Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 May 18 - 01:45 PM

Ohio

I have not been able to tolerate being in the pillaged Liberation Library since the Hordeation, except to focus just on my notebook computer right inside the door. I have been asking myself if perhaps I may have confused the Library's identity with mine, and separating that in my head.

Since we have had time to research our records, and the police took a more detailed list of the items stolen (after I found a pawn ticket that has led to the beginning of recoverable items).... it sort of made a corner I could turn, mentally. I also now have a seniors' 'panic button' that has freed me from having to wear my cell phone at all times.

So after a very long, sound sleep I went to ask the LL what it needed, and where to start.

It said, "Welcome back, and thanks for asking! Pick a pile and start separating out what belongs in here from what belongs elsewhere."

So I did. I started with boxes that a hash of things had been crammed into, to gain floor space and work-table space. Suddenly at least that much made sense. A trash bag filled. A recycle bag filled. "Oh!" I said to myself. "This is just a ROUGH sort! I don't have hsve to detail-sort yet!" Soon some obvious categories emerged, and landed in boxes for further sorting LATER.

I stopped the minute that "overwhelm" sense returned, labeled all containers in progress to facilitate picking up the process later, moved the rolling desk a few inches sideways to make solitaire on the computer possible, and got out.

Maybe it will call me again. I'll be listening.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 18 - 01:54 PM

I used to work on the sixth floor of a building and took the stairs most of the time; now I work in a basement and eat lunch at my desk so I don't have to take a half hour for lunch. If I do the compressed work week again (offered only in summer, but I haven't heard mention of it yet) I have to take at least a half hour during that 10-hour day, and I should make myself go both climb stairs and go outside to walk around.

I weeded for a while in the vegetable garden but it's now officially hot out there, so I'll mow instead. It's still hot, but that involves moving around more and staying cooler, plus I have a number of shade trees to pause under. We're having trouble with ticks this year (I think the mice that were here so much last year contributed to this - now that the mice are gone I hope the ticks thin out and go away again) so I sprayed an organic mix for flea and ticks (compost tea, molasses, orange oil in equal parts, distributed at about 4 ounces per gallon) into the trees we're around most, as the possible launching point for said ticks. And mowing to keep the grass shorter is also helpful. Next time it rains I'll spray beneficial nematodes in the area also. (Before mowing, now that the sun is at it's height and going to get hotter, I'll fill the pump sprayer with vinegar and hit a few weeds that I don't feel like trying to pull—and I won't hit anything important nearby).

There is a build up of paper and eBay stuff, and I have forms to file (property tax protest, most urgently) so this is another one-two punch weekend - outside work during the day, paper work in the evening. No wine with dinner or I'll be just sleepy enough to put off the paperwork. :-)

I'm pleased with the results in the garage, but I have a few more things to pull out of there and offer via freecycle. Or I could put them at the curb and they'd go without even the posting on that website.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 May 18 - 03:10 PM

We are required to take 30 minutes for a lunch break if we work more than 4 hours. I usually eat at my desk and work right along but since that half hour is available to go out and do whatever, I'm going to start taking advantage of it. :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 May 18 - 06:37 PM

Ohio:

They say folding laundry is stress-relieving, and today I was grateful to able to do that mundane task, back in my old spot here for it-- I like to sit in the center of the wicker loveseat in the LR.

It overlooks the picture window, with its pretty view. There's room on each side for the folded items to pile up, which helps me sort the results for their various destinations. The laundry basket fits just right, in front of it, and if the job is interrupted there's no traffic pattern there.

There's also a particular wastebasket that fits just right, there, for spent dryer sheets and loose threads.

So by today, the loveseat cushions had been put back together; I'd covered them with the least-dirty sheet to keep dog hair off the fleece cushion covers (she sits there every day); the wire wastebasket had been found and pushed back almost to its regular shape and lined with little trash bags... folded... started the putting-away process....

