Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

Subject: Declutter & Fitness - 2017
From: GUEST,Don Aslett's Acolyte
Date: 01 Jan 17 - 03:45 AM

Another year has passed, here is the 2016 thread to refer back to. These aren't broken into monthly topics any more, but there are still people who follow them, so one more circumnavigation 'round the planet for the declutter topic here at Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 17 - 02:05 PM

Putting away the holiday decorations is the first move of the year. Not that many in play, but enough that there are several boxes to add things back into, then organize the boxes in the office closet.

Our work holiday seemed to be particularly short this year, with xmas and new year's days both on Sunday. None of the permanent projects (new tile, in particular) was finished this week, but I started shopping around. The idea is to keep working on small projects that move the house closer to being ready to sell, should I decide the time has come. I don't envision it any time soon, and in the meantime I'll enjoy the results of my work.

Sipping tea, looking at a few things that can be completed today. eBay, a little gardening, filing papers (they seemed to push back - hard - every time I tried to organize them this month).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 17 - 02:14 PM

Below is Dorothy's last post from 2016, and lets me ask the question - are you still maintaining a residence or work space at the mill? Will this continue indefinitely, or is the new place meant to completely replace the mill operation one of these days soon?

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Subject: RE: Yet More Clutter's Last Stand - 2016
From: Dorothy Parshall - PM
Date: 31 Dec 16 - 05:10 PM

Beaver:
Looking at a post from last January, I see progress! Snow removal (more today!) and bringing in wood are still ongoing. No wood shed yet but the heavy cover is wonderful.. The snow is holding it down VERY well! The eaves trough without heat cable were an error and the house one has fallen down from the weight of snow and ice. Next year. Sorting through archives has progressed but still has some to go. No potting wheel in the BR; I took it to Montreal to use when there. Sewing machine is on a TV table, repaired!!!! And ready to use. The kiln room is better organized but not optimum yet. **New thought: that new cabinet (below) might work better in there than what is there now. On a warm day, I can pursue this possibility.

The BR, now that the new wall is in and painted!!, has been re-organized with the bookcase across the foot of the bed raised on 12 inch concrete blocks so things can be stored under the bottom shelf and books on 3 shelves – bed width. The bottom shelf is about level with the surface of the bed; there is just enough space to tuck things down there – about 8 cf of storage! The bookcase will prevent the mattress shifting – sort of a footboard! A tall 28 inch wide antique cabinet is next to that and still leaves good room to see out the window. I will finish loading it today and this will clear most of the BR clutter so I can re-organize the other cabinet and HOPE this will complete de-cluttering of BR.

We now have an empty wall space where the ladder to go to the loft. No furniture planned for there until that job is complete. Book shelves may ensue.   

The studio is in torpor. There is about 2 feet of snow on the roof.. I will use it on warm enough days, use the M one when there and the one at the mill when it is warm enough. I am getting quite taken by the concept: "I'm retired, I don't HAVE to do anything!"

.An article in Bancroft This Week gives hope that the Town might find a better space for the library. Might be time to get folks organized, after this holiday, to work with those "in charge" with the aim of supporting a library for the people. New librarian seems positive addition. Maybe we could take him to lunch for a consult.

Auction this am: one $5 cabinet that can go in shed for better organizing OR I can give it to the friend who was also there and transported it for us; it occurred to me too late that she may have wanted it but she "went to the washroom,,," Otherwise, R bought some things for elsewhere. and we netted a nice hand painted wood loon for here.

R is, "as we speak" putting in new light fixtures in the LR so I can use nice light covers which have moved across the country with me. This de-clutters them from storage to useful.

Just agreed: insulate roof next year.

Speaking of which - MAy everyone hae the best possible New Year!!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Jan 17 - 10:17 AM

This year, Himself retires from the army and we move from Ottawa to Stratford, Ontario. We have been in this house for more than 18 years, longer than either of us has ever lived in one place before. I'm a fairly neat person (he's not), but the prospect of packing up books and papers, china and kitchen traps, acres of framed art and God knows what else AS WELL AS the furniture and 144 sections of terracotta drainage pipe that we use for wine racks -- well, I'm so not ready.

The first major project is replacing the kitchen stove, which happens on Friday. The gas technician comes to disconnect the old one on Thursday, so I guess supper will be pizza or something from the microwave -- come to think of it, I believe we still have some venison bourguignon in the freezer. Removing the carcass will be a bit of a challenge, as the kitchen is on the second floor of the house and the space through which the old stove must pass on its way out -- especially the gap between the handle of the refrigerator and the kitchen island -- is only about an inch bigger than the stove itself. Then, as the delivery guys are bringing the new one in, Himself and I will be promptly down on our marrowbones to scrub out the vacated space. After eighteen and a half years of cooking, it's going to be an icky job.

Then the carpenters come in to tear the electricity-devouring light fixtures out of the bathrooms and replace them with something far more modest. They will also repair all the damaged drywall in the house, including the hole in the kitchen wall where a dribble from the leaking roof found a place to pool and wreak havoc. I believe we have been ignoring that hole for some ten years now.

We have a list ...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Jan 17 - 03:34 PM

Montreal:
One of the ultimate clutters is having more than one abode. OR there are more places to put stuff which COULD lead to less clutter, however,...

R lives in Montreal. I detest living in Montreal – noise, pollution and my lack of French. I detest the house; it needs major reno. It is more like indoor camping but if I were camping in MY space, it would be neat and clean. It is unlikely that R will move out of Montreal – business and bro. I have done my best with this place and there is very little cooperation for anything further. R is too busy. And used to it.

The Mill is a dreadful 20,000sf industrial building in a farming area of southern Quebec out of which we have carved a sun room, a beautiful kitchen with no running water, and a bed/sitting room that is moderately comfortable and generally uncluttered. I have a studio at one end of the building, a marvelous window manufacturer has a large chunk in the front and there is tons of storage area that R has dreams of making into a variety of … In the meantime, it helps to have a place to put stuff in a fairly organized way. The mill got bought due to our Friday nights at the Café for the music, which led to a community of friends. Unfortunately, the air is toxic from April until the rainy season due to the chemicals sprayed on corn and soy fields. We go there for the music and I visit with friends and do some pottery. Having a thriving perennial plot and space for veggies but fear the toxins and must wear a face mask in garden times. But no black flies!

Beaver Haven, near Bancroft, Ontario, gets me back to the area in which I lived 17 years, where I have friends, fresh air and quiet. The 600sf house provides a wonderful shelter in a great area. R also loves being there and I becoming part of the community. I have a small studio and do get some pottery done when the weather is warm enough. We have two storage sheds and a large outhouse. We have two raised beds for veggies and more planned. R plans to build a library – maybe next summer – 10x10 and 2 story. With no windows but the door and skylights. (10x10s do not need permission.)

In the latest 10 day stay, we attended 2 community Christmas dinners, the monthly open mike music night, and an antiques auction, visited the art gallery so R could see our friend's wonderful art, but mostly just hung out. R enjoyed doing small jobs: this trip, the sewing machine, two new light fixtures in the LR, snow clearing, wood hauling, and pie with the neighbour who has taken it upon himself to blow the (very short) driveway!!!! The re-organized BR looks good, a couple paintings are hung, an ugly and unnecessary florescent light removed, two more towel racks in the bathroom, and I may have forgotten…. R read 3 books and relaxed.

I will prob go back to Beaver in a week, depending on weather (dow) and stay a week or so - dow. So, we sort out our own peculiar way of life. We both prefer to be there but he needs to be in Montreal, and we each need/want to spend time together. The big clutter is schlepping things hither and yon, slowly becoming more routine as there is a special bin-to-go. The washing machine is at Beaver, and an oven that works. The wonderful washing machine at the mill can only be used in warmer months and the one in Montreal still needs the burst water line repaired – a pointless job considering the needed reno. Maybe we NEED 3 abodes!! I am certainly happier having one that is fir for habitation in a beautiful area where I have dear friends.

Good thing I am retired!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Jan 17 - 12:48 PM

Montreal:
Finally succeeded in de-clutteringmy body of a nasty respiratory things AGAIN. When I finally came to terms with "I am really sick" I upped the Pau d'Arco and went to bed. It was a week long malaise and effectively precluded most activity. R kindly took me to a grocery store where we could get edible foods. It was to his advantage! Then I went back to bed. Celery soup has been his mainstay this week though I managed to produce good BFs.

Today feeling almost normal and not wobbly. Too cold in the house to do much. Still dosing myself and keeping warm in front of heater. Want to be at Beaver but need a few more days here to recover. R is being very solicitous.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ranger1
Date: 09 Jan 17 - 02:19 PM

Hauled a large batch of recycling off last week, and the back of the car is currently full again, and will be emptied when I go pick up Jason at the bus stop later. Fridge needs a major cleaning out (hello compost pile!) and the floors need a good sweeping/vacuuming, thanks to Beau's toy-shredding habits. There's less fluff now, though, since I've discovered that he's perfectly happy with the de-fluffed pelts.

I've also been bringing home the cardboard open-topped boxes that the clementines come in that a lot of customers don't want (the clementines are in mesh bags in the boxes) and using them to organize my cabinet space. So far, the large containers of spices have been organized, next up is the large collection of food storage containers.

We got a large ceramic jar with a top that seals for dog treats, and that has gotten the multitude of bagged treats off the counter and in one spot.

Now I just need to get the mountain of laundry taken care of. The laundromat in town has a very poor heating system and it is so hard to muster up the enthusiasm to go in when it's as cold as it's been the past few days.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 17 - 05:48 PM

Tami, you're using the classic "early orange crate" method of organizing, on a smaller scale with the clementine boxes.

I'm working my way through paper, filing, shredding, or putting a few in an action pile that actually are useful right now. When it's so cold outside, this is a perfectly acceptable activity - come spring it's difficult to make myself address paper issues at all if I can be out in the yard instead.

The last of the holiday decorations are down, except I think I'm going to leave a couple of the colorful strings wrapped around a limb that I have standing in the corner of the room. I was going to cut it up (it fell into the yard from next door when the crape myrtles were trimmed) and realized it was actually a beautiful shape. I have a large pot full of limestone gravel holding it in place, and strings of lights running all around it. Mostly I use the clear LED, but now I have some colored LED lights as well. You don't really see the colored strings at all when the white ones are turned on, and the revers goes with the colored ones on and the clear unplugged.

I can see floor in my office and some of the desktops. Progress.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 09 Jan 17 - 05:52 PM

Wow, Charmian, you must like wine!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 08:40 AM

Yes, Thompson, we like wine. We also like dinner parties, which tend to involve wine, and French food, which also frequently contains wine. On the other hand, a fair few of the sections of drainage pipe are unoccupied; I think our current holdings stand at about five dozen bottles.

No new stove for us. The gas technician came on Thursday, took one look at the current set-up, whipped out his tape measure and declared it Not Up To Code. Alas, according to the most recent revision of the Canadian national building code, a gas-fired stove must have 30 inches of clearance above and to the sides of the cooktop. In our current kitchen, that would mean ripping out three cabinets, finding a new home for the very large microwave oven, and installing a new exhaust hood ten inches higher than the current one. What is wrong with the current one, you ask? Well, its light sockets contain flammable plastic! Who knew? Not I.

So the plan did not survive contact with reality. What a surprise.

On the phone with Sears, I cancelled the delivery and "returned" the new stove with which I had quite fallen in lust. We will replace the old one later in the sell-the-house project, with an electric job that does not call for extensive surgery on the overhead cabinets. It won't be my kitchen any more, so Not My Problem.

Meanwhile, the foul weather of an Ottawa winter has given the carpenters a Very Good Reason to cancel their date with us today, so the contents of two bathrooms are scattered throughout the house. All my need-for-order nerves are tweaking like crazy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 10:58 AM

Bloody code. For the same kind of insane reason it has been decided that all gas hobs should have inlets on the right, which means I can't replace my old one and have to change to electric.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jan 17 - 07:49 AM

The companies that sell electricity in my state can all be accessed through one state-run website, and they all have to provide basic information (do they have a base charge the power usage is added to? What is the charge if you use up to 500 kWh, 1000 kWh, or 2000 kWh or above? Do they let you pay by credit card, do they charge extra for that privilege, or must you let them take their fee out of your bank on their own?) There are some with ridiculously low offers in one area, offset bit ridiculously difficult to calculate fees in others that actually make it more expensive. There ought to be a law . . .

Anyway, I did a lot of math this week and chose to go with the company owned by Berkshire-Hathaway. They have the simplest statement of facts, the easiest offering, and don't gouge if you want a plan for two years instead of one. Warren Buffet's common sense trickles down into his company's holdings. Every year or two I change companies to get those lower introductory offers. The savings is significant, but I do have to do the research. (When I moved in here and connected with the default large state power company, I had bills upward of $350 during the highest heating or cooling months; now my highest bill never reaches $150, and during much of the year it is in the $50 a month range. It is worth it.)

Still sorting, filing, and shredding paper, and I have to put a few reams into my paper cabinet. For xmas I try to give totally practical gifts along with a few more targeted personal ones. This year I bought a case of good bright printer paper and gave a couple of reams each (brightly wrapped!) to family. And have a lifetime supply left over. So paper is a never-ending occupation around here.

Time to plant the potatoes and see about some onion sets. The chard took a hit with the freezing weather but a few survived, so I'll weed around them and apply more mulch. Year round there is always something that can be harvested or consumed out in the garden. Right now there are lots of herbs and a few straggler onions from last year.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 14 Jan 17 - 07:44 PM

I have been cleaning things out slowly. One drawer at a time. Maybe one group of items a time. It's all I have time for these days as I have returned to a full time job. :)

I thought that maybe we would fall behind on the care of the house now that I'm not home on a full time basis but that just isn't the case. We are a well oiled machine when it comes to staying on top of the daily chores which makes me most happy. :)

I've donated several boxes of things over the last few weeks, making room for the new or perhaps just making space for the sake of making space. :)

I hope all is well with everyone!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 16 Jan 17 - 01:14 PM

Montreal

I thought I had beat the malaise but I slacked off on treatment and it hung on. I THINK it is finally beaten back but will not slack off yet. Not much has gotten done. This house is beyond me but I did manage to keep warm and make soups. Went to the Mill on Friday but too cold to do anything but lunch with Geri and music at the Cafe. R made it down for music and we came back to city. I have managed to keep us fed and dishes washed.

Yesterday, R did a major de-cluttering in the LR. All I asked was to clear the paper off his chair; off the K table would have been nice also. However! Those did not happen. We have considerably more floor showing and there were many trips, by him, taking books to 2nd floor. The top of the huge buffet is cleared of "stuff" and looks civilized with a row of glass vases across the back and some other pretties.

The upper cabinet we rescued from the trash last week is against a wall (as a lower, not upper!) and ready to hold the new TV. He cleared a bunch of stuff out of the under-the-stairs closet. But it is still inaccessible as things were piled back in the doorway - I heard a mumble that indicated this might be improved (what year?).

When the new TV is in place and working???? Then the big old monster can leave.I shall have to re-arrange the electric cords and lamps to suit the new chair arrangement. The table the TV is on can be a coffee table, the air cleaner in better spot and ... HOPE!

It is a great improvement. The next phase may happen - sooner or later. Anyway, the weather may go to or above freezing so I can go to the laundromat and grocery (refused to leave house during cold weekend) and start a pot of the veggie chili I have not made in a couple years. That first!

Thankful for the air cleaner which collects the dust that was disturbed yesterday. That was a 12 hour job - he read a lot! I just sat with the computer, next to the air cleaner and hoped the dust did not get to me. And fed us. I could not help; it was his stuff. I basically hid out - in the LR while it went on around me. Oh, I am afraid to see what the upstairs room looks like - not my monkeys!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 17 - 01:35 PM

Michelle,

Congratulations on the new job and on seven years cancer free. When you look back, I think you'll remember much more the joy of raising Jeremiah and the cancer fight will recede (as it should). What a stroke of genius that the state should ask you to raise that wonderful boy right at the time they did! (I am 17 years out, and as scars fade, so do the scary memories.)

Dorothy,

I have a friend who moved from here out to Arizona several years ago, and after a large garage sale one thing that didn't sell I claimed (as no one else had room for it) was her heavy-duty coffee table that used to hold her old monster television. It lived in the room where they held a weekly Movie Night. It has scratches but every time one of the family comes over they fondly look on that table, now in front of my sofa (my television is on the fireplace hearth).

I'm still thinking about the tile for floors in the bathrooms, the sun room, the laundry room, and one closet. I want to keep working on these projects to finish what I started. I'm thinking the house needs some foundation work before much more is invested in tile, but foundations are horribly expensive to stabilize. Home ownership isn't for the faint of heart!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ragdall
Date: 16 Jan 17 - 10:41 PM

My decluttering so far this year has mainly consisted of removing the unwanted snow from areas we need to use dail, the driveway, walkways, stairs and deck. In preparation for the warmer weather and deeper, heavier snowfalls expected, last week I used our big gas snow blower to cut trails through the snow to various destinations in the yard, the grandchildren's "tree house", the compost boxes, and out along the side of the house to the front yard and driveway.

Indoors, I went through the pantry cupboard and removed items that were well past their "best before" dates.

I'm planning to have a photo book printed to commemorate our thirty-five years together, this April. I've been working through old photo albums, scanning family group photos and several "memorable occasion" shots from each year. Four years completed, only thirty-one to go.

Because there were some years that prints didn't make it into albums, I revisited my photo print organizing project. Last week, at my church ladies' unfinished projects group, I managed to arrange one shoe box of prints into salvaged envelopes that I'd labeled by year. I'm hoping that I can sort the rest in the coming weeks and put them into albums.

I'm considering how to dispose of extra copies of photos of family members that were never sent to their intended recipients. Doing so would free up quite a bit of space. I'm leaning toward running them through an empty shredder, then disposing of the shredded bits in the rubbish bin as I don't think the coating would be acceptable in the recycling.   

After I had a look at the four years of scans on a bigger monitor, I was very disappointed when I saw that, in spite of using an old towel to wipe both the scanner and the photos, there are many white specks on the images. Removing those will require much time consuming editing. Also I'm afraid they are not a high enough resolution to print well in a book. Not sure if I can find another way to do this project?

Christmas is still very much present in our home. The creche, tree, wreaths and stockings remain in the same places they held on Christmas Eve. The boxes needed to store them in the attic are still beyond my reach in the attic because I injured my "better" knee when I hefted the big snowblower around. Now I cannot climb a ladder to get the storage boxes down, or to carry them back up and stow them away again. Oh well, it does make the living room more colourful and cheerful on these cold dark winter days.

rags

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jan 17 - 07:56 PM

Rags, if you scan at 300 dpi you will have something a printer can work with. The higher the better as far as getting detail and lots of pixels to work with.

Another option is to take the negatives, if you have them, and have a photo store scan them digitally and make a disk with as high a resolution as possible. There should be less dust. I can give you tips about the specks on the images - send me a PM with your email and we can talk about it. This is one of the things I do at work.

Those snow blowers sound like they're kind of fun to use - more dramatic than the comparable task of mowing the lawn with a power mower. Injury while operating isn't great, though. Rest that knee so you can resume your usual activities.

I cleared off my kitchen counters and table this weekend, and hope to keep them looking good till next weekend when friends are coming over for lunch. And I have a couple of stools and chairs I need to glue and put a nail or screw into to strengthen them. My kids were here during the holidays and identified all of the wonky seating and left things upside down in place, so I know which ones to work on. Don't you just love how straightforward family is at times? It was a help, a way to remind me I need to do this.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jan 17 - 08:04 AM

Photos ... Oh, God, so many photos. Yet another of the jobs I should have been doing for an hour a day but neglected so I could read instead. I must have forty years worth of negatives to scan, all carefully jumbled up in an accordion file where they will most certainly stay for the foreseeable future.

The carpenters are hard at work here on Old St. Patrick Street, and our third floor -- one study, two bedrooms and two bathrooms -- is chaos. Arie and Ron, the carpenters, are neat and careful, but everything does have to be pulled away from the walls, and they do have to patch and sand and patch and sand again before even the first coat of paint can be laid. It all takes time, and I hate every minute of it -- not least because I know that every completed room takes us that much closer to putting the house on the market and getting ready to leave Ottawa. The carpenters are amazingly tolerant. I think they've been through this before.

Himself is now two months out from his last day in uniform, and his agenda is filling up with pre-release obligations. Yesterday it was the dental unit, where he was told to use an incredibly expensive fluoride-intense toothpaste because he has "exposed roots". Long in the tooth, are we? Gettit? I hope he makes a date with Clothing Stores soon, for I would love to get the last barrack box out of the cellar, with its contents of desert-pattern combat clothing and winter warfare snugglies. At least the sleeping bag suitable for nuclear winter has gone back, along with the Kevlar helmet, flak jacket and load-carrying equipment. Now, if only he could be persuaded to re-home the accumulation of combat boots. Imelda Marcos had nothing on your typical old soldier.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ragdall
Date: 21 Jan 17 - 07:48 AM

My trail blazing with the snowblower backfired on me. Instead of getting a large amount of additional snow, we got warm winds and rain. Snow melted, the paths flooded, blocking my access to compost boxes etc. and seriously upsetting my neighbours' cat, who claims my yard as her own, and wasn't able to conduct her usual tour of the perimeter. Thankfully, the flood has mostly disappeared and temperatures have returned to below freezing again. Winter will resume.

My knee responded well to resting it. I managed to dismantle the Christmas tree and stow it away for the next ten months or so, along with most other signs of Christmas.

Acme, Thank you for offering to help with the dust specks. I don't know how to tell if it scans at 300 dpi. The specs for the printer says: Optical Resolution   1200 x 2400 dpi. I'm assuming that is the output for a document the size of the scanning screen? My scans of small photos are as small as 500 x 700 dpi.

I haven't made time to get back to scanning. I've been trying to think of other possibilities, including giving up on the idea completely, or limiting the project to the post digital camera years. Before I give up completely, I may try to can set up my camera and rephotograph the prints?

rags

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ranger1
Date: 21 Jan 17 - 09:28 PM

Decluttered two inches from around my waist since August. House is still a disaster.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 22 Jan 17 - 06:35 PM

Digging into general clutter today. It was not my plan, but wound up boxing up 3 vacuum cleaners to donate now that the place is carpetfree. Yes, now that I count them I realize they should have moved on long ago, but, here we are, admitting stupidity. Still have the shopvac for big jobs, and the tiny stick vac I got for the RV is much more fun to use for little ones. All this is neither here nor there, except sheesh that liberates several square feet of floor space.

Rags, I wasn't able to get all my photos digitized til I got my hands on a sheetfeed scanner. Mine is a ScanSnap, it would shoosh through a packet at a time and let me sequential number with a prefix like 'Easter 2002'. They are not super cheap, but if you can get your hands on one, it would really help with your project. Only thing I use a flatbed scanner for any more is for delicate stuff I'm afraid to shoosh.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 Jan 17 - 07:47 PM

Montreal:

De-cluttered my mind of concern for Beaver by phoning dear Dan and asking him to check on things. He kindly did so and watered the plants. sent me a text. A great relief to know the pipes are not frozen, the studio is not a pancake from the 2 feet of snow on roof and the plants are alive. Once again, I had brought the african violet with me, wrapped in its shawl; it is blooming nicely.

Have recognized that my malaise is long term and, although the cough is mostly gone, the lack of energy persists. I did manage a bunch of thrift shop visits last week, collecting very nice comforters for the house in the Laurentians which is due for first tenants on 26th. We also spent Friday at IKEA collecting other essentials. Tomorrow, the house and my car will be de-cluttered of a huge pile of stuff. R and crew will go up to get it in order. I shall stay home and do almost nothing - again.

Other than that, all the promises of piles of papers being organized have come to naught. Getting a 6 BR house with indoor swimming pool and 3 saunas ready for Airbnb rentors is taking up R's time and energy.

Tired of eating the same stuff all the time, I went berserk - I need something different! There were brussel sprouts in the frig so I googled and put together what i had with a few recipe ideas and we had a sort of brussel sprout/onion/chicken stir fry with blue cheese and heavy cream as a sauce. delicious!

Finally recognized in the last couple days that cookies do an immediate job of clogging sinuses. Will I be able to eliminate them from diet????

I manage to maintain moderate organization for the most part. Cleared some shelf areas for R to use when he gets to it. The buffet is still civil, the new TV not in place...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jan 17 - 09:57 PM

I've kept the kitchen counters and small table free of clutter for several weeks, mostly since I've had houseguests and made myself pick up and put away instead of letting things pile up. One of my few "resolutions" for the year, formed recently and not on New Year's Eve, is to continue this practice.

I'm also making myself do at least one new eBay listing a day this week, to start moving the things piled on a table I recently moved into the sunroom so I could clear my working space to do those listings. I want all of this photographed, described, packaged (all but sealed - ready to go when someone buys it) and listed so I can move that table back out of my way. The cash will also be welcome as I'm resuming the frugal "no spend challenge" again this month. I did really well for about eight of the 12 months last year - but those four months were monsters! Everything from dog surgeries to a new air conditioner compressor, car repairs, and finally, a new vehicle. Oy.

Patty, you need to be very careful with those scanners that feed documents. And I don't think you can get very high resolutions from an item that is moving across a very narrow scanning area. Those are good for snapshots that don't matter, but the flatbed scanner is every archival librarian's first choice when it comes to preserving important photos, negatives, and documents. The good news is that you can get a pretty good flatbed scanner new, with the software for $150 or less (you might even want to shop software first, decide what kind you want to use, then find scanners that come with it.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Jan 17 - 11:54 AM

Montreal

My energy seems to have returned. For now anyway. Rejoicing in the house and car being emptied of mountain of stuff, I went off foraging for groceries yesterday and did every shop in a largish mall looking for a new item of clothing - a loose fitting shirt, tunic/tent, SOMETHING to camouflage the hips I am simply NOT getting rid of.

Out of a couple dozen stores, only one had a nice big cotton shirt that was perfect - but too small. I checked the brand on line and, although it appears to be based in Montreal, no info on products... SO, this morning I snitched a shirt of R's. He won't miss it and it will work for now. It has snowed about 2 inches in the last hour or so on top of ice that dropped just before; I ain't going no where!

R stayed over up north so... I put clay on plaster bat to dry, had a hot bath, sorted out an upcoming CC payment while on a call to complain about telemarketing call as I was getting out of bath, and had a light BF. Did some sorting in the K, eliminating a couple excess containers. Thought about what can be put in awkward-to-get-to cabinet that R cleared AND washed for me. Will be looking for WHAT ELSE can I do today? I COULD walk to the laundromat and do that, maybe. (Lights just flickered!)

Actually, those mini sortings add up to a good bit of clearing as well as hope.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 17 - 01:56 PM

eBay listings coming along. A couple of things have sold lately so I labelled and mailed them - and from there got started with listing newer items.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jan 17 - 11:55 AM

The contractors are patching the walls and painting in the kitchen today, so the entire house is all of a doodah. Last night, I emptied the cabinet where we keep our way-too-copious collection of glassware, and this morning I cleared the counters and removed literally every piece of furniture that I could pick up. Consequently, the dining table, the sideboard, the front ledge of the china cabinet, and every surface in the sitting room are covered with wine glasses, bottles of booze, beer steins, cooking equipment and large food-storage crocks.

The cats hate-hate-hate what's going on. So do I.

But the real estate agent came around on Monday to check up on progress and talk about timings, and we agreed that the house goes on the market on the first day of Spring, which happens to be a Monday this year. It is also the day after Himself turns 60 and becomes a civilian, and the clock starts running down the time we have to complete this move. One of the most valuable benefits Himself is entitled to on his retirement from the Army is a full-cost move to our destination of choice (within Canada), but we have to get it done and all claims submitted, within a year of his release date.

The bedrooms and bathrooms are patched and painted. The kitchen is under way. In the rest of the house, only the baseboards, window frames and trim are to be painted, but that still means moving every single piece of furniture, including a ridiculous number of bookcases.

On with the show. This is it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jan 17 - 08:32 PM

Having a target date to finish probably helps pace yourselves, Charmion. To where within Canada are you considering moving?

More items are on eBay, a couple of sales shipped this week, and several parcels need to be shipped to friends. One package no longer needs to be shipped because I delayed for so long that the friend is visiting in town this week. I'll give it to her in person on Friday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 26 Jan 17 - 09:17 AM

Also getting that 'this is it!' feeling, the bedrooms are done, the main rooms yet to be painted. Have hauled out more bags of trash from the shop building, am sorting and purging lots of 'stuff'.   I'm afraid to call a realtor til the place is tidier, which is hard when you're sorting/purging/listing things, but I guess that needs to move to the top of the list.

Acme, I have a flatbed scanner, and use it for very old or special photos. It took forever to scan a few hundred old photos. I get amazing resolution with the modern sheet feed scanner, which takes 1/20th the time to do, so I got thousands done. My colleague has used one to do all the publications for his agency with great results. Maybe you're thinking about the old first generation sheet-feeders, they were pretty lame.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jan 17 - 09:23 AM

Yes, Acme, a deadline concentrates the mind mightily. I have disliked the state of the kitchen for at least five years, but only the imminent sale of the house could force me to pull my finger out and get the work done.

Our destination is Stratford, Ontario, the seat of Perth County and home of the Stratford Theatre Festival. It's a nice little town of just over 30,000 population, just close enough to Toronto to allow weekend jaunts for shopping and shows, but far enough away that house prices are still almost sane. It's also within easy visiting distance of Himself's extended family, which comprises what feels like dozens of nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews, all spread out along the 401 highway from Toronto to Windsor.

The kitchen is back to rights, after some two hours of trotting back and forth with trays of glassware and armloads of cooking tackle. I also improved the last hour of daylight yesterday by scrubbing the floor, my second-least-favourite job (after cleaning the oven). Himself came home from work just as I was hauling in the last of the wine glasses (yes, we have too many), and all I had to say to him was, "Pizza for supper. And beer."

The huge mirror in the front hall -- seven feet tall, Victorian plate glass and mahogany, probably once the property of a Montreal haberdasher -- has been taken down from its bracket and propped up against a bookcase full of British Empire history. Fresh plaster has been applied to the jeezly great holes in the wall where its enormous anchor bolts were sunk into the studs, and the carpenters are due around lunch time to sand, patch again, sand some more, and patch yet again. The real estate agent wanted it dismounted and squirrelled away before any potential buyer saw it and assumed it came with the house, but now I'll actually have to pay attention to ensure that I don't button my coat skew-whiff.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 30 Jan 17 - 08:00 PM

Montreal

Charmion is going to have a pretty clean slate when she moves to new quarters; she can choose carefully what actually gets unpacked. Of course, sending things to elsewhere before moving is best - for all that we can bear to part with.

I de-cluttered my life on Friday morning by breaking the left ankle. The right foot hit a bit of black ice and flew out in front of me. The left one stuck on the tarmac and I had the fairly unique experience of watching my foot fold up toward my knee. One full day in emergency and two in bed recovering and this morning I wanted to jump out of bed and make breakfast.... R made it - again. But I feel better and can maneuver around with the borrowed "Cadillac" walker. Just the skill we each need!

Well, about the de-cluttering:R has cleared the house to make way for a walker! Some good comes from... The house is a MESS!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Jan 17 - 09:15 AM

Oh, Dorothy! How awful!

Some 30 years ago, I broke my left ankle while getting out of the car in an icy parking lot. Four years later, I broke the right one in an incident eerily similar to what you suffered. I'm sure you have received loads and loads of good advice already, but here comes my two cents: don't be in any hurry to put weight on the recovering joint.

The routine task I found most difficult was cooking: as long as I was on crutches (ten very long weeks), all I could do was stand at the stove and stir -- fetching and carrying were not possible. Number two was bathing: getting in and out of the bathtub required a fair amount of upper-body strength and no little skill.

But you're right about the decluttering effect. When you can't, you can't, and that's that. I'm sure Roger's cooking skills will meet the need, and I hope you're better than I was about nagging from the sofa.

Our carpenters have finished their work and I paid them on Friday, thus decluttering our bank account of a substantial sum. Now we wait for Himself's all-important meeting with the Release Section at National Defence Headquarters, when he gets the all-important Relocation Package and we find out precisely what the Crown pays for -- and what it doesn't.

If this move is anything like what we went through before, it would be best if we shed as much stuff now as we can. When the packers come and the house is full of cardboard and newsprint, we will quickly lose track of what is where -- that is, if we ever have anything resembling track. I look around the cellar and despair; some of the boxes down there were packed 25 years ago, when my father died, and haven't been touched since except to shift them from his cellar to mine. There are also three cartons of cassette tapes (we don't even own a cassette tape player any more) and two milk crates full of ancient, battered LPs. I can't remember the last time we cranked up the turntable that is still hooked to our stereo, but Himself would weep real, salt tears if I proposed parting with them.

Oy, veh.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 31 Jan 17 - 01:55 PM

Been a bit distracted lately by political events, my sister's medical situation, and then getting hit with The Cold (which everybody else seems to have already had).

Occasionally when one is lying awake at 3:30 in the morning, the mind actually does some good thinking and organizing and comes up with some good ideas. (This has happened exactly once, I think, in my life -- but it was a week or so ago.)

One of the ideas was to deaccession several boxes of magazine clipping -- photos and artwork -- that I used to use for collage projects such as covering storage boxes, portfolios, pocket folders, clipboards, etcet, etcet. Some great and colorful stuff but...I'm not really doing this anymore. And when I do, I've been using maps instead.

Asked the likely recipient, a very creative and artistic friend, if she'd be interested and, since she's been working on making figures she calls "Entities" and selling them from her Etsy shop, she declined. Just emailed another friend who runs a large daycare/preschool and has taken other paper craft materials for school projects.

I really would prefer to give them to someone who can creatively use them, but I'll try to wrap my brain around throwing them out if I have no takers. I may not have grown up in New England, but Tom always said I was born a Yankee -- I really hate throwing out something that somebody somewhere can use.

Got to go chip some more ice off the deck and steps. That's what happens when a cold slaps you down the day after several inches of "wintry mix" arrives on your doorstep.

Linn

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Feb 17 - 06:16 PM

Montreal ---INDEFINiTELY! Phooey.

Phoned Dan and he will check on house and water plants. also told him of a new spring project: extend the walkway to west end of studio, build an 6-8 foot deck with weatherproof cabinet for two small kilns. R has acquired a kiln rated extension cord! This will de-clutter a big portion of the shed by house for more accessible storage,

Now to find someone to empty the mailbox.

Re-scheduled appointment to get cataracts checked to April so save R two days of tripping to take me. Hope to be able to drive by then.

Tomorrow to hospital for xray to check on healing; hopeful as I have been VERY careful (Charmion!). This will greatly de-clutter my mind as the thought of surgery for a pin is most distressing.

AS for the house: we are gradually coming to terms with what needs to be done and how to keep me eating without driving R into more stress. IT is chaos but there is a path for the walker. R will move the microwave a a spot where I can access it.

On the plus side, I have avoided all sweets ad choc since last Thursday and am eating very carefully. Hope to keep on.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Feb 17 - 08:16 PM

Linn, if you box all of the craft stuff maybe you can donate to a shelter or a daycare center or even thrift store?

Dorothy, did you have to have surgery on the ankle, or did they simply set it?

I fear I will soon be minus one dog. My old pitbull Cinnamon is today looking unhappy, has more lumps under her coat, is moving slowly, and tonight she didn't eat her dinner, not even a few pieced offered by hand. I think the lesions removed last summer were cancer, and they're catching up with her. I'll let her sleep on the foot of the bed tonight and see how she is in the morning, but I refuse to prolong her discomfort (she's 13 or 14) when medical intervention would only give her a few days or weeks, and those not quality days or weeks. I told the kids, and my son just emailed saying he saw that she was "worse for wear" when he was here earlier this month and he said his goodbyes then. Maybe I'm the last to see it, since I've been with her every day and the decline is gradual.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Feb 17 - 08:29 AM

Dorothy, if you have avoided surgery thus far, you have been very lucky -- and I hope you continue to be. Both my ankle fractures were complicated, with bits of bone all over the place, so I got "open reduction and fixation" -- i.e., surgery plus screws and plates -- followed by a week in hospital and a long convalescence made miserable by Ottawa's icy winter. For each foot, I had to have follow-up surgery within five years to remove the hardware, yet more fun and games. The scars were rather stunning for some years but they have finally faded to faint silver traces.

Yesterday we went to see the financial wizard who handles our retirement savings. I'm always amused by my intense desire to be patted on the head and congratulated for my bourgeois impulse to squirrel away as much cash as possible and duck any potential for debt, and Mr Smith obliged nicely. It seems that we won't starve as long as the Canadian government keeps to its end of the bargain on military pensions, and our savings will permit us to continue attending folk festivals as long as our digestions will stand the rigors of road food.

Acme, I'm sorry to read that your dear dog is failing. Several years ago, one of our cats died of cancer while we were away (at a folk festival, oddly enough), and I've felt guilty ever since that I failed to realize she was so close to the end. You clearly won't make the same mistake.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Feb 17 - 01:25 PM

She perked up to her old self today, but now that I look at her more closely I see she walks more slowly, and has those bumps, so we're going through that stage of good and bad days. When she has more bad than good days, I'll have to make the decision.

My goal to keep the kitchen tidy pays off in making my days and weekends easier - preparation to leave for work smoother, and weekend projects don't require the clearing of stuff.

I have to test the new steam cleaner, but first have to vacuum. My house is a sea of dog hair (and it isn't even shedding season yet).

eBay is moving along, I've built up the balance in my PayPal account and that encourages me to keep up the listings. Success breeds success.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Feb 17 - 01:50 PM

Acme, just wanted to say I'm so sorry your Cinnamon is declining. We recently had to make the decision to have our cat Minty put to sleep, and in spite of it being entirely the right thing to do, I know how heartbreaking it is. It helps us to concentrate on the very happy life he had, and the really lovely little moments we shared. I so feel for you.

About the decluttering, I always do a massive attack on the filing cabinet in the study every January. Two huge drawers with quite neatly arranged folders, but over the year they get more and more stuffed full of papers. This is only for running the house, our car and other documents (Tax and so on). But the amount of A4 bits of paper gets silly. I weed out all but the most essential stuff and do one file at a time. By the time I've done only the first drawer, there's a massive pile of paper to get rid of. It can't be recycled because there may be details of accounts etc so it all has to be shredded piece by piece. Our electric shredder overheats after 5 sheets, so this process takes literally weeks! I'm nearly at the end of the second drawer now. And I've managed to do a financial review at the same time, which is always useful. I'd like to burn all this paper, but our garden is tiny and there's a huge 1000 litre oil tank sitting there. Bit dangerous to burn stuff right beside that!
I remember the time when all this malarkey was unknown. My parents didn't have huge amounts of paper around the place. I'm thinking of employing a secretary and an accountant!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Feb 17 - 12:58 PM

Senoufou, when I pay bills (all are paid online these days) I print the confirmation, but I use the printer's sheet feeder and run each page twice so the next confirmation goes on the back of the first. And I have a couple of accordion-style folders with 12 pockets. Each bill and the confirmation for the month goes in the appropriate pocket, and I keep two smaller envelopes, one for medical and Rx receipts (it moves from pocket to pocket during the year) and a monthly envelope for store receipts. At the end of the year I open the next 12-pocket case after emptying the two-year-old contents into a large manila envelope. That is marked and put on a shelf until enough time passes to shred it. This way, with only two folders in play, I have the previous year's receipts handy in case I need to dig one out to prove a purchase, etc. I used to have a file drawer with a folder for each of the bills and when it got too full I'll shred the oldest, but that was a bulky system because I rarely ever needed to refer back to those bills.

I'm going to set up a station for emptying the vacuum cleaner. Odd as it sounds, and as easy as my new vacuum is to empty than the old bagged Hoover, the dog hair dust still tends to be a problem. So I'm going to line a kitchen-sized lidded trash can with a bag and empty the vacuum receptacle into the can outside. This will probably live beside the house side door (outside). I have a small kitchen trash bin on top of my dryer - all trash receptacles are up out of reach of my Labrador retriever. I recycle most things and have compost, so it doesn't fill very fast and it doesn't need to be large.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Feb 17 - 04:40 PM

Montreal:

VERY tired of sitting. Just looked at yarn on line and realize I do not want or need any such. Maybe R can find some yarn at a thrift shop and I can crochet hats to give away. If he can bring home a crochet hook! He is not hopeful.

Surgery: TEN hours at the hospital: "come back in a week and get an xray" No phone number, no correct paper work and no one knew what to do! R went - "You can't come in here!" - got someone working on it. About 4 pm, the xrays!!! "Can I leave now?" "No you need to see a DR." At 8:30, having spent a VERY uncomfortable day in horrible wheelchair, waiting for name to be called, Asked again - no file here! The paper we had had was gone "We will return it!", they said! Got phone number and name of Dr and went home.
d
Getting in the house (an out in the am) entailed picking up Ephraim, who was waiting at the office, so he and R could pick up walker with me in it and carry it up the 3 steps to the house. NOT fun! BUT! To get as close as possible, R was backing up right on the sidewalk. Police took a dim view and came at us with flashing lights and siren -at 9:30 pm! R and E had a fine time convincing them it was necessary to get the 80 year old into the house!!! I suspect they watched from down the street.

Maybe on Monday, R will manage to connect with the Dr's office and find out if I need surgery?? In the meantime I am HOPING, esp after Charmion's story!

I washed dishes yesterday, on one foot, and washed hair at K sink today - with R standing by. The microwave is accessible and I can get to frig. R is cooking great BFs and we are getting into routines that will evolve as I get stronger. I have started lobbying for a strong railing on those front steps, though winter may preclude much use, if it even comes to pass.

A friend checked the mail at Beaver and is sending needful stuff and will check again in a couple weeks. She will use the coupons!

My bum is still sore from Friday so I need to go back to bed with a good book. which we found in the hospital - a consolation prize!

And I rescheduled eye appointment to April; Although I am anxious to get cataracts checked and dealt with, a two day trip to central Ontario is too much right now.   

And R bought me a wonderful table lamp for my b-day. One part from one thrift shop and the other from another. The shade coordinates with those beautiful ones he installed on the ceiling at Beaver at Christmas. We can de-clutter the lamps we no longer need. Planning for two in the LR here to go to the airbnb house up north.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Feb 17 - 09:06 AM

Today I'm drafting an email to a Stratford real estate agent setting out what we want in our next abode. I find that I've become very picky about domestic technology (what kind of furnace, where the washing machine is installed), but I don't care a rap about fancy bathrooms -- in fact, I'd much rather have a nice, big linen closet than a "luxury ensuite". Currently, I have blankets and table linen stashed in plastic bins only I can identify in the range of shelving in our cellar. Thank God for lavender sachets ...

Dorothy, how are you faring?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Feb 17 - 04:12 PM

Montreal:

Charmion: sounds good that you can state what you require! Hope you have a well recommended realtor! Plastic bins are SO helpful! Labelling them does help!

Up one day, the next I'm down. Half an inch of water....

Trip to Dr on Weds elicits info that ankle is in place but "it could slip any time"!! I thought the cast... Trip was exhausting (de-cluttered ALL my energy!). But Friday I managed to sort and fold laundry that was FINALLY dry. AND washed the dishes. So today I am again de-cluttered! Another set of xrays in ten days and then Dr again. HOPE!

Cold night= cold house so I just stayed in bed today. I hope all this energy is going into healing. I WANT to go home.

LR still looks like a store room. R loses time from work caring for me. But I still keep nudging. Big nudge on which to focus is a railing for front steps (3) as I think I would be able to hop down soon. The stress of being carried in the walker is huge! I need to be able to get OUT!! LIBRARY beckons! Finished The Piano Maker and it was excellent and helped state of mind = took me out of prison. (We only have 2 TV channels; today is sports on one and tripe on the other.)

Adding to chaos: R woke up to the snow removal siren and as he dressed a neighbour banged on door; we were one car from being towed! He was gone an hour; as he sought place to park, fire trucks arrived - lots! - so he went to a hardware store for something but still had to park a distance. Crisis was a gas leak on side street - about 50 feet away! All fixed.

Email from neighbour re public info meeting re proposed quarry on 20 March. I hope we can make it. HEAL ankle, HEAL!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 11:26 AM

Yesterday I ripped several novels into my mp3 player as I continue my shift of drive time listening to novels as I declutter my life of all-day news reports. I get enough radio news in the morning as I brew my tea and in the evening when I fix dinner. The rest is through reading (skimming) during the day. I use Windows Media Player, though it has some problems with how files are organized (if you accidentally lump all of the files together in WMP they're still in their own folders, but they don't play correctly through the player any more and you can't separate them out easily.)

Potatoes beginning to emerge in the garden, and it's time to plant onions. I have a couple of bags of home-chipped mulch in the garage to put down around the onions. I'm thinking it's time to try true raised beds, not just beveled soil mounds.

Meanwhile, there are a number of projects sitting out in plain sight on my dining room table. I need to do something soon since one of those projects is a delayed holiday gift for my siblings.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ranger1
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 04:43 PM

Second snowshoe race of three completed today before the blizzard got going. I am proud of my time - the course had to be rerouted due to an ice storm earlier this winter, so it was a tad bit shy of four miles, and I completed it in 1:07:42. This is more than 30 minutes better than the previous time I ran this race. Granted, conditions were also a lot better this time.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Feb 17 - 08:26 PM

Good job!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 08:05 AM

Excellent, Tami. My toes hurt just thinking of four miles on snowshoes.

I took Himself to the airport this morning, well before dawn, in the lull between phases of our current weather system. Only one car in the snowbank on the Airport Parkway -- and it wasn't us. As I backed through the windrow left by the street plow (whump! skid!), it occurred to me that this was our last pre-dawn airport run. How many over 19 years? Lots and lots.

CBC tells me that the Maritime provinces are in the middle of a huge blizzard fit to bury everybody under some 70 cm of snow. I imagine that Maine is getting the same thing -- Tami, does your house have a snorkel?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ranger1
Date: 13 Feb 17 - 09:22 PM

No, but I do have a window in the loft :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 12:04 AM

We're getting thunderstorms overnight. We don't need a snorkel or window in the loft, but I do have a towel in the corner where a puddle forms because I need to replace a gutter (that would be torn down by the kind of snow you get in Maine - good thing this is Texas).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ranger1
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 12:44 PM

Debating decluttering the roof of some snow before the next storm arrives on Wednesday night. I also need to declutter the path from the cottage to the car again, it filled in last night with drifting snow and is now hip deep. Bleah!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Feb 17 - 08:49 PM

There were puddles of water left near the fireplace after last night's storms. I need to put up rain gutters on the back of the house to stop so much water pouring down onto the chimney that needs repointing. This week, I hope a friend will be available to help with that. We'll buy pre-fab pieces and assemble gutters to carry the water away from the brickwork. While I'm at it, I'll set up one of the gutters to fill a rain barrel for the garden.

My daughter called this morning to say she'd just accepted a job offer. What timing - the last day at her former job was last week on Friday. She starts work later this week. She finished graduate school last spring and has been applying for jobs all summer and fall. We will all scramble to position ourselves to be helpful to her at this time of transition - she has a difficult commute ahead, but I live near where she will work. Perhaps I'll see a bit more of her, if we plan some dates ahead.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 09:02 AM

Snowing again in Ottawa, and our street (a main bus route) looks like a one-lane tunnel. Cars parked on the street are deeply nested in snowbanks thrown up by the city plows. Our neighbour, who has three cars and a garage full of junk, is facing about an hour's worth of heavy labour before he even leaves for work. We are living through our 19th winter next door to that family, and they seem never to have considered clearing that garage so they can actually park in it.

I am now looking critically at the china cabinet with intent to remove from it every article that I know I have never used, and am morally certain that Himself is unlikely ever to use again, if he ever has. Unfortunately, Himself has strong sentimental attachments to such items as a coffee mug from the 2004 Nijmegen Marches, a beer stein from the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters, and a badly designed teapot from the Six Nations Pottery. Don't get me started on the great variety of travel mugs and coffee-making technology, every single item of apparently crucial importance. I'm getting that Gotta Have A Garage Sale feeling.

Acme, how wonderful that your daughter landed a decent job, and it's near you. Texas seems like a place where a long commute is so normal as to be part of the price of employment, along with an expensive post-secondary qualification and a "professional" wardrobe.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Feb 17 - 08:31 PM

She will work at a museum, so her somewhat exotic wardrobe may not be totally outlandish for working there, but she will need some good separates that she can combine for a number of looks. There is a very nice department store chain that has an outlet store here in town, so I'll suggest she try that, though we all tend to head to the thrift store and find remarkably good-condition clothing. She has her undergraduate degree in Theater Arts costume design, so she can modify anything she finds.

Lentil soup is simmering on the stove, an Egyptian recipe that is very simple - water, lentils, grated onion, salt, pepper, cumin, and some lemon juice. The house smells heavenly. The same cookbook has some more elaborate lentil soup recipes, but this is my favorite. This book is such a favorite that I've now given copies to every member of my family - I buy the used hardbound copies for a few dollars since the new paperback version costs about $60. I even have a couple of extra copies of it here in case I want to make a gift, and a paperback one that was sent by accident is at work for reference. We have many middle eastern students and when we get talking about food, this book comes down for consultation.

Search link. I just bought another copy, it was $7 and free shipping. Now I'll have three available as gifts, but I already have a couple of recipients in mind.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 09:54 AM

The Complete Middle Eastern Cookbook looks like a great find, Acme. I already love Madhur Jaffrey (Indian) and Marcella Hazan (Italian) for less-meat-arian recipes, so I just might procure a copy for myself.

I picked over the kitchen cabinets yesterday for crockery that I think we should part with, and it's spread all over the sideboard and dining table in the hope that Himself will agree with me and let it go without argument. Well, not argument; let's call it discussion. The Wedgwood majolica (green, leaf patterns) survived the cut, but only because it's collectible (by somebody else) and the younger generation of Himself's kin group should get first refusal before I find a way to dispose of it profitably. We've had it since Mum-in-law died some ten years ago, and not used it once. More challenging are the clunky hand-thrown dinner plates Himself bought at a long-ago craft show; I hate them because they have the heft and finesse of roof tiles, but that's exactly what Himself likes about them.

Maybe I could drop them off the balcony, by accident?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 11:04 AM

There are quite a few recipes with no meat in that book, Charmion. I found it years ago in a small town where the local chain bookstore had put it in the remainder bin. I moved there after several years in New York City, eating at all manner of ethnic restaurants and ordering a favorite dish over time until I figured out how to make it, then moving to another. This cookbook made it possible to figure out many dishes easily, especially when I was living in a small Central Texas town with mostly just Tex-Mex and faux-Chinese restaurants. I have a garden and when I have a lot of a particular crop I can go to this cookbook and find numerous recipes. It's particularly good for okra and eggplant.

The plates that you don't care for may have collectors out there in the world. That's where eBay comes in handy. I had a couple of plates my sister sent that were out of our mother's house - they were some small southern Alberta manufacturer and when I listed them I made sure they went up in the Canadian eBay listings also. They went to someone who grew up in that area. I'd much rather give each item a cursory exam, learn a little something about it, sell it for a modest price and know that it is going to a new owner who really wants it than dump it all at the Goodwill. I know I'm not a museum, but I learned something about the object, and possibly about the interests of the family member who originally purchased it. On a couple of occasions I've decided to keep the item I've researched, but usually I let it go to it's next home where it will be appreciated.

I think I picked up some of this from Don Aslett's book Clutter's Last Stand. He is a philosopher, not just a house-cleaning guru. He asks why we keep these things we don't need, and helps his readers figure out how to let go. You can usually find that in used book stores, and it will certainly be available through Bookfinder.com.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 01:34 PM

Most of my decluttering these past couple weeks have been of snow on the deck, steps, and car. I even sprung to pay my up-the-hill neighbor's ex-husband to shovel the deck/steps after two of them. This one is only about 5" and comparatively light, so despite my sore shoulder, I'll do this one. And the car. My plow guy will be back later, but I may not go out late this afternoon to the movie at Portsmouth library, so he won't be able to do clean up until I leave for the Press Room tomorrow.

I HAVE reread my letters to and from author Robert H. Rimmer, mostly from the 1970s, and I'm adding significant dates to my personal digital calendar of my life -- I'm sort of reconstructing the ten years of my first marriage. I put a lot of that completely out of my mind. As a result, I'm realizing, I'd forgotten how many poems and other pieces of writing I had published and sold during that time period.

I chose to revisit those letters because they're fairly upbeat. I found that going through another binder of letters from 1969 to about 1980 was putting me into a fairly strange mental space. Maybe, having eased into it from the RHR letters, I can revisit those now with minimal effect from the bad memories.

Linn

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Feb 17 - 05:25 PM

My sister-in-law introduced me to Don Aslett some 15 or 20 years ago, and I've been lightening my load of clutter in stages ever since. This move will be just another opportunity to shed some household bulk.

