Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 May 18 - 04:07 PM

Beaver:

Second raspberry bed complete and full of soil! There was exactly enough soil left over from last year's beds! And now a clear space where there was a mound!

Started out having a very good day and threw four plates before lunch time. That may have taken an hour but I did other things - like confer with Dan about next projects when he is available. I will plant the remaining raspberries when it is cooler. I would never survive Texas!

This is the first year that I am having fierce mosquitoes And black flies. I have had worse but I was younger then! Life is handled differently. I threw a few small pieces after lunch, while waving off mosquitoes, and gave out. Time for a hot bath and a rest. Hope! The mosquitoes have come indoors!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 May 18 - 10:33 AM

(((Acme)))

Ohio:

In the LL, the boxes of VHS----> DVD conversions have been emptied and placed in their Topic Kits. The pillage now precludes sourcing copyright matters, and a statement to that effect can be added to the cases later. For a few, the purchased VHS remains with the copied DVD to demonstrate how items had been acquired/copied as new technology came along.

There had been careful separation of who funded what in this collection, to credit donors more accurately, but with all that happened I'll have to just insert a general note in all, regardless of source. I'll handle future acquisitions differently, as they come in!

The card table blocking easy access has been folded up for pending LR use as the dinette, until Hardi can swap in the round table during vacation.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 May 18 - 09:42 AM

Radio silence for the day, I think as far as social media. I get tired of so many individuals telling me how I should observe Memorial Day. My father, a veteran of WWII (Army, in Burma) died on Veteran's Day. My mother, a WWII veteran (WAC, in Japan) died on Memorial Day. Both of them gone about 20 years now. That pretty well covers it for me.

Time to go mow before it gets too hot out there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 18 - 11:10 PM

What a hot day today. I accomplished a fair amount but had to keep going back into the house to cool down and drink water or Gatorade. This evening I strung the new clotheslines and hung the first batch of bedding. At dusk I brought it in and ran it through air on the dryer because a couple of things were a little moist on the edges.

Tomorrow promises to be much the same.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 May 18 - 10:04 PM

Ohio:

Dark-colored Horde wash is underway with continued tweaks to the Guest Room.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 May 18 - 03:14 PM

Ohio:

Another Topic Kit catalogued, BOOM.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 18 - 10:14 AM

I like the fresh air on the clothes, that's why I use the line. I have a curtain rod on the wall above the doorway into the laundry room with a bunch of plastic hangers on it so I can hang things up directly out of the dryer or if it needs to hang dry it can also go there. The kind of delicate clothing that must drip dry or lay flat to dry aren't put on the clothesline.

In for a cool-down and a drink of Gatorade. Moving pots (with no plants right now), dumping old potting soil into wheelbarrow to use to cover over the contents of two five-gallon compost buckets that reside next to the side door. These will be tipped into the big bin in back followed by a bucket of dog droppings over it to repel the dogs and nocturnal visitors to the yard.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 May 18 - 09:54 AM

Acme, towels dry well stretched flat across the foot of a bed in an AC bedroom. Bras dry well hung from doorknobs. Panties too (crotch shaped over doorknob). My HVAC dries anything hung in the doorway of an AC (or heated) room. I also use an over-door towel rack (with bars, not hooks) to dry other delicates.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 18 - 09:43 AM

The last cup hook is in place to keep the shade tarp spread out to filter afternoon sunshine and this morning the string trimmer will extend the patio space by getting rid of the weeds coming up through cracks between bricks. I need to sweep (lots of matted dog hair from over the winter) and it's set. I saved the chicken to grill today after the bricks are clear (so I can keep the grill way far away from the hanging tarp.)

Yesterday I harvested this year's garlic, cutting off the long flower stems and leaving them in a bucket outside for now (they last a long time and are lovely in the house but I need to shake off any bugs); there is a large plastic tub with all of the garlic bulbs on their hard-neck stems. The elephant garlic I grow is actually a leek and it has corms that I leave a few in the ground for next year and save the rest for people who ask about planting their own garlic. The plant stems drip pure garlic juice and the house smells incredibly strong right now. Now that the garlic is out I'll put in cucumbers and more, once I decide what that might be.

New clothesline is going up today and the sheets will go up as the first line-dried laundry of the season. I don't generally hang work clothes out there because it is almost impossible to iron out creases and clothes as stiff as planks don't look so good at the office. The kids hated it when I line-dried towels, though giving them a little air fluff in the dryer helps. When it is air conditioning season I prefer line drying to running a box of hot air in the air conditioned house to dry my laundry.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 May 18 - 08:38 PM

Ohio:

The guestroom bed is now guest ready. A month to undo two months of damage-- it's still not vacuumed, but it's ours again. This will be a good option for a soft July landing to start Hardi's vacay, if I'm not able to resolve the king bed mattress issue by then-- which will require opening up the camper (and he may have to help me do that).

