Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 18 Mar 18 - 01:43 PM

It's DONE!!!!!!!!!!

The quilt is DONE!!!!

That's one very large project seen through to completion (I have about 70 hours of cutting and sewing put into this one). My sewing room is decluttered of all that went with it (except the garbage..that still needs to go out). *WHEW*

Time for a break and then I think I'll go back up and do some sorting. I have far too many quilting books (thank you dear friends who shared your stash when I was just beginning) and I will take those to an upcoming quilting retreat to pass on to others. There are several...magazines too!

My sweet husband made both breakfast and lunch today (and all meals yesterday) so I could have uninterrupted sewing time. Today was tomato soup and a quesadilla.....YUM. I'm sitting in the sun and expect that a nap will be sure to follow. As soon as I close the computer, Oatie comes to snuggle on my lap.   Zzzzzzzzzz.

Happy Sunday Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Mar 18 - 07:38 PM

PA PACKATHON:

Several small chaos boxes opened and much trashed. Other items allocated to gift, or packed for Libetation Library. A partially filled Knicknacks box found to combine w other stuff from china cabinet when I pack that. Lots of looming distraction GONE.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Mar 18 - 04:59 PM

Beaver!!

Home on schedule last night. Music was great. Shopped at a large nearby grocery and discovered a new yogurt. Plan to do the whole trip in reverse in two weeks. thanks for solar gain, house was 46F when I got here. First: washroom! then fire in stove and heating pad. Bed was still cold at 9 pm when I was ready for it! moved heating pad to a different section and crawled in.

Today has been clean up - critter got in some how, and out again, thankfully but made a mess of plants. The special rosemary which I wanted to shape is no longer close to the shape! Geranium survived in K! I forgot to put it in warm bathroom. Dipladenia is partly eaten. Af violet is half eaten! The aloe was untouched! Parsley sprouted and is doing OK; moved it to sunlight and opened lid to give it room to grow. Lots of it! Oregano - only a few sprouts OR maybe the opposite!

Mystery is how the animal was in both Bathroom and LR/K; they are separate. Need a consult with neighbour who watered. Hot bath and hair wash!! Two loads of laundry drying in house. Studio went up to 70 with just solar gain. I will put the heater on when it gets back down to 60 so I can possibly work tomorrow. I still need to clear the back deck. There is about 6 inches of frozen snow but supposed to go above freezing this week.

Driving back and forth: My vehicle, a Scion is fairly efficient - about $40 each way. I plan to continue the trips about every two weeks for the summer and fall. Once we have the new house (December)- hopefully - I will spend more time there and less here. Imagine! a house with real heating system! And space! A kitchen that is not falling into the basement. R is so enthralled by it, I feel confident he will keep it in good shape.

Offer went in on house Saturday and response due tonight.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Mar 18 - 08:37 PM

PA PACKATHON:

Today Chaos becams Order, with a card table, a marker, white tape, a recycle bin, a laundry basket, and leaf bags. One set of these is upstairs and one set will be downstairs in a day or two. Bring it on!l, clutter!

The overall plan: I'm looking to take mostly FURNITURE AND DECOR May 1-- not boxes of stuff to put away. Therefore, as I empty each piece of furniture I'm taking, only a rough sorting, heavy purging, and good labeling need to be done.

The Ohio storage options will only be knowable once the furniture is in place THERE. And that will guide the last purging rounds.

Exceptions: my archives and our purged music book collection, which already have garage space designated.

Two stair trips, laundry started, and multiple ramp laps (salting the ramp and clearing the porch). Lots of stuff for Goodwill already, and I started a "St. Paul's Yard Sale" box also,   which is filling up. The east end of the front porch was cleared on my own and later w Hardi, and the ramp is emptied of garden items to clear space for furniture dolly. The porch was then measured for truck equivalence: perfect! Hardi found lots of 2x4's and 2x6's to keep items off damp flagstones. It was too cold to do more, but we're ready to go with clearing the LR of items he'd brought downstairs. Then two huge bags of Goodwill items left tonight, and one bookcase was disassembled and boxed.

I have several small boxes partially full of decor to finish filling, and I'll be able to carry those out to the porch as they're filled so the crazy making clutter is NO MORE.

~s~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Mar 18 - 10:35 AM

Beaver:

Laundry #4 in process!

Offer on house accepted!!!! We can start to move in on 15 November. Seems like a LONG time away! We can start organizing by getting rid of extraneous (hopeful!) and taking small stuff to mill so when the time comes, large furniture can be loaded along with boxes and boxes and boxes of books and other boxed stuff.

Now, to go on errands and sort out life here! Did not turn on heat yesterday because it will take WORK to clear ice so I can open door to studio - hopefully today as there was not enough energy yesterday. Also need to clear ice from tarp over wood pile and bring in more wood - priority.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Mar 18 - 07:43 PM

I was patient in my shopping for the solution that goes in my carpet steam cleaner and yesterday picked up a gallon at a store near my work that costs about the same as a quart of the same product at the stores around in my part of town. I only have a couple of carpeted areas so this will last a while.

I wasn't so lucky trying to update some small electronics (memory) at the same place; they have a new policy of putting out signs on the sale items that you used to just hunt for and then give the Promo Code at the register. But everything I picked up the other day turned out to have a blue tag that was expired so nothing was on sale. I saw this when I got home so I took back the items that were too high. Today I was barely more successful in finding the replacements. I guess Amazon Prime will get my business until that store gets their act together.

I had a visitor over the weekend so some chores were postponed; laundry tonight, but before that, a walk with the dogs. The lovely brown face of my chocolate lab has been nudging my arm for the last five minutes telling me we need to go out. Then I can do the rest of the stuff, he says.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Mar 18 - 07:55 PM

PA PACKATHON:

Hardi removed all but one big item out of the first floor and out to the porch, this afternoon, and then moved a big easy chair from DR to LR to facilitate my access to the DR china cabinet to pack its contents. I wisely stayed out of the way, and the last big item is not in my way at all.

It's on me now to fill boxes to set into the items carried out, before the next furniture items go out (to be filled in turn).

I've decided to color-code the boxes to make organizing the Ohio effort easier on all hands.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Mar 18 - 10:08 AM

PA PACKATHON

The logjam in my mind broke and productive work is finally moving. Here's the overall plan:

Upstairs:

Master BR: Dresser 3/21 prepped to move, linens divided; Closet

Bathroom-- purge books

Guest Room: crib and closet, purge stuff

Sewing room-- Hardi deal

Garden room-- vacuum and roll rug; book sort and pack/donate. Pack aerogardens and grow lights for loading. Disassemble potting table and bring down lumber, 1 tray table.