Linn's remarks about letters reminded me -- the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet needs a good purge before the move. My parents never threw away a letter, and my brother (also a bit of a pack rat) ended up with several boxes of Dad's papers, including every letter I ever wrote over five years of military service during which I cranked out about one per week. Of course, instead of kindly deep-sixing them like a sensible person, he returned them to me. Unlike Linn, I have no desire to visit with my younger self (I can stand only so much cringing), so I'll just shred the lot. Tomorrow would be a good day for that.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Feb 17 - 07:06 PM

Montreal

:ost post. Too tired. Cluttering operation tomorrow on ankle. Ticked off.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Feb 17 - 09:34 AM

I'm sorry to hear you're in surgery today, Dorothy. On the other hand, if you need it, you really need it and I'm glad you're getting it.

Feeling tense as Himself's last day in uniform comes as us like the noon freight. He has contracts to handle three military cases immediately after release, for which he will be paid handsomely, but the news media are full of stories about veterans who wait months and months for their first pension payments because of chaos in the responsible administrations. We have savings, but ... but ... but!

Today, I'm packing up donations: clothing to the Canadian Diabetes Society, tchochkes for the church bazaar. That'll keep me out of mischief.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Feb 17 - 11:47 PM

Dorothy, I'm looking forward to seeing you up and around soon, once that ankle is taken care of.

I've decluttered my mp3 player of some files that were kind of mangled by Windows Media Player. I'm more careful in ripping audio books from CDs to the player so they play in order. I just finished a book and the last disk didn't make much sense - I realized it was skipping around. These recorded books folks aren't very good about giving each disk the same name and not changing the numbering system. I listen to these now during my daily commute, instead of listening to the news each drive. I get enough of that in the morning and I read newspapers.

Gardening weather is here, so I'll be dividing my time between getting set up for garden crops and clearing out the sun room of the things that have accumulated in the last few weeks. Most of it intended for eBay. The allergies have started up, which may affect everything.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Feb 17 - 05:00 PM

By eating about half the portions and no sweetened soda, little bread and rice and more veggies like cabbage I went from 220 to 198 in about 5 weeks.

I noticed stairs are easier.

At 6 ft going below 190 would mean a clothing overhaul.

To hit 170 I would have to halve the portions again. If my type 2 status improves I won't need to go there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Feb 17 - 05:34 PM

Don, good job!

I have a similar project in mind. My job is so sedentary that sitting in front of a computer 8 hours a day (at work) and then more at home to work on my own projects is crippling. Literally. It was when the restless leg bit started at night that I realized I needed to do something - several somethings, in fact.

I cut out all of the alcohol, extra sugar, and salty snacks on general principles. I added magnesium and potassium to my vitamin routine. Next month I have an appointment with my GP for general blood work since we didn't do it at my last physical (different doctor for that). I'm getting more exercise. The restless leg seems to have subsided, but the achy muscles aren't gone yet. I too hope that weigh loss will be a part of this shift in my eating and behavior. Stress is a factor that I can help somewhat by not listening to the news all day long, that's why I'm ripping audio books for my mp3 player. At my work we have a couple of computer stations, tall tables with treadmills and I have a couple of tasks I can do there, so I walk several times a week in addition to an exercise class.

And today was a project for that mp3 player. I have it so I'll use it, though I could load books into my phone as well. One of these days I'll figure out if there is a bluetooth connection instead of a cable to the aux plug, then the phone might be easier. I searched for and found the manual for the Walkman, figured out how to format the drive, and this morning I created an audio book library in my computer to detangle those files from music. And I'm organizing them in folders and loading with Windows Explorer, not Windows Media Player that has a mind of it's own with it comes to syncing files. In the last month I've listened to two fairly long novels and am set to start another. The political news on the radio will keep until later.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 17 - 02:12 PM

The days are longer and that may be contributing to more energy, but whatever the reason, it's progress. I forgot to mention that yesterday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Feb 17 - 04:58 PM

I haven't introduced any exercise for exercise sake. I have too many yard projects and internal decluttering things to do.

I no longer eat a ritual meal just because its time. The only time I feel a little bit hungry is late at night but I think that is a good feeling and easily resist eating after 7pm.

I personally think running is no healthier than sunning. A little tiny bit is fine but a lot is not for me. Enlarged hearts and sunburns are not good.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Feb 17 - 05:26 PM

Depending on how much you have to lose some people may need to cut portions in half then cut that half into a quarter and end up near an eighth of their former portion. The reason is the body will become more efficient with less food so you have to shock it into submission until your mind learns between a 1/8 and 1/4 of huge historic portions is normal.

Of course I still have treats in really small portions. I can not live on no chocolate cake or 4 bites of ice cream from time to time.

If cutting down feels austere you are doing it wrong.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 17 - 08:51 PM

I find alternate day fasting works; it's not a true fast, but one day of "regular" eating then one day when you have one small meal, or a small meal and a tiny snack, of no more than 500 calories. The research show that on the "feed" day you don't eat more than usual so the law of averages works. Eat, Fast, Live Longer is where I learned about it, about 38 minutes into the program he starts talking about this routine.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Mar 17 - 12:26 PM

Montreal:

Thank you for encouragement!

Hope I can get it right this time! Yesterday was a BIG turning point! R went off without cooking our BF -crisis #6 milion! - ao, after a while I decided I could do this! This being getting to the K and cooking bacon. I did a bit of cleaning up and realized that I could put a knee on the walker so some of the weight was off the one leg. WOW! So I texted R that I was fed and OK. Success breeds success so I was in and out of K all day, getting fed and doing little things. And let him know it was OK. It felt GREAT! He had sone some adjusting, getting the antique wood stove out of the way so I can better access that area. So I can feed myself, folded all the laundry, washed ALL the cutlery, and looking to see what else I can manage. This morning, he cooked, I washed. Later, I rolled across the bed to sort out that corner of the BR, sorting clothes and picking out what to wear for our possible weekend excursion.

There is a sense of security that the bones are screwed together and although they will bear no weight, they are not in danger of rattling around.

I am sticking almost 100% to the Keto diet I doubt I have lost any weight through all this but I do feel good and no longer crave choc or cookies. Connie lost 25 on it - the first diet in her life on which she lost weight; if she tries exercise, she gains! But this week she told me tht her husband,who drinks, smokes and eats junk, has, on one keto meal a day, decreased diglycerides (this seems to be important) and improved diabetes status enough that she is amazed and delighted. R has come to terms with it and agreed this am that mashed cauliflower improves the omelet.

My op was excruciating on the day. I accepted, gratefully!, pain med in hospital but took one Tyenol that night at home and nothing but MSM since; it seemed to help but I continue with it and glucosamine sulfate for the shoulders I was ignoring. much better now. The brand new bottle of Tylenol will be going to a new home.

Weds, a knock on the door. I managed to get into walker and to the door to peek. A woman was standing on the sidewalk. She appeared to be reasonable so I opened the door and we started chatting; she was admiring the house. It was cold so I invited her in and we had a great visit. Then she walked home to Nun's Island - 90 minutes! Acme: she lives in one of the first buildings there, by an architect survivor of A. She actually found his signature in a lower level and photographed it before "it was covered up". The name did not make it through to my muddled brain but R will know. We talked on the phone this am, both delighted to have found a kindred spirit; we seem to speak the same language.

The positive aspects of the ankle affair are that R has realized he can cook well, the LR is somewhat more habitable, that darn wood stove is somewhat out of the way, R has been keeping the distilled water supplied- learned to use the distiller.

But I had to change my eye appointment re cataracts and my eyesight is worsening so reading is no longer enjoyable. Thankful that Saul told me how to enlarge stuff on computer!!!!

I hope we can take this weekend break for our friend's memorial and a possible visit to Beaver. Anything OUT of this house is a treat!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Mar 17 - 07:11 PM

First formal arrangements made to sell the house: an appointment with the organization that handles all Canadian Forces moves. They want an amazing array of documentation, some of which makes no sense to me -- why, for example, would an outfit that arranges and pays for household moves need to know the size of the lot upon which our house sits? It's a puzzlement.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 17 - 09:34 PM

It's coming back to me now - some time ago I created a new folder in my mp3 player for audio books. And that time, like this time, it didn't work. The player isn't set to play nicely with new folders, so I had to move the newly loaded books into the existing music folder. I had formatted the player to reload files, and after a confusing drive to work when the newest story I started didn't make much sense I realized the default setting seems to be "shuffle." I listened again on the way home and the book is much more interesting now!

I've shopped around and read reviews for the computer desks that go from sitting to standing work stations. We've had some at my workplace for a while, the type with electric motors, but I found some at Amazon with and without the motors. The manual crank desks have good reviews also, so I ordered one of those (the motorized desks cost about $150 more). It's supposed to arrive tomorrow, and will need to be assembled. I then need to clear an old computer setup in my guest room to make space so I can move my current computer desk in there for the time being. Multiples of monitors, external drives, USB ports, keyboards, mouse, plus the scanner, the printer, a video box for converting VHS tapes to digital AVI files . . . and all of the cables. I'll spare you a description of the rest. It'll be a big job.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Mar 17 - 05:01 PM

Montreal:

Our trip of 50 hours away from Montreal, involved 20 hours of driving time/sitting in the car trying to be comfortable time! R had so much trouble with the night shifts, we vow no more night driving.

A night in a hotel and meals decluttered his finances. But we managed a visit to my 101 year old friend in nursing home - a painful experience as she could only tell me "that name is familiar to me" and requested my address and phone number; she is SO embued with correctness. Well, better that I did get to see her than not. The memorial for our dear friend (70) was amazing with wonderful people and chats with other good friends and the reminder that this person had LIVED LIFE! I hope it encourages R to do more of that. He failed to go on The Canoe Trip last summer. There will be no more with Paul.

We spent a cold night at Beaver and loved waking up to trees and the hills in our tiny house. The wood stove did a good job. Dropped off stuff there that had been cluttering Montreal. When ankle is healed and I can go home, all that will find spots. Picked up a few things I wanted from there and a wonderful box of apples - still in good shape! Did up a BIG pot of them yesterday. Then back to Montreal. Glad we had done it but very tired.

Here, things get a bit sorted as we go along.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Mar 17 - 09:38 PM

My desk is assembled and in place, equipment up and running, with things still needing organizing in the office (that were taken off of the other desktop and haven't found a way onto the new one - yet). I'm awaiting the delivery of an ergonomic rubber mat that is essential when standing on a hard floor in front of the tall desk. Amazon tells me it will arrive tomorrow.

Our weather has fluctuated hot then cold then hot again. I sometimes switch to a down comforter on my bed in winter, but this year I've stuck with layers of blankets. I can peel off however many I need to be comfortable (something not possible with the comforter - you're either cold or way too hot). That ice and snow you describe is the reason why so many people from up there retire to Florida. :)

I'm thinking of doing a Katlaughing maneuver and installing Dragon Naturally Speaking. Do any of the rest of you use it?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: billybob
Date: 08 Mar 17 - 06:27 AM

I have had so much pleasure reading this thread over the years but never felt I could contribute. Not that Billy and I have no clutter , believe me we do! Last year he ,at last, attacked the garage, so full he had to hire a skip. We can actually walk from the back to the front now but still no room for a car. We replaced the doors upstairs recently and of course the old doors are now in the garage waiting for us to work out how to lower the back seats in the new car so we can transport the doors to the tip. See, that's what garages are for a stepping stone for rubbish no longer needed in the house but waiting for disposal. Is that a man thing? Certainly some of my friends have husbands with the same mindset as Billy. Since my lovely mother died a year ago, she lived with us for 5 years and had a bedroom downstairs. I have gradually packed her treasures and boxed them in the attic, cannot part with her memories yet although I have gifted some to my daughter and son and grandchildren, so now her bedroom is a fine sunny dining room and we try to fill it with family gatherings with laughter and fun. The old dining room is now a cosy second sitting room. A place to sit and read, listen to music and have some " me time"
Next week we have Billy's nephew and family visiting from New Jersey, the first time they have been to England, so I have stripped one of the guest bedrooms and painted the walls a lovely shade of palest green. Thrown out an old divan bed ( that actually made it to the tip!!) Found some lovely new cream curtains and decluttered the bookcase, what to do with the books, maybe the local hospice bookshop? Most books I cannot bare to give away, but do we ever read them again?
We thought we should sort out the shower room downstairs so the visitors had free use of the upstairs rooms. Big drama, the shower has been leaking. Even the joists under the floor were rotten so we have had workmen all week replacing the floor and stud wall and installing a lovely new shower with new glass door. Utter muddle but at least I can escape today to the salon to look after some clients!
Just the garden to sort out before the visitors arrive, that will have to be at the weekend, if it doesn't rain.

Hope your ankle is improving Dorothy xx

Wendy

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 08 Mar 17 - 11:14 AM

Montreal:

Wendy! wonderful things happening at your house! Good to get the floor repaired! I have hopes for the ankle; doctor on Friday aft; waiting with almost bated breath!

Never used Dragon but it sounds a good idea. I suspect a new computer is in my future as I have upgraded as much as possible and still get messages that I am sub-par.

I would prefer an ergonomic high stool to standing at that computer table! Standing has never been a strong point for me but I could walk all day. Are you going to have a treadmill under the desk and walk as you work?

Have to admit to momentary feelings of "that's why people go south" when we got to Beaver on Saturday night. But the wood stove did its thing with R feeding it and we survived and enjoyed the quiet and the beauty. And I do NOT do well in heat. There is a propane heater in our future for when I can no longer heft wood into the stove. A couple plants were very dead but most were fine. That the apples did not freeze was a good sign, nor was there ice in the toilet so our space heater system did OK except the breaker on that special outlet (Acme) tripped and Dan reset it. So it got cold enough to freeze the tenderest house plants.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Mar 17 - 08:39 AM

So glad to hear you're able to travel, Dorothy. Do you have a walking cast yet?

The house appraiser came yesterday, poking about and saying Hmmmm a lot. The relocation people require much documentation about our current abode, including an appraisal, a copy of our title deed and a survey of the lot, apparently because one of the benefits we get is coverage of any losses we suffer in being compelled to sell up and move at a time not of our choosing. I'm glad I invested the better part of a week in decluttering, tidying and sweeping the cellar, as that was the appraiser's first focus; he also peeked into every single closet and cupboard on the premises. He made a good impression on Cat 1, who deigned to accept caresses while lolling in his basket like an old-time starlet in a bubble bath. Cat 2, as usual, vanished under the sofa at the first pong of the doorbell.

I have four boxes of glassware and ornaments packed up and ready for transfer to the church, where the main annual fundraiser is a big bazaar in late fall. Five large bags of clothing and three 2-cubic-foot cartons of kitchen traps departed last Saturday, donated to the Canadian Diabetes Association. And this morning, Himself announced that the uniform trousers he has on today will not go to the cleaners', as they usually do at the end of the week, but to the trash ... Next Thursday will be his very last day in the Dominion Tweed so, as of Friday, a significant proportion of the contents of his closet will be excess to requirements.

The last barrack box went back to Clothing Stores last week, stuffed with the last of his paint-by-number wardrobe. The collection of combat boots remains, however, as nothing worn next to the skin or bearing the imprint of a foot can be issued to another person. Consequently, we still have a bit of an Imelda Marcos situation here, along with rather too many hats. I'm keeping the UN-blue Tilley he was issued 20 years ago for Haiti, as it is good for gardening although it is so large that it has to perch on the tips of my ears. The brim is so wide that it covers the back of my neck down to the fourth cervical vertebra, and we've never had another hat that would do that.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Mar 17 - 10:38 PM

Billybob it's always a pleasure to see people get encouragement from these reports of our work toward less congested households. We (I, at least) have to be the slowest declutterers around, but keeping in mind the progress we've made helps avoid refilling the space with new stuff.

Dorothy, we all have our fingers crossed that your ankle will heal completely soon. You'll be ready to go once spring arrives out at the Beaver house.

Charmion, those hats sound intriguing. And my sister swears by Tilley hats (she always takes one when she travels).

I'm slowly sorting stuff I stashed into boxes when I cleared my old desk. I had a stack of books supporting my second monitor on a lower table beside the old desk; it now sits on the new desktop, and have to decide if I'll find space for them or donate them to the thrift store. I see some devices that need to be put away and would like to clear off the second desktop that is a nice piece of plywood supported by two file cabinets and is generally my filing staging area. It doesn't take long for materials to pile up. This winter I'm doing a pretty good job of keeping my kitchen sink from piling up with dishes, but I can't say the same thing about papers on my kitchen table or desktops in my office.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ranger1
Date: 10 Mar 17 - 01:08 PM

Taking a two week break in between jobs. The original plan was to take a road trip someplace, but I think I'm going to make a staycation out of it and work on some stuff in the house. Getting rid of the gigantic pile of laundry, clearing out all of the recyclables, and sorting through and getting rid of a few boxes. My goal is to get rid of four of the boxes piles in my small space by the end of the month.

On the fitness end, I'm wearing trousers I haven't been able to fit into for at lest three years. I finished my three snowshoe races with improved times from the last time I ran them in 2015, and I'm contemplating trying at least the six mile trail race in July, maybe, if I'm feeling up to it when registration opens, I might sign up for the nine mile race in August and the twelve mile race in September. I'll make that decision when the time comes, though.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Mar 17 - 09:58 AM

I think it was here someone asked me about a treadmill at home. No, there isn't room for one, but I have room to move my chair around when the desk is in the tall position and the standing mat in place. I do have access to two treadmill workstations at work, right outside my office, and even just 5 minutes of movement is therapeutic during a sedentary day.

That break between jobs sounds good - the garden is crying out for attention right now. Two weeks would begin to whip it into shape. It's the time of year when my attention shifts from house clutter to garden clutter. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ranger1
Date: 11 Mar 17 - 10:52 AM

That two week break is for resetting my internal clock more than anything else, to be honest. With the change to DST tonight and shifting back to working days from working nights, I'll need that time to adjust back to getting up early instead of sleeping in until 8 or 9 in the morning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Mar 17 - 09:18 PM

Montreal:
Still and probably for another 3 or 4 weeks. It is so delightful to scroll through prev posts to see how folks are doing and be encouraged! Tomorrow is walking boot day! But still cannot put weight on foot for???? HAve a good cane ready. Will not be able to drive! Cannot go home! Cannot feed wood fire. But my energy level continues to improve so I could spend a bit of time in the K today, hopping around with the counter for support. I am getting better and better at hopping!

R is in another period of crisis at work - 16 million machines needing to be moved from A to C by 1 April; he has only had a year or so to do it.... But he did manage to sell off some of them (de-clutter!) so those are gone! OK, so I cannot keep track of the endless number of machines!

I am VERY happy to have realized that the friend's son who wanted to talk to R about Geology, might be a suitable helper in this move. YES! This will be very helpful to him in moving the clutter from one building to another! They stopped about 10 last night.

My increased capability is timely as it saves R needing to come home and feed me! I am almost independent in the house but cannot go out. Not that anyone would want to in this COLD!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Mar 17 - 11:57 AM

While many of you are struggling under the weight of fresh snow and slush, I am anxiously awaiting the completion of repairs on my lawnmower. The grass is above my ankles at this point and he tells me it will be another week. My daffodils have bloomed and an iris near the front porch is swelling, probably to open this weekend.

I have several indoor projects to keep me busy if we have any rain over our long weekend (Spring Break for the academic community, but only a couple of extra days for university staff, not the entire week the students and faculty get). I have a new steam cleaner, probably mentioned weeks ago, that I still haven't tested. And as it happens, my ex has a perfect test for it at his house. Apparently Brazilian beer six packs are made of flimsy paperboard and when carrying two across the living room carpet both boxes broke and there are three dark spots where bottles broke and soaked in. He has continued to be a good friend and supportive in all of the activities of the kids and myself the least I can do is take this over and let him see if it will work to clean up the spots on the new carpet. What you can't pay back with dollars you can pay back with access to useful services and devices. :-/ If I had a house full of carpet this smaller device would be a slow way to clean carpets, but I have two areas with carpet, the rest is tile, so this will take care of it. Renting those clunky cleaners from the grocery store is a pain in the backside and you never know what the last renter ran through it.

I'm switching allergy meds this week after a consult with my GP. The daily tablet apparently doesn't turn off the sensitivity of the nasal mast cells so I'm still sneezing. But using a spray will make them less sensitive, and if I need more than the spray then I can boost it with the tablet. The entire office has been sick and sneezing so this seems to be a particularly powerful allergy season. The result of all of this switching stuff out is that I have a lot of bottles of stuff (I shop at Sam's Club where everything comes in bulk packaging) so I need to rearrange one of the kitchen cupboards to organize all of the extra in a way that I can find them when I need them.

There is a deeply discounted grocery store in town that buys from stores that have too much product, that has quantities near the sell-by-date, etc. They get a lot of excellent high-dollar items that are marked down and shoppers understand that either it keeps well past the shelf date or you're going to use it quickly. Yesterday I loaded up on the good yoghurt, organic milk, cheeses, etc. so I need to reorganize my fridge. If I get a $5 tub of yoghurt for .99, and it spoils because I lost track of it behind other stuff, it wasn't a bargain.

How are you doing, Dorothy?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Mar 17 - 11:24 PM

Still in Montreal:

Out of cast and into boot. Do not wear it in bed!!!! Also seems lighter and makes it easier for me to determine that I can balance with it but not put weight on it. See m to be gaining in strength and balance! Able to spend a little more time in K chores. Feeding myself, a good thing as R is gone for 10-12 hours some days!

R managed to buy two boots at the Eco-centre for $5 each. We were able to use one and left the other to be sent to Honduras where the Dr.'s office spent used stuff. saved us about $100!

The bare spots in the back yard are no under about 2 feet of snow! Oh well! But warm enough in house today to wash my hair!

Still suffering from cabin fever. R has NO time. Today was disaster in building from which he is moving machines. Snow removal kept making him move truck so he only got two machines loaded before a 6 inch water pipe broke - from freezing - spraying LOTS of water up to the ceiling. It took the city 2 hours to access the problem so water was a foot deep. He spent the time in a nearby McD's so at least he ate. CAme home about 6 to change wet clothes and went off to offload machines and take pumps back to building! Hope tomorrow goes better!

3 more weeks until I get cataracts checked. Hope we can visit Beaver! I could get yarn and needles! My eyesight is becoming very depressing. R has brought me some books but the print is too small or too light; managed to read one and on another that is interesting but van only read a couple pages at a time.

Back to the Dr. re ankle on 10 April! and HOPE for an end to this so I can GO HOME!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 06:38 AM

Hardi finally sees a retirement timeframe for us that paces my last round of declut-- 3-4 years to full-time Ohio.

The last big declut was the upstairs office, to take the 8-foot table desk south; we got onto recycling pickup, so a LOT of paper went. The sunny room now holds boxes to further sort/binderize-- books on one wall and papers on another. The rest is propagating perennials to take south in May, under grow lights in front of two picture windows (south and west). The new dog is my garden helper. ;-) New friends advise.

There are new lasagna-garden beds in Ohio to fill; I have a new weedkiller recipe-- with regular strength vinegar and Epsom salts-- to try this year.

Be well, all

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 09:24 AM

The prep-for-selling cleaners come on Tuesday, followed by photographers. That means a whole lot of decluttering has to get done over the next three days, along with cooking and serving a big birthday dinner.

Himself's last day in uniform was on Thursday, and now there's a huge box of green clothing in the middle of the sitting room floor awaiting the big decision: Sally Ann or St. Vincent? The study is cluttered with boxes of glassware and ornaments bound for the church bazaar; all of it has to be out of the house by Tuesday morning.

Yesterday was the official Retirement Bye-Bye, with speeches and flowers and "certificates suitable for framing" that will never hang in our living space if I have anything to say about it. It seems that everyone wants to pat the back of a retiring soldier: not only the Chief of the Defence Staff but also the Mayor of Ottawa, the Premier of Ontario and even the Prime Minister himself! Instead of the dreaded plaque, we were presented with a flag that flew over National Defence Headquarters on the 8th of March last, painstakingly folded and packed into a glass-fronted box. How sweet, I guess.

We have tentatively scheduled our house-hunting trip to Stratford in the first week of April, between two of the three military trials Himself is under contract to do. I think we have done all the on-line research we can, and it's time to start crawling around Perth County's basements and closets.

I hardly slept last night, which is quite unlike me, and lay awake for hours with house prices tumbling through my head. I am also distracted by a sore wrist and fingers that go numb now and then, a mix of carpel tunnel syndrome and a touch of bursitis or tendinitis -- or even both! There's no law that says you can have both. Anything to prevent me from just getting on with the long list of chores in an orderly way.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 11:46 AM

I don't know about Epsom salts, but the combination of Pickling vinegar (9 - 10% vs 5% kitchen strength) and d-limonene (Orange oil) works very well. You can buy an expensive brand called Avenger or make your own. I tend to think that too much of any kind of salt in the soil is detrimental, though putting modest amounts of Epsom salt out (dissolved with other things like compost tea or an organic liquid fertilizer) adds necessary magnesium to the soil.

I've cleared off most of the stuff on my dining table so said table can be moved and the carpet under it cleaned with the steam cleaner. We'll see how that goes this weekend.

I'm in need of another trip to the recycle bins behind our village city hall - lots of paper around here that needs sorting and tossing. And I think I need to rearrange some stuff on shelves in my Dad's music collection that I still need to process. All of these reams of printer paper are heavy so need to sit on a bottom shelf somewhere, in sight but not a tripping hazard.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 17 - 03:19 PM

I discovered one reason the computer has been a bit slow - one drive is about full to bursting. I'm slowly bailing out stuff I don't need, backing up other things to Blu-Ray disks or DVDs, depending on what it is and it's size. I've recovered a few hundred Gig so far. Not so long ago a few hundred gig was luxurious beyond compare. . .

The garden is also getting a thinning out - the oregano has gone from pleasant usable groundcover to invasive weed, so I'm leaving it on one side of the yard to use for cooking and the rest is coming out. The garlic, Swiss chard, and cilantro are happy to have more room.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 17 - 07:16 PM

I had to borrow my next door lawnmower because mine is in the shop. He has a fancy one with lots of levers and speed controls, and I got the hang of it, but even self-propelled, it was a workout! I usually take the string trimmer (weed eater) out around the edges, but I noticed a baby bunny darting under one of the shrubs, so I'll put that off for now. I've accidentally taken the top off of bunny nests several times over the years and had to catch said babies and put them back into the hole and leave so they stay put.

Computer video processing still underway, but now it's time to shift to indoors and finish laundry and get some boxes ready to mail. That will clear out several cubic feet of space - they've sat here for a while but it's time to get motivated and post them.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Mar 17 - 04:47 PM

Montreal:

The energy on alternate days gets some clearing done in K; the next day, I rest! Yesterday, scrubbed some of K counter (dreadful tiles) with steel wool and prepped fresh tomato soup for R to finish when he got home. He, not having gotten the hang of shopping ahead, spent 3 hours out fetching groceries as we were out of so much; He went to 8 stores??? Maybe now he can keep up. And I hope he learned by it! I hated that it took time away from his necessary work. Cannot figure out how to get what I need without him. No friends with vehicles near by that I can ask. But I could not without any longer. Today, he did a nice BF and wnt off to move machines. And I am resting.

Still sticking to Keto diet almost 100% and finding neither cookies nor choc taste as good. A teaspoon of good plain cocoa in a half cup of 10% yogurt is a fine treat. I will not know what my weight is until I get back to Beaver. But I am never bloated. Doubt I will ever get rid of the bowlful of jelly though. Pants do not seem any looser.

Ankle seems OK and it is nice to sleep with bare foot - very carefully. Still swollen. One of yesterday's acquisitions was a rectangular mop bucket so I could soak my feet in hot water with Epsom salt and clean off the dry skin - Finally! What a joy!! Putting vitamin E oil on incisions now. Nothing hurts but continue MSM, Glucosamine Sulfate, K2, D3 and ortho minerals - for osteoporosis and arthritis - helps shoulders appreciably.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Mar 17 - 09:06 AM

So.

The cleaners came yesterday and, boy, did they clean. Everything not actually drawing breath, whether movable or fixed, got either vacuumed or wiped with some kind of toxic substance. The cats spent the day under the sofa, until the vacuum cleaner drove them to camp under the guest room bed. Me, I went to the gym for the first couple of hours, but eventually had to come home if only to find out whether anything was busted yet.

I have to admit that they did a good job, much better than I would have -- but then, three strong, fit women working flat out from nine to three jolly well should.

Today, a guy called Richie comes with a truck to pick up the coffin-sized box that contains the last of Edmund's cast-off military uniforms. He sounded slightly disappointed that all the combat gear had to go back to Clothing Stores, but glad to get the rest; he runs a clothing depot for homeless men.

Likewise, the excess china, glassware and cutlery is going to a women's shelter for those getting ready to start over. I wish I had had that contact a year ago when I started digging out the basement, but ...

Real estate agent comes on Friday with the photographer. House goes on the Internet on Monday. This shit's getting real.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 17 - 09:23 PM

Pretty damned efficient!

My mother had people come in and clean her house when we were getting ready for some big event - this included sponge mops with commercial cleaners to wash the enamel walls and ceiling in the kitchen. It was like the Spic N Span commercial, watching each pass of the mop take of years of accumulated nicotine and tar. The room went from brown to cream color. She was a heavy smoker, and all of us moved out as soon as we could to get away from that. That cleaning job just made it all the more clear to us what we were living in the middle of.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Mar 17 - 04:37 PM

On Friday (tomorrow, that is), I meet with the real estate agent selling our present house and then hop the noon train to Stratford to buy our next house. I hope.

Its price was ridiculously high for months and months. Then, yesterday, it dropped right into our range. It's not ideal, but it meets all our needs and most of our wants -- not least with respect to location. It's the only house for sale within 1000 metres of Stratford City Hall that isn't either insanely expensive, much too large, or in need of tens of thousands of dollars worth of renovation.

So, on Saturday I'm going to buy it. If nobody else gets there first.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Mar 17 - 08:40 PM

Montreal:

Charmion: WOW!

And all I have managed is to cut the back of my hair - about 3-4 inches. Did not even look; just did it by feel because I could not take i any more! Almost 3 weeks until I get to go anywhere so no one will notice!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Mar 17 - 09:04 PM

That smacks of desperation, Dorothy!

My mower was ready for pickup today, and it turns out the belt had slipped in the transmission for the self-propel function. It hadn't propelled for a while, and lately if the handle was put in place it stopped the mower in it's tracks. He was able to get crud out of the transmission box, grease everything that needed grease, and it's back up and running. My back yard is about 12-16 inches of tall grass so it will take a while to finish mowing it; I'll start on Saturday and probably mow half then and half on Sunday. I don't use the self-propelled feature often, it reduces the mowing power, I get the exercise from pushing it. And in tall grass, I need to pause regularly to let the clippings blow out from underneath or the motor lugs or stalls. This is a great spring workout.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Mar 17 - 12:00 PM

Montreal:

Yes, desperation. Yesterday wasm hopefuly, the nadir. When R left to go to work and I knew it could be 12 hours or more - I lost it! Phoned Geri is abject misery. Solitary confinement does not agree with me. After an hour + on the phone, my fingers were tingling. Vented some more on FB which I never do. And sank into a fog of TV, internet (slow!) and just gave up. Today I need to cook - make a new soup, and cook some chicken breasts. Needing to do something helps.

A pro pos of Charmion's situation as well as an addition to feeling blue: friends of the Bancroft area announced last week they were planning to move to SWestern Ontario, due to Bob's health issues - close to family, less isolated... Yesterday, they posted on FB the property they bought -already! Virtual tour: Plenty of wall space for Bab's paintings, plenty of space for a studio and a quilting area for Pat, a level lot, good sized two BR house - room for grandson to visit... As I think of their current home, I see very little de-cluttering needed. It will be an easy move as they have run a tight ship all these years, well organized with very little chaff. Even the garage is tidy! A good example! Being on the plus side of OCD is not a bad thing! I shall miss them. I made their wedding cake almost 30 years ago.

Shoot, I am too upset to even phone someone. Maybe later.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 17 - 01:48 PM

Hopefully the cooking will soothe your shut-in blues.

I've drunk my tea, eaten my oatmeal (full of chopped dates) and have to quit putting off the inevitable - the back yard needs mowing. Part of the workout today, the rest probably tomorrow.

The computer is in better shape, but as old as it is, it may soon be time to consider what the next model will be.

I'm considering using a modified Bullet Journal to keep track of stuff that is normally on notes all over the house. That might cut down on some of the paper clutter.

It's a lovely day. Into the yard I go.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 Mar 17 - 04:36 PM

Montreal:

Today, I made the step forward of using the cane. Robin as cheerleader and coach. I can do it but need the walker basket to carry stuff so I feel much better and begin to see an end to all this. Next Tues we drive to Bancroft for an overnight. I will get to see the world and "our hill". I could have easily dat for two months looking at "the hill" but looking at 4 ugly walls...

So I did some more K stuff today and will do more later. And washed hair as it is warmer today. Hoping I do not put too much weight down or stress ankle. I had not understood the directions at last Dr visit but R did. Again, my failure to comprehend - brain dysfunction; also my difficulty in figuring out how to move my body, or to get up when I fall, (In my whole life, I never hurt myself falling - until this one - 80 years.

Weather above freezing but snow is still thick in back yard. Maybe Thursday I can go out back.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Mar 17 - 07:55 PM

I walked into the house and decided that tonight the clutter in the kitchen gets work. Some of the stuff on the counter is fruit ripening, it can stay, but there are other things that have accumulated.

My next door neighbors have a large sewer line replacement job going on, and the pile of dirt is onto my property right up against the garden. I need to replace the planks that are now pinned down by dirt, in a job that will take upwards of three weeks. I'll have to see about getting new planks, a friend with a pickup can make a run to the hardware store. I sure miss my pickup at times like this.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 09:16 AM

I did not buy the house in Stratford.

It's a darn good thing we aren't forced to base this decision on what we see in the real estate agent's photographs, for the house that looked so appealing on the Internet was far less so in real life. It has been ruthlessly renovated and expanded, so much so that it is now well-nigh impossible to distinguish the additions from the original structure without a structural plan. No such documentation was on offer.

Complicating the situation was an urgency imposed by the Stratford agent's revelation that another buyer was forcing her hand, demanding to be allowed to make an offer on the property immediately. She fetched me from the train directly to the house at eight o'clock in the evening, saying that the other guy's offer would go in at nine-thirty pm, if you please.

The first thing that struck me was the plethora of windows and doors -- four exterior doors at ground level, to be precise, and too many windows to count. A real treat for the enterprising burglar, especially in the absence of an alarm system. With all those windows, and some rather oddly placed radiators, the house has almost nowhere to put bookcases, an item with which we are excessively endowed. Incidentally, the current occupant apparently doesn't read much; I saw only a selection of large art books that looked more like decor than literature.

It was the basement rec room that blew the deal, however. Nothing of substance has been done to improve it since about 1965. Vinyl wall and floor coverings showing signs of damp where no damp should be -- thumbs down for me, since that was the only space large and unencumbered enough to accommodate the books, and both our desks.

Hi ho, hi ho, back to the drawing board I went. The real estate agent took me to see four more houses, including a high-Victorian rectory so neglected as to seem vandalized, and I spent a profitable two hours at the offices of the developer building Stratford's first major subdivision. Unless something fairly dramatic happens in the next few days, that subdivision looks like our next destination.

Dorothy -- I feel for you. There's nothing like the cabin fever of late winter when you have a leg in plaster (or even 21st-century removable plastic) and you dread what can happen in any venture outside your bedroom. As you gain strength, you will feel amazed at how weak you felt, and how strong you are beginning to feel. If only it didn't take so long!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 10:44 PM

When I started looking for a house I knew it was likely I was going to want to do some renovating, so I had a contractor friend come look at a couple of them with me, pointing out the things I might want to change and were they doable. He's the one who did the work here. He taught me a few things to look for on my own in houses that were being sold by owner, by investors, etc. Too many "investors" take a house and add new cheap carpet and tile, a low-end air conditioner, slap a new 3-tab composite roof on top of the old roof (two layers is legal here). Then try to sell it like it has had much more extensive renovations. This house had been empty and the original owners were selling, so I did the renovations myself.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 06:18 PM

The real estate agent and his photographer came today and did the marketing shoot. The house has never looked better -- and we're leaving!

Yesterday, we cleaned under and behind the refrigerator and the stove. Holy cats, what a mess -- eighteen and a half years of dinners means plenty of boiling-over pots, each of which must have left a trail of drool down the side of the stove. The fridge became the home-away-from-home of no fewer than six cat toys, not counting wine corks, beer caps and other things our feline friends like to swat off the kitchen table.

On Sunday, we head back to Stratford for House-Hunt Mark II. This time, we gotta get lucky.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 10:40 PM

The dogs are shedding drifts of hair these days and I've started brushing them some (using a faux-furminator tool) to try to get out ahead of it. Considering how much comes off with the brush, I'm lucky the hair isn't up to my ankles every day.

Filing and shredding this evening in order to clear off my computer desk and kitchen counter. I have to attack the weeds in the vegetable garden plot this weekend and get things started. It's past time. The push-me-pull-you of in the house and outside jobs is here, and the yard usually wins.

I'm enjoying your descriptions of the houses you're looking at, Charmion. Better luck with the next batch!

Dorothy, are you up and around more today?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Apr 17 - 07:11 PM

Montreal:

TODAY! I am good with the cane and it is causing no discomfort in the ankle!! I sorted the laundry which had all been tossed on the floor of the laundry room, bagged it for transport and sorted out a very long orange extension cord, confining it with duct tape, and found the apples up top of the washing machine instead of the much cooler floor so they are going to be not fun to cut up - tonight or tomorrow!

Making a list of things to do when I get to Bancroft on Tues and things to fetch back with me. AND events I want to attend in the near future - if we leave early enough we could make the tues night movie and there is a waffle breakfast on Weds! Happiness is going home! Even for two days!

Of course, now I am even more anxious to get this show on the road. Emailed the shop that buys my pots and told them I will have, at least, some mugs for them and whatever else I can fire when I finally get down to the mill.

The rest of the afternoon on computer. Don't want to overdo it as I would be apt to do.

Now for some supper.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Apr 17 - 04:49 PM

I should have mowed yesterday morning while I had the chance. I returned home from an appointment and the drizzle had started - mowing still would have been possible, but the deluge that descended last night and continued today put period to any thoughts of mowing for a couple of more days.

With the rain-imposed indoor time I listed more eBay stuff. I'm working on switching to a low-inflammation diet and this evening will be fixing dishes that I can package and freeze to take to work for lunch--that's the easiest way to keep to the plan. The usual weight and cholesterol issues. I'm also working on a set of stretching and dance exercise videos that are stored on the thumb drive in the rear of the den BluRay player. I can easily skip through the options and have it running in no time. The dogs are figuring out to stay out of my way when the music is on, not to try to help. :-/

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Apr 17 - 05:52 PM

It may not seem like a particularly recreational activity for a Friday, but since I got home a bit earlier than normal today I thought I'd clear the kitchen. Countertops were free of paper for a while, but this week it all went to pot.

From there, we'll see what cries out the loudest to be fixed, cleared, donated, laundered, whatever.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Apr 17 - 12:07 PM

A few weeks ago I started on a Mediterranean Diet, mostly excluding white flour foods and sugars. It's for health, low-inflammation, and weight, and it's also a very appealing diet (though I am looking for bread substitutions, if I can find grains that are acceptable). I don't want to simply toss the stuff in my freezer that fits the "do not eat" category, so I'll probably slowly declutter by taking some of this to the office for co-workers.

It's time for some seasonal tasks - putting away the cold weather foot gear near the side door, putting cold weather clothing into bins or up on shelves in the closet, making more room for lighter clothes. Washing or airing the heavier bedding and putting it up out of the way. Dusting the blades of all of the ceiling fans that will be in operation for the next six months.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Apr 17 - 03:49 PM

We have nearly sold our house already.

The real estate listing went live on Friday just after lunch, and by supper time the agent had booked three showings. Before we went to bed, he emailed us again to ask if a fourth party could tour the house late in the afternoon.

Himself was preparing for a trial, so he decamped with the car and his huge briefcase to my brother's house, where he set to work at the dining room table. I tidied frantically and bailed out the door about five minutes before the first party was due to arrive. Half-way through the third visit, I couldn't stand it any more and called the agent, who told us that Party 1 liked the house but couldn't see how they would fit their furniture into it, and Party 2 were making an offer.

Party 3 and Party 4 were impressed, but not in love, so by close of play we had a genuine, solid offer but no auction. Our agent asked us if we were happy to accept ten thousand under the asking price and we said we'd like more (as one does), so he made a counter-offer asking for their offered price plus five thousand. They came back this morning with their sons, apparently loved it all over again, and accepted our counter-offer an hour before the deadline.

So now we're waiting to find out whether the people selling the house we like in Stratford are willing to sell it to us.

Stratford is close enough to the greater Toronto area to be affected by its housing bubble. Sellers refuse to take offers for up to a week after listing a desirable property, and shove through as many punters as possible during the interim. Buyers are entitled to know how many offers are in contention, so their agents strategize to secure the property. I expected to discuss the price we should offer (well above asking), but this transaction included something quite new to us: we were asked to write a letter to the sellers in which we essentially marketed ourselves as the buyers of choice. Okay, whatever it takes; I just gritted my teeth and did it. Fortunately, I still seem to be able to generate entertainingly literate blue sky on demand.

We find out tomorrow if we have to start hunting all over again in Stratford, this time much more urgently as we have agreed to close the sale of our house on 4 July.

The sale of our present abode is still in the conditional stage. First, a building inspector has to go through the place, and then the buyers, who are diplomats, have to get approval from their home government. I'm fairly sure the building inspector won't find any skunks (literal or metaphorical) under our back porch, or indeed anywhere else, and we're told that the diplomatic approval thing is usually automatic. Nevertheless, we are in a fine state of tenterhooks while all of these things percolate and time passes at the agonizing pace of one minute per minute.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Apr 17 - 05:22 PM

Is there a link to the listing? Or have you posted it in Facebook?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Apr 17 - 09:38 AM

Here it is:Home of Charmion & CET

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Apr 17 - 09:10 PM

It would be lovely to have a tidy, shiny house with beautiful furniture all in view because there is nothing sitting out on top of it. I have some interesting furniture but it is disguised by mostly paper. I did load up a bunch of it and make a trip to the village recycle bins last weekend, but this chore needs to be repeated many times over.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Apr 17 - 07:53 AM

That tidiness and shine was achieved at considerable effort, and it lasted about five minutes after the photographer left. In fact, the coffee table in the kitchen is where newspapers and books pile up until I can't stand it any more, and Edmund's office (the one with the desk facing the window) is normally full of running gear, printer parts, and lawyer's clutter (i.e., yellow note pads, open file boxes, disembowelled accordion folders, three-ring binders, and random stacks of paper. All that was swept away, along with its associated cat hair and dust, to create the fantasy of order presented in those photographs.

My parents were both champion packrats, and living with them --
and cleaning up after them -- taught me to make Charmion-specific house rules and stick to them. Rule 1 is No Stacking Books On The Floor. Rule 2 is Only One Filing Cabinet.

These rules are based on the principle of No Accumulation. When the library outgrows the shelf space, we purge it, starting with novels. When the tax files fill up their assigned drawers, the old ones go to the shredder. And now that we're past our sixtieth birthdays and moving house, we're going through the ephemera of our lives, consigning most of it to the shredder and the recycling bin. Childhood scribbles, old birthday cards, postcards from teenage travels, years' worth of letters from university and military bases -- gone and, thank God, not missed.

We are not celebrities or even particularly interesting as people to those who don't know and love us, so it would be the height of arrogance to expect others to care about our papers when we are dead. Even if somebody a century from today might want to read our letters, it would be completely unfair of us to compel our heirs and assigns to sort through pounds of dusty old papers to identify anything of interest or value.

When my parents died, I found myself charged with just that task, as my father had bequeathed a large collection of his family's papers, some of them dating back some six generations, to the National Archives of Canada. Unfortunately, there was a lot of dross around the gold, and it was my job to do the preliminary sort before the collection was ready for transfer into professional hands. I well remember the despair I felt when, just as I thought I had it licked, I found four butter boxes full of my mother's war-time letters to her father, whom she actively disliked, stashed behind the furnace. Each letter began, "Dear Daddy," but I remember that she never referred to the man as Father or Dad, but always as Himself. The mixed feelings rolled out of those boxes like toxic gas.

Did I have the guts to shred them? Not then, but I would now. I'm getting tough in my old age.

A practical tip on paper disposal: You know those big paper yard-waste bags? They're great for loose paper and the output from the shredder. I load 'em up, label them "Waste Paper" in big letters, and put them out with the newspapers.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 02:33 PM

Montreal:

We had a trip to Beaver last week - in the pouring rain with a very tired Robin driving. I had to keep alert for 6 hours "Are you awake?" We made it by 6:15 - at least before darkness! - and went directly to Place for the Arts for the Tuesday movie - artsy and weird but interesting. Then to Tim Horton's for food and home to Beaver where R got a fire going and the electric cube heater and heating pad! It was not terribly cold so we had a good sleep and woke up to a decent day, happy to be there. A series of errands in town, lunch - Waffle Wednesday at the Heart of the Park (HOP) where we found a couple friends and had a great lunch with them. A quick last errand at the bulk food store (Harvest Moon), finding that the woman who has been managing it for years has finally been able to buy it!!! Now she will be able to brighten it up. I am SO happy for her! She looked so much happier. Errand list completed!

Then off to Peterborough for cataract check: appointment for measure in May and first fix in July - seems so long! Quick stop at Canadian Canoe Museum as it was closing - a planned trip just for that is in our future. Back to Bancroft too late for most eateries so we settled for Italian (R had never been there) but did not eat Italian; the menu has been modernized. Nice meal but we prefer a couple other spots - that close at 7 or 8.

Happy to get home to Beaver where the big plus of running water was helpful. But the laundry was too much so we went to laundromat and washed the two huge bagfuls, put it back in the bag and brought it to Montreal to dry at home! We got off at a reasonable time and stopped for lunch at the Hidden Goldmine Bakery - great turkey soup! It rained all the way back, stopping as we neared Quebec so we stopped for a nice supper, only to find it had started again with a vengeance - the last hour took an hour and a half with both of us on alert.

Friday was a rest day and Sat we went to an UPSCALE auction! Prices were very high and even R bought nothing! But I met 3 very interesting people and R got a free lunch as we sat down with two folks to chat; M could not eat much so R helped her! the reason for our presence was that a dear friend of R's was divesting herself of family acquisitions, mainly antiques of huge value. (a painting brought in $37000 CAD) It had been a long painful process to divest herself of the multi-million dollar mansion and this was clearing the house for new owners. Her life will be greatly de-cluttered and easier!

Monday - doctor: 2-3 more weeks with boot but I could try walking without it; won't hurt anything but it might hurt. So I tried it on Weds until it hurt then put the boot on. NOT on Thurs - a day of recovery! But today I did some more with just slippers. I was hoping to drive to Beaver today but not happening. Maybe I could but not on Easter weekend. I need to try out using the clutch when I have a chance - when R is home in daylight!

We went to Seder at a home with many steps! It was a nice outing.

I want to go home. Can I carry wood in? Probably; but it is getting warmer... I can get it into the stove and could have someone stop by and bring some in. R also wants to spend time at Beaver so we talked about a plan where I go for a week or so, then come back for a few days and we go for 5 or so days, then... It does encourage him to work out ways of getting away from the incessant demands. My friend's son, Mathias, may be viewed as competent enough to be delegated for more responsibility. He is reliable and sensible. So glad I suggested him!

I remembered to bring the yarn, hooks/needles and some books back but have not yet been energized to look at it. Maybe today. Ideas fomenting for other things, and wondering if I could make it upstairs to the pottery wheel - maybe tomorrow. Getting from sitting all day to doing things seems to be a slow process. Yesterday I was stricken by the thought that I could, conceivable, sink into a morass of just accepting that all that is left is to sit in this gruesome house and read, watch TV, computer and naught else - for the rest of my life. I can see where that could be a temptation. It is called "depression". I need to get back to Bancroft! Maybe Monday.

Congratulations to Charmion!! Things seem to be moving along well.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Apr 17 - 07:23 PM

Wow, Dorothy, you're really healing fast. I hope you can work the clutch sooner than I could; my left ankle was so buggered up by the fractures and displacement, not to mention the surgery to repair them, that I could not work a clutch pedal without pain for a couple of years.

The sale of our Ottawa house underwent a severe hiccup that plunged me into a slough of despond this week. The buyer was a diplomat with an Arabic name, presumably from somewhere in the Middle East. He did everything he was supposed to do, including getting permission from the Canadian department of foreign affairs and requesting permission from his home government. He and his wife were actually at the house with the building inspector when his boss called to tell him that his home government might or might not give permission, and whatever their decision it would not be rendered any time soon; it could be weeks. Or maybe months. According to the real estate agent, all the colour drained from his face. His wife asked him what was the trouble and he told her. She burst into tears. The building inspection was called off, and the sale nullified. The house was back on the market the next day, Maundy Thursday.

Cut to today, Good Friday. Three parties of punters were booked to see the house and we bailed out at nine o'clock after the now traditional frantic dusting and vacuuming. We hung out at the coffee shop near the church until it was time for the passion liturgy, and I actually almost managed to concentrate on the readings and psalms. Then we went to the pub for lunch, as we still had Party 3 to go before it would be safe to return home. I had just ordered a club sandwich when the phone rang. The real estate agent, with good news. And more good news -- two offers out of three viewings!

So we seem to have sold the house again, and it's safe to do the laundry and fill the basement with drip-drying underwear.

Meanwhile, the situation in Stratford continues to simmer. Our agent in Perth County has never seen the market so hot, and neither has her dad, who has been in the property business since the end of the Second World War. At five-thirty on Monday morning, I get back on the train, intending not to come home until I have found AND PURCHASED a house.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 17 - 04:29 PM

Dog to the vet urgent appointment trumped other plans I had for the morning (hot spot under her neck again). Helping the next door neighbor with a computer problem will probably tie up an hour at least this afternoon. Looks like some of the heavy lifting of the weekend will happen tomorrow.

I've added more things to the donation bin in my laundry room, and I made a recycle run during the week. There are boxes waiting to be shipped next week (they've waited for a long time already). I have a growing list of things to do in the yard.

Decluttering isn't happening at a great pace, but it's still on my mind.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Apr 17 - 11:25 AM

I must have been possessed yesterday evening - I took the dust rag and some dusting spray and attacked the buildup in the front room. Now that the weather is changing I can take some of the dog bedding out of that room and wash and air-dry, vacuum, and in general clear out the mix of house dust and dog dander. I took an antihistamine ahead of that assault on dust.

So many chores to do around here, I need to simply pick something and get started.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Apr 17 - 07:40 PM

Still in Montreal:

My friend who "crushed his ankle just after me is up and running about caring for his bees. Never mind that he is 20 or 30 years younger. I am determined and FED UP! Hopefully I will get a chance to try driving my car tomorrow or Saturday. I've invited a few people to the mill for a tiny birthday party for Robin on Sat aft. 70th

Poor R came in about an hour ago and I was so happy; I thought we could go food shopping AND I had been stuck in here ALL day - again. But, No, he was changing clothes to go to a lecture ---Total hissy fit! The lecture is on his great great... uncle. Oh well.

The best bit of de-cluttering around here was getting rid of the increasingly derelict wooden rocking chair which has been on the front steps for ...years. I told him emphatically - if it is still there on Monday I will put it out for the trash. This time he took me seriously and it is gone - to where I do not care as long as I never see it again.

Now for that Manitoba maple which is destroying the back garden. It is sizeable - about 2 feet dbh. A project but need to go SOON - before leaves- or it will be too late - again this year.

Glad to see Charmion's project moving along! MY friends who bought home in Glencoe sold their lake property in a week and are in full pack to move mode! Others moving to Guelph in June and another couple just announced a move to the (Ontario)"banana belt" - so far unspecified. Older bones looking for more temperate clime!

The other de-clutter is my energy level which left town. Healing is hard work, I guess.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Apr 17 - 09:02 AM

Our house is now "sold firm", as they say in the real estate biz, with all conditions met. We have a couple of fix-up tasks to do before closing, but the list is short and uncomplicated.

In Stratford, however, things are rather more fraught. Yes, I found a suitable house -- or, more correctly, a house that can be made suitable -- but it has problems. If we were not on deadline, and if Stratford were not a ridiculously competitive housing market with high demand and short supply, I would have walked away when the building inspector found the aluminum wiring (!), but things are as they are, not as I would have them be.

It's a good-looking house in a nice neighbourhood, what I call a grown-up suburb -- the trees are now taller than the houses. The lot is a peculiar shape, wider than it is deep, so the garden is divided by the house and the generous back deck. The distance from downtown is a bit greater than optimal (2.45 km from the front door to the Perth County Jail), but the walking route takes one through Stratford's nicest streets and along the river, so that's more of a feature than a bug. The house was built about 1977, we figure, and it still has its original wall-to-wall carpeting upstairs, all wrinkled and tatty, and the meanest little linen closet I have ever seen. On the other hand, it has the largest and most opulent bedroom in the Huron Tract, complete with a walk-in closet large enough to accommodate a family of four. The kitchen is tiny and inefficient, but its problems are soluble with the application of money.