Until then, it makes a really nice jazz radio listening room!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 May 18 - 04:12 PM

Earlier today a friend came over to help me move a couple of pieces of outdoor furniture, and now I'm working on the patio cover. It has reached the tipping point this spring, when the sun coming into the back windows is no longer a benefit to keeping the house a comfortable temperature. My 50/50 tarp is going up to shade the western side of the patio, and before I started that I replaced a 2x4 plank that had come off of the top edge of the patio cover. I'm having to rearrange the heavy duty cup hooks that the tarp grommets slip over holding the tarp in place.

I took the clotheslines down when the tree trimmers were here and it has been several years since I replaced those lines so I'll pick up a new length of it and restring those. And get new pins also. I need to mow back there before I hang laundry, and before that I have to replace the fuel line in my gas trimmer. So many repair and maintenance projects this weekend.

The gas barbecue grill is up and running (though I need to trim grass in the cracks around the brick part of the patio) and I'm thawing a chicken to grill to use for meals this weekend. Hard work today but it means the yard will be ready for the holiday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 May 18 - 03:30 PM

Ohio:

It was gratifying to learn, when I got up this morning, that the security system chirps as soon as you cross a motion sensor. That should give pause to anyone intruding! It also chirps out your exit interval after you arm the system, with a warning flurry of chirps just before it would sound the alarm.

Slept about 6 hours last night, and surprised it wasn't longer but the early morning light, right in my eye, was too bright. Nice not to over-listen to house/squirrel noises when dropping off to sleep.

I'm removing the security system yard sign because: "Would you be concerned that your alarm system could be compromised easily by a relatively unskilled burglar with a device that costs less than three hundred dollars? Even more to the point: would you want to advertise to thieves that you had a system that could be easily defeated?

"Remember that every time you put one of those stickers on your doors or windows, or a sign in your front yard that tells an intruder what kind of alarm system you have installed, it also tells them that it can potentially be circumvented.

"When you are buying an alarm system to protect your family, your home, and your assets, you need to be aware of fundamental security vulnerabilities, because inherent in the term “security system” is the concept of SECURITY."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcwebertobias/2015/01/29/this-popular-wireless-alarm-system-can-be-hacked-with-a-magnet-and-scotch-tape/


The last of the light-colored wash is in the dryer-- the weather has not saturated the ground in the last week so I'm pushing the drain lines. Since I don't use TP....

The last of the cozy fleeces is in the wash-- I'm sitting now under a CLEAN one still warm from the dryer. There are several of which there are duplicates-- Horde dirt or PA dirt, it's all going down the drain without me needing to know which are which, at least for fleece.

Next up (probably not starting today) are 5-8 loads of darks, all Horde dirt.

Some items' stains have not come out, so after these Horde loads are all done I'll evaluate whether we need to replace any via Goodwill.

The kitchen is gradually getting close to Normal Mode.

To stop that bright morning light from sneaking around the edge of the nearest bedside curtain, I've now inserted a push-pin in just the right place. And reconfigured the bedside array of lamp/charger cords back to Normal Mode.

I'm looking forward to next week-- rendezvous with Hardi for Tuesday evening supper upstate, then the free housecleaner starting Wednesday. And I think I found a new handyman for the heavy lifting, to recruit on Friday.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 May 18 - 09:55 AM

The forecast is even more dire this morning - temperatures upwards of 107^o by the end of May - so I must finish mulching in all of my tender garden plants. Since there are so many new limbs down in the back yard I'll use some of those (running through a small electric chipper). I like the lighter hardwood mulch because it makes it easier to see where the small plants are in the garden when I'm hand watering. Once they grow it's not an issue, but for the rest of the garden I use a very dark mulch that I pick up free from the city (it's also coarser). The urgency of this task means it must come first, then the others fall in as time allows (or as I come in to cool down for a few minutes at a time).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 May 18 - 10:07 PM

Beaver:

First Raspberry bed is built and filled with soil!! Tomorrow I do planting of one set of 10. May plant carrots in the interstices. First Farmers Market tomorrow; hoping for cabbage plants and whatever else suits my fancy. Then plant and pot-- or pot and plant - pots can be drying while I plant.

Art show opening this aft for dear Arne Roosman; he tells me he needs more of "those pills" to keep his fingers from getting stiff! "Those pills" (Ortho Minerals) are ordered!!!! His new show is amazing! All his work is amazing!!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 May 18 - 05:27 PM

Ohio:

Big day in Hintonville-- car traded in for new (gently used) boondockable, scooter/bike/dog-totin' minivan in PA and rudimenrary setup of house alarm completed in Ohio. In time to meet for dinner Tuesday night, along his route to visit his Chicago-area mom. We sleep now!