Also I tossed an ancient shirt with rips and rears in it. I loved its print... but.... as I move more clothes here from PA, some things have just got to go! I do tend to wear loved items to tatters.

It WAS therapeutic. I'll BOLO a new "special" basket at Goodwill and use this permanently misshapen one for a planter. I'll replace that sheet with a clean one, when I've done those 12 loads of wash lurking in the closet, and wash this dear old sheet.

It's not normal here yet, and neither am I. But it's peaceful at last.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 18 - 08:20 PM

I'm liking the newly-rearranged garage since moving the mower in and out, whether out the big door to the front yard or the side door into the back yard is unimpeded by boxes and stacked stuff. It passes beside the SUV or behind it with plenty of clearance. A couple of more large plastic items are out (old cat litter tray and lid) and rearranged the coolers in that space.

I brought home three large boxes from my ex's house when he ordered tile for the bathroom - I just used one, I cut one down to a smaller size, and have one large one left so I'll retrieve the other four later this evening on a shopping run. He lost his cell phone in the garage weeks ago and finally found it today, so clearing out these few boxes and stacking them neatly here in a place cleared for them will help his decluttering efforts.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 18 - 11:49 PM

I mis-counted. Eight more boxes, in two neat stacks of four in the dog stall in the garage, moved here and cleared out space in my ex's garage.

It looks like there is a chance of rain in the middle of the week so I'll pick up a carton of beneficial nematodes and have them ready to distribute once we get rain (that gives them time to get into the soil where they do their work, otherwise I have to water deeply first). Another tick was found today, on me (still walking around). This has to end.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 18 - 10:53 AM

Happy Mother's Day to all of us! For me, it's a mix of time spent in the garden and time spent in the sunroom. I'll speak with my son (several states away) this evening and have lunch with my daughter tomorrow. We all understand that this is a greeting card company's promotional gimmick, and cards are rarely ever a part of our enjoyment of the occasion.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 May 18 - 08:23 AM

Ohio

Well, peaceful didn't last long. Police came at midnight in response to panic button-- noises of people in the house. They treated it like I was crying wolf, till I clued them in on the open case. The panic button worked great, and when I pushed it the base unit let out a really loud, shrill beep. The fast-responding "care center" voice asking if I need help was LOUD.

I think it scared them away, and they probably think now thst I have a new alarm system-- so I doubt they'll be back. But I can't say I slept well.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 May 18 - 07:50 PM

Ohio

Tub cleaning started today. The ring is gone and the new mold farms are dead. Iron stains on the tub surround remain. If that's what the brown splashes are (and yes I know what to use next). They got disinfected, whatever they are.

The vinegar spray appears to be clearing up the shower curtain.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 May 18 - 08:25 PM

I've had that kind of scare, moving into a place and some old friend or previous resident comes by and tries the door. You have cause for considerably more concern and I hope they weren't actually in the house! Did the dog set up any kind of alarm? I find the deep warning bark that my Lab occasionally gives during the night to be more reassuring than alarming - he's doing his job.

Comparing gardening notes with my dentist - we conclude that last year was a bad year for gardens. This spring we're both going full tilt—where else but at the dentist's office should I come to this slightly scientific conclusion? I sometimes take produce over on my fall visit.

One thrift store stop on the way home and I only picked up things I can sell on eBay. The phone app is handy for a quick look to see what actually sold and how much for.

The shoe store DSW sent a postcard offering a $5 discount if I download their app; I think the hang tag in my purse is sufficient, but this serves as a reminder that I have a couple of pairs of unworn shoes that I need to walk around the house in to be sure they're broken in before wearing them to work. That's money already wasted if I don't put them into service. I saw a woman wearing a cute pair today and realized they were almost identical to one of those unused pairs.

