too much histamine, and started using topical Benadryl behind and inside ears-- and suddenly I can override the urge to scratch AND sleep for twice as long at a stretch than I have for years and, as we all know, deep sleep heals everything. Ahhhhhh... relief!!! Worth a few weeks of greasy hair around my ears!!! Thanks to Hardi for that late night trip to get me that cream!!! ~S~ Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Jan 15 - 01:21 AM Maybe you are also allergic to coconut. That is a big ingredient in soaps and shampoos. My scalp used to bother me, more or less depending on the shampoo, and I finally realized it had to do with the formula and the sodium laureth sulphate. Rather than employ Benedryl, fire the coconut. Or do both for a while. SRS Post - Top - Home - Printer Friendly - Translate Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: VirginiaTam Date: 02 Jan 15 - 05:34 AM I just remembered my Mudcat password. Now properly logged in. Approaching ten year anniversary of Andie's passing. I really have let my health and my life o with the grief. Time to change that. Major reoganisation of my life starting with physical environment. Main bedroom deep cleaned yesterday and will be completed today. After which the lounge and the spare room aka The Bermuda Triangle of needful thing I just had my hands on a moment ago. Sometime in February or March new kitchen install, so we need to make space in spare room and lounge to make this happen. It is original kitchen, poor layout, not enough storage or workspace or electric points. Cupboard dors hanging off and sink cracked and leaking. May post before and after photos if I can resurect my Flickr account. Started vegetarian on Boxing Day. Meals are smaller and more sensible. High fibre and moderate protien for breakfast. fresh veg and fruit of lunch and homemade lowfat hoummus on wholegrain drybread crackers. Experimenting with lowfat cheese. Dinner last night was veggi tacos with fresh homemade lime and red pepper guacamole. Yum. Chris retires on the 11th Jan. He will be planning and prepping hearty, high fibre, protien packed low fat soups, salads, etc. Also taking me swimming and for walks on regular basis. Plan is to get fit enough to climb and walk with him in Lake and Peak Districts, maybe even Scotland. Fit enough to visit places like Greece and to climb the Spanish Steps in Rome. Use the caravan more in UK and for extended continental holidays. Luckily the work I did yesterday kept my stomach feeling full with adrenaline so I didn't feel hunger as much as when I sit and surf the net. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: fat B****rd Date: 02 Jan 15 - 08:46 AM May I wish you much success and future happiness with your plans, Virginia. For myself, I really must get moving more and lose a couple of stones. Also, my flat is still awaiting a little (actually a lot) of attention. My lovely late wife, Ann, was a hoarder of renown and I really must get down to some serious decluttering. It's not always easy to dispose, in whatever manner,. of stuff that may carry memories, but, I'll try and be realistic when push comes to shove. Good luck to you all with your plans and wishes for 2015. Charlie. PS I will go to the gym I joined, honest. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 02 Jan 15 - 10:47 AM Mill: Susan: itchy generally equals allergy. Perhaps a good book on elimination diet? OR it could be as simple as laundry detergent - I found even those from "whole food" stores can cause itchy so stick with Tide Free and Clear- which works for me. Red clover tea is good for that type of allergy. VT! sounds like you are ready to start a new phase of your life!! YAY! Charlie: what an opportunity you have to de-clutter, being careful to sort out the memories to save. I once threw out - in the desperation of moving - letters that I have longed for many times since. On the other hand, my pottery teacher pointed out to me that the car I had to scrap was "only a chunk of metal", the memories are within me. I am delighted that I seem to be less chronically hungry and my weight, which had gone up a few pounds, is back down to 160 and I see hope. Better health, more chance of losing weight = better health! About ready to de-clutter my life of 145 pounds of R. Five years ... Thinking of the elderly Quaker lady who, when asked why she had never married, "Because it would take and awfully good husband to be better than none." (We are not married, thankfully!) All I needed was a clear answer, Will we be able to visit A&B for lunch today? At 9:45 I finally phoned him and he... You don't need this! Turned heat up in studio at 8:15; at 9;20 it had not warmed one degree. No potting at 52F.I am frustrated. So, what have I accomplished since 8 am: BF, phone call, emails to R & to A, a couple posts on clayart, and a fit of fury. A small pot of green tea. Watched the sky go from white to blue with clouds but lots of sun! 17F with a low of 3 tonight. No potting in my future. Feeling in a quandary of what to do that is useful. Time to fix the sewing machine. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Jan 15 - 11:38 AM Virginia and Charlie, you have big goals! Be sure to set some small steps along the way as well, because you'll need those to help you move forward. It's easy to set goals, then seem them as insurmountable if you don't give yourself a way to see incremental progress. Virginia, there are no timelines on grief, but when you decide the time has come, then I think you'll feel much better, and know that Andie would be proud of your progress. Charlie, my parents had more than a touch of the hoarding instinct, as children of the Depression. We have over time distributed a lot of extra stuff. I also inherited from elderly great aunts and I kept a lot of family stuff to simply learn about the family. Over time I have decluttered, but on this journey I've learned about the things I kept before I let them go. I had to decide that I am not a private museum, so as I research collectible oddities from one of the family homesteads, I appreciate the item, then let it go. Let me tell you one story: I have a trunk with oddball small items from my great aunt's home, and one of the things was a small green box with a heart-shaped perfume bottle and a turquoise green glass stopper. I had been selling stuff on eBay for a while but wasn't able to find any past reference to this bottle. I finally found the online perfume bottle collecting site where I sent a photo and asked if they knew anything about the bottle. I've left photos on Flickr so that they can be found when collectors are interested, so I'm still sharing my great aunt's bottle. I don't collect perfume bottles, but I understood this was old and unusual. I heard back from a collector who told me "I've heard about that bottle" - so when I listed it on eBay I let her know. The fact that my aunt had kept the packaging made it all the more unique, and it sold for a substantial sum. What I realized was that I was putting something back into the world - that a collector now had a bottle they had only heard about, and it was with great pleasure that I let this item go to a good home. Not everything you clear out will have such a robust story. After my father died I took a couple of large U-Haul boxes (moving cases) of clothes and shoes to a local charity shop - they were thrilled because winter was coming and many of the homeless men who they supported would be recipients. The point is, take what information you can from these items you don't need, then pass them on. Keep a photo if you want to remember the story. Good luck to both of you as you take the steps necessary to reach those goals. You'll enjoy your re-worked homes and the time and ability to travel. Please at least read along here, and participate when it helps. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: fat B****rd Date: 02 Jan 15 - 01:23 PM Thank you. To be honest the place could do with some serious sorting, not to mention a good dose of housekeeping - before the Miss Havisham effect kicks in. My stepdaughter belongs to a church in Durham which has a sort of charity shop branch so 5 carrier bags of books, dvds and videos went there, but, it looks like I will have to make some inquiries regarding old electrical bits and pieces, kitchen equipment, bedding and other domestic items. There is always the family but it's difficult not to be seen to favour one over the others. I know of some people who simply donated or dumped vast quantities of 'stuff' but that's not really the way I do things. This isn't a situation which I lose sleep about but I'm certain that once I make the initial'push' everything will sort itself out. My thanks again from Charlie the Eternal Cock-eyed Optimist. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: GUEST,PattyClink Date: 02 Jan 15 - 03:34 PM Thanks for the inspiring and welcoming new-year posts, SRS, many of us 'needed that'. I've done some big rounds of decluttering in the past, but this time I am needing to repair/repaint a whole house/garage/shop both outside and in, and get ready to seriously downsize. It is a little overwhelming to say the least. This week I got 'stuck' as I started to pack up books just so I can move the bookshelves out and get a room painted. The 'easy' books have mostly been given away long since, these are the ones that I mostly want to keep. But I'm sure about 20% really don't need to go into storage, and besides I'm not ready to undertake the cost of offsite storage. Yet to agonize over each one is just dragging out the process of getting the stupid room cleared out! Maybe I should go steam some wallpaper. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 02 Jan 15 - 03:55 PM I once saved up some interesting items I thought the grands might like. When they came to visit, I let them take turn choosing. Maybe, Charlie, you could sort out what you want to keep and then invite people to come and take what they want. Well, I have not done nothing. I was stymied from repairing the sewing machine by having to go find a screw driver the right size and configuration. I decided to empty the commode into the distant toilet and put on warm clothes to do so. OK so far but then I needed water to flush and the pump is not working. I got some hot water and finished that job but a call to R - find a light bulb and a lamp and turn off the hot water heater at the breaker because if the pump is not working... I fetched bubble wrap, a quilt, etc to add to protection around water pipes. Then I had lunch and read and now I am back on computer while brain tries to figure out what to do next. Realize I am just super frustrated at not being able to pot so emailed R about insulating off a section of studio - small enough to heat. Then a message from a friend/shopkeeper asking for mugs - "how bout red for Valentine's" ... NEED to make mugs - red and ,,, OK, so it has not been totally a wasted week but I really wanted to pot and had the energy to pot and ........ There must be the right screwdriver around here some place. This comes in the category of "when I lived alone I knew where everything was." It was a beautiful day - but COLD. I am hanging in for that 50F on Sunday! In the meantime... Oh yeah, screwdriver... Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Jan 15 - 11:41 PM I made myself sit down in front of the computer and write letters, fill out forms, and pay bills. I still have a set of forms to finish, but I've done enough for today. I took apart a vacuum cleaner that I rarely used and am going to sell on eBay. I found a box to fit and printed out the owner's manual and added extra bags and filters. Ask a low enough price and someone will snatch it up, otherwise, it goes to the Goodwill. The thing about eBay is that it is nice to be able to get cash for things you don't need or have room for, but you also have to determine what is a reasonable amount of time to fool with trying to sell something before you throw in the towel and donate it. These didn't have the best ratings, but it works for a small apartment and is a cute as can be. This afternoon I went up to Susie's house and put cardboard over a window her dogs managed to break sometime this morning. A neighbor called me to say she'd seen one of the dogs barking with her head out the hole in the glass! The granddaughter who is feeding them while Susie is out of town wasn't there, so I covered it, blocked the dogs from reaching it, and Susie will be home tomorrow. The dogs were all okay. This is the "it takes a village" part of keeping Susie up and running - she is getting forgetful and losing track of stuff. I think the stress of the last few months (a court hearing concluded a couple of weeks ago) is the culprit. She has been away with family - hopefully a good thing to help her rest up. I have just Saturday and Sunday left of the holiday break. Now I have to get myself back into gear for going to work on Monday. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: VirginiaTam Date: 03 Jan 15 - 05:58 AM My hoarder bent is mostly focussed on what I can use in steampunk. Several Nerf Guns, old leather coats, boxes and boxes of fabric for making carpetbags, all the beads, ribbons, jewelley bits and bobs collected and given to me for year, which must take up more than half the spare room. The rest is books (3 floor to ceiling double stacked shelves full) DVDs, and a few boxes of memories, school papers, ancient computer gaming kit that Chris wants to keep. Chris has promised to go through his library and I will go through mine to weed out stuff we won't read again. We have a young friend who lost about £20,000 worth of her sewing and crafting kit for a cottage business she was starting when a busted sewage pipe flooded her back garden and the shed where it was all stored. Thames Water only offered her a tiny compensation. So our plan is to go though all my sewing and crafting collection and create a big start up pack (couple of big boxes) for her. She can either keep and use or sell at trade events or on ebay. Funnily, some of the stuff I have, I bought from her and never used. I didn't do much but rest yesterday, as my nose has been busy playing snotfest and the post nasal drip is upsetting my tummy. It is not a cold. It's a recurring sinus infection. Must go back to GP for more antibiotic. Still being sensible on the food front. Luckily upset tummy is squashing appetite. So that's a plus. Soon to go rooting junk out from under bed and give a good vacuum in hopes easier nighttime breathing. Then deep clean the lounge. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: LilyFestre Date: 03 Jan 15 - 09:16 AM Hey VT! Nice to see you! What an awesome thing to do for a friend...sharing your stash!!! I suppose that's part of having a stash!!! I too have an overabundance of crafting things, most of mine is fabric. I don't usually buy fabric unless I have a pattern in mind for it. Trouble is, I don't have enough time/energy to sew all the things I want to sew!!! We didn't get nearly the amount of toys moved from the living room to Jeremiah's room but I suppose that will happen in time. It's amazing how much energy it takes to do that and how low on energy Pete and I are after struggling with this cold for nearly 3 weeks. So....we do as we can. Tonight we will have Christmas at our house. Santa came on Christmas Day but that was about it. No presents from us to Jeremiah, no presents to one another...just gifts to Jeremiah from Santa. We just didn't feel good. And while we are both still not at 100%, we are ready to have our Christmas complete with music, candles, a lit Christmas tree, stockings, gifts, Christmas dinner...the works! But first, I have a little grocery shopping to do and we promised to visit a friend. I'm dragging and not wanting to go but I think it's one of those things that we NEED to get out of the house and maybe that will make me feel a little better. I was up late last night so while the boys were sleeping, I did some chores. Sure is nice to wake up to a clean kitchen, coffee pot ready to go! Have a great day everybody! Michelle Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Rumncoke Date: 03 Jan 15 - 09:36 AM When I was learning to drive my instructor told me about the grandmother of one young woman he'd taught. When she was ill the family arranged for the removal of several million pounds worth of things packed into dusty old boxes. When she died they found that the house had been left to her husband's nephew, so all their thoughts of developing the large plot of land in a prime location (Sandbanks is one of the most expensive places in Britain to buy a property) came to nothing. There were letters addressed to each of her family detailing the items in the boxes which were to come to them discreetly to avoid death duties. The man they had engaged to get the house tidied was never seen again, but rumour had it that he'd had a big win on the pools.... Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Jan 15 - 11:54 AM Rumncoke, that sounds like the kind of story Roald Dahl would write as fiction. Have you ever read Parson's Pleasure? Michelle, the things that make the holiday important are there - family and love - so it doesn't matter that you're celebrating late. I'm sure it will be a great story for years in the future, and it sets a good example about being able to make accommodations when needs arise. VT, I also have a stash of sewing and craft stuff. You know how when something comes into the house that has an interesting cloth ribbon and pin or cord, that always gets dropped onto the sewing table for "just in case?" A remarkable amount of that stuff gets used, especially when you have a daughter making costumes, but it does indicate where a hoarding weakness lies. Time is also the missing ingredient in the projects I have fabric and materials for. I think it will feel good to send a care package of materials back to your friend. And from now I expect she will be sure the shed is up on stilts or nothing is stored down low. That's a hard lesson to learn. This morning I walked into my shiny clean kitchen and was appalled to find it filled with trails of ants! We had a heavy rain and thunder storm overnight and that seems to have energized them to come out of some crevice. Completely around the ceiling on three sides of the room, down a spiral notebook from the wall to the fridge and around the seals on the doors, down past the small pantry and the dishwasher and onto the peninsula counter where there were a few microscopic potato chip crumbs. I spent 30 minutes wiping out ant trails then spritzing with diatomaceous earth to repel and kill them. I'll have to put more ant bait out when I figure the source of the latest assault. It's a slow process, but last summer they were horrid in the garden and clearly they moved completely under the house. These are small black ants, not biting. They seem to go for savory, not sweet food, but they also go for water. They were crawling up a tall glass with a straw that I had left on the counter. (A version of this is going on facebook, I don't want to write it twice!) They have been beaten back - the DE does repel them completely. More paperwork today and getting ready to head to work on Monday morning. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: VirginiaTam Date: 03 Jan 15 - 01:14 PM Sorry about the ant attack, SRS. I just saw a recipe today for a homemade orange and vinegar cleaner that reportedly repels ants. Couldn't bring myself to drag dust covered stuff from under bed today. The bending over with a sinus infection just too uncomfortable. Chris has promised to help with this task tomorrow. I did however, replace 4 knackered drawer ruNero on bedroom chest of drawers all by myself. Yes the hoarding has been in part insurance of having plenty of materials to play with in the event of being made redundant. A threat which has been hanging over me for the last 3 years. Council is working on another 2.5 million savings over next year so still could happen. But I don't need all I have. What I need is space to make best use of some of it. Went to check on caravan, stored about 20 minute drive away. It is still very clean (no algae or moss) on the outside. No damp inside. Didn't even smell musty. Can't wait for first use in spring. But before then we will use it to store stuff to make room for kitchen replacement. Better than paying for storage facility for a month for a few boxes of junk. I've rescued the thread from the Google cache and put horizontal rules in to this point. I'll save the rest as another post and put in rules tomorrow. If the database is restored, new posts can be moved over and this one dropped. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Feb 15 - 12:20 AM Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: fat B****rd Date: 03 Jan 15 - 01:22 PM Finally made a start. Nowt exciting. To the charity shop; loads of t- shirts that belonged to somebody smaller than me, various other items of clothing that I no longer wear, dozens of cards of various occasions and lots of old correspondence shredded. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Jan 15 - 02:28 PM One thing about holding onto stuff - last week I found a fancy gift box propped at the back of the hall closet that held a size medium pullover knit top my sister sent years ago. For a long time I wouldn't have been able to wear it but I have lost weight. When tried on last week I find it fits perfectly and I'll now wear it. I gained weight because of my insurance company - they stopped paying for a compounded Rx and said I needed to use a commercial product instead, but over time of the wrong amounts I put on weight. I finally went back to my compound and pay more to get it but have managed to lose the weight. I'm getting close to my target now as far as the clothes stored in my closet. When clothes become too large I donate them to the thrift store and I pull out more of my smaller sizes. I'm glad I kept those clothes, and that I did myself the favor of choosing just the best to keep and packing them in closed bins to keep them free of dust. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: fat B****rd Date: 03 Jan 15 - 04:33 PM SRS, I hope one day I'll have clothes that are too large! Well done you. Charlie. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Rumncoke Date: 03 Jan 15 - 04:41 PM No - I think I have seen a cartoon of The BFG on TV - and I see that Esiotrot, which was on TV recently, but I did not see, was also written by him. My instructor had started work driving a taxi - he had driven some very famous and very rich people - one particular one who was both rich and famous gave him a tip of three pence after he'd carried his bags for him at a time when an ordinary fare would have given him sixpence without the carrying... Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Jan 15 - 06:17 PM Dahl wrote a lot of adult short stories and was a regular in places like Playboy magazine. There are several collections that were published in his lifetime. "Parson's Pleasure" appeared in the collection Kiss Kiss and was first printed in the American magazine Esquire. It involves characters who appear in a number of his short stories. Several out-of-date tech books are now in the recycle bin, and a couple of obscure devices without drivers are now in my tech recycling bag (for delivery to a bin we have at work for such items). Toward a fitness goal I rearranged furniture to make more space for exercise in the living room in front of the television and found a sturdy box I built ages ago that will now be used for step exercises (originally built to place a desktop personal computer on under a desk). SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 03 Jan 15 - 09:41 PM Mill: I still have no idea where to look for that particular screwdriver and it is #$%^&* COLD in the storage area. So I just gave in to reading and computering and inertia. R arrived about 8 and checked on the water/freezing and all was well so far. This am we were late up and slow at BF but I did dishes with hot water from the distant tap while he fixed a hole in the wall of sunroom that was letting cold air in. Cold as it is, it will be colder, at times, between now and May. Life in the slow lane today. A light lunch and then off to the restaurant in response to an email from Geri. We had to tell the waitress we had just had lunch! The r is empty in mid-aft so we had a nice visit with G and another friend, stopped by auction house but nothing interesting in tomorrow's auction - thankfully. Auction-aholism is a disease akin to hoarding. Then the library where I borrowed a few and R bought a $2 bagful. So we are back to reading and computering and "have you checked the water?" Maybe tomorrow we will get to putting a piece of heavy plastic across the studio to diminish the space needing heating. Not as good as a solid wall but it will help. And R knows where the screwdrivers are - his anyway. Mouse #7 gone. I am not sure but what mice are easier than ants. 17F here but going up to 48 tomorrow and rain. Then back down and WAY down mid week! May be a good idea to find my down coat tomorrow. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 04 Jan 15 - 02:24 PM Mill: Weather reports! Today we are at freezing with freezing rain. Good reason to stay in bed! We were late up and had a nice omelet for BF and R brought me a bucket of hot water so I washed the dishes. Also changed eggshell saving method. Not going anywhere today! R has to fix roof leak before working on studio. BUT I found a screwdriver!!!! So I shall do that task next. We are still promised a big drop in temp tonight. May get flurries - on top of frozen roads! I may not go to city tomorrow. Need to:return books to city library, do laundry, replace that oven element and maybe go to Apple store to inquire about upgrade so I can get facetime and better Safari... Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 04 Jan 15 - 02:31 PM This de-cluttering story just came through on clayart: Once upon a time there was king that lived in a grass house in a very poor country. He was a good king, the people loved him very much. His throne was very small, so the people decided to give him a larger throne on his birthday. Being very frugal, the king didn't want to throw the old throne away. So he stored it in the attic. A year later the people gave him a larger throne on his birthday. Again, the king didn't want to throw the old throne away, so he stored it in the attic too. A few days latter the attic floor gave way from all the weight, and the thrones fell through. Landed on the kings head, killing him. The moral of the story is, People who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: fat B****rd Date: 04 Jan 15 - 03:06 PM Leaped from between the sheets, did the usual morning things, had toast and porridge listened to Desert Island Discs. Clever lady had Howlin' Wolf amidst the Mozart! why not. Got off me bahookie and walked to step-family house to collect mail, came back (4950 steps on my pedometer) rang friends watched football and now I'm typing this. Charlie. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Jan 15 - 03:21 PM Do you have a daily goal for the pedometer, Charlie? And what is your next decluttering goal, have you thought of one for this week? I have raised some dust this afternoon. If you asked me when was the last time that I not only dusted but polished the legs and such under the dining room table, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I don't think it is "never," but pretty close. Now I'm working on three tiers of shelves along the dining area wall. I emptied one and dusted, and now I'm leaving myself an empty one to put the next shelf's stuff back into. The old Chinese tile puzzle, enacted using shelves. I've also vacuumed the carpet and I'll vacuum once more when I finish dusting. Headed to the kitchen for motrin and a benedryl to cope with the dust. My sinuses are protesting. I'll have some things ready to mail tomorrow and material for lunches this week. I didn't finish everything I planned over the break, but I made inroads and can say that the house is looking much better. There will be a very large heavy-duty trash bag at the curb tomorrow morning. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: fat B****rd Date: 04 Jan 15 - 04:06 PM Several sources reckon that 10,000 steps is a good number to walk effectively for calorie burning and some fitness. I believe I covered almost 2 miles to-day. Due to an arthritic knee I can't run, but I'll be at the gym tomorrow and do a bit of checking on the treadmill regarding calories, steps and distance. In regard to sinusitis I've actually been doing some yoga off of YouTube. Impossible if you've got a cold. but they seem to work otherwise Charlie. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 04 Jan 15 - 06:37 PM Mill: Add pedometer to list of things to do in city. Then maybe I will find the one I have somewhere! vacuumed outside of air cleaner. Supposed to be done monthly but it has been almost 18 months because I am afraid to vacuum due to dust; It was actually looking fuzzy so I used a little portable vac with good filter but not great suction; conversed with R about what I need in the way of a - small shop vac with HEPA filter. I had one but he took it and wrecked it and replaced it w/out filter. So I have not vacuumed in about 5 years, except when we had one that exhausted outdoors - around here somewhere - maybe. Sat in sunroom and watched some lovely pink clouds in a piece of blue sky - then it all went DARK! Fixed sewing machine. Still dicey, prob wear on the connecting metal pieces. Maybe I'll break down and ask advice. My mother gave me this machine - Singer Featherweight - when I graduated from high school (1954). It has never had a problem other than this. Pretty good for 60 years. Was really a disappointment not to have that warmer day. NOW it is 42F and dropping to 14 tonight. But all day there was freezing rain. I was not energized. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Jan 15 - 07:30 PM You can get sewing machines repaired, and those featherlights are worth their weight in gold to many people who sew a lot, quilters in particular. I have a old White that is really sturdy that I keep running with occasional trips to the repair center. This afternoon I installed a software program I've been meaning to for weeks. I also cleared out several gig of photos and files that were on the desktop (that is part of the C: drive), moving them to the D: data drive and pointing desktop shortcuts back to them. My new solid state drive is the C: and is much faster than the HDD from before. It doesn't have unlimited space so is only for programs, not data. Virtual decluttering. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Rumncoke Date: 04 Jan 15 - 07:36 PM Our house is a Victorian red brick villa, quite large, for a UK house. A few years ago now we had the wall cavity filled with polystyrene balls as insulation - the windows are double glazed and the roof insulated, so our heating costs, using gas central heating are unusually low - we always need to get the supplier to tone down the payments when we change as they want us to pay far more than necessary at first. It makes the house very comfortable as there are no cold spots. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: pattyClink Date: 04 Jan 15 - 08:50 PM Well I love the grass house story, and having been almost squooshed by some stacked up 'why-was-this-kept' stuff, I can relate. A small pile of boxed up books is now out of the room-to-be-painted, still lots to go but a little daily progress is the best I can do. A little putting away, a little sorting, a little wallpaper steaming. A lot of workout at the gym. Listening to Jean Redpath on the radio, a good way to start the evening. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: GUEST,VaTam on phone Date: 05 Jan 15 - 08:00 AM Bathroom sparkling Hall dusted and vacuumed Kitchen deep clean started Main bedroom under bed did not get done. Chri was working on edexcel verification. Will start one end of lounge this evening after work. Sticking better food intake. Lunch is all raw veg and fresh fruit. Can't walk at lunch due to some injury I've done to right ankle. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: GUEST,# Date: 05 Jan 15 - 08:11 AM "Was really a disappointment not to have that warmer day." If you ever find a weather channel that is accurate, please let folks know. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 Jan 15 - 12:46 PM I decluttered stuff out of the house this morning to redistribute at the library. Two boxes of latex gloves that are a bit small for me are in the FabLab ("be sure to clearly label them LATEX in case of allergies"), some stuff for the e-waste bin (batteries and a couple of old computer adapter things that no longer have drivers that can be found). And a bottle of carpet cleaner that I never used. We have carpet in our office so maybe someday someone will use it there, or take it home, whatever. That clears the bench beside my door, one that was originally put there to sit on when changing shoes. Every little bit really does help. A large bag at the curb this morning was the result of cleaning over the break. I took bags of stuff to the village recycling area several times. There was a bulky old terrycloth bathrobe that I was thinking about reworking (it was quite worn and the collar was almost frayed off) but instead I bundled it up and stuffed it into an old pillowcase and tossed it into the dogs' stall in the garage. They have old cotton towels, clothes, and bedding to sleep on instead of hay (because I learned that the coastal hay has been treated with an herbicide). Since the vet recommended using cotton scraps I've managed to migrate quite a few things out. Every couple of weeks it all comes in to be washed, then back to the dogs. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: fat B****rd Date: 05 Jan 15 - 01:38 PM Did 38 minutes steady waking on the treadmill this morning. The digital guides are apparently just that-guides, but I clocked up, or down, 250 calories and about 4500 steps. There is a fairly sensible train of thought that says "Why pay to go to a gym and walk when you can do it just as easily and for free outdoors". It's the word "pay" that I think is the keyword for me. if I'm paying to use a facility then I'll do it, whereas, being a lazy person I won't get up and walk out doors for an hour or so. This afternoon shredded loads of out of date documents, sorted personal papers and wished I had a bigger wheelie bin. Tomorrow bags of clothes to the charity shop and an assault on the bathroom! Charlie Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 Jan 15 - 01:43 PM I always thought it was silly to drive to the gym and pay to workout while simultaneously paying someone else to mow your lawn, etc. Perhaps you should walk to the gym and back home without going inside or paying. :) SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: fat B****rd Date: 05 Jan 15 - 04:37 PM Fair point SRS, actually, I walk to the gym and back. I wish I could get out there and mow my lawn (or cut the grass as I call it). Reading your last post SRS it sounds like your house will be echoing soon. Do you have anything left to get rid of?. Charlie. Post - Top - Home - Printer Friendly - Translate Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 Jan 15 - 06:33 PM Oh, yes, there is plenty still here. I inherited stuff from several great aunts and both parents. Then there is my habit of collecting books. And paper. It goes slowly, but it goes. For seasonal exercise, my yard is a half acre so when I mow I really do get a workout. This time of year I pull out the mower every few weeks to mulch in leaves piled up in the front yard (from trees in neighboring yards, not my own!) I enjoy visiting estate sales and garage sales and would like to reach an organizational point where I can shop for things I specialize in selling on eBay as a side business. But I need to clear out the room first. The current eBay activity is stuff from estates that I'm selling to push up my score. Lots of times when you buy or sell people don't post feedback, but good feedback is very helpful when selling better stuff. People know they aren't taking a huge risk if you have hundreds of sales and a 100% feedback score. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 Jan 15 - 09:16 PM My eBay page has dwindled down to one item, and I see that it has a bid so will sell when the auction closes in three days. This is a good time to get more stuff ready to list. Setting a goal to keep your eBay pages active is one way to make yourself list the stuff you have to sell. We have a few very cold days ahead so I will slack off of the alternate day fasting for the rest of the week. It's hard to do when your metabolism wants to run on high to stay warm. I am going to do some step exercising this evening while I watch television, and I did get one trip up to the top floor of the library today (six flights). SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 05 Jan 15 - 09:29 PM Mill still: The studio now has a heavy plastic across it, cutting the area needing to be heated in half. R did that before dashing off to city last night. Today, it was warm enough to work in there! I started by reorganizing and getting things ready. But not until after lunch! I started out this am checking the water to the distant toilet. and the lamps providing heat to the area of water pipes. One bulb was burned out so I proceeded to look for one amongst the kitchen stuff moved from the cabin 18 months ago. This resulted in emptying a number of containers and placing things in the K. But no light bulbs. I also founded and sorted a pile of paper - some into recycling but most went into archives - some wonderful memories in there! Finally turned off water to toilet, tonight, as the last time I flushed, the water only came back in a drop at a time! I can still get buckets of hot water. The studio is ready to go tomorrow. I brought some clay into warmer place so it is more pleasant on the hands! I will use warm water for throwing. COLD today. Down to 4F now but it felt seriously cold even at 3 pm. I went to the restaurant for a visit with Geri and Sarah and the dollar store for light bulbs and was going to go to grocery but the sun was starting to set and, at a certain point, it shines directly in my eyes driving from town to the mill so I came back before it got to that point. I feel as though I have done a good day's work. Looking forward to getting some pots thrown tomorrow. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: W y s i w y G ! Date: 05 Jan 15 - 10:37 PM Not allergic to coconut. Pets probably. Low-level problem when there's no stress or gluten, as long as thyroid levels are right-- which they had not been since about 2nd grade. Also I doubled the D and A and I'm smoother and softer all over. ~S~ Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Rumncoke Date: 06 Jan 15 - 07:19 AM Just doing the take down at the end of Christmas, and I noticed that my joints are improved quite a lot - thinking about it my ankles and knees have not been so painful for a while. Since a couple of weeks after putting an extra duvet across the bottom of the bed. I sleep with a Duvet Hauler and Hugger - the duvet often ends up turned diamond wise on the bed, he's always been the same - and I would usually have to draw up my knees and warm up my feet first thing in a morning or risk toppling over when getting out of bed. Since adding the extra duvet I have woken up with warm feet - in fact, warm legs, and the cartilage in my knees is a lot better, doesn't need to have a few experimental bends and snappings to be ready to take my weight, the skin on my feet is less scaley, I can get up more easily having sat or squatted, and stairs are not such an obstacle. I suspect that the extra bloodflow is the reason for it, no more shutdown to conserve heat overnight. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Jan 15 - 09:35 AM I decorate one tree in the front yard for the holidays and while the timer was taken in on the first of the month, the strings of lights remain until it is both warm and dry enough to take them down. A hook over my front door holds the wreath and I turned it inward - I see the wreath in the house to serve as a reminder to eventually bring in the lights. This morning I expected the dogs' water dish to be a brick of ice, but it wasn't even scaled over. Either I'm losing so much heat by that door that it kept the bowl warm, or more likely, it didn't get as cold as predicted. During the day while I'm at work my dogs have a heated stall in the garage. They have dog houses with cotton bedding and a dog door for coming and going into the yard. Rum, that's quite an improvement in the circulation. Keeping the covers straight sounds like an engineering challenge. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: LilyFestre Date: 06 Jan 15 - 12:53 PM Yesterday Jeremiah and I went through all the books he has downstairs, which is quite a few. His book area had become a leaning tower of disaster with papers in between, random coloring book pages, puzzles, toys, etc. We went through the books, removing stories he didn't like or books he has outgrown. I suspect we removed about 20 or so. We organized the remaining books by size and if they were board books or not. I pulled out all the holiday books and put them in a place that is easily accessible for me (the rest he can pick out at will). Toys were picked up and put away, activity books and coloring books have their own spot now as do the puzzles, magazines and his *tractor books*. We worked for quite a while on it and I am proud of us both...it certainly is an accomplishment! Fitness: Walked today. :) Purposeful walking with some arm motions, leg lifts, kicking, etc. Michelle :) Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 06 Jan 15 - 05:45 PM Mill: Finished latest novel during and after BF - had to get to the end! Sorted out a small clothing cabinet - some summer removed, others organized better. Boxed a pile of books Then prepared about 44# clay after making lists - What colours do I use on which clays, How many of this or that do I want to have in each colour/clay. Posted those on the wall. Then list of what is needed now - preparing for Valentine's market. Then prepared the clay, had lunch and started working through the fresh balls on one of my new wheels - Love it! Half way through (about 20#), went to town. No sign of Geri but the weather was, and is, grislich - ICY precipitation - very fine mist. Went to the full service gas station and let them fill tank while I went into the nice warm building to pay. Knowing I am becoming a real wimp. Went to the municipal office for new schedule of waste and recycling and the info flyer. they would come in the mail if we had a mail box - some day... Returned to mill without stop at grocery; not carrying groceries on icy surface. Came home for healthy lunch. started new novel but already read this one! Have some inclination to go throw more pots but not quite enough to make it happen. Forgot to wear protective mask and I can taste the clay. Need to do some cleaning - nasal spray for starters. So here I am deleting emails, and checking FB, etc. Three hours of wrestling with clay may be enough for today. The spirit is willing almost. I WANT to be WARM! 16 F with a predicted drop to a high of minus 2F tomorrow and a low of -16 tomorrow night. It is not cold in here but the psychology of it seems to be daunting. Now I have to consider the fact that the studio may not be warm enough tomorrow in spite of our best efforts. Hibernation seems like the best option! Nasal spray might help... Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: W y s i w y G ! Date: 06 Jan 15 - 06:25 PM Rumncoke-- a Duvet Hauler and Hugger? Link? ~S~ Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Jan 15 - 09:01 PM Errands run after work, but I'll have to wait till Friday to get the car inspected. I need to start setting up things for eBay, but it's supposed to be very cold overnight and I'm thinking wrapping up in a lap quilt watching television sounds like a suitable cold evening activity. I will move some more stuff from the living room shelves, it doesn't take long to empty and dust one or two. Right now I've moved an old mantle clock to the buffet but I don't like it there so I'll put it back in the shelves. I know I have the winder key around here somewhere, and there should be a weight for the inside, but I don't know where they got to right now, so it is only on display. It keeps good time but my ex didn't like the ticking of the clock. I didn't usually wind the chimes. It seems that the darker antique furniture is falling out of favor and these dark clocks may be in the same boat. Perhaps I should put it in the cupboard and not have it out at all. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Rumncoke Date: 07 Jan 15 - 09:21 AM I used to try sewing a loop of tape around the bottom corner of the duvet cover, then fixing it to the foot of the bed on my side but that just got pulled on until it broke, or the duvet was pulled so tightly that it hurt my feet, The two layers of duvet seems to be the answer, as not once has the top layer been dragged askew I get king sized bedding for a queen sized bed, but that doesn't help. The hauler and hugger seizes the edge of the duvet and then performs a complex manoeuvre which wraps them snuggly and securely and leaves just a skimpy triangle for anyone else sharing the cover. I have been out every day this week, which makes a nice change. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 07 Jan 15 - 09:58 AM Mill: I, too, have found double duvet a help! One each, in a sense. At least we have one we can hold onto! Another white morning in southern Quebec! Including a persistent snowfall which has deposited an inch or so on my car and now the winds begin. Plenty of food in the larder but hoping the electric does not fail as this place is dependent. So is the city house but the electric has only gone off for minutes there, at the worst of times. There is talk of putting a wood stove in here - talk.... I did love my 15 years off the grid! I am still suffering some form clay dust of yesterday. Last night, I communicated by email with the company in Ottawa re an air cleaner for the studio. Serendipitously, Robert informed me he had just entered this on their website re a particular model and would give me $100 off "because I was such a good customer". Realize I have spent near $1000 there in last 18 months! And wrote a review for masks. So, at 10 pm, I said "YES!" Have not heard back. I shall have to do a major cleaning before introducing air cleaner. ----Sitting here visualizing how to go about that!!!!!! Buckets of hot water from other end of building? Wet/dry vac? I would go buy one if - the roads were not bad and the bridge to Valleyfield might be closed? There is a notice on line - in French and beyond by ability; will have to ask for help - after the roads clear! What CAN I do today? Watch the sun trying to break through... Keep warm. Hope for the best. Go back to bed? Stultify? Drink green tea! Ask a friend for a translation; check. I really find it had to function - had you noticed? - when it is this cold. I tunred up heat in studio at 8 am but it is not getting warm very fast. OK, I will ask for translation and then go check studio - with mask on. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Jan 15 - 02:52 PM My clutter factor just went up again - the university library is discarding 20,000 maps, apparently that are now digital. I went looking for those from places I've lived and worked. I could look for some more later, but my plan is to leave them in my office and winnow down from the batches I picked up to the ones I really want. The rest are being recycled. Alas. Some of these go back to the 50s. Montana, Maine, probably Pennsylvania are all in there. I picked up my home state and a few places I have worked. I have a few large frames and am thinking a couple in the hall would look interesting. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 07 Jan 15 - 08:47 PM Mill: I did manage to clean about one third of the studio floor with a large sponge and half bucket of water. This does not mean it is CLEAN, just much cleaner than it was. It was somewhat too chilly to pot. A bitterly cold day and windy, snowy. The road was not great but I went into town (3 km) and checked mops and sponges at the hardware. A wet/dry vac would be best; Geri concurred when I caught up with her, and we went to the restaurant. A bunch of locals were there in the quiet aft and we had a couple hours of conversation - covering a variety of topics - including the bridge- now open! But the roads too bad to bother. Came back about 5 and have accomplished only computer stuff, after checking heat in studio and turning it down a bit, and in sunroom. Here, in LR, the heater seems to be working overtime. I am wrapped in a mohair throw. Minus 11 F at 8 pm! It does not encourage me to do anything at all. The heater is so loud, I have trouble dealing with it. I phoned Robert re air cleaner this morning - to give him credit card info. The air cleaner will be on its way tomorrow, with a extra fine HEPA filter added, so I shall stay here until it arrives. Hopefully Friday. And Robert will include a new packet of 10 filters for the small mask in the box. I seem to have left the spares in the city. Also emailed pottery supply to check on availability of white clay. I am on last box. AOK, so I will pick it up next week - between snow storms. It is to snow for the next couple days in any case. There were nasty whiteouts on the Montreal highway today - lots of open fields for the wind to blow across. I am de-cluttering a box of stale cookies. I have not done this in quite a while - the cold is really debilitating. I cannot help being terrifically uncomfortable that I am totally dependent on electric. Tho, I do have a very good propane heater, if it will start. Then I would have to decide which area to heat and which to let get too cold. Or move it from one to another to try to keep all from freezing - clay or plants. Clay is more important. I long for a wood stove! I do, I do!!! We are to get propane here, eventually, for a lovely kitchen stove we bought last year; maybe a propane fireplace in LR???? Twould be helpful. I am through eating cookies (BLEECH!) and will now drown my concerns in a novel, so to sleep. Hope everyone is warm. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: LilyFestre Date: 07 Jan 15 - 08:51 PM SRS, how cool that you get to pick through some of those! Old maps are so interesting!!! Michelle Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Jan 15 - 10:14 AM The really old ones aren't included, the 1940s maps (that are the only ones you see selling on eBay) are to remain in the collection. And technically one isn't supposed to sell former state materials. I found some interesting maps from my home area and from places I've worked. They are all digitized, so the only reason for keeping the paper versions is to use them in some way for display or for crafts or wrapping gifts, etc. I know our cold isn't as long-lasting or intense as what is hitting the rest of you, but it is enough to make us slow down and hunker under the lap quilt for the duration. Right now it is 19o. Ice and snow are a low percentage in the forecast tomorrow so it may be a day to plan on staying home. If freezing rain starts before leaving for work the decision is easy, but if it starts after we're already at work it makes the drive home difficult. My car is front wheel drive, and last winter I had one of those slow icy drives home. Not. Fun. At. All. I passed other vehicles that were rolled over or on the shoulder up to the hubcaps. Not something I want to repeat. Dance class last night went well - some complicated moves and steps were introduced and now I need to practice during the week to actually learn them, not just perform them as she reminds us as to how they go. I have some makeup classes so I'll probably go in again on Saturday and it is the same lesson. This is a pleasant form of exercise and good for the brain, learning new things. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 08 Jan 15 - 11:33 AM Mill: Was up to midnight looking for specific glaze info. I know it is there somewhere - on the computer/in the net... Found several ways of searching but none worked. Oh, Well! Chat with R on phone - while he watched the news and I kept searching! Turned the heat down for the night so it was only a mite chilly this am - indoors! I got up and turned the heat up and crawled back under the covers with computer to check the temp - minus 11F! Enough to make one go back to bed. But I got up and transformed the bed to sofa and continued to check FB - where I spent time responding to messages on two clay groups and checked my friends in Ontario. One is onto a new and interesting initiative that interests me - actually the son of a friend - they do grow up! Then BF and a trip to studio to check on heat and next move. Heat is OK, I added some stabilization to one side of the plastic wall. Came back to take supplements and drink tea. Put the teapot into an insulated lunch bag. Need to know I have a warm place to come back into - Then I can go into the cold regions and come back into warmth! Off I go. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 08 Jan 15 - 11:37 AM Oops, that was at 8 am it was minus 11. Now it is up to minus 3 with a predicted high of 9! It is a bright white day. Again the sun is trying. Does give a bit of gain in the sun room. A wondrous thing, the sun! Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Rumncoke Date: 08 Jan 15 - 11:59 AM All this walking seems to have given me back ache - though I did slip on the step yesterday and might have jarred my spine. I still went out today, but I used my walking poles - they are a great help and the walking seems to have loosened up my back a bit. I have known several people who have resisted all forms of assistance despite pain and difficulty, and I suspect that all of them could have gone on enjoying going out if only they'd been willing to use a stick, or poles or even crutches. I think that one person at least would not have been entirely housebound if only - a fall might have been avoided - more exercise might have resulted in better circulation. The only thing I need to watch is the increased appetite the fresh air gives me. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Jan 15 - 12:15 PM You'll do better eating small healthy meals in the cold weather to keep your metabolism happy. I am not trying to do the alternate day fasting this week with the cold, but I am trying to eat healthy when I do eat. Wearing layers today, silly knit hat, mittens, etc. In this kind of weather the fashion police stay away. :) SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: W y s i w y G ! Date: 08 Jan 15 - 02:37 PM SRS, maps leftover? Homeschoolers, FreeCycle. Solved several lingstanding and major cold-house issues. 1 & 2: The laptop-chillpad died, so the oil rad under the desktop is out. Oil rad to cold kitchen, and unused electric lap robe now draped under it for cozy foot warming (at least until Othercat takes it over-- hope she'll share.) 3: Cold, dark bathroom, where old wiring in this PA rental limits us because no outlets work (the mice ate wiring to them, behind the medicine cabinet). Solution... two screwed-in instant outlets, where the ceiling fan had held 2 bulbs. Suspended, reflecting clamp lamps (with 60watt reflecting flood lamps) turned the 55 degree loo into 64 degree luxury. Soup's a-simmering, dogbones et, pork roasts and liver ordered, panful of chix cooling, laundry going, date night dinner and Hobbit movie coming. Nap. ~S~ Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 08 Jan 15 - 04:54 PM Mill Susan! more good solutions! I am trying to figure out how to get full time electric to studio without more holes for cold to creep through. Oops! one task for today was to put plastic over a door in storage area leaking BIG cold. Tomorrow. I am through for today. The cold has me beaten. That and dealing with a thawing mini-freezer. HOW, in a below freezing space, could the freezer thaw? So I took everything out and put it into a plastic bin - over by the leaking door. Put thermometers on bin and in freezer. Both went down below freezing in minutes? Go figure. I'll check again in a bit. This was found when I came home with $70 of frozen meat from the organic butcher, full of confidence that there was room in the freezer. I bought a lot because I actually won a $50 gift certificate on their FB page!!!!!! Cleaned more of the studio. It did not smell of clay today! It had been a long term accumulation and I think I have it licked and ready for new air cleaner. Spent time on FB clay pages commenting and reading comments re this - like - keep your studio clean! They are right. I just let it slide because I felt so terrible for so long. Went to library for more books. I needed some novels as I cannot always manage the more serious books; can only read a few pages of The Brain That Changes Itself before my brain goes to mush. It was snowing again, all afternoon and still but not a lot. The road was not so good. No sign of Geri at the restaurant so I just came home to be warm - then had to deal with the freezer so now I really want to be warm! 5F now, rising to a high of 18 tomorrow. A great improvement! Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 08 Jan 15 - 10:13 PM Managed to delete over 700 emails tonight. An interesting process as I checked to be sure I wanted to... Pretty good de-clutter when I really felt like doing nothing at all. Other than that - a longish email to a long absent friend. Some google searches, and cooked a semi-thawed pizza in the toaster oven, half at a time. Temp rising; I was feeling cold until about an hour ago. Guess the pizza helped warm me up. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Jan 15 - 11:22 PM I was hoping we'd get freezing rain and close down this part of the state overnight, but it looks like the crud will be to the south. I may take the afternoon off anyway to have some work done on the car (annual inspection) and an early start to the weekend. Something that came up this week: I have to de-tangle and otherwise organize the devices attached to my computer. I think the multi-port USB hub is on the fritz. The spaghetti behind the desk is phenomenal, so I'll dust and vacuum the area before I start unplugging and straightening some of these cables and electric wires. Not. Fun. At. All. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Jan 15 - 11:36 AM Happy Dance! Got a call this morning from the Invisible Fence folks. I sent them a letter this week complaining about their not honoring the warranty on the dog collar receiver. I threatened social media, and I included a printout of the dashboard of my small blog. One-tenth of the hits are people reading about the Invisible Fence system and my dogs learning it. She said to send the receiver back and she'll include a copy of my letter and return it to the corporate office to see if they'll replace the unit. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 09 Jan 15 - 11:58 AM Mill: Morning realization: I need to be warm sitting here, otherwise I become incapable of moving - until is is crucial. I got up about 8 and started BF but there was no yogurt! So I dashed off to the grocery with my list. Came back, made BF and green tea, checked studio - warm enough! Been sitting eating and drinking tea and - oops - forgot supplements. Well, almost lunch time! Accomplished - long email to friend, checked emails, then the realization - turned up heater. Getting warm. Feet still icy. It is up to 19 F! Seems so much warmer. Yesterday, I gave up on going for groceries as the cold got to me after the butcher and I just went home. Today, woke to light snow falling but dashed out and the temp was quite tolerable. Not many people out for a Friday morning at the grocery! Windy but the roads were OK - snow covered instead of icy. My Paleo idea is not doing great. I have cut back on cheese and added in more root veggies but changed BF to an apple (cooked) 1/3 cup of muesli and yogurt. The apple warms the whole meal enough for these cold mornings and it seems to agree with body. So I am not giving up dairy - in moderation. Veggie soup with some lentils for lunch. --- On WOW! The sky is becoming less mono-chromatic! May see a bit of sun today!!!! Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: VirginiaTam Date: 10 Jan 15 - 10:09 AM Flying visit. Much recovered from the dreadful snotfest. Very busy today. Made Chris American style pancakes for his first official day of retirement. Cleaned Chris' desk in preparation for his new widescreen monitor (purchased with gift voucher from colleagues). Started neverending laundry carousel again. Yawn. Altered slipper boots (Mum inlaw christmas present). They were too tight on top of her deformed second toes, so I slit them down to the end of toe and basted cotton ribbon around the top of entire opening. They have velcro across ankle to keep them on, but the area over her toes will be much more comfortable. Hemming a pair of trousers for her now. she has grown out of her clothes (dementia has increased her appetite, especially for sweets). Dad doesn't know how to shop for her and he dare not take her out with dementia. I had to help her dress the last time I visited. So I've been picking up new, still tagged items in charity shops for her. She is very short though, hence the hemming. Will thoroughly clean the vacuum cleaners after sewing, using orange peels to wipe inside around the filters so they smell nice. Then another attack on the lounge cleaning. Trying not to fuss at Chris. I want to put him to work on a number of little jobs prior to the big kitchen replacement. He wants 2 weeks with no responsibilities. I just want an hour or so a week. Grumble. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 Jan 15 - 12:37 PM Dorothy, the Paleo diet is one that probably needs adjusting to, and if it is as cold as you say, your metabolism is going to resist. Good luck with that. VT, perhaps after a day or two of nothing he'll be looking for something to do. The "laundry carousel" is underway here. Good way to put it. Lots of picking up, twisting, dropping. Not as cold today so I'm going to do a modified fasting day. I was thinking about going to a makeup dance class today but in the end slept really late (for me). Makeup sleep on the weekend. My exercise will be practicing a couple of steps (I got a CD of the music she uses) and general house work and a couple of forays into the yard. eBay needs attention, I mailed the last item listed yesterday. Plenty to do. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 Jan 15 - 04:23 PM Alas, the combination of wearing more socks in cold weather and static electricity in the dryer means I have several orphan socks. Their mates are no doubt tucked into warm static-y sleeves, corners of sheets, or stuck to towels and not noticed when folded. They will eventually turn up. Off to the market to shop frugally. What else can I do on this trip? There are things in my donate bin to drop off. I need to clean out the car, so will take a trashbag with me. Though gas prices have about halved in the last couple of months, I still don't want to waste it with single-stop trips. I paid $1.76 a gallon last week, and though I'm driving an economy vehicle, not the old pickup, I work to conserve. I have to renew the annual vehicle registration and I pay cash at a local Hispanic grocery store service desk. They have great produce so I'll plan on making guacamole and eating some good squash, plantain bananas, and peppers - they also have a bakery with some tempting crispy cinnamon sugar Buñuelos that I'm a sucker for. Not glazed like in the recipe, but still not healthy. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Rumncoke Date: 11 Jan 15 - 08:35 AM I left a part used pack of peas out last night - the memory is not what it was, so it is going to become pea soup with the last bits of the roast chicken thrown in. I do need to cut back on the carbs, I have put on weight since I needed to have bread available every day for my husband to have sandwiches when he comes in from work and then he only wants dinner late. I can resist anything but temptation. These days my diet is considered high fat, but I do notice how other people are huddled up in coats, hats, scarves and gloves and they are still feeling the cold when I am finding the temperature perfectly comfortable for a casual walk along to the shops. Our fuel prices have fallen, but they are mostly made up of tax, so they will always be far higher than those in the US. There is talk that it will be down to under a pound a litre (35 fluid ounces) during this year, but I'll believe that when I see it. It has been fun to see the price down by a penny each time I go past the garage - well almost every time. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: W y s i w y G ! Date: 11 Jan 15 - 11:13 AM My man not only bought me a slew of new bras (driving 2 hours each way to find them), but is doing the alterations needed to make them fit RIGHT. We bought 9 and 3 are altered, pending the mailbox arrival of another style or two we de=cided to try before alteraing any more of the remaining 6. (He credits his 8th grade home ec teacher, who was cutting-edge back in the day. She insisted that no girl would leave her class not knowing how to use a drill, and no boy without knowing how to use a sewing machine.) I know HOW to sew, but past planning and cutting I'm a klutz. So we do projects partner-wise, and I'm COMFY for the first time in..... years and years. Anybody else remember those bra conversations with Kat? ~S~ Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Jan 15 - 11:15 AM I went to a social event at the library on Friday and by yesterday my hands had broken out in the classic coconut allergy dermatitis response. Perhaps they used it making the cheese cake? I thought I steered clear of everything suspect. And last night I ate a pint of ice cream. My bad. Sometimes that devil rests temporarily on your shoulder. I'll climb more stairs this week. :) One of the textbooks listed last month (so they'd be in place for the new semester) sold yesterday, so into the mail on Monday. The price I listed was close to what others list for in the half.com marketplace, but probably a lot less than I paid for it when my son was at the university over the last few years. But it IS more than the bookstore would buy it back for. The trick is to sell them while they're still being used in classes or they're only expensive doorstops. (I ran the list by him and held back any he wanted to keep). While I'm at it is an eBay kind of day, and in the background the laundry continues for the dog beds. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Jan 15 - 01:27 AM Two bags of trash at the curb (a lot for me!) and most chores finished. A book is packed to ship for half.com tomorrow. I have finished dusting shelves in my living room but haven't finished arranging what should stay on them. SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 12 Jan 15 - 02:12 PM Mill: I have reached the point of "I don't WANT to go back to the city"! Was going to go "as soon as the air cleaner arrives". It arrived about 10 and the nice man put it into the door closer to the studio, I had turned the heat up in the studio so I could work, then down because I was leaving, now up again as it is snowing and it is warm enough to work but tomorrow is going DOWN! And be sunny. So... ???? Really want to finish the current novel - a page turner. That would kill the day.... Well, survived yet another year. We celebrated by R being on time for the music on Friday. I had told him that was what I wanted for my b-day. Then a quiet morning of talking on Sat. and supper with Geri at the restaurant. Then a lazy day on Sunday when he gave me a lovely pair of earrings (from thrift shop) and yet another lamp shade (from thrift shop) for the dragon lamp, which I cannot find at the moment so we could not try it. We have bought about 10 shades for this wonderful little lamp - from a yard sale. This latest seems to be made of translucent white shell, which I love. The earrings may also be shell - that sort with beautiful blue and green patterning. I did a few days worth of dishes after R brought me a bucket of hot water. Geri visited in the late afternoon. R spent most of the day on computer so I read. We studied on a property for sale and finally emailed the realtor who responded that it already has a conditional offer. Oh well. We have solved my toilet-99-steps-away problem with a commode from the parents' home, tucked into the living space - so I don't have to put on coat, etc to use it. A great relief! The freezer problem, we discovered after R moved another frig up from the other end of the building, was only the plug on the ext. cord. Problem solved. OK, not going anywhere today. Watching the snow fall and reading, and potting, she says hopefully. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Rumncoke Date: 13 Jan 15 - 06:29 AM Despite my 'rule' that things go out and not come into the house, I bought a poor little house plant at the supermarket. It is a dwarf cyclamen, and it was as limp as a beached jellyfish and marked down from 4 pounds to 40 pence. I took it home, gave it some rainwater and put it under a bright light - it being already dark outside. In a few hours it had perked up wonderfully and only a few of the flowers were lost. As a student of biology I can keep cycleamen alive for many years, and they get better all the time. I have a photo of a full size one I had back in the early 80s, having been given it in the late 1970s, which had over 100 flowers on it one year. It only died because the wicked lovebirds cut all the leaves off it to wear in their feathers. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: W y s i w y G ! Date: 13 Jan 15 - 08:20 AM DP: We have solved my toilet-99-steps-away problem with a commode from the parents' home, tucked into the living space - so I don't have to put on coat, etc to use it. A great relief! Great solution! I'm going in the opposite direction. The Sept, 2012 surgery left a lot of nerve damage. I wasn't incontinent, but a bit leaky upon arising and walking; it took until I was at the one-floor Ohio house, for a long period, to get the muscles trained right for the multiple overnight trips to the loo. I got rid of one portable room accommodation there, and was able to get rid of the much more difficult one in our PA bedroom when I got home. BUT, if we needs em, we puts em! One of the PA portables goes to Ohio for a guest bedroom! ~S~ Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Charmion Date: 13 Jan 15 - 08:23 AM Very cold in Ottawa today, so I'm working on a book manuscript -- too chicken to face the real world. By mid-afternoon I will be so stiff in the hip joints from sitting at my desk that I will have to get up and do something active. What a good time to vacuum and dust the bedrooms! This house is amazingly dusty, and I cannot figure out why. We have the ducts cleaned regularly and the windows stay shut in winter. There are only two of us, and two cats, so we should not be generating the snowstorm of dead skin that would account for the constant layer of particulate matter. Phooey. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 Jan 15 - 01:09 PM I've also brought home small plants on last-chance sale and nursed them to robust health. It's something I've been able to do more lately since I didn't get more cats after the last two died. They were really hard on plants and/or places where plants were placed. They either ate them or knocked them over. Or both. That cold weather to the north has seeped into North Texas but would be a lot more tolerable if it didn't also bring a heavily overcast sky. Ugg. Once again I'm sending the dog collar receiver back to the company that sells it (as part of a dog containment system). My complaint (written early this month) brought about a call and they are going to send the unit along with that letter to the corporate office to see if they will approve replacing it. The warranty supposedly doesn't include owner errors and my dispute is that I didn't break it by over-tightening, the dogs broke it by rough-housing. I'm working at home today and waiting on the mail carrier so I can hand it over and save a trip to the post office. I hope he gets here soon, I feel a nap coming on. ;-) SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: fat B****rd Date: 14 Jan 15 - 12:09 PM Hello again. Since I was last here I've managed to re-organize my pantry, throw out loads of stuff and do 55 minutes brisk walking on the treadmill at the gym. I've done my good deed for the year by collecting all my step family's washing and dealing with that. With two adults and two children my Hotpoint has been begging for mercy. The diet is on hold for a while as I have stuff to use up but at least I haven't gained any weight (Oh what a good boy, am I). I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that getting rid of some items tends to cause a sentimental tug on the heart strings but, with certain exceptions, I try not to put more store in objects than I do in emotions. Generally it's been an enjoyavble week and I look forward to more reports. Take care all of you ATB from Charlie. Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Stilly River Sage Date: 14 Jan 15 - 01:21 PM Sorting items that still have good use from items that have sentimental meaning is one way to start decluttering. There is a helpful book by Don Aslett called Clutter's Last Stand that examines not only how to declutter, but the psychology of how it got to be cluttered in the first place. This book has been out for a while so used copies abound and are inexpensive. He has several books on this topic (spun off from a single chapter in a book he wrote about cleaning in general). SRS Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: W y s i w y G ! Date: 14 Jan 15 - 04:04 PM I deadheaded the amaryllis and paperwhites today, and set the 2 pots no longer flowering in the sunny window to store up energy for next year. The still-flowering three are right beside me. One potful of paperwhites's foliage got WAAAAY too tall, so I put a plastic cage around the base of them cut from a plastic vinegar half-gallon. That also gave me a free funnel for the periodic springwater transfers to gallon jugs. I pruned a HUGE work-related project today by assigning most of its public functions to an alter ego, and that cleared the decks to resume work on the Blue Songbook. This week's offertory from it will memorialize Aiyana Mo'Nay Stanley Jones, who was killed by Detroit police when they raided the wrong house: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Aiyana_Jones ~Susan Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-+2015+-January-March From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 14 Jan 15 - 10:48 PM Mill: Trimmed butter dish bottoms yesterday then pulled myself together for a trip to the city. Lots of empty jugs for water, lots of laundry. Stopped and library, returned and borrowed. Got to very cold (54F) house, off loaded stuff, started laundry and distiller and turned up oven - with door open to help heat. The dryer did not even want to start, the laundry room was so cold I had to put the detergent in the K to warm so it would pour! Told R: -Go get an ext cord and a cube heater - then you can have supper. He did and he did. Ever thankful for the heating pad chronically in bed. four loads of laundry, one left in dryer this am. Re-loaded car with many jugs od water for the studio, the distiller, dry laundry, pots needing finishing and set off for Market -apples and veggies, Pottery supply - 7 boxes of white clay and a couple new tools and thence across the bridge toward mill with stop to make new keys for studio; Vanessa lost her keys, tried for an oven element- no luck. went to bank and got down in time for a visit with A |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Feb 15 - 12:26 AM New stuff from here down. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: GUEST,CS Date: 21 Feb 15 - 03:56 AM You beat me to it! :) |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Rumncoke Date: 21 Feb 15 - 07:13 AM The cyclamen I rescued from the supermarket is still flowering, and has a few seed pods which might prove fertile - I do like to grow things from seed, you never know what you will get, and if and when the seeds germinate you have something with uncertainty. I never understood the uncertainty of Schrodinger's cat. The cat is either alive or dead, and just because the situation is unknown doesn't alter the possibilities. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Feb 15 - 12:15 PM Pasting the old posts is a bit tricky, I did a little formatting at the top and I'll fix the rest as I have time. It's the knowing, not the cat, that makes the difference in that mind game, Rum. :) It's overcast but warm this morning. I slept late because I had a cup of tea last night way later than I should have and was consequently awake till all hours. Now to get a late start on my day, before the cold and rain arrive. At least it is just rain, possibly ice on Monday, but nothing like New England. Irony is that if there is ice on Monday we'll probably get the day off. None of us down here will be complaining out loud, considering the 10+ feet of snow in Boston and environs! SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: fat B****rd Date: 21 Feb 15 - 03:40 PM I have a pretty good recall of most of the posts by regulars on this D and F thread. Occasionally I get a kind/helpful/encouraging word which is most appreciated. My own D and f has been chugging along nicely totally depending on whether I can be a***d or not. So far I have thrown out a lot of stuff and donated some to charity. There is still a fair way to go (the garden shed). To bring us up to date to-day would have been Ann's 71st birthday so I have been to put flowers on her memorial (as opposed to head) stone. I did have plans for a little gardening but I found it all a bit wearying, especially when I got home yo find a letter addressed to her! After dealing by 'phone with the organization involved I WhatsApped some of my inherited family and spent the rest of the day being slothful. To-morrow (Sunday) after my sinful fried breakfast and papers I shall be, weather permitting, tidying out the shed and/or attacking my shower windows with vinegar. Back to the gym on Monday and, hopefully, back on the low calorie diet. Looking forward to reading lots of posts. Charlie. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 21 Feb 15 - 05:09 PM Mill: Duh! Vanessa helped me get the car out. She had some nifty metal things in her car... And I was out in no time. Before hand, I had shoveled from car to road - about 25 feet - to make sure I had a good chance. If I had asked her on Thurs, I could have gone to the cafe last night. Maybe I will go to the singing group tonight. I have not done any pottery at all. Somehow, shoveling snow seems quite enough exercise. Still trying to de-clutter sinuses; now I am trying thyme tea which seems to be helping. Dreadfully overcast day - not at all inspiring, but warmer- about 13F and rising. The toilet at the other end of building seems to be frozen. light was out and heat is off and I phoned R - who is still working in the city - and checked electric panel, trying to find something that had tripped - to no avail. Went to town and got salt - as for sidewalks and put a cup or so in toilet, trying to avoid a crisis. I did bring two buckets of water to the K. Also stopped at library and returned some books, renewed some. Emailed lawyer re purchase of property, announced on FB re move to Ontario - many comments - very interesting! Changed profile pic last night to a pic of me instead of animal(s). Tons of comments! quite interesting! Also messaged someone about doing a memorial for environmentalist friend who died about a year ago - hoping for Earth Day. I felt great when I got up this morning but as other recent days, I go downhill and by 4 I am quite ready to call it a day. I mostly do not care. Nothing HAS to be done! There will be more structure after I move; I will be part of a functioning community where English is spoken! I am SO looking forward to this! Thinking of the upcoming "move" to Ontario. It will merely show that we have enough worldly goods for yet another household. A first priority needs to be a storage shed so we do not clutter the wee house before the painting, floors and K are done. Or maybe not move anything until then. Our friends will still be able to have us. We have enough cabinets for the K from one we bought and then did not like much - stored here. It will be adequate with some cheery paint. When it is warmer, I will check out/measure the counter that we did not use (from a dif K) - kind of greyish but good quality and this K is bright enough for it. With the house so small and the possibility of the quarry, I am not being picky. Decent and clean. Warm and cosy. I have plenty of curtains for where they are needed. And LOTS of fabrics for colour. Plenty of furniture also; most of mine is not being used. The fact is, we brought my household here from Whidbey and most of it has been stored since we left the cabin. Maybe my thought processes are using energy. Something nice for supper? I am out of soup! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Rumncoke Date: 21 Feb 15 - 09:03 PM I always thought that not knowing what to believe was the natural state of all Humans so it is not at all surprising that the paradox of Schrodinger's moggy evades me. I just read - or rather skimmed through that book 'Gone girl' and thought it the most dreadful rubbish. It was so talked up with it being made into a film recently but what a let down. I wanted a distraction as my daughter in law, who is 31 weeks pregnant has had to go into hospital having had her pelvic tendons loosen, and she is in some trouble. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 22 Feb 15 - 12:08 AM I was going to pick up that book at the library, I'd also heard it talked up. Not a good read, eh? What is the prescription for your daughter-in-law? Is this the "total bedrest" scenario? This evening I made up a recipe for dog treats and the second sheet of them will be done in a few minutes. It uses rice flour, eggs, dry milk, pumpkin, salt, and a little parsley. I tried a few on the dogs - they never refuse any food, so I can't say that they like them better than anything else, but they were certainly happy to be given an after-dinner treat. The batch makes enough that they'll come out costing less than some of the limited-ingredient treats at the store. My Labrador retriever is allergic to wheat and chicken, and wheat and chicken fat are two very common ingredients in dog food and treats. I'll make up another batch tomorrow and take them next door - the neighbors give the dogs a treat once a day over the fence and I give them treats for Zeke so he doesn't get the wheat. Today was a regular eating day so tomorrow is a fasting day. It should be okay, and in time for a really cold day forecast on Monday (an eating day, which is better than trying to fast when it's really cold). SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 22 Feb 15 - 08:51 AM Mill: Woke up this morning to the that white sky again. A window full of that monochromatic white. Lying here thinking it would be a good day to stay in bed - but then what could I say about what I accomplished today? Then I saw bits of white falling through the air. OH JOY!! But it has stopped, for now. So I got up and, feeling 100%, started doing necessary things with a view to leaving for the city this aft. Bedding changed. BF made and eaten, vitamins organized for another 2 weeks, things moving to their "back-to-city" positions. Sky is brightening, flakes are falling, temp up to 17F, sinuses are responding positively to thyme tea, the taste/smell of wood smoke seems to have finally gone away, she says hopefully. But after an hour of moderate activity, I am going to have to convince myself to carry on. So here goes... |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 22 Feb 15 - 12:32 PM It has been a crazy month here. My nana was transported to the hospital about 2 or 3 weeks ago which in my small family means we all drop what we are doing and go help in whatever way we can. Jeremiah and I drove down in my car and my mom went in hers just in case I needed to leave early or she had to do one thing and I needed to do another (it's amazing what 3 strong minded women...my aunt included) can accomplish together. Anyway....we stayed at my nana's and drove the 80 mile round trip daily except for two of the days due to weather (extreme cold/snow). When they were ready to release her, they said that she was too weak to be home alone and needed rehab. Nana and the 3 of us decided that it was best to have a medical transport bring her north to the town where my mom lives (30 miles or so from me) to a nearby nursing home where she has been before. She knows the staff and has made several friends there. When she arrived, the transport guys said they had never seen such a welcome reception! It does the heart good to know she is at a place where she is treated well, where we can and do visit often (mom goes daily) and Nana is happy. :) On the day mom and I were to drive back north, I got about a mile from the house and my car started to sputter and blow white smoke. A few hours later I had a tow truck take it to the nearest Subaru dealer (25 miles away) and the shop got us right in and back on the road within 2 hours for under $200.00. I was most thankful. I admit, I was blowing some smoke myself....I was SO frustrated and wanted nothing more than to be in my own house....be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. It has been brutally cold here (-25 to -30 at night), schools have had delays due to the temperatures and I plain old didn't take Jeremiah to school one day as it was just too cold. Given the car issues I had, I was afraid I'd break down on a back road and in those temperatures...it could be bad news, very fast. I spent the last few days recovering....I was just wiped out...still am a little bit. Anyway...we are home and happy to be here. Today all our pipes are frozen. Pete woke up to flowing water on the floors. Grrreat. He has it half fixed and we have water in the bathroom now but not the kitchen. I may set up two tray tables with dish pans and do dishes right there as both sides of my sink are now full of dishes. UGH. After much deliberation and thought, I quit Weight Watchers and have an alternate plan in place. They have raised the prices and it just is too much for us right now and frankly, my motivation has wained some. So...on to Plan B which I am enjoying and look forward to adding to...more on that later. Today Jeremiah and I have been working in his room, adding more toys, cleaning out old toys and clothes (we packed up 4 thirteen gallon bags and 1 very large 30 gallon bag.....it's amazing how much he has outgrown. We are happy to pass it on. He will register for kindergarten in the first week of March. I can hardly believe it!!! And not long after that, he will be having his 5th birthday! AMAZING! That's all for now! Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 22 Feb 15 - 01:53 PM I didn't realize Mudcat truncated the restored message until today and now I can't bring it back in the Google cache again. I did put up the rest of the November-December thread. I'll look into this some more, but we may have lost a few weeks. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 22 Feb 15 - 07:37 PM I was still fussing with cache stuff so I didn't read the earlier posts. Michelle, you have had so much on your plate this last few weeks. Your line about blowing smoke was great! It's good know know you were able to find a comfortable and close place for your Nana - and I hope you have emergency gear in your car. I haven't put stuff in this car I'm driving now because I didn't have to winterize it like the pickup (putting about 200 pounds of bagged topsoil and sand to ride over the back axle), but I usually have a down sleeping bag and a couple of bottles of water in the vehicle for just in case. Dorothy, I saw a short satellite video of the Great Lakes mostly frozen over - I suspect it is going to take a while for much of the territory on either side of the border to thaw this year when spring eventually arrives. Stay warm in your mill or house. I have a couple of more forms to dig out then it's time to do the income taxes. I've put them off long enough. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 22 Feb 15 - 08:28 PM City: I finally succumbed this morning. By 10 am it was clear not much was going to get done so I resigned myself to reading and doing little things: stewed a big pot of apples and brought them with me, made up some choc covered ginger as I have not done any for a while, checked that counter for suitability and think it can work if we put a double sink in the already cut hole. I can live with that. Finished a novel, drank lots of thyme tea, nettle/green tea and a cup of "breathe easy" tea. Gave up and ate dark choc until satiated; it is a decongestant and it worked. HAd a nice veg/chicken supper. Trekked out to the car three times with stuff to bring; that was enough of that - through lots of snow. Now I feel plumb wore out and have been on FB and emails for over an hour - ready for bed. R is still at work. Tomorrow is the first day of jury trial for the man who assaulted him about 4 years ago. One charge is "attempted murder". A highly stressful period for us; if he does not get substantial prison time, we will live in fear ---forever? When I was a probation officer, years ago for 18 months, I only recommended jail twice. I am strongly opposed in general but this is the type of person who really needs to be incarcerated for safety sake. I am feeling tearfully stressed and I know R is also. Could be that is why my energy is low? |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 23 Feb 15 - 03:27 PM City: Trimmed R's hair before he dashed off to court, bf, hot bath, two loads of laundry, emails, FB, watered upstairs plants... Cold out there -but sunny! I could walk to the library but it's cold... Sinuses are better. Inertia is not. Need to hear from R re court case. Need to scan a piece of paper and email it; printer is at mill. Library? No friends or neighbours nearby. tomorrow. Inertia. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 23 Feb 15 - 05:50 PM Dorothy, How did court go? I've been thinking about you. Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 23 Feb 15 - 06:27 PM Dorothy, I join Michelle in wondering how this first day went in court. Let us know what you can, depending on restrictions on discussion. It was an enforced stay-at-home with the ice day today, which sounds like it will be the slick foundation upon which more ice and and then several inches of snow will fall later in the week. There are dogs underfoot at times, though mostly they're sleeping in their usual night-time locations. I had to hunt around the house to find one of my oven mits - Zeke had carried it off and I guess I'm lucky he didn't shred or eat it. It is kind of soggy. I have sorted through more stuff in my office, setting aside some things to send to my daughter that go with a good camera I gave her for xmas (one of mine she borrowed and took to Japan and seems inclined to actually use a lot). A lot of it, though, is the assemblage of old cables and chargers and dedicated plugs to devices that are long gone. They'll go in the bag to the e-waste recycle bin. And, not surprising, MORE tablets of paper have gone into the bin. Susan, you'll have to resend the PM with your address, I left it there to retrieve later but with the 'cat crash, it is gone. My taxes are all ready to go (all papers and forms assembled) and I'm almost to the sewing stage with two lap comforters (40" x 60" great for a nap or wrapping up on the couch). One for each kid. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 24 Feb 15 - 09:07 AM The cat (mine, not this one!) has been nagging me to find the table again. She shoves thing off and disturbs the strata so I can't find anything. With the record cold today, it seems like a good day to do that, as well as reorganize the loft (heat rises, after all!). My issue with the frozen hot water pipes has not re-occurred, so I'm sure that it was the gale force winds and wind-driven snow from that nor'easter that caused the problem. The crack between the sills isn't wide enough for me to get any real insulation around the exposed bits, although I did tuck as much into the crack as I could, so the fact that it was a special set of circumstances that probably won't repeat makes me feel better. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: wysiwyg Date: 24 Feb 15 - 12:17 PM How much did winter 2014-15 suck? It's already taken some of my favorite people off the planet. I'm sure this AM's sad news won't be the last. I hope our family's not the next one "culled." I hope none of the Cat's habitues are hit next too, and a quick skim of the thread shows that you're all having as much "fun" as Hardi and I have been having... Pipes froze, check, and thawed with salamander before floods, check. Car embedded in drift, check. No one but me to dig it out, check.... with 5 trips out back to spell my back, dug out. Ramp in front so snowed over so bad it needed snowshoes to use it to get trash out, check. Salt applied with last of back energy, check. Coal shovel on hand to slide off the thawy bits, check-- after I open a section of the dog-escape-preventing SNOW fence that lines the damn ramp, enough to slide shovel-fulls out through the balusters! Leftover roll of snow fencing found froze to porch floor under snow, check-- to patch what I open up with scissors. I'll remake that open section REMOVABLE on the first "warm" day. Nurse flu-like hubby to be work-go-able, check. Avoid shooting myself, check. Avoid shooting HIM, check. Nurse hubby thru recurred ankle sprain, check. Avoid shooting myself, check. Avoid shooting HIM, check. So far. ;-) How? Prayer. Thyroid meds. People helping teensy-weensy bits at critical junctures. Patience. Grace. Having been to all of the above rodeos many times before. Having GREAT co-counselors with which to weep and laugh thoroughly! And a day here or there with blue skies and over-10-degree, windless days couldn't have hurt! But I made a number of mistakes that could have cost money and lives. Hardi is strong enough to help me when I get sick or hurt, but the reverse it not true at the moment. So I broke the news to him that if his ankle goes out again I'm calling his doc to auth a home health aide with rented first-floor hospital bed. It's time to head off my next round of mistakes! Next Ohio trip is April, on my own. My son is planning a visit to me there in mid-trip to be sure I ain't gone bonkers, and THIS time I take a lab order for thyroid WITH me to get a re-test there if brain fog sets in again. White privilege. ~Susan |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: wysiwyg Date: 24 Feb 15 - 12:19 PM Above post pasted from draft saved to email the day the Cat wouldn't take the damn post. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Feb 15 - 12:51 PM I have another ice day, though I suspect the powers that be at the university are regretting this one. Delaying the start time would have been sufficient. Tonight is when it gets really exciting, we might get snow. So I'm doing things I planned to do, but adding in one more - I'm tired of gallon jugs of things sitting around because they don't have a place to reside. I have a cupboard with two shelves of paint cans that are more than a dozen years old - it is time to give some of them the deep six. I can dispose of paint environmentally on campus so I'll set a few cans by the door ready for taking over next time the campus opens. My tincture of green soap and my chlorhexidine (a veterinary cleaner with some antibiotic-like properties) and vinegar can go into this cupboard. And I might use one of the shelves for my large glass jars (some with screw on lids, others with wire hinges and rubber gaskets. I use them all of the time but have to find room in my wire pantry shelves between uses. The cupboard would be better. I made progress on my CV reconstruction this week; a few weeks ago I found an old draft but somehow misplaced it. Good thing I had printed it so it was transcribed into a new well-labeled document. Time to let the dogs back in. This close-quarters with dogs has been a challenge - Zeke is always on patrol for reachable food (he is a "counter surfer") so I must be on my toes with anything my shoulder height. I just now hastened to the kitchen to move the Tupperware of pie crust cookie shapes from the counter into a cupboard, or he'd have found it. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 24 Feb 15 - 01:35 PM We've never owned a counter-surfing dog. Heck, my first dog wouldn't touch things left at his level without permission! Bandit is fine in the house, but anything left alone with him in the car for too long is fair game. I keep a plastic tote in the car for just-in-cases. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 24 Feb 15 - 04:01 PM Today there was another 2 hour delay for the schools due to the cold temperatures. I think it was -19 here this morning or something very close...anyway, it's cold! I did some grocery shopping today and spent time at the nursing home with my Nana. She is feeling very tired these days and as we were sitting talking, I am noticing that more and more of her symptoms sound very similar to ovarian cancer symptoms. The bloated belly, getting full very quickly, having to pee all the time, gas, etc. I spoke to the nurse and because of my history, they will run a cancer antigen test. Her poor belly is so swollen that it pushes on her lungs and leaves her short of breath most of the time. I hope to God it isn't ovarian cancer because I know that Nana would not have it treated. I also asked about ascites on her belly....we shall see. I'd rather speak up and have the head nurse think I'm crazy than to not have it checked out. I picked Jeremiah up early from school and we made a bee-line home, got the groceries in, put away and stoked the fire. The woodstove is being finicky at the moment so I will baby it back to life...it's too cold to not have that extra heat in the house. Jeremiah is trying out playing on his own in his bedroom. He's funny....going up and down the stairs about 60 times for this and that or just to make sure I am still here. I think in a bit I will go do some cleaning in our bedroom while he plays in his room. I will be close by but still giving him some space. :) Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Feb 15 - 04:48 PM Teaching children how to be alone without being lonely is a valuable lesson. Being able to entertain oneself is so important. We're here if you need us, Michelle. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 24 Feb 15 - 05:45 PM City: Thank you for concern! It is still going on. Latest report: R will be on tomorrow. His friend who was also severely assaulted broke down and they had to take a recess for him to recover. Having had the guy's thumbs - one in each eye as his head was pounded against a wall, M is terrified he may yet loss his sight. The poor man cared for a blind mother until her death a few years ago. I feel tearful and deserving of my inertia. However, I drove R to the court this morning then went to Bureau en Gros (Staples, I think, if you are anywhere but Quebec. I left the printer at the mill due to not wanting to carry it through the snow to the car. So, realizing I may be needing to do more scanning and sending re the property - at the lawyer stage soon, I bought another printer with the idea that a printer is not something I want to be schlepping all over two provinces. One at the mill and one in Ontario, eventually. Then I went home and offloaded printer and some groceries, and went to Home Depot to check out flooring. Some interesting and not too expensive stuff. R is home and we have had some food. Now he needs to get some real work done. I may go with him tomorrow to the court. R may also break down. There has already been news coverage of the case. It actually caused changes in how things are done and we believe at least one person may have lost his job over the lack of security. The Minister of Justice actually came to Montreal from Quebec City immediately to survey what needed to change. tbc... |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Feb 15 - 09:08 PM My friend Susie babysits with her grandson, and his parents keep taking him to a mall play area on weekends, where he frequently picks up germs. It is then passed through family members, and she has been sick for several days. She saw the doctor today but still can't keep anything down. I ran to the house to bring in groceries from the car, feed the dogs, make her a cup of decaff, and made sure not to get to close. I washed my hands well after that - the bug sounds nasty. Making progress on my CV. It's one of those lynchpin documents that helps me move forward with both jobs and scholarship, and it has been a day of digging through files and trying to remember what the name of the paper was that I presented at this or that conference. Linn, did you see last week's New York Times Magazine? They've redone it, including an entirely new font face to use for this publication. Here is the article about the relaunch, including illustrations. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Feb 15 - 10:20 AM It's a cold slushy day out there, we're back to work but I have a list of things that need doing during the daytime so I'll take the day off. First and foremost, the slow leak in the left rear tire. I made progress on work in the house, though it is mostly digital. The CV has gained some entries, now to figure how I want to format it so it looks good. The electric bill will be sky-high this month. I wish I had one of the pellet stoves or fireplace inserts that work to heat whole houses. When I moved in here there was a shell of an old heatilator but it was rusted out and not repairable (they still seem to be in the marketplace but out of my reach). SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 25 Feb 15 - 11:12 AM More snow here last night. I'm going to go run some errands and hope the plow guy comes while I'm gone so I don't have to shovel around the car. I made a highly unsuccessful attempt to locate the compost pile in the back of the field yesterday. I had to use my snowshoes just to get back there (or shovel a path through three feet of snow), and was unable to locate it it, even though I know the general location. I told Michael to shove a post in the ground so I'd have a target to aim at, but he felt it was unnecessary at the time. Hah! Showed him! We might find it again before the end of April... |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Feb 15 - 11:32 AM I start a new compost pile every spring and let the old one sit for a year or two. This way it has finished working completely and is down to an even mix of soil-like compost and a few pits that didn't decompose. Maybe this is the time for that new pile! Dorothy, good luck with the court case. Susan, take it easy out on that ramp of yours. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 25 Feb 15 - 11:57 AM That's Michael's responsibility. I just shovel and do maintenance things. He deals with gardening stuff. In the meanwhile, there's a five gallon bucket outside with compost in it. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Feb 15 - 03:32 PM I stage the compost - there is a bowl on the kitchen counter for compostable kitchen scraps that is emptied every day or two into a small trash-can-shaped bin outside my kitchen door. When that fills it is taken to the big compost pile at the back of the yard. It is usually so broken down by then the dogs leave it alone, but I also put the dog droppings in the compost pile and do it at the same time I empty the kitchen bin, to keep them away from it all. I've printed out the instructions for sensor matching the tires on my car. I have suspected that when the tires were rotated the sensors weren't lined up, so the gauge on the dash isn't actually identifying the tires correctly. It's one of those "turn the ignition switch to run with the engine off" maneuvers, with 2 minutes per tire as they blink or the horn beeps to tell me I've done it right. Then I can figure out if I have a slow leak or have simply never managed to fill the one tire that just needs a bit of air. More office waste shredded, gadgets arranged logically, and some in the donate bin. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Feb 15 - 04:07 PM Dorothy, did you see this story? I know it isn't where you are, but it is interesting. I suppose this is one way to declutter- build a tunnel and stash everything! SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 25 Feb 15 - 04:09 PM City: Happily, R is through with his testimony. I went along to court this am and he got through it pretty well, only teared up once. I was surprised at the things he did not remember. He was adamant about not talking about it ahead so I shall just let it go. The accused, acting as his own lawyer, was the BIG baddie. He tried to bring up a number of unrelated issues but the judge and Crown had to keep him on track - mostly. This man is incredibly pathological. M amazed me by being surprised that "he does not even realize he did anything wrong!" Sociopath. When he first went to jail, we worried about his kids, then realized the kids were probably better off also. During a break, I was able to speak with the Crown and he assured me that if he is convicted, there will be an opportunity for other victim impact statements. "If..."?; the assault occurred in a court room with judge, lawyer and court reporter as witnesses. R and M are each suing the Province due to the lack of protection in the courtroom. R was finished about noon and we went back to the car but then, he wanted to go back to the courthouse. Then my BSugar level dove and I had to buy a brownie, hoping it had the adequate combo of sugar and fat; it was pretty bad but gave me the strength to go back up to the cafe and wait in line for real food - chicken noodle soup and green tea got me home. It has been years since that has happened to me. R decided to stay and listen to other testimony as it might help with the civil case they have against this man. They will not gain anything financially from that but if they win it - some years down the line - it will help out other issues. Anyone who wants a good story can google "Robin Doak"; it was in the papers, with colour pics - both Fr and Eng - in Aug 2010 and a full page spread in September, including a good pic of some of the 200 rotting mattresses left in the parking lot at the property where this man had been, literally " a squatter". Talk about de-cluttering! It cost a couple thousand to have them removed and find a waste site that would accept them. The current case has also been in the papers as it unfolds. I hope R can settle down now that he has done his bit but we will still be on tenterhooks until the man is - HOPEFULLY- sentenced to more time. I have no idea how we shall manage the rest of our lives with him on the loose. THAT is what causes me to weep. Never truly feared anything before in my life. It gives me a new understanding of why people want attackers in jail. No wonder I don't feel like doing anything! Well, sinuses are better. Guess choc really helps ----OR it finally has subsided due to other treatments! So I shall make a pot of cauliflower soup. Need something yummy - besides dark choc! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: wysiwyg Date: 25 Feb 15 - 04:52 PM SRS, I sent one more help request out to the local universe for help getting the front HC accessible parking open... but am not expecting results. Ramp still impassable and no goodcfooting beyond it. So it's out the back door and a waaaay long way around for mail and trash, till the thaw (and drying of all soon to be flooded areas out front). TBTG for that great walker I got at the nursing home. I used it today thinking I was bringing the two empty trash cans to the back porch-- but the pickup had been missed. So the walker seat helped me reposition the full cans to a better pickuo spot, and it was great to know I could sit as needed. Its cargo pocket also held a really heavy catalog shipment of jeans and BRAS to try on. Two fit!!! ~Susan |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Feb 15 - 10:26 PM Thanks for the search term, Dorothy. I found the story. Wow. That guy is a basket case. Big virtual sort out and declutter of old media. I started by trying to find some papers I wrote in graduate school, and ended up discarding a bunch of old floppy disks, duplicate files on CDs, and jewel cases (they'll recycle at the e-waste place). A stack of DVDs of work from work (they were my backup at the house when I telecommuted all of the time) are going to the office. I've cleared out three small bins and two large ones - but most importantly, I finally found a backup of the papers and an old CV that has some information to add to the file I recently started from scratch. I used to have some non-woven plastic cloth sleeves, but they leave a film on the disks after a while. Now I keep my DVDs in paper sleeves. A lot of stuff is backed up on hard drive or thumb drives, but these items weren't. I'm glad they were still readable. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 26 Feb 15 - 05:25 PM City: SRS! That guy just about made a basket case of all of us! I will be glad to be in Ontario. Wish R could be also all the time! Hot bath this am, then reading/inter-netting/ trying to figure out how to connect new printer --- I Think I have done it - just now! but no energy left to try it out! Dealt with giving info re property purchase to lawyer - had to figure out how to turn a pdf file so I could read it without holding the computer sideways. Then had to figure out how to fill in a page and send it back - they got it all back as I could not figure out how to separate the pages, could not copy and paste. Hope I got it all to them in good order, along with explanatory email for the items I found confusing. No wonder I am feeling tired. Treated myself to long phone calls with 3 different distant friends! My almost 89 year old friend does not understand why she is still here "No one else in my family lived this long!" She says she wishes she were not, however, she still has five kids, numerous grands and greats and she enjoys them all. And many of them help out! And she is planning to have raspberry canes planted this year even though she "can no longer garden". We have been friends for over 50 years... Raspberry canes sound like a good plan for an open, sunny piece of land. Maybe I shall get someone to plow or rototill about half the lot and plant evergreen trees along the north and west perimeters, then fruit trees, then raspberry canes then corn, etc. I will look at starting seeds this weekend in the sun room. Susan! You are doing so well - determination gets full points! Thankful that the house is warm, the water is not frozen, sinuses are normal for me. Could do some straightening and maybe a stir fry for supper. Now a look at FB. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 26 Feb 15 - 11:47 PM The weather forecast changes every day - initially it was ice early in the week then clearing out, but it has been cold and wet and tomorrow perhaps snow again with the high not over freezing. I realize this is only the edge of someone else's huge storm, but we're finally getting some winter here in Texas. I took a bag of stuff to work today that will go to special collections (the remainder of my old photos and files from when I was the media person for the library) and some electronic cables that I brought home to test a theory and am returning before they become part of my clutter. Tomorrow I have another bag, this time of e-waste for the recycle bin. I did bring one thing home - a copy of the book I worked on for the last few months. That will go in my CV as a design project. Apparently the CV is necessary at work for a grant they are applying for, so my timing is good, even if I was doing it for my own reasons and not theirs. I have a couple of shelves with space that will be filled as I rearrange books in here. That is a task for this weekend. And for fitness, I'll be going to my dance class (I skipped Wednesday this week with plans to go this weekend instead - thinking the weather would be nicer by the weekend. Oh, well.) I'm going to sigh up for twice a week next month so I can learn the steps better and get more exercise. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 27 Feb 15 - 05:35 PM City: I brought the working distiller to the city but left the cord at the mill, thinking I had one here. Found I had none - none that I could find, anyway. So this morning, the situation became critical for me as I was running out of distilled water. Trying to find a source in the city to buy a new one, I phoned a supplier in Vancouver, or maybe Vermont? Super nice woman, upon understanding the problem, said she would talk to tech and phone me. She did so and informed me I should be able to get one in a local hardware store. SO! I moved out of the doldrums and into gear, went to the closest good hardware and the nice folks there quickly found me the needed cord. So happy, I went to the Market for cheeses and bought R a very small piece of an expensive one he particularly likes and picked up packets of curry powder and Ginger powder. I picked up two tubs of good cream cheese - for bagels - and when I got to cash, the nice woman suggested the other cream cheese. I told her I try not to eat chemicals - potassium sorbate in this case - and I was surprised they had they sort of thing in the store. She told me it was a mistake! Then to a grocery for orange juice - and some other stuff; it actually had some super good bread marked down so I bought all 3 loaves for frig and freezer. Came home and got my fav (closest) parking space, put things away, started distiller and had a couple small pieces of "Muesli" toast with a not very exciting but nice cheese. Not going to cafe tonight. R has a meeting and, with such a week and all that needs doing, seems a good idea to stay in the city. Hopefully, he will be able to function adequately and clear some stuff -- and his over-loaded brain - the most important de-cluttering of all! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Feb 15 - 12:06 PM Three loaves of banana bread are cooling on a high shelf so I can let the dogs back into the house on this frozen snowy (and sleet forecast) day. Comfort food. I agree, Dorothy, the products with the fewest ingredients are the ones I favor. Why, for example, buy yogurt with emulsifiers and gum thickeners? The point of good yogurt is that the culture makes it thick. I cook mostly from scratch, not because I save money (though I probably do) but because I know what is in the food. I made progress in the home office yesterday when I discovered and cleared out old CD and DVD computer backups from 10 and 15 years ago. The cases will recycle and the disks will go to a shredder (since they are computer backups!) I have a growing stack of empty baskets and small bins that may or may not find a new occupation around the office or the house. In the flux of cluttered then clear, the office is relatively cluttered, but there are empty shelves that will soon house the things that are deemed useful and keepable. I didn't make it to dance class this week - the times I could go are Wednesday evening or Saturday morning. I was home on Weds., could have gone, but was in the middle of something so decided to wait till today. But today the streets are a frozen mess. I hope she reviews well next week, I suspect I'm not the only one who missed out. I do have the music and the list of steps so I can still get some fitness activity by practicing at home. Now to make myself do it! SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 28 Feb 15 - 12:27 PM Maggie - are those CD cases the standard jewel cases? If you want to get rid of some, I'd give them a happy home and would reimburse for postage. The CDs that get a lot of use in the car tend to have busted up cases because the CD crate would go on the floor in the back if I had a passenger and then the 85 pound lab/hound mix would inevitably find a way to stomp all over it. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Feb 15 - 02:07 PM Yes, these are the older sturdy standard jewel cases. I figured no one would want them so I didn't ask, but better to be reused before recycled. I have a box of around 25 of them. Is that too many? Banana bread wrapped up and way out of reach or in the freezer. Laundry next, then vacuuming. Dogs in the house all day long for many days leads to drifts of hair in halls and near the back door. I'm not going to bother to scrub the limestone-colored tile in the living room until the snow is gone and the mud has dried. For the moment, back to the CV. I need it for work soon and since I've gotten this far I'd really like to finish it (to this point in time, at any rate). SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 28 Feb 15 - 02:27 PM I'll happily take all 25. My broken ones can go to the recycle trailer instead. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Feb 15 - 05:49 PM Each pass through the files looking for CV stuff lets me thin out more old printouts of articles, printed email conversations to do with old classes, and early drafts of conference papers. There will be manila folders and other office supplies going into the donation bin this evening. The poor dogs stagger around on the crusty surface of the snow in the back yard, but dopey Zeke is all energy and wants to fetch something. I'm afraid of a torn ACL if they start racing on that, so after one fetch we stopped. The upper 2/3 of the eastern half of the US seems to be a sheet of ice (Smithsonian ran a graphic) today. Everyone stay safe, and Tami, good luck in your snowshoe race tomorrow! SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 28 Feb 15 - 06:30 PM City: Tami and her snow shoe races! All I want is to stay warm!! It was alleged to be only 21 F today. R could not do much at work so we went to look at a storage shed - very cute wooden one (about 10x13) that he has ascertained can be taken apart and taken on flat bed trailer ( he has) up to Ontario to our new property to replace the falling down shed there. It will make a terrific pottery studio!! He got the woman down to $100! it will be a lot of work moving it and she escapes paying someone to remove it. But I dug around in the car and found a nice cobalt blue mug to give her. She was thrilled and asked where she could take lessons so we helped her with that. ALSO, they are ripping the one side of their house apart in the spring - because she does not want to go outside to get to the car - HONEST! We might be able to get the entire glassed in room (about 6 or 8X10 or 12), nice wooden garage doors and........... You would drool over her house - BIG, OLD, granite - about a million$ or more. And they want it bigger???? OH well! I get a studio and maybe a sun room... THEN, we drove west of the city to Pincourt on the lake/river to look at the small trailer. about 6x9, it is just about right for a mobile Clay Play facility. Room for a table, two wheels and materials, insulated, plenty of windows so people can stand outside and look in, or come in and give it a try. The non-fun part was walking a couple hundred yards through lots of snow on top of the ice amongst the ice fishing community - humans really are crazy! The wind was biting! We were very glad to get back in the car. We drove back to city via a thrift shop where I dropped off a large bag of shoes I had found this morning on the sidewalk near the house. I put on blinders - dashed in and dropped the bag in their bin and left, lest I should see anything I must have! Had some lunch and R is sleeping in a chair, waiting for a generator to be repaired so he can go move machinery. I posted on a special North Hastings community bulletin board site on FB about the mobile Clay Play idea to see if anyone is interested. R thinks my car can pull it from place to place BUT I do not do well with backing up with a trailer! I am hoping that friends with trucks will help. I am ready got bed, myself. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Mar 15 - 01:53 AM Dorothy, your adventures in real estate and wandering around the northern countryside finding things and meeting people never ceases to amaze me. And that was a great gesture with the mug (it sounds lovely)! I'd love to have a glassed in room at the back of the house (one with those insulated and louvered panes so you can block the light without having to put up blinds, shutters, etc.) My office is at the front of the house so when cars pass I can hear that the street is still crunchy. The paperwork is paying off and I finally found the conference proceedings for another paper: through the process of elimination I have matched up most of the papers to the conferences where they were delivered. I surprised myself at how many of these I wrote (and attended). Now to lure the dogs out the back door with the offer of a treat so they can take one last potty break. That is about the only way to get the pitbull to go outside in this weather. She simply detests the slick cold crunchy surface on the lawn. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 01 Mar 15 - 07:24 AM It's all still snow here, Maggie. Hasn't gotten above freezing since...I can't remember. One of the coldest Februaries on record. I was out on the trails behind my house for the first time in a while yesterday. They're all packed nicely and the dog was able to get out and run for a bit for the first time since the first blizzard. After he had his walk, I went out again on my wooden snowshoes and had a much longer, faster walk on my own. Even jogged a bit and realized that I am in better shape than I expected from all the lazing around I've done since the snow got so deep. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 01 Mar 15 - 10:20 AM City: R has gone off to a funeral with bro and Dan; business assoc/friend, esophageal cancer., non-smoker. Anyway, I guess I have a block of time to pot and a friend just requested a "heart bowl", so, just having gotten here, I think a stint at the wheel is a great idea on a cold, sunny day. Someone on FB recently suggested putting down a tarp on a yard spot that you can lift when the critters need to do something - that is what caused me to suggest a tent. I have a wee "sun shade" tent, floorless, which I got for about $10 that would do the job nicely. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Mar 15 - 12:42 PM It's melting out there now, but if it hasn't cleared more in the next couple of hours I'll take out a garden rake and clear an area for them. I need to spend time in the greenhouse, organizing the hoses that are currently in a pile on the floor, and get equipment ready for the spring cleanup. The rakes and shovels are in the corner blocked by the hoses. I found an old photo of myself doing a ranger program back in the early-1980s. One to scan and file before it gets lost. This office clean-out has yielded some great stuff that was buried for way too long. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 01 Mar 15 - 04:46 PM Five mile snowshoe race is run. I finished 56th out of 58 runners, with a time of one hour, thirty-five minutes, and change. Two minutes faster than my time in the 4.25 mile race. Trail conditions were awesome, weather was amazing, and, most importantly, I had fun. Even with the steep ups and downs and the minor asthma issues. I will definitely be doing this again next year. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 01 Mar 15 - 05:40 PM Correction - FOUR minutes faster than my time for the other race! And, due to some people not paying attention and going the wrong way, I officially finished 54th out of 58. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 01 Mar 15 - 10:26 PM It seems that the bitter cold temperatures have thrown me into hibernaton mode. All I want to do is eat and sleep. My house has been a cluttered mess. I worked on it some today and it made a remarkable difference but I have some work to do. I should be getting ready for bed but I am a bundle of nerves this evening as my mother-in-law was transported to the hospital via ambulance. While I have known that she has some serious health issues, I didn't know exactly how serious until today and even then, I don't have a clear picture of what's going on. She has cancer and a degenerative bone disease. Her spine is basically falling in on itself and because of this, the tumor cannot be removed surgically. She doesn't say much about it so that's basically all I have at the moment. However, her best friend called here tonight to let us know that Pete's mom had been taken to the hospital. Her friend said she had been vomiting and right away, I was thinking the flu and not wanting to take Jeremiah to the hospital where he might get sick but he friend said no, it wasn't the flu and quite frankly, there were surprised she is still alive. The doctors didn't think she would see Valentine's Day. I didn't know. Pete didn't know. And now she's in the hospital and I am trying to get him to go see his mom but he says she doesn't like people to see her in the hospital and if she wants to be alone, he will honor her wishes. I respect that he wants to honor her wishes and I certainly won't go if she doesn't want to see people but I think Pete should go. Just to say that he's praying for his mom and that he loves her. He said no. I will respect his answer and her desires but I don't understand why. Family dynamics are strange in this family, as with many families and this is just one of those things I don't understand. In the meantime, my stomach is in knots and I am full of nervous energy so I think I'll go scrub the bathroom floor or something. Feeling sad and nervous, Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Mar 15 - 12:27 AM Michelle, Pete needs to say goodbye and to tell her he loves her. You do also. How you manage that, given your ability to cope with complex issues, I don't know, but I sure you can. My mother was in the hospital and then skilled care nursing on her way to hospice when she died. I saw her a couple of weeks before she died, and though I had plans to fly back, I was a day late. The day that my brother and I each had to fly back home was so hard on my sister (who was in the room and her main care giver), when my brother and I had to return to our homes for a little while, because she knew we were probably saying goodbye for the last time. You have to weigh a lot of issues now, the needs of the dying and of the living. Good luck with this, and we're here if you need us. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 02 Mar 15 - 07:40 AM Maggie, thanks for putting into words what I was trying to last night. Michelle, I never got to say goodbye to my dad and his body had been sent to the crematorium by the time I got there. It makes it all that much harder after they've gone. I hope all works out for the best. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Mar 15 - 10:37 AM Tami, I think you've moved since the last address I had for you. Please send it by PM or message me on facebook and I'll see about mailing this box to you this week. All yesterday afternoon and evening I washed dog bedding. I also raked some of the icy stuff off of a couple of areas in the back and they did tend to hang out on that more. Now the ice is mostly gone but it is still cold and at that stage with a particularly viscous mud that gets tracked everywhere. I wanted the bedding to be clean so they are as comfortable as possible in their garage stall when I'm at work. There is an oil heater out there for them also. My electric bill is going to be through the roof this month. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Mar 15 - 12:37 AM Going through my book of various online accounts and finding that some of the very old ones don't exist any more. And if I can't remember what it is or why I joined, it's time to close or shred that account. I need to bake a loaf of banana or pumpkin bread and get it in the mail near the end of the week in time for my son's birthday, coming up soon. And what I really need to do is finish sewing his small comforter. Maybe that would be a good thing for Wednesday after dance class, I'll be full of energy when I get home. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 03 Mar 15 - 10:09 AM City: Already 3 March! I still have made no pots. Like Michelle I feel like sleeping and eating. The house is the way the house is. Laundry and dishes under control. I have done some clay prep and took a another hot bath yesterday - if I am not going to get anything else done.... Also did some grocery shopping at Market - cheeses and organic apples and celery - and at a grocery store - mayo and other stuffs. Begged R to consolidate papers from all over the LR. But this court thing is all-consuming. He came home about 5-6 last night and sat. I had made: celery soup so we had a nice meal; I served it with toast w Gruyere on the bottom and Ikea meatballs on top. We each spent time on phone in lengthy conversations - always good to talk things over with friends. I gave him custody of the computer which keeps him entertained. He found articles about the psychiatrist who is supposed to testify for the defense today - he has been legally stopped from practicing several times, and is highly controversial... I was delighted that my newly installed printer worked wirelessly and printed out the articles for him! YAY! R has gone off to court. Impossible not to want to know what is happening. He is too worn out/stressed by this to go back out and move machinery after court. This business of people dying is a toughie. People often do not want to face it and then afterwards wish they had.... Never forgiving oneself is a nasty spot. Where do we draw the line between pushing and letting the other be responsible for their own actions - esp when we are going to be the ones who have to live with the -"I should have..." "Sometimes success is just getting the laundry into the dryer before the mildew sets in." (On FB this am!) Now to get dressed and go to pot. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Mar 15 - 10:18 AM I got the tires sorted out, there was a nail in the one that had the slow leak. Simple this time. We have another winter storm headed this way tomorrow, so I need to finish my running around and be set to hunker down for a day or two. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 03 Mar 15 - 02:41 PM City: Thinking of how much worse for those in the South, these unusual - for them - storms are. I was up to my wrists in clay, in the middle of the first pot after doing a bunch of clay prep, when the phone rang. Answer phone without drowning it in clay! R forgot the papers I copied last night. So I changed clothes, jumped in car, managed the bloomin' parking machine with the help of the guy who needed it next, and took R the papers. I sat in the court room thinking they would soon break for lunch and, eventually they did. Then I realized I had not won the battle as I only had gotten until 12:17 and it was already 12:35. I dashed back to the car and -WHEW!- no ticket, put more time in it and rushed back to the courthouse. Searched all over for R to no avail so I came back to the house. He had had his phone off. As I walked up to the door, my phone rang; he had thought to turn his on and saw I had called.... I had really been looking forward to having lunch with him -otherwise why would I sit through a bunch of French... Oh well. So I got a bunch of exercise! Now a bowl of veggies and maybe I will feel like getting back to the abandoned pot. Maybe not... |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 03 Mar 15 - 09:51 PM City: Computer slow as molasses. Me not doing much. Snowing out there, a couple inches so far. R came in from court, ate a light meal, changed into work clothes and went out. I have eaten enough choc and cookies for a month. Did some useful emailing, a lot of sometimes useful FB and had a 40 min phone call from a friend in Ontario. This was terrifically imp to me because I did not get around to call her- afraid of choosing the wrong time. I am delighted that she phoned. We were once very close but not in the last 20 years or more. R and I visited her on one of our stays up there - because she had called our friends a couple times trying to connect. Tonight, we had a good long talk, renewing our friendship - which is super since we will be close neighbours. She is "content" with her life, her self. How wonderful! Now R is home and time for the news. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Rumncoke Date: 04 Mar 15 - 06:41 AM A larger firm have contacted my husband's little partnership with a view to having some work done - they said they would pay, didn't do so by the deadline, but now some money has trickled through but it might be too little too late. If so they might close down and he will be retired. This Saturday is the annual machine knitting exhibition at a local school, which I attend and have a whole room for doing demonstrations. It is great fun, but exhausting. I must prepare for it, starting today, though I have an unusual number of calls on my time at the moment - it seems that it is either feast or famine, never a steady flow of work. Prioritise - that's the way to go. I went out last night and bought ice cream - what can go wrong now? |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Rumncoke Date: 04 Mar 15 - 09:53 AM What can go wrong is leaving the ice cream in the car overnight. I have put it into the freezer to see if it can be restored, as it was fairly cold overnight. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 04 Mar 15 - 10:30 AM City: Rumncoke!! Hope for the best!! R is totally stressed. He is running on something close to empty. He just keeps on because he must. Overwhelmed, he still negotiated the little trailer for me. Then dashed off to work, apparently with most of the possible helpers unavailable - and a ton - actually hundreds of tons - of machinery to move - with deadline approaching. Me? I just want to go back to bed and cover my head. Prob what he would like to do also. I have a bit of a deadline also. Need to get those pots completed for my son's b-day gift and shipped before mid March. Looking at the positive: Going up to 36 F today and again early next week - both here and in Ontario. Sugaring off time! Since I am unlikely to get anything done here, I will check on road conditions - after last nights few inches. Maybe go down to mill and load the kiln and fire. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Mar 15 - 01:08 PM Dorothy, make that man some comfort food! Split pea soup or beef stew or grilled cheese sandwich and cream of tomato soup on the side. Something to help him get that inner sense of well-being back into place. Rum, I'm glad to see someone else has entire rooms dedicated to specific tasks! I have a sewing room and the sunroom is exclusively eBay and in the window, houseplants. It at least helps keep that stuff out of the rest of the house (except that I have some craft stuff set up on my dining room table right now). Since daylight savings time is looming (next weekend, I believe), I've made a point of getting to bed earlier so the transition isn't too hard to recover from. I hate the time change in the spring. Someone who posts only as a guest started a new "hoarder" thread that I'm going to dovetail into this one later on today. I've given notice over there so they know where to look for it. Might as well keep everyone with this kind of task on the same page. I have dance class tonight but sleet and snow are due. I live only a few blocks away, but the walk isn't reasonable - it would either be through open prairie, crossing railroad tracks, and skirting a light industrial site, or walking part of the way beside a high-speed freeway feeder that has no sidewalks. So hopefully it will still be driveable this evening. (I'm assuming the instructor will be there all day and into the evening, but I should check her facebook page to be sure). SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 04 Mar 15 - 03:31 PM City STILL: Total inertia. Have not even eaten since BF - delicious ricotta/raspberrycrepes. Did spend a bunch of time on finding stuff to help Dragonfly toward a document of some sort that anarchists can agree on as a guide to giving some structure to a 35 year old community that staggers along. Lots of questions. Few answers. But a few of the younger generation pushing it along - maybe. In the process, I went through a whole bunch of my docs and read quite a bit, deleted a number. Well, guess that was worth something. As far as feeding that poor man! He eats out quite a bit so I have to have food that can be warmed/reheated at - well, sometime after 8 pm, as late as midnight. That's why soups are good. Often a salad with Feta/tomato/sweet pepper as I figure he needs the greens after a day of "a burger" or "McDonald's"... Sometimes he "had a big meal". If he is hungry, I can usually manage a pork chop, salad and stewed apples - veggies take too long. Last night it was "just a piece of toast and cheese and OJ". I used to cook nice meals - a roast something and veggies, then feed myself and hope he got home eventually. Most roasts do keep OK but not the veggies. My Dad came home for supper at 5 pm! Always! Maybe I shall go put on beans for the veggie chili. I have not made that for a while. And I am sure not doing anything else! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Mar 15 - 03:58 PM I have another batch of chicken stock simmering in the roaster pan in the oven. This comes out best, and maybe I'll make another batch of chicken pot pie. The one last week was perfect. More paper tracked down and shredded, filed, or corralled this afternoon. I'm finding duplicates to toss, making sure the one I keep is well-marked and logically placed. We're under another winter weather advisory so the dogs are in again and I need to keep all trash cans up off the floor or Zeke will toss them looking for food scraps, etc. Even the paper trash in the office. A couple of file folders are up off the floor, the contents stashed in a magazine holder on a shelf (keeping all of my published materials in one place so I can refer to it or pull out samples if needed). Dance class tonight is cancelled and it was last week also, so I haven't missed the new steps and moves that she introduces each week. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 04 Mar 15 - 05:40 PM City: Chili is almost made but in two parts - I will have to put it into my largest bowl to mix together, then into containers for frig or freezer. But - I had lunch - cheese, shortcake cookies and some choc. Guess I better go make a salad. I was really hungry. Soup on hand is a better option but I could not even wait to warm that! Then read my way through lengthy intentional community info. More to go... Anyway, it was a sunny, melting day. Now it will get cold for a few days, then a few melty days. May yet see the ground! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 04 Mar 15 - 06:24 PM Laying low around here as Jeremiah and I have caught ourselves a cold. He seems to be just about through with it but mine is lingering and I am getting through my days and nights with some Advil Cold and Sinus. Works great but I can tell when it wears off very quickly. I did some dishes today, made egg salad for future lunches, made some black bean and rice bowls with added cooked carrots, cubed up leftover steak, some cilantro and sour cream was added when served. Tonight I am baking some pork chops to go with boiled red potatoes and a salad. Maybe some green beans or corn too. We'll see. I can't wait to be able to breathe through my nose again. Michelle PS. Jeremiah registers for Kindergarten tomorrow! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 Mar 15 - 02:15 AM Michelle, all of that great food will taste much better once you can smell it! My chicken stew was delicious, but I didn't make pie crust this time, just ate it with a slice of buttered toast on the side. I found more of my CV (academic resume) material online and have emailed it to myself. The fact that I can find it on a database easier than in a file drawer in my office tells you something. My materials are scattered around, and part of this declutter work has been to try to confine related materials to the same general area. Benedryl tonight because of the histamine activity today, though I think the snow has coated everything for now and the pollen is stopped for the time being. Not gone, just on hold, alas. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 05 Mar 15 - 09:56 AM City: Leaving shortly for the mill. MUST get some firing done so I shall commute. Today a bisque and maybe do a bunch of glazing. Hope that I can find some energy once I get away from here and start doing something. No doubt this morning that the stress has gotten me down and it is so much easier to stare at the computer. Not that that is totally frivolous; I am finding ideas and info for dragonfly and sharing good ideas. The trial should be over today and R should be getting a call about it - soon we hope. NOW! out of here. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 Mar 15 - 12:39 PM A beautiful snowfall of about 3 inches overnight - enough to completely cover the lawn and leave a white world, not one studded with the tops of blades of grass. I suspect a slippery layer under the snow, so am staying put indoors until it warms. Bright sunshine and blue sky. Banana bread ready to put in the mail, assuming the postal carrier is coming along as usual. They really do have that all-season motto, but they may be a little later today. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 05 Mar 15 - 01:16 PM I did a few loads of laundry this morning and took one sweet young man to kindergarten registration where he had fun and I now have a baseline for where he is academically...looking good! To celebrate, we picked up some Chinese food at a local place where the lunch specials are large enough for two adults....so we are sharing and there will be leftovers! I won't have to really do much cooking for dinner as we have leftover beef stew, left over pork chops and potatoes, left over veggies and now left over Chinese! And Stilly, you are right....things will taste SO much better when I can smell things! *sniff* I'm not quite there yet. Be well All! Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 05 Mar 15 - 07:01 PM City: Got to the mill, loaded a bisque kiln, turned it on, had a nice lunch, thawed soup, phoned a potter I met on line yesterday and arranged to visit - about an hour from the mill but a bit closer to the city. Drove to the potter's studio, via the good butcher where I picked up some all natural, and interesting, sausages - one has blueberries! - and grain fed, hormone free chicken breasts. The potter and his studio were fascinating, pots beautiful, studio post and beam construction with lots of windows, etc. We talked for about 90 min and then it was time to get back to the city before rush hour. I want to take R to meet this guy when we are crises free - well more so than now. Four hours driving, an hour in studio, 1.5 talking, while standing. So much better than sitting here wanting to go back to bed. Evidence that R came in while I was away, nuked a bowl of chili I had left in frig!!! Wow! I had a nice healthy, mostly veg, supper. Dessert????? The rest of eve will be resting/computering/TV. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Mar 15 - 10:28 AM One package in the mail (handed over to the mail carrier yesterday on our cold and sloppy snow day). That is banana bread for my son, hopefully arriving on his birthday. Tami, I'll probably mail your's early next week. Yesterday I found a one-day online and in-store sale at Fry's, where I buy a lot of my for-fee software. They had several versions of Quicken with deep sale price and a hefty rebate. I looked at the versions and got the simplest one (no, Quicken, I don't want you advising me on my investing and I don't want to use the Intuit software bundled in some of the offers). After the rebate it will cost about $9. I've been meaning to update this for a couple of years. The old one still works, but keeps giving me error messages and they don't support it much. I never replace these every year, but I think I got about 5 years out of the last one, and that will do. I'm going to uninstall the old program before putting it in, and hope to not let it try to monitor as many accounts as it used it. It never let me simply delete accounts that no longer existed, which sometimes caused problems. I think this one lets you scan in receipts, which I might try. On Saturday night I made a peach coffee cake, and I'm taking half of it to work with me today to share with others. It's very rich and not something I want to eat by myself, but it is a good way to use a pint of canned peaches. I won't can any this year, I did last summer and have enough to last for a couple of years. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Mar 15 - 05:03 PM I carried a couple of bags of e-waste (old car charger plugs, various cables for electronics I no longer own, phone chargers, etc.) and deposited them in the e-waste recycle bin in the library. And I found that we do indeed have a shredder capable of destroying CDs and DVDs, so that stack has been disposed of. Those were old computer backups from when Symantec Ghost had you store onto disks, not onto an external hard drive. Times have changed! My final task was to destroy some old floppies. I'd already deleted the contents but didn't bother to format them. I simply destroyed each with a heavy duty staple through the case and disk, and those also went into the e-waste. This weekend it looks like Saturday will be the nicest weather so I'll make a start in the garden, my primary focus to dig the beds for potatoes. If the lawn is dried out enough I'll mow, it's looking horrible right now with winter weeds popping up all over. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 06 Mar 15 - 08:29 PM City. YAY!!! going above freezing Monday - to Thurs at least. And not getting really cold tonight. This is imp because I have to turn off the heat in the studio to run the kiln. Today when I got there it was only a few degrees above freezing. I turned the heat on and waited for the studio to warm some before getting to work - had lunch, watered plants - pansies and geranium blooming! Mixed a new batch of green glaze - took almost 3 hours of hard labour. Then I unloaded bisque kiln, waxed bottoms, stirred that darn midnight blue glaze as I have not yet found - not true! I think I can make a dif one but did not have the energy to do another glaze so I used the difficult one. I stirred and stirred and it seemed to go better today; I stirred and glazed and stirred and glazed - a whole batch of stuff.... - an hour later it had settled again and I said #$%^& but stirred it again because there was room in the kiln and I wanted to try some blue/burgundy pots. I had done a small sample and it was interesting... Then I did a couple with the fresh glaze. Finished loading just before 6. Left the studio, cold, tired, hungry and aching. But the kiln is firing. Had soup and some home fries and choc cake and cheese. Too hungry to wait for cooked veg. Tomorrow I have to drive back out to open kiln and turn heat back on! Now, It is computer and TV - maybe a hot bath. The little trailer/mobile pottery workshop is a go. We may be able to pick it up on the weekend and take it to the mill until time to take it to Ontario. It will be useful for taking a load of stuff. I am starting to triage what needs to go first. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Mar 15 - 10:29 AM A nice weekend after a crappy week means I have so much to do and only two days to get started in. Top of this week's list, make the guest room habitable because my son will soon be home for a few days. I hope to have him sort and toss some of the stuff in there (his room is now the guest room since his sister's room is also my sewing and craft room and is too crowded for someone other than his sister to enjoy sleeping in there when she comes for a visit). My reading room is full of the winter-time dog sleeping arrangements (they have a cot so they're up off the floor and feeling pampered). I have to set up a reading lamp because I moved the one that was in there to where I'm doing crafts. I have one that needs a switch replaced (I have the switch) that I can probably repair and move in there. It's halogen so it puts out a lot of heat with the light and I'm mostly switched to LED lights now, but it's what is here so I'll use it. I must turn my attention to the front lawn. With the winter weeds it looks unkempt, like no one lives here. That was the state in Feb, 2005 when the house was burglarized during a work day. A neighbor spotted them and interrupted what could have been a much worse situation, but it still took over a year to recover from it. The sheriff could see that they pulled into the drive, walked across the lawn to the front door and rang the bell to see if someone was home. They then kicked in the side door and got electronics before being spotted. I worked at home more back then, and there were several times when young men (without mowers) rang the bell and asked if I wanted my lawn mowed - I realize now that until that point the house looked like a good target and I was in fact looking into the faces of would-be burglars. I've put up security doors since then, but I still don't want the lawn to offer up an open invitation to give it a try. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: pattyClink Date: 07 Mar 15 - 10:34 AM I did check in during the big server problem but Mudcat ate my post! Main accomplishment on the declutter front was scanning and purging many files, shredding the sensitive stuff. Unfortunately it 'doesn't show' since they were all hidden away. I started on the visible pile and got led down a garden path of health research, making one folder fatter rather than disappearing! But that's okay, it needed doing too. I read an odd little book by a Japanese lady: "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up". She's got some crazy ideas I don't subscribe to, but has a few very good insights to share. One is to fold clothes so they 'stand up' in the drawer and you can readily see everything you have, instead of making little layer-cake piles. This is great. A key concept she has is that as you sort your things, hold each item in your hand and ask yourself if it gives you joy. If not, thank it for its service to you, and bid it goodbye, then send it on its journey to a new home where it can be of use to someone else, even if it's at the landfill or recycling mill. Basically she uses this to thin the herd of things down to things she uses and loves, and therefore there is plenty of room in the house for everything to have its place. Sounds so simple, hope I can eventually get there! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Mar 15 - 03:25 PM patty, that "ask yourself if it gives you joy" question sums up my approach to what to sell on eBay. I learned something, now I don't need to keep it any more. Someone who actually uses or collects these things can take them off my hands - and it is REMARKABLE just what all you can sell on eBay. I picked up a sock organizer that does that kind of "upright" thing for socks, but I use it to sort my seed packets instead. I am gradually building a pile of organizing materials that are not in use right now, and if I don't find a new use they'll probably be donated. Over the past few years I have gradually updated the lights in my house to LED bulbs and today I made a big push to finish that job. Years ago I bought some halogen bulbs on sale that are still in their multipacks, and I may make a mixed lot of new and used bulbs and list them so low on eBay that someone will make a bid. That would free up storage space in a cupboard in my laundry room. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: GUEST,Jon Date: 07 Mar 15 - 03:43 PM We are going through LED conversion at the moment SRS. Part of the problem is that the old HomeEasy switches are not compatible and I'm working towards converting to LightwaveRF. My good deed for the household this year... I've only got as far as doing the bigest users. Kitchen had a row of 6 x 50/35W (mixed) bulbs in and I've cut that down to around 40W. For that room, and given all our eysights. I went for the daylight bulbs. We all really like this clearer light in there. Next project is likely to be replacing the 2 x 300W halogen floods outside. I have some of the bits now but am waiting for the junction boxes. I've never been any good at selling anything. Hoard and give away on the very rare occasion that I find someone wanting something I've discarded is more my way. But that's just me... |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 07 Mar 15 - 09:58 PM City: The pots came out good!! Not great but... As I packed them up, I realized there were only 6 plates and I knew I had made extra; what had I done???? I had glazed them and forgotten to fire them. If I have the energy, I may go back and try to gather enough for another glaze firing. I was still VERY tired today from yesterday and only did the bare essentials and came back to city. Did mix a new blue glaze to try in next firing. IT only took about 20 minutes - dif materials. The burgundy and dk Blue is attractive; I'm sure someone will love it. Watered plants well in case I do not get back for 10 days. Got back about 4 and have been mostly on computer- except long phone call - very nice - and made salads for supper. R came home to eat, not having had anything since BF! Then went back to work about 8. Watching Kijiji for frig - one for new house and one for Dragonfly. Ontario has a deficit of used friges as there was a program for people to upgrade to more efficient ones and the company gave a rebate. Need a stove also; it will come. Remembered to take cash from ATM for deposit on trailer in case we can go there tomorrow. Still really tired and brain not working that well. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 08 Mar 15 - 12:28 PM City: I neglected to mention that the accused was convicted on all four counts of assault. Now we await the sentence....... We are glad of the conviction. With testimony by a judge, lawyer, court reporter, .... It would have been a serious mistake had he not been! Today I am back to sitting here wondering why I feel blue all of a sudden. And that was before I wrote a lengthy email to the DF group re a negative situation in that community. I have choices: sit here on computer and do, basically, nothing, drive to the country and get stuff done - that glazing and firing, go upstairs and throw pots. Door 3 sounds good. Thank you! It is Sunday and R has dashed of to work - But it's Sunday!? Oh well. Door 3 beckons. I need a whole bunch of small stuff to fill the next bisque kiln - right now I only have the lovely big bowls. You see, having written that, I will fill more need to do it. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Mar 15 - 02:32 PM This morning I moved some paint cans out of a lower kitchen cupboard and put them along the back of a laundry room cupboard where I can see the cans even after placing smaller items on the shelf in front of them. The thought is that I'll now remember where the paint is but it doesn't prevent me from keeping things used more frequently in the same space. I need to put a couple of sliding baskets on each of the bottom shelves in that kitchen cupboard so I can store small appliances that aren't used often. I rewired one of two halogen torchiere lamps that needed new switches. They use the straight 300watt halogen bulbs and work well in a couple of rooms in the house. One of these days I also need to dismantle two non-working table lamps to see what type of switch they have (they're touch lamps) and replace those. It rained overnight so no mowing the front today. No garden digging today either, but I picked up tomato bedding plants yesterday. The plants will stay in their 4" pots for a little while longer, the soil is too cold to plant directly but the feed store that carries this variety always run out by the time I'm ready to plant, so I have to shop ahead. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: GUEST,Jon Date: 08 Mar 15 - 02:52 PM Blimey, SRS. I use the straight R7s 300W halogen bulb in the current outdoor flood lights but can't imagine them in an indoor light. Have you got really big rooms? |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Mar 15 - 07:57 PM Jon, these lamps have rheostat switches so I don't usually turn them on full power. There is one large room with a high ceiling where they work well when I want to light the entire room. I usually use area lamps in zones. I find I forgot about replacing bulbs in the fan fixture in the front room I don't go into much so I'll pick up more this week. The bathrooms and kitchen have fluorescent fixtures that I'm not ready to replace now because I'd have to paint the ceilings (assuming new fixtures wouldn't fit exactly where the old fixtures went). SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: GUEST,Jon Date: 08 Mar 15 - 09:15 PM On kitchen fixtures, I argueably did the house a favour when I put my knee through the ceiling. I'd gone up to do some plumbing job, a badly corroded joint just snapped and somehow I slipped. We had soggy plasteboard coming down in the kitchen. Parents got someone in to replace the whole ceiling in there. Before, it had 3 downlights and a central light but the chaps doing the ceiling suggested the row of GU10 spots on a bar. It turned out better and as I said before is even better with the LED bulbs in. Kitchen btw is own room where the lights are turned on and off by sensors. Corridor is the other one. It's quite handy especially as we eat in the living room. There is no need to worry about turning lights on and off when carrying plates. I also use a sensor in the living room. It's a cheap foscam web cam clone. Seems better at detecting occupancy. It just sends emails to a server that I managed to cobble up in Python. The system uses that as a motion trigger. It's main use has been to shut the lighting down if no ones in for 30 minutes. Pre LED, there were 4 x 60W candle, 3 x 60W table lights and 4 x 35W MR16 spots. It shuts things down to one table light (now 10W) on. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 08 Mar 15 - 09:20 PM I cleaned out our medicine cabinet yesterday and also a tote of hair accessories I've had for what seems like forever. The sink/vanity has been cleaned up too. Also, our washer and dryer are in the bathroom. The top of the dryer had become a collection of clothes that hadn't been put away with a towel thrown overtop as the cat likes to sleep there. All the clothes have been taken care of, the shelf overhead organized somewhat and the floor has been swept. Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: GUEST,Jon Date: 08 Mar 15 - 09:44 PM Bathroom change so far this year (or maybe end of last year) was to put a Deb commercial soap dispenser in there above the wash basin. It started with an error in an order with from screwifx where I was missing one item but wound up with some soap. They sorted the order and said if I could use it, I could keep the soap. We poured that into a hand dispenser but later thought "is there any reason you shouldn't have one of thier dispensers in a domestic property?" Personally, on reflection, I wish I'd have gone for this one |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 08 Mar 15 - 10:20 PM Well, door 3 never opened. I have spent the last 10 or so hours on FB and on emails working on a situation in the Ontario community - how to intervene with a 20 plus year alcoholic who is finally recognized as a negative impact - and other emails to friends in a catching up mode. This seemed the best use of today. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: pattyClink Date: 09 Mar 15 - 09:45 AM Lily, hoo-rah to you on clearing those spaces, that's a good feeling! Yesterday was a lot of scan and purge work. Finally cleared a few boxes and made room in the file cabinet for active files. It's amazing how stupid old files clog up the works. Anyway, reclaimed several square feet of floor from the office area, today it'll be fun to vacuum up the stray shreds and be able to see some actual progress visible. Then I'd better make a gym run. When I get wrapped up in household stuff it's easy to skip a day or two. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 15 - 11:24 AM Some days the best accomplishment is washing all of the dishes so I have a clean sink to work with when I get up or when I arrive home from work. Under that sink is looking pretty good, ever since I put down adhesive-backed floor tiles so I can wipe up the surface easily. I've gradually cleared out extra stuff in the bathrooms, but since my kids come home to stay on occasion there are some products that are there just to be a good host to friends or family. I'm looking at rearranging the kitchen - again - there are things that I use rarely that are on open shelves, but if I put them in a cupboard, would I ever use them at all? SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 09 Mar 15 - 07:47 PM City: It has occurred to me recently that, as I drive from city to mill and/or back, I no longer have any inclination to visit either of the thrift shops or dollar stores. I love the feeling of not needing or wanting anything from these stores while rather missing making those stops. Not adding stuff on, however, feels as good as getting rid of stuff at the moment. I suspect as I sort through things to decide what goes to the new abode, things will be found too much even for 3 separate domiciles. We'll see. Today, I had arranged with my "student" to meet her at the studio and it enabled me to get glazing done, as I showed her the ropes. She is exceptional at paying attention and learning and having good ideas. It energizes me to have her around. I gave her a key so she can come in and work on her own as she is already competent to do so! Tomorrow she will have her first completed pots!! All the emails of yesterday by self and others of the DF community bore fruit in that the fellow with the alcohol problem starting a new life today - announced first thing this morning. We all have hope and a social worker friend is seeking nearby professional assistance for him. It is conceivable that a group email intervention, well considered, could work with someone more apt to read and comprehend than to hear - yet more words? Hope! Choc has almost totally cleared my sinuses, I can actually breathe pretty well - better than most of my life. Somehow, I need to balance the choc calories by leaving out - something else? I once asked at a whole food pharmacy for the active ingredients in choc in pill form but they are not available! Choc also tends to move through the system fairly rapidly; something to watch out for but, basically, faster is better as a cancer preventive. I am mindful of the addictive aspect but prefer being able to breath and, so far, it has been my best hope. All possible household chores are up to date. Tomorrow will be busy; tonight I will stick on computer. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 10 Mar 15 - 10:08 AM Today I am busy with wrapping gifts, making an ice cream cake and general merriment! Jeremiah is 5 years old today!!!!!!! Happy Birthday to our little boy who we love so very much! XOXOXOOXOX Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 Mar 15 - 02:08 PM What an amazing journey this has been, Michelle! Enjoy the day! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 10 Mar 15 - 08:49 PM City: YAY, Jeremiah!! Five is a wonderful, exciting age! My body has not dealt well with the time change. Dragged myself out of bed at 9 am and made BF. R dashed away and I slowly pulled myself into get up and move gear. Drove to the country, unloaded the glaze firing, sorted pots, unloaded car completely and separated newer ones from older ones for my city friends who want to see new work. Collected myself to go to NYS to mail packages - books for gd in NYC and pottery for son in PA. Found right size box, did not find address which I had left in city - PANIC! Ahhhh! I can go to the library - thankfully it is open today! - and find it on computer. Did so. Picked up can of expanding foam at store for packing. Headed for NYS, figuring I would pack the pottery after I got through border. They did not care! Went into Malone to the PO. Opened tailgate and put thick layer of foam in box. It was supposed to take 15 minutes to harden - long time! I waited - went in and mailed books. Came out ----- this is not going to work. Went in and conferred with clerk. She was very helpful. Plan B: bought a box as mine was a mess of wet foam. Crumpled all the newspaper I had in the car for a bottom layer. placed the pottery - well wrapped, she hopes, in bubble wrap - but do not want it to be able to wiggle at all. Bought two rolls of bubble wrap for stuffing on top; just left them packed and used them as rolls. Later wished I had put two more on bottom. Taped it well and gave it to clerk to deal with. She stamped it all over "fragile" and sent it on its way. Should be there Thursday!!!! I was so relieved to have done these two chores that I completely forgot to get cheap US gas. Concerned by lots of traffic, I just came back to Canada - where there was no traffic at all. I felt pounds lighter! Reloaded car - I had just left stuff in yard at the mill while I was away. Stopped at the restaurant for a visit with Geri, then Esther joined us, Geri left and I stayed. Left about 7 and drove to city - darn, missed Big Bang! Stopped and picked up some groceries, got home, put them away, checked craigslist - free TV, phoned and waiting for call back. Over 60 emails to go through; will FB and work through emails kind of simultaneously. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 Mar 15 - 10:48 PM A co-worker today said she had told her husband about my organic gardening, the tomatoes in particular, and he wanted to know if I would sell him some of my canned tomatoes. Someone else asked me that last year, and both times I found myself without an adequate answer. I grow tomatoes for myself, for my food supply. I could buy store tomatoes, but the quality of homegrown, and the care I take in canning isn't calculable when someone asks about buying them from me. I eat this stuff! Who knows what price should be attached? I think I'll simply give her a couple of pints to take to him, and suggest that I can't price them because they are my food supply, but I'll happily talk him through growing and canning his own tomatoes. If he'd like. This last week I've used a several pints, making sauces for lasagna and enchiladas. One of the lasagnas is in the freezer and one is being eaten this week. The enchiladas have been good for lunches and dinners. I think this guy is educable - he bought some corn gluten meal to use to control weeds, but since his wife asked about it first, I was able to tell her that it's too late now for that use. If he's willing to fool with corn gluten meal, maybe I can talk him through a few pots of tomatoes, and another organic gardener is born. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 11 Mar 15 - 10:19 AM City: SRS: What a great educational opportunity! And how humorous to me that it is too late where you are for the corn gluten. The forsythia blooms at end of March in southern PA; I have no idea when they will pop up here! Never mind, further north; I will check in Ontario when I am there in April! That is the measure we used in PA. So, I stayed up until midnight in case R came home. Then phoned him: "I'm busy right now" So I went to bed. He did come home and did sleep. He left about 8 am, having had the wit to take his am phone call to the LR; I literally get a morning headache if I have too much noise or light (open eyes) before my brain is ready to cope. I stayed in bed until 10:15 (the old 9:15!) So sitting in LR with a cup of warm water/apple cider vinegar, I have phoned Ontario to set up a Hydro (electric) account on new house. This was amazingly painless! Then I phoned for an appointment to visit friends this afternoon. Now, I shall make up a bagel order - to take to Ontario tomorrow; these friends live near the Bagel Factory so picking them up today saves an hour tomorrow. Still waking up but gently, slowly! Already went through 30 or so emails, no responses needed! Brain is slightly in gear. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Mar 15 - 11:26 AM A lost dog turned up in the neighborhood and is at Susie's house with her grandson. I put up a notice on facebook and twitter - the facebook note has her grandson's phone (Susie often doesn't hear her phone ring, though she was willing to list it). Fingers crossed she can find his owners and not have to take him to the humane society. He's a beautiful red-nosed pitbull, neutered, but too much dog and she already has too many. Tami, the box is packed but I probably won't get it in the mail till Friday when I have my one day of "spring break" granted to university staff (during this week when faculty and students are away all week). SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: wysiwyg Date: 11 Mar 15 - 11:43 AM I too have not been doing well with the clock change, in my head at least, but my hands have been busy and WhooHOOO! While I was putting away clean laundry-- and I don't really have more stuff than most folks, it just takes more space cuz it's all BIG-- I decided to honor what my body has been suggesting for a few weeks: I packed up one set of sweats, fluffy/awkward winter-only slippers, and the heavy fleece robe (since I now have a light one for summer). AND I had one more of those clear zip bags new comforters come in! So Winter's Worst Gear is now in plain sight in my bigger closet, glowing all bright pink from the robe on top (which I can easily pull out if Mother Earth throws another cold crash at us). I even added the gorgeous pinks/red muffler to cement my resolve, and will add the matching hat when that turns up. Still in my daily-access closet is the comfier, lighter-weight set of all of the above items. I was SO GLAD to have a set to wash and a set to wear all winter.... but as a uniform, not so much!!! The beloved fresh-air and access ramp in front-- which got permafrosted during an early big bad snow while we were away, and was not possible to dig out since then-- was clear as of yesterday. So daily ramp walks with doggehs have resumed. By next week I hope I can wade in the front yard, in all the runoff coming into it from our big yard AND the adjoining hill, on its way to flood our basement. My heavy but waterproof boots are by the door!!! Mud Season, you may now begin. I'm ready for you! ~S~ |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 11 Mar 15 - 05:57 PM City: Thought I was going to return a carrier to the SPCA but lacked adequate knowledge of which way I was meant to go, so I ended up at my friends a bit early. Their dghtr (55) carried four boxes of pots up the two story metal spiral stairs. I no longer have that energy, nor the guts to carry a box down said stairs. She unwrapped most everything and the family had a wonderful time exclaiming over some of my newer work. As usual Hannah was telling what to do - more of this "shape and colour" and what about... And I had to catch them up on the craziness of our lives. R and I have known them since 1968. I repacked the pots because, I told H, I hate to hear them rattling! Then to the bagel shop for 9 d bagels to take to Ontario, to Market for some sale cheeses and organic potatoes. Home for supper: veggies and chili. And, while my supper was heating, made a pot of cauliflower cheddar soup to leave for R. Now I will go make a pot of celery soup and then rest up for tomorrow's drive. Snow is melting vigorously and weather has been sunny and sweat shirt quality. A bit of snow expected tonight and the weekend in Ontario may be snow/rain. Not so great for a farm market. I'm really tired but feel I can manage what needs to be done - also a load of laundry so I have comfy sweat pants for the journey. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 11 Mar 15 - 09:23 PM My dance class tonight was busy, reviewing the last set of steps and moves we learned. Next week to the new phase, shimmying so "wear a good bra!" :) This is a very good workout each week. My son arrives on Friday and I have that day off so I'll be finishing up preparations for his visit. I try to bake bread the day one of the kids comes home - such a visceral smell is the ultimate "welcome home!" And I'll have something more substantial ready to eat for when we get back from the airport. His room is ready, though he'll probably only be here one or two nights. I need to pin him down during this visit to thin out some of his stuff in storage in there. I gave my co-worker two jars of canned tomatoes - she was amazed that I didn't want any money - I told her that I thought if I calculated the cost they'd be very expensive, so I was just going to give her the jars and if her husband likes home grown/canned tomatoes, I'll teach him how to grow and can his own. Our supervisor came through and laughed - said it was like I was introducing the husband to a "gateway drug of homegrown tomatoes" with that free sample. I suppose I am! SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Mar 15 - 10:24 AM Aarrgh! A reminder email this morning of a report that has to be turned in by end of day. I was thinking of taking today off, but now I won't. The lawn is finally dry enough to mow, so I'll do that as soon as I get in this evening. That's the one good thing about the time change - I get home from work earlier during the gardening season. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Mar 15 - 04:45 PM I see that Terry Pratchett has shuffled off this mortal coil. My daughter likes his books, and I always kept my eyes open for some of the earlier ones to read myself (in order). Maybe now they will be reissued and we can clutter our houses with good books. :) SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Rumncoke Date: 12 Mar 15 - 06:32 PM I am forbidden to read the Discworld books in bed, as they make me laugh. Today I discovered that the small book of recipes for sweets is not where it should be, so I will switch the sorting to the kitchen tomorrow in an effort to find out where it has gone. I have been playing records today - the vinyl ones, as I can get to the music centre. I have never taken to buying cds like I used to acquire LPs. I have opera, folk, pop, classical, comic - and now I can get to it and play it again. I was quite surprised that the turntable works. I have space on the shelves and more carpet is visible in the dining room. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Mar 15 - 07:31 PM I've considered moving my LPs, but there are only a couple of places that are sturdy enough to store them. You own some, so you know what I mean. They make lesser shelves sag. This evening I stopped at my favorite gyro place a few blocks from the house. I hadn't been back in ages because they changed the schedule of my favorite cook. Turns out the owners shuffled management and my favorite cook has been back on days for several months. I'll be a regular again now. I picked up a gyro and a beer to celebrate the beginning of my 1 day off this week as part of "spring break" on campus. Students and faculty get the whole week, some years staff doesn't get any days off. Beggars can't be choosers. Now to putter around here and get ready for my son's arrival tomorrow. :) SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 Mar 15 - 01:07 AM Paper shredding tonight, clearing more files. And I've begun moving books in the collection that got me through graduate school. They'll be rearranged and some set aside, others back in play. And making room for a new batch. A bunch of recycling stuff goes to the village bins tomorrow, and maybe some donation materials over to the Goodwill. I've scanned a few things I can now shred, and am slowly working through a stack on my computer desk. They can't go onto another surface, they have to recycle, trash, or file. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 Mar 15 - 11:43 AM I have realized that before I go further with the spring work and mowing the lawn I have to excavate and organize the greenhouse. It has been storage all winter, the kind where you push the next thing in through the door and have reached the point where I can't get past the door. Everything has to come out, the hoses must be stored properly wrapped and stacked, the wheelbarrow moved out, etc. (Not posted to depress those of you who still have sheet ice and snow all around your dwellings.) I started the final push on whole-house light bulb replacement last week, and I may do one more bit of that this weekend. I have a circle light in the kitchen to replace a bulb in at the same time I pickup small bulbs for the front room fan light fixture. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 13 Mar 15 - 07:12 PM Ontario: Thought I posted something yesterday? Anyhow, this morning I dropped off bagels for one friend, then went to the "new house" to meet agent and measure K and bathroom for flooring. I turned onto the road and saw this really ugly house - ARGHHHH! Needs to be painter -- RED, Green Orange .... Anything but severely drab sort of pale green. I opt for pale yellow ASAP. Then to the township re permits for changes and by the time I left there - ARGHHHH! what a mess! Then to Service Ontario re changing residency --- ARGHHHHHHHHH! Not sure about this at all!!!!!! Everything seems so complicated --- and costly! Spent the rest of the day having short or long visits with a variety of friends. What a great feeling when the receptionist asked the boss, "Do you have time to see D.. P...?" And I heard a scream of delighted YESSSS! OK, maybe this IS possible, plausible, .... Being wanted counts for a great deal. Then I remember that this is home. On the way back to my temp home to rest up for the Farmers' Market tomorrow, I had reached the point of - all I really need to start out is a bed and the propane heater. The rest will come in due time. Closing is 1 April and R will probably still be dealing with crisis # 14567890 at that point. It will still be cold enough not to need a fridge and I got a great lunch for $6 at the bulk food store today - two meals worth, Oops, Also must admit to buying a lovely big quilt and a small hand made one for pretty, two turtle necks and a beautiful fleecy purple shirt - all at half price at thrift shops. Shopping did not yield boots for R - not under $100! I shall try again on line. And check the thrift shops again on Monday. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 13 Mar 15 - 11:08 PM What a workout. The front lawn was dense but I knocked down the tall stuff and though I didn't take the trimmer out, it looks tons better. I can feel it in my back and shoulders, all of the work to push through the tall stuff. Dorothy, do you have DSW shoe stores in your area? I found a good pair of steel-toed boots I wear in the garden when I'm using sharp tools (like the mattock or an ax or other chopping implements). I think they were about $60, a good name brand. You may need to go into the store, though, back to the clearance area to start with. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 14 Mar 15 - 02:16 PM I tore apart my lawnmower this morning and now have to get a new fuel line and filter. Spring seems to be here. The daffodils are up and buds are swelling on the trees. Several early blooming trees around the neighborhood are showing their colors this week. The mowing is timely - I did gain back a few pounds over the sedentary winter. Now to get back into fighting shape. There's nothing better for that than mower wrestling and digging the vegetable garden. :) SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 14 Mar 15 - 05:49 PM Ontario: SRS: Thank you. DSW says they are in Canada but I could not find where; will phone on Monday. A friend made a suggestion today which I will follow through on Tuesday. Market today was great fun. Connected with many people and much support re move. including - "We can help you fix the house!" And they mean it and are competent. Sold 3 pots - a bit more than enough for a tank of gas and the booth fee. That's fine. Totally tired but happy. Here is how clutter becomes: A dear friend gave me a very special gift today - special to him and he expects it to be just as special to me; he was so delighted! I will give it a good place in my new home. It goes on the wall so it is tolerable - but I do not like it at all! On the other hand, I really like the giver so it will be a memory of a wonderful person. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Rumncoke Date: 15 Mar 15 - 06:45 AM Spring is here - the purple myrobalan is in blossom, and the flowering currants are on the brink, new leaves and buds all over the bush. Birds have been gathering up nesting materials for some weeks, but are getting quite frantic about it now. The forsythia seems to have gone out of favour around here, the bright yellow flowers were the sign that Spring was really here, but almost every bush has been uprooted. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 15 Mar 15 - 03:44 PM Making a push to not clutter but adequately fill-in my LinkedIn profile. It's time I got around to it, though the site is pushy and will send out unsolicited emails on your behalf if you're not careful. One more lighting run this weekend, a little grocery shopping, then up to Susie's to help her get some of her life in order. It always seems easier to help others than it is to help ourselves. ;-) Taking a couple of days off this week and aiming at cooking a small family dinner. In preparation it's time to start mopping floors after all of the mud that was tracked in last week. No point in doing it until the mud situation in the yard was resolved. The house will be looking good when the kids and their dad come over for a meal. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 15 Mar 15 - 06:32 PM Ontario" Visiting day: many visits with dear people, talking about new house, about my role in the community - how I can best be of service. Could I write a series of articles about individuals visions of community life...? Soup at Sun Run Cafe and visit with W, visit to wonderful art gallery and with the friends who run it, lunch at "For the halibut" and visit with friend working there, went to the house and a friend was there walking her dog: how delightful that H lives nearby and we talked about the house, gardening, life, music, environment.... House looking much better today, esp with H there. I did some better looking and thought - bet we have a better door for back - one with a window! Great need for bigger windows; Nice wood ceiling in LR, I had not noticed before. Where to put garden? Maybe after snow goes! Where to put shed for studio? Not to block view from windows, flow of foot traffic around yard? Phone call with another local friend and catch up with her family/parents/opening of the restaurant? It is so wonderful to be in a place where I am part of a vibrant, thinking, caring community. Phoned R to tell him about day and everyone's, "Hi to R!" and better feeling for house. Need to start writing down mental list of "what to bring first". |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 16 Mar 15 - 01:51 PM The process of moving allows you to move only what you need and discard the rest. In theory, at least. I usually have found myself boxing everything and knowing I'll have to sort it out at the other end. This morning I can hear lawnmowers around the neighborhood and I need to attack the rest of my back yard. I tentatively mowed about 1/4 of the area after repairing and testing my mower, but it's a lovely day today so I'll finish the rest of it. We got Susie part-way set up tech-wise at her house yesterday. She has been paying for but thought she was no longer able to view Netflix, but I was able to logon to her account online via the laptop. We discovered that someone else has been using her account - her old computer that was stolen was set up for auto logon, and while she wasn't watching it, someone else had their movies in the streaming list. We deleted those, changed the password, and have removed the mailed DVD option. Next week we will address the NetFlix streaming to the television (get a DVD/Blu-ray wifi streaming player) and kick out the confusing X-Box (setting it aside for the kids to hook up when they visit, and providing a cable to the modem so they can stream games or whatever through it. Right now it can't recognize the new home network we set up last month). Her house is such a tangle of technology that other people have set up to use while they're visiting that she can't figure out. I've asked her what it is she wants to do, and we're figuring out the easiest way to do it. In her own house she should be able to watch a movie without jumping through technology hoops. Next week we will set up a rabbitears antenna for the livingroom television and I will help her program out the over-the-air channels she doesn't want. She's going to watch it for a week or two to be sure she can live without the expensive DishTV plan. She likes to record network programs, but many of them can be viewed at the networks web sites, so we'll also bookmark those sites and see if she can find the programs she wants to watch. If both of those things work, then the $100+ monthly dish bill is gone. Gotta get moving around here. It's a gorgeous day, and after a few dark weeks I need to get sunshine to make vitamin D. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 16 Mar 15 - 02:31 PM Maggie, you and Susie might want to check out a Roku device for streaming. They're easy to setup and use, and relatively inexpensive, depending on the model. I have one of simpler, cheaper models that I really like, and it gives my gaming consoles a rest (streaming makes them run hot). They're all wi-fi ready, and connect to the TV with an HDMI cable. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 16 Mar 15 - 03:26 PM The streaming device she wants to get is the Amazon Fire TV stick, because it has a memory chip in it that buffers streaming NetFlix, AmazonPrime (that Roku doesn't have) and more, and costs $40. She has a lot of DVDs that she enjoys, so the player makes sense for now. She has televisions in other rooms and is planning to use them on antenna and to move around a streaming device to those rooms (after the dish devices are all removed), so depending on what all she decides she wants to stream, the stick or Roku would equally be good possibilities. My sister has a Roku and likes it a lot. On the down side, the fire stick has a small remote - easily lost (though it also has a phone app that can substitute for the remote). What about the Roku? How large is that remote? SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 16 Mar 15 - 05:38 PM Depends on the model. Mine is fairly small, but I have one of the older, smaller models (the Roku 1, which also works with older TVs that just have composite jacks), and the remote measures 5 1/2" by 1 1/2". My mom has one of the newer, larger, fancier models and I think her remote is bigger. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 16 Mar 15 - 06:30 PM For Christmas, the family gift from Santa was a FireStick from Amazon. I thought the price was right and am tired of paying ridiculous amounts of money for television that is nothing but violence or repeats. We have the very most basic package from DISH or at least we did until last summer when we decided to up the package to something that had more kid programming. Jeremiah was home more in the summer and it made sense to us to shift up. He was rapidly outgrowing Daniel Tiger and the like that we were getting. So we tried the bigger package for the summer and on the first day of Pre-K, we scaled back to the most basic of packages. I like the FireStick for some of the television shows I'd never seen like Gilmore Girls, Parenthood, Orange is the New Black (Netflix exclusive....oh yes....we have Netflix), the Midwife, etc. Pete likes the older sitcoms and when it comes to kid's shows, the sky is the limit. The FireStick let me move my Netflix subscription to the television (instead of just the Kindle, phone or computer) to where we can all see it. You can also sync up YouTube to the FireStick and play endless full albums of music. We are currently considering dropping DISH altogether and picking up Amazon Prime which has even MORE movies, free 2 day shipping, etc. for $100.00 a year which with the Netflix brings us in at much lower than DISH that we now don't watch much anyway. The remote is half the size of our television remote...never have a problem with losing the remote. Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 16 Mar 15 - 07:52 PM The thing about Amazon Prime videos is that the free stuff isn't always easy to find, but it is there. If you start watching a program and 20 minutes in it asks if you want to buy the program, back out and find it on NetFlix instead. I have found documentaries and things that you pay for on iTunes that are free here. It tends to complement NetFlix nicely. There are ways to search Prime for content, and there is a lot, but there is some pretty obscure stuff in there that will never see light of day in my house! I actually use it more to listen to the music via my computer at work, especially if I'm working on an editing project and need to drown out the office chatter. And I do use the shipping, though since I used to use the standard free shipping most of the time it doesn't seem that much different. Occasionally it does get things here faster. I had to stop mowing for a while because the motor flooded and it was low on oil. I topped it up and will go back in a few minutes. It may take me longer than I have left of today to finish this yard, since the weeds are so tall and wet. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 16 Mar 15 - 10:01 PM City: All this stuff about "firestick" and "streaming" is greek to me! Have not a clue! Guess I don't need to! TV is a sometime thing; not very important in our lives. This move will be only what is necessary and desirable. Everything else can stay at the mill until/unless we need/want it. This house is so tiny there is no room for non-essentials. Went to Art gallery meeting this am but the gift shop is being redone and the paint fumes were a hazard for me so I attended with my scarf over my face and had to ask Tere to find someone else for my volunteer shift tomorrow. I came back to Montreal and took a hot bath to de-tox. Stopped on the way and bought a pair of work boots for R but he has not yet tried them. Terribly expensive for us as we usually get such things at thrift shops. Boots at $70 (50% off!) ---are beyond belief and yet that is what they were. If we decide he can live without them, I can return them next trip. They are only about $35 on line but that is in the USA and by the time we add shipping and "immigration", they come to about $70! We need to be more pro-active about checking for boots in thrift shops. R came home early and is in the hot bath - prob asleep! He looked as tho he had come out of a coal mine! I suppose I shall have to waken him so we can get to bed! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: pattyClink Date: 17 Mar 15 - 10:54 AM SRS, how kind of you to untangle somebody's techno-mess, I know that can chew up some time and energy! After a lot of false starts and shopping around at flaky storage unit operations, I finally signed up with one yesterday, it's a large fairly professionally run place, but with a manager character with tales to tell. Some of the others seemed fly-by-night or like I would drive up one day to find the gates locked because the owner died without Plan B, which is the very last thing you want. Anyway I've been dreading it and finally realized why. It's the first serious step towards leaving this home of 28 years. Also the first time I've put my name alone on a lease for well, decades. So I teared up a few times and then went and did it. Now it feels good to have this place to shuffle stuff for now, and probably to leave the key stuff when I do leave and start traveling. So, a little bitty milestone passed. Another good thing, I culled summer clothes down to 2 boxes last fall, so getting out the summer stuff from the attic went Very Quickly this year! I figure I'll get a grip on the interior right about the time the outdoors starts clamoring for constant attention.... |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 17 Mar 15 - 11:48 AM Patty, we're never completely done with experiencing "firsts" in our lives, are we? They rush at us when we are small (or when we see our children grow) but they continue throughout life (if you're paying attention and looking for those opportunities). If you can give yourself the option of mapping the storage locker and taking in some long 2x4 pieces of lumber (house studs), I think you'll find that putting everything up with aisles between the rows, and all of it a couple of inches off of the ground on those planks makes the space easier to work in. When boxes are placed directly on the concrete, they're harder to pick up (if you need to get fingers underneath before lifting). You'll also avoid the classic "flood in the storage locker" disaster in case of heavy rain or something leaking from an adjacent locker. I had a storage locker after my father died because there was a lot of stuff that I couldn't move down here all at once. Dad had lots of steel storage shelves in his shed so I set those up in the locker and realized I could actually find things when a storage plan was in place, and since I made room to reach the shelves (that were at the back) I ended up making room to reach everything. Organization by accident. :) My back yard is almost 1/2 mowed now, but the grass is so wet that the mower is laboring and I don't want to burn it out. I'll let the grass grow a little more - tall is less of a problem than wet, it seems. I'd like to keep this mower operating as long as possible, so I'll pace myself. It is a good workout, particularly arms and shoulders with the pushing and tipping of the mower on each pass through the weeds. I'll also sharpen the blade before I continue - something I should have done at the time I was doing the tuneup. The house plants are beginning to sprout and send out floral spikes and cuttings in water are rooting. Even indoors they detect the longer days and are stirring in their pots. I'm going to need to organize that area again so I can reach everything. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 17 Mar 15 - 07:27 PM City: SRS! you just abound with good ideas! Also the concrete floors of storage units can be hard on cardboard boxes. Summer clothes down to two boxes! Hmmm.... I still have clothes for multiple personalities and intend to keep them for a while yet. Driving home yesterday, I thought of asking Ontario friends if anyone has a BIG flowered red hat I could borrow - to do with trying out a special song at the open mike some time. I am sure it will appear. My friends there are a thoroughly motley crew - from the very sedate to the way far out. What fun! Hot bath last night was not adequate so I did another this am - after late getting up, late BF, late R leaving... It was after noon when I was done and, hence, in slow motion most of day. I have been on internet or emails, watched the news, upset a couple people with posts, delighted more - same posts! Some good thinking. Interesting people. Living in 3 places won't be too bad. Four if one counts "living on line". I mentioned that to a singer/ songwriter a few years ago and he thought it a good name for a song. I have not seen it yet. Working on list of first load to new house. Two weeks to closing then 10 days to get permit to work on house - WINDOWS! Shed needs R and Bruno by very beg of April as the people need it gone. Trailer will come off lake in early April. Things might even fall into place? Went to get dressed and put bedding and more into washing machine. All is well. Really needed that de-toxing. Maybe more tomorrow. Now for Big Bang! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: pattyClink Date: 17 Mar 15 - 08:51 PM That is such a good idea about the 2x4s! Of course I'm fresh out, and the car balks at hauling around lumber. But, I've got several leftover hunks of Harditrim, which is more moisture resistant, so I could set those crossways, and I've got some 1x8s I was using to traverse the attic, could set those on top, and be high and dry. And yes, a map, a notebook. Determined not to have a jammed or helter-skelter setup. Meanwhile digging out fragile old quilts, OMG the fabric conservation projects that are popping out of the woodwork. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Mar 15 - 03:00 AM I still have clothes for multiple personalities and intend to keep them for a while yet. Dorothy, we await the stories that come from those personalities! Patty, yes! - whatever will keep stuff a bit off the floor, I'm sure you'll find alternatives to lumber. I used bricks in my garage here because there were a whole bunch in the back yard. I finally got the garage stuff emptied and the bricks are now part of the patio next to the back door. Less is more - if you see things while you work that you can donate, do it before it goes into storage. Make that space work for you by being navigable. Long day at work today, to compensate for taking three more days off this week. I didn't take time off last week (when the university had spring break, and staff often take four days off because they give us Friday as a holiday). I'm doing it this week instead because my son is in town for a few days. I'll still probably work on some work stuff, but mostly I'll be the Mom waiting for the Kid to turn up for a visit. I have the materials for some of his favorite foods, so I think once he gets here I can keep him for a while. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Rumncoke Date: 18 Mar 15 - 06:53 AM I decluttered the front fridge, (I have two fridges) as we have been away from home quite a bit recently and feeling a bit off colour so things have accumulated. About half was too far gone to eat, but anything still good was chopped up and dropped into the pressure cooker on top of some cubed beef skirt and a sliced onion already fried then high pressured for ten minutes and left to cool. Five minutes at high pressure, some gravy powder to thicken and there is a large pot of nourishing stew. It might seem a rather odd breakfast, but I feel a bit better already, and the sun is shining. My mother used to put all the leftovers into her stews, heated up the pot to cook something or make gravy and once a week it was emptied out completely to go with Yorkshire pudding, given a good scrub and put away for a couple of days at the weekends. Food never went in the bin back then. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 18 Mar 15 - 09:52 AM City: "Dorothy, we await the stories that come from those personalities! "Not being seriously MPD, my changes take time and seem to be diminished with age. I do know that getting rid of clothes that I have not worn for "a while" is not a good idea because a time will come when I shall miss that terribly because it was just right for who I want to be "today". That is why I warn against getting rid of things in haste. The worst I ever did was trashing personal letters; later I realized what a sale-able article, or even book, I might have written with the letters my mother sent me. A box of letters my Dad wrote to all manner of people years ago has been lost - not by me - and I really did have a book in mind around those. De-cluttering can have some negative effects if we are not careful or get carried away. Now, I shall go make another effort to de-clutter my body of toxins. (Hot bath.) |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Mar 15 - 02:25 PM Time to start decluttering the vegetable garden plots of weeds. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Mar 15 - 10:31 PM I tried a little more mowing (but stopped because it is still too wet), I raked up some of the dried mulched grass from mowing a few days ago and added it to the compost, and I started clearing weeds out of the vegetable garden area. Time for a quick shower, and off to dance class. That is a great workout, and on top of the gardening, it was a good day for fitness. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 19 Mar 15 - 02:06 PM City: Read about mowing in - is is STILL March????!!!! And realize I am moving to 3b zone. Zone 4 in Montreal/southern Quebec and heading toward 5. But I have room for a garden, and soil without a couple feet of river rock in it, and I have been there before - had green beans go black - heavy frost in August! I expect the soil to stay wet a while as water runs down the hill onto my bit of land. May be able to plant some things in April. May 24th weekend is traditional for most of southern Ontario. De-tox baths seem to have helped. I got in a couple hours in the studio this morning and will go back after this lunch break. Laundry and dishes are up to date. I went out for some groceries yesterday and made another pot of veg/miso soup last night. Going to bed before 11 helped. Sunshine helps also. I have also been energized by some of the conversations on FB - and deeply distressed by one that brought back 40 year old memory. We never really forget or "get over" anything. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 19 Mar 15 - 08:29 PM I've worked on a blog entry this afternoon, one that I started a couple of weeks ago and have come back to several times. It's too long, and as I work, looking at the superfluous details included, I've realized that I'm teaching myself how to write again. I haven't written articles or blog entries for a while, just posts in places like facebook and lots of news tips and announcements. Nothing creative. The skills are rusty. I also have to move away from the computer and start reading books. Lots of books. The skill of reading fiction and nonfiction on paper are also rusty. I'm hoping my son will be by this evening and we can tackle his closet. I'd like to see the back of it and make it impossible for ants to invade again. Until he gets here I have some work on his gift comforter to finish. PattyClink, I also have a lot of old quilts that probably need some kind of conservation attention. For now they are rolled up in a cedar chest. My great grandmother made them in the mid-1800s. Wisely, she dated and put her initials on a back corner. Aha! I think I've finally figured out the reason I have a USB "malfunctioning" message pop up sometimes. For some reason when my phone cable is plugged into the USB hub, with no phone on it, the computer doesn't like it. Now to test the theory with another USB hub, to be sure it is the cable and not the hub. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: fat B****rd Date: 20 Mar 15 - 11:25 AM Hello, De-clutterers. Compared to most people here I do nowt but,anyway. Before the great Mudcrash Was not someone asking for empty CD cases?. If so, let me know by PM or here and I may be able to help. Carry on and take good care all,of you. Charlie. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Mar 15 - 11:53 AM I have some for Ranger1, and actually, while I was waiting for boxes I found more jewel and other cases. The boxes arrived (in a large box) yesterday. The kid is home, spent the night. I had blueberry muffins on hand when he walked in last night and there will be more favorite food cooking today. I had a declutter goal with this visit, so we went through his closet and sorted out lots of donation stuff (too small or out of style) and stuff to toss. It is a good haul - everything in the dresser is out so now the few things remaining in the closet can go in the dresser and the closet will be available for other storage. Shoes, boots, out. I did end up with a small stack of favorites needing mending, and those were dispatched with my morning cup of tea. Back in circulation. There were costumes in the closet, created for him by his sister, and we will return those to her so she can re-use them for other people or disassemble them to reuse the materials. I'll also let her have first dibs on the "regular" clothes for materials before they're donated to Goodwill. In costume design one time-honored method of finding materials is to buy inexpensive clothes at the thrift store with the goal of using the fabric to make something new. For example, she may want to use the denim jeans to make something totally un-jeans-like. In addition to the clothes there are tons of office supplies that will be bagged and go to Goodwill - I suspect they may have a glut of school supplies and they may in turn donate them to school kids. That's fine - the goal is for them not to go to waste. There is also e-waste - old computer stuff, disks, adapters, etc., that will go to work with me for disposal in the e-waste bin. We looked through our respective NetFlix feeds (I pay for an account that allows two of us to stream simultaneously and he used it heavily through college - apparently viewing while studying) to see what programs each of us enjoys. I've added a couple of new ones to my list - he watches more than I do. Interesting look into the smart viewing by the young demographic. We agreed that NetFlix should create a new category - that of "Obscure Films in which a Good Actor did a Creditable Job but the rest of the Cast and the Plot and Writing Sucked. If you follow particular actors in your NetFlix viewing lists, those entries are bound to end up there. The Stinkers. :) Now to go make brunch. I'll fry some bacon - no need to call the kid who is sleeping late, just open his door a crack and let the bacon smell waft into the room. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 20 Mar 15 - 12:19 PM Maggie, there may be places that need those school supplies directly. Boys and Girls Clubs, the Y, schools in poorer districts. Might be a better way to go than giving to Goodwill. I think their excess stuff gets dumped into a Goodwill-by-the-pound and what doesn't sell there generally gets trashed. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Mar 15 - 03:40 PM Good idea. I'll check around. None of this is fancy, but it is all functional, pens, mechanical pencils, markers, etc. A stop by the Goodwill to shop on the way home and I found a great little scale to use in my sunroom for eBay stuff. Or give to someone if a need is identified. A bit more glassware, and amazingly, I finally have a butter dish. I have for ages used a little plastic topped ceramic ramekin and cut a half stick of butter to put in it. That's fine in the kitchen, but not very elegant for the table. I have a number of pewter pieces I sometimes use on the table, so today I picked up a pretty pewter figured butter dish. Since I try to clear out something when I bring in new stuff I should probably start weeding out the mis-matched plates and oddball bowls. Today a steady rain has fallen, making the yard and area lake reservoirs happy. It looks like rain all weekend, possibly clear early next week. It also makes the lawn and weeds tall and lush. I'll work indoors the next few days and perhaps on Tuesday morning I'll give the front lawn another quick mow. The greenhouse is cleared out now so I can remove the mower blade and sharpen it. Based upon the amount of stuff stacked on the sunroom table, it's time to list more eBay items. That's the best form of declutter, to move things out to people who want them and add to my PayPal balance. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: pattyClink Date: 20 Mar 15 - 04:55 PM SRS, we'll have to share whatever we find out about quilt conservation. Since the weather rapidly careened from sleet to steamy, I may not feel like dealing with the quilts til fall returns! On the USB hubs, I had to give up using mine. So many devices now insist on having their own direct plug in or they won't work. It stinks. Got another load over to storage. Laid out my planks and made a map, so far so good. Today I got down to the walls clearing out my big closet, except for the large highboy. That will involve wrangling large drawers out, then putting the chest on sliders and coaxing it out inch by inch without pinning myself in permanently. I think I recall it was a 4 or 6 hand job when it went in so it will be interesting to see how it goes. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 20 Mar 15 - 06:06 PM City: It is almost time to leave for the cafe if I am going; still do not know who is playing or how to find out. The schedule we have is at the mill! In any case, I need to go down tomorrow to prepare - physically and mentally - for the last winter Farmers' Market on Sunday. Picked up a small wood bookcase yesterday aft. Free on Craigslist. When I arrived, the lovely, very pregnant, young woman greeted me, "I know you! You're the pottery lady!" She actually had two of my small pots, one for the cat! What are the chances in this BIG city! She lives fairly close but on Nun's Island, a rather upscale area which has been developed, with multi-family buildings, over the last 40 years leaving enough green areas and big trees to feel almost rural. I think I got lost coming back; found my way but it took twice as long! One can never have too many bookcases! Trying to get my ducks in line for the upcoming house purchase: A couple days ago I sold shares I had had for about 20 years. They were basically "found money". They came in the mail, a total mystery and a wonder I did not just through the paper away. When I moved to Whidbey, I handed it to my #1 son and asked if it was worth anything. Click click, click and "Yes, $12.000." OMG! So we put it in his filing cabinet until I moved here. They were down some - about $11,000 and now that is in my account. And I do not have to think about it any more! I have been checking it almost daily for months! Today, I finally took it upon myself to change US dollars to CAD, also in prep. I was waiting for R to say what to do but decided this was not happening and convinced myself I could do it. I got an exchange rate from a place nearby, and near my bank. Went to the bank to get a draft to take up the street but the nice teller asked me the rate - 3 cents higher than the bank was offering. So, apparently for $18.000, the bank was willing to give me a better rate and so we settled on that. I netted about $22,500. Now all the needed money is in my account! This greatly de-clutters my brain which was labouring over, for me, unique transactions. I took action on two pots of canna that have been sitting dry since last fall. A shoot appearing in one, I watered them and put them where they will get max light for now. And other than emails and FB, that is all I have managed today. I wrapped the pots made yesterday (or was that Weds?) so they will stay damp until I get back on Monday or Tuesday. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Mar 15 - 07:20 PM Nice discovery about your pottery making the rounds, Dorothy! And I agree, it is difficult to imagine a situation in which one would have too many bookcases. patty, I think the USB hub situation is as you say - equipment fusses if it isn't on the most robust USB port. Not surprising to hear from my daughter that she wants to see what we have here before it goes to the Goodwill. She said that denim in particular is useful to line or strengthen costumes or to give internal support to an outer part or structure. Like making a denim corset to stabilize a bulky outer framework. Architecture in action! SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 20 Mar 15 - 10:22 PM Mill: I finished the last post just as the news ended and I remembered hearing "snow tomorrow". So I hustled to load stuff into the car and left. Got to the cafe a bit late; a wonderful French Canadian couple were playing and I caught about half the set. Had a couple nice visits with friends, stayed for open mic and came to mill to -- water thirsty plants! and sleep shortly. Was stopped by the police - headlight out. He took my license and checked me out, came back and said "good night". Nice fellow. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Mar 15 - 10:59 AM This has been the soggiest "spring break" that I can remember in a long time. I took days off last week because my son was in town, and except for a few warm hours on Wednesday it has been a continual drizzle or rain. Good for the local lake levels, not so good for my personal goal to work in the garden this week. You were lucky on getting off with just the headlight warning, Dorothy. A lot of the smaller municipalities in this area drool over any pull-over opportunity to raise revenue for their town coffers. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 21 Mar 15 - 12:38 PM Mill: Thankfully,this is the Quebec police. I was glad for the notice. If I had been a kid, I might have gotten a ticket. But he was actually, I expect, watching for drunk drivers or people speeding or running the stop sign at that intersection. I had seen him lurking and was carefully stopping! The Q police are not always so decent. About a year, they stupidly chased a speeder through the little town and caused the death of a Senior and much damage. So here I am, feeling like going back to bed. I have done a few small things, as energy rises, but mostly wondering why I feel this way. So, I have computering and FB is denying me "like" and "try again" for posts. Then, I saw it had duplicated one but when I tried to delete one, it threw me out completely. Guess it means I need to go to the library, grocery, drop off at the thrift shop.... Happily the pansies and geraniums in the sunroom are blooming and a chickadee was foraging just outside the window. They are such a delight! Still knee high snow out there. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 21 Mar 15 - 10:00 PM Mill: Before I could leave, I needed to de-clutter the car of extraneous stuff, including the little bookcase. Library, thrift shop - left 3 items and bought one mug with exceptionally artistic birds, had gas tank filled at a station that serves! -that de-cluttered wallet, short visit with Geri where I picked up two local newspapers and books I lent her. Back here, machines were getting moved and, about 6, R asked if we had anything to feed his two helpers. Nice tortiere but no working oven and I was just getting ready to go to singing group. What about coffee???? I last made a cup of coffee about 20 years ago and the recipient poured in on the ground it was so bad! I could go fetch coffee...? So I went to group but the first few songs were mournful and I had a contretemps with someone who "doubted that perfume contains neuro-toxins". I was also feeling badly about not being able to feed... I went back to the mill where everyone was leaving to go to restaurant. So, knowing two friends were there already, I went too. R sat with our friends; the next table was also friends. Everyone was fed and we "closed the restaurant" and went back to the mill where I managed to slice and find room in freezers for 4 dozen bagels. Also sorted through some things, starting to triage stuff for next trip to Ontario. Happy to have the finances in order! Now winding down and soon to bed. Farm Market tomorrow - leave here by 8:30. Then drive back to the city right after. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 22 Mar 15 - 08:49 AM I am not getting anything done. Round #3 of this freaking winter cold. I think this has been the most brutal yet. Thankfully, I think Pete and I are on the downslide. Jeremiah staying healthy for this round! Today we are meeting with my chemo partner (we met over 5 years ago). We get together a couple times of year but always on February 16h to mark our chemoversary. This year we couldn't do that. We planned another date but I was downstate with my nana in the hospital so I am REALLY looking forward to today! Bring on the Advil and cold meds....I am gong to see my friend! HOORAY! Also, I joined the Y yesterday. I am ready and looking forward to going there often. Love to all. Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 22 Mar 15 - 09:48 AM Just had my winter fitness dreams (almost) fulfilled for my birthday. Talked with my mum this morning and she told me my birthday present is her paying for half of the racing/running snowshoes I've been saving for. I won't be able to afford them before the snow melts this year, but I'll have them by the time the snow flies next year! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 22 Mar 15 - 10:21 AM Fitness goals are excellent! I am also waiting for the weather to clear to get out to do my outdoor activities. In our case it is a warm rain, not snow, but it means the garden is too squishy to work in and the lawn is a soggy mess. I spent the last couple of days on writing projects and today have to hustle to finish various chores. Last week when I took my recycling over to the various bins behind city hall I found that they had switched to a commingled collection process. This means I don't need three containers for my recycling, though I think I won't go down to one just yet. I'll mix the bottles and plastic with the cans in my sun room, but I'll leave the magazine bin thing in the kitchen to catch all of the mail and paper I recycle. Now do I decide to keep using the large plastic bag and the bag support thing, or switch over to the more tidy tall kitchen trash container (that cans used to go into)? I don't have to take it over as often if I use the big bag, but it does sprawl a bit when it gets full. They don't have enough bins right now so I'll have to go on Tuesday or Thursday evening right after they've been emptied or there's no room. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 22 Mar 15 - 10:30 AM We've been using single-sort here in many Maine communities for a while. I like it, I can just run down to the trailer at the end of the road and huck the whole shebang in at once, rather than having to fit trips to the transfer station during their ridiculously limited hours (for a town that doesn't offer municipal trash pickup, 8-4 weds-fri and 10-4 on Sat. are stupid hours - especially for those of us who work weekends) and keep things sorted in my tiny space. If I want to, I can still sort certain items out and deposit them in various containers at the transfer station (the town makes money off that, but no the single-sort), but again, why would I do that with those ridiculously limited hours? |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 22 Mar 15 - 10:46 AM The village used to earn money for the park department with single item sorted bins (mostly from the cardboard) but apparently the company stopped paying and then decided to commingle. I suspect the village had no say in this. Research is required. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 22 Mar 15 - 09:10 PM The kid is dropped off at the airport, a few boxes were left here needing to be mailed, and it was a great, if soggy, week of vacation for him. I took several days off and mostly worked inside when he wasn't over. More rain in the forecast this week, it's a great start to spring. Application about finished, ready to go for the next likely job opening. I am able to type despite crossed fingers. The laundry is finished and the kitchen is clean. That's enough for now. :) SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 22 Mar 15 - 10:17 PM City: What a day! Got up in time to have BF and get to site at good time, nice man carried most of boxes up the stairs to the hall. As I started to set up, I realized I was missing the basket of "$10 pieces". Then realized missing my little raccoon fanny pack with change and cards in it, THEN realized my nice white table cover was missing???????? Did I leave the car unlocked and someone helped themselves one night? When was the last time I saw them? NOT a clue! After feeling, most of the day, like I had been kicked in the gut, I considered the possibility that I had left them in the community centre in Ontario last Saturday! YEP! When I fianlly got through to Chris at 7 pm ---No problem, they are in the library. They will be there when you get back. ----Life in a small community that cares!!!!! I would have thought someone might have emailed but how they would know I am so flaky I had no idea where I had left a couple hundred dollars of pots! I had some good visits, sold one pot! bought (I confess) a nightlight with stained glass ladybug - reminds me of when my grandson was four and loved ladybugs; I HAD to have it. Made many trips to look at a necklace of green and purple natural stones; I rarely wear jewelry but this really got to me so I bought it, with Geri encouraging me, with matching earrings just as we were all packing up. So I spent a great deal more than I made and I am OK with that. So there. Geri helped me pack up and another woman carried about half of boxes down to the car; I was very grateful as knee was giving me hard time - new nuisance. Went to restaurant for tea with Geri; got there and realized I had left boots at hall! Fetched them and settled down for tea and sympathy - feeling old, incompetent, brain dead, weighed down re loss of pots... Drove back to city, called Chris, then R and Geri to relay good news about "found" pots. Well, that de-cluttered my being of the weight of loss. Necklace looks fabulous with purple sweater. Crazy multi-coloured bracelet, I also purchased, looks great. I guess these things are for my new life in Ontario. I "never" buy jewelry. Also 2 dahlia rhizomes because the man who sells them is so nice.. Lots of creative items using recycled materials today. A stained glass artist is putting glass plates and other objects into her art. I will keep an eye out both in house and at thrift shops for items she can use in a large piece for us. She designs beautifully. Ready for bed. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: pattyClink Date: 23 Mar 15 - 01:11 PM So much rain. The car is still packed full of stuff that was going to storage, 3 days ago. We'll have a couple clearer days and then another round. Sheesh. I don't know if we'll ever be able to mow if it doesn't start getting less soggy soon. I did get the big chest of drawers out of the closet, quite a process, had to remove drawers from the cabinets in the adjacent room to be able to make the corner, inch by inch. Like parallel parking for 20 minutes! So now the closet is so empty it echoes, and it's on to the paint-prepping process in the whole 'suite'. Lots of hardware to undo and sanding and washing. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 23 Mar 15 - 03:56 PM At least you didn't have to parallel park that dresser out on the street with interested bystanders watching! That's a great story. My neighbors are retired so when the grass dries enough they can mow. Now begins the season of I mow when I can to keep up so my yard doesn't look conspicuously unkempt compared to their neatly mowed and trimmed lawns. That is an invitation to burglary (as I found out the hard way back in 2005). SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 23 Mar 15 - 04:48 PM City: The couple of above freezing days had an effect on fields in some areas - soil can be seen in about 25% of some areas on the way back to the city. The on-river skating rink had no one yesterday; probably off-limits. I even saw some open water on Friday on Trout River but Sunday, it was frozen again. Meanwhile, the snow in the back yard is way higher than my boots and the compost continues to live in the K. Hot bath this am and then back to bed to recover. Feet really bothered me and I phoned Connie - "Peripheral neuropathy". So I have spent the afternoon researching that, and diabetes, and chocolate. Dark choc seems to have more good than bad effect, regardless. And I eat the right foods - mostly. Connie's overweight, drinking, smoking husband, who is a sales rep for a major "big pharm", reversed his diabetes with chromium so I will take some and pick up other helpful supplements when I go to the mill on Weds; the suggested ones are down there. The pottery I sent on 12 March, which was supposed to be delivered on 14 March, has not arrived! I gave tracking number to the recipient. And messaged granddaughter to see if she got the books I sent her same day. A few years ago, I sent 3 packages from Lake Geo. NY and only one ever arrived. Postal service? I was so happy to de-clutter my life of those tasks! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Mar 15 - 10:20 AM I don't suppose anyone bought a copy of TurboTax (in a box) this year, did you? I picked up a discounted copy of Quicken that looked like the rebate was only for Quicken, but it turns out one needs to buy TurboTax also. I never do, I figure my taxes myself. I need the proof of purchase (barcode only, not the little "proof of purchase" box on the box, go figure). Just a thought. Otherwise, I have a more expensive version of Quicken. I only replace some of this software every few years when I can get a rebate. The kitchen is clean, a good thing since I won't be here much for a few days and I look forward to walking in at the end of the day to a tidy kitchen where I can fix a quick meal without having to empty the sink first. I went out early to do a quick mow of the front yard. It's supposed to rain again this afternoon, but since this is my late day at work, I had a little time. No trimming, just taking out the turf grass and weeds. Before starting I ran a flat file over the blades a few times, the "lick and a promise" approach; the best thing is to remove it, clamp in the vise grip, and do a good job. That can come later. I left some taller grass where there are flowers blooming - this year the grape hyacinth seems to have spread drastically. It's lovely out there. I also mowed over the top of my garden plot, knocking down the henbit (a nitrogen fixing legume that has lovely little purple flowers). The cilantro that has spread around the yard also so several times there was a strong smell of cilantro as I went over an errant patch mixed in with weeds. I'll start planting the garden this weekend (I'm very late on that - the potatoes should have gone in weeks ago). The thing that made this work so much easier is the gate I built in the garage last fall. It completely separates the dog stall and that door into the back yard from the main part of the building and the large door out to the front. I no longer have to round up dogs, open the garage, move the mower out, close the garage and let the dogs out, then reverse the job when I finish. Now the lab stays in the back yard and doesn't race out to greet me and have to be rounded up. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 24 Mar 15 - 06:13 PM City: Projects that make life easier are wonderful! After some frustration with a useless message, USPS phone system finally resulted in a lovely helpful woman who, after getting all other info and listening kindly to my frustration. asked me the address to which the package was sent. Lo and behold, when the dear woman at the library looked it up on line, either she wrote it wrong or I read it wrong = the package had gone to 852 instead of 856. I did not use a last name as I considered "Tanya" adequate when added to the address. Poor Tanya, and I. She had been watching for it. I had wondered why she did not let me know it had arrived. I learned even more - she seems to be living with my son/ her brother and family which could be why she seems happier. She is hyper sensitive to the colour of her skin. She could not go to 852 last night at 7 pm; basically because she is the "wrong kind of person" for the neighbourhood - where my son (same colour) has lived for about 10 years. she would wait until morning. I still have not heard. Meanwhile, I can barely walk. If I very carefully walk about 20 or so feet, it gets easier. I shall be able to do things in the K when necessary. I have spent the day mostly sitting with legs up and me on computer, and the afternoon mostly in bed exhausted, with no inclination to do anything at all. Connie, busy doing her taxes, and I are clean out of ideas, Food intake totally changed - only what the pendulum OKs. No choc. Today it tells me I do not have diabetes and has rejected all the supplements for D. It has been helpful for over 8 years and neither it nor Connie have steered my wrong. I do have to ask it the right questions. Hope tomorrow is better. Yes, I have considered a physician but have far less faith in them. So I have done next to nothing today - a few emails and lots of deleting. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: GUEST,# Date: 24 Mar 15 - 06:32 PM Dorothy, you need some blood work, soon. Pendulums don't cut it despite your belief in them. There is a clinic in Huntingdon. Go to it. G will know where it is and how to jump through the hoops. Most emergency places have a very long wait, but if you can get into the clinic it will speed things up. BM |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 24 Mar 15 - 06:43 PM Large box of books hauled off - sold a bunch to the local used book store for store credit. I call that condensing my book collection, as one gets about a quarter of the worth of the books and they only give store credit. I will only spend what I have in credit and utilize the library more, as I was just told by my mechanic that my car is not worth putting any more money into. Well, I got six years and and around 80,000 miles out of it and was the third owner. Still, I really, really like this car! I could probably have sold more of the books at a different bookstore, but then I would have had them hanging around until I could get to Portland, and that bookstore has more temptation in it than the local place that deals primarily in fluffy romance novels. I donated the rest to the library book sale and felt good about it. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Mar 15 - 07:50 PM I agree with #, Dorothy, go see the doctor: if the clinic is easier to get into, then start there first. Or an ER if this isn't improving fast. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 25 Mar 15 - 11:50 AM City: Sorry about causing distress. 75% better today and much less tired. With due respect, I am not about to spend time in an unhealthy "health care" facility - full of nasty bugs - to find out that I do or do not have a problem which can be dealt with by minimal change in diet. Other than the foot thing, I have no symptoms of diabetes. That after a couple hours checking numerous sites, including the Mayo Clinic. Went out to car this am and fetched laundry and - opps ! need to move it to dryer. Start another load And have lunch. And later make cauliflower soup. Still resting and taking minerals and other supplements. Bottom line: I have more faith in my pendulum/inner wisdom than I do in the alleged health care system. Other bottom line: When I get to Ontario where health care is in English, I will check out the local physicians. There may be a new younger one who has better training and a more open mind than the ones I dealt with before. There are also a number of alternative health care folks, even some who believe in the pendulum, Rationale: If Connie can heal people with Lyme, fibromyalgia and other auto-immune diseases and her husband, who is hard core, of D. And other health care cannot, why would I trust the others? That's all. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Mar 15 - 02:04 PM Maybe you can find a doctor who makes house calls? I hear they are coming back into existence. I finally have all of the boxes needing shipping under control. I found one for my son's stuff (found in his closet when I had him clear it out) that he wants shipped to his apartment, and I have one for Tami's items. Friday is another late day at work so I'll stick around in my office to listen for the mail carrier (who usually arrives mid-morning) and hand them over. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Mar 15 - 10:07 PM I made it through dance class this evening, but I had doubts because when I left work to walk to the parking lot my knee had acquired a painful twinge. I took motrin right then and by the time I was at class it was much better and I was very careful to stay upright and steady during the various dance steps. Odd, unusual, and I hope that is the end of that. There was an interesting guest on a local talk show yesterday, here is the blurb: It takes work to change our everyday habits. But the effort's worth it when our new habits improve our lives. This hour, we'll talk about the keys to self-improvement with Gretchen Rubin, author of Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives (Crown). For the next two weeks this link will work to take you directly to the talk, and you can download it. This is that particular program's page. The program in the first hour was also fascinating, about robots. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 25 Mar 15 - 10:17 PM City: In Quebec, it may take 2 years to get a doctor at all! One who speaks English might take longer. I shall be so happy to be spending more of my time in Ontario. After the house closing on Weds, I shall be working on becoming a bona fide resident of Ontario, including a health card. In the meantime, I am having good luck solving this with supplements. Completed two loads of laundry and yummy cauliflower soup. No cookies, no choc. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 26 Mar 15 - 10:14 AM Thunderstorms overnight so I moved the bedding plants off of the top of a garden table and sheltered them from the wind. The front yard is uniform in height but needs mowing again, while the back yard is a jungle. Poppy was out poking around in the tallest grass yesterday, clearly enjoying the new environment, but it won't last. I'll get a hefty fitness workout this weekend. I went shopping with coupons last night, for things that I don't need but that will help out a couple of co-workers who have too much month left at the end of the money. For $2 ea (I asked if they were interested and they said yes) this grocery store near my home had a bag of potatoes, boxed pasta meals, and cornbread (alas, all starch or carbs) - items to help stretch the budget until next Wednesday. Just as well it's cool today, if they leave the potatoes in the car all day they won't bake. :) SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Bat Goddess Date: 26 Mar 15 - 04:10 PM Feeling reasonably accomplished. You may have noted some antique Press Room Shanty Sing threads refreshed up above the line. The notes I had taken about who attended and what was sung just surfaced -- 2009 and 2010. Before Tom lost his voice, I taped the sessions (2003-2009) and transcribed the information onto J-cards. I didn't post the list at the thread. Recently I've started taking the information from these J-cards and putting it into the same format I now use to wrap up the thread. A hard copy goes into my yearly archive binders. Needless to say, it's a work in progress. (I've done 2003 and part of 2004.) These notes that just rose to the top of the pile next to the computer (seven, including the first Barry Finn Memorial Singaround) I just digitized and posted to the threads. I still have the one from October 16, 2010 to do...but not today. I got a lot of the dishes out of the sink and either washed and put away or into the dishwasher. Changed the pillowcases on the bed. Maybe tomorrow I'll move my library (and notebooks, and papers, and magazines) off the bed and change the sheets. Got a couple complicated semi-business (PMFF) emails written and sent, finally connected with someone I've been playing phone tag with and got THAT business taken care of, and took a bag of Bavarian beef soup and a package of chorizo out of the freezer. That should take care of my next few meals and use up stuff in the freezer. Oh, and I took a pile of boxes, plastic storage containers, and a bunch of other things down to the cellar so they're out of the way. I didn't get the rug bagged to take to Goodwill, but I can do that tomorrow. Better sign off -- got to pick up something at the store on my way to Portsmouth to see "Boyhood" at the Portsmouth library. Linn |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 27 Mar 15 - 12:01 AM I hope the binders have helped - and not something more to trip over. It sounds like you have a tremendous amount of work - and I base this on the wall of books, files, and boxes and boxes of recordings my father made of decades of his folk song activities with the Seattle Song Circle and other groups up and down the Pacific Northwest Coast. Looks like a lovely weekend headed our way. I have many outdoor plans. Not one of them includes dusting in my house, despite the fact that some poor galinipper (one of those large crane flies that is out in the spring and absolutely harmless) just flew past dragging a length of cobweb. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: pattyClink Date: 27 Mar 15 - 09:56 AM The only thing that got decluttered the last few days is some problematic paint off a doorframe. Adventures in chiseling, then using a stripper formula. And still kind of a mess. Oh well, if anyone wants to inspect the inside doorframe of a closet, they can do so. On to the spackling! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Rumncoke Date: 27 Mar 15 - 11:35 AM I have an almost full dustbin one day after it was emptied, always a sign that I am fighting the clutter. The council swapped the larger general purpose ones for smaller ones, and gave us larger ones for recycling. Very little goes into recycling, as I have very little packaging to dispose of and what I have is not recyclable. A few glass jars and an occasional aerosol is all that qualify. I try to avoid sugar and grains as I feels so much better without them. Even 'healthy' grains aren't all that good for me. I threw out a box from my son's room, full of mysterious wires and bits of computer - if they have not been required in the last 5 years then I think it is safe to say that they are not needed at all. I have found several c.d.s which have become unplayable - it seems odd that I can play the vinyl records from my youth, but cds are far more ephemeral. Before long my musical library will finish at 'after the gold rush'. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Mar 15 - 09:43 AM I know the recycling I do is a drop in the bucket compared to the volume that goes to the landfill, but I still do it. I have very little actual trash but a lot more recycling compared to trash. And the compost gets all kitchen waste, except meat or I could never keep my dogs out of it, and grease doesn't do the compost much good. That said, I have buried small animals the dogs killed in the compost. Drinking my tea then out to run a couple of errands before starting a day of heavy lifting in the garden. It's time to unpack the broad-brimmed straw hat (though I tend more often these days to place a bandana on my head and hanging down my neck then hold it in place with a ball cap). SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Mar 15 - 12:27 PM Lifehacker.com article about decluttering. Three questions gives good advice also: If you answered no to any of these questions, consider getting rid of the item. And here is the one-fell-swoop approach based upon a Japanese author of a book popular in Japan, Germany, and the UK. I wonder why it missed the US? SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 28 Mar 15 - 09:49 PM City: Spent most of Thurs am trying to sort out if that box of pots is anywhere in the system. If that man sent it back to the post office there should be a record of it. Very nice woman filled out an on-line form for me and suggested we try to find out from the neighbour when he thought he sent it back. Thurs aft was computering and reading and at 4:30 an email from lawyer telling me I had an appointment on Monday aft for the property closing. I tried to phone but too late. So then I sent an email explaining why this was unacceptable. Followed by phoning and leaving a message to make sure they read the email before I phoned in the morning. Basically - My closing date is 1 April and that is when I planned to be there. Friday phone call resulted in a Weds am appointment. Whew! I had considerable choice thoughts about this two days notice to someone five hours away. Plans! Several messages back and forth on Thurs evening with daughter, resulted in my ordering 6 dozen bagels for Fri am. Friday, I picked up bagels and went to mill, off loaded almost everything from car, esp the pottery which basically lives in the car from market to market to save energy - mine! Then drove down to NYS and mailed the bagels to PA; they should get there Monday. I had arranged to lunch with my friend there; we met at Chinese buffet and talked 3.5 hours! Stopped for cheap US gas and went back to the mill for couple hours and then to cafe. Terrific Scottish music. Broke down and had a piece of cheese cake. Today, student Ann came and we spent over 3 hours re-arranging the studio and making it more efficient and more pleasant. She helped put some heavy things in the car. Then I had lunch and rested, potted a couple dahlia roots which are showing growth. Finally, I was moved to load a glaze firing, finish loading the car and back to the city. Snow is largely gone. Ice is leaving the river. Days are going to be above freezing with cold nights. Good for the maple syrup. And the geese are flying!! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: pattyClink Date: 29 Mar 15 - 09:58 AM Thanks for the decluttering links, SRS. The Kondo book has been on the US bestseller lists too, I guess it's just been under the radar of big media attention. She has some great insights, but we have to use our own common sense to sort the great ideas from the clinkers. She careens from 'just don't keep any paperwork whatsoever' to 'here's a great way to store all your many handbags'. Okay, fine, if I were a professional declutterer who adores handbags, that would be great. In my world, different priorities. Meanwhile, had some fairly bad days, drowsy, foggy. Realized it was the pollen, was out of plain guaifenesin, and took some that had dextromethorphan. Felt even worse, finally realized it was the dex. It's weird how just when the weather gets so much better, the pollen rain can lay one low. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Mar 15 - 10:38 AM Yes - I actually keep a small box of chlortrimatron here in case I can't sleep. That doesn't happen often, but when it does, this stuff is perfect. Perhaps the Dex is the active ingredient. I take a generic daily Zyrtec generic, purchased at a warehouse club for $16 for 400. My dog has allergies to some of the ingredients in dog food, the vet says give him 3 a day. I've been trying different brands and read the ingredients, but don't have the perfect food yet, though it is getting much better for him. When my allergy season is in full swing I boost it by taking a benedryl at bedtime to help knock out the effects of pollen while I'm asleep (a pharmacist recommended this) or I use Sudafed during the day on top of the Zyrtec. Guiafed is a lifesaver during the sinus congestion stage of allergies, good thing it is inexpensive in the generic forms. There is a long list of stuff to finish today so I need to hit the yard running. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 29 Mar 15 - 12:38 PM City: Got up this morning exclaiming, "I can walk!!" Almost up to 100%! AND I have felt really good the last 3 days. Amazing what a simple thing like minerals can do. But also using tea tree oil on feet has helped as well as the Pau d'Arco. I keep being stunned by the amount of time just plain living takes. Now, we had a nice breakfast of blueberry buckwheat cakes. Learned recently that buckwheat is not a grain; no relation to wheat. I never thought of it but it is a broadleaf plant; I have eaten it all my life, as a flour and the whole berry as a breakfast or with veggies for supper. Then I cleaned the top of a cupboard and the minerals displayed thereon, and sorted some of those ubiquitous cables. I have a place for those things in case we ever figure out what "this one" is for. Sometimes I do and am glad I did not throw "that" out! Then a phone call from a terrifically distressed friend. I begged her to go to Quaker Meeting - she had just enough time. She needs a stronger support group. I will call her in a while to see if she complied - I referred to it as a "deal" with me. But now I must make sure she does not feel badly if she did not keep her end. Then I answered and deleted emails, always checking for any that can be unsubscribed. Then came FB and many comments and support of friends. Now here. Then I can go upstairs and work on making more pots, and finish the ones from last week. Maybe make some celery soup or ???? Oh phooey, need some ingredients from store. Well, nice sunny, not too cold day. The snow in the backyard is still too high - gets no sun at this end. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 29 Mar 15 - 06:59 PM City: I did go upstairs, watered the plants --- and heard R come in. Fed him a nice lunch and ate a bit myself. sat back down here, and here I am. Read a long article on biofilm, arranged with a FB friend to stop by their organic coop when I have a chance, en route to Ontario - sort of. I would like to meet her. Looked a long time at the empty spots for this week on the art gallery volunteer calendar and emailed the coordinator that I would fill in if no one comes forward. I really will not be able to do much at the new house until R brings some furniture, so I can fill in at the Gallery if need be. Now R is home for supper - unusually early. Very nice! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 30 Mar 15 - 09:55 AM City: Trying to get to it but FB is twirling and I cannot make what I consider to be an important post. Yesterday I got info on upgrading but my son is not getting back to me. Waiting is not my strong point. ... Good BF and trimmed R's hair - he was starting to look rather like Einstein but getting him to sit still long enough... So now he looks less like E! Still twirling so I scrapped that idea. Now to get something useful done. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Mar 15 - 11:36 AM We've turned the corner between winter and spring, and now the process of alternate day fasting and getting lots of exercise will take off those last few pounds I've waited to work on. I only had time to mow about half of the back yard this weekend, the grass is so tall and still quite damp. I'll go out after work this week and mow a few passes each day until I finish. It's a process of using the mower without the self-propelled feature and pulling back and lifting to let the buildup of clippings drop out of this mulching mower. It's more like running a mop or a vacuum back and forth over the same spot than it is like typically mowing in a steady long straight line. :) Good luck with all of that moving, Dorothy. Susan, next time you drop in send me a PM with your mailing address again. That last one got lost in the crash. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 30 Mar 15 - 02:16 PM 20 Minutes on the treadmill 20 minutes on the recumbent bike :) Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Mar 15 - 02:27 PM And Michelle, don't forget at least 120 minutes of running around after a five-year-old! |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 30 Mar 15 - 07:28 PM CITY: Very good day! So much energy! and very little pain/discomfort. Amazing. Still working on computer upgrade issue; shopping took four different stores but done; cauliflower soup, done; celery soup, done; big pot of stewed apples, done; emails, done; choc covered ginger, done; copy info from lawyer, done; check on bank hours, done; food intake, not too bad; birthday note to son, done; pots were too dry to trim so covered with wet towels, time to check on them again. Refrigerator ready to accept soups when they cool. pedometer on list; I guess after five years the one for which I have the box in desk drawer is not going to re-surface! Above freezing again today but back yard is still deep. front yard should soon have a bit of green. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 31 Mar 15 - 09:20 AM Yesterday I discovered that UPS can finally beat the USPS shipping rate ($21 vs $36 for a 22# box) if you have an online UPS account. And today I compared the regular USPS priority rate boxes vs the Priority "Regional" boxes and find those (which you can only pay postage online) are a little over half the regular priority rate. So if you're ridding yourself of clutter by sending it to others, a little research and ordering boxes ahead is worth the trouble. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: ranger1 Date: 31 Mar 15 - 10:27 AM I have terrible luck with UPS. When I lived in Portland (Maine), they wouldn't leave packages at the house "Because it is against our policy to leave packages at an apartment", yet they would leave them on the front stoop of our neighbors' homes in full view and access of the street. Here in the boonies, they frequently deliver to the wrong house, even though the houses are all clearly numbered. One package was delivered god knows where, it mysteriously appeared in my mailbox two days after it had been supposedly delivered to my door and the CD inside was broken in half. The USPS has only ever lost two items of mine, and my rural letter carrier will drop off packages that won't fit in the mailbox on my front step, even though I'm 150 feet back from the road. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 31 Mar 15 - 03:07 PM I had legal papers delivered - late - by the post office, but it turned out that the DHL driver had dropped the overnight package at the right number on the wrong street. Despite being a distinct package with a large shipping label, that party opened the package, examined the papers, then stuffed them sideways into the envelope (so it wouldn't close and it bent all of the "sign here" tabs) and a couple of days later they gave it to the postal carrier and asked what to do with it. She kindly brought it to us, but a new set had already been sent overnight. I could have strangled that neighbor. Another time a company dealing with paperwork to do with buying my house insisted they needed my physical address (even though I never checked or used the apartment mail boxes) to send important papers. I reluctantly agreed if they would only use it that one time and would delete it from their system. So when another set of papers didn't arrive at my appropriate address I checked, and yes, the fools had sent it to the apartment I no longer occupied. I knocked on their door to ask, but they denied ever receiving them. I never did find those papers, full of confidential information and social security numbers. Now I simply refuse to give an address other than the one I want them to use. They can figure it out. My bills all go to my P.O. Box and that has a different zip code than the house, so it's like having an extra PIN built in. When I use my credit card to buy gas I have to punch in the zip code, and if my wallet went missing the driver's license zip code doesn't match any of the cards in the wallet. It might slow an identity thief for a few minutes, anyway. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 31 Mar 15 - 09:06 PM The power was out in town this morning so my friend and I walked laps around the gym for a bit and then did some impromptu yoga on really bad mats (note to self....put your own yoga mat in the car). :) Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 31 Mar 15 - 09:31 PM Ontario! Left house in M before 10 am, after good bf, dishes washed, no laundry left undone. R picked up two TV tables - the nice wooden ones - in the trash and put them in car - total furniture -those and two folding lawn chairs! Will pick up the clay play trailer on Sunday and take it to the mill and load it with bed and whatever else will fit. Lovely trip; returned unwanted boots; store was gracious about it. Arrived in good time and had good chats at a couple places. Good supper and then computing and now ready for sleep! Tomorrow - bank, then lawyer!! Then my "new" house to contemplate what -of the furniture we have - will fit. |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 31 Mar 15 - 11:58 PM I was able to do a friend a favor today - the public computers with scanners were not starting properly, so I brought home a letter he needed scanned. I used Photoshop and created good-quality TIFF files that I combined to a PDF. He hadn't put the current date, and after sending the PDF he said he realized the error - it was an easy photoshop tweak to correct the date and resend it. Tami - your box is the USPS one. I keep a painted table/bench thing on my front porch that is a nice perch to sit and look at the yard and up the street, but also serves as an object to block the view of packages delivered to the house. Assuming the delivery person has the good sense to put the parcel on the porch behind the bench and not on top of it. SRS |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: LilyFestre Date: 01 Apr 15 - 10:41 AM Used the recumbent bike and treadmill at the gym this morning, left feeling fabulous. Now I'm off to do some organizing/vacuuming and dusting in our bedroom. Have a good one everybody! Michelle |
|
Subject: RE: Declutter & fitness-Jan-Mar-Google Cache From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Apr 15 - 11:32 AM Here's a new page, a decluttered thread to fill up with your success stories. |
| Share Thread: |