Hallway-- explore/purge


Downstairs:

LR: Dresser, Bookcase, Bin, Cubbies, Kk

DR: Decor, China cabinet, Ship or donate farm books

Bath: pack art

K: Hutch; Stop filling pantry!!!

Weight room: Prep shelf for transfer to K, Clear items blocking books and purge/pack books, Check built-ins to purge; file cabinet and purged archive boxes

Back porch:, Move wicker and winter decor
Bring in paper for packing-- 1 upstairs

GRAB BOXES AND PACKING MATERIALS; COLORED DOTS


SEPTEMBER: Re-purge and pack rough-sorted boxes; transit via trailer; meet with Mark and poss Danny

JANUARY: Next round furniture/boxes

2019: Too soon to plan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Mar 18 - 10:22 AM

Oh, Dorothy! Congratulations on landing the house you want. You think November is a long way off? HA HA HA HA! Before you know it, Move Day will be coming at you like the noon freight, and you will have three times as much work left to do as you have time to do it. May you enjoy good weather when the time comes; it makes all the difference.

Both Himself and I are semi-laid-up today: Himself with low-back pain and me with a nasty spasm in the left side of my neck (torticollis). How the hell we managed to hurt ourselves at the same time is a big fat mystery, but we did: on the very morning when I woke up feeling as if I had slept with my head under my wing, he bent over to open the mailbox and felt his lumbar region go Spunnnng! Ever since, we have been alternating between heating pads and doses of Advil in the faint hope of looking -- and feeling -- rather less like a pair of crocks fairly soon.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Mar 18 - 02:20 PM

PA PACKATHON:

The afternoon packing stint was productive, after I realized that I could start with appliance duplicates I've wanted in Ohio-- to think of packing as 'shopping the house'!

So the hutch base's purge began after I realized I can take my old faithful rice cooker to Ohio now that Hardi just HAD to buy an instant pot. Looking for the rice cooker, I saw 2 small crockpots and a huge antique turkey roaster which I bagged (dust and all) for Goodwill. I packed the rice cooker box with a china teapot, because social life in Ohio has me serving tea weekly and that teapot will finally see regular use. Also added, 2 more place settings of our flatware, and a silicone drainer.

Hardi will hopefully pull out the rest of the hutch base's contents I can't reach, tonight, and dust out the shelves, which will make room for boxed cookbooks now clogging the hutch's upper section. Also to be packed for Ohio, a special one plus my late mom's waffle iron for my Ohio son. A box or two of cookbooks will go to the library sale, along with misc farmette books.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 21 Mar 18 - 08:05 PM

In my office, there are a few of us that have cubicles that we don't have to share with anyone. I am lucky enough to have one of those spaces with a window (where I am currently growing Forget Me Nots and two kinds of zinnias from seed, two spider plants are growing roots in pretty vases and a small potted white rosebush with a miniature trellis).   The cubicle behind mine was recently given to a new hire. She has been decorating which has given the other people in the surrounding cubicles the decorating bug which means I now want to fuss in my space. I had an extra long day yesterday and spent the final 30 minutes cleaning out the one drawer in my desk where I keep personal things. I emptied the entire thing, found things I forgot I had, ditched most of it and reorganized the rest and put it away neatly. I also emptied 3 binders of outdated Department of Health materials (which I had in page protectors...so all papers came out, page protectors saved) and put the binders out in the office for others to use, freeing up space in my bookshelf. Honestly, I would like a day to really do some purging but alas, I am incredibly busy at work so it's going to happen in small bites where I can. I have a webinar scheduled for next week....always a good time to go through things that don't require much thought as I'm listening to the presentation.

I'm ready to do some spring cleaning! Alas, it will have to wait. Tomorrow I am taking the quilt to the home of a local friend who has a 9 year old daughter in hospice care. The child opted for one more round of chemo as she is excited for Easter and doesn't want to go to Heaven just yet.....

She wants to sign the quilt and so tomorrow I am taking the quilt to her home (along with an Easter card that Jeremiah made for her) and once it is signed, I am hand delivering it to the oncology department at Geisinger. They will keep it and gather more signatures and then send to a friend of mine who will quilt it. I will return it to Oncology in early May where the quilt will hang for the foreseeable future.

We have plans for the weekend too...can't wait for that but will tell you about it after it happens. :)

Happy Decluttering Friends!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 18 - 12:07 AM

That's heartbreaking, Michelle. Thank you for making the trip so she can leave her mark on that quilt. And that is such a generous project that will in the end be larger than the parts because of the love that is going into it.

I also cleaned my work cubicle recently, right before Spring Break, getting rid of duplicate copies of proofs of documents (that adds up to quite a stack of paper after a while). Organized, brought home a few things that weren't needed, etc.

I agree with others - Dorothy, congratulations on that house. It does seem a long-time off, but when they day comes you'll be ready and very busy. Enjoy that new space.

Recently around the house I updated several old radios (with good volume and reception but the CD players and ancient cassette players stopped working and none of them have auxiliary in). I listen to audio books in my SUV and last year stopped with the Sony Walkman and switched to using an app in my phone. At local thrift stores have I've found small bluetooth or iPod docking stations that I can use with my Android phone to play books in my office and sewing room. Yesterday I resisted the impulse to buy a Sony player on sale in a local electronics store--it had a cassette player - who needs that?--I have players for my father's folk music collection, they are enough. Today I found a nice iPod Shuttle docking station - I don't have an iPod but I will use the radio and the aux-in for my phone to play my books in the kitchen. I had to spend a few dollars more for a remote and AM antenna (eBay), and I'll leave the current kitchen radio in the sunroom to play NPR talk programs to make the house sound like people are home during the day. After all of this I can probably donate a couple of the old radios to Goodwill.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: HuwG
Date: 22 Mar 18 - 07:59 AM

I turned sixty years old a few weeks ago. I celebrated by having a declutter.

I threw out a load of Dusty Springfield memorabilia.

But now I just don't know what to do with my shelf.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Mar 18 - 01:45 PM

PA PACKATHON:

Finally hitting a rhythm between work, packing, and fun. OUR cookbooks, an antique drip coffeepot to supplement the Ohio espresso machine, and 3 collapsible coolers/insulated lunch bags packed and out to ramp rail. GOODWILL Mr. Coffee-type coffeepot added to Goodwill bin with last night's found double hotplate-- we used it the two+ years it took to get a new cooktop. Clean clothes put away in the closet-- it got left out several days whole I culled items from it for Ohio and trash. And I figured out how to download old Amazon purchases to a free fone app for Bluetooth-speaker driving and decluttering.