We are currently waiting for our real estate agent's favourite electrician to produce a quote on rewiring the house. To clear the conditions in our offer, I'm going to ask the owners to pay part of that (the amount it would cost to bring the system to code, while we pay the rest of what it will cost to solve the problem completely), and to nail down the toilets that rock on their moorings and replace several rows of roof shingles that were laid wrong, without enough overlap. They also have to finish dry-walling the garage ceiling, which was left open although there is living space above it -- a major sin against the building code.

It's all rather exhausting, and I really appreciate the work the real estate agent is doing to coordinate the tradesmen's visits and nail down their recommendations in the purchase agreement. If I had to do all that, we would be living in a sod hut.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 17 - 01:00 AM

It is energizing and exhausting at the same time to go through this process. I hope you'll keep us posted on your progress on the two houses.

Have you culled pretty much everything that you plan to, or is there another phase of that to come now that you have a destination in view?

I've gotten a very late start on my garden this year. I dug a patch from which I'll work outward decluttering weeds. I have several compost piles in the back yard to turn over and combine. I need to move much of the finished compost to the garden this year and chip a bunch of small limbs for mulch. I have a small "stay-cation" planned soon to give me a chance at actually getting the garden in before it gets too hot here.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 17 - 06:50 PM

I'm changing my diet and for the time being am avoiding eating much if any processed white flour, so when friends came over for lunch today I pulled some of the many types of breads from the freezer to send home. Flatbreads, pita, tortillas, rolls, loaves, and some pasta. It went home in coolers and into their freezers. Better they use it than it becomes freezer-burned.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Apr 17 - 03:08 PM

Yes, Acme, we have more culling to do.

The kitchen in the new house is much smaller than what we have here in Ottawa, and irritatingly inefficient. It's a galley-type arrangement that opens into the dining area, which is not only small, but also lacks wall space because a large patio door leads from it to the back deck. All very nice when whipping steaks off the grill to the table, but less than optimal when trying to fit a sideboard, a china cabinet, a table and chairs, and a drinks cabinet into eleven by ten feet of floor space.

So I am contemplating a major refit of the whole back of the house -- dining room, kitchen and ground floor loo -- to get the most out of the space. Some idiot had a shower stall built in between the loo and the back door, just where a sensible person would have put a pantry. So I plan to abolish the shower cabinet, plumbing and exhaust fan in favour of a comprehensive set of shelving and stowage for our ridiculously large selection of pots, pans and skillets.

The window side of the galley has two sections of counter space suitable for prep work, on either side of the sink. So I want to get rid of the crappy cramped cabinets that overhang that space so I can see what I'm doing and knead bread without bonking my head. The other side of the galley will be cabinets to the ceiling, counter space for the knife block, the toaster and the coffee maker, and cabinets under the counter for the stuff we use all the time -- mixing bowls, colanders, the blender, the food processor, and the glass casseroles that go into the microwave.

While we're at it, the dining area will get built-in china cabinets so we get the most use out of what little wall space it has.

Consequently, I can see us definitely parting with the china cabinet and the drinks cabinet, and possibly giving the sideboard to my brother, as it's both useful and a family heirloom.

All this craftsmanship will be made possible by the difference between the sale price of our Ottawa house and the purchase price in Stratford. I just hope we have enough left over to pay for getting rid of the wall-to-wall carpets, which look as if they might have been installed when the house was new.

All in all, we're going to be living in a construction zone for months. Whee.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 24 Apr 17 - 03:41 AM

But afterwards you'll be gloating, Charmion! Think about
toe-kick drawers (the kind you kick gently to get them to open), for big trays and the like - be careful to make them in mouse-proof marine ply - and spice racks and lazy susans (for things like rolls of foil and parchment as well as spices and tea and coffee), and a pull-out cooker hood (can't find a picture but a friend has one that she pulls out from the wall when she puts on the hob, and pushes back in when she's finished cooking).

I have a separate hob and oven - in fact, the oven sits in the old kitchen chimney where there was an anthracite stove when I moved in; loved the stove but the anthracite gave me awful asthma, so I replaced it with a bunch of cupboards and drawers, with the oven sitting in the middle. The great thing about this is that it's at eye level, and when I open the door down it opens out at waist level so I can put the pot or roast or tart on the open door and check it easily, and then pop it back in or bring it to table. And you don't get as much of that horrid whoosh of hot air into your face as with the crouchy kind of oven below a hob.

Windows for me are super-important; if I could, I'd have a full-length window or glass door out to the garden in my kitchen! (Though if I could do absolutely everything, I'd put the kitchen and the bathroom at the front of the house as the Japanese typically do, and have the living rooms in the quieter and more private back of the house.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Apr 17 - 09:57 AM

I've never heard of a pull-out cooker hood, Thompson, but I'd bet money that the Ontario building code would not tolerate such a device. Our building code seems to have been developed with pyromaniac idiots in mind; the kitchen mishaps it purports to prevent (especially with respect to gas-fired kitchen ranges) strike me as unlikely to befall any cook with the brains God gave a goose.

Your oven reminds me of that line from Flanders & Swann's "Design for Living" -- "I'm just delirious about my new cooker fitment with the eye-level grill, so that, without my having to bend down, the hot fat can squirt straight into my eyes!"

Separate cook-tops (as they're called here) and ovens are ridiculously expensive in Canada, generally purchased by rich people who like a gas-fired hob and an electric oven. Can't think why they would, but then I'm prejudiced.

Most Canadian houses built within the last 30 years have their sitting and relaxing areas at the back, giving onto the garden, and the kitchen at the front. This trend was driven by a sharp change in design conventions: moving the garage from the side or back of the house to the front, close to the street. In many cramped suburban developments, where houses are designed to get maximum living space out of minimum land, the garage sticks out of the facade like a carbuncular box. In more gracious applications, the garage occupies about a third to a half of the ground floor of the house, with the kitchen at the front (beside the front door) and an ell-shaped "great room" (combined dining room and parlour) taking up the rest of the space. Upstairs, the space over the garage is used as a "family room" (lounge) and the bedrooms occupy the space over the kitchen and great room.

What's the difference between a living room and a family room? That's easy -- formality or lack of same. The family room is where you find the cat-clawed napping sofa, the television, the stack of half-read newspapers and magazines, and the kids' toys. The living room (increasingly vestigial) contains the sitting-up-straight parlour furniture inherited from Grandma, and the proud display of wedding and graduation photographs.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 25 Apr 17 - 04:33 AM

I have a gas hob (in the old scullery) and an electric oven. Gas is, or was, more responsive for cooking - you can turn the flame up or down and have an instant response. Chefs more or less universally prefer it.

The oven, with its eye-level grill (no fat-spitting) is in the old chimney. If we were civilised, you could lift the roast chicken straight from the fold-down door to the kitchen table - however, we're not, unless we have guests, so it's lifted out and brought into the living room/ drawing room/ family room, where we eat while watching some nonsense on TV.

This division of hob and oven is the norm in Ireland - or if not the norm, probably about half of all households have it. I suspect that this is so all over Europe; in Ikea last week I was looking thoughtfully at their induction hobs (sold separately). There's nothing snobby about it here, it's functional.

I see that ikea.ca does sell ovens, but doesn't list hobs; maybe they're called something different there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Apr 17 - 04:54 AM

Replaced our cooker last year. Like for like swap - another Belling 50cm sealed plate job. The previous one did about 20 years.

People differ in ways of cooking and while my own choice IF mains gas was available here would be the gas hob/electric oven combo, my mother's ways suit the slow responses and (if she didn't find them too heavy, probably cast iron cookware).

As for the idea of an induction hob, I really do not see anything with a ceramic top lasting long here.

And re separate units, it's a small kitchen and battle for space.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 17 - 12:51 PM

In the US (so far) there is a chain called The Container Store that has myriad ways of storing and caring for and shipping and displaying stuff. Many of the items they carry can be found in less robust or less expensive versions of the housewares section of other kinds of stores, but this is Ground Zero for organizers to get ideas to start with.

Here in the southern US people seem to call the two living areas the living room and the den. The den being the less formal family space, the living room akin to what I understand is called a parlor with the "nice" furniture where company is entertained. This tended to be a less common distribution of space in a house in the northern part of the US where I grew up.

When I moved into this house it had a cave-like (as in dark and low) kitchen area with a fur down ceiling (the cupboards tops were against the ceiling that was lower than the dining area and there were florescent fixtures recessed in the ceiling). We took out the drop ceiling, made it flush with the rest of the house (except for the cathedral ceiling in the den). It looks more open and I put antique kitchen items on top of the cupboards for display and dust collection.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Apr 17 - 01:53 PM

Montreal:

But we went to the cafe Friday and stayed over at the mill, had a few in for cake and ice cream Saturday early aft = A few days early for R's b-day. He did some work at the mill and we left TOO LATE! My night vision has been totally decluttered and I drove back = YAY, I can drive! - blindly trying to determine where the road was while he slept. A detour came close to killing us off but he woke up and helped and we made it home. Impossible to change drivers on a speed track! I believe I have never been more terrified.

So I can walk - but still get tired easily and foot not always happy but coming along each day!

Happy news that C has sold the house!! New one sounds a bit difficult. If it were me, the carpets would be first concern - full of all those years of ????? OUT they would go. But new carpeting would be toxic too - I could not live with that either, I well know.

It is interesting to read about people's differing K ideas. etc. I much prefer gas for cooking. The stove at Beaver is under a window so no hood. But the niftiest one I have seen was a curved glass one. Very cool and elegant , less obtrusive than most. I have seen pull out ones and they could be useful in some instances.

Now, that shower inside the back door is just what we need! Come in and clean up before polluting the rest of the house! So, whoever did it may not have been an idiot! The way R comes home, I would like an airlock so he could de-contaminate.

Anyway, hope you can get it all done up before you move in and let all dust and other toxins air out! Living in a construction zone is extremely unhealthy.

So happy to be able to move about but takes some getting used to! I can make it, carefully, to the second floor and went up today to check on clay situation and water plants. Planning to make a lamp base to go with an interesting stained glass shade R brought home. This would be a first for me... The 6-sided shade needs angles rather than round. I am thinking/planning/designing...

Made a small stab this am at putting the K back into a post-break orderliness. A few minutes at a time. Tomorrow we go to Beaver!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Apr 17 - 04:31 PM

Montreal:
WOW! went into back yard - warm enough! Pulled a few weeds that were making headway and surveyed what was ans was not looking up. LOTS of common violets! more than ever before; I have been nurturing them - all through the grass and in the beds.

Even the sage is DEAD; even the oregano! THAT TREE!!!! Time to push for removal - PLEASE!

Want you all to know I had no idea my night vision had gotten that bad in the 3 months I had not driven! Cataracts are a learning experience. Not fun.

I wonder: Tight K and tiny DR; might be worth taking out a wall and having a decent eat in K?

As for Maggie's dust collectors! I insist on K cabinets to the ceiling to eliminate those dust collectors! Dust is my worst enemy!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 26 Apr 17 - 06:17 PM

And re separate units, it's a small kitchen and battle for space.

Same here; the hob is in the scullery, but there isn't room for an oven there - you'd bump your bottom (and possibly need a bottomry bond) on the opposite cupboards or the fridge every time you crouched, and couldn't open the door properly.

So the oven is in what used to be called the 'breakfast room', in its old chimney.

Works for us, anyway.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 17 - 07:20 PM

I rearranged some dust this afternoon, Dorothy, when I gutted the 12-year-old computer that was in my son's room (the kids' high school computer) and then moved the old desktop (that runs Win7 Pro and is still functional, though very slow) in to what is now the guest room. I found a 1Tb drive in the kids' computer so I've dropped that into an enclosure and will format then use it to store stuff. The case will go to eWaste and one of these days the two other drives (one internal, one external that won't play with newer OSs) will go to a secure recycle facility at work.

Now I have a couple of freed-up cubic feet of space in the wire shelves under my microwave so may end up re-arranging kitchen bulky stuff to make it look good and make something reachable that has been stored atop the freezer, etc. My small laptop is in the kitchen now, under the television on the wall. It connects via HDMI cable and will make cooking research easy but is also easily packed and taken with me when I need it to travel. For anyone who regularly maintains their computers, you know this meant a lot of trips back and forth for flashlight, screwdriver, rearranging shelves, getting a dust rag . . . and I'm covered with dust also.

My first day of a planned gardening vacation was thus because of rain and cool weather. Tomorrow should be nice and I'll enjoy tackling the weeds and finally getting some crops in.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 17 - 11:28 PM

I pulled two non-working drive enclosures from behind my computer and replaced them with one that came out of the kids' computer today. My most recent backup is in a drive tucked away on a shelf and there is another new external one in a box on the office floor - as I contemplate how to put it in a closet and let the backup automate and run to that drive that is out of sight but there to be used when I need it (the out of sight part because we had a burglary a dozen years ago and learned to keep the backup hidden so you have the data if you have to get a new computer).

The 1Tb drive is doing a slow format, it'll probably run overnight. This 1T drive is a windfall, I was going to use the drive with the existing backup for something else (probably for backup of video and music media) - it's kind of an embarrassment of riches right now. Memory is cheap, and it's easy to go overboard. Tomorrow I'll figure out how to plug the new stuff into the UPS. It involves crawling around under and beside the desk.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 04:42 PM

Ari and Rob, the carpenters, were back yesterday to quote on the last fix-up tasks before this house is sold. Alas, they won't do everything; one job calls for a licensed electrician, which they are not, and the other involves a damaged siding panel on the front of the house under a third-storey window, and Ari and Rob don't do anything that calls for ladders or scaffolding. "We have to draw the line somewhere," said Ari, "and we decided years ago that we're done climbing."

I'm done climbing, myself, so I respect that.

Since mid-March, but especially during the three-act sale-and-purchase drama, I have been really tired. For about a month, I was waking up in the middle of the night and mentally moving furniture around while also worrying about bungling the biggest financial decision we will make for the next 20 years. I've been sleeping better since both sales were firmed up, but I'm still easily tuckered out. I used to do three sets of 12 dead-lifts with a 28-Kg kettlebell as part of my routine gym workout but, even with a lighter weight and fewer repetitions, I still managed to pull a muscle in my lower back the other day. And of course, as the traditional insult added to injury, a huge cold sore surfaced last Sunday on my lower lip.

I guess I'm feeling a tad old.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, we were out looking at cars last night. Our car is a VW Golf with a diesel engine, one of the vehicles with the cheating emissions system, so we are parties to the great big class action suit against Volkswagen. The Canadian part of the settlement was just announced, so we took a trip to the dealership yesterday to see what they could offer us.

We should get a nice car out of it, at a price we can pay without groaning too hard, but I wasn't too happy about being stampeded into committing to a deal now, while our cash-flow situation is seriously pinched. But as the cheated-on diesel owners flow in, looking to get rid of their unsaleable vehicles, the supply of replacement cars will shrink steadily. So we had to get in there early and make a deposit before the mobs gather.

Ho, hum, it's only money.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 04:45 PM

Pulling muscles comes with being tensed up. Doctor Thompson says take a hot bath and call me in the morning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 05:54 PM

Yes, Thompson, I did that, and I intend to do it again. Then I will loll around on our memory-foam mattress with the cat, doing my best to emulate his drape-shape and insouciant attitude.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 07:34 PM

I was feeling virtuous about finishing work on my string trimmer, until the handle broke and the rope pulled into the starter. Now the whole damned thing has to be disassembled and I'll replace the starter rope. He did it in 10 minutes on the YouTube video - chances are my time will vary greatly.

Looks like it's another eBay evening. I'll do the yard work over the next three days that look like perfect weather.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 17 - 05:03 PM

Since I have an open space in the wire shelving where that very large desktop computer used to live, I'm thinking about rearranging the shelving in my kitchen. I liked the look better when all of my wooden shelves were along the wall with the wainscoting/chair rail, and they're not that way now. I've moved one more large item off of the wire shelves and now feel up to redoing the whole setup.

I finished running all of my errands this afternoon including mailing three bulky boxes of stuff that have waited for attention for several weeks. Fingers are crossed that Priority mail flat-rate boxes will be treated well compared to larger (with more padding) ground-rate boxes. Now that they're out of the house there is room on the bench next to the door that is meant as a shoe-changing station.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 17 - 08:45 PM

Third time's the charm - I have scalped about 2/3 of the garden area with the old electric trimmer (with frequent pauses so it didn't overheat) and will finish tomorrow. Then I can dig beds or do the newspaper/mulch/compost lasagna treatment and get the Mediterranean type plants in (eggplant, okra, peppers, etc.).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 17 - 11:59 AM

Didn't get much rain overnight, but I'll putter around out there if it warms up today.

As an aside, my fingernails have been soft and flaky for a while, so I've had a cuppa bouillon with dissolved gelatin daily over the last few weeks and it's finally making a difference. But with all of our musicians, I wonder what some of you do to keep the nails strong and healthy?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Apr 17 - 01:39 PM

Yesterday, my archival urge received a major burst of vindication. This may not be a good thing, as it seems to take one event like this every decade or so to keep me stuffing the One Filing Cabinet.

We own a Volkswagen Golf with a diesel engine. Yes, it is one of those cheatin' diesels, and we are parties to the great, big class action that has cornered the car builder into making restitution to literally millions of diesel drivers. The Canadian sector of the settlement process opened for business on Friday, with a website to register claimants.

You'd think that all it would take to identify the car as an "affected" vehicle would be the Vehicle Identification Number, and the owner as the rightful proprietor thereof would be the registration, wouldn't you? Well, you would be wrong if you thought that. In fact, Volkswagen Canada requires a whole clutch of documents, starting with the registration papers and the owner's driver's licence, and escalating all the way to the original bill of sale and warranty records. I, of course, had all that paperwork in a neat red file folder, fresh as the day we brought it home in August 2010. Yay me.

I have about 10 years of tax records to shred before the next garbage day when recyclable paper is picked up. Our cross-cut shredder is showing signs of reluctance these days -- wisps of smoke, for example -- so perhaps I should give it only about a year or two per day until the whole wad is gone.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Apr 17 - 01:50 PM

Acme, your question about nails brings me ask: Do you wear rubber gloves when washing dishes or cleaning? Detergents and other modern cleaning products really do a number on your hands, nails and skin alike. Also, do you restrict your meat intake? You may find that deliberately eating a little more meat and fish -- especially bone-in salmon and sardines -- will result in stiffer nails.

My nails are firm and grow well, but they always split and break when they get beyond about a quarter of an inch in length. The splits always appear in the same places, too.

My father was the same: his nails would split when they had grown to a certain length. Unfortunately for him, the splits were usually lengthwise, from the tip of his finger back to the nailbed, and they hurt like the dickens. Mine split sideways, a millimetre or so out from the nailbed, so I keep them clipped down on both hands.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 May 17 - 11:04 PM

I don't use gloves usually, but I don't have a lot of washing up since it's just me here now. And I use the dishwasher every week or two (to keep it working) so the nails don't get too saturated. One nail in particular is quite brittle/soft, but after several weeks of bouillon, it seems to be firming up. And yes, it cracks at the same spot every time.

A friend was over yesterday to pick up a package of fresh Iraqi flat bread I get at an import market with a bakery near my work. And I sent him home with about 10 lbs of Basmati white rice. I've picked up some of the Basmati brown rice to use for the time being. So decluttering by sending it to a good home. Also a bag of orzo (rice-shaped pasta) that goes beautifully with the rice.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 17 - 11:36 AM

At my house this week I have had a conversation with the dogs about leaving my laundry alone. One of the three, a Labrador retriever who used to belong to my best friend until she was injured badly as a pedestrian struck by a moving car, has a history of eating socks, mittens, wash cloths, dish towels, and even underwear. I knew about this when he came to stay, so I always toss the worn garments directly into a laundry basket he doesn't have access to. But this week I was careless and left the laundry basket of clean whites on the low coffee table in the living room. And during the week out in the yard I found two barely-recogizable cotton carcasses apres-dog - probably thrown up after days churning in the stomach juices. He had trouble eating for a couple of days, like he was experiencing nausea, and chewing his food and eating slower. Now I know why. It's bad enough to find bits of a dish towel (what some of you call a tea towel) that has clearly been regurgitated or extruded (I've found bits in the yard that clearly exited both ways - the same towel that broke up in the gut). In this instance the undergarments actually cost enough (and were quite new) that it's REALLY ANNOYING.

Note to myself: leave the clean laundry on top of the dryer or take the full basket directly to the bedroom and put it up out of reach - he's not allowed in the bedroom.

I have recluttered my supply of undergarments, and we are to clothes-line season, a time when I always make sure small things will stay pegged in place to avoid this kind of consumption happening in the yard. Since dogs exist everywhere and clotheslines are as old as time, I won't claim that this is a first world problem, but it probably is something that isn't discussed openly every time it occurs! ;-)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 May 17 - 04:20 PM

Montreal:
There were a few days when mudcat would not come out!

We had a nice weekend at Beaver and left in time on Monday to be back before dark! Really hanging on and hoping my cataract ops will solve my night vision. We went to a marvellous Patsy and Hank performance in the Laurentians last night and R managed to get us home. The autoroute is pretty well lighted most of the way - an hour and a half! We committed to a house concert up there on 3 June so it was good we could make it safely home!

I am walking pretty well though far from perfect; I get there. Driving is OK also so I am off to Beaver alone tomorrow for about 12 days: eye appt and driver's license renewal appt. Hopefully lots of visits, some gardening and some potting. I need lots more pots for the summer - shops and shows. Dan has built me a new deck - 10 by 16 at the end of the studio I am planning to put the kilns in a weatherproof cabinet, on wheels so I can fire - on good days only! - back there and free space in the store room ---for storing! Also shelves for glaze buckets and a glazing table. Need a consult with Dan re finding "show room" area.

Here in Montreal, I was bitten at 3:30 am by a mouse, we think. While peacefully in bed. Found the box spring full of mouse poop; mattresses are now out on sidewalk, that room has a big empty apace which needs some sort of futon/hide-abed for guests as we moved to the upstairs bedroom which has been our guestroom. It is in sore need of a real closet and a paint job but we wake up to morning light!!!

The tree is still there and leafing out. R needs a permit to cut it, for which he has not yet applied... AND we need someone to do it... The grass is getting too long for the push mower, for which I need oil! And the trimmer is at Beaver - Just put it on list to come back!

There is a constant flow of stuff; most goes and stays. Will be doing some sorting and storing at Beaver this time. Company coming! With the snow gone, I can take stuff to the back-back shed. Want to consult with Dan about getting that better organized as well. Maybe some strong shelves. Need to find summer clothes and store winter. Lots to do! At Beaver, I am in charge; also pay the bills but I don't have to wait for R to get around to it.

So nice to be able to walk again!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 May 17 - 11:40 AM

BEAVER!!

Back home, by myself for the first time since December! NOW, I am trying to sort out the clutter which ensued from several comings and goings but not staying long enough. My energy level is not terrific. Trip re cataracts yesterday was - well, I was so annoyed that I had not been given all the info away back when I was first told I had cataracts, I was tempted to go back to the vision centre and tell someone - but I was too tired. Came home, went to CU for cash to pay Dan for the last two weeks work. Expecting rain, he is not coming back 'til Monday - It has not rained!

I now have screen doors, front and back, to de-clutter the bug population. What it cost to fit the OLD! doors into our crooked house... only a full day's work and some small lumber - de-cluttering the wallet. But they look nice - old fashioned style.

And the deck which Dan and R decided did not need to be "that big" did. SO, after the studio deck is finished - with shelves for glazes and a garage for the kilns and siding on the studio, then the back/back shed has a floor and shelves so the bins can be better organized and the back shed stuff can move in and... Then, a 10x10 deck out by the beaver pond to hold the 3-seater swing and a screen tent so we can sit out there and watch the wildlife. They will get used to it being there and if we sit quietly....

Meanwhile, I am sorting out the house little by little with a very low energy level. I sit a while and work awhile and think awhile and work awhile. Need to make some pots as summer shows and shops will be wanting more than what I have ready. Need to use energy for that and not worry too much about the house. Today it will be warm in the studio...

does everyone have numerous small containers or drawers of miscellaneous "stuff" which is hard to organize? And hard to throw out!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 May 17 - 11:56 AM

Lol thread title-- as usual I'm on the contrary path: setting up the house.

Particularly the garden.

House-sharing in Ohio is beginning to transition; the wife of the couple caretaking it has been doing (in Oregon) what I'm doing here, for 6 months or so-- about the length of time since I was here last. To be discreet, I'll just say her bachelor is learning a lot this week about what I actually need for prep for my arrivals! To that end-- he's also partially disabled-- I've set up a FB album with desired setup pix for their house cleaner, and negotiating her coming more frequently. I mat retitled the album, "Make it SO", lol. Does not make sense for Oregon-located wife to direct Ohio house cleaner (who is a well paid GEM).

It looks like his departure/her Oregon prep will dovetail well with the pace of our own transition, yaaaayyyy!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 17 - 10:56 AM

Dorothy, I have patio issues to tackle also. There is a concrete slab outside my back door, and when I moved in my contractor built a frame with 4"x4" posts and 2"x8"x12' planks. The outer 12' plank warped enough that the screws pulled loose and I had to dislodge the end that was holding up the rest as it slowly drooped off of the top. I'll use that plank to edge my garden and bring in some new lumber to reinforce the cover. And I need to replace the 60/40 cloth that was shredded in last year's hail storm (probably with a translucent plastic so I can use the patio in the rain). So some things will be reused, a few will be discarded, and while I'm at it I should paint all of that backyard stuff - the patio cover and some wooden seating. The hail really knocked the crap out of that paint job.

I'm dealing with an inflammation health issue these days, the treatment is working, but clearly one way to keep symptoms away is to look at what I'm eating. I've taken white flour and sugar out of my diet - though I think I can refine this somewhat and have al dente pasta on occasion, the whole wheat variety, and simply avoid the breads (alas!). This Huffington Post piece covers the topic thoroughly enough to set as broad guidelines (I've read lots of stuff, but this one in particular sets a tone with information and links).

My garden is going in very late because I simply wasn't feeling like getting out there and pushing through the muscle pain to do all of the work. I was pleased that last weekend I just puttered in the yard like the old days, managing to accomplish several tasks in one day. Lots of volunteer crops coming up that I can nurture (and possibly transplant) to give the whole thing a boost. The neighbors have noticed that there wasn't a garden in yet, and had begun to ask. I'm glad they're paying attention - we all need to keep our neighbor's welfare in mind.

The newest part of my routine will be adding a fitness tracker. I've generally viewed them as a gimmick or fad, but I find I need more information about how much sleep and how well I'm sleeping and I need something to nag me to get up and walk around from the sedentary job I do in a dark basement office. I compared lots of features and felt I had to have one that could withstand the sweaty work I do in the yard. I liked a couple of the Garmin devices, and though one reviewer commented on expensive proprietary wrist bands on one I found affordable replacements on eBay and Amazon. But what finally decided me was the reviews - if these devices didn't have at least 50% of the reviews as 5 stars, they clearly have issues and I don't want to be a statistic as far as solving problems. The highest rated of the ones I considered was one of the FitBit line, but it isn't waterproof and one reviewer (who sounded a lot like me as far as activities) said she had to replace it every year because she sweated so much they died. So I'm going with a Withings analog watch with some digital features. If anyone is interested in the results of my research, just ask. For someone with less outdoor in hot weather activity, there are several others that would work.

Good to hear from you, Susan. I wondered where you were in all of the moving/retiring process. I enjoy your political posts on facebook.

Charmion, how goes the packing and planning?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 May 17 - 12:16 PM

Beaver:
Acme- just remember the Chinese proverb = When your house is finished, you die. There is always something! I still need to varathane the wood siding Dan put on the sheds last year - Has to be DRY!!

Rice pasta might be nice, instead of wheat, but I am finding steamed cauliflower a quite nice carrier for tomato sauce, also mixed in egg omelet. I see that people are also using it for crusts. After my months on the Keto diet, a small bowl of ice cream and a brownie was NOT good. The body KNOWS! I have gotten quite used to no wheat.

The garden coop is planting in June! I am disconcerted; the lettuce and beet seeds I planted last trip are up about an inch and I plan to plant some more before I go back to Montreal on Friday. The usual planting time for Toronto area is last week of May but with global warming we cannot be sure of anything. There was a skim of snow Tuesday am. I am puttering - pulling weeds but not much else - no energy. Maybe tomorrow.

The trip to the eye clinic (weds) did me in and I was not right again until Thurs aft. Suspect the drops had a negative effect due to my chemical sensitivity. Another thing health care knows little about and pays almost NO attention. I had a very bad night - uncomfortable no matter what. (These were not drops that precluded driving.) I also left the clinic terrifically upset that I had not received adequate info the first day I was told I had cataracts. NOW, I find that the operation and post op will cost Robin a week away from work. We will have to stay overnight in peterboro - or drive back and forth on two days in a row. I feel as though patients are mere chattel to be told do this, do that... With NO consideration for circumstances.

Acme! Your fitness info was Greek to me! I shall just putter about. This has gotten the house into a much more orderly state so I am content to have guests - of the well known variety. Coming to terms with being 80 means letting others also come to terms with - this is what it is. The broken ankle still awkward and uncomfortable.

Managed to take a few pots to the Gallery (for sale), view the art show and vore on 3 favs - "peoples' choice". (I think that was my suggestion last year!) In gathering pots, I only managed to root about in the top two boxes of storage unit. Energy level!

Friends are on way to de-clutter yard of rhubarb plants, sorely in need of re-homing!

I, too, was glad to see an update from Susan! And think of how Charmion is getting on!

Guess I shall put the kettle on!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 13 May 17 - 02:31 PM

Dorothy, I was interested to read that the eye drops at the Eye Clinic had an adverse effect on you. I've been going regularly and I find the drops make me feel very strange (not just the eyes, I mean generally) It lasts about 24 hours. I feel as if I've got the 'flu!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 17 - 06:31 PM

I've been told that the dilation eye drops are harder on blue eyes, it takes longer to wear off. It certainly wipes out most of my evening if I have the drops put in during the afternoon. No way I'm going to get an exam in the morning and wipe out the whole day.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 May 17 - 02:49 PM

Decluttering limbs from sprawling shrubs and trees today. Just enough so I can stuff them length-wise into a couple of trash cans and leave them at the curb. I'm tired of knocking my hat off when I work under one tree in particular, so those low limbs are history. Bulky waste pickup is next month and I have one large tree that probably needs to come out - I'll save that job for June.

A casserole from the freezer will go into the oven and be available for lunches this week, since I forget things are in there and they do need to be used to make room for this year's crops, if I get any.

A run to the recycle bins at city hall and a couple of loads of laundry, one to dry on the line (working clothes go in the dryer because it's too difficult to iron out creases from line drying) will round out the day. You see my pattern - as the weather gets nice, much more time is spent out-of-doors.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 May 17 - 02:46 AM

Thanks, dudettes. Did I mention I'm getting too old for this shite-- the physical stuff? Pain oh yes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 May 17 - 03:14 AM

Well,I have a little project today. All three wheelie bins (re-cycling, landfill and garden waste) need cleaning. They get a bit smelly as they're only collected every two weeks here. I've got an excellent extending-handle brush, so I can slosh a bucket of hot water/bleach into each one, and scrape around with the brush (It's like a large toilet brush on a telescopic handle. The wheelie bins are very deep)
The resulting soup gets tipped down the drain, which cleans that too.
Then I can feel very smug, being the lady with the sweetest-smelling bins/drain in the village!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 May 17 - 09:23 PM

Beaver:

Interested that others also have trouble with drops! I still have not been able to phone the clinic and now I feel better about telling them. Today, went to see my fav pharmacist and she wrote down the ingredients in the 3 prescription drops I need to have before the op. I will check them out with my health consultant. I also want to know what they gave me last week so I can ask about that also. I just love it when I phone about 10 am on Monday and get a message that they are closed until 9 am on Monday - X3!

After spending about 15 minutes last night trying to figure out how to get out of the bathtub and who could I phone for help - I managed. Today, Dan's first job was to affix the grab bar to the wall!! "With 3 and a half inch screws!"

Cleared some stuff from studio - winter storage - and he took it to the back/back shed so I am ready - hypothetically - to pot. Almost made it today. Did some clay prep but errands took too much energy - an hour at the walk in clinic to get paperwork completed for pre op info. Toxic environment! I was trying not to breath in the dirty air and the nurse is telling me to take deep breaths! doctor in Toronto interviewed me by something akin to skype! so two more things done.

A third trip to town (4 minutes away) for soil to plant last year's dahlias and canna which Might have survived. The second trip had netted sticky strips for the bottom of the tub (and more)! not a well planned day and "too much" walking was definitely not an asset. Dan put a new window in the studio, that takes up less room, in prep for building "garage" for kilns. Also started putting siding on that side, also in prep. He is such a gift!

After the studio stuff: a floor and shelving in the back/back shed for better organization, then an observation platform (deck) behind said shed for a 10x10 screen tent and the swing where we can sit on the edge of the beaver pond and if we are very quiet, maybe we will see the otters! No beaver in residence at this time.

Beautiful day today and we are transitioning to warmer weather! I did really well until about 5 pm and then bombed, which is far better than the gloomy weekend when I puttered along in low gear. But the house is civilized and as de-cluttered as possible right now. Doesn't everyone have a cart of clay in the LR!? I want to be sure of warm weather before putting it out in studio! Cold clay is no fun.

Now for a hot bath and bed!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 May 17 - 10:26 PM

It's so wonderful to be back to my old energy level - tonight after work I had a quick dinner then spent an hour or so finishing the trimming I started this weekend. I have to lop up some of the limbs and chip them or put them at the curb, for now they're in a pile out of the way.

The fitness tracker arrived quickly (Amazon Prime has some nice perks!) and I think it will work for what I want. I've set up a few basic features, but I don't need it telling me that my phone is receiving a message, etc., because my phone is with me all of the time. The information it gives me is useful, and I'll figure out more as time passes. Best of all, it looks like a normal wrist watch and can stand up to my sweaty yard work.

Tonight at dusk the dogs and I went for a walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the weather and the lightning bugs. We have a lot of them in this area, I think because of the expanse of greenbelt behind our houses along the creek, and across the road. We also solved a mystery - a gray tabby spends the day prowling my veggie garden because last year there were some mice in the sweet potato bed. She is hopeful of more prey this year. We met her at her official home two doors up the block, with a family who has her in at night and out during the day. I hope she's smart enough to avoid predators - we have some around here.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ranger1
Date: 16 May 17 - 08:28 AM

Yesterday was a good day. With the shift from part-time work at the market to full-time work at the park, I've had just enough energy to walk the dog after work and it showed. Kitchen was mess, fridge had something dead in it (actually many something deads), and the recycling had sprawled from its cupboard and was starting to spread across the room (with help from Beau). SO yesterday, I spent the early part of the afternoon cleaning the kitchen, cleaning out the fridge, hauling off the recycling, and swept the floor. Next thing to tackle will be the gigantic laundry pile, but that involves hauling everything off to the laundromat and remembering to stock up on quarters.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 May 17 - 09:18 PM

I started stashing quarters in a tin can when I had to use the laundromat as a regular thing. And I never take the washer and dryer at the house for granted - they are a true luxury item!

I policed the back yard this evening and found a few more scraps of fabric embedded in dog droppings. From the same aforementioned missing garments.

I've managed to meet my daily step number so far (only a few days) with the fitness tracker, but I set it at a mid-range to start with just to see how well it keeps track. If I use the treadmill computer station at work I need to remember to walk with my arms walking or it won't count the steps (like when my hands are on the desk/keyboard at that computer). I like that it isn't any larger than my other watches (I wear attractive men's watches, not dinky little delicate women's watches) and it simply looks like a watch.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 May 17 - 09:14 PM

Beaver:

Noting a difference between what i feel needs to be done and waht really needs to be done: in this instance I have been moderately stressed each day that the energy for potting did not arrive. As I told myself, so what! I do not NEED to sell pots; I only want to enjoy making them, what should appear...? I went to the "tool shed" for a box from that pile out there, only to find those were full of pots that I had forgotten - put there when they arrived from Quebec because to pot storage bin was full! Happiness is finding I have almost 3 dozen mugs and misc other stuff to take to Lillian. Just about the time I realized the wheel here uses the left foot - the still healing one! No way!

Moved the full boxes to the front door area for loading in car tomorrow. Found an empty box for the tools R had left on the floor in front of a drawer I wanted to open; tools to tool room, pants into drawer.

Two loads of laundry done and all the drawers in the drawer unit by the sink cleaned out - something in the laundry clogged the sink sieve and there was an inch of water on the floor and counter and each drawer. (washing machine hooks onto K sink) What a way to get the floor, counter and drawers clean! Clothes onto line and had to put lots of wood chunks on the wood pile cover which was threatening to blow away! No wonder I am exhausted.

The screen doors Dan installed last week are wonderful on this first hot day of the year! Both front and back doors open to let the evening cool in. Clean sheets on bed and clean body in it. Spent part of this aft in a toxic room (for me) but came away with a drivers license! Vision test, info on rules of the road, cognitive test of sorts, and a very competent woman to lead us through it. Every two years henceforth. A relief to have that out of the way. The loss of energy is, I believe, largely due to that room so I took a hot bath. The water heater does not provide adequately; I shall have to lobby for a new one - AGAIN! I told R it would be better to just get a new one when he was doing the plumbing, December a year ago. Now it will mean more work, moving the wee freezer... But I need to be able to detox with water, hot enough and deep enough to make my perspire. I just dried off and got into bed - about 6:30 -. feeling very tired and un- detoxed! .

However, in all, much has improved in the house and studio.

(I consider any room that smells is toxic for me. Others do not smell it! I smell it and know/believe my energy level will drop as a result of the chemical laden environment. hope to feel better in the am!)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 18 May 17 - 09:08 AM

We are down to the last fix-up task required before the house sale closes: replacing a damaged panel of siding on the façade, located (unfortunately) between the second and third storeys, so the job requires scaffolding and special insurance. Everything else is done, from the sticky bedroom door and leaking sink stopper to the hole in the garage wall and the damaged hydraulic closer on the garage door. Arie and Rob, the contractors, shook my hand and wished us a happy rest of our lives in Stratford.

We had a sit-down with the "relocation advisor", a nice lady we call Miss Vickie, and learned that we have had a charmed existence these last 18 years -- no moving and no mover-caused losses! On the other hand, our understanding of how house moves work is now almost a full generation out of date; the last time we did it, email was barely a thing. Now, we are forever scanning and uploading documents of all types and varieties, from deeds and surveys to receipts for lunch. On the other hand, we get reimbursed promptly for the very costly services we are oh-so-casually obtaining, from the building inspection ($675.00) to the real estate agent's fees, which I don't even want to consider quite yet.

Then we visited Base Traffic to meet the terrifyingly efficient Corporal Blonde Topknot and her supervisor, Master Corporal Hepcat Spectacles. As a result, we have a date with an estimator from the moving company, due this afternoon. Boy, howdy.

But first, off to the Bell Store to square away a rather strange phone bill and then the gym.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 17 - 12:38 PM

My last big move, with a commercial mover, deep in the heart of Texas, involved a woman estimator who was a throwback to the 1950s. I told her not to call me "Mrs" and my (now ex's) name, I had my own name. And I was a Ms. So she attached Ms to my (now ex's) name and I came to understand that was as accommodating as she could be regarding my wish to be called by my own name. The absurdity of a "Ms John Doe" was totally lost on her.

The lost items via theft from casual labor hired to move boxes taught us never to actually write what was really in the box if it had any street value.

I'm adding more recorded books to my mp3 player this weekend. I get at least an hour of drive time every day so I can go through two or three books a month. It's virtual so my book shelves aren't any more crowded. They always go back to the library cleaner than when they came here; last time I didn't bother to clean them I ended up with a bunch of skips. #LessonLearned.

We had a good amount of rain overnight, so it'll be indoor work today and yard work tomorrow with the ideal digging conditions to finally get that garden planted. I've worked on extending the boundaries of the planting area over a couple of weeks, but didn't have room to plant without accidentally knocking them over as I worked.

The old itch to visit thrift stores is nagging, but I need to list a few more things before I add to the eBay stash. There's an extra table set up in my sun room now, weighed down with items to list. That should be my charge for the afternoon.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 May 17 - 04:10 PM

In for a cool-down after scalping the gardening area again. It was supposed to rain two weeks ago so I scalped it at the time, and nothing happened. Now I've had the good soak (and it rained again this morning) needed to loosen weeds and shape beds.

There's never just one task with a project like this. Running the wheelbarrow back and forth, moving compost, adding to compost, dragging hoses, arranging sprinklers, etc. I have branches that need chipping to use as mulch. My chipper is small so it takes a while to create much mulch, but it's a kind of restful activity to do every so often. I'll chip some of last week's smaller branches before the rest go to the curb.

I moved some rooted lemon grass from a container in the house to a pot beside the door. I had a couple of sprouting sweet potatoes going also that are outside - they were a source of gnats. Turns out I missed digging a few sweet potatoes in my garden so I have volunteers coming up this year - I'll train those to grow where I want potatoes. (Last fall I learned that if you let them sprawl anywhere they will root every few feet and grow potatoes anywhere. I'll be more careful this year.)

The SUV is loaded with some stuff to donate at the thrift store, part of today's run later in the afternoon. The old computer will finally stop being tripped over in the sun room.

My daughter and some friends found and moved into a new, larger house this week after their most recent one had some major water damage from burst pipes. So much damage that the prospect of trying to live in it during repairs was unthinkable. So far when she moves things tend to travel from here to there. The new house has more space, so who knows - maybe I'll offload some of the costumes stored in the closet or some of the craft materials stacked around her old bedroom (also my sewing room). The goal is to keep things leaving my house for hers, not the other way round.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 May 17 - 02:25 PM

Beaver:

The bad news is the black flies have arrived. I was out happily weeding and bringing in fire wood when I started to feel things crawling inside my pants and shirt. Several bites already. So, just before another rain - worst time - I am back indoors. I cannot find my excellent bug jacket.   

The great news is that after a full day of comfrey on my ankle and knee. I can walk normally and without any pain. twinge just now indicates this needs to continue a while yet. Thankful now for that "darned invasive comfrey". I just grab a few leaves, wrap them in a thin piece of old sheeting, wet it and nuke it until warm. Wish I had thought of it sooner!

I am happy to note that inch by inch, I am getting sorted out. I don't feel as though I have done anything but I look around and it looks better!

Our dear Bobby Dove will be playing at The Black Fly Dance on Sat.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 17 - 10:27 PM

Damn. I saw a very large mouse or a small rat dart from the garden near the back door over to pick up birdseed on the ground under the feeder across the driveway. If you see one, I figure there are (at least) several dozen nearby. I've had my suspicions, what with the free labor from the neighbor's cat visiting daily. Tomorrow I must round up some mouse traps for under the sinks, etc. They get in through cracks (I found droppings under the kitchen sink) and probably into the attic. I don't want sticky traps - I want to avoid catching my spiders and lizards or snakes, but mouse traps strategically placed will be a start. So this is my next task - declutter myself of these small rodents.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 24 May 17 - 08:30 AM

No cat in your household, Acme? And the dogs don't bother with rodents? That's a pity.

We are enduring our annual Spring ant invasion, with pismires everywhere we look. The cats hunt them relentlessly, with frankly funny results because ants apparently taste awful. But the cats can't resist; where there is unaccustomed movement, they pursue and pounce.

The movers' estimate is in. The nice young lady included everything except the traditional elephant: the 144 sections of terracotta drainage pipe that we use for wine storage. Now she's checking to be sure that the government guidelines permit the transport of 144 sections of terracotta drainage pipe. I have the distinct impression that Westmount Moving and Storage would much rather not have anything to do with packing 144 sections of terracotta drainage pipe, moving them all the way to Stratford, and unpacking them at the destination.

The siding company that took on the job of repairing the damage to the façade -- actually, two guys from Cape Breton who both play guitar and mandolin -- are due on Friday, weather permitting.

We have a plan -- such as it is -- for moving the cats, but it will be zero fun for everyone. Once the furniture is delivered in Stratford, we will saddle up and drive back to Ottawa to fetch the cats, who will spend the week of actual packing, moving and unpacking at a spa in the country (no, I'm not kidding). We will pick up the cats at 0900, drive directly to the vet's office where the good Dr. Fattah will sedate our predatory friends to their cute little eyeballs, and then hit the long, long road back to Stratford, hoping they sleep the whole way. Stops will be minimal, so we can pee by turns and buy sandwiches to eat in the car, never leaving the vehicle and its slumbering cargo unattended.

I'm really not looking forward to the part where they discover that half the new house has broadloom carpet. Thank God we are planning to get rid of it, because for sure it will be pissed on.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 May 17 - 10:40 AM

As it happens, I have a couple of very good hunters, but the dogs' domain doesn't extend to that side of the house. Poppy, the blue heeler mix, perpetually knocked over things in the garage on her way round a thing that was supposed to keep her in the dog stall by the detached garage's side door - I'm sure she was stalking mice or rats. Once I have the garden weeded and mulched, we'll see what we can come up with. Perhaps some fencing around the area and letting the dogs in to patrol (hoping they stay out of most of the herbs?) I think a good distribution of hair (combed off of the dogs) throughout the garden might also help. I don't want to exclude that neighbor's cat, so I may have to work out some kind of little gate for her.

So you're going to do the kitchen renovation and house extension while you're in the house? That also sounds like a formula for upset cats. I bought my house in February and moved in in late March, so had a few weeks for the contractor to get started - we wanted to do the kitchen first but the village insisted that we simultaneously build the new garage (we converted the existing one in the house to rooms and office space) - they didn't want me to somehow never get around to having a real garage. It meant it took longer on the kitchen so the cats spent several weeks locked in one of the back bedrooms during the day. That time also gave me an opportunity to slow-motion get moved from the apartment to the house using my pickup truck. Many pieces of furniture can be disassembled to be moved (though it seems faster to leave them intact and have strong men heft them into a moving truck and back out again). My daughter was 13 at the time and a real trooper. We spent a weekend going back and forth with the heaviest stuff after I'd moved most everything else. I wanted the payment to be a surprise so I had a large denomination bill to give her at the end of the weekend, and the look in her eyes told me it was appreciated and a surprise. :) It was a lot of work, but she stuck with it and I think we had a good time. She's just finishing moving into a new house herself, and I suspect the lessons about dismantling large pieces to move them yourself were not lost on her.

Several friends recommended the "My Fitness Pal" app after I got the fitness tracker. I have finally decided to go ahead and add it in, because it allows me to easily keep track of sodium and calcium, most crucial when taking low-dose prednisone. I've added recipes of a number of the dishes I cook and figured out what sized portions to stick to to keep sodium in particular low. There is a navel-gazing aspect to it, but I am enough of a creature of habit that it won't take long to have my typical breakfast foods in there and most of my dinners. (Now that I'm not eating white flour the list has shrunk considerably.) Lunch is most variable because I occasionally go out with friends, but lots of restaurant foods have been entered into it. The hive mind at work - it notes when members add things and makes it available to the rest. Even a lot of the Middle Eastern foods I prefer (we have a great Halal market near campus - I buy EV olive oil, dates, rice, lebne, yogurt, spices, and lots of other things there) so clearly this is a global product (owned by UnderArmour - I quickly had to figure out how to turn off their copious email notifications).

Looking forward to stories of the move and the renovations and continuation of Dorothy's work at the new place (Beaver). Is the mill still in play, Dorothy?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 17 - 06:22 PM

Some months it's one step forward and two steps back. This morning I ran the washer and the water drained from the washer into the bathtubs, moving through the house, not out the sewer. I had to call the plumber to roto-rooter the sewer line and remove tree roots down near the street end of the line. Major hit to the pocketbook, and since that water ran into the tubs I have to give them a good scrub before I can take a shower after a hot and extremely humid afternoon of running in and out to help the plumber. It's so humid that I'm not going to try to dry the rest of the laundry on the line - it feels like it would stay soggy for hours.

Best to spend the rest of the long weekend in modest pursuits, and maybe list enough items on eBay to recoup the plumbing bill cost. Sometimes it takes some extra motivation to get back to the listings.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 28 May 17 - 09:42 AM

I'm off to saw tree killing vines and clear brush and garbage for workmen, roofers and ourselves. Wish me luck. I hope the only blood shed will be from a thorn, not a tool. Gloves and mask are a must.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 May 17 - 10:55 AM

It's raining here today, so though I would like to get into the garden, I'll probably watch YouTube videos about changing out toilets and then go buy a new one and replace the one in the hall bathroom. It needs a new seal, and if I'm going to take the old one apart as much as one needs disassembly to replace the seal, I might as well put one I prefer back into place. Low-flow. And while I'm at it, when the loo is off of the flange, I'll finish scraping up the Linoleum adhesive on the floor so I can put down some new tile this summer.

A lot of things I wanted to do over the last year were put on hold when I wasn't feeling good; now I'm back to my old self and now I'm playing catchup. I talked ages ago about trying to do some improvement thing each month, whether painting a room, putting down flooring, replacing a window, whatever. I think I'm about back to my energy level to proceed with those plans. PMR was creeping up on me for a long time, but now it's in retreat and I'm learning to live with Prednisone.

Now, back to shopping toilets online at Lowe's and Home Depot.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 May 17 - 09:40 PM

The choice has been made (I compared two in the store after printing out their specs), the box pushed into the back of the SUV (tip the box from the flat cart onto the tailgate, lifting and pushing). Said box was opened in the SUV and the pieces taken out one at a time, each a reasonable weight. I almost went with a one-piece throne, but realized I'd have to have help moving it from the vehicle and through the house, so opted for the traditional two-piece model.

Alas, the flange is a mess. It's not going to be a quick or simple replacement.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 29 May 17 - 08:24 AM

I am very impressed by any non-plumber -- or, indeed, any person who does not work in construction for a living -- who undertakes to replace a toilet. That takes courage, in my book. We expect to install a new bathtub in our new place, and I would not dream of not hiring a contractor who has done it many times before, and has a long string of reviews from happy customers to prove it.

The siding guys came on Saturday morning, when it was finally not raining. In about an hour, they had the rotten panel off the house and were prodding about gently under the Tyvek House Wrap to find out whether any water had penetrated it to soak the insulation and start rotting the main framing of the walls. The insulation was dry. There is a God and prayer works. Two more hours of banging and ladder clatter, and the job was done.

The conditions in the Offer to Purchase stated that the new panel must be painted to match the corresponding panel under the other front bedroom window, but I think we can count on the number 1 bus to Rockcliffe, which passes our front door every 15 minutes, to belch enough diesel exhaust within the next six weeks to give the new panel the required 50-mission look.

We have heard nothing as yet from the movers on the subject of the 144 terracotta drainage tiles. If the decision goes against us, the Brother suggests selling them before the move. "That's what Kijiji is for," he said, wagging his finger. Oh, joy; another damnable thing to do before Move Day.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 May 17 - 09:37 AM

You have Kijiji in Canada but it died a quiet death down here in the states. It has always sounded like a much better option than Craig's List, where I am convinced that the inmates run that asylum.

Trash and porcelain are at the curb - it's odd how many Monday holidays I see the trash collectors come by, and I don't know if this is one of those days or not. Chances are that if the trash doesn't come till tomorrow, scavengers who drive through neighborhoods will have picked up the commode pieces. It is old and the connection was funky and the tank is huge but it's clean, so it won't gross out anyone driving by to see it. I hope it gets picked up pretty soon because it does telegraph what I've been up to this weekend.

I dropped a small metal screw bit down the drain so now have to replace it, then I can finish this task and maybe do something in the garden. Yesterday and today are overcast with occasional drizzle. The high heat and humidity on Friday and Saturday made outdoor work almost impossible. Not a yard-friendly weekend.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 17 - 11:55 AM

After the effort put into last weekend's plumbing challenge, I'm hoping for a quieter three days. We can work a compressed week during the summer, so the long work days take some getting used to, but the three day weekends are instantly welcome.

I noticed at the curb on the most recent trash day that there were a few chunks of porcelain in the street from the time before, so one of the parts must have been dropped by the trash guys. Oh, well. It was so big that unless someone wanted it to build a novelty garden planter, it wasn't going to be recycled. I draw the line at toilets in the yard landscaping. :)

On a declutter note, there is a "green" initiative starting up (again) at work, and several people have expressed interest in putting plants in their workplaces. I told them I have several spider/air plants that I started from the small sprouts last time I transplanted the mother plant. They're available for re-homing, and people spoke up to claim them, so I'll take those to work and let them purify the air in new locations. This will free up some space in my plant stands for new projects.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 17 - 11:01 AM

Charmion, we await your next big progress report (like what happened with those tiles?) I've been watching WYSIWYG do various projects at her new property, perhaps she'll catch us up. Michelle, how's your little guy doing with that arm cast, and all of your markers are still excellent? I think Linn is finally feeling better, and Dorothy is back to walking around. My muscle pain has subsided - summer is just about here and we're all in a position to make the most of these long sunny days.

