Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Dec 17 - 11:55 AM

Acme, thanks for the Roebic update. Great use of it.

The job now is not weather dependent-- identify/package purgeables, and trash/recycle weekly w household trash/recycling. There's room here to hold donations til weather and schedule and strength coinicide-- as they did yesterday, when 5 small book boxes went to the accessible-entrance library.

To top off the last book box, I had to venture into a second rooom's bookcase, and surprised myself at the ratio of Purge/Maybe Keep; I had thought those would be mostly Def Keep... but nope! Away 60% went-- painlessly. Half the shelf is already done, because I grabbed another box and Hardi was available to carry them down to join the two brought down earlier. (There's a downstairs table where 2-3 donation smalls can sit until transit, plus more space I created upstairs).

Perhaps the book equation is different in light of Kindle technology, and knowing who is getting some of the categorized items also helps-- I have another 5 categorized boxes, almost ready to deliver/media-ship.

This is very encouraging when I contemplate more shelves yet to confront: the feeling of being overwhelmed is disappearing because I do know, now, how I can handle those areas.

Thursday, I rearranged another upstairs space slightly-- which improved that space as well as opening access to a closet to store more packed items out of the way. Half its contents can flow to Ohio now, into the linen closet shelves I added-- away from annually-invading barn rays and into the space for instant decor when our king bed moves south. So that box will be packed next.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Dec 17 - 12:00 PM

Posted separately due to fone limit on post size....

Yesterday the kitchen recycling end of the house was wrestled back to My Way instead of Bachelor Way, because My Way is ACCESSIBLE way. The food program has been heading that way as well, so the result was a nutritious hot breakfast made with minimal fuss, instead of a power bar.

We worked together to identify the issues and solutions, and then to implement the changes... then ran off to dinner and hockey FUN!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Dec 17 - 01:48 PM

Kitchen re-organization....

I'm battening down the kitchen hatches for winter, knowing how hard it will be sometimes to get out for supplies-- and how the annual/attempted barn rat invasion will go.

Forty pounds of potato flakes and previous bulk rice purchases... minus my late mom's waffle iron... I've just about done it. There's a 20 lb bag of tater flakes yet to stow-- just need one more popcorn can, and I'm sure to spot one at Tuesday's grocery run.

I think store-bought tubs of mashed also can be frozen so I'm going to try a batch; there are days I'm too sore to deal with making them. I have a bunch of turkey/chicken stock to make them with.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Dec 17 - 11:15 PM

I've gotten 3 large garbage bags ready to be donated. In addition, today we did the majority of the decorating for Christmas and I have a tote full of things we haven't used in years...time to donate those as well.

I'm struggling with bronchitis...second round of it in just under a month. UGH. I have 3 full days of on the road work coming up next week not to mention 2 normal in the office days....I do NOT have time to be sick! Given my coughing fits, we decorated, took a break, decorated more, took another break, etc....it took longer than usual but the tree is up and several favorite pieces are out with normal items packed up until January. The tree is probably the most beautiful tree we've ever had. It's about 7 feet tall, perhaps a bit taller and covered with 750 colored lights plus all the ornaments. I love sitting here beside it in the quiet with the all the Christmas tree lights to add soft light to the room.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Dec 17 - 12:12 PM

I started digging out around the front of the porch - that foundation for the former huge garden planter seems to rim where the wall went, it isn't a platform extending out from the porch. I'll uncover what I can and figure out how deep I want to dig to remove roots and put down gravel to support my pavers. I see a couple of trips down to the creek today with buckets to tote up to the wheelbarrow. I've done this before - the creek is an endless source of limestone pebbles.

The challenge this morning was to get the phone to upload backup photos to the correct dropbox folder. Virtual storage is as important as avoiding clutter.

I gave a few family members one of the Jacquie Lawson advent calendars that Jacqui C got me hooked on several years ago. I wonder how long it will take them to discover the mindless joys of crunching virtual hard candies (the online equivalent of popping bubble wrap) or working puzzles. :-) Charming time-wasters, or therapy, depending on how you view it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Dec 17 - 09:24 AM

This morning we have a trifecta of tradesmen with not only the cabinet installers, but also the plumber and a brace of electricians. Appliances -- fridge, stove and dishwasher -- are due this afternoon. But just as we were getting all excited, the contractor told us that the counter-tops won't come until Thursday. Bummer.

Today we enter the fifth week of Operation Kitchen. The dining-room floor is laid -- not quite the right colour, but we're trying to put that behind us, and the cabinets are built and about 80 percent installed. The door to the ground-floor loo has been installed and most of the pantry is in place. Still to come (as well as counter-tops): the wash-basin and its cabinet in the loo, and door-handles and pulls for all the doors and drawers. When all *that* is done, Patrick the painter will make a return visit.

Oy, I forgot: I chose the wrong colours. I must talk with Patrick ...