On the downside, the fone is not recognized by my laptop today, at all.

Back to cookbook packing for gifting to Son, DIL, SIL. Going to use clothe store bags!

I packed the books Hardi had said he wnted, and then a cute FB exchange about our three Fanny Farmer cookbooks broke out:

Greg Hinton, I packed master recipes, fannie farmer, Greek, and good housekeeping cookbooks. French-- keep or pass on to Amy?

He replied, I only want my Fannie Farmer and Masters recipes and the instant pot booklets. The rest can go. I don't really use GH cookbook.

Greg Hinton, :-) we'll have to pack your fanny because I already packed mine, but I'll separate yours out. (What is GH cookbook?)

GH Good Housekeeping

One more package was then packed and went out to the ramp rail-- guest towels, scarves, scarf hanger, headbands, fleeces, Mmarioshawl1 (Mmshawl2 went to a Mudcatter with an urgent issue) several short, dressy skirts. There's room for one more big nox or two small cubes on that covered rail. (When it's full I'll go down the ramp, onto the porch at the base of the ramp, and lift the boxes down to stack on skids set on the flagstones.)

Then, the cookbook sorting done, the FB coordination resumed in the group I use there:

Greg Hinton, for you to see and bag: Kept Indian, Spanish, French, Thai, and paperback Joy of Cooking. SIL can be offered any that Son or DIL do not want, and housemate Tyler may want a basic book also (the 3rd fanny/boston for instance because everyone needs a fanny). The All-Asia book in the pass-along bag is priceless, though the covers are long gone. I suppose if we were really nice we'd re-bind that one. DIL, what do you think about us re-binding that one for you guys? Sorry it's already packed, can't take pic of TOC now, but maybe later.

That FB group has been a huge help, and I mention it with the above example because-- that group is searchable. So it will be handy later when I want to know where the heck I put items, and what's packed with them as filler.

Tyler BTW is turning out to be the dream housemate I needed-- he not only watches the house and waters the garden on request-- he checks in with me to see how I'm doing (and to remind me that at least in Ohio I do have PEOPLE despite my isolation here). He'll help unload and unpack in May, and he just had his first long overnight custodial visit with his toddler son-- I like knowing that the house is being used for its envisioned mission. He moved in with just enough days before I left that we were able to work out housie parameters and boundaries. And he landed a great job, in walking distance of the house. He opes to start online school in the fall.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 18 - 02:21 PM

There is a shoe drive going on this month on campus and a collection box is in my building. It seems to be working, the box filled and emptied a couple of times. I've added two nice pairs of BØRN leather clogs that I just never get around to wearing. There are probably others I could add, I'll check out my dressing room shoe rack this weekend. (The clogs resided on a shoe rack under the bench in the sun room, where I in theory sit to change shoes when I come in; for a number of weeks that bench has been stacked with prepared eBay parcels - once they sell they're taped shut and handed to the postal carrier.)

Good luck with the cookbook distribution. I have several I regularly use and I have a bunch that are novelty items because my Mom collected cookbooks. We'll have company over and someone will pick up one of those to thumb through, resulting in an interesting discussion about whatever oddball thing that cookbook was for. There are quite a few from Norwegian farmers and the WWII years, and lots of things handed out by companies in the grocery store or offered for a nominal fee if you mailed in box tops.

I just mowed the back yard, a very large lawn, but the fitness tracker doesn't show many of the steps because my hands are stationary on the mower handle. It needs the swinging arms of free walking to show steps - so perhaps I should fasten it around my ankle when I mow, those steps might show up! :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 18 - 09:15 PM

While I was at it I pulled out the bow saw and trimmed about eight feet up the pine next to the dog kennel. My old pitbull used to love to scratch her back against the lower limbs so I didn't have the heart to trim that tree, but we lost her in December. Today I took out most of the limbs that were shaded out and dead and it opens up the yard nicely. I may be able to run most of those branches through my little electric chipper.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Mar 18 - 07:50 PM

It was a long week, and I have things to do this weekend, but at least they're on my own behalf. Time to make a list and cross things off as I progress through it.

The first daffodil emerged today, a welcome harbinger of spring.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Mar 18 - 08:47 PM

The quilt top is done, signed by Miss Callie and delivered to the House of Care. They will gather more signatures and return it to be quilted. There are photos on FB for anyone who would like to see. :)

Tomorrow is Date Day...I can't wait!!!! We are going to do some antiquing, a trip to a music store (I will NOT buy more music. I will NOT buy more instruments. NO. NO. NO. LOL), dinner out and a concert. I've been looking forward to this for weeks!!! HOORAY!!!

After a long hiatus, I've decided to rejoin Weight Watchers. I lost 107 pounds with them previously, regained a good chunk of it after I'd been so sick and while I've made other attempts, I just wasn't feeling it but I am now.....tomorrow's the day!   :)

Sweet dreams everybody!

Michelle

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

Thanks, Acme. Some of the cookbooks have family history guiding the gifting, but the recipients also are free to pass them along further and/or donate them to Goodwill.


PA PACKATHON-- GARDENER'S EDITION:

I awoke in the early morning hours with a wonderful surprise gift-- my mind had spotted WHERE to set up "grow light central" for Camp Ridgebury!!! It presented me with a mental picture of my Aerogardens and grow lights on the SIDEBOARD that now divides the kitchen from the living room! In time to get PA's Surplus City discount sheet plastic or oilcloth cut to size!!! Near an under-utilized outlet, water, and kitchen island!!! THIS spring!!!

I'd completely written off Spring 2019 gardening, because the logical kitchen counter for the setup is currently without power. This permanent change means also means that when power is restored, Hardi's favorite appliances can live on that counter as planned. (It also solves where the tabletop Christmas tree will go, because this also means that the sideboard becomes the place to feature rotating Seasonal Displays.)

I proceeded to get the two Aerogardens boxed and into a waiting, larger box, and was thrilled to see that there'd be room in it for the two small grow lights I use with peat pellets. I went back to bed and slept hard! Within an hour of getting up again, the entire germination supply kit was all packed and ready for quick assembly, in one big box!!! A re-usable plastic flat even fit in there-- I use that in the woodstove garden. Everything but soil, peroxide, and seeds.