I'm planning a family event in early August and one absolute goal before that time is to put tile in the hall bathroom and finish any other work in there. I won't be able to pull the sinks and cabinetry and replace it, but I'll have enough tile so when I do I can extend it into that area.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jun 17 - 12:49 PM

Hi all, I'm having way too much fun in Ohio, working away at our little eventual-retirement bungalow... where the spirit (and most of the furnishings) from the Mudcat Dorm moved a few years ago.

The little house continues to amaze me with its ways; the layout facilitates applying Tiny Living and clutter-prevention principles. I'll paste in those principles separately.

I continue to look forward to my DH's retirement in 36 months or so; he's trying out retirement garb, like bowties on downtime instead of just taking off his clergy collar! ;-)

I also, when here for workshops/projects, continue to use up stuff our PA house had been storing. The Liberation Library here, for instance, has swallowed up boxes of books and literature from my earlier career, two small recliners, a file cabinet and tall stool, instruments and amps, a plastic drawer unit, a small analog TV for video review, MudDorm curtains and linens, and more... in a 9x12 room. Oh yes and my Boondocker cot (from the van that died, which I traded in an autoharp to purchase). Guest-ready for visiting niece, nephew-- or intern. Laptop and printer (an old, slow pair).... also the antiracism training materials for the workshops I co-lead here, as well as climate change workshop/organizing stuff. People say that they don't feel claustrophobic in there when I set up in meeting mode; TBTG the ceilings are a good height!

In the garden, four new lasagna beds. The newest is bordered by a row of cinderblocks, pointing up as planters for annuals, in front of the just-planted perennials we started in PA. Another one is about to get the wishing well I nabbed a few years ago from Freecycle, which has been reconstructed by a nice young man here. One more afternoon's screwdrivering, and it goes in place. DH Hardi and I will re-paint it during July vacay here. "It had good bones."

In the garage here, we continue to find and purge junk left by the sellers up in the rafters. Examples.... I hope to get one working VCR out of the three they left. I have repurposed a number of 5 gal buckets they left, a few items from the bags of children's clothes, a few mismatched pieces of glassware.... but many of the found items have been happily unloaded from my car by Goodwill workers. Maybe the garage rafters were their garage sale waiting to happen, but we'll need every inch of that rafter storage ourselves, after a little roof leak is found and fixed. Someone is going to get a very nice double bed out of that garage! Maybe yard man Jacob and his wife. I tease Hardi about that garage: "When do we insulate, eat, sheetrock, and plumb? Before or after adding a 2nd floor man cave/recording studio?"

Because every night when I scooter-exercise the dog, I find new ways people in this little area have customized the 3-4 modular home (GI Bill) floor plans, of which ours is one. I've seen that huge-i-fied garage two blocks over, housing a nice little home business. This 1008 square feet could easily double, with only one breezeway of new footprint. ;-)

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jun 17 - 12:55 PM

At FB I use a photo album for Ohio house setup norms. This is its intro text.

.....

This album is reference pix of how I need the house set up for my planned or unplanned arrivals, in order to maximize my functionality here and minimize my pain. (This setup also facilitates multiple uses of rooms, with minimal lifting on my part.)

These pix (with their captions) may be helpful to residents, guests, friends, visitors, and folks working on the property or in the house. It's also a good place for relevant messages one might otherwise send via Messenger-- which I do not use except for pastoral and family emergencies.

... I'm the property's current Ranking Matriarch or, as I prefer to use the previous generation's terminology, 'Queen of Camp.' (Carpenter Camp-- another story, told often and at this link incl foto montage: http://mudcat.org/Detail.CFM?messages__Message_ID=3600165).

The next Queen of Camp will be Jaclyn O., when she wishes to be so.

There are key principles underlying these necessary functionalities, several of which are based in Tiny Living practices:

◇ things come in only if there is a place already known and organized to put them away the same day
◇ every room and most of its contents serve multiple purposes with minimal rearranging by old people and their sore bones
◇ the whole house can and should be company-ready at all times
◇ until its owners achieve fulltime retirement, we are in work-camp mode when here
◇ the house, its systems, and its contents are about to become a construction zone; some appliances/contents are intended to last our lifetime as-is without service calls; some are slated for replacement so do ASK FIRST instead of altering any.thing.ANY.THING
◇ each room is furnished now mostly with surplus items planned for disposal, with a few memory treasures that will stay
◇ like a jigsaw puzzle dumped from its box, which takes up more space than the same pieces once the puzzle is assembled, so this house's constituent parts lend themselves to beauty and order when restored frequently to their appropriate storage locations-- 'picking up' leads to peaceful enjoyment and gracious hosting
◇ we live life FROM this house, more than WITHIN this house
◇ relationships and experiences are more intrinsically valued than STUFF
◇ live simply that others may simply live
◇ elders are treasures who know a thing or two even on a bad day
◇ we're all on a journey to becoming elders, doing the best we can at all times
◇ we're all adults who are aging and facing embarrassment therefrom-- and can laugh at ourselves
◇ it's usually best not to make or implement decisions as Lone Rangers
◇ reduce the carbon footprint more every day: there's a Climate Emergency on!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 17 - 10:42 AM

Since the last time I mowed my front and back lawns I have had the incident of the plumbing weekend, and last weekend's heavy downpours. We had more of that yesterday, but with three weeks of lush growth it is time to mow, and see what else can be done over the weekend. My weeks are now compressed (four ten-hour days) so I have three day weekends for the next 10 weeks. I have the luxury of letting the lawn dry out some, but it will continue to grow while it dries, so the wait isn't necessarily recommended. Also I need to take out a tall but still relatively slim Italian cypress that has a fungus that has killed many limbs and isn't likely to respond satisfactorily to one of the organic "sick tree treatment" applications that I've used successfully in the past on other tree species.

Eddies of drifting dog hair are evident throughout the house and a combination of vacuuming and brushing dogs is in order for the weekend, as is taming the stacks of papers and books in my home office.

My daughter convinced me I should participate in a convention she is working at this weekend, but I have to stir myself and assemble the camera gear. So far only an extra battery is charging in preparation. I may just hang out and watch her work, get photos of her.

My patio cover needs extensive renovations - a new covering and a beam on the southwest side needs replacing. I'll use the old one that came down to edge the vegetable garden and probably use a couple of smaller 2x4 or 2x6's to replace the 2x12 that was originally there. It also needs paint. The cover was permeable 60/40 cloth, kept out the sun but not rain so there was no using the patio on rainy days - I'm thinking perhaps a translucent durable plastic corrugated material can go on this time. Then the patio furniture needs sanding and paint. I've mentioned last year's hail storm - it was the kind that caused extensive roof damage through the neighborhood, and we're still hearing that familiar echo of hammering through the village as new roofs are put on once the claims were filed and roofers contacted.

The garden has enjoyed all of the rain, now it's time to keep an eye out for pests and to start training the sweet potatoes. They're coming up everywhere after last year's overabundance. I missed a lot of them when it came time to dig, and now they're sprouting new plants around the yard. I'll do a better job of keeping track of them this year. There are several volunteer tomatoes - one of them appears to be cherry tomatoes, not sure what the other two will add up to.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 10 Jun 17 - 03:10 PM

Montreal:
I boo booed big time. The trip here was exhausting so I did a lot of nothing resulting in not feeling like doing anything. Did not bring any comfrey and ankle is less good and walking more difficult. R does not agree that hot baths and poultices help. I feel the results.

In desperation, yesterday, I soaked ankle in hot water and epsom salt then, wanting to do better took a hot bath. Had to phone R to come and help me get out, after spending about half an hour trying to figure it out. The tub is too narrow for me to get into kneeling position; my arms are not strong enough to pull myself into kneeling.... I kept trying til he arrived, having been stuck in traffic. He put pillows under me until I way high enough to get up and out...???? I see no signs of grab bars and the bath really did help - in spite of the hour it took to get out! Just something to think about when installing a new tub. The one at Beaver is OK AND has a well installed grab bar, thanks to Dan!

I did manage to de-clutter the back yard of the knee high grass and weeds - with a small weed eater. It took 3 half hour sessions but a great improvement. Also planted some white alyssum in the front bed to perk it up a little.

AND this morning R took out some of the offending branches of the now huge Manitoba Maple - a weed tree! I think it is sufficient to let sun hit the "sunny bed". There is still a tiny bit of oregano left and I need to move it to a more suitable spot as well as a sedum and a scraggly looking sage. The four clematis are looking healthy and I hope for abundant bloom. Nice that the high grass was gone before - now there are piles of branches!!

Now that we are using the upstairs BR, it might be an idea to move our clothes up there! That means trips up the stairs and LOTS of energy - maybe one or two trips/day? I have to use the railing and be very careful.   

I have been searching on Kijiji for a futon for the downstairs room so there is bed for a guest. However, Kijiji is a mess. R says it was bought by E-Bay and so the USA only has E-Bay but we still have this new-fangled mess. apparently I have to register or cannot do alerts. It WAS so good before.

Dear old musician friends at the YD coffee house last Friday and last night. In chatting with Bill last night, he mentioned having a respiratory problem and I mentioned getting sick from walking up one flight of newly carpeted stairs----"We put carpeting on the stairs 3 years ago" "How long have you been sick?" "3 years!" He will try some de-tox baths! Their carpeting has probably off-gassed by now but the melody lingers on.

I have not stuck well to Keto diet since being here - two weeks - and I am feeling that also. Trying to get back on track.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 17 - 06:26 PM

I thought Kijiji was always a part of eBay, and it was in use here for a while, but just faded away.

So sorry about the tub episode - at this point my hall bathroom has a solid bar for getting in and out, whether for tub or shower use, and the new toilet is rated at an ADA height. I don't like it quite this high ("chair height" of about 17 inches) but I'll just say that is my ADA bathroom for elderly or disabled visitors.

I'm wondering if Charmion has enacted the cat transport plan yet, and how well it went? And I wanted to tell you, we spotted a large mouse in the lawn the other day when we headed out for a walk and the dogs killed it very tidily. Poppy pounced on it, and spit it out basically at my feet - it was still alive, but not running. I pointed it out to Cinnamon who picked it up and one chomp finished it off, then she spit it out. The chocolate Lab stood there wondering what the fuss was about, and all three were given a treat as a reward.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jun 17 - 05:26 PM

Hi, Acme!

We are still six weeks out from Flitting Day, so the cats remain blissfully ignorant of what we have in mind for them. The transfer plan is now complicated even further (yes, really!) by the Volkswagen people, who are threatening to deliver our new car on August 1st, taking our cheatin' diesel Golf in trade. That means taking the Golf in a week before to be assessed, after which we are not allowed to drive it more than about 800 kilometres before handing it over. Of course, Stratford is about 600 km from Ottawa, so we won't be able to use the old car for the move.

Jesus wept.

It is stonking hot in southern Ontario at present, and we are in a crappy little motel on the east edge of Stratford for a couple of days. The objective here is to get a flooring contractor and a kitchen guy into the new house in the hope that we might schedule the critical work that must be done as soon as possible -- i.e., getting rid of the old broadloom, and making the kitchen more efficient. It's the height of tourist season and the theatre festival is in full swing, so accommodation is both scarce and expensive. Oh, well. It is what it is.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 17 - 12:42 PM

I wasn't sure what needed doing most yesterday, except that I knew I had to have my pile of branches at the curb by this morning for the village's quarterly bulky waste pickup. I had an Italian cypress that was hit hard by a limb-killing fungus, and though I probably could have saved the tree with the organic "sick tree treatment," the tree wasn't in the best place, as it happens. I didn't plan far enough ahead when I put it in a dozen years ago, so yesterday I took it out and piled it at the curb in 6-8 foot chunks.

And then I started pruning the very large sea green juniper - that has gone from being a huge blob down to a sculpted plant. I've worked on it some earlier this spring, and I'd say that about 80% of the original huge shrub is now gone. The worst of the limbs are at the curb, and as time allows I'll be removing the ugly branching stubby limbs sticking out from the main trunk, but they're short and won't amount to much bulk, and can go in the regular trash pickup. There was a lot of wildlife under than shrub and it will have to relocate around the yard, but now I'll be able to use the driveway - this thing was encroaching on about 1/3 of the drive's width, and though I pruned regularly, was so large it filled in again quickly.

That was one of those days in the yard when you put tools away then step over to the washer and peel off sweaty clothes, dropping them into the tub directly, and proceed to the bathroom to check for ticks before a shower. Knock wood I haven't seen ticks in this kind of juniper, they usually prefer the native cedar across the road, but I wanted to be sure.

I saw and heard the rustle of mice in the front as I worked - that is something I also need to tend to promptly. There's a hole in the stone on front that if I simply filled with mortar I fear would have them heading into the house itself. Must consider my options.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jun 17 - 08:43 AM

We're back from Stratford again, after a fast visit to confer with two contractors, a flooring guy and a kitchen designer. Very profitable visit, not least because Himself finally saw the house in real life (as opposed to real estate agent's photos) and liked it.

Is there anything sweeter than a contractor's smile when you take the initiative to ask, "Would you like a deposit?" Even better, the flooring guy booked our project to begin the day after we take possession and finish within the following week so we will be in total chaos for as little time as possible.

The basement floor will be a laminate laid on top of Dri-Core, a subfloor material designed to allow the inevitable moisture to collect on the concrete, where it will eventually be re-absorbed, instead of wicking into the floor surface. (Note to file: must buy a dehumidifier. Or perhaps two dehumidifiers.) The three bedrooms that currently have horrid old broadloom will get ash flooring stained to look as much as possible like the oak flooring in the sitting room. The two smaller bedrooms will be offices, and I'm hoping the harder ash will stand up well to swivel chair wheels.

The kitchen guy won my confidence by acknowledging the risk to one's elbows of a kitchen range placed in a tight corner (imagine stirring something thick, like polenta or beef Stroganoff, in a tall pot). He also did not sneer at my desire to maintain my ridiculously large collection of cookware and crockery; I gather that, in his world, it is normal to have two full sets of dishes, two canners, and a fish kettle. This is good.

Himself is already contemplating deck stain and container gardening; his eyes lit right up when he saw the potting shed. The dream of cultivating carrots and potatoes is dying hard, but I think I might have won him over to the competing notion of a rose bed in the sunniest part of the lawn in front of the house.

That said, I believe our immediate future will include hedge clippers and a lawn mower.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 17 - 09:57 PM

Charmion, I have been listening to the audio book of Julia Child's My Life in France. You want to hear about kitchens, that's the book for you, and it confirms that multiples of things is normal in a good kitchen. And by all means position the stove where it works best! She also moved around wine and wine-storage systems.

I arrived home this evening to find my huge stack of brush is gone, and in a few minutes picked up the sticks and twigs they missed. This weekend I'll start the surgical trimming of the bits left on the sea green juniper to turn it into an interesting looking shape. We've had enough rain lately that the grass is growing and the soil is flocculated enough that I can easily remove weeds, so I predict mostly yard work. On the other hand: a friend has asked for some help with a photography project and has offered lunch and a trip to thrift stores as payment, so I may add to my eBay stuff. (There is a set of plates I want to add to, and I found two at a store near her house, so am tempted to make a route of thrift stores to her house before we even set out on our project.) Thrift stores require flexibility, keeping in mind all of the various sets here at the house and in my eBay area that need completion.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 17 - 12:03 PM

Summer isn't quite here yet, but we're under a heat advisory in this region of the US for the weekend at least. Drink lots of water, make the trips into the yard brief and meaningful. One one trip this morning, to adjust the water pressure in the sprinkler in my garden, the neighbor's cat was in hunting position under the huge pine out front. We eyed each other but she didn't run off. Keep up the good work of catching mice, please!

Time to swap out spring-time bedding for the lightest of summer sheets, laundering things before they're put up in the closet shelves. Time to put up the screen that keeps the afternoon sun from hitting my back window, but the plank that it used to hang from is down, so I need to get some new lumber and assemble an edge to suspend it from. And I need a material over the top of the patio cover. In other words, it's time to deal with the heat, or the electric bill will declutter my pocketbook.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Jun 17 - 12:26 PM

One of the most interesting museum exhibits I have ever seen is the recreation of Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian in Washington. She kept her favourite tools on a pegboard that took up the entire end wall of the room, each one outlined in paint so misguided people would not be tempted to rearrange them. Except for her professional cook's range, which I do not aspire to, she used normal good-quality gear that any ambitious home cook could buy without too much trouble; for example, she did not have those ridiculously expensive copper pans that some cookware vendors insist that a "real" cook can't do without.

I'm kind of embarrassed about my abundance of cookware, actually -- such a First World problem to have! But I like a claybaker for chicken dishes and some roasts, so we have three: large, medium and small. Some projects call out for a roasting pan, so we have one of those, and its high domed lid is perfect for covering a roast while it reposes on the platter before carving. The two canners are for quarter-litre and half-litre jars, respectively; in the big canner, the quarter-litres tend to fall through the rack, and the half-litres are too tall for the small canner. Cast-iron skillets? Um, I think we have six, ranging in diameter from six to fourteen inches, plus a ridged grilling pan. Three non-stick skillets (large, medium and small), two of them with lids. Cast-iron casseroles? Two: a six-litre and an eight. Plus a miscellaneous bunch of saucepans, two double-boilers, two stock pots, a wok, the fish kettle, and a 40-year accumulation of bread pans, terrines, pudding basins and pie dishes.

I like to think that Julia would approve.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, I'm working my way through the long list of utilities and government authorities that must be informed of our imminent departure from Ottawa. Just when I think I have come to the end, I remember something else -- Revenue Canada, the pension people, the post office, the Ministry of Health, and the Public Service Health Care Plan, which administers health insurance for ex-soldiers but still hasn't been officially told that Himself has retired. Let's hope nothing expensive happens until after that penny has dropped!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 17 - 12:58 AM

I made a start on the front yard trimming this afternoon and swept and swept and swept - after pruning the juniper I decided to declutter the grass in the cracks of the concrete driveway. I didn't finish, but am about 1/2 way up the drive, and tomorrow I'll mow the rest. One of these days the local garden club might make a monthly yard sign that says "Yard of the Month - Most Improved." That would be for me.

It's also the time of year to make the indoors particularly appealing for those days when it's too hot to go outside. Having a bedroom that is cool and comfortable, making the living room inviting for music or movies, and the back patio inviting and shady for barbecue or just sitting in the evening. I have to paint a lot of furniture on the patio to reach that point.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 17 - 11:24 AM

Overnight rain shifted my mowing plans. Possibly this evening if it clears and dries enough. Meanwhile, I've poked and prodded at a recipe I've added to "My Fitness Pal" for a mix of nuts and bittersweet chocolate as a low-salt, low-sugar snack that is good fibre to keep the gut happy. I suppose I'll have to learn how to edit some of their items, or add my own - who measures nuts as liquid measures, anyway? I have a small scale in the kitchen with a moving face so I can place a bowl or plate on it, turn it to zero, then weight food.

I suppose I could work on eBay stuff today. I've put it off long enough.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 19 Jun 17 - 06:38 PM

My snack of choice is a mix of roasted salted almonds, roasted unsalted almonds, and dried tart cherries. I just recently made the investment (I've been out for over a year) of buying 5 lbs. of the dried tart cherries from Door County, Wisconsin. They're not in themselves outrageously expensive, but when the shipping is added... Bite the bullet and get a larger amount. They store well.

One of my down-the-hill neighbors is running a permanent yard sale. And he's helping me clear out the cellar (tools, table saw, fermenter, antique wooden boxes, etcet, etcet.). Whatever he sells (besides counting as cubic footage) goes towards an item I "purchased" (will mostly trade) from him a few weeks ago -- a moose skull with a full rack. Sigh. I've always wanted one. Not my first moose skull, but the other one was made into a lamp and doesn't have the antlers.

I'm planning on having a yard sale later this summer, but mostly with stuff from upstairs. When I went through stuff during the floor project last year, I boxed a bunch of stuff to sell...AND labeled the boxes (how clever of me). I still need to attack the guest room and the guest room closet.

Oh, and I've also decided to chuck my prize collection of "I'm going to need a box this size some day" boxes. If I DO need a box that size, I'll deal with it. I'll probably also put a box of jewelry-sized boxes out at my yard sale and see if I can get a buck or so for it. And a couple transparent trash bags full of packing peanuts. If I live for another 50 years (highly unlikely) I won't use up that many packing peanuts!

Maybe if life ever settles down a bit I can steadily sell the ephemera on eBay. Some things I just can't multi-task -- and major parts of my brain are engaged in other things, so I can't deal with effectively selling on eBay right now.

I'm feeling over-extended again. Like everyone has a piece of me. Still involved full tilt in finding a temporary location for the Friday Press Room session until the renovations are finished and it re-opens under new ownership in September. The temp location for the monthly sea music sing is just fine. Tasty beer, too.

Gotta go cut up some more boxes destined for this week's trash.

Linn

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 17 - 10:23 PM

Boxes. You can't live with them, you can't live without them. I find a box and the packing materials and pre-pack any item I'm going to sell on eBay so there are as few surprises as possible. You're trading items for moose antlers? They must be special!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 17 - 09:52 PM

After a few days of a failing phone battery, I replaced the OEM one with a 2.5X battery that comes with a different back for the phone because the new battery is thicker than the OEM battery. Now I have to find a way to keep this phone from getting damaged by typical assaults of daily life. My Ballistic case was wonderful - possibly now an eBay item - just about anything that goes out of service these days can be put on eBay.

Back to boxes - I have several co-workers who are leaving soon for new jobs (lucky stiffs!) and this week I'll take a few of my spare boxes to the office for them. I should probably pack up a few of my own extra items at work and bring them home as well. #LessIsMore

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jun 17 - 08:31 AM

Yesterday, we hit a major milestone on our way to blowing town: I cleaned out the chest freezer! At least three years have passed since I did it last (guilt, guilt, guilt), so the walls were well-iced and an ugly scurf of black mold was forming on the lip of the lid. A blast of Javex-laced cleanser fixed that.

It's interesting how we take for granted household appliances that our parents never even considered buying. The dishwasher, for example -- I can still hear my mother's indignant snort at the very idea. "Why would we bother when we have you?", she said, putting rather too fine a point on it. Freezers were for people with half an acre of garden and a hunter in the family, or the bone idleness to spend their money on TV dinners -- i.e., not us.

Our frozen food holdings are now down to four litres of minestrone, a large leg of lamb, two pounds of cranberries and a loaf of bread. We are now five weeks out from Pack Day.

I, too, am collecting boxes. The packers will not touch anything that would leak, such as home-made jam or bottled maple syrup, and I'm sure as hell not giving that away. Likewise the wine and the booze; it's all coming with us, and I hope the Ontario Provincial Police don't decide to notice us on the road -- it is illegal here to transport an open container of beverage alcohol in a motor vehicle. I also have five orchids (all reliable bloomers) and a 19-year-old Christmas cactus that I would like to keep, so they will make the trip swaddled in newspaper and stuffed into open-topped wine boxes. I can see us now, storming down the 401 highway in a U-Haul van full of food and drink, with the orchids teetering on top of the load.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 17 - 09:28 AM

FYI - the UHaul folks have excellent boxes of just about every shape and size you can imagine, and when your move is over they will buy back any unused boxes. I occasionally buy boxes from them when I sell chandeliers on eBay (chandeliers that I can't dismantle for some reason or other).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 17 - 07:51 PM

Several passes through the yard, punctuated by cool-off sessions in the house. One last pass and I'll be finished in a few minutes. We're just about to the time when the summer heat will cause the grass to go somewhat dormant: mowing is less frequent during the hottest months (except around the edges of the vegetable garden). This large task seems a suitable chore for the first day of summer.

Trash day tomorrow, so I'm evicting some of the things that have cluttered the side yard since last autumn (old plastic flats for bedding plants, crumbling plastic pots, bits and pieces of things left out there that needed picking up and throwing.) They'll go down to the curb tonight and my side entrance looks much nicer. I've also been flattening shipping boxes and preparing to make a run to the recycle bins at city hall. The donation bin has been filling also so I might score a triple if I can get that over to the donation center in the morning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Jun 17 - 08:51 PM

Beaver:

SO glad to hear that Charmion is getting rid of the broadloom BEFORE the move! Your health will be the better for it. Though, I suppose everything new will be off-gassing for a while. Summer and open windows will help. Also, heat speeds the process and Stratford will be hot for a while! Love the plant story. I drove from SE PA to Whidbey Island with my loaded car, and, amongst the plants was a four foot jasmine tree which reached from the back to out the front window. I wrapped the top in a sheet to keep it from being wind damaged. The large dog also shared the front window! great four day trip! The tree was fine but I had to give it away when I moved back to Canada - It was SO lovely!

Arriving home on Monday eve was an event of discovering all the wonderful changes, small and large, dear Dan has wrought this time! The original siding back on the studio makes it look absolutely civilized! The shelves in the back/back shed hold 15 bins and a top shelf for oddments. The deck behind the shed is lovely and inspired us to ask - could you make it into a screened room? Next week! It can be a summer hideout/guest room/retreat/reading room.... He even put a sliding door over the electric panel and tells me that he closed up every place that a squirrel could get into it! which will also reduce cold air. The kiln "garage" looks great and I look forward to getting pots ready to fire but not until R ccmes and puts in the electric line. Well, I can get them ready!

Now, I need to go through those bins and try to let go of enough stuff to reduce the number as there are two more on the back deck! ... But lots of good room left in that shed. When R comes in july, he will go through the clogged back shed and get rid of and organize stuff.

It is so nice to be here where the air is clean and I can see the out of doors, the lovely west hill and be in a moderately clean and organized house. AND take a hot bath!!!! Monday after I arrive and again last night and planned - tonight! I felt SO good today for the first time in five months, I could walk with almost no limp at all and felt balanced. People, including R, do not realize the effect of a hot bath with epsom salt (followed by cool shower to wash it off.

I have done some weeding. The lettuce is taking over the world! Strawberries seem to be burgeoning. Did 3 loads of laundry today, dried outside and folded but not yet put away. If only I could find the spare bobbins for my sewing machine life would be practically perfect. I shall have to bite the bullet and use the one I have, changing thread colours as I go as I have a pile of pants to hem for R and an increasing pile of other sewing to do. The time has come!!!

I have already - in my mind - furnished the 10x10 screen room; the folding table, the four captains chairs that need new fabric seats and backs and a lounge chair that could be slept upon. Also thinking of a bed that folds against the back wall; that wall will be solid. Rather like a murphy bed, maybe.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jun 17 - 10:52 AM

Dorothy, if you bought more bobbins, where would you store them? Go look in that place now, you might find the old ones waiting for you. :) That's what happens when I buy replacements for things without looking in my storage first.

The yard looks great today, but I overdid it in the heat, resulting in a night of leg cramps. I'm being careful with sodium these days so will be sure to get more potassium to compensate for that lost in sweat.

That screened in room sounds nice!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 17 - 09:42 PM

Arriving home today when the temperature hit 99^o I was aware of how hot the house was - mostly because my screen that I usually put up each summer to shade the sliding glass door on the western side of the house isn't up yet. I need to fashion a new edge to my patio cover since the long 2' x 8' x 12' plank twisted out of shape and came off of its moorings on the structure. I think that has to be the first chore to tackle this weekend. With that screen my electric bill stays lower.

A few small projects have wrapped up this week, and a couple still need attention. The garden always needs attention. Enumerating all of that here would simply repeat past posts. Making forward progress on new projects - my goal is to put down new tile in the hall bathroom in the next few weeks.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Jun 17 - 10:04 PM

Half of the housemate-couple moved on about 7 months ago to start setting up their home in another state, and left a pile of new boxes in the garage... where I hope the other half will forget all about them. They'll be so handy for the housecleaner I just found, to box up the clutter Mr. Batchelor is generating.... it's incipient hoarding, ... which had better not be in evidence when I get back here for vacay w Hardi in 3.5 weeks! Because this better NOT be the 3rd year running of trying to vacation (in/from our own house), around a chaotic mess!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jun 17 - 08:11 PM

The local electronics store I prefer had an LG TV on sale today and I thought I'd switch it out for my second smaller monitor so I could use the speakers on it instead of having the three-piece desktop speakers that plug into the back of the computer. I set it up, even programmed the channels so I could use it as a TV if I wish, but then set it as a monitor. When I tried to get the sound through it, nothing. Only through the old speakers. I Googled how to run sound through monitor and got the tip to open the speaker icon and right click the various devices. When I did that, still nothing. So I unplugged the desktop set and was astonished to hear sound FINALLY coming out of my large HP monitor that I've had in place for probably 5 or 6 years. Somehow when I couldn't get it to work at first I assumed there wasn't sound, but now I feel foolish.

The LG doesn't look as good as the old monitor, so though it is larger, the resolution isn't as good, and I may switch back. And figure out someplace else in the house to put this.

Sometimes improvements aren't really improvements.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 17 - 07:25 PM

Most weeks I don't have much trash to put at the curb because kitchen waste goes into the compost and a lot of materials go into recycling that I take to the bins at city hall every couple of weeks. So I only put out trash every three or four times the twice-weekly trash is picked up. But this time of year when I have limbs too large to run through my chipper I can trim a few at a time and put the cut-up pieces into the large Rubbermaid bin that came with the house. The bin looks like crap but still works for this, and so far they've always left it behind (it is remarkably difficult to actually "throw away" old trash cans!)

I've taken out some limbs that hung low by the street and in the middle of the yard, blocking the view when exiting the driveway. Strategic trimming has now removed limbs that the village might require to be removed (lower than 13' from the pavement) and others opened up the view through the yard.

The bin doesn't have a lot in it, just a few 2"+ limbs (the smaller limbs are in a stack to dry a few days then I'll put them through my chipper), but there is a rosemary by the back gate that has grown all out of that bed, so later when it's cool I'll go out again and trim some of that and add it to the bin.

Tomorrow I plan to get some free mulch from the city park public site and I'll scalp pathways in the garden with the weedeater, then put flattened cardboard boxes down and cover them with mulch. Unlike Susan, I don't have things to put into the boxes, but they will be excellent in the landscape.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Jun 17 - 08:12 PM

We have a shed in need of clearing again. It was great when we had it put up and we fitted it with t slot shelving and plastic storage boxes but clutter just seems to grow to fill all the space and a purge is needed.

I want to make a rough and ready (my limits plus I have enough suitable wood for this) table to go under the cast iron framed and marble topped table in the porch – seems the easiest way to create a sort of shelf there. I'm not sure yet but the extra "shelving" may already be accounted for as we are toying with getting Pip a stand alone (as opposed to one of those things with a bowl that goes into the too full freezer)ice cream maker for her birthday and I'd need to create some extra space somehow to accommodate it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Jun 17 - 06:15 PM

Beaver:

Have not gotten tons done but inch by inch. My good neighbour sharpened the scythe and I have managed to cut some of the higher than knee high grass and weeds between rains! This one bobbin will do for making the new seats and backs for the folding director's chairs; so I shall try to get them done yet this week.

Having failed to continue the nightly hot bath = not wanting to over do it, I tried for one on Sunday am and "Thunk" then no water from the hot water side. A call to R to figure out the why of it and a wait for Dan who did not come today - nest week. So, another call to R so I could try it myself. Turn off the water at the heater, take off the screwed on rubber line and then the valve ... After I took off the valve, it seemed Ok so I put it all back together and LO! hot water!! So, another hot bath this aft.

I have ransacked every possible place for the spare bobbins - except where they are actually hiding. Decided to live with it - after trying Amazon - THAT is desperation! I did order an ozonator to use in Montreal - hoping to kill the powder mill beetles that are eating the house. If it will kill scabies... I will also give it a go when we are leaving on Friday for the mill. It will be cleared by the time we get back - prob Sunday - and it should get rid of mold and anything else.

Leaving here on Thursday, after I read the newspaper into computer at Community Care, stop in Tweed for a teeth cleaning and in Napanee to pick up the shoes I left for repair on my way here. Shoe repair shops are hard to find; I found this on line, en route from here to there and easy to access. The 3 pairs of shoes I have been carrying around for several years...   They are very good quality leather shoes but the total cost of repair is equivalent to more than I ever paid for any 3 pairs of shoes in my life! He told me they would be like new.... I sure hope so! You too could restore a worn pair of Birkies for only $95CAD! plus tax! So, I de-clutter that darn bag of shoes and my wallet simultaneously!

In the de-clutter the brain dept, I was able to start a piece of writing that has eluded me for a year or more. Very happy! It needs lots more work but at least I found the beginning!

Another cool night; the temp in house has dropped to 68 while I wrote this. Later I shall start the distiller which will provide considerable heat, so it is not too cool in the am. Still have planting to do - broke down and bought a couple ornamentals yesterday - a white tree peony and a yellow canna that was bursting its pot - poor thing! And some tomato and pepper plants. Have asked Dan for two more raised beds and a one level octagonal bed frame for a tiny mock orange, a baby of the one in montreal which was given to R by a very special friend. It will be a memorial garden for her. For now, it will have annuals around it, bulbs will be planted in the fall. It will be outside the main front window. So much for sticking to useful food plantings. I could plant the peppers around it - between the geraniums!

The tiny balsam I planted two years ago has shot up about 8 more inches! Sitting thinking about the monster comfrey plant --- maybe a poultice would help my shoulder! Maybe I could harvest a dry a bunch of leaves for future needs! I have 3 babies for the mill and Montreal. I harvested a good sized bunch of oregano yesterday - drying in the BR.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 17 - 10:28 PM

I cleared out what might amount to a couple of cubic feet of cardboard boxes yesterday. I pulled off any plastic tape left from the shipping process then flattened them (intact, they weren't pulled apart to make a single corrugated layer) for the garden. I had 3+ contractor trash bags of free mulch that I used to cover these flattened boxes for paths in my garden. And movement is now a little easier in my sun room.

I treated my garden tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers with some "blossom set" liquid on cotton swabs this evening. The plant growth is good but there are few flowers. And they're not setting fruit. I hope this will get me some crops in the next few weeks. I'll plan to do that again one day soon.

I've put organic rosemary in the trash because I have so much of it, but during the summer I usually put herbs at the curb with signs on boxes that say "free - organic whatever it is." Oregano, rosemary, lemon balm.

I have figured out what to do about my backup hard drive. I want a good backup, not messed up should any ransom-ware accidentally come my way. Leaving a backup always attached means it can be mapped by ransom ware. I'll leave the backup drive plugged in, but have it plugged into a timer on the UPS so that it turns on in time to run the weekly backup, then turns itself off again.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 17 - 12:03 AM

I'm not seeing a response to the blossom set so far, I may have to use more (they say to try to keep the spray off of the rest of the plant, so I apply it with a cotton swab). A few cherry tomatoes a day will give me a modest amount of tomato zing for my salads, but nothing left over to can or freeze.

A friend came over to examine the computer setup here and get recommendations for a new system at her small business. As I pulled out bins of cables and devices I realized it's time again to declutter some of that stuff. Way too many data cables, power cords, USB cords, etc. I'll send a few her way, plus a USB Hub or two, to make her setup streamlined. Before making recommendations I took at look at her current setup - it's scary to see the old power strips piled up with tons of things plugged in - I've recommended some good surge protectors plugged into different circuits in the office.

The thing about a visitor coming to the house - while there are many interesting artifacts to discuss and share, it also gives you that glimpse of your space through someone else's eyes. This long holiday weekend will probably involve the decluttering of some of the electronic stuff and clearing off a few of the horizontal surfaces. I found a set of computer speakers in a bin I didn't know I had, and I just decommissioned another one this week. Something has to go to the e-waste bin at work next week.

Charmion, how's it going? Dorothy, are you onto the next stage in the buildout of the guest space at the new place? And is the Mill still in play - do you have things stored there or have you moved out completely? If Susan reports in, I'm interested in the garden layout and the use of those spare boxes, and if Michelle reports, I'm hoping all tests are perfect, the boy is growing like a weed (even with a cast on his arm - a normal part of a healthy childhood), the farm is prospering, and everything is good.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Jun 17 - 09:39 AM

We are now in the calm before the storm -- a lull of mental lists of last things to do, bookings and arrangements and filling out of forms, while we soldier through our last month before what I now think of as "La grande dérangement". Okay, nobody's sending us into exile, but upping sticks and heaving ourselves across the province after so many years in the same house definitely feels more than a little deranged right now. Doing it at the peak of tourist season just adds to the general madness.

Stratford is a small town with a huge tourist-dependent summer theatre festival. Consequently, every hotel and bed-and-breakfast in Perth County is booked solid throughout July and August, but the absolute tippy-top of it all is exactly the week when we are moving, which includes the statutory holiday that falls on the first Monday in August. Our relocation benefit entitles us to interim lodging at the federal government per-diem rate, which should be downright lavish and would be in, say, March, but in August it doesn't even come close to covering the cost of a convenient spot where we may lay our downy heads. So we are booked into an almost-crappy motel on the town line, down the road from Staples and Wal-Mart and a substantial drive from anywhere that serves a decent breakfast.

Ottawa is almost as bad. We live downtown, and hoped to find a hotel close to home so we could be on deck at the scene of the crime for as long as possible while packing is going on. No such luck; every hostelry within walking distance of our front door hikes its rates into the stratosphere in summer -- especially this summer, now that the breadless circus of Canada 150 has come to town. So we're booked in at a Travelodge in an east-end industrial park that has lavish parking and locks on the doors and precious little else.

The place where we usually board the cats when we're away from home is likewise unavailable (booked solid since Easter), so the poor little beasts are booked in at a kennel that also caters to dogs. The horror, the horror ... But it was the only place within an hour's drive of Ottawa where I could even get them in, let alone secure desirable quarters for a pair of pampered pussycats who have never been separated for as much as an hour throughout their little lives.

But the lawyers are now talking to each other, and the utility companies have acknowledged our existence, and we have lined up a capable cleaner to blitz the place after our stuff is toted out (I almost don't care how much that costs), and we have booked a U-Haul truck to transport the stuff the movers won't take, so the big stuff is in place. The small stuff -- well, I try not to sweat the small stuff, but it's a continuing challenge.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Jun 17 - 10:18 AM

Back in PA for several weeks before we head back to Ohio for 3 vacation weeks. Hardi did a lot of cleaning here while I was gone; this leaves my next job here clear: purging and packing, packing and purging. It's time to set up the box-contents inventory system because the actual move is still far off-- I won't be able to remember just by scribbling on eachieving box. But this process should result in knowing how to design for the storage needs in Ohio such as garage shelving.

At the MIL visit we enjoyed a few weeks ago, we were presented with Grandma Nora's beautiful everyday flatware-- a delicate silver-plate pattern. I came up with several options honoring her AND the family tradition of its everyday use. We will probably pass most of it on to Nora's great-grand-daughter, whose older brother recently received a Grandpa John trove. Stephanie is just the age and personality to start learning how to care for silver, and to host grade-school parties using this set.

As I pack and purge I'll take time to follow my own advice-- annotate obscure items and give away now what I'd like to pass on. Pack memory boxes for each child in our family unit and ship them in advance of the Big Move. Take pix of bulky sentimental items and gift the items themselves to Goodwill. Recycle. Shred. Save shredded paper for packing material. Use NPR livestreaming as company, and Ohio music stations to remind me what I'm working towards.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 30 Jun 17 - 11:14 AM

Charmion, with all of the housing difficulty for you and the cats it sounds like you need something like a motor home to rent for a few weeks. Is that a possibility, and park it in your own driveway, or perhaps a generous neighbor's parking area? Or does someone in the family own one you can borrow/rent if they're difficult to schedule now? Leasing? Just thinking outside the motel/kennel box.

Susan, the experts on Antiques Roadshow seem to be pronouncing the death knell on so many of the things that our generation saw as "valuable antiques." Dark wood is now out, Mid-century Modern is the look that is popular. So many collections and knickknacks are turning up in thrift stores instead of antique stores. If you can find interested parties for any of these family heirlooms, let them know you want them to have said items and cultivate that appreciation and care. They'll eventually be popular again - all of these things cycle up and down.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 17 - 11:07 AM

Going back to basics over this long holiday weekend: I will start in the corner of the sun room and organize the potting table with all of it's boxes and tools and plant things tumbled together. Then work outward from there. Straighten the pantry shelves, organize the eBay sales and shipping area. #BigJob

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jul 17 - 11:23 AM

My report to Hoarders Anonymous - I seem to have kept most of the smallish bottles with lids that came my way over the last few years. "I might be able to use this for something" is probably the script that runs when a brown glass or hefty plastic bottle with a snug screw-on lid comes my way. But last month I discovered that I can use the FoodSaver canister to vacuum seal canning jars with dry contents (things that don't need cooking like dried foods, dry herbs, etc.). The jar and the lid goes into the canister, and once the air is sucked out the jar has also been emptied of air and then the lid seals. (The canisters are expensive enough that you wouldn't spend $20 a piece to use them to actually store food - but as a tool to store food in other containers - that is so worth it - and I found this at Goodwill for $1.99.) So instead of using old fish oil bottles I can seal in canning jars and send herbs to whoever I have in mind. I tossed several pounds of jars and bottles into the recycle bin and cleared a lot of space on the shelves above my potting table.

I buy a store brand of spaghetti sauce that comes in a labeled canning jar - Atlas with measure marks on it. Those are heavy enough to use with canning, so those go into the pantry, not the recycle bin. And you wouldn't want to use commercial jars from most foods for canning, they're not heavy-duty enough.

This will be a busy month ahead. I have to do select and put down tile in the hall bathroom, clear out some of my eBay projects that are spread around the house, and get organized for a family birthday party for early August. There's nothing to make you finally get around to finishing some of those projects than the prospect of having friends come into the house and see the clutter.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jul 17 - 11:08 AM

Progress through the day yesterday resulted in being able to see areas of the wood surface on the second desk in the office and I can again step into the office closet. Cables, peripherals, adapters, are all (hopefully) in one place now instead of scattered around the house (well, there is a set of cables in the living room next to the TV, but those are related only to the equipment in there). My Dad's old plastic label maker (press hard for each letter, press lightly for the space between words) came into play for identifying the plastic baskets where things are now stored. What's old is new again. Why pay for a fancy new electronic one when the old tech works (and I still have plenty of the label tape around here.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Jul 17 - 01:22 PM

I had felt (and posted upthread) that this month is a time to set up my packing inventory plan, but I was wrong!

It felt so impossible that I spent some session time looking at what was going on. It turned out that a more foundational issue needed attention first-- I was treating Ohio time as the only place where I live/have a life, and treating PA time as random-- as a place where I have no control over my time and how I spend it. But that PA feeling is obsolete, so I decided to get a better grip on the length and nature of PA time-- and it changed everything.

It gave me a rhythm and a flow cycle that places packing/purging at the right time of year-- and prepping for that at the season just preceding it.

This also led to a whole lot of other integrative pieces, and a real, 12-18 month plan.

Now it's stored in my fone as a memo in progress, to consult before calendaring any new commitments into my scheduling process. My life makes SENSE!!! To ME! (I hadn't noticed that it hadn't for quite some time.)

With some further development and negotiaton, the next year might look roughly like this-- dates will slip a bit for the flip-flops, and to accommodate existing family and workshop commitments.

The activities in parentheses are about what the healthy daily activity level will be based around. 'Funmeister' = local festivals and cultural activities that involve walking, which is what I can do in PA that is not like the 1-story-house stuff/gardening so easily done in Ohio. These events are on a calendar-prompt cycle all year long for PA (and are yet to be systematized yet that way for Ohio, where the main activity so far is gardening/house projects).

All dates are subject to revision if we don't like this-- it's about 60/40 PA/OH for me, but we both liked the two long seasons together-- Advent/Christmas and summer/summer vacay.

We also both liked the way this has our eyes on our house for more of the year, considering that the housemate may depart.


PA June 20 - July 24 (4 wks) (Funmeister)

OH July 24 - Aug 17 (3 wks) (Vacay/2nd Honeymoon, See Ohio)

PA Aug 24 - Sept 15 (3 wks) (Funmeister)

OH Sept. 15 - October 31 (7 wks) (Gardening)
DioCPA convention is Oct. 13-14. Greg ends S.C. term.

PA Nov 1 - Jan 1 (9 wks) (Holidays/Anniversary)

OH January 1 - February 12 (6 wks) (Retreat; Plan PA Packing, Plan PA Sowing; Make OH Help Wanted sign)

PA Feb 12- May 1 (11.5 wks) (PA Purging/Packing Season; Sowing and Seedlings [for PA and Ohio])
Lent begins Feb. 14. Easter is April 1. Advertise for help via OH sign.)

OH All of May (5 wks) (Gardening, Hiring; Greg water PA seedlings; Playoffs)

PA June 1 thru July 24 (7 wks) (Funmeister, PA Gardening; NHL Final)

OH July 24? - Aug 17? (3 wks) (Vacay)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 17 - 11:05 AM

Scanning and transcribing notes and clippings and such that I want to keep around but that don't have logical places to be filed. And discovering that some of the notes that I thought were somehow so important all of those years ago aren't actually that great.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Jul 17 - 02:41 PM

Remembering how Bobert and The Peavine had to dig up their wonderful garden when they moved, and in light of my aging decrepitude, I've begun windowboxing and container gardening on and around our 50' ramp.

First was a bike basket full of Petunias and a trailing, variegated Vinca. Today it was another 6-pack of Petunias, and scrap hardware cloth bent into a windowbox shape to hold them. Next, it will be enough plants to fill the living room in the winter, to go out to the ramp for the summer and fall, in creative containers already on hand when possible.

The potting-up happens in a shady, level corner where the ramp's first turn welcomes me heading out for the morning tour-- also a good spot from which to go inside for whatever I forgot. Two gallons of water a day is my carrying limit, so rain will have to help.

But again, remembering Bobert's yard, nothing I do here won't work in OH; anything bought is assumed to be in the pipeline to Ohio, either nowish or at The Big Move. The just-potted petunias in fact are destined for a September jaunt (because the Ohio growing season is much longer).

This is very helpful in integrating PA/OH life, and it's great for my PA activity level too. I just watch for materials (and places to use them), with eventual OH placement always in mind. Right now I'm remembering for example some cinderblocks and shipping pallets out back, to set against the ramp with flowerpots in them. This season, they might get just a few sale plants-- but I'll be all set next spring with annuals started from seed. I also know where the blocks and pallets will go in Ohio, when that time comes.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 17 - 11:42 AM

The morning trash removed the nearly-dead motor of an old blender (purchased for $4 at a garage sale across the street). The jar and fittings are here and can be put on sale on eBay or simply left as spares since they fit the new blender. It's the mentality of "spares" that has some of us digging out of the storage regions of our homes, so the decision isn't made yet to keep or sell.

I tend to plant things around the yard away from the main garden area and then forget and they get very dry between waterings. Good luck with expanding the flowers around the houses.

I have a bench full of cardboard boxes shipped here over recent weeks - they need flattening and I'll pick up more free mulch and extend the paths in my garden. And today comes the heavy duty vinegar to kill weeds along the paths. This reduces the box bulk and contributes to the future mulch of the garden.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 17 - 09:15 PM

Surprise! A house guest is arriving tomorrow evening to stay a few days. The guest room is ready but the kitchen and bathroom need cleaning, I must vacuum, and look to see what is available for nibbling in the fridge. Lots of food, but most of it requires some preparation.

My hall bathroom with the new loo and the support bar in the shower I put in a year or two ago for the same visitor is ready, it just needs tidying. She loves the comfortable bed in the guest room, and there is a bedside lamp in there now for reading that wasn't on her last visit. And a television after that recent attempt at using it for a monitor (resolution wasn't high enough to make it work). She travels with an oxygen pump that can be set in the closet and won't be heard outside of her room. She may be here over the weekend, so who knows if I'll get any more decluttering done for the time being. She has been known to do organizing for people - I'm afraid I'd kill her if she tried it here, but we understand each other. I know how to find everything now. 25+ years of friendship means a lot of this stuff is behind us. It's a good chance to put up our feet and visit, and though she won't care if the house is full of dog hair, I do, so I'll get going on that now.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 Jul 17 - 10:54 PM

Beaver:

Gradually working up to more energy and improved walking. Hot baths are essential and the hot water quit - again!- a week ago so I have used foot baths and comfrey poultices to keep on track. Amazingly, I finally started the project of new seats and backs for the directors chairs. The refurbished sewing machine - R's Christmas project - is a good as new! Such a joy to work after untold years of iffiness. I hope to finish them in the morning and move them from BR to back/back shed until the screen house is ready. This will hugely de-cluttter the BR. Then I can go on to other sewing projects, as in a foot high of pants to hem for R, to further de-clutter.

The screen house is on hold as Dan did not have time and then was sick so the new priority is R's library. Dan started preparing for the foundation today. it will be a ten by ten by as high as they agree to make it! R has a beautiful library ladder and Dan is insisting the shelves do not go so high they cannot be safely reached! Dan is a grand fund of good sense and knowledge of building. R is arriving on Friday or Saturday. Monday is my cataract op so Monday and Tuesday (dr appointment) we will be in Peterboro; we have arranged an airbnb for Monday night - $62 to stay in a condo in town rather than drive over an hour each way back and forth to Bancroft (60 miles). R plans to visit the Canadian Canoe Museum while I am at the hospital.


I have two new raised beds - one for more strawberries; one can never have too many strawberries! and one for veggies. It is pretty late in the season but if it ever dries out enough for the soil to be delivered, I shall try for peas, perhaps green beans. It is on the north side so should be cooler but still gets lots of sun at this time. In the other beds, I have lettuce galore and carrots, zukes and wax beans flourishing in the one bed and the strawberries are slowly coming along. Along the south wall, tomatoes and peppers amongst the sage, oregano, lavender, clematis and a huge clump of established rhubarb. I am pleased!

An octagonal bed frame - 4 feet in D - is special for a tiny mock orange bush, a baby of the one in Montreal which was given to R by a special friend. She died last year so this will be a memorial. For now, I will surround the baby with annuals, in the fall will plant bulbs - ones that squirrels do not treasure! It is centred outside a large window where our dining table is located.

Maybe the soil can arrive tomorrow - if it does not pour again tonight! Then I can plant the beds. A neighbour came over today and cut some of the high grass and put it into the beds so it will be covered with the soil. The plant roots will have to go deep to get any nourishment from it but I had no other plans for it. Need a better compost pile but have not decided WHERE!

I managed to throw 3 pots the other morning and need to trim the bottoms - maybe tomorrow. It was too cold this am and I was too tired in the afternoon. AND I have an exercycle on the back deck which I have ridden for short periods four days - oops skipped Weds as it was raining! Tonight only a very short time as I was very low in energy. Tuesday I was very pleased with how long I lasted and thought it would increase but my legs were very tired tonight.

This Keto diet is tiresome and I have become less and less good at it. I have not gained more but have not lost any so I am feeling time for a change. I am so fed up I would like to stop eating - but I won't. A new mantra might be -"just because I fell hungry does not mean I need to eat!" One day at a time I am feeling the way forward.

I have been amazed over the last couple months at my improved eyesight and even wonder if I really need this op - but guess I do. In conversation with a couple friends last week, we were talking about supplements that are good for the brain and I mentioned that I had started taking Lecithin a few weeks ago. Joanne said, "Oh, there is Lecithin in my eye pills!" So, we are thinking it is the Lecithin that improved my sight. That is the only recent change in my regime.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 17 - 12:34 PM

We're way past pea and lettuce season here, and I usually miss it because of my earliest gardening in the north, these southern gardens need to have the tender crops in way earlier than seems practical. And this year we've had more rain than usual and contrary as it might seem, the result is that my crops aren't great. My tomatoes are barely producing and even the blossom set spray isn't working on them.

I have moved more things in the sun room, put away packing and shipping materials, flattened boxes, cleared some portion of the tabletop work surface. The trick is to truly put away the things moved off of this work surface, not simply transplant them to some other place where they'll be in the way.

Oddball things to list on eBay are stacked next to the computer so I can do some research, then they need to go into the appropriate shipping package and actually be listed. Sounds easy, but it sometimes takes me a while to get motivated.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 17 - 08:22 PM

I was at Tractor Supply today, and though I had a shopping list intended for another store, I thought I'd take a look down the aisles to see if there was anything more than dog food they could tempt me with today. And I stumbled upon a small but well-chosen selection of sprinklers. My gardener's heart always beats a little faster when I find another one that *might* do what I want. They had two types of sprinklers on tripods, $30 and $60, and they, after I poked around, had one that simply is meant to be clamped onto the top of one of the t-shaped posts that holds up wire fencing. It's more modest, less likely to catch the eye of someone who might come up the driveway to steal it. I'll test it this evening.

In the spirit of decluttering, there are probably half-dozen sprinkler experiments around here that failed that I should discard or donate.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Jul 17 - 08:30 PM

Beaver:

A newly purchased ozonater has decluttered the house in Montreal - basement and first floor - hopefully of bugs, certainly of mold and odours, also R's truck, my car and the house here. It will go back to Montreal with R to be used again in the basement - hopefully killing those powder post beetles as they hatch.

My left eye is decluttered of a cataract (Monday) and we are in the healing phase with R putting drops in for me, and me delighting in clearing vision! The hard part is me trying to remember not to bend down to pick up things on the floor - actually made me nauseous the 3rd time today so I am really "getting it"! Need some kind of stick up my back??