~s~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 May 18 - 11:53 AM

Acme, YES.

First components just installed with a variety of foam tape I'm not impressed with. The keypad in particular needs a whole package of it. Hardi will need to screw that to the wall.

Weeds whacked. Cameryn will run into strike 2 of the 3-strike program if he stands me up.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 May 18 - 11:35 AM

Dishes have crept into the kitchen sink and papers piled up in my office and kitchen table—these are both a result of the invitation of open horizontal surfaces to set things down. It's near the end of the month so a combination of shredding and filing will resolve the paper problem, and though I typically use the dishwasher only to dry sink-washed dishes, I'll load it and run it tonight.

This week's stack of branches and chunks of the limb await our neighborhood's bulky waste pickup in early June. The village doesn't like us piling up stuff earlier than the weekend before pickup.

Susan, I'm rethinking my security setup after the mystery of The dogs that didn't bark in the day. :) They didn't show their faces while a stranger to them walked up the driveway and into the garage, pushed the button to shut the door then quickly stepped out under the moving door. While he was talking to me on the phone.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 May 18 - 09:10 AM

Ohio:

Friday 5/25

FABULOUS and long decision-making chat last night with partner Hardi!!! Up late after that and long aftn nap, so I did the dishes. Then hungry so 2nd supper. Then slept hard without audiobook til 5, finished audiobook and up at 6. Downloaded new audiobook and tweaked lamp setup in LL-- suddenly the Library's mine again. Time to add rug if not too nastified.

Goals today-- an hour w Camryn and setting up motion sensors plus keypad for new security system. There are significant tech challenges the provider's customer service peeps will have to work hard to help us resolve.

For Cameryn-- help make up guest bed; quals on weeding; eject house accumulation of cardboard boxes to garage; turn off 2 circuit breakers; if lawn svc whacks patio weeds before C arrives, then maybe lasagna the weeds with cardboard (or book for short stint tmrw if timing necessitates).

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 May 18 - 09:06 PM

Next week we enter the triple digits temperature-wise, so I must have everything planted and well-mulched by then. We have a long weekend in the U.S. (Monday is the observed Memorial Day) and I'm off tomorrow for a mix of gardening and business appointments. This evening I took a syringe and a mix of 50/50 Bt and water and injected it into stems on the squash, hoping to kill off any squash vine borers that might try to get inside and established; they turn the stem to mush so one day you have a healthy plant and the next it is a heap of wilted leaves beyond help. I planted seeds for both zucchini and yellow squash, but it looks like only the zucchini came up.

I tried spraying vinegar on the Bermuda grass, but it barely puts a dent in it. The thing that kills it is boiling water so I'll plan a routine of pouring water along the lines of grass, keeping the heat well away from the plants I want.

After last weekend's big haul to Goodwill's donation drop-off station I'm inspired to find more to take over this weekend. I will report once I figure out what the contents of that haul might be.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 May 18 - 08:24 PM

Beaver:

Lots of pottery work accomplished!

Hoping Charmion's drapes save - lots!! - on heating and cooling costs! But it sounds as though they were very necessary.

Good neighbours are treasures! So Dan went to the locally owned and operated lumber yard for the cedar for raised beds. He came back asking me not to "get mad". Explained: Lou was there and said, "no charge" and "this is not bribery; she's a good neighbour." And "it's pretty wet down there; could she use some top soil. We sometimes have to leave a truck load behind... No promises..." Dan said that would be really helpful... I have been, rationally, supportive of the gravel pit the company wants to develop: it means jobs for our area of high unemployment and I trust Lou to do it as environmentally as possible. Robin has studied it and concurs. Oh, Lou would also like to buy this property when I am finished with it - so he can continue to have good neighbours! I already gave him the dickens the last time he did a "no charge" so I have decided to be graciously thankful but told Dan I do not want the neighbours to know. They might see it differently. I really like and trust Lou - almost 30 years now. One of my best friends works for the company - partly because I told him I thought they were OK- almost 30 years ago - and he has never looked back! that bit of lumber - chicken feed to Lou. Raspberry beds to me.

Hoping tomorrow will be productive in the studio! And the yard!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 May 18 - 12:55 PM

Ohio:

Another Topic Kit catalogued.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 May 18 - 10:00 AM

Ohio:

Slippery hand-held shower handle, solved-- re-usable latex gloves' thumb and fingers fit just right. Used leftover fingers on slippery backscrubber. BOOM!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 May 18 - 08:29 PM

Beaver:

YAY! Dan comes tomorrow - raised beds for raspberries! Move other kiln to electric outlet and see if it works OR what it needs to get working. It is a brand with which I am very familiar. No word from supplier re the "foreign" kiln. And maybe Dan can do a few other things.