While the house is in tumult, life goes on elsewhere. I sang in the chorus in the annual production of Handel's "Messiah" on Saturday evening, the first such concert I have done in years and years. It was a blast; thanks to its theatre festival, Stratford has lots of great musicians. Himself is on a bit of a health kick, working out at the gym, hiking miles and miles, and tracking his diet with an on-line diet diary. About five pounds from now, he will fit into his kilt and Sheriffmuir jacket, an objective for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, he went to the butcher on Saturday and ordered a goose and a tourtière -- there's no way I'll have time to find a source of ground venison and bake it myself. I must, however, strain every nerve to find a fishmonger who will sell me a salmon appropriate for making gravlax. Stratford lacks a fish supplier, so I might have to go to Kitchener or even London for the right stuff.

With two refrigerators, I won't have to juggle beer and salad makings to make room for the marinating fish. Luxury!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Dec 17 - 01:23 PM

Tremendous bragging and nearly no complaining? messiah.
You are obviously on the right track and will have a wonderful holiday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Dec 17 - 08:17 PM

A friend of mine from work had to empty his small (1500sf) house in order to have the wood floors completely redone after they buckled badly from moisture damage. As he puts things back (some went into the garage, the big stuff was packed and taken by movers to storage) he is choosing to put back just enough in each room, and the rest will be tossed or given away. He'll end up with a house that looks larger because it isn't so cluttered (he's an artist, and has an eye for interesting objects, so there will be some good stuff going out to the curb).

I suppose one way to emulate that kind of transformation would be to empty everything out of a given room and then put back just what fits. Charmion has been doing a version herself. Perhaps a good project over the long holiday break.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Dec 17 - 09:57 AM

Yeah, I guess I'm bragging; I feel entitled to after all the sturm und drang of power tools and filth. I don't dare complain; we're too close to completion and anything that doesn't actually hinder the next (last!) stage of the project will just have to wait.

Further to Acme's remarks about emptying rooms: Yes, traumatic as it is at our age, moving across the province and into a very different kind of house forced us to do just that. We de-cluttered significantly before the move, and when we got here we could see immediately what more to shed. I'm not sure that all the stuff we should shed will actually leave, but that's a work in progress.

Tony the carpenter is back, so the house is shaking and vibrating again. Today is primarily baseboards and window trim, getting ready for the arrival of the stone counter-tops tomorrow. The gas-fitter should be coming today, too, and the cabinetmaker's journeyman to install the range hood (maximum suckage!). Lots of work boots in and out; I hope the cats hunker down for the day.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Dec 17 - 10:34 PM

You're going to have one heck of a xmas season, Charmion, trying out the new spaces and deciding what to toss from the storage areas.

I am seriously thinking about emptying the part of the house where (currently) my kitchen table, the extra freezer, and lots of cook book cases and the Kitchen Queen (this isn't mine, but it's similar - mine is painted in ivory enamel and doesn't have the flour sifter like that one) live. I've wondered if it would work as an informal living area with the sofa, coffee table and TV, and move some of the big furniture pieces into the nearby den. It would be better if there wasn't a six-inch step down into the den - one of my top-of-the list projects (filling in that six inches with concrete to level the house.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Dec 17 - 10:55 AM

The guest room bookcase purge done. Packed 1 large donation box, 2 sm boxes to media ship to the Liberation Library I house and curate in Ohio, and added many nature items to a FFA/4H box to donate.

Upstairs landing closet: found batting to fix one flattened pillow and a zippered pillowcase for another, and put those on.

Packed 1 contractor bag w linens for transit to Ohio. Found lap fleece for chilly computer corner.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Dec 17 - 11:22 AM

Last week I brought home some posters that I described to some facebook friends; they had to relax from being rolled in the tube for a long time, so today I finally stood on a dining room chair and photographed each one laid out on a sewing cutting board (for the grid background). For the cost of a mailing tube and postage, I'll send them to new homes. My intent was to rescue and rehome these old posters (and keep only one of them to put on my guest room wall - one room with sparse decoration).

It's the time of year to wrap up medical things (for this tax year), get the holiday letter written, prepare to mail gifts. I also need to plan for the long holiday break - I try to do at least one project around the house. What will it be this time? Paint is usually the most affordable material for makeovers, though the hall bathroom floor is crying out for new tile.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Dec 17 - 09:52 PM

Are your new counter tops in, Charmion? How does the kitchen look?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Dec 17 - 09:49 AM

The granite was installed on Thursday, and it looks grand. Just grand. We also now have a fully functional sink and dishwasher, and a stove with an exhaust hood so real cookery may resume.

The dining room table is still out with the refinisher, so we brought the plastic folding six-foot table up from the basement and we're eating off that (how vulgar). But dinner tonight will not be something pre-fab from the freezer, but roast chicken with our favourite accompaniments, especially a nice sauvingnon blanc drunk out of actual wine glasses.

Life is good in Stratford.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Dec 17 - 03:33 PM

PA:

Bronchial crud breaking up this AM. Rest ydy appeared to be needed but attrition to back muscles bad (very sore). Done (working together) tdy:
Sortes freezers.
Cleared attic stairwell of tarps.
Sorted/visual inventory of attic boxes.
Whipped kitchen.
Crockpotted misc weird freezer stuff.