Food tip for the day: I buy Dannon lowfat vanilla yogurt when I can find it on sale and at that same deep-discount store I regularly buy several pints of blueberries at a time. Those berries go onto a cookie sheet and into the freezer. Lately I've been mixing equal parts yogurt and frozen blueberries, no extra sugar, and it is almost as good as eating ice cream. I need to make sure I get enough calcium in my diet while the PMR is being treated. (I didn't link to the store's actual page because my Kaspersky always blocks it, says something about the cloud and I haven't argued with it.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 May 18 - 08:45 PM

Acme, Newbie had been nervous all evening with things she was hearing outside. What I heard was metallic clunking inside the house, that is not a normal sound for this house, at all. NORMAL is critters scampering on the roof.

Police arrived quickly; but I think the panic button folks and the very loud tone the unit sounded scared them off. Now whether they were inside or still outside-- I'll never know. But a robust security system is on the way.

The paranoid thought is that they'll do this from the outside often enough for 911 to start ignoring me, and then come in hard and hot to pay me a visit. So I hope the security system comes quickly.

The other end of the spectrum of possibility is that it's JUST paranoia. (So I hope the security system comes quickly.)

The reality is probably somewhere in between. So I hope the security system comes quickly.

I was joking with the friend who has taken over researching which system, this morning, in a mad interval of black humor. "Why couldn't it have been a heroin group? These meth-heads stay up too damn late for me!"

But in all seriousness, meth.... that's a kind of crazy I'm not trained in. So it's hard to gauge anything. Which is why..... I hope the security system comes quickly.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 May 18 - 08:52 PM

Oh sorry, I thought I'd posted this part earlier-- I found an unlocked kitchen window this morning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 May 18 - 10:00 PM

Damn!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 May 18 - 10:36 PM

But the dog never barked. She's not much of a barker except at other critters. And she knows Tyler, too.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 May 18 - 10:58 PM

TWO kitchen windows, including the one with nothing obstructing it inside. Till now that is.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 May 18 - 04:58 AM

Ohio

Weird dreams. (Dya think?)

So as i headed, exhausted, for bed, I gave the windows a qiick chrck. There were TWO kitchen windows unlocked. One had stuff in front of it, making ingress difficult. The other now has a big, loud bamboo wind chime hanging from it.

So after I found that second, unlocked window, I had to clear the house-- look under every bed and into every closet. Including the furnace room-- where my two missing BLM signs have been all this time! Plus the tension rod that secures the dog closet. And my Spoon Theory poster, a bit crunched.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 May 18 - 07:59 PM

Ohio

According to Det. Wilson, I am supposed to pick up the guitars from the pawnshop ASAP. We have to pay what the pawnshop paid out to get them, but when the case is complete we supposedly get reimbursed. This is for the guitars and amp-- no mandolin, and autoharps, or tools yet.

Thing is, I may need help picking up the stolen property. My loaner car is not reliable, and my taxi funds are tied up in replacing groceries. I was hoping not to have to buy my DIL a new tire or two, and was planning to baby the slow leak per her instructions and just use it in town. The pawnshop is about 25 minutes from me and the last time I drove it that far, it was flat the next morning.

Sigh....

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 May 18 - 11:23 PM

Ohio

Ride arranged for pickup Thursday afternoon.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 16 May 18 - 09:28 AM

When we moved into this house last summer, we found that the handles on three exterior doors were of the indoor passage type, suitable for a bathroom, perhaps, but not for any door that might have to stand up to a burglar. The previous owners had left us only one key, and it fit only the main door to the garage. Said door is so flimsy that a good shove would send it into next week, and its lock is of the knob-on-the-knob type that a knowledgeable person (such as I) can open with a bobby pin.

One of the basement windows was broken, to boot.