Today was a day of rest - again! But the week's dishes are cleared up! Hoping for energy tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 18 - 07:43 PM

I planted a dozen or so of my crops started from seed, and now begins the sprinkler dance. Until I figure out where the best placement is for some I'll leave out for the season (and run on an automated timer), I'll be dragging the oscillating sprinkler up and down the driveway. I place bricks or concrete blocks at the just-right spot so I can place the sprinkler perfectly each time. This year it will involve a bird bath and a concrete block for two positions on the long side of the garden and bricks and a big chunk of limestone beside the house.

If I were to keep close records, it would be less expensive to buy produce at a farmer's market, but I get such a kick out of growing my own vegetables.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 18 - 05:30 PM

It's hot today so I'm spending a few minutes in the garden then cooling indoors. I found my sprinkler that is mounted to go on a metal fencepost and have a post and mallet to put it in place. Next comes setting up the timer for the sprinkler system and determining how hard the water has to run, how long, and how often. Do I want to start dragging furniture around as well? There is a piece that is going to get wet if I don't move it, though I wouldn't mind if it gets wet if it was in an easier spot to use when I want to use it.

Finally, I need to put the 50/50 tarp up on the back patio cover to keep the sun from beating on the back window.

The lawn needs mowing, but I don't have that on my list for today. I will start dragging branches out to the street, though. Tomorrow is trash day and I can fill a trash can with some just to get started on that big project.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 May 18 - 05:25 PM

Ohio!!!

Help with house starts next Wednesday at 2! Two hours/week!!! Free!!! ;-)

Wednesdays are also trash day!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 May 18 - 03:54 PM

Ohio:

The security system is here but I can't set it up without help. I'm hoping Hardi via fone, plus me, plus stepladder can manage it because I don't trust anyone else to know our system via "helping".

I catalogued another Topic Kit in the LL-- one of the bigger ones. Next time, big groups get divided up!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 18 - 12:17 PM

The tree job is finished - as far as the tree service is concerned. I have a large stack of branches to haul to the curb in three weeks when my neighborhood's bulky waste pickup time happens. As they waited at the curb for instructions for the next job I took out bottles of water and they looked at a large cactus I have there - asked about the napolitos. I retrieved several bags and invited them to take what they wanted - the most tender new pads. And we looked at the garden a little. They've headed out to the next job, and hopefully the cactus pads will not be trampled during the day so they can go in the dinner table tonight.

They missed hitting the clothesline with the huge branch so I'll run the lines back over to the post I disengaged them from. There will be a lot more sun back there for a while, speeding any clothes drying. I'll have to hire a friend to come in and finish trimming some of the trees that were damaged in this work, and take out one entirely. The crew was contracted by the power supplier so they have set rules on how far back to go or how many trees to cut.

My garden has also gotten attention this morning—so far I've planted basil and chard, the rest is going in after lunch.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 18 - 12:13 AM

The guys finished trimming around 11pm but another crew will be back in the morning to do something more. Why they all couldn't wait till daylight is a head-scratcher.

I met the tree-service crew at the curb and as they started to cut diagonally across that part of the yard I caught their attention and pointed straight to the driveway. "Walk there. Only." And as they headed up the driveway I pointed out that where they had initially planned to walk was the vegetable garden. "Tomatoes. Jalapeños. Potatoes. Calabasas." Someone chuckled. We gardeners are fussy about this kind of thing. Even with a language barrier, the names of the plants indicated the importance of that plot.

I generally understand more Spanish than I can speak, I think this crew might be speaking a Mexican indigenous language, but also understand Spanish. And I find this totally fascinating.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 May 18 - 10:21 PM

By my rough count, I've been working on 96 gallons of laundry-- the equivalent of the city trash bin. I have now finished sorting it by color/weight (the darks waited until tonight), and there are 9 loads left to do.

I continue to find strange things.... precious towels used with care, ruined. A sheet I have used and wanted to use as a curtain, ripped. A fleece blanket I don't recognize but I believe is big enough for the twin bed, so I'll wash it. A men's towel they left. Unbelievably weird. :-(

Goal: Make up guest bed with Cameryn on Friday, then use it to stack/sort folded, clean linens as they come out of the dryer.

The Council on Aging help is moving towards scheduling. :-) The security system, scheduled for arrival today, did not arrive. :-( The detective emailed that the prosecutor's office has approved the charges and that they'll be finalized 'after his vacation ends' (May 29). :-(

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 May 18 - 09:21 PM

I called Oncor this evening after work, thinking they'd send someone tomorrow to look at the branch on the line, but the tech was here within 30 minutes. And though he initially was going to write this up to do at a later time during work hours, he evidently changed his mind and came back and told me he'd have a crew over here tonight. In the dark. Cutting limbs from this tree. Ugg. I should have waited till morning.