The big overhead fluorescent fixture will still need to be packed for garage setup over the lab table, in case I need it for hardening off. I can wrap that in lasagna paper, and the truck we rented includes furniture pads to wrap it into a contractor's bag.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Mar 18 - 01:51 PM

My list includes so many items that need doing and with the sunny warm weather suddenly they all need doing at once. Hard physical labor is high on my list - digging the garden. So I'll start with something a little easier, I'll put in a load of laundry.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Mar 18 - 06:38 PM

Beaver:
The amusing - daffodil! I look out the window and mine are still under a foot or more of snow!
Inspiring - Susan's incredible planned moving!

My plan is simple: get as much small stuff out of the house as possible - down to the mill. Robin will rent a truck and move the furniture and I will not touch a single piece! Hopefully, we will have agreed on what goes where! But there may always be changes. I will come along with essentials - pots, clothes, dishes... I can start on K and pantry while they move furniture. "They" = whoever R gets to help. Mahogany is HEAVY!

The big project - totally mine - will be digging up garden and planting it at mill so I don't loss everything. I am sure it will all suffer imminent death during renovation of Montreal house.

In the meantime, I am enjoying Beaver, where we have had almost a week on sunny days! - and slightly above freezing days. I am triaging things for the new house which I will take to mill when I go back to Quebec on 1or2 April, by way of music in Kingston.

Found a pattern for tunic at thrift shop and fabric in cupboard, also some lovely lavender cotton/silk yarn for ???? But have had low energy all week and only doing little things - but a lot of those so I do feel as tho I have accomplished something. I cleaned out the cradle which serves as a wood box today!! Then took it outside so I could thoroughly clean where it has sat - then put it back. YAY!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 18 - 09:03 AM

Rain is due early next week so anything I can get planted now will be grateful for it. I transplanted some asparagus that were coming up in the wrong spot and have some bedding plants to put in. And a lot of digging to do before the garden is ready for plants. To start this morning I'll put the mattock in the vise grip and give it a quick sharpen. They are generally dull tools meant for hacking, but it does improve in functionality with a bit of an edge in place.

Today is the last day for the garden jeans I've been using. I think they've about reached the point of no return as far as spots worn thin. After today's garden work they'll go through the laundry one last time then into a bag labeled for rags that goes to Goodwill.

One of my eBay parcels needs repacking. It's large and ceramic (a clay baker) and if I can put it in a somewhat smaller box the shipping cost should come way down. That's a big part of successful selling, but it means keeping flattened boxes handy. Today's need may require a visit to the village recycle bin to see if anyone has discarded a corrugated box of the proper dimensions.

Some virtual decluttering - over the last week I eliminated a number of apps that used Facebook to sign on - I'll set up their own unique logon accounts instead. There remain a half-dozen directly tied to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and out of curiosity I looked at their permissions. Yes, they're meant to post from one site to the other, but a couple of them had way more default permissions set than needed. And though I hide my friends list even from my friends, those accounts were still able to access that information. It is discouraging how often you need to go back and look at what they've put in place without telling you, and turning off the intrusive elements.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Mar 18 - 01:50 PM

I received an incredibly warm welcome from friends at the Weight Watchers meeting. I had talked with some of them before hand to let them know I was coming and there are two people in particular who I was looking forward to seeing and they not only met me with hugs and saved me a seat but they brought me some on plan snacks! Since WW has tweaked their program since the last time I was there, I stayed for the orientation and gave myself a good foundation to start on. The meeting is in a new location as well so it feels like the fresh start that I want. I actually was going to go the week before but found the meeting in the same old space and decided to skip it so it would be a brand new program and place to start in.

We saw Davina and The Vagabonds last night as well as the Squirrel Nut Zippers....both were fabulous in their own way! Davina and The Vagabonds were the opening act but honestly they were so good that I could have left the show and been ecstatic about the evening. Simply INCREDIBLE. Both very HIGH energy acts....one very bluesy and the other was swing/blues/eclectic with the best fiddle player I have EVER seen in my life (my apologies to Betse....I still love ya girl....you are still amazeballs in my book)!   

It's been a while since Pete and I have had a date day/night and last night was a great reminder to clear away the time clutter in our lives so we can do things like this much more often.

Today I am doing some sorting and straightening and ditching of stuff in my sewing room. YAY. Pete and Jeremiah are off to spend some time at his mom's house......I need some down time and I'm sure she will love the boy time. :)

It's a four day work week for me but it's also the end of the month, crunch time for billing although I've got myself pretty well set for that. I'm not sure what I will do with that extra day...it's going to require some stewing on my part. I don't get many days off so I don't want to *waste* it.

Have a great Sunday everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 07:40 AM

Thanks, DP. The final move is still a ways off-- Hardi has not set a retirement date yet, or even year! We knew it would take quite awhile to move out of this barn.


PA PACKATHON:

Hardi and I are both sick and I'm trying to work a weekly rhythm of packing weekdays, dental Fridays, church and breaktime weekends. But I needed fresh air and a stretch yesterday, so yesterday I moved the 4 boxes on the ramp rail down and stacked them on porch pallet lumber, with stacking and pallet space ready for more.

Since the sewing room is now occupied by our housemate, I am not taking (nor emptying) a LR bookcase destined for it. The major furniture to empty is downstairs now-- the china cabinet, antique dresser, abd desk cubbies, which are scheduled for my work this week. I also put a few boxes together to start with. One is a large, leftover U-haul box, the last one of which burst. So I reinforced it with preventive tape.

Despite a lot of chair napping ydy, I fell asleep quickly last night after straightening out an mp3 player issue, and slept hard about 4 hours. Then I came down and purged the antique dresser to about 1/3 of its contents-- noting various categories of stuff retained.

The next area to purge will be deskside cubbies and the lower shelves of the bookcase, which will, together, net a med lg box of stationery/office supplies. There are also enough items to set up a 2000 - 2018 archive box to add to my archived work product in storage, so it's good I started with the dresser! The bookcase I'm leaving will get the Christmas decor I saved from the dresser drawers.

Another Goodwill barrel is now very full. Someone is going to get a very nice extra long tablecloth!

I guess since the dresser held old (nice) pierced earrings and I wear my hair short now, I'll save them right in their drawers, and pack most of my necklaces into the dresser as well. The Ohio spot for the dresser makes it ideal for an accessories chest, so dress purses and shoes may as well travel right in the drawers as well.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 11:41 AM

PA PACKATHON:

Desk cubbies purged and printer documentation/disc loaded in printer tray for return to parish. Think I still have box.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Mar 18 - 06:06 PM

PA PACKATHON:

Christmas items found in the dresser: boxed and loaded into LR bookcase.