Packed for transit to Ohio: wedding linens and a few Liberation Library books (to fill box), plus canvas drop cloth. Linens to be ready for next joint OH trip (Valentine's hopefully).

Car space for large car boxes for January trip is now committed, so now I'm down to choosing among small items. Even with the hitch-mounted cargo platform, it will be tight... but I don't plan to take the scooter because I do NOT want to tow in January thru 3 snow regions!

Subject: Garage Attic and Archive Storage
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Dec 17 - 07:19 PM

PA:

I don't plan this idea-generation in advance-- ideas just come to me so I note them, to recall them later.

Here's one-- I used to picture my work product archive in an Ohio garage office, with floor space. Then I got to liking the garage for other stuff!

The new, better idea is to commandeer the overhead space I've been clearing of seller's crap since the closing-- *none of which, I now realize, was water/insect damaged.*

Over the garage door is a superb shelf, easily accessed for my archives. Over the back end of the garage is another planked area for larger boxes. Our music books could go up there (or vice versa).... and . . . I'm sure my mind will fill in the blanks. And all that is stuff we could move NOW.

Subject: Putting-Away Trick: Fly-By
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Dec 17 - 12:01 PM

I acidentally discovered that some chores are better done as a fly-by.

It was clean and folded laundry in need of being put away.... for various logistical reasons, this time I couldn't just pick up the basket, take it to the waiting, empty shelves, and unload.

The full basket happened to have landed in a place I have to pass every hour on the way TO the shelves... so I spontaneously grabbed just a few items off the top of the basket, took them with, and stuck them on the shelf.

By the end of the day, not one but two baskets were empty, yet I had never "done" the job (the way my brain had been trained to do the job). Therefore neither the practical barrier to do it was here, nor any dread/hoardy habits/processes either.

I'm going to start doing other things that way as well. A tall, skinny trash receptacle, for instance, can sit in these walkway areas. I'm pretty sure my eye can spot purge-able items to sweep up as I walk around in here. A folding tray table can also be deployed to hold baskets or boxes of items that need to be on their way elsewhere.

I'm going to try this technique with pesky boxes of "sort later" (boring) things, too, several of which are annoying me by still being here. They do have a very small amount of buried stuff I need to pull out, and are in boxes I can use for moving!

....

PA:

Hardi relieved a ton of my accumulating stress this AM by dry-fitting a box in the car, which is the same size as two very heavy, large boxes I'd begun to worry might not even fit thru the car doors for the Jan. 1 trip to Ohio. He not only got the empty one in-- he turned it in way that creates SO MUCH more space than I had envisioned. Now I know that eveything else I want to take can go, and these boxes don't need to sit on the exterior hitch platform (blocking the license plate). But the scooter and my walker can, UNDER the plate!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Dec 17 - 10:20 AM

Today, the painters are back, the cabinetmakers are due to complete tomorrow, and the dreaded electricians will make their final visit on Friday. Then I get to pay them all, which will flatten our bank account to a very thin scraping of capital, if anything is left at all. Whoopee.

Perth County lies under a thick blanket of new snow, after two days of squalls. Everything in Stratford stopped dead yesterday afternoon at about three when folks who live out in the country realized they had to go home RIGHT NOW or find a flop in town. The lady handling the contract to make our very special bedroom curtains called to apologize profusely because the custom-made traverse tracks had not arrived from London. I told her that I did not want anyone going into the ditch on my account (a ferocious cross-wind scours Highway 7 in these conditions), and she was almost pitifully grateful. She must deal with a lot of diva clients.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Dec 17 - 10:59 PM

Have helped rearrange other people's clutter today; a co-worker (the one with new wood floors) got rid of what he realized was an ancient mattress when he emptied his house in preparation for the flooring work. He has been pricing new mattresses, and after extra expenses on the floors feared he'd have to sleep on his air mattress for a long time until he can afford the new mattress. But wait! My ex has a barely-used queen-sized mattress in his garage.

The backstory: he bought a high-end latex mattress, they are incredibly heavy and durable. When the box was opened, there was a conspicuous cosmetic flaw. He called to complain, they replaced it but said "don't return the other one." The shipping was too much for a return. The second mattress also had a major cosmetic flaw, so they sent a THIRD expensive latex mattress. So, he took the standard mattress off of our son's bed at his house, put it in the garage, and put the flawed latex on the box springs. I claimed the other one when my standard mattress began to cause back pain from years of use.

The standard mattress in the garage was wrapped in plastic, and is in excellent condition. My friend will borrow a truck and pick this one up, freeing room in the garage and sparing himself much more time on the air mattress.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Dec 17 - 01:43 PM

PA:

The winter freeze has hit with arctic air settling over our region. This can last days... or months.

Remarkable what a little sleep will do! I awoke thinking about the annual attempt to warm up the kitchen, resulting from annual house sinking, and whizzed up a dog-corner curtain to reduce drafts, using a bolt of flannel I'd found in the upstrs landing closet-- obviously don't want to spend anything more on the house at this point.

It's a 170" continuous length of flannel hemmed at each end, folded in the middle to form a ruffled rod pocket. The two layers of the finished 85" panel hold insulating air, hung a few inches to the inside, in the 82" tall door's framing.