Speaking of decluttering, this evening I got out the grooming tools to start getting the undercoat off of the dogs. I owned but hadn't previously used the pet shedding blade, but on Poppy it does an amazing job of pulling out that fluffy coat. So far I can't get Zeke (the lab retriever) to stand still for more than a pass or two, but the Furminator works well on him. As it gets hotter they're uncomfortable, so I need to get this off of them now. I'm collecting a lot of the hair in a grocery bag so it doesn't blow all over the yard. Last time I brushed her outside and let the hair blow it looked likes something had been killed and eaten back there. :-/

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 22 May 18 - 05:54 PM

Two more projects completed and more room made available in my sewing room! I completed a queen sized topper and my first real bag of any substance. It's lined with pockets and a durable handle. I like the name of the pattern almost as much as I like the actual bag! It's called the Chubby Charmer...LOL. I love it! Both projects were completed at a weekend retreat that I went to with my Mom. We had a great time with our sewing friends and a night out that was hysterical and will be remembered for a long time.

Then yesterday my mom had surgery. She is doing well but it's been draining. Tonight is the first night I am spending at home, in my own bed, since Friday. There's no place like home!

While decluttering is slow going around here, I was able to go to the retreat without overpacking which was WONDERFUL. So much less to pack, unpack, keep track of, repack for home and unpack once again when I got home. Others made comments about how little I brought as everyone brings SO MUCH (I think we all overestimate just how much we can get done in 72 hours) but it all worked out just fine for me.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 22 May 18 - 10:31 AM

I have made some expensive choices over the last year and some of them -- e.g., the tap on the kitchen sink that cost Cdn$750 and splatters water all over the place -- give me twinges of guilt now. The insanely expensive custom-made double curtains in the huge master bedroom are quite another matter: without them, the room would be sharply uncomfortable in both winter and summer.

For a bedroom, it's enormous: as wide and deep as the generous two-car garage it was built on top of, with a peaked ceiling that accommodates windows that top out 12 feet from the floor. Those windows face due south. Despite central air-conditioning, an 17-inch fan and single-layer curtains that covered the lower panes, the upper panes admitted such sunlight of such intensity that the room sweltered all through August and September, right up to Thanksgiving. In winter, the temperature gradient across the room was notable; within three feet of the windows, it was downright parky, and even six feet away you had to keep moving to feel comfortable.

The curtains cost a bomb: more than Cdn$5,000, including hardware and installation. The effect on comfort was immediately obvious; getting out of bed on the day after installation (late January), I did not immediately break out into gooseflesh, and putting my feet on the bare floor did not result in blue toes, as it had the day before. Similarly, the voile underlayer prevents the spring sunshine from generating heat at greenhouse levels.

That said, I have to admit that custom-made curtains (and the outsized windows that make them necessary) are an insane luxury. Like many things in this house, those windows make me think that someone saw a photo in a magazine and decided I Want That, without considering the implications.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 May 18 - 09:16 AM

Beaver:

It's raining, it's pouring... But when it was still only Scotch mist, I planted the blueberries. Also bagged the crud from the "fire pit". Now for some brekkie...

I do better eating when I cook enough for 3 or more meals at a time. Sometimes, I just get too tired to bother, then the stuff I grab to fill the empty space...!

Wool lined brocade seems a great idea for this north country. I use no curtains at all - here - in the winter. I think of curtains/drapes as something to control the solar gain! Only use them to keep the house from getting too hot. I did visit a house in Wisconsin that had tightly fitted, insulated blinds that pulled down to keep the heat in/cold out. I would not like to waken in a dark house. Years ago, in a small OLD farm house that was icicles, I cut a piece of white styrofoam insulation for each window. It let some light through. I removed the panels on the south side when the sun shone in the winter and kept them in place in the summer. OK, so I tend to live in tune with nature! Or, ruled by it! The "new" house will have moderately acceptable curtains or drapes; we refer to it as "getting back to our middle class roots". The house is so beautiful, it deserves to be what it was meant to be. I wonder if R can afford better windows??? And the heavy drapes for winter might be a very good idea.... as long as I have light in the am! I tried out a small light on a timer, when we were sleeping in the "cave" but R objected. I find he is only moderately re-trainable.

Well, the sink is full of dishes and the studio full of pottery needing to be done, and heat is on out there. Need a fire in the wood stove too!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 May 18 - 08:28 PM

I wish I had some energy this evening; it's lovely and still plenty of light, but my sinuses are throbbing from allergies. I must switch to a daily antihistamine for the time being.