Our very first business in Stratford, after the real-estate agent and the lawyer, was with the locksmith and his buddy the glazier.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 16 May 18 - 09:53 AM

When I bought this house it had been a rental over a dozen years, so new keys were essential. And not just doors - this part of town has ornamental iron grates over most house windows and each bedroom window has a lock for obvious safety reasons. The back iron gates over sliding glass door had a key that fit all of them, but they barely moved due to inattention. So the locksmith rekeyed two regular doors, the security door, and three bedroom window grates. There was a key made to go in each room, hung from a cup hook under and beside the windowsill where each room occupant knew how to find it and work it. And there are spares in the drawer in the kitchen where all of that kind of thing goes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 May 18 - 11:50 AM

Ohio

There are a number of practical decisions I've been trying to make lately that have only resulted in hand-wringing consideration of options. So I've begun delegating decisions I can't make quickly, to others. The first one involved our mattress, for which I identified 8 great options... which chased each other thru my head MOST unpleasantly. I delegated that one to Hardi, who decided instantly that we would choose from those options and implement one, together, once he gets here in July. BOOM!

The next one involved comforters soiled by the Horde. One narrow one stuffed with feathers, one nice twin (down), bought in... 1995... and pretty nasty. Wash? Have washed? Dry clean? Goodwill? Trash? BOOM! Bagged and on the way to trash night. That leaves one of those original 1995 twin down's, IN the now-dusty duvet cover I bought for it after my 2012 botched surgery (Keep!!! Wash cover!).

I don't need help thinking through options (a la Hoarders crews). I need people willing to DECIDE. (Like I happily delegated most of my wedding decisions when we decided on a 30 day engagement!) It's a LOVELY opportunity NOT to be in charge all the time!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 May 18 - 08:44 AM

Ohio:

Some big deal of last night:
. Big batch of mixed rice in crockpot, cooled over AC register
. Horde curtains in guest room removed/repositioned. Unfortunately, one set of rod brackets will need repair.

Therefore there are now about 6 little jobs needing cordless drill bits, so Lowes via scooter with dog is likely today, after AM storms pass through.

Also planned is getting Hardi's guitars out of hock today. The acquaintance giving me a ride is bossing me about logistics nicely.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 May 18 - 06:47 PM

Ohio:

Another corner turned. Still have no clue where I'm going.... but I was not triggered, today (yet). So I'm cautiously calling this phase 'From "In Crisis" to "Fragile Looking for Fun"'.

Friend Janis brings $150 to expedite trip due to imminent pawnshop closing time, takes me to pawnshop ("I know where that is, when I was robbed I had to go there to get my stuff...."), is a riot the whole way, comes in WITH ME, wants to do lunch after school gets out next week, stops for my diet coke on the way back, drops me at Walmart's door and then COMES IN to hang out with me at the service desk to collect Hardi's wired funds-- and presents me with four cans of wasp spray for home defense. Believes every word I tell her, thinks im dealing with all this perfectly, and wants to come back soon to purify the house with sweetgrass, with me. Carries all the merch in, and insists on a hug before leaving. Well.... wow!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 May 18 - 09:29 PM

Despite the steady effort to move out unnecessary furniture and objects, there is still too much stuff in this house. You can move through all of the rooms, it isn't packed, but it doesn't look polished because there is too much to let the best pieces stand out. So this afternoon I lay down on the sofa and thought about all relocating all of the furniture around me, where could the pieces be more efficient if the items they are holding were moved? What could be sold or donated, etc? The cabinet that holds the LPs has to be very sturdy, but DVDs in the top half could be stored somewhere else. How many chairs do I need, can I move the coffee table? Do I need the coffee table?

As a result, I attacked my closet and dressing room, as a place where I could easily remove something right now - there are things in there that I can't use, won't use, and won't sell, so they are in the trash (hair care products, etc.) or (mostly sweaters and slacks) in the Goodwill bin. The clothes came from a wicker basket, the rest from cabinets in the dressing room - now the question is, what should live in those spaces? I'm thinking it needs to be a logical extension of the counter above, so since I keep my jewelry boxes on the dressing room counter top, perhaps I should store the beads and jewelry findings and related items in that cabinet. They would be out of sight, but they wouldn't collect as much dust as they do now on top of a glass front secretary in the bedroom. The basket is part of a set, but they're separated, maybe I should rethink how I use those.