We spent Mon and Tues in Peterboro; R went to the Canoe Museum while I endured the op, then picked me up and I rested in the car while he did more of the museum. Overnight at comfy airbnb. Tues: Dr appointment - She said it went well and admonished me to not touch eye and not bend over; I wear my sunglasses a lot to try to protect the eye - from me. We visited the Trent Severn waterway Lift Lock - the largest in NA. Fascinating, we watched to go up with water and boats, then come down ... No noise, no power - just the weight of the water and a HUGE piston. Had fun exploring a bit of Peterboro and wending our way homeward. The trip is 90 min to two hours so we decluttered by staying over night!

Decluttered some of the pile of sewing today, delighting in the like-new sewing machine since R tended to it! Finished the seats and backs for the folding chairs but we still need to get them into their slots. The BR is largely declusttered but the LR still has them. Maybe tonight?? A two person job - or a R job!

He fixed the hot water - YAY! So it will not happen again! He has to do just about everything - pick up this, pick up that... Planted a lovely little larch out near the stream. I CAN cook - when I have the energy - as long as I drop nothing on the floor.

Critter in Strawberries last night! So R is placing some glass panes around it tonight. The critter was large enough to totally disrupt the plastic screening that keeps the birds out. The soil for new beds to come tomorrow - after some mis-communication. R will need to do the planting - that I was so looking forward to doing.

Our lettuce crop continues to be lovely, the wax beans are getting there slowly, four cabbage are taking up a humongous amout of space, carrots are coming along and the squash are slow but, so far, not molested. Tomatoes and peppers are slow. Lavender, in full bloom by front door, is delightfully welcoming! (Memories of Whidbey Island!)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jul 17 - 09:28 AM

The Brother is coming tomorrow to claim the sideboard, an old family piece for which we will not have room in the new house. I've had that sideboard since 1976 (before that date it lived with my parents), and I'm regretting, but not regretting, the decision to part with it. The fact is that we won't need it, and The Brother and his wife do.

The kitchen renovation in the new house in Stratford includes a built-in wall unit comprising floor-to-ceiling china cabinets, drawers for table linen and a serving surface. So the old sideboard really is surplus to our requirements, while The Brother and his wife live in a Victorian house with a separate dining room and zero stowage for all the things you stow in a chiffonier-type sideboard. He should have it. Really.

I'll keep telling myself that until it's out of the house.

I am now deep in discussions by email with the designer-cabinetmaker who will build our new kitchen. He's a great guy, I've decided, because he clearly understands what cooks need in the way of workspace and provides CAD drawings to show what he has in mind. It will be a very expensive project -- at least by our standards -- so I am rather trepid about it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Jul 17 - 11:26 AM

Beaver:

Poor signal these days.

Charmion: I have left, and/or had stolen or demolished a number of pieces of furniture which I greatly cherished. I have grieved to lesser or grater degrees, but --- Oh well, life goes on and I have survived worse losses... We generally do. Your K guy sounds great - but keep your eye on it to ensure it is what YOU really want! Little things matter: I remember having to insist that a corner I would be going round often must be rounded so I did not have a perpetually sore hip from bumping a sharp corner! Such a small thing. Our wonderful current helper tends to think of these things.

The soil just arrived! The truck was able to fill one bed and largely fill the other - having to back up between wet ground and the hydro lines! And a 3rd pile is on top of the septic tank; it was needed to level that area and the extra will go towards the back sheds so we are not walking through ankle deep water for two months each year.

R shall have to do the planting in the memorial bed as I cannot bend over! Such a drag! I may be able to do seeding and transplanting of strawberries - lots of runners on the current bed. The critter did not get through the glass cage last night! That is probably all the raised beds as no where else is close enough to the road and moving wheelbarrow loads of soil---- NO WAY!

A mostly dead tree is coming out and the library is planned, with R and Dan in agreement! I hope construction will soon begin! I got a hearty laugh out of my comment , "I want to see a library today!" Definitely a joke! The project is a bit complicated but they seem to be on the same page.

I decluttered a lovely winter coat; needs zipper. I bought the zipper a few years ago but removing the old one... So I put the zip in a pocket and a note on it. To a thrift shop. I have managed quite well without it!

I managed 0.4 miles (I guess) on the cycle this am. It has been neglected through our busy, traveling week.

A beautiful clear day, scattered clouds and a lovely breeze! Probably going up to 27C.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 17 - 11:03 PM

Some day . . . new kitchen, redo bathroom cabinets . . . if anyone ever suggests putting in drawer or cabinet handles that have edges that can hook pockets or bathrobes, out the door they go! My kitchen is full of them and they DRIVE. ME. NUTS.

Like this. For example. Why have things sticking out that will catch garments and either ruin the garment or pull out the drawer or cupboard, sometimes with disastrous results? I curse whoever chose this hardware several times a week, but to replace it, all of it, would be expensive. Might as well wait till I can get new cabinets.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Jul 17 - 09:55 AM

Noted, Acme. Thanks for the tip. I like to listen to my iPod while doing mundane or protracted kitchen chores, and the perfectly ordinary white china knobs on the lower cabinet doors seem to reach out and seize the loop of earbud wire that flops around when I bend over. Such a First World problem to have!

Dorothy, thanks for reminding me about sharp corners; I'm forever blundering into things that are just outside my restricted visual field, and I have the scars and bruises to prove it. The worst is always a bedstead with a flare to the top of the footboard -- guaranteed to nail me every time I move anywhere near it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 17 - 10:35 AM

There doesn't seem to be a category of "kitchens without sharp edges and annoying drawer pulls" on Google. But I did find this. I think it turned up after I looked into an article about someone snagging clothes on the rough corner of their granite counter top.

When summer is fully engaged here it's difficult to find motivation to do much of anything. I'm looking at rooms full of things to do, and have to pace myself to get going - the end game is to have the house looking good and tables cleared so people here for a birthday party in a couple of weeks have places to sit and eat and talk. On the back patio I have two chairs and a table (and a tabletop on a metal frame) that need scraping, sanding, and repainting. The seats are made from re-purposed shipping pallet slats, not worth too much work (I rescued them when a friend's house was foreclosed and he downsized, they are cute, but they are inexpensive). These are where food preparation and visiting will happen, so looking genteelly distressed is okay but needing to be hauled to the dumpster is not.

In the yard I took down the bird feeder because it was attracting mice. Alas, the birds miss it. But this week I'm resolving to keep the bird baths around the yard topped off so they can at least drink and bathe. I was leaving for work two mornings ago and a robin stood on the edge of one of the birdbaths, cocking its head straight at me, inquiring why I would have such a vessel and NOT fill it. Really - it was like the bird was making a statement. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jul 17 - 04:53 PM

With yesterday's departure of the sideboard, we are now officially in the throes of busting up the household. Today, we hauled the valuables -- the family silver, the jewellery -- over to The Brother's house, where they will stay until the packers and movers have done their thing. Beginning today, we don't buy any groceries we won't eat within the next 24 hours.

The cats are already suspicious; they know something big is happening. They go to the kennel on Thursday, and we'll have the devil's own job caging them for the trip.

It's raining again in Ottawa; we're having the wettest summer ever. I wish we could share it with Texas.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jul 17 - 09:36 PM

Texas has had the wettest summer in many years - I fear you HAVE shared it with us already. California might be needing the moisture, though.

Today I stepped across the street to check out my source of Mustang Grapes - wild grapes that grow everywhere, if people are paying attention. I have never seen so many grapes and had an easy time picking them quickly - surprising because the vegetable garden is producing so little. It's a bit late for the grapes (because of the moisture), but there is a bumper crop. I decided to make a video of the process of steam juicing them in preparation for making jelly, but the auto focus didn't kick in so the first few short segments are blurred. I may redo some of it tomorrow before I splice it together. I do these things for the kids, so they know how to cook particular dishes, or in this case, make good juice for jelly. I have nearly 3 gallons of juice. Years ago my son, then a teen, made it clear that he didn't like "preserves," he preferred jelly. I told him we could make some (I could buy it also, but why not teach a kid where his food comes from?). We steam juiced frozen strawberries, then made jelly, which he loved, but then he tasted the mustang grape jelly and decided he liked that even better. It has a combination of sweet and tart at the same time, with a flavor similar to Concord grapes, but more complex, and red, not purple. I'll make jelly this year and use it for holiday gifts for friends and co-workers.

Laundry is finished, the kitchen is cleared up after the juicing. Tomorrow is my third day of the weekend (I work a compressed work week in the summer, four ten-hour days and have the pleasure of long weekends) and I may redo the early stages of steam juicing in the morning and be able to splice together a video in the afternoon. We're under a heat advisory so there isn't much yard work getting done midday or later.
I had an eBay item sell today, so I need to pack it up to ship in the morning, then get more items listed. Another good activity for a hot day.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Jul 17 - 12:44 PM

Beaver:

Speaking of rain! All night it poured and stormed and now we have Scotch mist/Vancouver weather! Dan stayed home as it was pouring at his place - 5 miles north. R is reading and nothing is moving forward except, maybe, getting rid of the lit he has read.

However, He cleared the back shed totally last evening! Some went into the back/back shed and our wonderful huge outhouse! Never mind what I think or had planned for that space. I do hate being incapable - even temporarily. We did have a go-round about throwing away things we might be able to use in the not so distant future. No trip to dump as it is all burnable and today would be a good day for that - decluttering!!

As it rained in the middle of the night, I fulminated that the pile of extra soil was not covered so must dry before it can be moved. It is much in the way but seemed the best spot at the time. It will level out a lumpy spot over the septic tank and rest is due to raise the soil level along the route to the back sheds in hopes of not getting wet feet going there - ankle deep sometimes.

As I cannot bend over for anything - "R, could you pick up that straight pin/ piece of paper...." I try to feel good about what I CAN do - not much, but the dishes get washed and a few meals cooked but I feel queasy a lot of the time and manage to avoid - pot luck yesterday - I took a huge bowl of my garden lettuce and sesame oil/apple cider vinegar dressing. I may be the only person who loves a very plain salad! I went back later for the bowls and gave the left over lettuce to someone --- "for my bunnies"!! Geez! There is still a huge bag in the frig and bunches in the garden. Really nice lettuce. I guess the cool wet weather has helped; it has not bolted but just keeps flourishing.

Yesterday, R completed the filling of the two new raised beds and the octagonal "in memory of" garden. Then, with considerable guidance, he planted the shrub and other plants in the octagon. The other beds I shall have to do without bending over. They are about 18 inches high.

It is great to be able to see with left eye and note that any flaws are in the right eye. Trip to Dr. tomorrow will tell us how I am doing and when the right eye will be done. Then R will be going back to Montreal and I need to figure out how to get the drops in my eye 4x/day.

The best declutter recently was the 30 hours during which I did not cough - from the time the anesthesia started... ????

Never have had a problem with cabinet pulls; don't use air buds! Possible to have cabinets without pulls. Put not mouse-proof drawers. I am thinking the best might be a flattened "u" shape - horizontal - with no frills.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 31 Jul 17 - 07:21 PM

Beaver:

Something went askew and erased what I just wrote!!!!!! I am alive and well and ....

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 17 - 09:59 PM

I see by facebook that Charmion is in the midst of The Move. I hope she'll report in when she takes time for a breather.

Looks like I'll be putting in a fence on the south side of the yard. Years ago, before I bought the house, when the folks who built it were here, the next door neighbor asked the previous owner about going halves on a fence between the properties. The owner of this house apparently had a loose screw and took it personally and rapidly had someone come in and build a fence - but without a survey it is a foot and a half inside the property line. The next door neighbor then put in his fence next to the first fence, but they went along the same line, so it's still way inside my property line. My neighbor told me she'll be selling the house to move near her son, and I hopped on that opportunity - if she's going to have to pay for a survey anyway, we need to have the surveyor mark the proper fence line and I'll put up the fence. It's not around the entire yard, and I won't pull down the one in the wrong place right away, we just want to get the correct one up now so I don't have to explain to the next owners of the house why I want to shave off part of their yard - something I might have to do to sell my house if I want (and not lose that property as far as if you don't claim it, you lose it.) That'll be coming up in the early fall, I suspect.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Aug 17 - 08:40 PM

Beaver:

Sounds like a good project, Maggie!

We continue to make progress on organization and de-cluttering. Robin's library is still in process and I am looking forward to completion which will de-clutter piles of books from house and the beautiful antique sewing machine will go there and free up much needed storage space in the BR. We bought a nice wood bookcase ($2) at a yard sale that fits the space and can be used for other than books - like the sewing machine when not in use. The sewing pile still needs some progress. After the weekend, I can get back to that with my renewed ability to see what I am doing! Such a difference in how I feel about getting things done. I am also seeing dirt/dust AND dealing with it!

Bought a frame for an easy up booth canopy at a yard sale and found fabric at the thrift shop to make the canopy part - thanks to a sharp eyed friend pointing it out! It is mostly made; checked fit and I will double stitch seams and work on attachment points tomorrow. It will be ready to go up tomorrow evening! Not water-proof but I will get heavy plastic to throw over it. Not supposed to rain on the weekend but may do so Friday night. So wonderful working with the refurbished sewing machine!

Robin had to go back to Montreal on Sunday but MAY return tomorrow, she says hopefully! This is big Gemboree weekend -rock and mineral event bringing thousands of visitors to the area. (Bancroft is "the mineral capital of Canada") He may obtain more rocks but I am hoping to de-clutter the pottery supply. I also hope to get rid of more of the calendars (2017) with frameable prints of "Vintage Bancroft", done by a local artist in the 70s. I have framed a few to give people the idea. I just hate for them to be trashed - or I have them in MY archives forever! Proceeds to the local Hospice. I have broken even on the costs!

I am not quite to my 3 week mark from cataract op - not supposed to bend over or lift more than 10 pounds! But I no longer feel ill when I do so. Hence, car is partly loaded and I will do the rest tomorrow. Dan shlepped stuff to the front from the back shed for me, so all is triaged near car. I am delighted to be able to read and see better generally - even after dark!

While we had scaffolding here, a couple younger folks came over and spray painted a rainbow on the north side of the house - the side that is seen as one drives towards it. "Just watch for the rainbow!" We have a metal array of birds to fly over it and Robin is bringing a pot for the gold.

The wax beans and zukes will soon be ready to pick; lettuce is still flourishing but I may plant another row in the new bed where peas are sprouting! New strawberry bed is starting to take root and I offered Dan runners to start his own at his home. Carrots are quietly doing their thing under the profuse cover of wax beans and nasturtium. And four cabbage plants are taking up a huge space as they turn into heads. I LOVE my raised beds!Light rains yesterday and today have been helpful.

AND, although I feel as though I have been eating everything in sight, I am still holding at 160. I will try to get back on a losing track with cooler weather and before next cataract op on 21 September. Robin did not think I should use exercycle but now I probably can start again - until next op.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Aug 17 - 10:14 PM

We spoke again after my neighbor talked to her realtor - the buyer would pay for the survey, so we wouldn't have access to that, but I had one done fairly recently to refinance my house. She suggested we use my survey since we both agree on this project, and I have a friend who will be over next week and we'll plan to do it very quickly. The house might be listed this weekend. It's the next big project after the birthday party.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Aug 17 - 10:55 PM

So when I need to be clearing up for a family gathering on Sunday here I am bringing all sorts of food into the house and figuring out how to store it all till preparation time. Oy. Tomorrow is the big push on many projects.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Aug 17 - 03:29 PM

I've seen mentions of some of Charmion's activities on facebook - and am awaiting the report here! Meanwhile, I have meat on the grill today, chicken to de-bone and use tomorrow in fajitas, beef to flavor on the grill then chill and grind for nacho/burrito fillings. There are many other parts to this, but this is the biggest messiest part of the job and it's better to do it a day ahead of the event.

I do need to work on the bathroom floor. I never put tile down, but I'll sweep and finish scraping off the adhesive, then put some small rag area mats around in there.

So much to do that I haven't been on the computer at all today, only now for a short cool-down before it's back into the kitchen. Oh - in order to remove a few jars out of my way in the fridge I made two batches of mustang grape jelly this morning. They'll have sat for 24 hours and can be boxed and put in the pantry before the party. And I will have last year's batch at a table by the door - hostess gifts for anyone who wants to take some home that they'll eat in the next year or so. Gotta make room for this year's batch somehow!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Aug 17 - 08:03 AM

Vacay w Hardi in Ohio at our house

We've been working on getting the pop-up camper ready for her first camping trip in 5 years (FIVE?!?!?!!!). The contents were removed for cleaning 2 years ago and all linens washed and bagged. Last week all the cookware and the camper itself were cleaned. A lot of the cookware came into the house 2 years ago and as I brought down PA stuff for the house, much of it could go back to the camper. However I decluttered as I cleaned, with the result being a much less crowded camper. We'll leave it as we did for so many years, fitted out with all basics needed for instant use (including canned goods for a first night's supper). The biggest difference now is not leaving 4 weeks worth of clothes on board (old clothes to wash at laundromats)-- because what had been carried became my Ohio gardening grubs, and what was worn out 2 years ago is now tattering. So we'll actually have to pack clothes each time for the foreseeable future.

When we take her out Weds, we'll camp nearby (where we got the idea to retire to this area)-- 4 days will tell if we're too old and creaky to still enjoy camping in a pop-up! ;-)

We hadn't brought her AC with us from PA, so if it's too hot at night to sleep, we'll sneak into our AC bed at the house! But we added a nifty new fan.

It beats staying in the house while the housemate moves out (job transfer). We won't be doing another house share again (until we need a live-in CNA, lol).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Aug 17 - 12:21 PM

We are now in Stratford, having rolled into town last Wednesday afternoon ten minutes before the lawyer's office closed. He gave us a key that turned out to work only on the side door into the garage. We found key that worked on the back patio door in the kitchen, but the key to the front door was missing. It finally arrived on Saturday, after much texting to real estate agents and some bitter carping from me; it had been sculling around in the glove box of the seller's boyfriend's truck.

The furniture and boxes arrived on Thursday. All day Friday and Saturday were spent unpacking, searching for critical kitchen traps and repacking everything else. Despite our inability to turn on the oven, we made a good dinner on Saturday night, marking the achievement of what the Canadian Forces calls "initial operating capability".

The garage looks as if a paper bomb went off in it, with four-cube boxes stacked almost to the ceiling and a solid wall of two-cubes full of books on each side, waiting for the floors to be done so we can haul in the bookcases.

On Sunday, we unpacked and stowed our wardrobes, hung curtains in the enormous windows in the bedroom, and finally achieved laundry. I was supposed to rest, but did not. Mistake.

Himself has done all the grocery shopping and most of the cooking so far, and he recce'd the farmers' market on Saturday. My only excursions from the house since Wednesday have been to visit Canadian Tire and to go to church, the latter expedition being my only non-move-related activity.

We had no Internet until yesterday afternoon, after no fewer than three Bell Canada technicians invested something like ten man-hours of work to locate the correct cable pair in the correct junction box in the correct neighbour's back yard. All three critical data points were incorrectly recorded at the local Bell office. I finally got the computer assembled and running last night at about ten o'clock, and fell into bed, there to stay asleep all night for the first time since last Monday.

I'm meeting many technicians, all nice guys (at least to me) with vigorous work ethics and many tattoos.

Yesterday afternoon was spent in consultation with the cabinetmaker who has accepted the commission to rip out our irritating kitchen and do better. We are beyond tired of the wide variety of things that are broken, defective, badly designed or just plain bad -- the broken refrigerator drawers that drop out onto your feet when you open them, the rolling pantry shelves that jammed because the little wheels at the back kept falling off the tracks where the stoppers have failed. I fixed the pantry problem by stuffing the back of the cabinet with sheets of cardboard from a china barrel, but the fridge is just going to drive us nuts until we can relegate it to beer status and buy a new one for the kitchen.

Flooring began today. The house resounds with the hammering of the flooring crew at work in the cellar and the zing of the table saw on the front lawn. Himself is with the insurance agent, who wants documents we don't have, while I catch up on household administration. Lo and behold, Enercare (the company that does furnace and air-conditioner maintenance) neglected to record our move, despite the hour I spent on the phone with them back at the beginning of June, so we have a swingeing bill for maintenance plans that I am now convinced I do not want to continue with. Stratford has local companies that clean furnaces and air-conditioners; why put up with call-centre agony and employees with no authority to do anything useful?

I hear work boots on the stairs. Time to be bossy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Aug 17 - 12:04 AM

Good news from everyone.

After our big family party (a huge success!) I spent yesterday puttering to put away extra food (into the freezer in portions that I can take for lunch) and taking naps.

The fence work is postponed - the new buyer wants to "discuss" the project - keeping in mind that I am entitled to up up the fence in the correct place, but that I want to be on good terms with the new neighbor, I'll have him ask his surveyor to spray paint the line on the lawn for the fence, and we'll go from there. It'll be up before they close on Sept. 1. This makes it much easier for me when I reach the point of wanting to sell the house.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 17 - 09:52 AM

In the local marketplace everything is for "back to school" right now. I have a half-dozen small crock pots to sell on eBay, and held onto them till now to sell. The best use (in my opinion) for these older low-power "crockette" pots is for overnight oatmeal. So I will put them up as for breakfast for the kids, ready when they get up in the morning, and for those who like oatmeal in cooler weather. Once these are listed and sold I'll be able to reclaim some of the work space in my sun room. Yesterday was soaking off price labels (Goodwill) and testing. It's the strangest August I remember in a long time - I live in the prairie, an area frequently visited with desert-like weather in the summer, but this year is more like a tropical zone. The lawn hasn't gone dormant, vegetable garden hasn't been happy with so much moisture (I think it doesn't drain as well as it might, normally not a problem that it holds moisture in dry weather).

Now to play catchup on small projects I abandoned for a couple of weeks in preparation for the family birthday party. And - though my children are grown - I do need to do one thing in preparation for the school year - sign up again to tutor elementary school kids.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Aug 17 - 09:18 PM

Beaver:

It rained off and on throughout the craft show weekend! R never showed up and by Sunday, I was --- Welll, A friend came along with a cheery "how are you?" and rec'd, "dreadful...!" She said she would be back at 4 to help me pack up. Then a potter couple said they would help; they had their booth packed up in no time and helped me. It usually takes me over 2 hours; I was home by 5 pm and elated. So thankful for good folks!

Concerned that Charmion is being careful about exposure to dust! I realize not everyone is as hyper-sensitive as I, but still...

Finally made pots during this last 10 days, focusing on garlic pots for the garlic festival on Sat. We are having some dry days and I am delighted to have succeeded in having almost a kiln load drying. I found I had only one small bucket of a rather unique glaze so begged materials from a couple local potters - saving a 6 hour round trip to Toronto! This is de-cluttering raw clay but....

Dan cut two shelves for me, from scraps, needed for a cabinet so I can put more stuff away! He also moved one kiln into its new "garage" so I have room to fire the other one this week. It will also go into the garage after R installs the electric line. (Some year?)

Hope I have energy for more potting - it helps to turn the clay into finished pots before cold weather so I don't have to put it back in the bathroom (Clutter!) to keep from freezing.

Bought a quantity of nice fat local blueberries and froze them.

Found this week that I have gained 5 pounds! In less than two weeks. On the Keto diet, I did not lose or gain. But tired of that, I have gone off the deep end. Now I am repeating: "Just because I feel hungry does not mean I need to eat!" Works some of the time.

Weather feels like September. Tomatoes are not ripening. Peppers are doing nothing. Canna and dahlia have not bloomed. But peas are coming up in the new bed and it is certainly cool enough for them.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Aug 17 - 11:18 PM

Dorothy, from your descriptions it sounds like you've added onto that small house incrementally and now have several connected or nearby out buildings for various purposes? Have you ever posted photos on facebook?

We had rain over the weekend, and very early this morning another heavy storm went through the area. The extra high humidity with our normal high temperatures makes outdoor activity brutal. Few lawns have been mowed lately; we'll wait till it dries out some.

Dorothy, green tomato relish is a perfect way to use those unripened tomatoes. I made a large batch last fall; good thing, I'm not getting much at all this year so far.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Aug 17 - 09:28 AM

The housemates broke a number of agreements in their move but we were in still glad to miss the chaos while it happened, and I've billed them for the costs of putting things right. We spent most of yesterday overseeing all that. I'm ahead by one computer desk, and had lots of other "gifts" they left to pass on to others in the neighborhood-- 'no immediate use? OUT!"

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Aug 17 - 08:29 PM

This evening I helped my next door neighbor set up her new Kindle Fire, sent by her son after her older Kindle disappeared from the house during the week it was being shown by Realtors. I think the cartoon probably appeared in The New Yorker that showed a huge bank of empty book shelves and at the bottom in the corner one slim Kindle tablet. She's moving to a retirement apartment to be nearer her son and his family; I have enjoyed being her neighbor for the last 15 years. She'll have to rely on her son to set up the computer and wifi from now on. (Her computer wasn't connecting yesterday, and I couldn't get my phone to connect to her Internet, but the wifi was working - turns out Charter's call center folks figured out she didn't plug in the cables correctly from the modem to the router last time she tried resetting it. I should have figured that one out.)

I have a lot to do, but I think this evening I'll kick back and do nothing. May even go to bed early and read.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 15 Aug 17 - 09:04 PM

Well the time has arrived. Without kid help I will call on professional tree and debris removal crews for the back yard.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 08:29 AM

It's safer that way, Don. There comes a time for all of us when we need to call professionals for taking out trees or for getting up on the roof. Good luck with the project!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 09:07 AM

Flooring is almost finished, and it looks great. Today, the last ten feet of hallway and two small closets get floored, and all the quarter-round will be installed upstairs. Basement was done last week.

The cats are now in residence, and Watson is settling in well. Isobel is still skittish and tense, spending much of her time under the bed or the sofa. Their baskets and feeding station are in the basement until the stampage of workboots and pneumatic hammers is over, and right now they are locked down in their bunker until the flooring crew finishes for the day.

All cooking is a darned nuisance while we adjust to less than half the work surface we are accustomed to. Laundry takes place in what I have decided to call the "laundry hole", a corner of the basement that has been closed off from the main hanging-out area. Drip-dry clothes have to do their dripping and drying in the second-best bathroom or on a folding rack in the bedroom; the laundry hole is just barely big enough for the washer and dryer, and a crappy old shelving unit where all the cleaning materials are currently stowed.

Repairs on some of our battered old furniture are well under way, as the Mennonite communities around Stratford are full of people who build and fix furniture, so the skills are fairly thick on the ground around here. The time to get all this done is now, while everything is all of a chaotic doo-dah; once a bookcase or a desk goes into service, all loaded with stationery and pens and books and work-related doohickeys, it takes a major system failure to get it out of commission again.

The next thing to do is buy some new IKEA bookcases, not the easiest project as the nearest IKEA store is in Vaughan, some 90 minutes away on the 401. Kitchener has an order centre, but even that is a substantial expedition; the round trip is about 75 km. The IKEA bookcases we brought with us are comparatively new, but some of them required major re-assembly. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate chipboard construction? Give me honest wood every time.

Himself just went downtown to visit the Legal Aid office in search of information about getting on the Perth County panel and earning some dosh. Apparently, despite its bucolic charms, Perth County has plenty of the problems associated with despair and isolation; right now, crystal meth is a Big Thing.

Bell Canada's internet service is DSL only, which sucks if you're accustomed to fibre-optic broadband, so I'm on the hunt for something better. I also have to book an appointment with the allergy doc in Kitchener for my magic needle. Consequently, I have to find a quiet spot (hah!) in which to get on the phone and stay there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 02:19 PM

Housie did pay billed overage costs, yay!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Aug 17 - 09:46 AM

The next visitor to the house after housies cleared out said, despite my not having cleared up before she came: "It doesn't look all cluttered any more."

Yaaaayyyy!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Aug 17 - 11:04 AM

The semester starts next week, plans are laid for getting to work way early, before the traffic jam of students trying to park in faculty lots to be close to their classrooms. Must have lunch materials ready, and breakfast set to eat then run out the door. Leave before light, pass by the school zones of public schools before they start blinking, and consequently the work day ends in the middle of the afternoon. Time left for gardening, canning, other activities (because it is still summer, even though the school year typically serves as the beginning of fall).

I have a lot of stuff in my freezer that I need to start using. Or learn how to use. I'm not eating wheat these days, but I have alternative flours and grains I've picked up at my favorite discount grocery and brought home to the freezer. Time to learn to bake with these alternative grain, corn, rice, potato, and bean blends.

Time to make more jelly. I have some of this year's juice in the freezer, some is already made into jelly, and some is awaiting processing in the fridge. Sugar and canning lids are on my shopping list.

Time also do to some sewing projects. . . . in other words, there is indoor stuff to do and it is finally beginning to look like time to do it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Aug 17 - 08:56 PM

The floors are finished. Hallelujah! Silence reigns.

Glendon Road is just too far from groceries, the gym and the hardware store for shopping on foot. Downtown is full of chi-chi restaurants, gourmet food shops, art galleries and emporia selling tourist traps and high-end clothing for ladies and gents, but if you want a three-pound bag of oranges, a dozen perfectly ordinary eggs and box of All-Bran, you have to go to the huge shopping centre on the edge of town, where Staples and Canadian Tire are also to be found. And of course, Stratford has no allergist (he's in Kitchener), no Volkswagen dealer and no Apple Store. So today, we bought a second car, primarily for Edmund's use -- certainly, to his taste. It's a Kia Soul, a boxy Korean runabout with a fire-engine red paint job. I hadn't intended to increase our carbon footprint by a whole extra car with this move, but if we have only one I will basically never get to the gym. So as of next Wednesday, we will be a two-car family again.

So I have to get busy on unpacking the books so we can put those two cars in the damn' garage, where the 2-cubic-foot boxes are stacked chest high. But before I can do that, we need bookcases to put them in. And before the bookcases go into the library, its briefcase-brown and putty-grey walls need a serious paint job. I can't remember the last time I saw a house with such dire bedrooms. Edmund's office is a Pepto-Bismol pink as of now, with a greyish mauve in the closet, and the guest room is gun-metal grey. I ask you, who does that? A grey bedroom? I'd cut my throat by February if I had to spend the winter in a grey bedroom.

But every painter in Stratford is working flat out right now. I must join the queue.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Aug 17 - 01:13 AM

Sounds like time to start painting. Our bedrooms are in shades of blue, picked by each occupant and painted by us ourselves when we moved in in 2002. It felt liberating to paint our rooms.

Is there a nude furniture store in your new town? They will have furniture made of real wood, not press-board or MDF, and you can paint or finish them yourselves. That's what I have in my office. Shelves that are proportioned right and are sturdy enough that even after 15 years of books there are no sagging shelves (like will happen with Ikea shelves after a while).

I finished one sewing project tonight, made of fabric remnants and a nylon grip/handle from an old pack (I think). The resulting item is a sleeve for a Amazon Fire tablet for my next door neighbor. When her house was recently on the market (for all of a week) someone who went through stole her Kindle that was in a bookshelf in the living room. Her son sent a new Fire HD, and it needs a case because it is kind of slick. I bought the same tablet on Prime Day and had already made a case for myself (and one for a friend with a smaller Kindle who wanted something more streamlined for when she was travelling). All three of these are made from an upholstery swatch. As small as these projects are, it's nice on occasion to sit down and make something useful.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Aug 17 - 10:53 AM

This morning I modified that case - the handle was bulky, I took it off and added a piece of nylon webbing to hold the case closed. And though fall isn't here yet, as mentioned above, the new semester is, which is just about the same thing. It's good to be sewing.

My yard is ankle deep after a week of heavy rains. Time to get a workout with the mower.

I think we'll have no more rain till after Monday's solar eclipse - hopefully we won't have clouds either. Anyone else planning to step outside and see at least the partial eclipse? Are any of our readership in the path of the full eclipse?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Aug 17 - 02:14 PM

Some extra stuff is coming out of the freezers. I put in grains, pasta, various things that might grow weevils if they were simply put into a cupboard, so they get a good long freeze. Those can go on the shelf now. I'm also pulling out a ham hock, a bunch of chopped onions and peppers and tomatoes, a pound of beef to grind, and am going to make a double-size batch of beans to jar and freeze to take for lunches. I'll make a batch of rice this evening and keep it ready so the padded lunch bag can hold a 12-ounce jar of frozen beans, a container of rice, some fruit, and maybe some nuts for lunch and to tide me over for snacks.

Laundry is underway, including some area rugs. The big trash bin is lined with a bag to receive dust and dog hair out of the Shark vacuum for the trash tomorrow, and the kitchen table will be cleared so I can take time to sit down to eat breakfast, not just stand at the kitchen counter. The school year is ready to start, and it's more than students who have to prepare for it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 20 Aug 17 - 08:54 PM

Recently I have been involved in helping someone move and I have joined a local declutter group which is kind of fun with weekly challenges. With my current schedule, I don't have much time to devote to big chunks of time to declutter but I am slowly moving forward and seeing progress. My group is motivating but more so, the moving adventure....seeing purging actively happening and beautiful spaces occurring. I decided to start in our bedroom as it seems to be the most neglected...after all, we just sleep there...we don't use our bedroom for any other reason. Most recently I hauled out three 55 gallon sized bags of clothing. Buh bye. My closet is looking better...still a long way to go.

I did do some decluttering in the bathroom too but mostly it was organizing, changing up the shower curtain/rod with new curtains and towels. It makes it feel brand new. I'm hoping for a new floor in there by Christmas.

My Love to All,

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Aug 17 - 09:03 PM

Beaver:
Love to hear the progress at Charmion's! The room colours do sound horrific! It is amazing in it not the way we must arrange to do this so we can do that so we can... I am so glad to have Dan working away on things. I would like to be able to get house in order in my lifetime.

Maggie: screen house 10x10 is out behind the sheds on the edge of the beaver pond - for listening to pond sounds and hopes of seeing a bit of wildlife - beyond frogs! Also can be a summer guest house. And R's library 10x10 is up the hill a bit, about 50 feet from the house, in front of our wonderful outhouse. R has MANY books and this will have floor to ceiling and wall to wall shelves other than the glass door and the beautiful stained glass window, and the antique sewing machine which I was threatening to sell because I need storage space in the BR! we have not added anything to our little - pale yellow inside and out - house. We have done things in such a manner that we do not need permits. So, the studio is close to but separate from the house and now has its own walkway to its own deck which worked very well last week as I moved pots up and down on a baker's rack - to the kiln, back on the rack to the glazing area/deck and then back to the kiln, then packed into boxes, or, because not all fired, some still on rack.

So, I can walk out the back door on to an enlarged deck but mostly full of firewood - that was not used last winter due to broken ankle but will be there for this winter. The tool room/shed is attached to the house but only accessible from the deck. There is a walkway from that deck along the entry side of the studio to the newer 10x16 deck where the kiln garage is located against the end of the studio. A fair weather proposition, I can glaze out there as well. From that deck, it is about 30 feet to the back sheds, now well organized for storage and possible work space for larger tools. Backing up against the back-back shed is the screen house, hopefully to be completed this week, which I am very much looking forward to so I can sit in comfort outdoors, for a bit longer! It will have a lounge chair and swing chair hanging from the ceiling,a small storage cabinet, ... a solid roof with one translucent panel. I will, when energy appears, build a narrow board walk from the deck to the screen house so we can get there, and the sheds, without wet feet; there is often a few inches of water on the ground!

Unfortunately, on Friday I was bereft of energy and most non-essential activity has ceased. I am heading back to Keto diet but had only one small meal on F,S and 3 very small ones today. After a frantic call to Connie/health consultant on Friday, I am trying to only eat what the pendulum allows, and very little of that, sticking to only eating in one 12 hour period and not the other. And ignoring the hunger pangs.

During this, I did go on a great garden tour on Saturday to 5 wonderful local organic gardens, mainly veggies. Sharing ideas and comments with about a dozen terrific people helped my mental health. Having to accept help getting back up a hill did not, but it was the better part of valour.

I hoped today would be a potting day but NO energy and only a bit of decluttering/organizing happened in tiny spurts as the energy arose - and then disappeared. Maybe tomorrow?



Today, I picked the mature wax beans, about a quart. Will take them with me to Quebec this week. I shall be glad when they are done and I can pull them. I planted too closely and there are carrots growing in the under-story! The lettuce, not having been picked during this malaise, has bolted and I shall just let some of it go to seed. The zukes have not done much but, the beauty of a garden tour, others have had similar garden troubles this year.

The dahlia just started to bloom! And the pepper and tomato plants are looking happier but there is little time left for them unless we have a late frost.

Well, that is my treatise. I see I have repeated myself but too tired to edit. I am off to Quebec on Weds.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 20 Aug 17 - 09:04 PM

Oh! Yes! Freezers! Our outside freezer is on it's last legs so we cleaned out a corner of the kitchen which was stacked with God only knows what and why it was there...it was kind of a catch all space and now there sits a lovely new freezer, one that I'd like to add is all organized! The freezer that is part of the fridge is yet to be decluttered and organized but we are slowly using up what is in there and then it is my hope to have 2 weeks worth of meat and veggies in there to just grab and go during our busy week....no more digging and especially no more digging in the freezer outside in the dark, rain or cold...YAY!

:) Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Aug 17 - 12:57 PM

I can see the bedroom floor. Hallelujah!

But the six 4-cu boxes of office stuff that were cluttering the bedroom have merely migrated to the library, where they will continue to be clutter until I get my writing desk back from rehab, and convert the computer to wireless operations so I can move the computer desk out of the bedroom. Roll on that day; I hate the piercing little blue lights that blink all night from the CPU and the modem/router.

More Billy bookcases have been ordered from IKEA, but they will not arrive until 12 September. Until then, I must endure the continued presence of the many, many boxes of books that are still stacked up in the garage.

Himself went a little mad yesterday when he booked tickets for the Stratford Festival's hit production of "The School for Scandal". He clicked the "buy" button thinking that the rather high price was for both tickets, but no! -- it was the price per each! For a matinée! The final sum, including taxes, is by far the most we have ever spent on an evening at the theatre, even on Broadway, so those seats had better be the best in the house. I expect to be in the Royal Box, at least.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 17 - 10:46 AM

Today is spent as a vacation day, anchored by a pet to the vet appointment this afternoon. There's lots of other running to do to declutter the "to do" list that sits on my kitchen counter. I should re-write it for the new year and put it back on the fridge. I did manage to work through a number of the chores, big and small, when it was there in plain sight.

There is mowing, canning, eBaying, sewing. . . all meant to remove, consolidate, repair, restore, create, stuff around here. A hurricane blowing through the region adds a little drama to anything done today and tomorrow, but hopefully it's just rainfall here, not high winds. The soil locally is totally saturated from almost triple our normal August rainfall, so that rain from the edge could possibly cause local flooding. Something I will keep my eye on since I live on a creek. My system isn't perfect, but I have a bin with my most important records, and would load the dogs, the papers, the computer electronics that can quickly be loaded, and head up the hill.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Aug 17 - 05:55 PM

Stay safe, Acme.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 17 - 09:42 PM

Thanks! It's looking like a very wet weekend, at the very least. And this slow moving storm is going to dig a trench through the Southeast for the next week, they say. Our area has already had about 3x the "normal" rainfall this month and the creek was very high yesterday after a heavy downpour added an inch to the next door rain gauge. If we get another heavy rain it will push the water over the bridge and into the yards because of the saturated soil. And this was happening without a hurricane to the south.

I've cleared out and sorted stuff in my pantry shelves - canning jars get mixed up during the year, emptied, washed, then stuffed into an available box. And after a while you have half pints and pints mixed together and quart jars stuck in amongst the commercially canned goods. I only broke one jar this evening when I sorted it out (a plastic water bottle tipped over and pushed an empty pint off of the shelf. But the bottle of water is old and probably needs to be tossed anyway.)

Jelly this weekend.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Aug 17 - 09:40 AM

Several cases of canning jars are running through the dishwasher now. It begins . . .

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 27 Aug 17 - 11:19 AM

Hooray for a day at home! :)

First and foremost, I'm glad to see from you Maggie. Hoping you will fare well in the storms....we are watching from here. I don't think I told you but Pete's lab has moved and are now currently located in Austen. We were given the opportunity to move along with the lab but opted to stay put. At this moment in time, we are most thankful for NOT being in Texas!

I am spending the day getting ready for our work week and Jeremiah's first week back to school.

Keep us posted Maggie.

Much love to everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Aug 17 - 12:13 PM

Michelle, if you HAD moved down here I'd have been one of your first visitors from Texas! And if you do ever change your mind, consider this a stopping point on the way there.

San Antonio and Austin are getting really wet right now. And that storm is about four counties south of us - a 90 minute drive. Waves of heavy rain are passing over the house this morning (another one just started as I opened this thread.) Austin and San Antonio have a 100% chance of rain, San Antonio showing they have about 1 inch of rain so far today. Rockport, Texas, where it landed has had 2.7 inches so far today, with severe thunderstorms predicted this afternoon.

On Friday I was able to clear the grass out of all of the driveway cracks and trim along the curb at the street, but the lawn is still tall and getting taller, I haven't had a chance to mow. In weeks. My neighbors are retirees and have more of the week to choose from for mowing. I refuse to pay someone to mow my yard - I need the exercise, but if I haven't had a chance in the next couple of days I could have the guy who mows next door take a pass through my front yard as well.

Keeping all of the devices charged. If the creek rises to the house I'll load up the dogs and essentials and head up the hill to a friend's house. *Note to self - remember the dog food.*

I did two more batches of jelly yesterday. I just about ran out of jelly jars. That doesn't happen often. I need to send out notes to friends to return empty jars if they still have them.

Adverse times help you see your own resources and resourcefulness, but there is difficult, and then there is impossible. A friend in Houston has plans to put garden tools in her attic so she and her mother can punch a hole out to get on the roof if necessary. I'm lucky to be as far north as I am - we are likely to see flooding in this area, but hopefully this storm will begin to dissipate soon. I filled up the SUV gas tank on Friday, I'll make sure the back seat has the dog liner in place in case we need to depart. And if water starts to rise in the yard (it's a long yard - we'll see it coming) I'll move the furniture from the den up a few inches to the rest of the house. Fingers crossed I don't need to use the flood insurance.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Aug 17 - 09:23 AM

I have been reading about Hurricane Harvey in the Globe & Mail and the New York Times, thinking about Maggie and grateful that weather problems in the parts of Canada where I have lived most of my life tend to be manageable with a shovel and the patience to wait for spring.

Here in Perth County, the weather is beautiful, the landscape is bountiful, and living is easy. I have eaten fresh corn on the cob every Saturday (after farmers' market) since we got here, and the fruit bowl is brimming with peaches just coming ripe. The other day, we had our first dinner guests, a local lawyer and her son, and managed to put on a decent feed despite the limitations of the kitchen and the fact that two thirds of our cooking equipment and all our stemware are still in boxes in the garage. The cats are happy, alternating between long lap sits and flinging themselves around the house with a fine, free, careless rapture.

We have four bookcases coming from IKEA (due in two weeks), but we will need more. We left five ceiling-height bookcases behind at the house we sold, fearing that they would fall apart if moved again, so after the move we had less than half the shelf space we had in Ottawa. Five 90-cm bookcases, each with seven shelves, adds up to a shortfall of almost 32 metres of shelving! That's a lot of books that we can't unpack for way too long.

But we have now installed the basement shelving, a task that involved moving many, many, unfinished pine shelves and posts out of the garage and down the basement stairs, where Himself spent at least two days with a crescent wrench in his hand. Yesterday, I worked myself to a frazzle hauling their contents out of the garage and down to the basement, asking myself with each container, "Exactly why do we still have this?" The exception was the large collection of CDs, which I packed into specially designed plastic boxes -- 13 of them -- after ripping their contents to our iTunes library. If I parted with those, it's entirely possible that Himself would divorce me.

Then I spent all of Sunday evening rounding up three weeks' accumulation of recyclables, ending up with ten huge bags of recyclable paper (almost all of it packing material), and our two city-approved recycling boxes brimming with bottles, cans, milk cartons, and those clamshell things too many foods come in these days. That done, it was time for the actual trash, which came to three huge bags. Stratford has a pay-as-you-waste trash system, and I'm already out of bag tags.

So I can now see large stretches of garage wall and almost half the garage floor.

Sur avec la guerre, as they don't say in France.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 Aug 17 - 09:10 PM

Mill:

Came down on Weds, stopped by Farmers Market and stocked up on good veggies. Did a glaze firing with what was left over from last time. ook the car for oil change and look-see. Nothing major EXCEPT the gear shift- it has been hard to get into reverse for months. Even the mechanic had trouble. They tell me nothing can be done - not even something expensive? I feel as though I am hearing for a new car! UGH! It is discomforting to wonder if I will get into a spot that I cannot back out of! R has no trouble at all!

The weekend of the Chateauguay Valley Antiques Association EVENT! Went on Thurs and claimed a lovely spot under trees. Weekend of hearing music from the nearby tent, where people sat on hay bales or brought their own. Antique everything -cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, trucks, people... Best weekend of the year - and NO rain! Sold enough pots to have 3 boxes left over when Geri and I packed up on Sun! More are put aside to take to a shop in Ontario and tomorrow I will stop at a shop on the way to Montreal and let Mary choose.

Then I will leave some here, on the shelves in the studio - a sampling. The rest - arrange a show space at Beaver. NO more shows - too much work. I am totaled today. Oops. Spent the eve on internet instead of assessing glaze materials to see what is needed. I am gearing down but not quitting. Plan to do open house sort of thing at both Mill and Beaver in October or November - before snow.

Glad to see that Mag is OK so far, and prepared! Charmion is slowly digging herself out! Nice to hear from Michelle - wow! a new freezer - may well save on the electric bill!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 17 - 10:53 PM

Texas is a hot mess, no need to spell that out. Up here we were spared the storm - we were teased with lots of small, hard downpours from the fringe of the hurricane for a couple of days and then it retreated, and now Louisiana is getting the brunt of Harvey.

Gas prices are going to go up for a while, and I imagine the thrift store climate is going to change drastically. Sometimes people donate stuff that isn't needed and I suspect it ends up in the thrift stores if the rescue groups can't use it. It's better to donate cash to reputable charities at this point. Food is probably also going to be more expensive because so much of what we shop for comes through the port in Houston. My freezer is packed full, so I'll make a point to draw it down for a while.

I'm taking a few days off to work around the house, finish up some things on my list of projects I wanted to complete this summer, and my daughter and I will celebrate our birthdays (they are a week apart) with a lunch somewhere and maybe an activity.

Everything is incredibly unsettled right now. Being resourceful and flexible are important. The worst of the damage is several hours' drive south of here, but as people move out of the affected area, I will plan to find someplace to volunteer. I start tutoring in October, but that is one evening a week. This is twelve years to the day since Katrina hit. One of my dogs is was a big pup adopted from a local shelter on a "half-price" sale so they could make room to bring the Katrina rescue animals in. The same thing will happen again this fall.

So much to consider.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 09:42 PM

As far as I can tell, every gas station between here and my office is out of gas. I should have filled up this morning. Topped it off, to be more accurate, but it is projected we have about five days before gas gets out to the stations again (until after the Labor Day holiday), so conserving what each of us has is going to be the name of the game for a while. And the prices are going way up.

Looks like a quiet weekend around the house, keeping the fuel in the SUV for essential travel. Good thing I have a lot to do around here.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 17 - 10:32 AM

Artificial fuel shortage aside, this part of Texas is going to be participating in the Hurricane Harvey recovery effort on many levels. We will watch and take our opportunities to assist as they arise. Right now the goal is to be self-sufficient and not draw on resources needed more urgently in the SE region. The magnitude reveals itself in everyday things - it's the first of the month, time to pay bills, but down there - how? And the mail. Soaked beyond recognition or washed away. A limited number of running vehicles are available (and a note to the wise - be very careful in examining the history of any used Texas vehicle you buy - anything that has been through a flood is going to have major problems even if it is "fixed up.")

I'm taking a few days off and have a long list of stuff to accomplish. I'm also taking a leaf from Katlaughing and participating in one of those monthly challenges that has come along. She wrote books during November; this month I'm doing the "Sober September," taking alcohol out of my diet completely* for the cost, health, and weight loss benefits. I went to a faculty gathering yesterday after work (a "First Friday" thing in the early evening, a chance to schmooze) and took two bottles of Topo Chico with me to begin the challenge.

The dogs need walking now that weather is cooling a bit, and the garden needs tackling. I need to dig deep in a front bed to remove the roots of vines that keep appearing. I'll help my neighbor manage her new Kindle tablet, and we are doing regular exercises with smart phones. Her son convinced her to trade in the flip phone and she hasn't completely figured out how some of it works. I take my phone over and we take turns calling each other so she can practice different features of the phone. (She's about 80 now, so her willingness to learn this new phone is an excellent sign.) I have lots of housekeeping and craft stuff to do in the house. I need to work on my back patio, make it more presentable and replace the missing beam on the patio cover.

*If any food in the freezer has wine, it's still going to be part of this month's diet. And if a dish being prepared absolutely calls for wine, I have some frozen in pint canning jars and can spoon out enough for flavor and not compromise my intent not to drink glasses of alcoholic beverages this month.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Sep 17 - 05:34 PM

I've been checking in and glad to see that you are still ok Maggie. I can't imagine the outflux of people and just how much that changes life in the outer communities.

Around here, the gas in PA has gone up some but more noticeably in NY state where for the last few months has been a good solid .25 to .30 cheaper than in PA. When I left work on Friday, it was just about the same as at the PA state line.

Pete and I spent time last night and today and put up 18 quarts of wax beans. Today we purchased 2 boxes of Roma tomatoes as our blighted out and will be making sauce tomorrow. I miss the time we have normally spent putting things up, it seems there just aren't enough hours in the day this summer.

I am so very thankful for the three day weekend....ok...for me, it's 3 1/2 as I got all my work done early this week. It's been a marathon for about 3 weeks now......so yep...I'm savoring this long weekend of nothing but family time! I'm thinking about repainting the living room....I think I'd like to go from the harvest orange color to a buttery soft yellow. It's been orange for almost 20 years now as it is a color Pete can see well and likes but I'm tired of it. Oh the possibilities!

But then there's sleep...glorious SLEEP! LOL I guess I'll go where my energy guides me. On Thursday night I slept from 7:00pm until about 5:00am....unheard of. I felt like a brand new person on Friday! So....maybe I'll paint and maybe I won't but it is fun to humor the idea for a bit!

Hope everyone is well.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 17 - 09:14 PM

I used the last of the fresh juice from this year's grapes across the road. One last batch of jelly - a couple of weeks ago I put the rest in the freezer for another time. I didn't buy tomatoes to make sauce or can, but I have gotten lucky at my favorite discount grocery - they have a mix - foods near their shelf dates, and overstock items stores discontinue. I found a bunch of organic Muir Glen fire roasted diced tomatoes for less than half price from the neighborhood grocery stores. I agree - it's a wonderful part of summer to be able to put up your home-grown vegetables. Out of pure stubbornness I did a couple of tiny batches when I had a few extra tomatoes from the yard - you'll laugh - I have five half-pint jars of homegrown diced tomatoes. Just to have SOMETHING to show for the garden so far.

On the up-side, the plants are still going strong and there is a possibility of getting a fall crop. I don't see fruit set right now, but it's cooling off enough that it should start soon if it's going to. I still have a lot of last year's green tomato relish, so this year if there are tomatoes at time of the first frost I'll let them slowly ripen and use them that way.

It's time to get back to other indoor tasks like digitizing the content on remaining VHS tapes that I want to keep. It's a job done when you're at the computer anyway to monitor the real-time progress of the tapes. I take the old tapes to work and we have an e-waste bin for them. And in November I can get rid of some of the old hard drives around here, the university has a contract for the secure disposal of hard drives that are collected at an annual event.

Michelle, I had a long night of sleep like that last weekend - something stung me on the forehead (you may have seen it on facebook). I took Benedryl when I realized it might get to be quite a large reaction and ended up sleeping from about 7pm to 8am. Talk about well rested!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 11:14 AM

Cleared out a bunch of Martha Stewart Living back issues from the magazine stand in the master bath. I stopped subscribing a couple of years ago, but have discovered that Amazon Prime lets me read the current issue free. I need to figure out how to print the screen occasionally, but this will work. There are other magazines I read and share and want more access to their web sites, so The New Yorker will stay a subscription (though I struggle every year to find a way to push the cost of that one down.)

I have a lot of seasonal items to list on eBay; for every time I mention needing to get started listing, I rearrange or cull things that don't belong in there, but haven't listed anything new, so the time has come. I did a lot of virtual decluttering (moving the contents of folders and one whole account) out of Photobucket, where I used to host blog photos and eBay photos before eBay made it free and easy to load them. Now I need to find a place to park those and fix some old blog posts and photograph and list eBay items. Going back and forth between a couple of tasks can sometimes keep me going longer.

The fitness tracker I bought last spring sprung a moisture leak and I haven't used it since late July. They will send me a new one when the next model comes out, sometime this fall. In the meantime to appease me they offered to send free a "smart" scale. I finally set it up this morning, and it talks to the house WiFi to get the weather. So I can see my weight, my BMI, and what the day holds as far as weather (though the report this morning must have been for Finland, no way those low temps represent Texas in September.)