Last week I noticed branches down in the dog kennel and realized they had been burned off of the tree above, having somehow come into contact with the adjacent power lines. This morning I looked into the back and could discern the larger problem - there is a large limb suspended 15' above ground, hung in an Afghan pine and still attached at the butt to the tree it has started to separate from. It finally wilted so I can see limb is dead. Many of the smaller branches are resting on the power line. We're lucky that branch didn't land a little closer and plunge the block into darkness. I'll call the company that maintains the lines and have them come out to remove the branch. It also means that they give a really ugly trim to any other tree in view that is close to the lines. This evening I gave a heads-up to the next door neighbor that one of her trees will probably also get a trim. If they really don't like that pine I may let them take it out; it's mate snapped off at the base a few years ago when I had someone do other tree work. They're not very healthy and they seem to be very brittle. If I'd known this before I wouldn't have planted them. It's a pretty spot, though, and it's where I have assembled my collection of rusty mowers and wheelbarrows as yard art. They'll have to go lean up against the garage for a while. And that big limb could take out one end of my clothes line (the cross-bar that supports the lines), so I may need to take that down before they come to do the work.

Good timing: if they take the wood with them in a couple of weeks it is the scheduled bulky waste pickup for my section of the village. I'll have to drag it out to the curb. (What I'd really love is one of those big chipper trucks to come and grind it up, then leave all of those lovely wood chips with me!)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 21 May 18 - 08:10 PM

Oooh, wool-lined brocade sounds lovely, though not summery!

I think the Scandinavians had the same customs as Germany until the absolute revolution caused by the idealistic pictures of Carl Larsson changed their desires and their taste.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 21 May 18 - 11:08 AM

In the part of Germany where I lived, a window facing the street could easily have three layers of curtains: lace closest to the glass (always kept closed, for privacy), then patterned cotton broadcloth and, finally, heavy wool-lined brocade. The house where I lived was at least 300 years old, with solid walls and ill-fitting windows (no such thing as doubles), so "quaint but draughty" is still the politest way I can describe the place. Those wool-lined brocade curtains probably saved me from frostbite in January.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 21 May 18 - 04:11 AM

I'm in the middle of washing and getting dry-cleaned and folding my winter clothes to put them in the attic till November.

It's meant getting a coat, two skirts and three jackets dry-cleaned (the rest are washable), and bringing a pair of much-loved winter shoes to the cobbler for him to fix their annoying leak.

It’s very handy, because it clears wardrobe & drawer space so I can find and wear lovely summer things. It also means that the winter clothes go away clean and nice, and come out the same way.

The Scandinavians are great for doing this - they also have thicker, darker winter curtains, which they wash and put away for summer, replacing them with lighter curtains that flow in the wind and bring in the light.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 18 - 09:20 PM

Cooking ended up getting more attention than eBay - for the last couple of weeks my diet hasn't been great, and I realized it was because I hadn't cooked ahead. So this weekend I made a batch of beans, made a hamburger nacho mix I like for several uses, and made a batch of collard greens (with onion and bacon). The beans and the greens all are good for calcium, letting me back off some of the diary. I'm beginning to think that source of calcium brings some of it's own problems. I'll stick with yogurt and some cheese and eliminate cottage cheese and some of the other sources.

If I can manage to clean all of the dishes after this cooking and get the trash out to the curb I'll consider myself ahead of the game. The laundry is finished and my lunches for the week are certainly made!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 May 18 - 08:36 PM

Beaver:

Feeling I had a great day! although there were a couple times when I was not sure my body would ever move again, I convinced it to do so - very carefully. After a busy and productive day, I was inspired to take book and folding chair to deck and sat with back to the sun. Could feel it healing! When the sun was almost down, giving no more heat, I was able to move freely. I suspect MSM and Glucosamine Sulfate also helped. But the heat of the sun...!!!!

Laundry done, good meal cooked and eaten, pots trimmed and more thrown and are mostly turned over to dry and trim tomorrow. It was a wonderful drying day- sunny,breezy and almost 70F at the peak.

I will soon go to bed with heating pad to read until bedtime.(That helps also.) But first I need the energy to remake the bed with the clean sheets!

Nothing planted but L removed the Siberian Iris so tomorrow I can fill the hole and plant there and elsewhere. That was 2sf of a massive rhizome structure! L can deal with it! Need to do gardening first tomorrow as it is predicted to be over 70F and sunny.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 May 18 - 07:23 PM

Ohio:

THAT was easier than dreaded! The first Topic Group of LL catalogued, w links to find at Amazon or otherwise online.

First set of curtains washed and hung up to put up another time. Lovely revisiting the old fabrics and memories!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 May 18 - 12:53 PM

Ohio:

Cataloguing is underway in the LL. I started by recovering previously gathered information, photographing the two topic kits I want to start with, and updating the Topic List (again). I also set a tiny table next to the computer to hold resources I'm actively working with. New items will go THERE from now on, to enter the catalog BEFORE they land in a shelf.

The medium-sized worktable is about to be replaced with a smaller card table, which I can move around the stacks with my little notebook puder, just as easily as the medium table moved, in order to look up Amazon orders. They have all the info I need for a copy/paste.