That doesn't help the living room or front room, but it does get me moving again. There is a computer desk that was moved into my guest room that I'll start with. The computer as well can be dismantled and donated. Once that is gone, something can be moved into the guest room from the living room. I'm offering it to family and friends first.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 May 18 - 10:09 PM

Beaver:
WOW! such doings - susan's saga! And much de-cluttering!

I will shock the bunch of you: I have not locked my house in the 3 years I have been here, or the car either. What a great place to live! A dead end road and good neighbours. Yesterday, a man who seems to be involved at the next door neighbours - about 200 yards away - walked over to warn me that leaving the tailgate open might run the battery down; I thanked him and informed him that I do it to let the heat out so I don't have to get into a hot car and it has never run the battery down. Very kind of him!

Came back last Tuesday by way of picking up an injured turtle along the way (from woman who had rescued it) and delivering it to the Turtle Trauma Centre. Added almost 3 hours to the trip! All turtles are endangered in Ontario and the trauma centre can save lives or, if it a female, can often harvest eggs from a recently dead turtle and incubate them til they hatch! It was worth the Turtle Taxi trip!

Spring has finally arrived and I have been weeding and resting, potting and resting... Good neighbour came by today and we considered my new plants: blueberries, raspberries and 3 cherry trees. Yes, I live in a swamp and the upshot was that I need another raised bed for the raspberry canes. Will put the 4 blueberry plants in an existing raised bed - L will come by on Sat with peat moss to add to the soil for these guys. I will give him as many of the strawberry plants as he wants; he gave them to me last year and lost all of his to the cold! I have LOTS! Last fall, new plants were jumping out of the bed but those all died in the frost. I could not even give them away. After L left, I decided to pot the cherry trees in very large terra cotta pots until I can plant them at the new house.


Volunteer lettuce - two sorts - are coming up prolifically. Also Italian parsley. A sage and the lavender did not fare well so I bought new ones at the herb farm, and a sorrel and a couple interesting tomato plants.

A trip to Toronto on Sun to visit a friend's pottery open house - great visit and sharing of info with her musician husband (a Yellow Door friend of almost 50 years); they have an orchard near R's latest building acquisition in south eastern Quebec. I told Lynn I was thinking it time to give up potting but she emphatically negated that idea so we stayed over in To and went to the Pottery supply house for more clay and glaze materials. I am happy to be encouraged and to have the energy to work: 90 min to 2 hrs at a session, then rest for two or more! Yesterday I vacuumed the studio - with respirator and goggles in place! I am ready to produce! The racks are full - need more shelves! I left a little heat on so I can start again in the am.

R could not see anything wrong with the kiln and we took pics to send down to the pottery supply house - they do not show any glitches??? But maybe M can get a clue. May also send them to Paragon in Texas to see if they can help with this brand new 1983 kiln - used about 10 times since I got it.

By the time we went to eye doctor - "healthy"! - and wended our way homeward by way of a lengthy back road, we were tired. Then went to a wonderful presentation on "The Land Between".

So R had managed to get here for supper on Saturday and left at lunch on Tuesday. Not much accomplished around here! And 7 boxes of clay in the LR! But it will soon be safe to put it in the studio. As soon as I have a kiln load, I will see if it will at least do a bisque firing. And maybe I will find the energy to try the other kiln - an oldie I have not yet tried but with which I am more familiar as it is similar to the one I left in the great NW; I had had it for 25 years and fixed it many times.

Today, I missed the right time to prep a good meal (while neighbour was here I got beyond that) and ate all manner of stuff. Tomorrow...

Dishes done; laundry done; pots drying; beds mostly weeded; plants need planting.