Finally, I am heartbroken to learn that Nancy Zieman of Sewing With Nancy, a steadfast PBS citizen for decades, is dying of metastatic osteosarcoma or breast cancer. She didn't say which one, but she has been treated for both. Yesterday I put more leaves in my dining room table and pulled out a small comforter/quilting project I have been meaning to work on and spread it out. She taught so many people how to sew, and how to make art. This one's for you, Nancy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 09:37 PM

Eighteen more quarts of tomato sauce canned today, grocery shopping completed, lunches packed for tomorrow, laundry done, game time at my Mom's house and how does this fit into the decluttering thread you might wonder? I turned down a bunch of items Mom is getting rid of with the exception of a life jacket for kayaking and a hat that once belonged to my Nana. I'm not sure what it's called but it's not really a hat...it's more of a very interesting (and pretty) headband. It's a soft blue with netting and tiny white flowers.

Pete and I have plans of renewing our wedding vows and this matches my dress (yep....already have my dress). I think wearing something that belonged to my Nana would make that day all the more special.

So anyway....I left most of the items behind....which means less clutter coming into the house.

In other news, we have booked a cabin for a vacation next year. A real vacation! We haven't ever had a family vacation (Pete is very much a homebody) so I am WAY excited and even MORE excited because it was HIS idea! :)

I'm off to bed. It's back to work for me in the morning.

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 10:55 PM

Mill:
Still here and wishing I were home at Beaver. Hope to get that car repair done in time to get home on Thurs so I can read the newspaper for the sight impaired on Fri. And be home! See what Dan has done! Hope the screen house is done so I get some use of it before cold weather sets in with a vengeance.

A trip into Montreal on Tuesday of last week, triggered the idea that maybe a Toyota dealer could help with the shifter problem. So I stopped at one on way back to Mill, made an appointment and took it in on Weds. They fixed the turn signal that two mechanics told me needed new parts - someone had done something wrong. They found the cable to shifter was "crushed" New one is on order - about $1000 but this is far better than a new vehicle. Waiting for part is what has caused me to be longer at the Mill; I had planned to leave last Thursday.

After making a few pots on Fri, I have not had the energy to trim them. Or to do much else. The use of kickwheel caused ankle to be unhappy and it is still not back to happy. I have gotten some small tasks accomplished: AC out of LR and back into storage area; repotted the Norfolk Island Pine into a 15" pot in hopes it will stop falling over. It is lovely but much too large for Beaver; it is a shame that I only get to see it here. The friend who has been watering the few plants left in sunroom cleaned the sunroom!!! Wow! So I was inspired to improve things a bit more.

The house in Montreal has gotten to much worse of a mess in my absence that I only stopped in long enough to pick up distiller and antihistamines. It is merely a storage unit. R has been spending 3 or more weeks cleaning out a 6 room flat and wood working shop that was a morass and some of that found its way to the house which is now a worse morass than usual.

I just wanna go home.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 11:41 PM

Congratulations on the restraint and the renewed vows, Michelle. It sounds like the headgear will be perfect!

Dorothy, those various homes of yours - an embarrassment of riches sometimes, eh? Where will you spend the coldest part of the year? Back in Montreal? Or is the house at Beaver ready to be lived in year round?

I didn't accomplish much more than what I listed this morning. A very lazy day that included a couple of naps. I am set up for eBay tomorrow, all day if need be, to get all of this stuff listed. Oh - I did figure out what the scale was doing - it was set to "Center, U.S." - who knows why. Finally found the right screen in the app and fixed it. Smart devices - a help, until they're not. I helped my neighbor set up her Amazon Fire HD Kindle a couple of weeks ago - I was going to turn of "Alexa" (my automatic instinct), but it turns out she likes it, her son uses some of those devices at his house and she enjoys the machine banter.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Sep 17 - 09:49 PM

Mill:

Beaver Haven is MY haven. Really the only of the 3 that is comfortable in every way; wood stove, electricity, hot and cold running water, washing machine and oven that work. Cosy and bright with lovely views. And lots of friends in the area. Home on Thursday!

I am certain the house in Montreal could be considered unfit and as R is using it as a storeroom... Bleeech! Here, there is no water to the K and it has to be carried about 100 steps. I also collect rain water for washing, watering and distilling. There is heat. And the pottery studio - but my ankle still sore from Friday so nothing more has been done.

Today was warm enough and I had energy enough to some exploring/sorting in the storage area, finding stuff that needs to wait here until there is space at Beaver - or it gets sorted into keep and dispose. Gave Karen ( who works in the building and cares for the sun room) a jacket that I have outgrown. I LIKED that jacket; it has a good home. Packages are ready to mail to family members in USA but I am still not up to crossing the border to mail them in NYS where it is notably cheaper, and simpler.

Found the bathing suits! Oh well! They are going to Beaver to be put in a findable spot. They were still in suitcase I used when we went to San Diego five years ago! There really was not enough summer to warm the lakes near Beaver; maybe next year!

Ready to pack the car tomorrow after car repair. and leave early on Thursday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Sep 17 - 09:00 AM

The kitchen contractor came to call yesterday. Bad news: he can't start work on our project until late October. Why, you ask?

Ah, now, there's the rub.

It would seem that there are people in Stratford who start ripping out their kitchen equipment before they are quite sure what is to be put in its place. Typically, these people tear at the fabric of their homes until they get a Big Brown Surprise, such as a joist where they had no idea a joist would be, and then stop, having created a mess they cannot get out of. Thus, they find themselves in a terrible pickle, with a great big hole where their kitchen should be.

Our kitchen contractor has two such clients, and he ever so sweetly asked us if we would be terribly, terribly upset if he got them out of their mess before he tackled our house because, after all, we still have a functioning kitchen, inadequate as it is.

Not wishing to start my new life in Stratford as an asshole, I said Well, okay, if that's how it has to be. Sigh.

He promised, honour bright, that our new kitchen will be fully up and running by Christmas. For sure, cross his heart and hope to die.

Resigned to limited capability for at least two months longer than we expected, I shall unpack the wine glasses today. No more making do with kitchen tumblers; I want my Riesling in stemware, dammit!

I can be such a princess.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Sep 17 - 12:23 AM

That's too bad about the kitchen delay. My big cooking holiday is the US Thanksgiving (late November). There are things in my house I'd like to tear out (my fireplace, for starters), but I'd never do it without a plan and someone there to start work on it immediately.

Puttering this week, around the house, around the yard, and around town. I get enough vacation time now I need to take a fair amount off or I lose the hours, so I took a few days in a week with a holiday. The gas shortage was short-term, but the prices haven't come down again yet, there will be an impact on the state in many ways for a long time to come. I'm always pretty frugal, making several stops any time I drive. Three stops today.

Counting coups: shopping this afternoon I found a couple of very comfortable pairs of shoes in the clearance section at DSW (in the US at least it's a great shoe store). Green (50%) and Purple (70%) discount, plus a couple of coupons. I try not to build up a huge number of shoes; I have two pairs of clogs I never wear any more. They're in the shoe rack next to the side door (instead of in my closet) but I always manage to wear the rest of the shoes on that rack, just not these. So I think those are the ones that will go to Goodwill soon. I found two pair of flat walking shoes, one more sporty, the other business/dressy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Sep 17 - 07:48 PM

BEAVER!!!!
Ah, the smell of clean fresh air and the wonderful trees and hills of central Ontario! Trip back was fraught with a spell of very heavy rain just shy of get-off-the-road but it ended and the sun came out. The clouds were elegant! I made a survey of the grounds: only casualty was the wax beans, while the peas continue to flourish and may yet produce! One large yellow tomato that did not want to let go of the stem so I left it??? Maybe tomorrow. And the strawberries continue to produce but only one there for me!

I may have a surfeit of shoes I may never wear but I am not yet ready to belief that is so. I may be moved to wear a pair of dressy shoes for some incredibly special occasion...

The car is still full but all the food has been put away. The frozen stuff stayed frozen! (About 6 hours in a heavy styrofoam container.) I lighted the wood stove with tiny paper fire as it was 63 in here. I had closed the drapes lest it be too hot. The time has come to leave them open for solar gain! I opened the west ones about 3 but then it clouded over and then rained and then a bit of sun, then it went behind the hill. It was only up to 65, hence the fire.

Tomorrow there will be major finding places for stuff. The pottery... I was hoping the screen house would be done but still needs the screening. I will decide in the morning. A 6 hour trip is enough work for one day.

Any semblance of decent diet went out the window a week or so ago due to being stuck down at the mill with no energy and the foot still bothering me too much to do enough. Things I had hoped to accomplish did not come to pass. I do not do well with waiting (for the car part to arrive). But the car is now in good order; the finances- well it was cheaper than a new car! And it was worth going to the dealer as they really did know how to repair it when no one else did!

Life feels back on track.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Sep 17 - 11:35 AM

Oh, Dorothy, I remember that feeling so well -- surely, surely, I will wear nice shoes again some day! And I did, MUCH later than I expected, but then I went and busted the other ankle and it started all over again. And here I am, nearly thirty years down the road, pleased to be wearing sneakers with orthotic insoles rather than surgical boots for crippled people. Sigh.

Yesterday, I unpacked some stemware, the cassoulet pot, and a whole lot of cooking tackle, including the stock pot, the bread pans and the waffle iron. Proper cooking resumes immediately: I'm tired of not having ingredients!

I also sold (for a pittance) our official Baby Boomer kit: the stereo transceiver and all its associated equipment -- speakers, turntable, DVD/CD player and cabinet. In its place, we have a sleek new gadget: a Bose Soundtouch system that not only taps the iTunes library on our computer (wirelessly!), but also accesses the Internet to play radio stations from around the world. Right now, it's on BBC Radio 3, a reliable source of classical music, where I imagine it will stay for much of the time. Himself has found stations specializing in French and Welsh folk music, and it even pulls in the CBC from Toronto, which is no prize compared with BBC 3. Unlike the stereo, the Bose system is rather smaller than a breadbox, requiring only a small occasional table to sit on. Its sound is glorious.

Now, if only I could find someone who wants a VCR and a Hewlett-Packard printer that doesn't like Windows 10 and requires ink cartridges that cost sixty dollars.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 17 - 02:36 PM

I use the receiver and large speakers to listen to radio, to music via the CD player, and to listen to the television and DVD player (both attached with cables). I should probably investigate the combination of bluetooth dongles and a smaller receiver that would remove wires and the need for a piece of furniture to hold all of those devices. (I could use the cabinet for something else, after I patch the holes in the back where all of the wires run through. I'm thinking it would move to the craft room.) What is the model of the Boze item you picked up?

Finally got some eBay listings up, and decided to ditch the last of the VHS tapes (people still buy them, but they don't sell like hotcakes). I'll scan eBay for a few as yet unlisted titles and see if any need a shot before they head out the door, but those that have languished in the listings can be unlisted and donated. I didn't buy any of these; they are the stragglers from the process of emptying old media from shelves around the house.

I've whittled down the backyard pile of branches by about 75%, in preparation for next week's bulky waste pickup. I've chipped a bunch (I quit last night when the mosquitoes discovered me still at work) and will finish this afternoon. A few of the thicker limbs that won't go in this chipper *might* get used for a homemade trellis in the back; another declutter regular has made some charming ones in the last few years. I still have to trim branches that are leaning over the roof; I don't want to drag them to the back yard so I waited to do the trimming when they can go straight to the curb.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Sep 17 - 10:38 PM

Progress today with branches now being moved out to the curb. The biggest ones this evening, tomorrow the rest. I stopped before the mosquitoes came out. I spent most of the day listing things on eBay. I pulled a few items that were listed and bunched them into batches in boxes with others and put them up for low prices. Some things seem to sell in lots better than individually. It cleared some shelf space and other things that are a bit more modern are also listed.

I saved a handful of branches from the baldcypress to try my hand at making a trellis. The others weren't as straight and aren't as good at lasting for a while.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Sep 17 - 06:29 PM

I haven't done much around the house this week as it's just been very busy and the house is in ok shape...so it's all good. I took Jeremiah on a surprise Mommy & Me trip yesterday to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. He'd never been in a large city or an aquarium so it was all very exciting and he had a wonderful time, as did I. We walked around the aquarium for maybe 4 hours and then around the Inner Harbor twice...meandering in and out of places that got our attention. My FitBit tells me I walked about 11,000 steps and 11 flights of stairs. I'm a little sore today but I think it's due to the standing still looking into all the various exhibits than the walking.

Today I slept in and have been puttering at my own pace. I cleaned off one shelf of a 7 shelf high bookcase, did some cooking, cleaned off the kitchen table, put things away from yesterday's adventure and am getting ready for a full work week. Clothes are washed and just need to be hung up so I can grab and go in the morning. I have a feeling it's going to be a long week as I am just tired.

I had my port flushed on Friday after not having had it done for 12 weeks....it was a month overdue but thankfully worked just fine. I had basic bloodwork drawn and will have the tumor marker checked next time. My A1C is a little high, not bad but it's been better so I'll tighten that up. My thyroid is all kinds of out of balance...AGAIN....so it's no wonder I am dragging as much as I am lately. I'm hoping my PCP will change the meds without an office visit. I have no idea why my thyroid gets itself so out of balance but it happens periodically. I wonder what it feels like to have full on steam energy? It's been SO long.....I keep chugging along regardless...doing my best!   My family was very concerned when I took on a full time job telling me they didn't think I would be able to handle it.....silly people! ;) I AM tired but love my job!

I think Pete is going to take out 2 of the AC units as it's been nippy lately. I think summer will make a sort comeback but nothing we need the AC for, except maybe the bedroom as I like it cool in there.

Maggie, I could keep you busy with outside projects for a very long time......it soon will be yard work season for me. I don't do much outside during the summer as the heat makes me sick but these cooler days are perfection for me....now to get some energy!

I'm with you Dorothy...the city was a nice place to visit but I like the wide open space and fresh air of the countryside. It's always good to be home.

I hope everybody is well and has a great week!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 17 - 10:47 PM

Michelle, those kinds of one-on-one parent/child trips are so precious, and formative. He'll remember that the rest of this life.

I also slow down during the summer; usually the lawn is dormant during the dry and heat, but not this year. The weather was in the high-80s for the last week, not bad (all things considered).

I like cities in measured doses also. The thing about where I live, something my next door neighbor and I were talking about this afternoon as we leaned on our rakes in the very back of his yard, overlooking the creek, was how our neighborhood doesn't feel like a city. Though we're very close to two Interstate highways, this area is a creek bottom and there is an extensive greenbelt running through the area. Our yards have some of those woods and the creek, and it feels like we're out in the county, not in a city of a half-million people. We were talking back there because I had just finished with the loppers, pruning a pathway for myself along the top of the bluff over the creek. He was still dragging downed limbs from the yard out to the curb; I had finally finished moving my stack. We have enough room to let this stuff pile up for a while and still have plenty of space for everything else, but a stack in place for too long is going to become a habitat for mice and snakes, and the dogs won't leave either of them alone. I like the wildlife here, but try to keep most of it out of the yard so the dogs don't hunt them.

Large pile at the curb, tired feet on me. I've entered my foods into My Fitness Pal and though I don't have my fitness tracker right now (waiting for replacement with the next model), I can tell I had quite a workout. No knowing how many steps, but I probably would have hit 100% by mid-afternoon.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Sep 17 - 10:49 AM

Kinda bushed, myself.

Monday is garbage/recycling day in Stratford, so this morning I hauled a dozen large yard-waste bags and two 4-cubic-foot boxes stuffed with packing paper to the curb, plus a great stack of flattened cartons and the actual, you know, garbage. I can now count the 2-cubic-foot boxes of books remaining in the garage, and my heart sank when I did -- the number is 51. Plus two boxes of LPs and about half a dozen 4-cubic-foot china barrels full of fancy crockery.

The first load of new IKEA bookcases is due to arrive tomorrow, and Himself and I intend to assemble and move them into place ourselves.

On Thursday, if we're still married after the bookcase experience, we leave for the FSGW Getaway in West River, Maryland, which is about ten hours of actual driving (not counting breaks) from Stratford. From Ottawa, it was a mere seven or so hours, and could actually be done in one day if absolutely necessary, but a 10-hour drive has to be done over two days, especially when it involves crossing the U.S. border at Buffalo. I will consider our first day a success if we clear the Buffalo suburbs and find a flop before suppertime.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Sep 17 - 09:40 PM

Beaver:

Energy goes up and down - more down than up currently in spite of lovely "Indian Summer" weather. In the 70s for the next week quite a relief from cool and rainy most of "summer" interspersed with over 80 days! The screen house is almost complete - just a few pieces of molding to go - and I managed to vacuum the sawdust this eve. It is beautiful! Maybe tomorrow I will "move in", well a couple things. Need to find a wire brush - I know I have one! - to clean a cabinet, then paint it with spray paint left over from rainbow. I am quite enjoying the lounge chair on the back deck as the sun sets over the hill (6:30!); I cannot see that from the screen house as it is surrounded by tall shrubs - well shaded! We may decide to make a viewing hole but we hate to disturb more of the habitat as the idea is to be close to the swamp/beaver pond and the critters AND safe from the bugs!

Hoping Dan will be back tomorrow so he can help me put the swing back together - 3-seater with canopy so I can stretch out and read outside. It blew over, repeatedly, in the early summer winds and lost an essential piece. I finally figured out what to do. Then the lounge chair, and the four refurbished director's chairs, can go in the screen house. Should I call it a gazebo? It is not fancy but very solid and nicely built with 4x4s!

Took a few pots to the Art Gallery gift shop today. Now need to find a space to put the few boxes still in the car. I think of setting up a display area in the screen house. As the weather holds - a good time to start sorting through storage bins to see if I can part with some STUFF!

R picked some seed pods off some sort of locust tree in July. I put them in a pot and now have a pot full of 3-4 inch plants! Will re-pot tomorrow. And some other garden work. Only managing 0.1 mile on cycle! Ankle still hurts some. Last week I walked about 3 blocks and had to rest part way. No leg muscles left. MUST try harder. And losing it diet-wise (stupid!), I have gained at least 5#.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Sep 17 - 08:16 PM

Beaver!
Te wonderful screen house is complete - even a nice step so I won't fall "head over teacups"! A doormat in place, some shelves for pottery, directors chairs. It would be kind of neat to paint a pattern on the floor - maybe! more tomorrow.

The modus operandi of my current life is: do a few little things - 15 min to an hour or so, rest for a while until my body feels like doing more. Poultice on ankle today finally dawned on me as a good idea and I arranged it to stay in place while I moved about!

Got my head around finding something to replace the missing spring for swing as no springs are available. Went looking and, at one place, "are you Dorothy?" Conversation with young lad of 31 whom I had not seen since his family were close neighbours - 1999! Tried to figure out how to get more line on the whipper snipper: Dan could not help! Went to Canadian Tire (CT) where I had bought it and no one knew BUT one of my fav staff from Home Hardware(HH) happened to be there and he DID IT! And now I know how. I did cut a little of the grass - more tomorrow.

One week to next cataract op so I hope to get some things done before I cannot bend over or lift more than 10 pounds. Maybe tomorrow I can throw some pots???

Read on the swing and enjoyed the peace of the evening until darkness brought me inside. Now to find an airbnb for next Thursday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Sep 17 - 11:54 PM

I haven't been very good about taking the dogs for walks; we have a dog door in back and a huge yard, so in theory they get lots of fresh air and exercise and things to sniff and dig and such. But they love walks, and this week we've started up walking after work, before I feed them. Good exercise for all of us. It's unusual that it's this cool here (still just t-shirt weather, but it's in the 80s, not the 90s.)

I'd love to see photos of all of the work you're doing around the Beaver homestead, Dorothy.

Shopping at my favorite import store today I noticed the dairy section was bare, as were some other sections of the store. Hurricane Harvey strikes - they "didn't get the truck in" this week. It drives up from Houston, where so much imported food travels through. The olive oil delivery happened before Harvey, so the aisles are filled with cases of 3 litre bottles of various brands; at least I found the main thing I went for.

I'm intentionally using freezer stuff this month, opening the door to look around before I head to the grocery store, in an effort to clear out some before it's time to defrost again. I'm also trying to get back to the frugal program I was following successfully for a few months - until it all went to hell. Hopefully we're back to a couple of no or low-spend months.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Sep 17 - 08:40 AM

Five IKEA bookcases later, we are still married. We still have 51 boxes of books to unpack, however, and their contents to haul upstairs and down. My back and feet ache at the very thought.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Sep 17 - 10:13 PM

Beaver:

OH my! And 51 boxes of books! bit by bit, I hope! I expect R to arrive next week with a bunch of his for the library. I expect the library will fill up truck load by truck load! I will NOT be a party to it. Looking around, I see enough of his books, on shelves in the house, that can go to the library and make space for those of mine still down at the mill.

I hesitate to post, on FB, pics of what we are doing, lest it be noticed by the local municipality. I do not think we have done anything illegal but one never knows. Need to take some up to date pics in any case. Maybe tomorrow before the rains begin again.

Yesterday I managed to varathane part of the back sheds and started spray painting the ugly doors with rainbow colours. The odour forced me to stop and I could not even sit on the swing (too close). Today I was tired and it was too hot to sit on the swing, also too hot for most of what I want to get done outside - and most of what I want to get done is outside! The screen house was cooler as it is totally shaded at present but the wood still smells strongly so I gave up after taking more pots in. Life is fraught with hazard! Sorted through a bag of winter clothes and found spaces for them, while putting some summer clothes in storage bin.

I see enough scrap lumber to make a 3 sections of board walk for the spring water between house and sheds and gazebo. The sections can be stacked out of the way when not needed. I can put them together myself - on a not too hot, non-rainy day! Thurs next is my cataract op so I feel a pressure to do what I can before the dreaded 3 weeks of no bending over and no lifting more than 10 pounds. Seems as though there is almost nothing that does not require bending over!

Flawless weather all week and a few more days! I am trying to use it wisely but the energy level is low. I managed to bleach some white cloths in the sun; worked great so I took them down today and removed the clothes umbrella from my line of sight.

I hoped to get a 3/4 mattress in Madoc - an hour away - but it was sold. Thinking I would be going to Madoc, I phoned a potter friend there and found his wife was picking up supplies so I arranged for her to pick up a few things for me! But now I need to drive down to pick them up. Maybe tomorrow. I did suggest to the nice woman, who had sold the mattress, that she visit the potters who are close walking distance from her home. She will tell them I sent her.

Two 3/4 mattresses near Ottawa on Kijiji so I am hoping at least one will be available when R drives up from Montreal in the truck. Twin bed is too small for two! I did browbeat him into taking time to get a futon for the house in M so we have a guest space. YAY! Love crossing things off the list! Our friend Paul is not arriving until Dec, if at all, but I did not tell R that; I just insisted that this needed to happen and I had finally found one that looked decent - for $60! A large quilt taking up space here will go to Montreal.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Sep 17 - 09:01 PM

Beaver:

YAY! A day when I was able to spend more time doing than resting! Gazebo/pottery display has progressed. Grass edging has progressed and thanks to my lesson in how to advance the string, I actually was able to do it myself- LOTS of grass edging to do! More varathaning done but next section requires a ladder... A good day!

Tomorrow is a day of going here and there...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Sep 17 - 10:12 PM

After necessary errands I visited thrift stores today. I found a couple of things for me (tea mugs and a glass pot with two tea strainers in it - taped together like they were a set, but they aren't. My win, and only $3 for the pot and strainers.) And several things to sell on eBay. And a sewing machine for my daughter (who already has several but has created "stations" for the types of sewing she does, and this would have a place. A Viking workhorse, assuming we can get a cord for it to test it in the next couple of weeks. I can take it back if it doesn't work. The cord will probably cost three times what the machine did, and it will still be a bargain.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 17 - 11:18 AM

I opened a package of batting today only to find it was rather triangular in shape, no good at all for the rectangular quilting project I have for the fall. Grrrr! It has been nice weather so I've worked outdoors when I can, but I'm setting myself up for cooler weather. More batting is now on my list to pick up.

I made progress with the eBay listings yesterday; the prepared packages do pile up (large ones on my bench next to the door, where I sit to put on my garden shoes) but once they're listed they eventually sell and head out the door.

Last week I bought several pounds of apples on sale and canned eight pints of applesauce. Another mudcatter (on facebook) suggested making it with just apples and not adding the usual sugar and cinnamon. That way I can use it for baking (substituting for a portion of the oil in some soda bread recipes, for example) and not have the cinnamon flavor when I might not want it. But I can easily sprinkle cinnamon sugar over a bowl of applesauce to give it the usual flavor of applesauce when eating it plain. I moved into this house 15+ years ago and for most of those years I've been canning garden produce. This is a singularly bad year for my favorite crop, tomatoes, so I'm compensating by finding other foods to process.

Other than these activities, I have the usual weekend chores. Preparing several dishes that I can use for lunches this week is typical, but since I recently made and froze a double batch of beans (frozen in wide-mouth 12 oz jars that salsa came in) I'll made a batch of rice and take rice and beans several times during the week.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Sep 17 - 08:38 PM

Beaver:

Yard sale yesterday netted a lovely cupboard for the screen house, roomy and an attractive antique that will display lots of pottery and be good for storage as well. Also two good solid book cases - not sure where yet, and a shelf unit with two grow light units.

Still some pottery to transport to the back - use wheelbarrow! I observed today that there are two "shelves" across the top of the gazebo - back and front - that will hold many pieces. It is looking quite nice with the director's chairs open.

Potted the tree seedlings, did some sorting, some spray painting (can only do it in very small bits to avoid odour. inch by inch...

Waiting for Chris Rawlings open house for organic apples and cider. Must check FB. Great visit with artist Arne Roosman - wishing I had wall space for one of his marvellous paintings.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Sep 17 - 04:17 AM

This post equals two FB tips and a report on decluttered pillows and overnight case.

Tip 1-- the below is pasted from a very small FB group I set up for tracking wellness progress with closest friends and family-- a FB within my huge FB.

Tip 2-- the below paste reflects using pix to head threads, which can be easier to find later than thread titles.


The declut: items strewn in my computer corner and DR are now cased for removal to vehicle.

...

The Travel Logistics Thread

Remember this image to find this thread again in Photo's-- I will!

2017+ includes portability plans that will require at least my minimum pillowing kit to be permanently onboard. One key to maintain my mobility is able to totally let go for at least 5 hours sleep. Not every host has a recliner, or enough extra pillows to fully support my joints.

Since before 2012 I've been making my kits increasingly smaller. This one is the smallest yet: an overnight-sized airline rolling bag. A matching tote carries atoelan nightie, plus change of undies.

Inside are 5 small pillows of vairous sizes, a cushy kniteditem wth case for a 6th huggy pillow, and a pair of wadded-paper neck or wrist pillows with cushy chenille-sleeve wrappers. There are usually more pillows plus blanket in the car. Add 1-2 pillows with a host's bed (or 0 pillows but a good recliner), and boom!

We especially felt the lack of kit when we recently drove home from OH to PA (in August). Too tired NOT to stop but too few pillows be workable! OWWWW! :-(

The front pockets shown here are still empty-- room for a whole clothing outfit!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Sep 17 - 06:40 PM

Beaver:

A few more little things done today - not a great deal. I drove to Coe Hill to give Arne some mineral capsules and stopped at once-was-a- hardware store for a bowl of nice thick soup and a thick piece of home made bread. Yum. Then at the Mercantile to see Lillian but her mom died on Saturday so she was on way back west - Manitoba. Feeling low all afternoon - sad for Lillian whose Mom was quite ready to leave but still hard for L.

Also frustrated as I could not find the supplement order list. Then the internet would not connect so I put the computer into a carrying bag - THERE was the list! and off to Tim Horton's for a bowl of soup. And to order the supps. Also did not feel like eating anything in the house... May feel like doing a couple more things in the house when I get home...

Oh yeah, not looking forward to cataract up on Thursday - not that it is bad but the frustration of not bending over and not lifting for 3 weeks... And add on a day that it is heavily not getting around to actually raining. And add on wondering what time R will get here tomorrow and will he manage to pick up the new-to-us mattress without which it will be an uncomfortable weekend! SO - not much done today!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 17 - 10:36 PM

Good luck with your recovery from that second eye surgery, Dorothy. This time I'm sure you'll have prepared for a larger range of activities you can do while restricting your motion.

This evening I was going to work on eBay, but when I realized a note about an item to list was lost in the clutter on my desk, I decided instead to clear the stacks and file the stuff on my computer desk and on top of the file cabinet. Wood is now visible and in the process I found a couple of things I've been looking for, and things I forgot I needed.

wysiwyg - a friend of mine apparently travels with a small pillow for getting comfortable with the hoses she wears at night from her oxygen machine. I found one in the guest room and figured it must be hers. I think she makes them herself, and they compress down to nothing to go in the luggage, but are helpful for propping the O2 line. I'm keeping it for her next visit, she apparently has a lot of them. When you're thinking about service projects, making pillows may be something to add to your list.

Weather dried out and are hoping for some rain next week. I'm finally getting the dry grass that doesn't need to be mowed very often. My vegetable garden is finally starting to produce, there are green tomatoes and a couple of eggplants in view.

Charmion, how many of those boxes of books have you unpacked so far, or will they wait until more renovations are completed?

Subject: The one about the sideboard
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Sep 17 - 01:26 PM

First pirce of stay-forever furnitute unloaded and installed in Ohio: Greg's beautiful sideboard. Was I right, how I envisioned it the day I bought the house? Duh, YEAH...

Its position allows the front door (with coats hung on it) to open fully. Space between sideboard and wall facilitates storage of flat items, and the adjoining window's curtain drop. After its rain-dampened masonite back fully dries, I'll swap in the green/blue cloth cover from the previous divider which married the LR/K colors (open concept). It needs a cover for the back which faces into the LR

The sideboard replaces two previous items that combined to be a few inches wide, and about a foot shorter. It's been a great 'landing' zone, so this turns out not to be a good spot for a really tall item (such as the whole tall china cabinet we thought of for that spot.)

It's helpful to see one of the larger PA pieces that will eventually be here... many pieces bought for a house w huge rooms, in a double-wide-type footprint? Maybe.... if I can get used to them one at a time. They hold wonderful memories!

Anticipated use: power tools until we're here fulltime (when they'll move to the garage); then large serving-ware. Now and also then, landing zone or buffet for company meals (whether in kitchen or LR or both).

Boy-unloading time: 2 young men, no dolly, 15 minutes untarping to placement.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 20 Sep 17 - 07:54 PM

I haven't done much cleaning out at home but I have at my office! I have been working in an interior office with no windows. I fixed it up nicely and it's been going ok. Recently, however, I was bumped up and found myself with a nice office space with a large window! I have an awesome maintenance man who took out the desk that was in that office and moved in the desk of my choice, he moved my bookcase and even helped me lug the boxes of binders/manuals, etc. I am pleased to report that my office is ultra organized, homey with Jeremiah art and a quilt hanging on the wall and a nice chair for those coming into my space. No clutter. I have a HUGE bulletin board that I have covered in fabric that nicely picks up some of the colors in the quilt. The window has a large interior window sill and I have flowers there and some seasonal pumpkins too.....I love my work space!

Love to everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Sep 17 - 09:09 PM

Beaver:

As I sit here (9 pm) wondering when R will arrive - and we have to leave for hospital at 7 am... I am delighted to read of Michelle's new office!!! and Susan's delight in her forever piece of furniture.

And, no, I have not done all sorts of things to make life easier as I have been in get out and push mode for days now. Well, I washed hair this aft as it will be 3 weeks before I can do that! And did laundry this morning so that is DONE! And all the "hatches" are battened down, as I "accept" that nothing will be done for 3 weeks, unless R does it.

I also broke down and bought a fancy duster at the hardware store for cobwebs and floor dust, and used it to clear up some of the house. I really did not have the energy to vacuum but this was a great improvement. It is actually my great fear of dust (allergy) and the discomfort of the respirator and having to leave the house until the dust settles... More trouble with fall allergies this year than in many years - maybe that is part of the cause of my slowdown!

The good new is that using a saline nasal wash has almost eliminated the chronic cough that has plagued me the last several years. The Dr. was quite concerned that I not cough while she is operating on my eye! But the anesthesia stopped the cough for 24 hours!

I have discovered that the outdoor cabinet by the front door, planned for storing pottery which is now in the screen house, is a good spot for things going to the dump or thrift shops.

I am hoping R can fetch the things bought last Saturday at the yard sale and get them into place. BUT I will not be able to organize until the 3 weeks is up.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Sep 17 - 09:18 PM

[window envy] I work in a dark cold basement. Lucky you! And the office sounds charming and relaxing for any clients who visit. It seems it wasn't that long ago that you took up quilting - you've come a long way with it, to have spares to use for decorative purposes!

I'm doing some virtual reorganizing this evening. My mp3 player lost it's mind overnight so I loaded the last file of the mystery I was close to finishing in my phone for the drive to work. During the day I visited the public library web site and I have a library audio download in my phone and tablet now, and I've hopefully set up so my programs sync information and I can read books on different devices and each one knows where I stopped last, regardless of what I was reading on. (That's the theory.) I've also formatted the mp3 player and I'm reloading some books back into it.

Dorothy, have we discussed neti pots in these threads? It would soothe your nose and throat, but having to lean over the sink to use it might not be recommended, unless you're very careful.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 20 Sep 17 - 10:28 PM

Maggie,

I'll share some photos on FB tomorrow evening so you can see. The space just makes me happy.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Sep 17 - 07:15 PM

A friend of mine has a job interview in central PA - I was telling her about you. Got a little teary-eyed in skimming over some of the high and low points. :) Looking forward to those photos.

I stopped in a fabric store this evening on my way home from work; I've meant to for a while. I didn't have anything in particular I needed, I just wanted to look. They have all cotton and it's intended for quilting, though of course people come for fabric for other things as well. They have lots of large tables with cutting boards inset for working and teaching. Looked interesting!

Dorothy, drop us a line to let us know when you are up to it after that second surgery. I'm sure you'll be very happy to finally have that out of the way.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Sep 17 - 09:20 PM

Ohio...

Another stay-forever piece is now in place-- a thick, off white 8 x 9 carpet from the PA guest room (a FreeCycle score) fits the guest/sewing room here POIFECK. The door even opens over it. Can be rotated to ensure even wear.

Hardi and I discussed our thoughts for that room when we were here for vacay in August. He envisioned it completely differently and had a much better idea. So today the mockup of his Murphy Bed idea began, as follows.

The departing housemates left us a neat Craigslist twin headboard w shelves/cubbies, that will fit between two of our matching bookcases. Above these, a shelf with a clothes rod under a wooden valance will stretch across the whole wall-- with the curtains (hung on the rod) covering the bed when it's up (or flanking the bed when it's down).

The headboard is a tad too deep, relative to the bookcases, so it will get its back 1/3 sliced off, and most of that hung for more cubbies above the other 2/3.

With this rig, we can use every inch, right up to the ceiling, on that wall. Even with the bed down, Hardi's grandmother's antique sewing machine will fit as his sewing table, at the foot of the bed, like a footboard.

One hour kid labor. He learned all about assembling Hollywood bed frames.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Sep 17 - 08:51 AM

Ohio

The more dangerous aspects of the opioid epidemic are emanating from the next Big City south of the town we're retiring to. Past helper Jeremy died in it, in June, and the neighborhood (and whole town) is showing a real uptick in home invasions just since the first of the year. So a re-purposed group of PA item is a one or more trail cams, cleverly placed in house and garage, a baby monitor so I can announce warnings to 'visitors' from the bedroom, and toddler door alarms. I moved the dog's crate to my bedroom area to be able to release her in case of intrusion.

I'm also seriously considering adding a dog-strength hotwire to the exterior security lights, to supplement the 6 neighbors keeping eyes and ears out.

Because I don't want any burgling help decluttering our retirement place! :-(

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Sep 17 - 10:29 AM

It has been a hectic but interesting workweek, the kind that leaves you all fired up and ready to move into the next week with enthusiasm and interest! :) However, that doesn't mean I'm not ready for this weekend! ;)

In just a few minutes we are off on a new adventure to pick concord grapes. Our grapes have done well this year and there are more to come, however, we are going to be making our own grape juice and jelly this year (and maybe a few grape pies...never have had them but would like to try) so we need a very large abundance of grapes! Homemade grape juice sounds amazing to me! :)

I cleaned the kitchen last night so it's all sparkly and ready for us to get busy with the canning process. Jeremiah loves to be helpful in the kitchen so it makes this a true family adventure and something that we all love to do. :) I am looking forward to the rest of the day...now if Pete would just hurry up and get out of the shower so we can GO! LOL

Have a good one everybody!

Michelle

PS. We recently put our log cabin on the market. We bought it over 20 years ago as a place to go on the weekends to get Pete out of town as he hated living in town. We have been on our homestead for 19+ years now (and far from town) and rarely go to the cabin. We don't have the time and besides that, we are content to stay right here when we do have the time. :)

Subject: When is a buy not a clutter? And Cheyenne plan.
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Sep 17 - 04:41 PM

Ohio...

When is a buy not a clutter? When it works like this:

In a girl-power, swamp-skills home security plan, four long-wanted plant hangers spotted at Walmart-- destined for PA soon and Ohio forever-- make a great storm-door noisemaker until the beer cans and battery-powered door alarm chimes arrive. ;-)

The framework for the new security plan is, "Pray AND tie your camels. Then, LIVE." See me FMI.

Just-concluded: neat paid home security backup arrangement w nextdoor neighbor Marie/Joe's adult daughter Cheyenne, who lives at home, works, and goes to kollidge. I've met her several times around the driveway, and she is the soul of sweet manners, with strength. She's thrilled to park in the driveway and tour hse/garage weekly (or if concerns noted). Has pitty puppy.

Unless her parents rescind:

".... this is Susan. Greg contact info 4 checks or worries is xxx.xxx.xxxx. Unless ur folks rescind our arrangement, a small monthly check (up to 50) will arrive whether I'm here or not. (50 would incl weekly garden hose on/off.)

This month I'll b away xxxx, and u can tour house (every rm) to see what 'normal' looks like. (Are also pix in FB album if u want to friend/see.) The door alarms will be set on 'chime' mode if they arrive in time.

In Oct I hope hse security is good enuf to visit MIL xxxx. Door alarms n trail cams we discussed def up by then. I hope to depart for PA Nov. Xxxx and return in xxxx. Snow/lawn care via xxxxx's Svc except driveway.

The patio is available at any time for dog training/play, if Newbie not out there, or supervised w Newbie by advance arrangement. She can be a problem if not tied. (She boards when I'm away.)

When u can, pls copy ur drivers license 4 our records? The storm door makes a good mailbox.

Thank you!!! Last long msg I promise!"


And all the free laundry she cares to do here instead of at her crowded small house next door.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 17 - 11:00 AM

The boxes of items listed on eBay are neatly stacked, available to add a packing slip, tape closed, and transport out of the house. I may have to tweak some of the "Buy it Now" prices to move them out, but a couple of weeks a visibility is often needed before things start moving.

I was looking for an article (one I printed it out, it's around here somewhere, I'll find it when I'm no longer looking for it) and found this, possibly even better one when I did an online search: The Tyranny of the Heirloom. It might be of interest to our active and passive readers. I'm slowly moving stuff out of the house that my kids have no interest in. I learn about the family I never met through some of these things, them let them go to new homes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Sep 17 - 01:42 PM

Thanks very much for posting the link to "The Tyranny of the Heirloom". I feel better now about my fancy inlaid tilt-top table, a piece of 18th-century English elegance sitting uneasily in the lounge of our 1970s Canadian suburban house.

It was the star of my great-grandmother's parlour, tricked out with lace, silver and delicacies for her weekly Thursday afternoon "at home". When my grandfather was little, circa 1887, he was allowed to sit at that table to polish off the delicacies when the last guests had departed. It is made of mahogany with a tripod base and a top inlaid with pearwood to form a picture of a basket of roses surrounded by a wreath of laurel. With a diameter of 40 inches and standing just a little lower than a standard dining table, it is not suitable for routine use as an eating-off table, but it is great for parties where people help themselves to nice portable snacks set out on plates. But 21st-century people don't have the discipline of their great-grandparents and don't know how to behave in the presence of fine furniture, so I must either protect it with padding and a liquid-repellent cover or cringe whenever a guest (especially a child) approaches it with a glass in his/her hand.

I inherited it in 1992, when my father died, and for 25 years I have arranged the sitting room furniture around it. My father believed that it is valuable, but I know very well that furniture -- even genuine Chippendale -- is worth exactly what one can persuade a customer to pay for it, and Canadians aren't eager to buy furniture they have to be careful with. There are days when I feel stuck with it. And then somebody new will come to the house and say, Wow, what a beautiful thing! So I guess if I'm going to be stuck with something, I shall be grateful that it's not only occasionally useful (with padding and an oilcloth cover) but also beautiful all the time. If I part with it, even for a towering price, I must also part with the ghost of a little blond boy in an Eton jacket scoffing shortbread off a Limoges tea plate, and I just can't do that.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 17 - 02:55 PM

If you have a photo of the object with loved ones around it, I think you'll find that you still have the stories - because that's what this item is, after all - a mnemonic device to remember family stories and loved ones long gone. If you watch something like Antiques Roadshow you know the market is way down for big, dark antiques. This may change in the future, but for now, we live with these things or we decide that getting rid of them as time allows spares our children the chore in the future.

It's too damned hot this afternoon for mowing. I was going to at least do the trimming but the spool cap wore through and needs replacing. #ItsAlwaysSomething

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Sep 17 - 05:48 PM

Our parish has hosted an annual Antique Show for almost 50 years, with 15 dealers for each show. The ones still motivated to come report that the whole industry is dying; antique shops in area PA towns are closing and no longer a big tourist draw; last I heard we were down to four dealers interested for this year.

It's kinda gross to think that the crap we get now at Walmart will be 'antiques'-- much studied and valued-- when the industry revives. Just look how 'midcentury' mishmashes show up now on HGTV-- 1948-ish - 1968-ish all mixed like they might have been in a 1970 starter home, as high decor.

???

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Sep 17 - 10:01 PM

Beaver:

R arrived at 3 am. I was too worried to sleep. We were up at 6:30 to leave at 7 for the hospital-- where there was a hold up and I did not get op until after noon. The idiot anesthesiologist did differently than the last one and I was wiped out for two days, thereby missing out on my much anticipated supper; I was in bed from late aft when we finally arrived at airbnb until morning. Cheryl was very sweet and tried to give me good soup but I could not eat it. R did.

The drops seem to affect me so I wake up feeling well but go down hill. The heat contributes! Happily, the house stays OK - we spent the aft inside! And cools off before bedtime with doors open. Love those screen doors!

We did get home in time Friday to pick up yard sale items and 3 of 4 are in their homes - a shelf unit with grow lights in the bathroom where it will be kept warm when I am not here; one bookshelf in the studio and the antique cupboard is beautiful in the screen room, a lovely space and totally shaded so cooler than the house. Great display area for pottery. A wonderful addition to our lives.

R is thrilled with his library and has moved some piles of books out there!! It still needs the flooring and many shelves, and a rail for the ladder.

We did stuff around the house Sat am and then went off on a studio tour - good to be in AC car when the heat hits! Fun day concluding with some exploring of back roads. Today organizing, etc in am and late aft. The heat... Also, R is still tired from the work he was doing in Montreal 12-14 hour days for several weeks. He is happy to be here. So am I! We sat outside on the swing in the cool of the evening and breathed in the delicious air. And R noted that he never thought he would ever just sit and swing! YAY!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Sep 17 - 12:07 PM

My pet peeve today: stores that sell products but that don't support the commonplace repairs those products may need. As mentioned before, the spool cap from my Homelite electric trimmer finally wore through, sending string into a huge tangle. I headed to Home Depot to pick up the replacement, but accidentally got the wrong brand and it doesn't fit. My only remedy is to order the correct one online, arriving next week. The trimming will wait, I'll mow, but this is a common brand and you'd think they'd keep more than replacement string.

Fall allergies are making their presence known via headaches and a lot more sneezing. And the weekend was weird - everyone from Texas to New Hampshire and lower Canada seems to have been upset by much warmer than usual weather. I spent most of the time working indoors on eBay listings. I've listed a number of items of different types, I don't generally specialize. I have disturbed some dust in the process, so I suppose that could also contribute to the headache.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Sep 17 - 11:17 PM

Beaver:
warm weather and allergies! YEP! took more chlorpheniramine maleate than in a long time. Careful not to raise dust to add to problem.

Neti pot: what I am using is similar; does the job without being authentic. Works great as long as I remember to do it at least twice/day.

I have recovered from the idiot anesthesiologist's failure to listen and comply but the heat has slowed down both of us. We work early and late and stay in the cooler house in the heat or go out in the AC car.

New mattress is great! The frame and rather nice head and foot will go back to Montreal - too much clutter for our tiny BR. Freezer is repaired and will go to back shed until needed.

Library is gaining books; house being de-cluttered! I will have room for some of mine which I will bring back next trip to the mill. Amazing owl photo bought on studio tour is framed - all we need is a piece of wall on which to hang it! Maybe on the solid wall of screen house.

Pottery studio is much better with the "bookcase" shelving! I hope to get back to doing some work soon - as long as I do not bend over and do not lift more than 10#! Hoping to try some different patterns of glazing.

R leaves tomorrow and will take some stuff with him to further de-clutter back shed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Sep 17 - 09:12 AM

It's still hot as the hinges of Hell in Stratford, but relief is on the way: Environment Canada prophesies the arrival of a new front this evening, bringing rain tomorrow and a high of only 25C (!), followed by a sharp drop in temperature to something far more typical for late September. One can only hope.

Himself started work as a Legal Aid duty counsel today, so he set off this morning in his official lawyer's grey suit and shiny black shoes to walk the 2.5 km from home to the courthouse. That's not much of challenge at 0800 hr, but by mid-afternoon the thermometer will be around 31C with humidity to match, and that grey suit will be some wilted by the time he gets home.

In the car the other day on the way to Canadian Tire (this time for toolshed shelving), he remarked that we are now in the final stages of the Moving to Stratford operation, and now it's time to shift the focus to Living in Stratford. To that end, I joined the local concert choir, and attended my first rehearsal last night. It was held in a stifling hot Protestant church in the company of a squadron of stable flies (country town!), and everybody soldiered through stubbornly, swabbing sweat from brows as we sight-read our way through four movements of the Fauré Requiem and a selection of short pieces suitable for Remembrance Day. I think I will fit in just fine.

Meanwhile, some 35 two-cubic-foot boxes of books still sit in the garage along with seven china barrels with the fancy crockery and a couple of cartons of LPs. In the basement, access to the furnace is blocked by a stack of crated pictures that must be moved (and, preferably, unpacked) before the furnace can be cleaned. I would bet serious money that the people who sold us this house did not have the furnace cleaned in the spring -- who does that? Well, I did, back in Ottawa, but then I (ahem) failed to do it the previous fall.

But the china barrels have to stay right where they are until the kitchen project is finished (forecast for late November), and the books are waiting for yet another delivery of IKEA bookcases, due on 3 October. By the time we have finished filling this house with bookcases, we won't have much room on the walls for pictures. So it goes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Sep 17 - 11:52 AM

Charmion, how do you organize your books?

My father kept a three-ring notebook with typed and handwritten pages in his car. He was always stopping at bookstores and used book stores and wanted to keep track of what he'd already read. The list was long; I sold a lot of mysteries from his estate on eBay and they often went as sets because he would get every one from his favorite authors. I also like mysteries, but decided I would do better to clear out the huge volume of books and if I choose to read these authors at a later date, I'll get them via the library or interlibrary loan or online. Nowadays there are sites like LibraryThing that Katlaughing used, and GoodReads, probably an independent company at one time but now owned (to no surprise) by Amazon. It lets you transport the list of all of the books you've purchased into GoodReads (you can choose whether they appear or not, and mark them read or not.) I suspect he would have enjoyed keeping track of his books that way. And in order to know I'm getting my books in the correct order, I use Fantastic Fiction, a site out of the UK that I discovered when I was selling those books.

I've thought about using LibraryThing to keep track - I think you can get a lifetime membership for a fairly low cost, then catalog all of your books by ISBN. When I organized my front room last (one 14' wall is floor to ceiling books) I pulled them all off of the shelves and used the large tiles in my den as an organizer. One tile for As, the next for Bs, and using a couple for letters that had more last names (S, T, M, etc.) I was able that way to look at each stack and cull the duplicates. But it doesn't give me a list of everything, just one of everything.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Sep 17 - 05:43 PM

Somber day here. Some of the items I'm listing on eBay, while they perfectly well need to go there, cause a bit of a wrench because they belonged to Dad. And it's not so much that, I've sold lots of family estate things with barely a twinge, but I realized that I'm coming up on the 20 year anniversary of his death. Intellectually I know that time has passed, but I lost both parents within six months, so that period from November 1997 to May 1998 was really tough. But like I mentioned above about keeping photos of objects instead of the objects themselves, I have kept the things that really do mean something. My house is filled with things that both parents sent over the years, and with things received after they died. I've told my kids a lot of the important stories. As I list several small cassette recorders and players (Dad was a packrat when it came to buying and keeping electronic stuff) I remembered that my mother gave me a cassette player of hers (even though I had several of my own) with the admonition that I record family stories for my children. So this going through stuff, decluttering, and passing it along has meaning. I need to keep telling the stories to my children. So I'll sell these little recorders but maybe take my time in passing along the one Mom gave me with those specific instructions.

A local radio call in program today had a guest who has written about how distracted we are by devices, and how creative our brains are when they are in fact a bit bored instead of always engaged with stuff and apps. She suggested driving with the radio off, without listening to the recorded book. To see what occurs during that time, of giving oneself an assignment for that time to think about something. Those stories to do with things, with people, would be a good starting place for each of us.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Sep 17 - 10:32 PM

Beaver:
WOW! I have virtually nothing from any, long gone, parents. My ex managed to lose anything of value. I think about asking sons if there is anything they want but I SO doubt it. Taun has most of the family albums and I hope he shares. I never meant to leave them but he was not through with them... He does have a beautiful table, from the U of Toronto Library, and an antique rocking chair I left with them. I still have a desk, replica of the one used by Dickens; it came with a house I bought and I am ready to let it go but R isn't! He wants to build another library - for me and my desk!

Robin is SO thrilled with his library and I am thrilled to have some space cleared in the house and room for my own books when I bring them from the mill. I expect he will be bringing some of his next trip. But, a record of any sort will not be happening! I try to keep a loose leaf up to date of the novels I have read - so I don't read them twice! I only keep non-fiction that I have read and want to look at again.

Never listen to a radio - in car; father said it would distract from driving- or at home - too noisy; I prefer the sounds of silence - wind, rain, birds, spring peepers... I do great thinking as I drive. Dare not sing as my foot gets heavier on the gas pedal!

R went back to Montreal, leaving about 3 pm after totally re-organizing the back shed, getting the freezer and BBQ out there, winter tires accessible and the bookcase that will take the place of the sewing machine in my BR when there are enough bodies to move it! And storage bins more accessible so I can spend some time/energy trying to sort and, hopefully, discarding.

Feeling better in general and, with the temp due to go down, hope to get some good stuff done. The studio is organized for working!

Went to horticultural Society mtng tonight and asked for help getting rid of the yellow sort of iris (not bearded) which I have not been able to get out of the ground! They offered to remove and pot for next spring's plant sale! I will print out the photo I took of the blooms. I took my largest cabbage for the "competition" but it is "flat" and not at all like the other ones. At least 15" in D, it is good for a month of meals! And there are 3 more! And someone is to come Friday to collect some strawberry plants.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Sep 17 - 10:07 AM

Hi, Acme: You asked about how we organize books around here.

Substantial ranks of bookcases are located in the basement recreation (i.e., TV-watching) room, the largest bedroom, the study, and Himself's office. Books are distributed according to where one would be most likely to want to read them: fiction, British history and cookbooks in the basement, which is accessed from the kitchen and has two sofas; crime and law in the office; music, editorial reference, military theory, and Canadian, American and European history in the study; and essays, poetry, and Himself's substantial collection of Victorian and Edwardian children's books in the bedroom. Modern children's books (C.S. Lewis to J.K. Rowling) are in a small bookcase at the top of the stairs, where young relatives can find them easily.

Fiction and essays are organized alphabetically by author. History is more or less chronological, and because we have so many of them, books on military topics are shelved together, again more or less in chronological order. So when you're looking for a book about the battle of Shiloh at our house, it helps to know that it happened before Gettysburg. Poetry is also chronological, with anthologies shelved together.

We have one other small bookcase, in the guest room, and travel books will probably end up there.

It's more of a set of conventions than a system, but it works for us.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 29 Sep 17 - 08:52 PM

I cleaned out my car...all vacuumed and washed. :) Other than that, I haven't done anything other than normal chores around the house this week. It IS, however, the weekend! :) We have plans of going to a pumpkin farm that has become a family tradition. Frankly, I love the family time but would prefer to stay home tomorrow so I can putter around here (is it bad that I hope the predicted rain comes so I can do that? We scheduled a rain date.......).