I mocked it up with safety pins before Hardi left for work and he hung it on a tension rod already on hand... it covers the door to Dog World. Newbie learned how to nose thru a hallway curtain in Ohio I'd hung for privacy, so she'll have no trouble getting thru this one, but we'll also rig a string thru a screw-eye to pull it aside when not needed on warmer days.

By hanging this and Hardi's work last night blocking the draft at the threshold with a cut piece of rubber stall matting-- and then turning up the morning thermostat a few degrees-- it's no longer too cold in the kitchen to breathe with bronchitis.

I've been cycling thru the dnstrs comfortably all morning putting away laundry, groceries, and clutter; Hardi may stitch up the hems and top pocket tonight and cut the stall mat threshold in half to make a double-thick layer of it. We're also thinking of adding a strip of it across the lower edge of the door, to hang meeting the threshold.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Dec 17 - 02:34 PM

PS I have a local taker for the ancient Game Boy and games-- a friend is making a display for her kids on ancient gaming history and these were in the sort/donate box Hardi and I started upstairs. She's a home schooler and will also take most of the box of farm/nature books, leaving a smaller and more specialized subset to media-ship to our homesteading son in Californy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Dec 17 - 09:48 AM

The cabinet-makers finished the dining room yesterday, and we unpacked all but three of the last 10 movers' boxes. Garage parking à deux begins on Sunday for sure, possibly Saturday evening. I can hardly wait; I have already spent way too much time scraping ice off the car and winter has barely begun.

Sure enough, a new nest of household excess is now forming in the basement in anticipation of the church rummage sale in the spring. The coffee cups alone could fill a table -- Hmmm. Gotta find the local drop-in centre and move those on right away.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Dec 17 - 09:15 PM

I'm not fessing up to My Fitness Pal about the state of my caloric intake today. It was one of those days that I need to declutter via a couple of days of fasting in the coming week. A sandwich before going to an afternoon movie with co-workers (a holiday tradition) and then the temptation of theater food . . .

eBay things are starting to move - several this week, so I need to list more over the weekend. Since friends are coming for lunch on Sunday I'm motivated to vacuum and put out more of the ornaments for the house. If it warms up a bit I need to work on the area in front of the porch, where those broken concrete pavers will go. Down here we don't expect to be covered with a layer of snow, so that kind of work can happen year-round. There is never a shortage of stuff to do around here.

The bin where I collect items to donate is full, so that's another trip, along with recycling the paper buildup. Charmion, I had a whole bunch of coffee mugs and decided to take the extras to work and add to the community kitchen. Some of them disappeared because people liked them and took them home, but I still see a few floating around the office. At least they're getting used.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Dec 17 - 09:23 PM

It's snowing again, and both our cars are in the garage. Yes!!!

Neil from across the street dropped by to discuss our busy month and take a peek at the results. He says we might be the only people in the neighbourhood with a two-car garage who use it for -- gasp! -- parking two cars! He walks his dog for what seems hours a day, and is therefore an expert on what Stratford people do with their houses. If Neil says every garage on the street is full of cardboard boxes, I believe him.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Dec 17 - 09:25 PM

Donation box emptied, all dropped off at Goodwill. Large bag of recycling dropped off at the bins behind city hall. Post office checked (this time of year I need to go more often, a few people do send cards there.) The kitchen is clean, the laundry is finished (alas, as tissue was in a pocket and had to be scooped out of the dryer lint in pieces).

re: Susan's "ancient technology," I always search eBay before donating or adding electronics to the e-waste bin at work. It is amazing what people are still buying these days. Often times they are listed as for repair or parts, but they still sell. There are lots of garage tinkerers out there just looking for the right part to come along to fix something else, or keeps a steady supply of refurbished devices on the market for those who are still analog, etc.

Charmion, my ex didn't park his car in the garage for many years. After a guy who needed space to work on the new garage door opener and some drywall moved everything out of the center of the garage (compressed it), he has been once again parking there, amid boxes and mattresses. One mattress will soon be given to a friend, giving more door room for the small Toyota. When I built the garage at my house I swore that 1) I would no longer pay for storage and 2) I would clear things out enough so I could park in the garage. There have only been a couple of times when I wasn't able to. I parked outside by choice for a while when one of the dogs decided it was a game to run down the driveway to greet me once the door opened; I put up a gate to keep them out of the main part of the garage and that no longer happens. I now park in the garage every night.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Dec 17 - 07:09 PM

Beaver: (14 December)
The signal here is SO iffy! I lost the last post even though I copied it, in case. I gave up and turned off the computer ready for trip to Montreal and when I turned it back on, no copy. So writing this as draft email; they do not get lost. Have not had a signal since 10th. Tech support cannot help. I need a different system; this is de-cluttering my wallet and cluttering my brain.