I am grateful for my increased energy and ability to walk - better and better!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 17 May 18 - 11:13 PM

Acme, from all your postings it's hard to believe there is still excess stuff lurking around! As you pare back furniture, etc., it can help to think of 'activity zones'. What do you actually do in x portion of a room, or want to do, that needs related 'stuff' to be in that location; a reading corner, a crafts table, changing clothes bench, etc.   Sometimes it just involves clarifying or slightly re-arranging what's already going on, sometimes it can mean declaring a new purpose for a room or part of a room.

Doing fine on the road but now that it's sticky warm, suddenly remembering I deep-sixed summer underwear back on a cold day, one of the rare times I have over-de-cluttered.   Oh well, a little of that happens, hopefully for the greater good of carrying/storing less stuff.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 May 18 - 11:44 PM

Ohio:

There being a shortage of help and funds, I decided not to send all 12 Horde loads of laundry out-- or pay Cameryn to help at a laundromat. And I like doing laundry. So tonight I sorted it all by color and type of filth.

One especially nasty load went first, to get it out of the whole-house's HVAC airflow. I ended up with just one small bag of "best drycleaned" to join the brocade wedding comforter on its way to the perfessionals via car or scooter.

To avoid overloading the plumbing, I expect it will take a week to work through all this-- karma for never bringing a camper full of dirty laundry home after vacation! :-). But since DIL had bagged most of this-- which had been strewn on the floors thruout the house-- it was quite pleasant to see so many long-loved fabrics come out of those bags, that I had thought the Horde had thrown out. Yay! (Especially all those "missing" pillowcases!) There are some badly stained pieces but ammonia can do miracles.

I threw out the clothes and linens Tyler's girlfriend had left behind in her "redecorating" efforts. I suppose if I were sure that Goodwill were within safe scooter range, I might have donated these few items.... but honestly I'm just mad enough to have enjoyed consigning them to a landfill. I think the right word is "disdain."

~S~

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

Dorothy, I guess your household is the kind Michael Moore famously described as the Canadian norm with respect to door-locking -- i.e., not. Having lived so much of my life in downtown Ottawa, the locked front door is still A Thing with me, although Stratford natives find it a bit, um, shall we say, anally retentive. I just smile sheepishly and say, "Big-city habit" and lock it anyway. In an old house, that way one knows that the door won't accidentally fall or blow open because of a weak latch. In a sketchy neighbourhood, that way one knows that the hung-over neighbour has to knock rather than just wander into the kitchen in search of a Bromo-Seltzer (true story).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 May 18 - 10:58 AM

The alarm system Harding chose arrives Tuesday. I think if I need help setting it up, the local Geek Squad will come.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 18 May 18 - 11:59 AM

We have an alarm system that emails us when the patio door is left open for more than five minutes. The neighbours think it's close to overkill, but I think losing the family silver once (October 1983) is warning enough for a lifetime.

On the bright side, the cold I caught in Connecticut last weekend is on the wane and breakfast actually tasted of food (instead of nothing). Having been to the gym already, I shall now make a chicken salad for lunch, fold and stow the bed linen I washed yesterday, and put on another brassée de lavage. (I would rather do laundry in French, a language in which one's socks and underwear are brewed.)

Spring has most assertively sprung in Perth County, and our garden is full of periwinkle and forget-me-nots. How cool is that?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 18 - 02:33 PM

I accidentally left my garage door open earlier this week; I received a call at work from the sheriff who noticed it and asked if I was the one who still lived that that address.

I told him how to use a long stick to reach the button next to the regular door at the back of the garage (so he didn't have to open a gate the dogs could run through) - he never saw the dogs the entire time he was talking to me from the driveway and garage and activating the door closer. So much for my guard dogs! They're supposed to bark (they make friends easily, but they need to start out by barking.) They were guarding their beds in the front room, apparently, watching the inside of their eyelids.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 May 18 - 05:26 PM

Apparently locks and alarms are on topic for this thread because we prefer no unauthorized decluttering. ;-)

~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~

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: 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: 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 - 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 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: 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: 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: 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.