All is well. I hope it's well in your part of the world too.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Sep 17 - 11:35 AM

My system here works well enough that when a friend comes to town at the last minute the guest room is ready to go. This wasn't always the case. There are a couple of oddball chairs in the guest room and I'm reminded that I've been meaning to take a class on upholstery to redo them, but that's a minor issue. What's really nice is to know that said guest, who is zonked because she didn't sleep well the night before, got a really good night's sleep in there.

Lovely weekend, so many things to do. The new cap for my string trimmer arrived yesterday so that chore can be tackled early in the day while it's cool. I need to clear out some of the grass around the garden - I'm getting a fall crop of tomatoes, if I can see them to pick them.

The declutter activity continues to be to donate or sell things that are culled from the household. I need to make a run to the recycle bin today and should make a loop taking me past the Thrift Store donation station as well. I still have to take out a couple of pair of clogs I never wear; the new shoes are totally comfortable, so that is a welcome exchange of shoe space. I'm thoroughly pleased with the new jeans, and I need to put one of my older pair either in the craft room to use as a source of denim fabric, or donate and let the thrift store recycle or put it in a craft category.

The music collection is in the radar again these days - that is my biggest chore and something I need to get back to. It would certainly free up space also, to finally donate it to a university library.

Have a good weekend, everyone! I hope it has finally cooled to seasonal normal temperatures wherever you are.

P.S. Dove into the closet headfirst, so to speak. Pants and dresses that don't fit are going to the thrift store. Even if I get back to those sizes again, they're not in style or are not something I would wear any more. You look at this stuff forever and don't see it, until you take a close look and wonder why you kept it for so long.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Oct 17 - 10:25 PM

The Internet finally came back on this evening, after being off for probably 16 hours. Whew. It's amazing how many things get done during the day that at least have some reference to online sources.

The vegetable garden got attention today, including digging potatoes, weeding, trimming with the weed-whacker, and propping up the tomato vines that finally have fruit. The trimmer works better with the new cap - I didn't realize how it was dragging with the old one wearing out.

A few more garments came out of the closet this afternoon and I pulled a few unused items out of my dresser. I need to get a few new blouses (thrift store) and send some of the short-sleeved ones back. I like 3/4 sleeves best, regular short sleeves are okay, but for now the cap sleeves I have never get worn, my arms aren't in shape for them.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Oct 17 - 07:28 PM

Beaver:
I must have done a lot yesterday because I am too tired today! I really felt as though I was making organizational progress and some de-cluttering as well. Just inch by inch. Cleared about a foot of mags and papers today and had new, good, thoughts about where to put stuff. Forgot to go to dump and have to wait til Thurs but the stuff is out of house.

R de-cluttered his crew cab last week; it took him all day!

Hope I have more energy tomorrow. It was so nice to have good energy for a few days - with the cooler weather. FROST last two nights! The "don't bend over; don't pick up more than 10 #" is ongoing but... Dug up strawberries for someone on Friday, need to plant a few things, harvested the cabbage and managed to get them in frig, scrubbed bathtub by pretend lying down - not bending from waist! Nine more days!

I seem to be seeing dirt in places I never noticed recently so cleaned stuff in the K! And enjoyed time on the swing, with book, in the afternoons until it cooled too much.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Oct 17 - 09:16 AM

Three more bookcases arriving today; two more to go.

Yesterday we started unpacking framed pictures, not because we're ready to decorate, but because the crates were blocking access to the furnace filter. Oh, well; whatever works.

We have too much art, much of it really quite good and most of it original. I inherited lots from my father, who came from a family of painters and makers of interesting stuff, and bought more. Himself has also bought art -- a nice Daumier etching, for example, and has a sister who paints. I actually like some of her stuff, though not all. Then there was my grandmother, who liked to think of herself as a bit of a patroness. Some 40 years ago, she befriended a painter who left us with a fine watercolour of Galway harbour that needs reframing, a large, busy abstract that makes my head swim, and a nearly life-sized seated portrait of me at the age of 27. That last will never find wall space in this house if I can help it. Finally, there is the profusion of "certificates suitable for framing" that Himself has accumulated over the years, of which perhaps one of his four diplomas, his commission and his licence to practise law will go in his office. The rest -- removed from the frames in which they were originally presented -- go in the filing cabinet.

In this house, we can hang perhaps half of the framed items we have now, and I really can't imagine selling or otherwise disposing of the rest, so I plan to kick this can down the road, and make a First World Problem for our heirs and assigns. When I have finished squaring away our glory hole of a basement storage space, it will include a rack for framed pictures, just like (if considerably smaller than) what I have seen in a warehouse at the National Gallery of Canada. When we are dead, the nephews and nieces can sort it all out, and throw it all out if the spirit so moves them. Or perhaps fall in love with my great-grandmother's Impressionist landscapes of the Montreal area ... Who knows?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Oct 17 - 05:02 PM

I was raised poor. Some days, dirt poor. But my mom had that precious thing-- a sewing machine. She made me beautiful clothes, and she covered anything unlovely in our various homes with tasteful and pretty fabric.

From her I learned never to throw out fabric because, no matter how worn, there is always a piece with life in it. With that philosophy Hardi and I created a 5000 square foot home furnished (once we'd blended households) with less than a small apartment's worth of halfway decent furniture (laminate plus green stamps), and one genuine antique dresser (primitive), plus Goodwill and FreeCycle and discarded parishioners' pieces.... that 5000 sq feet was the only rental open, the summer we arrived. I just gave away--to my extreme pleasure-- the double mattress/spring I treated myself to right before we married, to a lady starting over and going for custody. Barely used, totally clean, plus maple frame left in the garage rafters by the house's sellers. Four more bags of seller's abandoned 'stuff' also came down which I also gave her and her helper to use or sell. The only item I brought in-- a hand-crocheted afghan throw-- in the color scheme of our newly-forming guest room in time for a weekend housemate. Baby afghans, brand new boots/shoes-- gone, plus a bulky twin mattress.

Tent, kept for evaluation. Tall enough, I'll sleep in it when I travel. Kept duffel to stow it in too. If not, give away.


~S~

Yay!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Oct 17 - 02:26 PM

Ohio:

(Apols in advance for typos)

...and I'm thrilled to be able to give that same mom 2 matching wing chairs and a child's chair, which I will bring down on the next trailer load (May 2018). We'd been fretting over keeping or giving these away-- suddenly it was such an easy decision, knowing the cause it would serve and how dearly they'll be loved. We bought them used and it was a sweet memory: walking thru a thrift shop separately, we'd each seen them and coveted them, but feared the other wouldn't like (or wish to invest in) them. Beautiful deep salmon pink velour on solid frames/legs-- my color!

On that load will be a set (or 3) of shelves. Our PA furniture will then be pared down to awaiting 'The Big Move' mode-- stuff we use every day-- and I'll have ample sorting spaces for books, mementos, and STUFF to memorialize and then purge.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 04 Oct 17 - 05:29 PM

Beaver:

Where it is pouring! sporadically today. It let up long enough for me to close the shed door and take the top off the "greenhouse" so those tender plants will be well watered. WARM! today.

Susan! Great going!

Charmion: We have almost no wall space but I am planning to set up an area where the wall pieces can change from time to time. Not sure where until the ladder to sleeping loft is in place. There is wall space in the screen house but the art must be weather proof! As the rain pours down, I am wondering about the state of the current contents!

Two tiny jalapeno from the garden (the only two!) must have been cluttered with all the heat of a huge one. A 10" frying pan full of cabbage and zuke is almost too hot to eat. The next meal of it will be served with 10% yogurt!

I continue to inch along, sorting, organizing/discarding. My energy waxes and wanes but I am energized enough to be making the veggie chili for a potluck tomorrow, a major move forward. Watching, hopefully, for the time I feel like potting. With eyes de-cluttered of cataracts and ankle healed sufficiently that I can walk on the lumpy back yard, I am feeling possible. Progress is being made.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Oct 17 - 10:35 PM

Books and art - I also have a lot. Way too much. My father collected art, and though he had a small house, he had a lot of it leaning up against the walls in his store room. I think he intended to rotate it. I move a few things around occasionally, but I have a cupboard full of spare frames I've picked up at thrift stores and garage sales for items of my own I decide to put up. Pretty cards purchased in travels, kid art, etc. The most recent item was a brochure from Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY, where I worked one summer. I kept occasionally finding this brochure and I couldn't make myself toss it, so I finally dug out a frame. It's a mostly green map and it's a lovely simple maple frame and it looks good. That wall is of oddball stuff, including my MA diploma., an Lookout Visitor Certificate a friend gave me in the mid-1970s (I was visiting his lookout!), kid art, and a New Yorker cover that my dad really loved and mounted. This one. Very clever.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Oct 17 - 05:50 AM

Ohio:

It turns out I have a whole box of odds and ends I can give her, right here, many of which I no longer use. Space here is tight, so those 6" of pantry space and linen closet space will be welcome.

Other items I listed for her choice were left by the recently-moved housemates. And looking for items to pass along netted ME one item I'd not realized they left-- an outlet strip WITH USB ports. I immediately installed THAT where needed, and took it off my shopping list!

Dorothy, you've been a real role model for me in two-home living.

~s~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 17 - 09:37 PM

eBay items are starting to move, the days are cooling. I'm returning to the No Spend practice that worked for a while last year, getting groceries but eliminating impulse and non-essential shopping. Making do, swapping, etc. I even signed up again for the area freecycle group, we'll see how long I can stand that daily email.

I buy whole chickens and cut them up unless I find parts on a good sale. I buy pot roasts and cut them into 1 lb pieces to freeze (I don't buy hamburger from the store any more). I shop at a deep-discount store that gets gourmet cheese and yogurt for a fraction of the regular grocery store prices (near shelf date, but easy to use while they're still good.) Shopping today I found several packages of NY strip steaks in the Kroger discount bin and cut and repackaged into six ounce packages for the freezer. It comes out about $3.25 per steak, something I don't eat often but are nice occasionally and for guests. I've made a concerted effort to draw down the freezer stock. If I add some frozen vegetables I'll have pretty much everything I need, save the fresh dairy products. It is time to defrost - things are all tumbled around in there since last spring. When I'm feeling efficient I put a list of contents on the door and keep a running tally of contents. If I'm feeling really efficient I'll straighten the side-by-side (frost free) freezer first.

This activity is also getting ready for the fall cooking season, plus canning and freezing (I have tomatoes in the garden now, and a few eggplants). I have food gifts for friends for the holidays, jelly made during the summer in this spectacular year of the wild grape. I have gifts for family, including good Pyrex containers (my local thrift store has great glassware) they can take food home in.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Oct 17 - 09:50 AM

Acme, already rotating art?

FreeCycle usually has an option of viewing posts online (sort of forum style) only, if mails are an issue.

Here's a creative church approach-- during our annual PA diocesan convention, they're planning an Altar Guild Swap Meet to declutter sacristies.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Oct 17 - 10:58 AM

For the very first time this year, I have taken off two glorious days in a row! One was a planned vacation day and the other was a luxury decision. I have Monday off for Columbus Day/Indigenous People's Day in NYS.....this gives me 5 whole days off! YES!

Yesterday was a Mother/Daughter Day...a mystery trip with the local bus company and today I have the entire house to myself! Jeremiah is in school and Pete is off to work. I had planned to do more clearing out of the closet but changed my mind. I decided to putter in the kitchen. I washed the windows on the door and hung up some fall decorations, removed everything from the family bulletin board throwing away anything that was no longer needed, tucking away old art (with the exception of Jeremiah's hand made Emergency/Fire Plan), organized the few remaining things that need to stay (my fishing license, the number for the farmer who has agreed to butcher our chickens, the logger, etc. Next I pulled everything off the front of the fridge, gave it a good scrub down and added some new fall magnets that were given to Jeremiah and only put back Jeremiah's chore chart (white board type)/markers, a Book It form that has to be filled out daily and a recent A+ spelling paper where he wrote his name in cursive (this is new for him this fall)...he is so proud and we are too! Let's see...stove top and front is clean, the main counter is clean, dishes done, etc. My plan is to clean all the remaining windows inside and out and get them ready for some winter plastic to help keep the cold air out and hopefully I will have some time to do a little fall baking, put a roast in the crock pot and grab a shower before it's time to get Jeremiah from school.

One day this weekend is slated for paperwork organization...just something I like to do periodically and the annual major big wood stove/chimney cleaning event. Cold weather isn't far away! Another day is set aside for some major sewing...haven't had the time or energy to do that in quite some time and I am looking forward to that. If the weather is nice, the front porch is going to have a major overhaul as well...it's a catch all space for us and I'm so over it!

In other news, I think I shared that we had a cabin we were going to list. Well, it was listed and sold the first day! The closing is less than 2 weeks away! YES! :)

I can't tell you how much of a luxury it feels like to have this time to put things in order the way I want and have wanted to for some time now. *Happy Content Sigh*

Enjoy your day everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 06 Oct 17 - 06:42 PM

Beaver:

Michelle! How wonderful to be unencumbered by the cabin!

Susan: Always like to assist!

I de-cluttered the remainder of the calendars I had printed over a year ago. The Hospice, which is meant to receive the funds at the request of the artist, recently took over a thrift shop in town so I went in and gave the "leader" three framed prints and the remaining calendars with "instructions" to make a display; if people see how good each print looks framed, they can buy a calendar and frames (at the shop) and have affordable art by a local artist. As this is Thanksgiving Weekend and it was barely possible to drive through town, it is a prime time to peddle pictures of Vintage Bancroft (70s) at the Vintage shop. Enough sold to pay me back the costs and the Hospice has made over $500 from them. They have been well appreciated by many folks. Happy to have completed this endeavour!

Come to think of it, that was not a minor "volunteer" task! No energy fo more right now. Looking at the last few months, I wondered how I found energy to pot in early August - I had finished one cataract routine and not started the next! This gives me hope that after next Thursday I shall regain energy for potting.

The veggie chili, for yesterday's potluck, took all the energy I had but was a great success and I have enough left to freeze a container and keep one for adding to veggies over the next while.

I am hoping one of the women will come and de-clutter the strawberry bed and her partner can collect pottery to "pay" for the work he did on our stained glass window. Good info might be: that cost $200 for Sean to repair but the exquisite one R put in his library was only $50 at an "Eco Centre"! However, I do like our in-house window - in the wall between BR and LR to let light flow.

Not much inching along lately. Maybe centimeters...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Oct 17 - 10:24 PM

You lovely ladies of perpetual responsibility, order, creativity and grace are the true crux of the culture I know, not the guys arguing over guns and ammo.
Some guys may afford a house but women most often conceive and create a home.
declutter in stages
walk in beauty for ages

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Oct 17 - 11:22 AM

Michelle, where did your mystery trip take you? And which of you was surprising the other? I like that you did that with Jeremiah last week, so maybe your mom decided to surprise you? Or did you decide to surprise her also?

Okay, I am being frugal, but sometimes you just can't pass up a deal. There was an enamel cast iron pot on clearance at a local electronics and department store. A Hamilton Beach cast iron dutch oven (1.5 quart) with a cast iron base (for a candle or sterno) and an electric cooking base for $9. This is perfect for small meals, it can be used for stovetop or oven. Amazon regularly sells it for $50 or more. I could turn around and sell it on eBay for three times what I paid, but I plan to keep this.

It has been my declutter practice to keep numbers of things at a certain level - if I buy new shoes, rehome or toss older or unused ones. I probably should look around the kitchen and see what in there is never getting used.

Back in the rest of the property, I've discovered a couple of leaks in the long hose that runs around the garage and over to the vegetable garden. There isn't a faucet on that side of the house and I have an expensive faucet-attached sprinkler management device that I want to keep out of sight in the back. Last year I bought a long hose that is still sitting in the garage, so it's time to drag out the old one (ancient, now that I think about it, over a dozen years old) and replace it with this new one. I need to put things to use that are sitting around waiting to be used.

It's also time to clean out the greenhouse and get ready to move plants in for the winter. Last year I lost one I'd wintered over successfully for a couple of years, so I think I need to address a large air leak in the back door of the structure. I love when we get to the season when I can use it - in the summer the greenhouse is where tools are stored and it's like an oven in there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Oct 17 - 11:29 AM

Interesting day yesterday. My ex stopped by to pick up some fresh sweet potatoes and to drop off a bag of eggplants given to him by a co-worker who has a garden. They were starting to get a little soft, so needed using soon.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to get him to head over to that discount grocery I've mentioned here and I was headed over myself, so he rode along to see the Saturday morning chaos when one day a week the warehouse (lots of produce) is opened next to the regular store. We headed from there to Home Depot, where I had to return something and he was going to order a new front door and frame to have his contractor replace for him. Thing is, he lives about 3 miles from the store, but we didn't have a pickup and he was going to pay $80 to have it delivered, so I told him about their trucks for rent. Since I was driving and my ex's insurance card was back at my house in the car, I ended up driving the truck, rented for $19.99 for 75 minutes, to take the door to his house. It was good timing, we just walked in, got the truck, and were turning it back in 15 minutes later just as someone else buying a door needed it.

At home I had those eggplants, and decided the neighbors needed breaded eggplant. My elderly across-the-street neighbor used to take my produce and cook up a storm, but she barely microwaves dinner now. So I called when I had a plate of them nearly ready and told her I'd be over in 10 minutes. We sat and talked and she ate several - she loves these and I need to take them over more often. My next door neighbors on either side like them, so to one I delivered another plate, and to the other, who just recently discovered that she likes eggplant parm, she walked over and I showed her the breading and frying process. She never ate eggplant at all until I gave her samples of my babaghanouj, and after making it together a couple of times, she makes it herself. And so it will go with eggplant Parmesan.

My house will smell like frying for several days, but those eggplants went to a lot of goodwill around this end of the neighborhood. I kept a few fried slices - even though I'm mostly avoiding wheat right now, I had a small plate of those topped with provolone and spaghetti sauce - they were fabulous!

It's a weekend of doing things for others. Last Friday at work we pooled a few dollars and when I was buying my cast iron pot I also picked up a toaster for our office; our old one burns on all settings. I'm going to make a loaf of bread and take it in with the new toaster so they can christen it properly. A jar of my homemade jelly will be the perfect finish.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 08 Oct 17 - 02:31 PM

The excursion itself was a surprise trip. The bus company we like to travel with offers 4 Mystery Trips per year, giving us only a poem with small hints about where we might be going. :) This time we ended up in Titusville, out near Erie, PA. We went for a ride on the Titusville train through the cradle of the natural petroleum area of Pennsylvania. The train is also the only rolling post office still in existence today. I thought that part was pretty neat. I sent a post card to my father-in-law who is a steam train buff and had the post card postmarked right on the train. He is going to love that! Of course, I took photos too. We had a box lunch on the train, spent some time at the Drake Well Museum (indoor/outdoor) which was pretty interesting and then dinner at most likely was a VERY happening spot during the 1970s. LOL. The food was good but the decor cracked me up. Best of all, I had uninterrupted time with my mom. :)

Yesterday I emptied out a double cupboad, threw out any outdated food, cleaned the shelves and refilled the cupboard/organized things a bit. The front porch has been somewhat cleaned off, errands have been run and we are soon on our way to a birthday party for pony rides and hay maze fun. :)

It's been a rainy day here...now cloudy. I spent a few hours playing my ukulele and singing.

Time to get ready to go.

Have a great week everyone!

Michelle

Subject: Things that move in...
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Oct 17 - 09:47 PM

Ohio...

THINGS seem to insist on moving in with me. No-- not a buying temptation: little shelves with pegs must have snuck into my car when I was helping Trish move last week; also my weekend houseguest left a hardshell carry-on rolling bag (probably full of the clean clothes for her next stop with family). In the guestroom. I'd asked three times if she wanted help.... "No, see, I didn't really bring much," she said as she left with a tote bag, paper bag, and purse.

I wonder which one will call me first. I've wanted shelves exactly like those; I wonder how long I have to wait before putting them up?

Last visit here, it was a mysterious backpack that turned up in my unlocked car, which eventually turned out to belong to a highschooler two towns west. (Which I returned thru the afterschool boot camp discipline program I found via their note to his mother, inside the pack.)

Then of course there was all the stuff the sellers left here for me to deal with, and the stuff I continue to find left after the August move-out of the housemates.

WTF. Maybe I'm meant to run a home resale business out of our garage. Don't really want to!

I'm putting a new note into the Guest Guide; "Your lost and found may be my Goodwill."

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Oct 17 - 09:53 AM

Funny that I'm of Swedish heritage, and didn't know that the name for what I've been doing is Swedish Death Cleaning:

https://www.treehugger.com/cleaning-organizing/swedish-death-cleaning-new-decluttering-trend.html

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Oct 17 - 10:35 AM

Today, the burglar alarm is being installed. Strange beeps and bongs are emanating from the front hall even as I type.

Himself has been toiling like a Trojan, hauling books all over the house, and we are now down to only eight (from about 55) two-cubic-foot boxes of books on the garage floor. On the other hand, we're rapidly running out of shelf space, although we have one large Victorian bookcase and two half-height IKEA Billy series bookcases still to come. The big old one, built in Quebec sometime around 1890 and inexplicably painted circa 1952, used to contain three (count 'em, three!) sets of encyclopaedia plus 25 years' worth of the Britannica Book of the Year, so it's going into Himself's office to the law books -- but the guy who's stripping and refinishing it has to recover from his back injury first! The Billy bookcases, made as they are of spit and sawdust, will go in the basement where the novels live.

Himself keeps complaining about books he thinks we should get rid of, while I insist (to his fury) that everything be unpacked and appropriately shelved, or stacked on the floor in front of the bookcase where there is no more room, before we start purging. I hate confusing two sorting processes; if we start purging now, books will end up stacked higgledy-piggledy all over the house and we will soon lose track of what is to stay and what is to go.

The garage also contains seven 5-cubic-foot china barrels full of "the good stuff" (a Wedgwood dinner service for eight and fancy glassware galore), one 4-cube box of rarely used cooking tackle and three 2-cubes repacked with excess china. All that stuff has to wait until the kitchen/pantry/dining room project is finished, however, which could be Christmas.

Meanwhile, Himself's office is still Pepto-Bismol pink, the bedroom is still deep purple and the guest room is still grey. I haven't heard a peep from the painter, and I should email him before he takes on another sub-division contract.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Oct 17 - 07:20 PM

There is a dribble of eBay activity as every few days something sells. I have plenty more to list, but I'm finding the software is acting up. Instead of letting sellers simply revise an item, clicking on the "revise" button opens the proper screen where you make your change, only to open a new selling screen once you try to get it to save. This means that it isn't possible to revise an item without going through that entire listing setup, and I fear it will end up as a duplicate, not an adjustment.

Charmion, I've also waited until I moved in to a new place before I began to purge extra books, even though it would make sense to do it before the move. It never seems to work out that way, but as long as it gets done. When I moved here I also moved in contents from a storage locker from moving out of the house after the divorce, and I had a locker with stuff from my parents' estates. All of that had to be commingled to figure out what I had before I could sort and discard. Lots and lots of books.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Oct 17 - 01:16 PM

Ohio, re Books

In PA, both of our professional libraries have been purged, and gifting/allocations designated. Our personal libraries are mostly centralized now into the sunny 2nd floor garden nursery, for winter purging, gifting, and boxing either for immediate departure or storage there for The Big Move (as yet unsked).

All the PA bookshelves have been mapped to their Ohio locays.

Except the music books.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Oct 17 - 05:42 PM

Rodent decluttering. This week I have found two ticks on me, and I haven't been into the deep woods across the road, just into my garden. This tells me the mice are still there and they have brought their dangerous little friends with them.

This afternoon I trimmed the grass around the edge of the garden down to the soil and made inroads to some of the grassy spots in the tangle of tomatoes. Then I mixed up a gallon of water, a dollop of concentrated compost tea, and couple of tablespoons of molasses, and 2 ounces (measured) of d-limonene (Orange oil). At that strength it will kill insects but not harm the plants. Stronger and it's an herbicide. This should kill some of the ticks, and I'll start setting out a mousetrap at dusk, to hopefully catch the mice and not the lizards, snakes, or toads. If the one I have works (not the snap variety) then I'll get a couple more and do this mouse riddance dance. And I won't be feeding the birds this winter, that is what brought them here in the first place. I live too close to the woods, to which those that survive need to return. A little later in the fall I'll put out an application of beneficial nematodes, that will kill the soil egg stage of any ticks still out in the garden.

Later on this evening I'll go out with the "puffer" can and spritz diatomaceous earth in there (after the spray dries). That's another tick treatment.

Also, all clothes will go into the washer after a very careful personal inspection. Ticks creep me out.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 12 Oct 17 - 12:21 PM

Wow this thread even has recipes for potions and poisons.

I NEED WINDOWS - 20 -

Metro DC area prices are undoubtedly high

Prices probably go from 14K to 30K but what is reasonable?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Oct 17 - 07:28 PM

I need windows also, at least 9, probably 12. They are expensive. I saw the guys replace windows on Ask This Old House, it isn't that difficult, but you do want to do it correctly. I'm sure labor is a huge part of the cost.

We had another plumbing crisis arise last night, when the washer was running. Backed up again from the sewer line, probably more tree roots. That's my task for tomorrow, shopping plumbers (the last one was very expensive, I want to see if I can shop this around a bit.)

Home ownership isn't for wimps.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Oct 17 - 06:15 AM

Acme, are you regularly using a root killer you can flush down the toilet, preventively?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Oct 17 - 05:38 PM

Around 20 Anderson tilt out washable double pane vinyl windows installed is $13,000 with life time breakage repair guarantee.

Acme you could get a good used car or windows for this kind of money.
Maybe a new Houston flood Mercedes ":^/

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Oct 17 - 06:15 PM

Susan, tell me what you know about root killing flush stuff. I don't want to nuke the city waste water department, but if there is something that will stop this without breaking that bank (or killing the tree), I would like to hear about it.

A friend who now works for a local city public works department is coming over tomorrow and I'll show him the recordings I made of their camera exam of the line (the first plumber took a look, the supervisor who offers $$ options looked, but also used one of those sensors to show where everything is and showed me that the line runs diagonally across the yard, not straight out to the street. This makes a huge difference in the decisions being made.

I'm running anything that came into contact with the yucky sewer water through the washer now with bleach to extra disinfect it. I'll mop, push furniture back to where it belongs, and study the options of getting the floor tile for the bathroom and then re-seating that toilet so the seal works. This flood shouldn't have hit the house, just the tubs. I didn't get the seal in correctly the last time, mostly because the flange is high and I had to use shims to hold everything in place until the tile is down.

First world problems, I know. Busy weekend coming up.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 17 - 04:51 PM

My friend came over and we walked the front yard and looked at the line from the cleanout to the spot where it enters the city line. We discussed the process, and by using an excavator and putting in PVC, plus a couple of improvements to upgrade the system (if there's a block in the house, this will now provide a cleanout for the house that won't require getting up on the roof). If he does it for half of what the plumber would charge he'll still make a nice profit even with renting an excavator and buying the PVC and other parts. I'd rather have a friend make money on this than the plumber. It's a sewer line so we don't need a permit like we would if it was an irrigation system connecting to the water line. It's something that homeowners are allowed to do for themselves.

He also mentioned the root killer stuff, and something like that will keep the system open for now, but I have two large trees and a large shrub all in proximity of that line - it isn't going to stop having root problems with the perforated cast iron line. We'll probably do this next month.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Oct 17 - 06:14 PM

Ohio:

Acme, when we bought this house there was an odd depression/crevice in the front yard. "Oh good-- spiraea!" sez I. "Hole 'mos' dug!"

Until JUST before I bought one, TBTG. The housemate at that time complained that the tub was a slow drain. "Clean the hair cup," ssez I. She called a plumber instead who charged me $100 to snake the drain. A year later (she was gone), slow tub drain for me-- hair cup emptied daily-- hm. Asked neighbor with decades on this block. "Roots!" sez she. Recommended great (and cheaper) plumber.

Plumber Dean found the clean out we'd not been aware of and started dredging up all kinda nasty, hairy roots. It was then that I noticed the straight line from cleanout to street ran RIGHT UNDER that crevice..... so I asked if he'd been here before.... yeah... that's why that bush they'd had got tore out.

He opined that twice-a-year root killer would probably prevent his having to do this every two years-- spring and fall, when roots are most active. I researched least-toxic/easy to use, and even found a YouTube video w instrux. Kinda pricey but not as pricey as plumbers. BRB w link.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Oct 17 - 06:28 PM

http://www.roebic.com/foaming-root-killer.shtml

Tips--

. Don't store it where it can't stay dry, or you may have to break up the caked product with a knife. It needs to enter the toilet as a powder.

. You will need to NOT flush for 8 hours after using it-- so choose your time of day wisely and hang a sign to remind yourself not to flush no matter what else has gone in there (put used TP in the trash to avoid a clog when you do flush). And that's the whole house, not just the toilet you flushed it down. No laundry/dishwasher either.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Oct 17 - 10:20 PM

Beaver:
weather turning cooler. Outdoor work getting accomplished. Laundry done but still drying! I put a plastic over it to keep the dew off and hope tomorrow will not rain! Walking almost perfectly most of the time!!! Finished with drops for cataracts!!! I feel freer! Roasted 3 cauliflower today and put cooked black beans in freezer/frig for current and future use. Managed to plant a painted fern today - finally! Just that took all the planting energy for today. Potted 3 geraniums found in the trash. Will take them to the horticultural society mtng next week to see if anyone wants them. Also parsley seeds and some others, and the little locust trees that I started from seed. Geraniums now in house. Still a few strawberries but heavy frosts on Sun and Mon... Bits of progress being made in house.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: MickyMan
Date: 15 Oct 17 - 11:06 AM

I have seen this thread over the years, but my eyes simply glaze over when I try to read it enough to understand its intension and history.
    Anyway, I saw this internet story on Swedish Death Decluttering.   It hit me that I should share it here .....https://www.treehugger.com/cleaning-organizing/swedish-death-cleaning-new-decluttering-trend.html.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 17 - 12:21 PM

MickeyMan, you have to go back to our late Mudcat moderator Katlaughing to find the origins of these declutter and fitness threads. Reading in one swoop might not be great literature, but it is a place where participants and a fair number of lurkers note milestones, share tips, offer encouragement. It was one of these threads where we learned of Lilyfester's cancer diagnosis that spun off into a life-affirming account of her surgeries, chemo, and radiation, adoption of a child, and life of her family as she grew and shared and thrived.

Your sharing of the Swedish Death cleaning has an echo in a private discussion group where it was shared last week, and where we recognized this process, to a large part, is what we have without a name to it been doing here.

The threads were monthly for a while, then quarterly, now it's a yearly amble through our attics, basements, pantries, home repairs, moves, downsizing, and more. Mostly we keep moving them back up to the top of the page, and every so often someone we've never heard from before drops in to tell us how they started reading and got an idea to make changes for themselves. Often those declarations are detailed and complete, the whole project achieved in a few months, accomplished, and now they're sharing in one succinct report. So whether people are regularly checking in or taking inspiration and moving on to other activities, it's all part of a process of getting rid of stuff.

For some of us, the choice to simply discard or replace with smaller and more efficient isn't easy and the value of items needs to be realized through various forms of sale or donation, each move has to be strategic. In the past I donated items and took a tax break for the value, but now mostly I sell a lot of estate items on eBay. I research them, consider how someone in the family must have used or collected, and then, I let it go. I am not a museum, but I didn't know many of these family members whose objects I inherited from a couple of great aunts I met when I was old enough to set out and travel on my own to meet them. My journey has been one of learning, sharing, and letting go. There are people who collect many of the things of which I own only one; things I don't want to start collecting. And after having administered my packrat father's estate and considered my mother's vast sea of books and stuff and leaving most of it in place, I don't want to burden my children with things of no interest to them. If it what I learn is interesting but I can part with it, I am doing so now by choice.

Thanks for the link.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 15 Oct 17 - 10:16 PM

Thanks, MickyMan, good piece. I remember my dad and some other relatives did this. It seems most of our lives we are in 'accumulation' mode, but at some point one needs to get into a 'divesting' or 'distributing' phase.

The best cases are when you can pass something on to a younger relative or friend or neighbor who honestly admires or is interested in the thing, and relate the background pedigree or special story behind it.

And then have no illusions about the rest; just get rid of, as the article says, the meaningless stuff.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Oct 17 - 09:53 AM

Death cleaning. Yup, I've been there for years. I'm still there.

First, clearing the big family home after my mother died, so my dad could move to a much smaller and more manageable house. That took the better part of a year, including two summer months of full-time work before the sale.

Then, dealing with the aftermath of Dad's sudden and untimely death; he had recently moved house and half his stuff was still in heaps, and his papers in particular were a hoorah's nest, mostly filed under M for Miscellaneous. That took years, for it involved accepting that my brothers and I had to stop living as extensions of our parents' establishment and define our own needs and wants without listening to that ghostly voice crying, "But I gave you that!" or "But that was Uncle Alfred's!"

In fact, vestiges of the previous generations are still cluttering our quarters. We finally finished unpacking our books -- 55 two-cubic-foot cartons of them -- and yet again I found a corner for the wreckage of four Victorian copies of The Book of Common Prayer, once the property of my father's uncles and aunts, and the tiniest possible edition of the New Testament in French, so worn that the Book of Matthew is practically unidentifiable. Just what does one do with a holy book that is no longer usable as a book? Susan WYSIWYG, please offer some advice!

I am also the custodian of a quarto-sized leather-bound Bible that was a wedding gift to my father's great-great grandmother in 1794. I had it restored and rebound about 20 years ago, and it looks good for another two centuries if adequately cared for. It has a special spot on the top shelf of a bookcase with glass doors.

The unpacking of books immediately led to a major sorting and identifying of volumes that must find new homes. In particular, I have decided to let go of about four cubic feet of printed music, most of it classical repertoire that is either stuff I used to sing but is now beyond my asthmatic abilities, or was passed on to me by other singers in the hope that I would use it and I never did. Anyone out there interested in a complete set of Dvorak's Biblical Songs in the original Czech?

Stratford is an arty kind of place, and I just might meet a younger singer who would like her own library of music to pick and choose from. If not, there's always Kijiji.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 16 Oct 17 - 10:24 AM

Music like that, depending on how old, is making its way into university collections. It is scanned in and in some instances the first few bars are run through a recognition program to offer a tinny file letting you know what the tune sounds like. Finding the university or special collections that wants it, that's the difficult part. If the prints are too new, even of older works, then the copyright issues kick in (as you no doubt know).

Collectors of ephemera love the old sheet music, especially with more elaborate covers and even better if it was printed in four-colors (offset). Look at eBay, and you might try searching some of the titles through Bookfinder or ABE books - they deal with printed matter beyond just books.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 16 Oct 17 - 06:26 PM

Vashta thank you for the old sheet music information. I was not sure what to do with sheet music of Scott Joplin or even the original Dixie by Boston minstrels. 'God save Benjamin Harrison from every harm' I did notice in the Smithsonian but the tune was meh

Some other stuff is highly racist ":^/

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Oct 17 - 08:00 PM


Subject:?RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From:?wysiwyg?-?PM?
Date:?10 Oct 17 - 09:53 AM?

Funny that I'm of Swedish heritage, and didn't know that the name for what I've been doing is Swedish Death Cleaning:

https://www.treehugger.com/cleaning-organizing/swedish-death-cleaning-new-decluttering-trend.html

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Oct 17 - 11:19 PM

Even the racist stuff - let an archivist take a look at it. It represents a period, a vile period, but it may be important.

I'm working on clearing the freezer slowly. It's cooling off enough now to feel like cooking season. A sewing project is spread out on the dining room table, but even if I set up the sewing machine and a small television in that work space, it won't be so much that I can't easily clear it if we have company over and need the space. That has been a problem in the past. I have cleared out extra stuff that used to pile up there. Some years ago I brought home a 1940's dresser from the swap area of my nearest recycle center, and I used the mirror back (no glass remained) to enclose the back of the knee hole, I put a good birch plywood base in, and using the rest of that good plywood made cupboard doors and installed articulated hinges. I used iron-on oak veneer to trim the rough edges. A lot of the table cloths and napkins and things that I've wanted to use but were packed away in a trunk are in that sideboard now. Before putting it into service I painted it with high gloss black enamel, put a glass top, found some elegant brass pulls for the drawers and matching door handles, and brought a lot of family treasures back into circulation. I enjoy the story of the transformation of that dresser. Whether my children will want it later or not, I enjoyed that project, but it is good looking so one of them might want it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 19 Oct 17 - 02:45 PM

Nine months in I'm still making myself do the Bullet Journal, and though I don't put in as much as I once used to in my one page per a day book calendar, I'm finding it useful in remembering things I planned to do, or adding them to future tasks when the weather permits, etc.

Many of the things in that journal are home improvement and declutter projects. It's also good to look back to see what has actually been accomplished.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Oct 17 - 04:42 PM

We now have a sofa in the sitting room, just in time for the first visit of Himself's elder sisters and their husbands, who intend to lunch with us tomorrow at half past one. Boy, howdy.

This morning, the moving company sent a nice man with an even nicer van to pick up the great stacks of flattened cartons that were cluttering up the garage, and now we actually have room to park one of our two cars in there. The other has to wait for the kitchen project to be finished, as its half of the garage is encumbered with 5-cubic foot china barrel boxes.

We have a date for the first tactical bound of Op Kitchen, the laying of a hardwood floor in the dining room. We cross the start line at 0900 on 1 November. Okay, then.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 17 - 10:33 AM

A friend and coworker, depressed at the prospect of an evening in an almost totally empty house, came over for dinner and to watch his favorite PBS news programs last night. Since he wanted to follow my car to my house, I drove over to his house after work so he could take a look to confirm this was the current status. The insurance company is covering the replacement of the floors in his house after a water leak of long duration warped the wood floors something awful. The movers had to empty the largest items and they finish moving large stuff on Monday (bed, fridge, piano, basically are all that are left), then the magic will happen. Right now, because of those floors, the house looks like something abandoned for years to the weather; once the new gleaming floors are in this house will be a little gem. The landscaping is marvelous, he's a master gardener with an amazing eye and imagination. This artist (mfa) will be able to restage his house once the floors are in, and he plans to (here it comes) "declutter big time." There is so much art, are so many interesting objects, that it has a sort of Victorian state of clutter. He's going to go for the "less is more" approach.

So with him coming to dinner I then looked at my house through the eyes of my artist friend as he walked in the door. I have more space, I don't have wood floors (alas), though I do have a foundation that needs attention. But this house has good bones, it has some gorgeous woodwork, and excellent prospects - something to keep in mind as I continue to declutter. My gardener's eye also has a vision, aimed more at a stroll through a lovely park than his trip down Alice's hole into Wonderland, and it is enacted through xeriscape plantings (low water). He recognized my plants and it's nice to have a fellow gardener enjoy the result of years of work.

Charmion, your new floors will give your vision for your house a huge boost, and I look forward to a few facebook views of the before and after.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Oct 17 - 12:47 PM

Lovely heavy rainfall last night, clear and sunny today. Must go for a walk and see how many pecans were knocked out of neighborhood trees. Tis the season.

EBay removed one of my listings, a product I would never use myself but know there are practitioners. It's something I found on deep discount at the discount grocery I visit. After running for weeks, eBay noticed it and removed it, so I looked up the product name and see that the other listings still in place call it by the product name but don't discuss any of the squishy popular but not medical cautions about the product. I'll leave this vague, I don't want the post to turn up in a search about the product. I have relisted with just the name, fewer photos, and the price. Once these are gone they will not be replaced to sell any more. Mostly I sell estate items and small electronics I find at thrift stores that I know how to market. The occasional foray in to other stuff can offer challenges.

I haven't decorated for Halloween in recent years but I have a couple of small pumpkins, one ceramic, one metal, that are out for now. I don't want to toss all seasonal decorative items (I had a lot more around when the kids were little) but if I do have them, I should use them. I've reduced the xmas stuff a lot, though I need to label boxes better, I still have to go through several boxes looking for particular items. I've started sending some of the kids' favorite ornaments to them one or two at a time each year.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Oct 17 - 10:12 PM

Ohio:

Today, with helper Tyler, the clutter from several departed housemates (and the family who sold us this house) is gone, and OUR stuff is up in the rafters, hanging on walls, and organized by corner, with room to play with Newbie or park a car in there when I come back in January. We left a clear path to the small electric snowblower here, as well as the snow shovel. More than half of the cubic yardage was empty boxes stacked on and around everything else. Those are all broken down now, and wrapped in plastic mattress bags for transit to PA to fill them UP. In PA they will be stowed up in the attic where such boxes are warehoused.

The hardware department can now move from my kitchen to the waiting shelves, yaaaayyyy!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Oct 17 - 01:33 PM

All our books are out of the boxes and shelved -- not necessarily in their permanent spots, but at least available and accessible! I am so happy, not least because there's room for all of them. In fact, we actually have room for more (God forbid).

Painting is not happening after all; the painters overbooked themselves and dumped us. That's okay with me, as I have done nothing about acquiring curtains for the windows that are currently covered with ill-fitting Venetian blinds that are almost, but not quite, the last word in ugly. I hope to start work on that this afternoon.

The flooring crew returns on 1 November to remove the slippery white ceramic tile from the dining-room floor and replace it with hardwood. I can't think why anyone would put that stuff on a floor at all, let alone a space where wet stuff happens, but there it is; I'm sure it was one reason for the availability of this house when every other half-decent dwelling for sale in Stratford this spring had a line-up of bidders. Unfortunately, the kitchen and foyer floors have the same white ceramic tile, but replacing it will have to wait for the tumult and shouting of the kitchen renovation have died down, the bills are paid, and our chequing account has recovered from the shock.

But today, I'm just grooving on the neatness of my study.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Oct 17 - 11:30 PM

Slippery, never, but I live in a flood plain, pay flood insurance, so it makes sense to have flooring that is least damaged by water, should the worst happen. In all of the years this house has never flooded, but next door has had water a couple of times (they're a few inches lower.) Too bad the shifting foundation is sending cracks radiating throughout said tiles.

A number of my eBay listings have watchers, but no takers since last week. I've lowered a few prices a little bit, sometimes it seems only to matter if a price is XX.49 versus XX.99 or XX.00.

Congratulations on clearing the kitchen, Susan. Mine was clear yesterday, but today I brought in a few thrift store bags and there it goes again, stuff will sit there to be gone over, cleaned and polished, then moved into the sunroom/ebay room.

Subject: Garden Staging
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Oct 17 - 05:17 PM

Does anyone else do this?

At the end of the garden season, I mock up all the ideas I have for spring, and take 'staging' pix to aid my planning for the next year. (I started with staging pix when I converted the MudDorm to a rentable room.) I can usually take all my shots with just one flat and one potted plant, which I give to neighbors when I depart for PA.

I find it really motivating (especially due to not living in the Ohio house year round), to have an approximation of what I'll need to do/buy (and not overbuy).

Here's what I gave myself as eye candy this year so far:

The bold Dragon's Breath a neighbor recommended is still going strong in a granny cart garden, which is ALMOST too heavy to move (despite its styrofoam core and perlite in the soil). The petunias surrounding the dragon never quite recovered from the hired help's neglect during an early fall hot/dry spell, which also kilt the several trailing vinca I'd bought.

I did not have time in August to puncture the plastic liner to insert annuals into the cart's sides and front, but I hoped my plan would work.... I dreamed of that planted cart...

So, last week I splurged on one flat of clearance pansies, which do give some idea how this may look, when I arrive in May with annuals and herbs started from seed in PA. The plastic lining the cart is 2 layers of construction-weight plastic, and the soil is not leaking out from the pockets I slit into the plastic.


I'm also very pleased with the look of an old, enameled iron woodstove I mock-planted; in those pix I can see how much/what kind of plant material to prepare for horizontal grow-bags which will nestle into the open oven and warming section on top, with pots all across the top of the stove. Even on a cloudy day that white enamel pops!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Oct 17 - 11:50 PM

I don't plant many annual flowers, but I have lots of xeriscape trees and shrubs that flower off and on all through the growing season. My garden is a working garden, herbs and food. I plant pretty much the same core of plants every year, and try a few new ones if I have time and space. The PMR limited my range of activity and motion last fall and through the winter well into the spring. Once it was being treated I got out and started gardening, slowly (turns out the neighbors noticed my lack of a garden and several asked if I was okay.) I have a core area of tomatoes and eggplants, the sweet potatoes harvested, and the red lasota potatoes I missed harvesting last spring stuck around and are growing tops again now. So maybe next spring I'll have potatoes. There are also volunteer herbs (the oregano, rosemary, thyme, and bay are year round, and every year the basil comes up in the spring and the cilantro comes back in the fall.) The garlic comes back from corms left behind in the spring.

Now that I have this in motion I step in at the appropriate times and harvest stuff.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Oct 17 - 09:50 AM

I would love to live in a climate where basil seeds itself and comes up the next year on its own! But, of course, that would mean putting up with sweltering summers ... Hmmm. Perhaps growing it in a pot is not such a hassle after all.

The kitchen contractor came to visit yesterday with his favourite electrician and his lead carpenter. By the time they left, I had decided to abolish the dining-room light fixture altogether in favour of a row of pot lights all across the back of the house, from the loo past the pantry and the back door, through the kitchen, and across the dining room. To accomplish this task, the ever-so-60s swirled plaster ceiling in the dining room will vanish behind a layer of plain old drywall that will be painted plain old white. Nobody with any brains does drywall work on a ceiling over a brand-new hardwood floor, so the floor installation must be postponed. Why does I feel as if I'm planning Operation Overlord? Perhaps because this project has almost as many moving parts.

Himself left town for the week to hang out with another retired legal officer transformed into a small-town barrister, and then to attend the annual Criminal Law Association in Toronto. The weather has turned sharply colder and the leaves are tumbling off the trees by the heap, but I'm just going to let them lie there until he gets back. The compost-turning doohickey he ordered from Lee Valley Tools arrived yesterday, and I think he's looking forward to concocting the optimum mix of grass clippings, leaves and kitchen fall-out. Just as well; yard work is not my favourite way to end up with an ache in my lower back. Besides, the ironing basket is an ever-renewing resource for which I seem to be responsible. I'm cool with that; ironing doesn't involve rain down the back of my neck or cold hands.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Oct 17 - 12:06 AM

Beaver:

Amazing warm fall weather with glorious days contributed to many hours or reading outside on the swing, and watching the colours change and the shimmering poplar and birch leaves. I have had a tremendous lack of energy for no apparent reason. Ankle still acts unhappy if I do "too much" so I take many days off.

However, all the pottery is now on display in the new screen house - our fav room! Company most of the weekend enjoyed it as well and one insisted on purchasing 3 bowls. R was in residence and moved the antique sewing machine out of the BR and up to the library where it looks great; the BR is greatly decluttered as the book shelf, now in that space, holds things which had no homes! WOW!

I managed to plant some bulbs in the memorial garden (Astri's garden) and hope the squirrels do not eat them all. I had to add a wheelbarrow of soil to it first. I suppose those tasks contributed to the, mild but noticeable, pain in ankle. Outdoor chores are mostly done.

R removing his books to library has provided space for some of my books which I can bring from Quebec this next trip. Looking around: Do I really need a shelf of newspapers from the last few months? R likes to save them but I will quietly use them for fire starter - one more small book shelf! I count up about 15 lineal feet of shelf space == not much! I may need to ruthlessly discard.... Once the ladder to sleeping loft is in place, there may be some room for more.

Charmion: Congrats on books shelved and boxes rid of! I did note in recent bill/insert from Hydro One that pot lights are discouraged. I think, being recessed, they give less light for the money.

Off to Quebec tomorrow for a week, though I, more and more, hate leaving home. It is much nicer here: more scenic, cleaner air, more friends and things to do. - in English.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Oct 17 - 09:53 PM

I've pulled drinking glasses I used for the kids out of the cupboard - I'm replacing them with some I like better, much easier to clean (smooth instead of rippled sides), just as easy to pick up and have a good grip. I've looked for more plates of the style I've started collecting and once I have enough the chipped Corelle will also go the way of the glasses.

There will be more replacements around the house, and likely there will be fewer things going back after old items come out.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Oct 17 - 10:25 AM

I think we dodged the frost bullet last night; I'll take a look at the eggplant foliage later in the morning for the best proof (or not) of frost. But the time is near to clear out the greenhouse and move in a few winter residents. I turned both heat pumps to "heat" this morning to burn off any dust that accumulated. Chances are that for a while I'll leave one on heat so it comes on at night if needed, and one on cool so it comes on during the day if needed.

Making another push on the eBay stuff, expanding the variety of items listed. I've organized the sun room in the last few weeks, I can see what is available for listing now.

As part of that organization I cleared out a bin in the sun room by giving the rest of the large bag of bird seed to my across-the-street neighbor. I may donate one of my shepherd's crooks and feeders to him because his next door neighbor's cat spends time in his yard. Doubtless she stalks birds and mice - she's my regular garden visitor watching for my mice.

A project that has waited months needs to finally be performed this winter, reassembling my wheelbarrow with the new handles I bought last winter or spring.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Oct 17 - 03:58 PM

Ohio:

The season's first snow here landed on my neighbor's enormous tropical plant so I took a picture before it melted away but it's suddenly way colder here.

Tyler helped finish modifying my car seats in anticipation of Wednesday's drive back to PA. The bucket shape puts my knees at exactly the worst angle. It was so nice to be able to pull the car into the garage and out of the cold wind!

Subject: Soap scum
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Oct 17 - 04:04 PM

.... the bucket shape was made flatter with compressed foam products of varying densities.

SOAP SCUM EXPERIMENT RESULTS ARE IN!!! (A past thread topic)-- in addition to acidification of soaps and shampoos, a pre-shower spray of build-up areas PREVENTS build-up. Accidental discovey-- clear shower curtain ruined by housemate with mineral depis its, so tried pre-spray on replacement clear shower curtain and VIOLA! Pre-spray. Shower. Rinse pre-sprayed area with water. Done@

~S~

Subject: The typical Ohio day
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Oct 17 - 04:31 PM

Ohio:

Very interesting meditations this week, such as about the HOWs of living here alone, and making my January re-entry easier and facilitating a quicker payoff in the usual increased activity level: no one cares if I leave the bedrooms messy, with their various non'sleeping uses' projects half done. Dnd doing so would actually re-orient me to the hard-won learnings about how to be alone and not helpless here. So I've decided just to welcome myself back with a clean and straightened up living room/kitchen/garage!

A typical day here:

Early Rachelcast wakies re Mueller's 1st charges. Back to bed til 9am+. Awoke knowing where garage security cam goes.

Potential Mueller-firing rapid-response rallies signed up for and publicized. Great post by friend re racism saved.

Cold pizza brekky after unstiffening house pickups, got dressed for Tyler carseat fix at 1pm (w items found in linen closet during last night's movie), then tea. Fleece throws re-allocated.

Hooked up Tyler w more vouches w police that he is The Guy We Psy to Look Through Our Windows, via adjoining neighbors. Allocated him a weed sprayer to store in outdoor resin 'garage' (trash can keeper).

Ministries at FB discerned for Internet svc provider, in case of data cost discussion.

Driver car seat modified. Car cleaned out. Garden helper items stowed in kennel area. Gate reclosed w rubber straps for mowing service. Bugout sked/help planned. Driveway trash policed. Garage trash to bin.

Big ticket item: Groceries n 3 cheap DVD's for the last few days here, the drive, and restockin the pantry for cold weather return. Halloween candy bought (NOT child-slavery-sourced chocolate!!!).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Oct 17 - 10:38 AM

Yesterday morning I pulled the remaining tomatoes and eggplants from the now frost-burned plants. Time to pull all of the foliage and tote it back to the compost. The frost singed the tops of the potatoes that are coming up on their own; usually I would plant them in January but they came up because I didn't pick last year. Last year I had some tiny little leftover buds from the previous year's garden and they started growing but never really got much of a crop going, then they disappeared under a volunteer tomato and sweet potatoes. Now the tomatoes and sweet potatoes have been dug and the soil is clear for the lasota potatoes.

Identifying items to offer via a "Buy Nothing" facebook group in this area. I heard about and found the closest group (they're in the next town east of here). What I have to figure out is how to occasionally drop off items without making an extra trip (no point in donating small things if you're burning a lot of gas and time to do it.) I have a small loop to drive this morning, dropping off recycling, picking up a gift for a friend, and getting free mulch for my garden. Even with that, this group is outside that logical range. I'll have to plan a drop off on my way home from work for this to make sense. I'm thinking of making a centrally located Goodwill my point of exchange.

Making another batch of my favorite eggplant casserole this evening to feed myself this week. Cooking the last of the garden crop rather than cramming any more in the freezer.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Nov 17 - 11:24 AM

Back in the early years of this new century Katlaughing (who originated all of these declutter/exercise threads) started working on a book, and it became Wind Words of Wyoming. She started it because of the NaNoWriMo challenge, November as a month in which to write an entire novel. A number of mudcatters picked up the challenge, but she actually finished the book.

I don't know that I'll finish a book, but I have decided to use this month to block out a book I've been thinking about for years. Ala Roald Dahl or Louise Erdrich, with multiple related short stories, different narrators, that combine to tell the whole.