Office materials (hardware, software, cords, stationery, HDMI, etc): boxed and labeled for transit. No path so far to remove it to ramp rail.

Card table of miscellany, work product, and memories: remains to be cleared and moved to DR to address DR books w Hardi, many of which may be headed to parish. There's a large box that may be the perfect size/weight for that, before I start packing China cabinet decor.

The items presently on the card table can go into the dresser drawers until there's enough to box. Some of the items need an archive box, and the rest of the items to fill that box are upstairs. I'm inclined to leave all that for the September packing trip and keep focusing on the furniture.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Mar 18 - 11:58 AM

The convenors of of the church variety sale have announced the dates when they are prepared to receive donations, and it is clear that this fund-raiser is a Very Big Deal in the parish. They collect all manner of stuff, but it has to be Good Stuff -- that is, items that people might actually pay serious money for. Not tat.

Well. I'm not sure that everything I would like to unload on them qualifies as Good Stuff, but it all survived the cut last year before the Grand Derangement from Ottawa to Stratford, so I guess I did not think any of it was true tat.

Collection begins next week. I hope to clear the basement of china bits (mostly English bone china), two or three sets of glassware, at least half of our abundance of beer mugs, and rather a lot of framed art. A book purge would be a good idea, too, especially of music and Canadian history.

I have some boxes, a stack of newspapers, and about two bin-bags of bubble-wrap. Let the games begin!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Mar 18 - 08:05 PM

Charmion, I have a friend who lives in Green Valley, Arizona, where there is a charity thrift store called The White Elephant. They have a bout 600 volunteers all told, with various tasks. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 9am till noon. That's all - just three hours a day. (One of the volunteer jobs is to list some of the better but easy to ship items on eBay.) Everything is tested before it's sold, the clothes are checked to be sure everything is intact. They make bundles of clothes that need work that are given to some of the immigrant support groups so their members can do the repairs then sell the garments in other stores or donate them to families arriving from across the border who have nothing. Their prices are extremely reasonable, they sell everything you can think of, and the business has donated millions to various good causes in the region. When they're done right, those kinds of charity shops are amazing. My son was in nearby Tucson for university and we stayed with that friend when we first got into town, so we loaded up on household goods when he moved into a house with roommates his junior year. He has turned into quite a cook, and I'm guessing those pots and pans we selected may still be with him.

The Goodwill bin is filling up. And my thrift store iHome docking station is perfect; the remote control and the AM antenna arrived yesterday and it is now up to speed. I love having digital tuning and buttons like on the big receiver in the living room (or on my car radio like forever). The whole thing came to about $18, and interestingly enough, most of my old boombox Sony radios will sell for about the same amount on eBay.

Rain was heavy enough today, and is expected to continue through tomorrow, so I won't be able to have the garden tilled for another week or so. But the leaves I cut up with the mower are all plastered to the ground in the garden plot. The magic will happen when the tiller pushes the leaves into the soil and pulls the roots to the top. I'll rake out roots and shape the beds and be ready to go. For all that I have tried a couple of times to have a tiller of my own here to use, in the long run it's better for all if I hire my friend to bring his tiller. Then his gets used and stays in working order and he has a job for the morning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Mar 18 - 01:55 PM

PP:

One big U-haul box packed from china cabinet cleanout:

Tablecloths
Apple tea towel set
Cloth napkin collection
(Pitched all old placemats in Goodwill bag)
Topped off w picnic basket
Gordon Parks book and other LL items
Old denim purse
Jackals fleece
Scarves
Sm plastic plate stands
Sm hepa filters (for xee bedside air filter?)
(Box labeled LL/Laundry)

Goodwill: Mike peacock
Dave glass decanter
Cloth napkins matching lg tablecloth packed previously
Bent faux silver revere bowl

Found: Louise Brown charm bracelet and charms. Put into silver heart box for Stephen. Three pizza boxes of kitchen decor (china and silver plates), packed and ready to travel inside china cabinet. Used the Ducks' Rexford Times for packing plus cut-up egg boxes for corner padding. One more "box" packed-- manufactured from leaf bags-- for large silver serving tray (which also contains 4 large plate stands). One more box packed with sleigh basket and silver candy/relish dishes may also fit in china cabinet for transit. Card table almost ready to move to DR for balance of china cabinet contents-- break/die china and wine glasses, plus madonnas and misc.

Dinner also cooking and dishes done.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 28 Mar 18 - 05:27 PM

This morning, as a small gift to my slightly future self, I cleaned up the kitchen while the water boiled and tea brewed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Mar 18 - 06:45 PM

Good for you, VN!

PP:

I just made a highly productive foray up to Box Central in the attic. I brought down a huge clean bag of lasagna paper to use for knicknack/decor/picture frame wrapping, a few small boxes, and enough egg boxes (square 4-doz size), for the break/die china.

And I checked my gut and then made some decisions about that china and the good wineglasses-- they're going to go into the Daily Use kitchen cabinet-- not into the On Display china cabinet they're coming out of.... A company set for small dinner parties/buffets that will actually get USED.

I also spotted and failed to throw down a large, very heavy amp box to fill with sub-boxes of fragile decor. I'll ask Greg to bring that down soon. But I also grabbed 3 nearly-square flat boxes presently full of small sheets of brown packing paper, FOR the small decor, and the bag of packing peanuts/bubble wrap for the china and glassware. These materials will also help w/wrapping upstairs decor for transit.

Whew!

Oh and the pizza/small boxes I packed earlier today did get stowed into the china cabinet, as described upthread.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 28 Mar 18 - 07:33 PM

I am so glad I am now a minimalist...if everything in my house broke i could take a $20 bill to a garage sale and replace everything. And think of how you want your house to be found if you have a stroke or something..which my brother just did. My sister is taking care of his stuff..which fortunately is not excessive. (this is not aimed at anyone..). She said she thought he was going downhill since around Thanksgiving, and it turns out he had two previous small strokes which he had failed to tell us about...but think if you have embarrassing stuff, or hoarder stuff...a very good reason for de-owning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Mar 18 - 07:51 PM

Mary, you were probably occasionally at my father's house for the Song Circle meetings? The house was 800sf and packed to the gills - he loved to entertain and had lots of kitchen gadgets and serving containers and flatware. His shed across the road was 2500sf and he had two tall upright freezers and the box for every electronic/music device he ever bought. I spent quite a while matching boxes and owners manuals (filed) to the devices, and family members carted those things away happily. Mostly, happily, anyway. I kept household items and his music collection. But I'd dealt with other family estates, from his side of the family, and they were all not hoarders, but they always knew things would eventually have a use.