The promised Council on Aging housekeeping help is back on the horizon. It'll be good to have another pair of hands around occasionally to help put up curtains, etc.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 18 - 10:44 AM

Lovely bands of thunderstorms rolling over the area this morning mean it's a day for eBay and later, getting a bag of trash ready for the curb. Things I've pulled out of cabinets that I don't want to run down the drain can go into the trash (pour liquids into the bagged contents of the cross-cut shredder) and the recyclable plastics into that bin.

The latest thunderstorm power-outage seems to have finally fried the memory of my AIWA system in my office. It has acted up for a while, always defaulting to the CD player when turned on, but now the FM frequencies can't be tuned in. Merde! I used the dual cassette portion with its turntable to record all of my father's LPs before they were distributed as part of his estate; it has been around a while. If it isn't working it isn't fair to donate to a thrift store for someone to buy and have to return. If it gets replaced, it'll go to the e-Waste bin at work. The speakers and turntable are still fine, so it needs a new receiver and cassette and CD player. Probably something to find at the thrift store. Or bring the others in the house into here (they're in my front room where they're rarely used.) :-/

And, alas, after a dozen years my cable internet provider company is discontinuing the web space that I've used for some small personal pages of links. I have to figure out how to host them from someplace else. I know how to do it, it's just choosing one that gives me the flexibility to do a number of things with the space (blog, photo storage, page hosting).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 May 18 - 10:01 PM

Ohio:

Going great guns in the LL. Found Tyler's email address scribbled on a page taken from from deep inside my medical records, and another huge stash of books. I think Cameryn will be putting that 2nd bookcase together, Friday!

This morning, a kitchen counter almost seemed to clear and clean itself. Life here is starting to operate normally at last.

ANOTHER great chair nap! And then I broke down a huge bin of laundry into 5 loads; I'll use the bin as a hamper.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 May 18 - 09:21 PM

Beaver:

Scotch mist turning to rain today. Neighbour (L) cleaned my strawberry patch and attained a whole bunch of excess plants to replenish his dead ones. While he was here, and with the precipitation, I burned a pile of stuff; part way through I realized: this was not my idea; it would have been less time/energy consuming to take the branches over the hill into the woods - 30 feet and the trash lumber to the dump. But it is done and I did not set anything on fire! Now to clean it all into a garbage bag, move the stones - it was once a "fire pit" and prepare for a couple more raised beds - for the raspberries. The big pots are full of soil for the cherry trees and I took a wheelbarrow load of soil out of one bed so good neighbour could share his peat moss. Tomorrow, rain permitting, I can plant the blueberries and cherries. Sent a message to Dan re building more raised beds for the raspberries. The ground is too moist and L says the roots will rot. Possibly, I could have lumber delivered and do it myself. I'll check on Tuesday.

I managed to extricate the mass of Siberian Iris (about 2 SF!) but could not lift it; it does NOT come apart. I took a few plants to the horticultural society plant sale and showed a pic of this plant; was told of someone using an axe to separate a clump! L will come back for the heavy pile tomorrow; I suggested a chain saw. I have a small clump still and started some from last year's seeds. The two I took to the sale were newbies. Yes, I shall be watchful of these and of the comfrey!

Two days of no potting but vacuumed the house and sorted a pile of gardening papers, turfed out some. Some interesting stuff, including a page on Verbascum/mullein: the plant the guys destroyed last year thinking it a weed! I was anticipating its beautiful growth ---- and then it was gone!!! How could they not realize that if I had not removed it myself it was because I treasured it? I hope at least one will come up this year. L has some on his bare hill so maybe I can cop a couple when they appear.

I have hope that frost is finished for this year so I can plant tender stuff tomorrow. Putting a tomato and jalapeno in pots - just in case. Lavender and sage tomorrow.

We do lock the house in Montreal! Next to a bus stop and people sit on our steps to wait. But in the country, with few neighbours, my theory is: if someone wants to get in, they will, breaking whatever to do so. The neighbours are mindful of strange cars in the drive and Jim would come and check if he were home. So make it easy. No family silver here! I am sure we will be locking the "new" house.

The same with the car. I never lock it in Bancroft until this long May weekend when the influx of outlanders makes it seem wise. In the city - always!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 18 - 08:50 PM

I took a large bag of clothes and other items to Goodwill then went looking for a garden implement at Home Depot - and should have looked to see if it was Internet only when I found it online. Tried a couple of other places then ran out of steam 'cause it's getting hot out there. Tomorrow perhaps. I think Walmart has it but I dislike going to Walmart if it can be avoided.

In my #MovingFurniture initiative I have concluded that I need help, or need to find a chunk of cardboard large enough to slide under the dragged legs of a cast iron sofa, the largest of the items needing relocation. This is moving from the side door to the front porch. No takers yet on the desk in the guest room, but the days are early.