The trip to Montreal is put off to tomorrow due to minus 26 C this am and a DEAD battery! Not even a whisper. My neighbour tried but DEAD! So, plan D, called friends who always say, "call us if you need..." It took over two hours. Carol, wisely, stayed home. Yes, it was dead. So dear John took out the old one - with great difficulty, and we drove to Canadian Tire (about 6 minutes.). They tested it; definitely need new one. Purchased it and we drove back. It took him about an hour, again, and a trip home for something to help the job. A retired engineer, he is meticulous about doing the best possible job. I wonder what I can ever do to return this incredible favour. They will soon be leaving to winter in southern Texas. I am sure they are preparing their house here for its lonely winter.

The last time this happened - in the mid-80s - I was able to remove the battery, hitch into town (5 miles) get a new one and hitch back, install it and - Voila! Nice little Datsun.

While I waited for John and while he was working, I brought in lots of firewood!

By this time is was after 1 pm and I went to town (4 minutes) and picked up newspapers, went to Community Care and read onto computer, went to the "Family Health Team" office and turned in my application to have a doctor, nice chat with his super nice receptionist. I might need a doctor someday so I thought I had best take this opportunity, for which I have waited several months. He is young; I hope he is willing to learn. I shall put off meeting him as long as possible.

I got here on 5th and did laundry but not much else. It is fairly tidy but could use vacuuming; maybe before I leave in the am. Geez, I was doing so well getting ready this am, was right on time - and then... tried to start car... But now I can get an early start and get into city before rush hour and find my way through the construction on the highway - due for another year or two but changing almost daily - while it is still light.

I did phone R this am and told him, "My car won't start! I need you to come right now..." Joking of course; our house guest had gotten that call from wife on a Gulf island (BC) about two weeks ago so he left a week earlier than planned. She did get a mechanic to fix car. The situation required a lengthy one on one therapy session with him; R said I did a good job! He has elephant ears.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Dec 17 - 07:21 PM

PA:

Now that my son in the Toledo area has an extra car he can loan me to use in Ohio, I'm planning to drive a rental truck to Ohio instead of beating my old car to death with towing a heavy, open cargo trailer-- and stay there til Hardi joins me for summer vacay and then ride back with him.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 17 Dec 17 - 10:09 PM

Plans were made today for the upcoming holiday break. Jeremiah currently has the smallest bedroom in the house..there simply was no need for a little boy to have a larger space. The time has come for me to downsize my quilting room and switch rooms with him. He needs more space to spread out, room for a table to draw on or leave a puzzle or lego creation out. I'm not opposed to things being out in the general living areas of the house except our animals seem to love the Legos as much as Jeremiah.....Oatie, in particular, likes to chomp on them...not good for him or the Legos. This switch will give him about 150% more room than he currently has. And if the truth be told, I only use half the room I currently have for quilting. The rest is a catch all and most of it can go. There's an old chair that was my Nana's but hasn't been used since we moved here in the late 1990s, an enlarger for a darkroom that I had hoped to build will be looking for a new home and just random STUFF. I even have toys in that room that were purchased for Jeremiah, tucked away to use for Christmas or birthday gifts and have been outgrown. Can you say donation? Some of my coworkers have smaller children and they will get first dibs and then things will be set out for our clients with young children to take as desired.

I just did some thinking about the room I currently am using...it has 8...yes EIGHT...bookshelves! One is all photo albums, 2 are loaded with books and the rest have toys or fabric....*cough*   I am thinking of selling some of my stash. I have so much but my sewing time is so limited. There are so many quilters in this area that I don't think it would take much to sell it off piecemeal. Hmmm. I don't know.......I'm going to have to go the IKEA route...vertical!   LOL   We shall see how it pans out. I have very little time off for Christmas but I think we can make a good dent and get it started. Jeremiah is excited to have ALL his toys in his room. I am excited to have some extra space in our living room!   

I'd say I have about 85% of my Christmas wrapping done. I'm proud of myself for not going overboard this year. :) Jeremiah is getting his first real camera. He currently uses a Kindle to take photos and like me, he LOVES to take pictures. I can't wait to see what he does with a real camera.....it's incredible what he does with the Kindle.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 17 - 09:37 AM

I'm still working on stuff to mail - as long as it's postmarked before the 25th that will be the accomplishment, I think. I thought I did better last year with my holiday cards, but I've received only a couple so far, so I must have fallen off of a lot of card lists in the last year.

My real (SLR) camera is used for durable projects, but so much of my photography happens with my phone these days. My last phone, the LG G4 that died suddenly had an excellent camera; I'm not as thrilled with the LG V20, but I have to sit down and learn how to use some of the features I turned off for the time being. Like the double camera - maybe its meant to take stereoscopic photos? I saw an offer from Shutterfly that will make square unframed mounts of phone photos that can be put up in a grid - I can't find it now, it was probably in an email somewhere, but it was a cute idea, something Jeremiah could be infinitely creative with.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 17 - 03:51 PM

After I wrote that last post I gathered up the leashes and took the dogs on a short walk into the woods across the road - this is their absolute favorite place for walks, best in cool weather without ticks and when the leaves are off of poison ivy. We did one last full-sensory walk for my elderly pitbull, because I called this morning to make her final appointment at the vet. She'd been ill for a while, but over the weekend things started go to more wrong, and there was no getting over this. There were still wags and kisses left, but they were few and farther between and she wasn't happy any more. The other dogs kept examining her, and one of them sat quietly and licked her eyes yesterday, like they were maybe hurting and needed attention. She loved to have her face and ears rubbed.