When I moved into this house I took everything of mine out of storage (I'd been in an apartment for a couple of years) and stuff from my parents' estates out of storage. For a while there were a couple of rooms here packed tight with furniture and boxes of stuff. I hadn't intended to keep all of it, but over time the things I thought I'd sell have become less popular and other things have become trendy (all vintage or antiques). I'm slowly moving things out via eBay, a few things went via Craig's List (but that is a dangerous place, I won't use it any more - no one wants to consider the price you're asking, they don't turn up when they say they will, etc.) I used to donate some things and take a tax break, but I don't have enough deductions to itemize any more.

Every now and then when I'm reading through this list I think of the backpack you must live out of. :) I have duplication of stations (music, TV, computers) all over the house so I can plop down anywhere and work and listen or watch while I work. But in other things, I'm paring back and recycling, selling, donating, or discarding. Something Dad never got around to. I did a pretty good job of filling a 30-yard dumpster with stuff that came out of his house and shed before we ever divided the rest amongst family members. I don't want my kids to have to do that.

When it came down to it, Dad really loved entertaining people, music, and reading. If he'd given it some thought I think he could have gotten rid of a lot of stuff and kept the books, the chair and the good reading lamp, the computer and music devices and instruments, and kitchen stuff. That alone would have made his house comfortable without being crowded.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 Mar 18 - 08:22 PM

Beaver:

I have lost count of the number of times I have moved household! They say 10 moves equal one fire so, although I consider "move" a "four letter word", they certainly have cut down greatly on the amount of stuff I have accumulated - still too much! As I embark on yet another new beginning: there is stuff stored at the mill which I will go through After the big move and see what still fits my life. I believe there are things I have not seen since they were packed on Whidbey; that does not mean there is nothing precious there - maybe. We are fortunate that we can move only that which we really want into the new house. I intend to remove as much as possible to the mill before hand as well as sort out with R - Do you really want this/these????? He has an ugly china cabinet (he loves) full of china and stuff I detest... And an ever increasing collection of glass vases - I like two... I am rather counting on him treasuring this new home enough to let go of stuff that does not suit it. I am only dealing with kitchen stuff and household pretties - obtained 4 lovely valances at the thrift shop this week and an elegant glass pitcher - for which I have been on the lookout.

Going back to Quebec on Sunday, perhaps Saturday if snow is threatened, with a load for the mill and will add to it and deliver on the next snow-free day. Also taking portable wheel and clay so I can work there if it is warm enough. Leaving a wheel here so I can work here when I get back. Have managed to get none done in this two week stay. Maybe tomorrow...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 06:55 PM

mg, if you're not beset with lots of items I'm happy for you, but what we're packing are memories to enjoy now that we can foresee having time and space for a social life. And two professional offices. So far, every item I've boxed has not only a destination room but a spot in that room envisioned. No chaos is being sent to Ohio! :-)


PA PACKATHON, STREP THROAT EDITION

Planned packing today was five Madonnas (now that a designated shelf has been identified for the collection), and carrying out one desk cubby unit, then sliding a nearby item over to hold the printer until its box turns up. I thought I might also pack more from the china cabinet today, but expected that a noon fone conference and amoxicillin naps would compete.

But what actually got done in addition to the naps and fone conference:

The Madonnas went happily into an egg box. Two marble eggs and other knicknackery went into a divided Labatt box w a cast iron nutcracker on a red base and a silver wassail cup with a wooden handle. Some now-designated-everyday glassware went into a divided Miller Lite box. I'm waiting for one of the heavy, divided boxes the church's sanctuary lamps come in, for the good glassware, inside a larger box that will also hold the good china.

Those sealed, the packing peanuts were gone. Then after supper, one deskside cubby unit (and all but one of the boxes packed of late) were set out on the ramp to reduce LR chaos, and I could actually foresee getting our LR back. I also emptied the drawers of the side table I'm taking, and felt ready to pack two large, very fragile clocks into the amp box.

Before Hardi left to conduct tonight's Holy Week mass (they're nightly this week), we had a strategy talk about the Most Fragile boxes-- result: they'll travel safely "crated" in the closet case that used to house the mini-fridge.

Then after he left, I packed that "Rumble" amp box (left unsealed to air out the fog-dampened lasagna paper). That's cushioning the steeple clock, the domed clock, a small silver candy dish, a silver-rimmed glass relish bowl, and a covered, 3-section glass relish dish.

Hardi will be the logical person to unpack this box during vacation, and choose where the clocks may live. The steeple clock is nearly as tall as the box, so it can't be on display in the china cabinet. :-( The domed clock, if it fits, will make a good display item in the china cabinet-- which will house decor, now that we've decided to USE the remaining china!

The card table and most of the packing supplies are now in the DR, out of the main drag. The rest of the front door entry area can be cleaned up tmrw (or later tonight if I get ambitious). Time for the weekly break from packing for church stuff (including Easter)!!! Until I get a better divided box, the rest of the china cabinet will have to wait, so next week the upstairs packing resumes.

The dnstrs Goodwill bag has been relegated to the desk zone where the cubby had been. The trash bag is with the card table. There is also a tiny box for miscellaneous items that are boxed with their destination-room stuff, as new boxes for them shape up. I refuse to take "miscellaneous" boxes!

The conference call with my SURJ chapter-coach was superb. No assignments and all doors open.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Mar 18 - 08:59 PM

Whew! The front entry area is cleared including a black plastic bag full of garden fabric that has bounced around the house all year-- now repurposed for workshop hankies and cleaning rags. Found a flannel sheet that's probably a king or queen, to make an excellent draw sheet for the camper. And a crib sheet for the portacrib I'm taking. All those will be boxed for their destination spots-- next week.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Mar 18 - 07:46 AM

PA PACKATHON PLANNING:

Last night I spotted a simple office corner fix that will facilitate LR packing, but I didn't have the muscle power left to do it-- maybe later today.

It's too dark in the DR to pack effectively. The next step there is setting up "catch" boxes for each destination room/garage spot.