Yesterday everything was half price at Goodwill, so I picked up three tops to wear for work. I'm still way ahead since there were over a dozen tops in the bag today, along with skirts and slacks. Everything yesterday looked new.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 May 18 - 12:08 PM

Ohio:

After a good night's sleep, I surprised myself with a lovely, rainy-day 90-minute deep-sleep chair nap, followed by an hour in the LL sorting another item or two into place. I alsop boxed up 2 topics that used to sit out of reach on top of a shelf, and pushed those and two other large boxes out of the traffic flow. This will permit putting a rug back that Tyler took out.

I also compared the actual topics to the online list, adding a few the list was missing, and used that updated list to identify topic sections whose labels are too blurry to read, on the photos. Then I rearranged some extension cords and lamps we're not using in there.

All in all, I doubled the open floor space and can probably manage that rug without Cameryn.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 18 - 12:47 AM

Several years ago I attended an Open House for a new city-run printing center that my university was participating in (sending work over). I rarely used them, but because I attended the open house I ended up being one of two people in the drawing for a small Canon camera. Great odds, and I was the recipient some time later of said small camera. Though it isn't great for regular photographs, I've been able to pull stills from videos shot with it. It's my spare in my pack and I make a point of charging it every so often to keep it viable. Who knows when it might be useful? Last time I lent it out, my ex shot the best photos of our daughter's MA graduation ceremony, when my big camera was no good because I lost track of her in the line of people walking through the procession.

Keeping photos of household possessions is a good idea for insurance; I have those kind of photos in a private cloud account for obvious reasons, and this reminds me that I haven't updated for a while.

It was hot, low-90s today, I nearly lost some of my small-pot seedlings. They need to go into the ground tomorrow. We had a rain overnight that I thought was more substantial than it turns out to have been. Tomorrow is also the day to set up my sprinkler pattern to broadcast over three specific zones. Once again I'm trying out a new sprinkler. It's never perfect, but it gets better each year.

eBay needs attention since a number of items sold in the last two weeks. The declutter process will advance with this weekend's listings.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 May 18 - 10:01 PM

It's approximately 500 items, currently catalogued only in my head.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 May 18 - 09:52 PM

Ohio:

Major progress in the LL and house today, via Cameryn plus ladder.

He got up to a wide LL shelf I can't reach, and pulled items down to the worktable for my sorting later. He put a number of items where they belonged. After he left, I put away about a dozen more.

Two containers of non-LL books were consolidated into a large milk crate, and are in their way OUT to the LR-- relieving very crowded floor space.

I moved a row of medium sized boxes of DVD's, that have been making my desk area crowded, back to their non-traffic-path place beside the desk-- where I can work on their sleeves and inserts. The binder of keywords and discussion questions for DVD's was found, and set nearby for me to augment.

I took the LL pix the first-day helper had printed for me, and cut the 3 wide shelf pix to tape them together into one image of the whole shelf. Another pair of pix of tall shelves were cut and taped together. So I now have two large images to help guide getting the rest of the resources back where they were-- and no resources are now too high for me to reach them. I never knew how much use I'd get from that medium sized, folding resin Lowe's table!!! Puts a sturdy, lightweight work table wherever I need one, and then folds out of the way.

The pix aren't clear enough to read the spines, but the size and colors of the spines make it possible to find the matching books.

The journals for each topic, tbtg, were all topic-labeled one week last year when I whipped thru a boxful, skimming the TOC, and penciling onto each one where it belonged according to the cornerstone article I chose from that journal. I did all that from a comfy recliner in 3-4 sittings, and they really tie the topics together both IRL and in my brain.

All this is in prep for putting together the bookcase I brought, which matches a tall one already here. The shelves were way crowded when I left in March,,and soon I'll be able to see which topics belong on that 2nd shelf!

Handling all the resources several times during this process helps me move past the profound trauma of the hash made of them-- it helps me regain the mental organization necessary to help folks find the right topic and the right resource IN that topic to start with-- personalized to the person/org requesting resources/consultation.

The Horde didn't like the old little digital camera I'd left, so instead of straining my old fone's limited storage I will photo-catalog the topic resources. From that I'll type (or paste Amazon links), resource by resource. And label each item with its topic. And database the other topics they might also fit.

Before he left, Cameryn used the ladder to cruise all highest shelves of the rest of the closets and kitchen cabinets. This produced many good and bad surprises, and it helps to know that there can only be a very few surprises left in the house, to throw me back off balance.

Best surprise-- Hardi's Grandma Nora had made each grandson a special quilt. Living in two houses, we'd lost track of Hardi's-- which is all cross-stitch. Cameryn found it today, shoved into the back of a very high shelf-- where we'd missed it last summer because other bagged items had covered it. So that was a GREAT find.

~S~