I realize I haven't walked the dogs much lately because she wasn't feeling good, but now walks will be therapy for the other two. They have to adjust to the pack being smaller (seriously - if you take one dog out without the other two, that dog is distressed because they feel they need to go everywhere together.)

I've had better days, but as sad as this is, it is a relief, because I realize that keeping her on medications (hoping to keep her comfortable) was more for me than for her when the kind thing would have been to do this months ago. I was trying to spare my own heart, yet mourning her soon-to-be departure every day.

Pets are complicated. I don't call them "fur babies" or act like they're my children, but they are definitely non-human people in the family. I had to tell the next door neighbor, who has been giving each dog a biscuit a day over the back fence for the last dozen years. And the kids. And the ex. And the friends who I think sometimes come to see my dogs more than to see me. . .

I don't plan to start a special thread or post any more about this, but I'll use this one day and this one thread to share. There are all kinds of loss, categories of mourning. We expect to outlive our pets, so as painful as their loss is, I don't expect it to rise to the level of other passings discussed in this thread.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Dec 17 - 09:47 AM

Life is much less complicated this morning, no pills to administer, no dithering over food choices, the two dogs like their dry food and inhaled it like usual. The weather is another matter - thunder and lightning had them complaining and in my room at the crack of the unseen-dawn. Life goes on.

I've continued to list a few more eBay items and as close as we are to the holidays I've included a photo with holiday decorations in the background to suggest the gift-worthiness of some of them. After the holiday I'll revise those listings and change out the main photos on any that don't sell by then.

Looks like the weather is finally lifting. Thunder instead of snow is typical. We rarely get a white xmas here, and over the last couple of years it was positively balmy. I may be able to choose between indoors and outdoors for my big project over the holiday break. Outdoors, work on arranging the broken concrete pavers into position by the front porch; indoors, put down new tile in the hall bathroom.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Dec 17 - 02:18 PM

(((Acme)))

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Dec 17 - 12:44 AM

Has anyone noticed that about now the stores like Home Depot start clearing out the holiday ornaments and start putting out and running sales for the huge plastic boxes with lids for storing all of the stuff we've set aside now we have new stuff, the stuff we've accumulated, and the stuff we've perhaps even organized? It's the harbinger of clutter.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Dec 17 - 08:47 AM

PA:

I've lost track of the total book-box count, but three previously-packed boxes are in my car now for delivery to library book sale and a homeschooler. I'm liking how neither Hardi nor I feel the faintest regret or desire to open taped boxes for one more look! Begone and buh-bye!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Dec 17 - 11:56 AM

Montreal:

Today I sorted and re-organized our clothes. Found a blouse that fills the bill! OK, I've had it for years; made it back in the 90s. But it is what I need - full, comfortable, covers tummy etc., and looks good. With any luck I will find the pattern at Beaver and make a couple more, from some of the fabric, of which I have about a ton. But I cleaned up the clothing area and am, at least for now, inspired to make a couple nice shirts. That is better than the day I did an entire mall trying to find one like that - and it was there all along - under that other stuff. Also found needles and hooks so may be inspired to start a hat tomorrow.

Great to read about Charmion's amazing progress! She will truly be "home for Christmas". And now I realize the town of Perth is not in the county of Perth.

Maggie, you gave that dog a good life! I have lost a few in my life and know that each one hurts - then we usually end up with another one of equal value, more or less.

The LR here is still fairly clear; just a few bits of non-functional heaters, etc and a bag for the thrift shop and... Well there are places to sit. The desk still resembles an old "Shoe" cartoon: "Oh, that's not a sofa, that's a pile of papers that looks like a sofa." Not my papers. And while I was at Beaver, an 18 inch wooden hippo climbed onto the buffet here; huge but rather interesting. Oh, well. I started to clear the top of a cabinet but had to quit before I finished - dust inhalation. Got back out of bed for an allergy pill and -yep! Here I thought I was getting "sick".

After driving all day Friday to get here, including about 45 minutes in a nasty snow storm, I then drove the hour to the cafe, and back. Tired! Saturday, R and I went to the Laurentians, where you can barely see the once beautiful hills for the houses, condos, etc. He needed to do some work on the two airbnbs. After an interminable and traumatic (snowy, windy roads, steep hills) trip, I sat in a not warm enough house and read. I used the sofa cushions to keep warm! Then had something akin to a panic attack as we drove down a super steep hill, with a ravine at the bottom. Crawled into bed about 1 am. Never again. R needs to de-clutter his life, and mine, of that situation.

Quaker meeting and potluck helped the mind, and the frig! Time spent going to see a house for sale - I like it. I especially like that the yard backs up to a very large nature preserve. Then we paid a short visit to Isle St. Bernard so R could see it. Great place; I would love to live 5 minutes away. I would love to be out of this dreadful house.