There's misc upstairs to bring down for those boxes, but poor space up there for a duplicate set of catch boxes. The upstrs work this coming week should focus on art and furniture. The rest of the upstairs (books, photos, and misc to further purge) is for September work.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Mar 18 - 10:42 AM

PA PACKATHON, REDIRECTED EDITION:

For Tyler to cut grooves to slide in my antique dresser (and to occupy his mind/hands on a positive focus while he's between jobs), I'll need to pull the dresser away from the wall to get accurate measurements of the heights of the moldings requiring the grooves-- ON THE RUG. To prep for that, therefore I just spent a productive half hour further purging the office corner, removing the second cubby to the ramp, and setting up one catchbox for tech items bound twds the LL office corner.

This resulted in moving another paper pile ready to purge onto a tray table, which is now moved beside the desktop (near chair and light), without disrupting ydy's clearing up of the downstairs. There's also space to set up the Parish catchbox now, on top of the printer they're getting back.

It occurs to me that this is all drawing upon the MIL-visit-prep skills I learned during the decade or so of her visits-- clean/organize YES, but within PUR ongoing goals/house priorities, not to imagined standards of HER cleanliness needs. Use the desire to make the house nicer for her as an opportunity to move US forward.

I hope my DIL preps that way when I visit HER (and have told her so)!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Mar 18 - 04:44 PM

PA PACKATHON, OFFICE PURGE CTD

All this without disrupting my earlier clearing efforts....

The office corner purge went farther in the last hour. Gone are several piles of now-obsolete paper, which resulted in a nearly filled recycle bin from the last few days plus today; also a full LL box. A tray table and a plastic drawer unit now stand where the cubbies stood. Autoharp items were consolidated with the harp. Climate Change items were grouped into the drawer unit, along with misc Sat nite/folk music items to address in September.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 30 Mar 18 - 07:51 PM

I had today off, HOORAY! I spent half of it sleeping which I really, REALLY needed. The rest of the day was spent with my family and in my sewing room. I packed up two 33 gallon bags that are destined for Goodwill (and out of my space already) and one bag of trash.....mostly thread and snippets of trimmed fabric edges that aren't useful. I found that I have more interfacing than any one person should have.....I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it all as it really is a space hog and unruly to store. Then I spent some time looking at the fabric I have and settled on my next project. I have two sewing retreats coming up and I like to have everything ironed and cut before I go so I can just sit and sew while hanging out with friends. I find that I need quiet to concentrate on what I'm cutting....so tonight I ironed the fabric for my next project and will do some cutting tomorrow. It's not a huge project so I anticipate being able to have it all cut in one sitting. :)

Tomorrow is my first week weigh in. I think I did reasonably well and am looking forward to seeing everyone.

Happy Friday Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 18 - 11:06 AM

It's nice to have an organized sewing room - and ironing is such an important part of making sure the project turns out looking good. Congratulations on the big bags for donation!

I'm looking around for ideas for saucers under pots that will go on the new front patio area. They don't need to match the pot or each other, they need to be sturdy, wide enough, not too deep. The ones you buy can add up if you buy several, and they never seem to last as long as the should. I'm looking for containers I can recycle, lids that have enough depth to hold a little water (I don't want to drown plants). I'll put mosquito dunks in them to keep from growing mosquitoes and gnats.

My goal is to have attractive plants in what may possibly be funky pots, something that won't be bothered. My next door neighbor had someone back up her driveway and steal large fancy potted plants, so we're both a little cautious about putting out anything too tempting to opportunists. I have a lot of work to do out there still, and a concrete path to finish now that it's warm.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 31 Mar 18 - 12:07 PM

Thanks Maggie.....it's amazing how much space that opened up!

I did well this week at WW. Down 2.2. I was hoping for more (you know, like 120 pounds...LOL) but this is a nice healthy start and I feel good about it!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 18 - 04:13 PM

I've rooted around in the greenhouse and garage and found a few simple ways to add pots to that front patio. A heavy duty plastic saucer was languishing in the greenhouse and is now under a matching pot, and I found two pots nested together, both faux terracotta, that when arranged that way offer about 1/2 inch of standing water for the inside pot. Any more than that and it drains from the outer pot. That makes four out there so far.

I have hoses and attachments in place and I repaired a watering can (there's a song in that!) that will stay on the front porch for the various pots. The weeds were pulled from a few of last year's pots by the driveway and I'll figure out what gets planted soon. If I'm patient I can end up with nice flowers from seeds; if I want to spend a small fortune I can buy a whole bunch of bedding plants. I'm aiming at the patient approach right now, considering the other things I can do with the cash. :)

Rearranging the sunroom is a regular activity; today I moved pre-packed eBay items onto a trolley that used to hold (among other yard and garden things) a huge bin of bird seed, but I stopped feeding the birds when the seed on the ground attracted rats and mice. A neighborhood cat seems to have dispatched the remaining rodents, thank you kitty! I have a few more items to test and list this evening as I work toward the goal of clearing out previous thrift store purchases (that I knew I could sell for more online) and the household items that will either be sold or donated.

I'm thinking about ordering a custom tea mug because I can't find the exact message I want in the ones already online, and found a few sites that offer good prices, but I can't tell if they are simply printed or if they are glazed or sealed in such a way to make it durable. Have any of you done specialty mugs before? What were your thoughts?

Computer backup is running now, it hit a snag last night. I intend to research the prospect of putting an external drive in the closet with the router, that has a USB port, and might be the perfect place for the backup drive to live. Out of sight in case another burglary happens, there to come to the rescue with all of my data.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 Mar 18 - 06:04 PM

PA PACKATHON WEEKEND 'PAUSE':

Easter eve, Saturday 3/31

6 hours sleep ÷ 1.

The three good chairs on the 'loading dock' are now fabric-covered to protect them against bird poop yet permit continued airing out. The white shelf has stayed dry. My paper shredder has been found, and newsprint shred for packing materials is in progress for the last round of fragile items-- I've used up all bubble wrap on hand and refuse to buy more. I'm saving lasagna paper (dbl bed sz sheets) for framed art to set into leaf bags and then stand together in a huge box.

In keeping with weekend rhythm, I've continued NOT doing any packing to disrupt the main floor-- while doing self-contained, small tasks. And we watched some silly TV this afternoon.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 18 - 11:53 AM

The computer backup hit a snag, meaning I have to figure out what program might be interfering. The Microsoft knowledge base offers little help. I looked through programs I don't use and uninstalled them, then I'll reboot the computer before attempting again.

Yesterday I ended the month by not going anywhere or spending anything. This morning in twitter I noticed this link to 6 money-saving tips your grandma used that are way more effective than any budgeting app. (I have a friend whose son put her on the envelope system for her bills and it is working.) Today I have to go out, dropping off things at Goodwill then a couple of modest purchases. I mined the freezer yesterday and am continuing to draw down those resources since every spring the garden produce starts to stake a claim on space. It's best if I've used up last year's produce first. With the stuff in there right now, I'm thinking about making a tamale casserole for this week to use up frozen beef, corn, tomatoes, peppers, cornmeal, etc. Time for the cornmeal to come out of there anyway.

Our topics are Decluttering and Fitness - I haven't reported on fitness for a while, but this time of year I get out more, gardening, mowing, and walking the dogs. Financial fitness - that's front and center, and I'm continuing with eBay.

I've been thinking about Mary's remarks about replacing possessions - there's a lot of stuff here that can be put back into service before making new purchases. The re-distribution process can be a full-time job, as we see with Susan and Dorothy.

Keep up with your work, everyone, and if there are any lurkers who'd like to share their success stories or ask questions, we welcome your participation!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Apr 18 - 02:23 PM

Fitness... yes... and there are so many kinds of fitness. There's one I should also acknowledge openly that I've only referred to nebulously before-- declutterung while aging?

In the parishes we've served aa well as in my extended family, I've seen how decluttering and/or poorly-conducted moving can seriously disrupt functional mental status. The disorientation can take a person-- especially an older person-- right off their stride. The cascading effects of that can lead to early demise.

From the outset, I planned our retirement home and process with this knowledge in mind. And (here's the open disclosure) in my case I have a potential Alzheimer's future to plan for. So items that anchor my memory are really, really important. My particular variety of thyroid disease has given me many sporadic glimpses of that future. Fortunately my family history is very late onset dementia, so I look forward to a decade or more of independent living-- and science may come to my rescue at this rate!

But in terms of our topics-- my mental wellbeing is worth shipping these low-value memory items to Ohio, and the process of doing/managing all that keeps my brain active as well.

I still don't know when Hardi's retirement will necessitate The Big Move, but it's a real gift to have had these years to do as much of it as possible, as gradually as possible. At this point, the PA house will look very minimalistic when I pull onto the road April 27, essentially containing a bare LR set and BR set, and the woodshop/garden tools that will be in use to maintain this old wreck until we're gone. About a full cargo-trailer-load, by then.

I've begun conversations with the landlord family regarding the house itself. We've lived in it longer than anyone since it was built, so we have some info about it that the landlord himself does not know-- in addition to details from the 2000 fire here they'll need to know. Like: sure, it's about 5000 square feet. But only one BR and the narrow nursery-sized bed room are actually habitable, due to wiring never fixed after the fire and rotten windows in another "BR" that's still set up as a kitchen. (And I know the exact spot where the post-fire contractor drywalled right over the place where re-wiring would be fished.) They're going to have to decide whether to bring this house up to code, or tear it down.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Apr 18 - 12:37 AM

Damn. Found a tick on me as I was getting ready to shower - it hadn't completely dug in, but it made a mark and it smarts. And of course this creeps me out enough that lots of stuff went into the washer after that, even the bag that lines my laundry basket (where I had dropped my clothes right before I found the tick). I'm going to have to get the big container of beneficial nematodes and next time it rains give the yard a good soak, especially under the pine trees, that are probably where they've established themselves. They have a stage in the ground so that's where the nematodes come in. The dogs are on Revolution every month, but I may get them extra tick collars.

Productive weekend, in general, though there are a few things I planned that I didn't get to. As usual. Lots of cooking today so I have a variety of foods to take for lunch. I swung by Goodwill but it was closed, and though people had decided to leave their stuff piled outside their door I left mine in the car and will take it by when the store is open.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Apr 18 - 02:56 PM

Montreal:
A nice quiet trip on Easter morning - amazingly little traffic of highway! Dropped off a feather bed and a lovely quilt at the mill for storage until "the house". Unloaded kiln, boxed pots and placed in car until I get to shop that will take it. Arrived in Montreal to find ---I would weep if it would help!. The LR Full of boxes of books. newly acquired. The K floor littered with tools and the sink full... This after tripping over the electric cord trying to get in the door.

I rather lost it and when he complained told him he had a lot of nerve complaining about me being grumpy when he should darn well have known... OH! He cleaned up the tools and the dishes and the books are now piled in the stairwell until he can get them to the library at Beaver - I am NOT carrying boxes of books. There is still a box of pictures/frames on the ugly sofa and other assorted clutter that I can work around. Tomorrow is trash day and I shall collect boxes to clear a not-to-keep cabinet and whatever else I can manage. All small stuff to go to mill for temp storage. Of course, there will be culling in the process.

R has a friend/tenant who enticed him to an auction last week - so hard to do! She, however, is selling the stuff on E-bay or Kijiji; they have a 50/50 deal. YAY for Chrisie!!

He is hoping we can connect with the owner and see about moving plants from here to there sooner. I had a fun time, clearing the small but burgeoning flower bed at the mill. Lots of lovely things starting to show - dwarf purple iris, red achillea/yarrow and more. Lots of separating needed. I moved a whole lot of hen and chicks to a different, unplanted as yet area to give them room to grow. And exposed iris rhizomes so they will bloom well. That bed is in front of a south facing 4 foot concrete wall backed by soil so well protected and lots of warmth. Beaver had nothing showing before I left, even on the south side of house. There was still a foot or more snow in the yard. The mill and Montreal only have remaining piles here and there.

AS for fitness... I am just going to eat and try to be careful. Fed up with restrictive diets so I end up eating all the wrong stuff in the end! I need to strive to get more exercise as the wood season ends and even a couple days of not needing to carry wood makes a difference! The ankle is still iffy: needs compresses occasionally and certain activities - pressing on clutch! - cause discomfort. The trampoline here seems to be ok. So moderation on that. I have gotten good on stairs! Finally!! So I don't mind going up and down here more frequently just for the exercise - no stairs at Beaver. May the gardening season help!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Apr 18 - 10:59 AM

PA PACKATHON

Moved all 9 purge/archive/final pack boxes to guest room for cold-weather work after ensuring clear labeling. That just leaves a round of book purge in the garden room before we can vacuum and roll its rug for this trip.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 03 Apr 18 - 02:03 PM

Last week I put up the duvet-covered down comforter and folded the extra wool blanket. Overnight I realized the quilt wasn't enough so I rounded up a lap-sized afghan from my office chair to throw over the foot of the bed. Soon it'll be time to put them back in their under-bed zipper case but for now it's just the extra bit of warmth needed.