I am perceiving that is is hard on R when I am at Beaver. If he can find a way to buy us a decent house, I would want to be here for him most of the time. Hopefully, I will still be able to spend time with my friends in Ontario. I can see that 5 hour drive becoming more and more difficult but R loves it there also. ... Pipe dream?

I must de-clutter my life of even thinking about a friend of almost 50 years, but not seen for many years. I would drive myself crazy trying to deal with her. Sad. Hans Selye would refer to my re-action as altruistic self-centredness. My natural inclination to want to "make it better" has no chance of succeeding. Wonder Woman I am not. Not easy to let go. Cannot accept that she is not worth the effort but self-care needs to prevail...

R has been in Laurentians since Monday! So much for spending time together! Tonight (he will be back) an end of Chanukah meal at a friend's and tomorrow a pre-Christmas one with other friends.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 20 Dec 17 - 11:57 AM

I need to make my front room back into a reading room, it has been a dog room for too long. I should also put the television in there, it doesn't need to be the centerpiece of the den (like it is now) because it rarely gets used. Better to put it in a cozy room for occasional enjoyment. What I really want is to level the den with concrete (it's a six inch step down) so I can move the piano in there. Then the front room would be easier to use.

I have tons of books I haven't looked at in ages, but letting them go - that's difficult. At least at this point they're mostly contained in just a couple of areas. Okay, several areas. But there's only one stack that is waiting to be read or filed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Dec 17 - 09:46 PM

Whoa, Dorothy! I hope you get that new house - but I wonder at the location and if it is flood prone? Are you exchanging one difficult house for another?

Mission accomplished on the mattress transfer this evening. My friend delayed getting the box spring because of yesterday's rain, so has only the mattress but sent of photo of the made bed on the floor. He's mighty tired of sleeping on an air mattress! It took four different parties to make this happen but one man's clutter is another man's comfortable bed.

Subject: Truck loading brainstorming
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Dec 17 - 12:26 PM

PA:

Now that I know that I'm driving a truckload of furniture to Ohio in May, I'm trying to wrap my head around what to take and how to prep for it.

Whatever I take, I have to remove an Ohio item occupying the space where it will go, or put the delivered items in the garage. And I like where the Ohio items are-- I use them!

All I really know I'm taking is the 2-piece china cabinet, my corner desk/cubbies, my antique dresser, and the white bookcase. That's not even a full trailer load, much less a truckload. There are three chairs I could take (2 pink and 1 striped). OTOH I can visualize putting those in the garage without a strain. Maybe I'm not focusing enough on boxes. I could take all my archived papers and the music books because I know those will go up into overhead garage space.

Artwork-- I could take a bunch of large

artwork that would not travel well on an open trailer.

White cube from guest room. Germination supplies and equipment. Maybe the brown LR shelves to go straight into the guest room. The side table by the front door. Cookbooks-- ours and the ones we're giving Dave. The large file cabinet that will live in the garden. My summer clothes.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Dec 17 - 11:57 PM

I think there will be a lot of sewing here next week. Using some materials awaiting assembly, but other new items will have to enter the picture also.

Today I was thinking out loud, discussing the pleasure of filling in one recessed room with six inches of concrete to get rid of the sunken den. It's as annoying as hell when it comes to moving furniture. But if I did fill that in, I'd have to take apart the hearth to fill the space completely. That could add up to a large project, depending on how it attaches to the stones on the wall. Oy. For a few minutes today, I had it all worked out. I'll get there eventually.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 22 Dec 17 - 12:16 AM

I am confused by cement idea. If you plan to sell not sure it is an asset. What about just having a carpenter just put in risers and have higher wooden floor..even just carpeted plywood. Or a ramp of some sort. Agree that a drop is a nuisance and falling hazard for some.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Dec 17 - 10:44 AM

The house is in a flood zone. While it has never flooded and it is only the yard that gets the water when the creek rises, if water should ever get close enough to the house to come in, it would end up under that flooring. The concrete is actually probably less expensive than having the wood flooring put in. This house is on a concrete slab, so it's simply adding to the existing slab. It should cost about $1000. The house would be less dated and much easier to move things around and live in. Especially in this world of more and more ADA features in homes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 22 Dec 17 - 08:14 PM

Christmas break has started for me! I did some puttering around the house today and just enjoyed my boys. :) We both are in need of this break and did some considerable relaxing today. :)

Tomorrow begins the big switch of the bedroom and my office. It is my hope to have enough done that he can sleep in his new room tomorrow. :) Also, I found a home for my enlarger which makes me most happy.

I'm sorry to hear about your dog Maggie....they are family and part of us.....much love to you.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Dec 17 - 08:54 PM

Thanks! And I concur about the rest needed before the break really begins. I took a half-day off from work and about the only thing I really accomplished this afternoon was taking a nap.

Our holiday is delayed this year until all parties arrive, probably after Jan. 1, though we'll do a big breakfast for anyone who is here on Monday. It's disappointing that the nice warm weather petered out with the work week, leaving cold rainy conditions for the weekend of crowds and final chores. But the delay in our celebration means I don't need to finish up this weekend - I can let things calm down a little and finish during the week next week.

Now, to get the fuzzy slippers, warm robe, and watch a movie with the dogs. I hope each of you has a great holiday season, and in case a Grinch pays a visit, a good backup plan.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 Dec 17 - 09:23 PM

Montreal:

We were meant to leave for Beaver today but R still has stuff needing doing. Grrr. However, the weather is not good and freezing rain is predicted for tomorrow... And R needs to go north again - stress me out until he is safely home! Maybe we can leave on Sunday; the traffic can't be too bad???

I have been de-cluttering emails by unsubscribing to numerous ones. I doubt it is a one-step process; I need to look before I delete in case it can be unsubscribed.

walking better and better balance; just set up a small trampoline so I can bounce while folding on to a doorway. Hope to move from bouncing to minor jumping.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Dec 17 - 05:12 PM

Well.............change in plans here. The bedroom switch will be happening but not today. I finished wrapping all the gifts for my boys but still need to wrap things for my mom, thankfully, that won't take long.

I cleaned out all of Jeremiah's books that I had set aside for homeschooling. My niece is homeschooling her boys beyond kindergarten (which is when I homeschooled Jeremiah) and I no longer have a need for the 1-3rd grade books. I kept some science books and one practice book for math but the rest is bagged up and ready to go. I've been meaning to do this for some time. It took me about half an hour and it's one of those things that feels so good to have completed!

We are having some unexpected company for Christmas so instead of the bedroom switch, we are going to do a bit of deep cleaning and general cleaning of surfaces...nothing crazy and truth be told, it needs to be done anyway.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Dec 17 - 07:25 PM

Montreal:

I did check on flooding, a major issue up here. The big problem is the extra time/distance for R to travel. Somehow 15 minutes is a lot better than 30. Anything closer is prohibitively expensive. My hopes dangle!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Dec 17 - 10:34 AM

December 24: The day's objective is to have the house looking good for family visitors overnight tonight and coming up next weekend.

During that work I will endeavor to actually put things in the donate bin, the recycle bin, or where it belongs and consider disposal later. None of the old poke stuff here and here to have it out of sight and loose track of it.

We won't exchange gifts till around the first of the year because it's harder to get the whole family together when we don't all live in the same place.

Have a great holiday, everyone, whatever you celebrate. Us, we're an eclectic bunch of atheists who get together and exchange gifts to celebrate family. We're glad to have the shortest day of the year behind us. The weather has finally caught up with the season here and it's darned wet, cold, and windy out. But this gives us more incentive to cook and bake. We will try to not pack on too many calories that have to be decluttered next year.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Dec 17 - 01:29 PM

The kitchen project is finished except for the ceramic tile --
backsplashes and the repair of several gaps in the floor tile. The last element, a great big wall rack for flat things (pans, lids, skewers, aprons, griddles) was installed on Thursday, barely in time for the dinner party à quatre we staged on Thursday evening. Thank God, the new kitchen range performed perfectly.

Two batches of fruitcake have gone down-range, and Christmas dinner should happen without incident -- that is, if I get the pudding made correctly.

The Brother and his wife arrived last night from Ottawa, and are now lounging around reading. Himself is out shopping for the last food items either of us can think of that we might require. I have a batch of bread rising.

The holiday is successfully under way.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Dec 17 - 09:57 AM

We got together for breakfast yesterday, but our holiday and gift giving will wait a few days.

Fitness continues in the form of dog walking. I hear the nails of my two remaining dogs clatter on the pavement and know the time is here to trim those - I did Cinnamon's nails a couple of weeks ago and she tolerated it, but she was in a weakened state. It'll be interesting if I can get near the feet on these two (I hate to have to pay someone to do this, but these feet can be destructive with such long nails).

Decluttering - sometimes it's piecemeal, like this morning when I decided to toss all of the socks that won't stay put in some shoes, but creep slowly down under my foot and drive me nuts. I've experimented with the brands in the sock drawer and decided to cull close to a dozen pair this morning.

Now to approach The List - things to work on over the long holiday break. It looks like another cold day of rain, so the choices will come from the indoor side of the page.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Dec 17 - 12:25 PM

Well, I thought I wasn't a hoarder any more... I decluttered massively, moved, and I had the impression I was keeping the house uncluttered except for my room, where I had a thin line between things that I could walk to get from the door to the side of my bed that wasn't completely covered in piles of things.

Note - I am not a *slob* - those piles included nothing food-related.

So I finally decided to re-declutter my room and got a friend to help.

Many hours later we had decluttered the living room that I had thought was fine.

Many, many hours later, we had decluttered the kitchen, which I had also thought was fine.

We finally got to my room and I couldn't let them touch anything, as they would do it "wrong" - I know *that* sounds familiar!

So a couple of *days* later, in my room is a floor, chairs, and a bed, all with nothing on them but a husband (one of those chairbacks/arms pillows things) and some folded balnkets... even the card table towering with craft things and papers has been cleared, folded up and put away.

Sigh. You can't take the hoarder out of the person as fast as you think you can.

But right now I have an uncluttered house!

Well, not counting bags of stuff that has come back from Santa Claus and which will need to find places to live.

Success! And right at the end of the new year! I am happy! But... I wonder how long it will last.