The original sales page Katlaughing set up is still there, though I don't know if the purchasing links work.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Nov 17 - 12:55 PM

A writing challenge by katlaughing is a welcome revival. It will pay to advertise. In those early years I knew nothing about mudcat but I knew I liked catlaughing's posts.   by any spelling she was swell
I still know less about mudcat than I would wish but am surprised when I go exploring.

I am forced to declutter with a commitment to replace all our windows.
This time it is actually getting done. With the floors being done afterwards, a second complete decluttering will be forced.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Nov 17 - 05:01 PM

I've looked through a box of owner's manuals to find instructions for a small item to list on eBay; in the process I've found a handful of manuals for items I no longer own.

As a personal hobby, I enjoy looking through the sites like http://www.manualsonline.com/ and if I have one that isn't listed, I scan and add it. This helps other people like me who have items they want to sell find out information and print it up to include in the shipping box. Or people like me who buy used appliances and want to know how they work, etc. So that stack of manuals will be slowly scanned and entered into the site then tossed into the recycle bin. (You used to be able to find such manuals on eBay, but people always charged too much for them, and this online sharing of manuals is a much better way of operating.)

I didn't find the booklet I was looking for, but I found them for a couple of other things that are around here that should also go on eBay, so those are in a different stack.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Nov 17 - 06:34 PM

That is no more odd than collecting molds spores mushrooms slimes and fungi. Manuals even have an air of safety. You could say RTFM with ipunity.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Nov 17 - 10:46 AM

Working on a sewing project I realized there might be a small device that would help make my own bias tape (after cutting the correct width, feed it through, iron it as it comes out, it's ready to go). A reviewer for one of these kits on Amazon said "you should use a bias foot instead," and a light went off. I dug around and found the lovely shiny tubular bias foot in the box of attachments for my antique sewing machine. That still works just fine. Not only frugal, but it will probably look better when it's finished.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Nov 17 - 02:09 PM

PA:

It seemed like SUCH a good idea to bring home all the empty boxes and mattress bags when we cleaned out the OH garage, but OY, my back, and Hardi did all the heavy lifting!?

But the upstairs rooms full of bookses now haz empty boxes of a good sort/tote size to begin the purge.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Nov 17 - 07:28 PM

Plumbing challenge today - the friend who will replace the sewer line came to see how deep the line is, and pierced the water line by accident, so spent a couple of hours back and forth to fix that. I'm going to have to prepare ahead, have plenty of water handy, and clear a path through the front yard because this will involve an excavator. I pulled up some lilies and daffodil bulbs this afternoon, and put a few in another bed I was working on. I pulled up some steel edging in one area and put some down new in another. This shifts my plans for the next couple of weeks, I didn't know a machine that large would be involved.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Nov 17 - 09:36 AM

For those regular and lurker readers who have mentioned pain (who hasn't, at this point) here's an article that might be helpful. Trying the Feldenkrais Method for Chronic Pain.

The Feldenkrais method is one of several increasingly popular movement techniques, similar to the Alexander technique, that attempt to better integrate the connections between mind and body. By becoming aware of how one?s body interacts with its surroundings and learning how to behave in less stressful ways, it becomes possible to relinquish habitual movement patterns that cause or contribute to chronic pain.

It was developed by "Moshe Feldenkrais, an Israeli physicist, mechanical engineer and expert in martial arts, after a knee injury threatened to leave him unable to walk. Relying on his expert knowledge of gravity and the mechanics of motion, he developed exercises to help teach the body easier, more efficient ways to move."

A bit further down in the article:

Mr. Wyszynski explained that he starts by observing how patients are using their skeletons ? how they sit, stand and walk in ways that may cause or contribute to their pathology, be it spinal disc disease, arthritis, shoulder pain or damaged knee joints. In accordance with Dr. Feldenkrais?s astute observation, ?If you don?t know what you are doing, you can?t do what you want,? patients are then given a clear sensory experience of how their posture and behavior contribute to their pain and physical limitations.

For example, some people may use excessive force, clench their teeth, hold their breath or rush, causing undue muscle tension and skeletal stress. Years ago, I realized that my frequent headaches resulted from an unconscious habit of clenching my jaw when I concentrated intently on a task like sewing or cooking. Feldenkrais teachers do not give formulas for a proper way of behaving; rather, they rely on their patients? ability to self-discover and self-correct.

Even if you don't go to one of these clinics, I think there will be information that helps each of us be more mindful about clenched teeth, hunched shoulders, funky walks, etc. It comes back to good posture:

As a mechanical engineer and physicist, Dr. Feldenkrais understood that the job of the human skeleton was to accommodate the effects of gravity in order to remain upright. And he wanted people to achieve this in the most efficient way possible.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 05 Nov 17 - 04:18 PM

It's been awhile since I posted and I can't remember if I shared that our cabin sold and we had the closing a little over 2 weeks ago. It was a lovely place for us with lots of good memories but it wasn't needed any longer so it was time for it to go. I have no regrets and am glad to be moving forward.

We are going to do some home improvements with the extra money including the addition of 2 windows to our living room. There is one corner that is so dark and this will lighten the room considerable to a view overlooking a few mountain ridges without another house, car, barn or person in sight. Bonus? It will allow us to add an air conditioner in the summer. Someone recently gave us their freestanding room AC so it won't even block the view!   We also have plans of adding a barn style sliding door across one of the pantries in the kitchen that currently has a curtain over the opening. Given the layout of that room, a normal door simply won't work....I love the look of the sliding doors so that's all good with me! New flooring will be going down in the bathroom and in the spring, a new front porch will be going up. The back deck is coming off to be made shorter but wider with a roof as currently it is too hot to sit out there without some kind of coverage. So many projects and so little time....and it seems that when we do have time, we are both just wiped out.

I've been sick all weekend....coughing, sore throat, worn out tired. Monday is looking down her pretty nose at me and I'm hoping I'm ready as I've got a busy week ahead.

As far as decluttering, I have a few bags in my car to be dropped off at the Salvation Army this week. Mostly clothing that Jeremiah has outgrown and shoes that I'm not wearing any longer that are in good shape.

It's cold and dreary here today so I am trying out a new recipe for Loaded Baked Potato Soup in the crock pot. It smells wonderful and has about 2 hours to go. I'm having mixed feelings about it though as I know with this cold, I probably should stay away from dairy as best I can....so maybe it will be my lunch tomorrow. We shall see.

Pete is napping, Jeremiah is practicing his guitar and I've been working on my Ta-Da List for the work week. I just got notice that a weekly meeting I am to attend has been cancelled which opens up an additional 3 hours in my schedule, Excellent! :) In addition, it's a 4 day work week for both myself and Jeremiah. Maybe we'll do some joint decluttering and plow through all the toys he no longer plays with. :)

Happy November Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Nov 17 - 08:02 PM

I love the plans you describe making to the house. Those windows and the view in particular. Covered porches are always inviting - I hope you'll post before and after photos on your facebook page. Am I accurate in guessing that Pete will do a lot of the construction?

I just got a call from my next door neighbor, and I headed over with a straight-sided plastic trash can and my longest kitchen tongs to catch and release a snake in her living room. She's moving soon; I'll miss our wildlife adventures. I've caught and released several tarantulas over the years, this is our first snake! (A western rat snake, small and non-venomous, but with an attitude! It kept shaking it's tail and feigning strikes from down in the bottom of the trash can. My neighbor was quite impressed but I was laughing at it's antics.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 09:51 AM

The only wildlife I've seen in this house belongs to the insect kingdom, thank God. I'm not sure how the cats would react to a western rat snake, but my money's on violence with associated mayhem.

Our kitchen renovation begins tomorrow, so this afternoon will be dedicated to setting up a tactical operations centre in the basement TV room-cum-library. The six-foot folding table from the garage will go in front of British Empire history, and I guess we just stack it with everything that will fit or can be made to fit on it or under it. To accommodate dishes, one of the dining room cabinets will migrate downstairs; I'm not yet sure how, but we're getting really quite good at moving furniture around this house. Finally, the espresso machine, the microwave and the toaster oven must also find space, as must the dish-drainer. Dishwashing will be done in the laundry room, with a hospital basin for a dishpan and the dish-drainer on top of the dryer.

The refrigerator is moving to the garage, where it will stay. A new fridge will move into the kitchen, and the old one, with its damaged bins that fall out on your toes, will become a beer fridge that also grudgingly accommodates such items as mineral water and foods in the process of marinating. Himself has always wanted a beer fridge.

The outlook for November is messy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 06:33 PM

PA

Well, the book purge is underway. I'm just whipping thru decisions at this point, with three receiving boxes: Donate, Gift to a known individual, Maybe. My back can only take a few minutes at a time so I did just a tad past comfort today, to build stamina; put on NPR and took Newbie upstairs for company, and netted one boxful to donate, another 2/3 filled to donate, and one box started for a ministry colleague.

I found 3 items that go to the Liberation Library in Ohio and added them to the open Ohio box. I freed up 3 small boxes for the next Donate boxes and knocked off. Because it came at the end of a very active chore morning, when I sat to let my back settle I promptly fell asleep. Good thing the dog woke me up to let her out!

My present goal is one small box each day M - Th, and to send them all to the most handicap (walker) accessible branch library as Hardi is able to load them up.

The Maybe box-- I'll have to go thru w Hardi as he's available. Eventually I'll be down to all Maybe's, and then I'll compare Ohio shelf space to books-- and make the remaining hard decisions. I'm just trusting it will make sense then, what to keep.

The 40' of shelf space presently occupied by songbooks will be a separate purge, later. Whatever we keep will probably be shelved in the Ohio garage because our garage band of neighborhood kids will want to use them. A nearby folkie group with a monthly song circle/jam will be offered the rest. I have one of value, which is also signed by Kytrad, that I'll probably donate to Mudcat for auction.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Nov 17 - 02:57 PM

PA

Book purge continued. Partially packed box filled and taped. Second small box filled/taped. A third of the Maybe's allocated to Gift and that recipient-labeled box more than half full. A few more items for other Giftee allocated to her box.

All this aggravated an injured shoulder, damn!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Nov 17 - 04:39 PM

The carpenter started work in our kitchen today, and immediately found an unanticipated problem: something in the bulkhead over the fridge (and under the second-best bathroom) is leaking now, and -- judging from the damage to the plasterboard and the newly exposed pipes -- has been leaking for a long, long time. Cue the plumber, who will visit us tomorrow morning bright and early.

Kitchen, dining room and sitting room operations have been transferred to the basement TV room, where the toaster oven, microwave and "kitchen dishes" are jammed in among the books and storage shelving, and the entire contents of the pantry is stashed under a six-foot folding table in wine boxes and plastic milk crates. The refrigerator is now in the garage, and the sitting room is a jumble of furniture shoved out of the dining room. For the next three weeks, we will be eating off our knees in front of the TV and washing dishes in the laundry room.

Menus will tend toward cereal, sandwiches, and anything nukable that looks half-way nourishing. We bought an electric kettle at Canadian Tire to ensure a steady supply of tea, and the espresso machine now sits on top of a low bookcase.

The cats are not happy. Come to think of it, neither am I, but I have high hopes for neatness and efficiency in December.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 17 - 08:27 AM

Full-blown mayhem is under way in the kitchen, where Tony the carpenter is tearing out a doorframe and its associated section of wall in preparation for the removal of the shower stall that currently occupies the space that will soon become a pantry. Cat 1, Watson, was last seen on the futon in the basement; he is now almost certainly under it. Cat 2, Isobel, is probably behind the dryer and won't be seen again until Tony has packed up and gone for the day.

I wish there was room back there for me, too. If there's one noise I hate in this world, it's power tools, closely followed by the shriek of hardware being pulled out of wood.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 08 Nov 17 - 01:53 PM

Well, shoot, if I'd known you were reduced to such spartan food preparation circumstances I'd have picked up that nice bright orange 1970s electric saucepan I saw at the Goodwill this morning. Mailing it might have gotten to you just before the work is finished. :)

I have one I inherited from a friend and it comes out on special occasions - when all of the burners are in use on the stove or when we have something that needs cooking and a rectangle is easier to prepare it in than a circular skillet. (I make meat pies called "empanadillas" every year around xmas, and it's perfect for cooking a bunch of those rectangular pies in shallow oil.)

What was the plumber's verdict on the ancient leak? Is it a simple repair and the replacement of some lath and plaster, or is a bathroom remodel suddenly part of the project?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Nov 17 - 06:04 PM

Beaver:

Dirth of energy. Usually "finished" for the day by 1 pm, including when I get up at ten! Or so it seems. Big event was an interesting workshop on "The Land Between", on Saturday; it was an hour away and after, I drive another 2.5 hour to Toronto for Chris Rawlings "Seventy Years of Music"- a terrific event. I had to leave about 10 pm for the 3 hour trip home but enjoyed the music, the few friends of almost 50 years and the couple new ones - 2 new interesting FB friends. That was a super positive! So glad I did it - then rested totally for a couple days!

So, each day I manage to muddle through a few tasks - still unloading the car from last trip and it will be soon time to leave again. It took me four days to manage to complete an airbnb booking for my granddaughter and her friend - arriving in Montreal on 16th. I was going to try to get the house in order but too daunting, and then R informed he was bitten by a rat - in bed! Forget it! NOT my pregnant GD! I found a place 5 blocks away on the same street! But the torture of getting it completed was traumatic.

So I bring in wood, eat too much, gained weight back and I care but ... Fed up. the recently done eye has been hurting to the whimpering level. Went to Dr yesterday and they are "healing nicely". I really was getting scared. Still bothers me but less. The good news was seeing well enough to drive to Toronto and back at night! Even saw a deer by the road from a good enough distance to stop and tell it to go home! It did.

Today: the complication was sorting out the logistics of an emission test on 12 year old car. I called for an appointment; Man asked if the dash lights were on (the stupid yellow lights that have been on for over a year and no one knows how to get rid of them). I told him they were both on and he made me an appointment. I went to it today and was told the car would fail if the lights were on! I used words such as "incompetent" "poorly trained" "gross stupidity" "irresponsible" And the dumb broad kept saying "no no..." I was breathing fire and she was upset that I had the audacity to be annoyed??? How could anyone be that dumb? What if I had driven 20 miles, not unusual up here. Left there and considered the possibilities. I will go back to that dealer in QC on 21st to get lights fixed and then to someone in Ontario for emission check. Too bad I did not know about this emissions test when I had the work done in Quebec a few weeks ago.... Life is fraught with hazard! I consider those lights a scam; the times someone did manage to check them and turn them out it was of no consequence. Most of the service stations do not even know how to turn them off. It requires a computer and $50, even it there is nothing wrong!

7F for tonight!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Nov 17 - 07:56 PM

Yesterday the plumber found and repaired the pipe that was leaking into the wall beside the refrigerator, and installed a new seal on the toilet in the second-best bathroom, which is right over the kitchen. Today the electricians came to sort out the wiring, a task that took them into every space in the house as they established precisely which fixtures were on which circuits; over the years, some very dodgy work has been done in this house. Meanwhile, Tony the carpenter was making a jeezly great hole in the outside wall over the kitchen window to accommodate the outlet duct from the exhaust hood that will be installed over the new range. Thank God, it didn't start to rain until late afternoon.

Meanwhile, I went to the gym for a comprehensive cardio workout and ironed a basketful of shirts, including three of the wing-collar jobs Himself wears in court.

Tomorrow will bring the return of the electricians and perhaps the gas-fitter and his apprentice, who should have come this afternoon but didn't.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 17 - 12:04 AM

Over the last few weeks I've helped my next-door neighbor assemble boxes to pack in; she's moving to Austin to a retirement apartment near her son. Her house is always the neatest I've ever seen, and most of the things that fill a 2000 square foot house are going into an estate sale the weekend after this. Her new small apartment will not be cluttered.

I was over tonight helping disassemble the video equipment that attaches cable to the television components and leaving the Internet modem and router in place until she leaves. The house phone is now disconnected but she has a cell phone. I'll have her over tomorrow for dinner again, and maybe for coffee on Saturday morning - her son will arrive with a UHaul at midday and help pack up and transport her to Austin. She's tried to leave out enough items so she can make coffee, have a meal, but it would be easier to simply come over here.

I found a couple of things at thrift stores this week to list on eBay, and I have things here already to list. We're to the time of year when people are looking for gifts or will have time to spend online shopping, so I should have them ready to go. This weekend my time will be split between working in the yard and listing items. Getting ready to spend money on the sewer line replacement and hopefully make money on eBay.

I tried a gluten-free pumpkin bread mix this evening - and it was wonderful! I've avoided a lot of baking since I've been avoiding flour, a good move in general since it's a source of calories and carbs. I need to I'll cut this loaf into portions and freeze it to use as dessert. It would be too tempting to eat the whole loaf if I don't put it away soon. I figured out how to scan bar codes into the "My Fitness Pal" app, so can keep track of things like this easily.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Nov 17 - 08:37 AM

It snowed in the night, and Stratford is cold this morning. So is our house, where the outside wall of the kitchen has been stripped back to the studs and sheathing, the better to reveal the various forms of crapitude that have been inflicted on the plumbing and wiring by previous owners.

We blew the circuits last night in our efforts to make supper; who knew that the water heater was on the same circuit as the toaster? Thank God for wireless and Google, which provided a comforting You Tube video on resetting your circuit-breaker switch when it resists resetting.

The electricians are back, so it's time to shut down the computer and flee to the gym.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Nov 17 - 09:31 AM

Thanks for the electric skillet idea, Vashta, but our emergency cave dwelling is full of books that should not be exposed to the splatter and spray generated real cooking -- at least when I'm the cook. If we limit ourselves to what we can nuke in the microwave or bake in the toaster oven, we reduce the risk to everything else in the room.

And the mayhem level during working hours means we pretty well have to eat lunch out, so our diet hardly qualifies as Spartan. This is Stratford, after all, the foodiest town (per capita) in Ontario. Today, I think I'll call in at Mercer Hall for a Japanese rice bowl topped with shredded duck ... !

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Nov 17 - 09:41 AM

PA:

Trying to see thru a pile of confusions (no advice pls), howwwww?????....where?!?.... to choose staging spaces for the room by room purge/donate process involved over the several PA stints between "retirement installments" (aka life in Ohio). My activity level deficit requires that effort but......

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 10 Nov 17 - 10:19 AM

Difficult to offer advice, anyway, with so little concrete information - like which state (other than Confusion) you're actually in right now. Good luck with the decisions. :)

Hadn't thought about grease splatter around books. And I don't suppose you want to cook in whatever bathrooms are unaffected by the construction. Backyard grill?

A friend near Lake Michigan posted photos of the snow that covered her yard when she woke this morning. Over the summer they built a pole barn garage/shop and storage area, and this is just the weather she has waited for to start working on her crafts out there (the space is heated, but not cooled). It reminds me that I need to clear the space in front of my garage work bench and put away the various things piled atop the work bench.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Nov 17 - 04:34 PM

All this book chatter.....must be something in the air. I have been getting rid of books that Jeremiah has outgrown and frankly, I have a small storage building full of books that I collected while I was teaching. They are all boxed by grade level and I'm ready to let them go. Several of my coworkers have children so I am going to unload it all into the conference room for everyone to go through and take what they want. Any leftovers will go in the lobby for clients or to our local library for their biannual book sale. I also have two 6 foot tall bookcases in one of the downstairs hallways that I am sorting through of my own stuff. There are several reference books there for my profession but also homesteading books which Pete will never part with and my own collection of photography books...some of which I am contemplating parting with. I used to have a darkroom in the house where we previously lived and had thought that one day I would have one in this house as well. It's been almost 20 years and that hasn't happened nor do I think it will happen anytime soon. I still love to work in a darkroom, I don't think that will ever change but I also love digital editing. It's different, to be sure, but I still get great enjoyment from this. So...with that said, I am trying to decide how to get rid of my enlarger. It's too big and bulky to sell and I hate to just give it away but there is a professional camera shop not far from where I work and I've been wondering if they take things on consignment....I imagine they do...so I'm going to look into that this week.
    I've been sick for the last week or maybe week and a half...finally went to the doctor on Wednesday and I have bronchitis. I took Wednesday and Thursday off and today was a paid holiday for our company.....so that's 3 days of medications in my body and I am feeling better. I'm not coughing nearly as much and I have my voice again but I get tired out easily....so I'm letting my body dictate what gets done and what will wait....sure does give me a lot of time to think though! I did get the kitchen floor scrubbed today but I think that's about all I'm going to do except for maybe revamping our budget a bit.
    I joined a decluttering group on FB of local women. Today's challenge is to take before and after photos of under the bathroom sink....I will do that today too. For me, that area is just dishtowels....it's a bit disheveled at the moment as that is an area that Jeremiah tends to (folds and puts towels away) so it won't take long to straighten up. Progress is progress and I'll take it.
    I have been slowly chiseling away at my closet. I have decided to get rid of all the clothes that do not currently fit unless it's something I absolutely love. I have held onto things for years simply because our budget was so screaming tight that I wasn't sure I'd ever have money to buy new clothes for myself. That is no longer the case and when and if I ever need a new size, I rather enjoy shopping for new clothes....so.....buh bye to all the old stuff!

I suppose that's it for now. I'm looking forward to the return of some energy (I have a sneaking suspicion, this bronchitis has been around for longer than I care to admit).

Be well everyone!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 17 - 09:08 PM

Those books sound like a treasure trove!

I've continued to thin out household items and electronics for both eBay sales and to donate to Goodwill. Cleaning off my computer desk and other work spaces around the house.

Yesterday I found a tidy little dehydrator at Aldi. I have several 8oz boxes of fresh mushrooms that I'm going to run through it first. The trays are drying now, after being washed before starting.

I've rearranged some of the streaming video stations in my house - I finally realized that I should put the Firestick on the television in the kitchen, then I don't need to worry about having a computer attached to it for anything I want to stream (NetFlix or Amazon Prime). My laptop has been in there for a while. I retired a desktop computer from the kitchen to the guest room this year, I may be able to retire it from the guest room soon. Rather than a computer to stream stuff and play videos, I can use an inexpensive dongle. I organized my cables, power supplies, and peripherals a while ago. I may get a hard drive enclosure or docking station and move the drive from the computer I plan to retire. My thought is that if I have all of my digital programming stored on these drives and a Plexi-like media server then I can play something on any room in the house and as I work between rooms, keep track of programs. Or not. An entertainment system that works around the house. I'm also thinking about taking my retired computer desk (in the guest room with the retired kitchen computer) and putting it in the craft room. The table I use for sewing in the craft room can be flattened (it's one of those portable ones with legs that fold flat inside the framework of the top). I could set my sewing machine on the computer table, and put a lot of other stuff on the various shelves, taking less space but more efficient.

Photos at 11.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 17 - 01:33 PM

My neighbor was over for a cuppa coffee this morning after I helped her close the last few boxes and disconnect the modem and router for transport. Her son will be here soon with the UHaul. I am sorry to see her go, and we will visit if I get down there. Everything left in the house will be sold next weekend. I may go over on Sunday to see what's left; I took a look at the media cabinet and found the design of the side drawers wasn't as efficient as I hoped.

It took a couple of tries to get some of the electronics to work in their new location. Now I need to move the one on the dining area buffet and clear the sewing project off of the table in time for Thanksgiving.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Nov 17 - 01:41 PM

PA

PA

We had a good talk here about moving upheaval; while I think further about staging space, I'm shifting to direct trash purging-- LESS focus on packing (which creates the staging need), and MORE focus on creating space via things LEAVING.

That means a disposal kit to move thru rooms w me: a recycle bin, a Goodwill bin, and paper leaf bags for trash (not plastic). THEN each room will have less in it, and each room can have its own staging area.

There will remain some furniture items in PA when we eventually load up the moving truck; frankly many of them are too worn put to donate to the parish rummage sale. Those ickier items may be trashed or recycled, whereas the still-good items will be offered to the parish as long planned.

Another issue I'm hopeful about is re-thinking my house chairs, and the flow of movement. In Ohio there are long, straight lines for the flow of chores, with a good chair for a short sit at each end and in between. In PA it's not linear, but circular and vertical. That means changing the directionality of my chore flow, and maybe moving one of the 2-piece recliners upstairs. But that's for next week's consideration.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Nov 17 - 10:30 PM

After the Remembrance Day parade, I knuckled down to cleaning the sitting room, which lay under a depressing veil of plaster dust. I wanted to read the paper, dammit, but I couldn't bring myself to walk across the filthy carpet in order to sit on grubby upholstery. So I broke out the vacuum cleaner, the dusters and the mop and got busy.

The back half of the ground floor of the house is now almost completely gutted, with half-rigged wiring draped from the ceiling in several critical places and plug receptacles dangling like evulsed eyeballs. The outside wall of the kitchen has been stripped back to the sheathing and studs, and the kitchen ceiling has been laid open in a 12-inch gap where Tony the carpenter has installed the new exhaust duct.

Himself says it reminds him of bombed-out houses in Bosnia.

The electricians will be back on Monday, and I'm getting nervous about how much they're going to cost by the time their part of the project is finished. In effect, they are rewiring not only three quarters of the ground floor but also significant areas of the basement, the upstairs, and even the garage that used to share circuits with parts of the dining room and kitchen. It's work that will pay off in the long run, but good Lord what a mess they make! Tony rigged sheets of plastic to contain the dust, but it's only about 75 percent effective. When the job is done, I'm going to find a good cleaner ... that is, a cleaner who is at least as good as I am, and a whole lot younger, less arthritic, and more energetic.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 Nov 17 - 05:42 PM

I went through a ridiculous amount of paperwork, condensed a great deal of it and shredded the rest. Whew.

I see that this thread has been mostly about decluttering but since the title still says & Fitness, I'm going to throw this out there....it's time for me to step it up. Pete and I have decided to shake things up for the next month. He has his reasons that are personal to him but for me, I am ready to start the weight loss process again. Prior to the cancer adventure, I had lost 100+ pounds, had all kinds of energy and was rocking the yoga world (at least in my own head..LOL) but then...well, you all know what happened. It has taken me YEARS to regain my energy and my body has stiffened considerably. I have a FitBit and that sometimes is motivating to me. I know how many steps I go on an average day when it's just work and home time without intentionally trying to hit the 10,000 mark. I am going to revisit my yoga studio for a gentle yoga class. There is also a studio near my job that I might revisit but honestly, I prefer to be closer to home after my yoga. I have a sitter lined up for one day a week (ok, two days a week but I'm starting yoga for one day a week) and see how it goes for the next month.

So, there it is. I am committing to focusing on ME and both my nutritional and physical needs for the next month. If it's manageable, we can extend the time.....but for now, the next 30 days are going to be a time of change. :)

Be well.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Nov 17 - 08:18 PM

PA

I just got some excellent notes from a well-listened-to brainstorming session of this morning; what I came up with addresses house, joints, balance, nutrition-- and real life in a clergy household. My partner in that session is a grandma-aged preacher's kid and gardener, who lives now with someone of my aporoximate degree of disability, so she HEARD me without advising me. Yay! No distractions!

The days of the week each already had activities and gained a new activity, many of which are OUT of the house. It's realistic, allowing for body repair via active rest (as distinct from sloth). It's all stuff I like to do, and can adapt with mobility aids on hand.

The notes have already been shared with the best cheerleaders on the planet, to be sure Thyroid Brain Fog doesn't push me back chairwards.

It was hell dealing with all the emotional issues in the way of progress, but since I had excellent support in that department I was able to entrust the solutions to the spontaneous insight process we all possess when support IS adequate.

Another recent new gain is a spiritual director who firmly and gently insists I slow down, PERIOD, twice a day for five minutes-- and that I connect with a better-organized medical practice to address the many health issues whose intersections make all the solutions so darn hard: an end to struggle. Not an end of solving problems; not an end to problems. An end to approaching them via isolated struggle. The group she suggested I explore is in Ohio, so if they're as good as she says that will solve THAT question. Now I need to see if PA doc and OH doc can work together. I think I know how-- via OH consult in January with report to PA doc because until the foreseeable future, I'm halftime in each state.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 12 Nov 17 - 08:42 PM

Thyroid brain fog reminds me of diabetes fatigue.

Three car loads of declutter junk is done with three to go.

Three days to go until a windows install.
Its going to be close.
I just don't have the ambition to ebay obsolete electronics and such.
Its embarrassing but I am just doing a purge.
1/4 of the basement is just canvas and pictures, I'll save that purge till later

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Nov 17 - 10:27 PM

I go in spurts as far as the eBay listings, and when I have multiples of things I list them one at a time and then relist using new photos but most of the description and sales particulars the same. I have one box to put in the mail tomorrow morning. Despite the eBay sales, I also have items that just don't merit the work and go in a bin I keep in the laundry room for donation items.

I worked my way through several pounds of fresh mushrooms this weekend, using the new dehydrator to preserve them. I wanted to put them in vacuum sealed jars (put the lid on, not completely tight, insert lidded jar into Food Saver vacuum bin, attach hose, and turn it on. The jar inside also loses the air and then it's lid seals.) To have the mushrooms truly dry enough I took them from the dehydrator (much reduced in volume) and put them on a cookie sheet in a very low oven. I ended up with about three quarts of dried sliced mushrooms.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: ragdall
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 05:51 AM

Kitchen got thorough vacuuming tonight after a window pane I'd left leaning in its track, fell while I tried to better my position to fit it in properly.

Am now faced with the tasks of finding a glazier to replace the glass in the empty steel frame and disposing of the shards and small pieces of a 30 inch by 36 inch piece of glass.

rags

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 09:45 AM

You have my sympathy, Rags. I did the same thing a few years ago, and isn't it interesting that such events never happen on a fine clear day in summer?

The electricians are back, making more holes and plaster dust. I'm going to the gym as much to flee the racket of the electric saw as to improve my physical fitness.

We have been living in the basement for a week now, and a clumsy sort of routine is setting in. Two more weeks of this ... Ack!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 10:19 AM

Beaver:
Working up to the prep for leaving to go to Montreal for 10 days. On the plus side is my grand d and the father of her daughter, due in Feb. I am SO looking forward to seeing her and meeting him. I HATE leaving my home to get cold and have been wrestling with how to maintain the plants with least expenditure of electric for little heaters. Will be using the "magic" outlet, Maggie, for the Bathroom but still need a place for blooming diplademia (too awkward to transport) and Af. violet - in full lovely bloom.

Today is final prep day: clean a cheap tea trolley that was in the studio, put all the geraniums on it and put in studio which I have been keeping above freezing - kept hoping for energy to pot if solar gain warmed it enough - neither happened but I shall keep it going as I do NOT want clay to freeze and do not feel like moving it into bathroom. Also put dahlia and canna roots in there. All to be re-thought when I return.

Eyes are not bothering any more! Ankle has been better - hot bath and comfrey poultice! The moving of firewood into house is making me stronger day by day and energy level is better. May have lost a couple pounds, too.

The carrots are frozen into the ground but I am hoping today will thaw enough to get them out. Carrot soup! I put a window over them in hopes solar gain might help but there is no solar yet today, just pale grey sky!

Leave for the mill in the morning at a time that will not have me driving east into the rising sun. Then to Montreal on Weds to have my head organized, at least, in that disastrous house. All meals will be eaten out. A series of musical events are planned. And I suspect some museums will be visited. Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, and leave on Monday am. Then I rest!

RE those darn engine lights! Double darn!!! My 12 year old car needs an emissions check to be licensed for next year. It will not pass if the lights are on. So, Tues I go back to that dealer, where I did not get the lights tended to a few weeks ago... (DID NOT know about this test back then!) Hope it is simple! Then wait two days before emissions test. Will stop at dealer in Belleville on way home on Thursday. arriving home poorer but hopefully with test passed. The actual test is free.

Life really is fraught with hazard.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 10:33 AM

DP, not sure this is applicable but clamp lamps with small bulbs kept newly hatched chicks warm in a winter barn.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 02:05 PM

I've been reading about leaving root vegetables in the ground till you need them, but that presupposes the absence of mice. I have had sweet potatoes attached by mice, so I dig them now, don't leave them out there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 09:06 AM

The electricians have arrived for what they claim (and I hope) will be their last day on the premises. The washing-up tackle has been removed from the laundry hole (where the electrical panel is located), and all food secured. The cats have gone to ground.

Today's plan includes a visit to the gym and some grocery shopping: frozen entrées, because preparing raw ingredients is just too messy for our current situation, and salad ingredients. I am already heartily sick of lasagna and cottage pie, but must acknowledge the great improvement in the quality of such ready-to-heat comestibles over the last 20 years. Himself wants salmon ...

The electricians are invading the sitting room today, and when that task is completed every single space in the house will have been affected by the kitchen project. Truly, a modern house is a framework containing a web of plumbing and wires, and we live in the heart of the web like a couple of spiders.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 08:27 PM

PA

Since I'll be away for tomorrow's planned purge date upstairs, I took some of today's active rest day and put a better work chair and a pack of leaf bags up there, then purged the rest of the books stored in the garden room. A large box awaits 3 or 4 more books from another room and then it can be taped for delivery. Also purged the master bedroom's trash and recyclables (Rx bottles), leaving a recycling box set to catch the ongoing RX bottles.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 08:46 PM

We've had three huge downstairs windows replaced today. We've waited for many weeks after first ordering them, and whaddya know? Pouring with rain when the men arrived first thing this morning. However, the job's done, the chaps were thoroughly professional, even vacuuming the house before they left, and we are now totally double-glazed downstairs for the first time ever. It should be a cosy winter! But what a day it's been. Lovely fellers but they took a liking to my cappuccinos so I ended up making eight! Mrs Steve abandoned me for tea and cakes with her mates in town...Thank God for this bottle of Negroamaro...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 09:56 PM

I need to replace the windows in this house, but there are a number of things that won't get done until the foundation is stabilized. So nothing big will get done anytime soon. The big project this weekend is to replace the sewer line; calls to the plumber are expensive and the mess that must be cleaned when the line backs up mean this is an essential job now. That will certainly declutter my pocketbook considerably!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Nov 17 - 05:45 AM

Living in old houses generally means sensible-sized rooms and a cosy feel but there's always something to fix. We still have a few totally knackered single-glazed windows that desperately need replacing. We have an extremely deep stairwell that needs decorating and there's no way I can do it myself. We need new radiators throughout. I worry about the chimney. The kitchen needs a new floor covering. We have a damp wall. I need to dig out a new soakwaway in one place. We need new gutters all round if I'm honest. But it all works for us. I need a sugar-daddy. 😂

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Nov 17 - 08:42 PM

I'm pretty sure what You consider an "old house" is way older than what people around my area consider old. I've read the exploits of several UK folks working on their houses, and it is a different world, with historic structures and craftsmen working on things built decades or centuries ago. My house was built in 1976. I also worry about the chimney on my house, it doesn't draw well and it water has worked into the masonry so the mortar around the ugly stone hearth is crumbling.

If you find that sugar-daddy, see if he wants to travel to the U.S. also. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 05:42 AM

Our house was built in around 1890. It's made with stone walls two feet thick. It has a slate roof that we had to renew at huge expense about ten years ago. It stands on its own in a big garden surrounded by farmland. We're a hundred feet above sea level (by my reckoning, safely above tsunami reach) and less than half a mile from the Atlantic and we're fully exposed to the westerlies. In thirty years we've had to make five insurance claims, three for roof damage (but none since the new roof - the slates are individually clipped down now) and two for demolished greenhouses! Via lots of shrubs and trees I've gradually managed to create quite a sheltered garden, in contrast to the open field we had when we moved in. The climate is mild but lots of shrubs and trees wouldn't be able to take the salt winds we get in winter. A good overnight blow often means we can't see through the salt on our windows next morning!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 07:53 AM

A house is a hole in the ground into which you throw money, shovelful by shovelful.

The gas-fitter arrived at half-past seven, and now they're making holes in the walls and calling to each other in distressed voices. "Can you see that?" "Have you got enough room?" Rumble, rumble, rumble. I don't hear any positive responses, so I sit up here in the study thinking dark thoughts.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 09:33 AM

I just skimmed through this thread to find my May and October reports of having the rotorooter guys come get the roots out of the sewer line, the outcome of needing a new line, and I've set everything in motion. The excavator arrives today, the yard is flagged by the various utility services to protect any existing lines nearby, and tomorrow it happens. I have to sign for the equipment when it's delivered today, then all will be revealed to the neighborhood - something big is happening. If, until then, I work in the back yard and leave the garage door closed with the SUV inside, the code enforcement guys (who cruise past regularly in their white pickup trucks) won't see I'm home to ask about it. They're off on weekends (they suffer from the "big fish in a small pond" syndrome and are busybodies in their little fiefdom).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 11:29 PM

It's difficult (but essential) to have the sewer line replacement happening this weekend before Thanksgiving. I need to start staging the meal, making space for a thawed (or fresh - I don't have one yet) turkey, and all of the other stuff. Tonight I worked on something I would have kept till tomorrow, to get ahead. When I make batches of kidney beans (based on a recipe from my late Puerto Rican mother-in-law) I empty a lot of things from the fridge. I have decluttered the fridge of a pint of fancy little tomatoes my ex gave me last week, about 8 ounces of canned pumpkin leftover from last week's pumpkin bread, a bowl full of poblano pepper that came in from the garden right after the first frost of the year, a container with garlic and half of an onion, etc. The resulting batch of beans went into 11 12-ounce jars in the freezer for lunches. It cleared about a half-shelf for holiday ingredients.

Charmion, did the electricians really finish this week?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 07:34 AM

Never keep tomatoes in the fridge, Acme! More than a day or so of fridge temperatures switches off genes that produce volatiles that give tomatoes their flavour and aroma, and they don't recover when you warm them up again. It's one reason why shop tomatoes can look lovely and red yet taste of nothing - they've been cold-stored for too long.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 10:20 AM

Talk about clearing out. Mrs Steve's away for the weekend so I'm mopping up forgotten-about food. Just had an omelette made with out-of-date eggs, whacked on top of a plain naan bread that was five weeks out of date (grilled it and tipped the omelette butter on it first). Delicious!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 11:01 AM

These were store-bought tomatoes at the point when they were going to deteriorate, and they'd probably already been in a fridge. My garden tomatoes don't go into the fridge until they absolutely have to, and I then try very soon to process them (canning or freezing).

I regularly share garden produce, and my former next door neighbor called one day to see if I had some tomatoes. I'd given her a bad time about buying some the week before, when the garden was going great guns. I was getting ready to can and she laughed when she walked into my kitchen and saw every flat surface covered with a layer of boxes and bowls of these ripe tomatoes.

The work is underway in the yard, and we have a wind advisory all day today as a cold front moves in. It won't be too cold to work out there, but it is going to take some of the pleasure out of the task. I realized pretty quickly that standing around watching isn't helping, it kind of cramps their style, and though I brought an offered-and-accepted array of shovels (they had their own, but you can never have too many when it comes to the specialty ones - trowels, short shovels, sharp shooters, etc.) and at one point some needed duct tape. For tomorrow: I'll have to replace a chunk of concrete in the path. That's easy enough with 2x4s edging and bags of quick concrete, but it means another step in the job.

I need to work on my self-assigned task for today, to rebuild my wheelbarrow with new handles. I think I'll move this activity into the greenhouse. That wind is a killer. And while I'm at it, I'll straighten out the greenhouse. Truth be told, gardeners are packrats, you can never have too many pots, etc, but I should probably get rid of some of the really lightweight stuff that occupies space but rarely gets reused. I'll need the wheelbarrow - I had visualized a tidy line of excavated dirt through the front yard, but there will be quite a bit of shoveling and shifting to do out there when they finish, and the refurbished wheelbarrow is instrumental in that. (I could buy a new wheelbarrow for probably twice what I paid for the new handles, but there is nothing wrong with the barrow itself and I hate the idea of throwing things away instead of repairing them.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 11:34 AM

PA

When is the purchase of Twenty-five Fashion Scarves not hoarding?

I noticed recently that the scarves I'd bought from eye lust for eye candy are getting not only polite compliments.... but blurted exclamatory compliments. So I started paying more attention, and I hypothesized that their eye-catching contrast with "my" olive drab, pastel, or grey-tinged colors somehow draw the beholder's eye away from my thin hair, my tetracycline smile, and my too-casual garb. Hm. So I tested that hypothesis with a full length mirror-- not a loved item due to a recent thyroid-slump weight gain I'm just trying to LOSE, even if all that fits comfortably is sweat pants and drab t-shirts!

I've had three scarves to alternate, all Goodwill purchases. Yesterday I went back for another one or two. Deep in the bins I found 50 of the length that has been working. About 10 are the texture I love next to my skin. A few were very dressy, with sparkle. One is actually a sash belt that will either fit or be used as a scarf tied differently.

Now I can stop worrying about getting more food stains on my shells and shirts-- the scarf du jour is unwound as a crossover bib. I can leave the scratchy ones at the gourmet restaurant whose high-tech entrees have ruined many a blouse. I can divide the duplicate color ranges between PA and Ohio. I can leave a generic color in each of our two cars. I can tie scratchy ones on my scooter and walker handlebars to tie up my hair or cargo, or stream in the breeze. I can reduce the amount of paper I use as kleenex or extra napkins. One had necklace-conversion jewelry I can swap onto any scarf, and a pendant to convert to a necklace using that really narrow scarf too narrow to use as a scarf and too short to use as a scooter tie.

I can consider them disposable after several uses, because 25 cost $25. Now they're off to wash out a trace of mothball scent, and then sorting begins!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 10:18 PM

Too many distractions to work on the wheelbarrow, but I need to do it tomorrow, before the guys come back to finish backfilling the trench. The sewer line is finished, though there is a drip where sweating a repair in the water line (got hit by the excavator) didn't close it perfectly. While one of them fixes that, I'll be putting edging back, trimming, and planting to give the yard the look that I was landscaping all weekend.

It was rough today but tomorrow will be calm and feel warmer since the wind died down. The repair didn't go all of the way to the house because there is a part of the foundation (that went under a long gone planter) that is in the way. There will be more garden work out there over the long holiday weekend.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 19 Nov 17 - 09:37 AM

So....the new food plan in our house is working out fabulously! We are both happy with it, not feeling hungry at all (weirdest thing ever for me....aside from uber-stressful times of not being able to eat....I can't remember a time when I haven't been somewhat hungry) and I'm down 6.8 pounds this week and I am not dragging in the energy department! Yes, I know...water weight....probably but it's a rockin' start!   I did not get to yoga...chickened out and opted for some other activity/errand/thing to do. Maybe this week I will get to yoga....maybe not...overtime hours will need to be put in due to an early closing of the office on Wednesday and subsequent 2 days off (while we get paid for those days off, we get 7 hours of pay and not 8 and I'm kind of anal about getting in my 40 hours).....anyway, we shall see.

After a week of the above plan, Pete and I decided it was something sustainable for us so yesterday I did a major grocery shopping expedition to overhaul my kitchen.

Something else I've been thinking about is my closet. I've started working in there but the thing is, I just want to ditch everything that does not currently fit, with the exception of maybe 5 favorite items. I have a huge closet that is full but most of it are items I can't wear anymore. So this morning I approached my thought with Pete. "Dear Heart, what would you think if I got rid of EVERYTHING in the closet that doesn't currently fit and just start over?"   He said, "Go for it, it's probably all out of style anyway." While I tend to wear more classic clothes instead of trendy, I'm happy with the go ahead! :)    I have approximately 10 solid work outfits I'll keep and 4 days of play clothes/after work clothes, etc. The rest is going buh bye! I can't wait to have the space and it will make it so much easier to find things. :)

It's cold and damp today and I have seen a few snowflakes this morning. The pellet stove and woodstove are both on making it very cozy here. I've spent some time this morning, picking up and am just about to sit down to breakfast which my beloved has made. :) Lazy Sunday mornings are my favorite.

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Nov 17 - 09:55 AM

Finishing my morning cup of tea, then out into the yard to transform the heaps of dirt into the look of landscaping.

We weren't able to replace the entire line. The section close to the house is sound, but it is under a corner of an extension of the foundation, so the new piece is a few feet out from the house. And down at the curb - there is a gas line somewhere under there, and these guys regularly work for a public works department in a neighboring city - they know better than most the risk and danger of hitting a gas line. So they dug to within a few feet of the curb and connected to the line from the street. I'll still have to use root killer twice a year to treat that end of the line, but the breaks in the connections that ran through the yard will no longer be part of the equation. The cast iron segments were held together with rubber boots held in place by hose clamps. The rubber had failed and roots had been going through.

Now that I know that that shallow bed in front of the house is a couple of inches of soil over a true part of the foundation, I'm going to take advantage of it and extend a porch out there. That's a project for next year.

P.S. Michelle, your closet plan sounds like a winner. If you find something exceptional you'd forgotten about as you clear out, you can decide to add it to the keep pile or not - but feel totally virtuous about clearing the space. I have a few bins up on shelves in my closet I should probably do that with also. They're clear bins with a paper in view on the inside telling me the size and contents - I kept what I felt were the "classic" pieces of sizes I hope to get into in the future. Those bins have been taking up space for a long time now. I'll have to ask myself what else I would do with that space. Congratulations on deciding what direction to move with this project.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Nov 17 - 03:09 PM

No, Acme, the electricians are not *really* finished. Wires dangle from every connection in the work area, waiting for the carpenter to repair the walls and ceilings; the plug receptacles in the sitting room are dead again for no discernible reason; and half the circuit breakers in the panel have misleading labels, as the circuits have been rewired and now cover different parts of the house. Also, the range and its exhaust hood have yet to be installed, a project that will involve both a gas-fitter and an electrician.

We must also summon back the plumber, as the sink in the second-best bathroom drains very slowly despite several doses of Drano. This condition makes it possible to see that water from the new supply lines laid in when the leaking pipe was discovered contains grit. Although the sink drains so slowly that we have not been able to flush those lines as thoroughly as a plumber might want us to, I believe that the water should be running clear after nearly two weeks of use.

Mayhem begins again tomorrow, when Tony the carpenter returns to start hanging drywall. Sean the contractor allowed as how we probably have three more weeks (Three! More! Weeks!) to wait before we can count on making tea in our new kitchen.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Nov 17 - 05:19 PM

My yard isn't finished, but most of the piles of dirt are gone and I've put in a bed near the curb and transplanted in herbs and iris and filled in with mulch. I'm headed out for a batch of mulch, and maybe a second if it doesn't get dark.

The excavator will be picked up tomorrow morning, and I'll be spending next weekend working out front taking advantage of all of this softened and moved dirt and top soil. (The time I'm taking to type this is also when I'm grabbing a very late lunch/early dinner.)

Resting up from the weekend tomorrow at work.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Nov 17 - 10:02 PM

Two batches later (from a place a few miles from here where the city has free mulch from trimming trees in city parks) I've spread some around and left the full bags blocking anyone from tumbling into the hole left out there - the water line isn't completely mended yet, it has a slow drip but is on so I have water in the house. My friend will finish the repair tomorrow after work, then we'll finish filling in that hole. And over the next couple of weekends I'll take advantage of all of that disturbed soil and extra dirt and redo more beds. I also have to fix the wire for the Invisible Fence. That got clobbered and a repair at the break doesn't work - it must have broken in two places, and we haven't found the other one yet. I'm sure the company will have a solution.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 02:31 PM

PA

The 25 scarves are sorted, and the PA lot are hung up on hooks that were sitting there, empty, inside the door of the closet in the room where I dress (bathroom). The Ohio batch is packed.

I used some of the jewelry on one to modify another one (it was actually not a scarf) that was more fabric but lighter fabric, and too big for a scarf overall; it ended up making a long, simulated ruffle in blue tones, running all down my front.

One was a continuous-scarf-type I want to make into a regular one with fringe; I opened uo the seam but its too filmy to fring it myself; so I'll look for some fringe to sew on, at our next Surplus City trip (on a day off).

I'd scored some t-shirts on my way to Ohio, there, that solve another problem-- I like t-shirts with messages, but my message budget and message drawer have hit their limits. I discovered via YouTube that Sharpie can be used to make a message shirt or a tie-dye effect (or both on one shirt). So-- as I stain the fronts of these in everyday wear, I'll use the same idea tattoo artists use to cover a bad tattoo, using Sharpie art with a message, as phrases come to me for one-of-a-kind messaging. $2 each. I'll fringe a few of those, because they are extra long; I did that with another long t-shirt and got a lot of compliments. Apparently, fringing my big butt balances out my big bosom. I'll expreiment wit shapes-- longer on the sides, for instance, so Im not sitting on fringe knots!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Nov 17 - 11:47 PM

After cleverly arranging to do the sewer work over the weekend and have the excavator picked up early on Monday morning to remove evidence of major earth moving, it is disappointing that the rental company still hasn't removed the equipment by Tuesday evening. It's a pretty clear advertisement that we were up to a big project. The city code enforcement folks work Monday through Friday, and as obtuse as they are, they have probably noticed this appliance in my yard by now. Next: #Obfuscation

The water line was broken on Sunday and fixed, but needed a better repair (done today). The dog containment (Invisible Fence) gets fixed tomorrow. The only thing remaining on the project is to put in a new section of concrete on my front path, once that dirt settles a bit.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Nov 17 - 05:00 PM

The house is a mess, there is dog hair piled up in corners and under furniture, and I have tons of cooking to do by tomorrow. The next 24 hours are some of the busiest of the year. Miracles will happen. Have a good Thanksgiving, everyone!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Nov 17 - 09:22 PM

I lost 5 of the 25 pounds I gained during the last thyroid slump.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Nov 17 - 09:39 PM

I don't expect to lose any weight in the next couple of days. I will pay careful attention to sodium and calcium.

On a bright note, my replacement fitness tracker from Nokia arrived today. It died in the middle of last summer and they didn't replace it with the same model because they all had a condensation problem. I've been patient (and they sent me a free scale to lessen the blow of waiting so long). I did find it helped me do a better job of getting exercise.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Nov 17 - 09:00 PM

Today was all about family time. We did not do a traditional Thanksgiving with turkey and such but what we did do was wonderful, fit the plan we are working and the company was fabulous! We helped to put up a Christmas tree, fixed up some very interesting remote controlled candles, played games, talked, laughed....it was a most wonderful day!

I am not partaking in the Black Friday madness. No. Just NO.

Tomorrow I will be working in my sewing room. I am working on a quilt for the House of Care which is where I often stayed during my cancer treatments. I have sewed together several pieces that have been signed by survivors and now have to piece the rest of it together. A friend of mine will be doing the long arming. She lost her mother to cancer and she wants to be part of this quilt. :)

I have an enlarger in my sewing room that will be looking for a new home. I must get it advertised and get it out of here. I wish I could use it but a darkroom just isn't in the plans. It's time to part ways and make some room.

My closet remains in the same state....I predict that half of the closet project will be completed by Sunday....as long as my quilting gets done anyway. :)

I hope everyone has had a spectacular Thanksgiving!


Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Nov 17 - 11:52 PM

What a difference a year makes - I'm tired and my feet are tender after all of the standing and walking around the kitchen, but last year I was struggling through the full-fledged pain of Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR for short). I've been on a treatment since April of this year, and though I've had to adjust my dosage back up a bit recently, I'm back to my old self muscle-wise. I was able to lift, get up and down, and use my hands (I could barely open a jar last year).

That's the long of it. The short of it - thank goodness for dishwashers. :)

Too bad about no darkroom, Michelle. Do you use Photoshop and Lightroom? That's where the processing happens these days in my world.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Nov 17 - 09:21 AM

I'm glad to hear that the Thanksgiving madness is passing down south, with much churning of dishwashers and inventory of left-overs. We don't have a major eating holiday in November, so the kitchen project at our house is not disrupting our social life -- much.

A new character joined the construction drama this morning: Patrick the painter, who pronounced the existing decor "really ugly" and agreed to quote on the rest of the house once the kitchen project is finished and our bank balance has recovered somewhat. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Tony the carpenter is building a new door frame for the ground-floor loo, which thus will become usable again by close of play today. Sean the contractor says he will start installing cabinets on Monday, so today I must call the appliance dealers and tell them to deliver the new range, refrigerator and dishwasher next Friday.

I remember the excitement of Christmas when I was five and had convinced myself that my parents would buy me a pony. I remember the breathless anticipation in the week before the "formal", which is what we called the big dance when I was in high school back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. That's nothing to how I feel about our new kitchen appliances, the first such items I have ever chosen for myself, to meet our needs as cooks and householders, rather than accepting what was supplied by a landlord or housing developer, or was cheapest at Sears.

Whenever I leave the house these days, I seem to buy or otherwise acquire something before I come home again; I'm such a frequent flyer at Canadian Tire that the cashiers smile and wave. When all this tumult is over and the house is fully functional, I intend to launch a no-acquisitions regime. I wonder if I can get through Lent next year without bringing anything into the house that is not food or something required for cleaning or emergency maintenance. Interesting challenge ...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Nov 17 - 11:24 AM

Between an early Thursday morning death notification and Gregs pastoral call, and a Friday morning Columbarium service just concluded, our always-flexible "holiday" plan sustained us with brunchy turkey salad and brie... after late rising Thursday... while we prepared and roasted a whole leg of lamb with spinach creamed in feta cheese sauce. There were grapes as well. Now it's on to a Black Friday bulk meat sale for chix at $0.29/lb and freezer packing fun.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Nov 17 - 05:05 PM

Fifty pounds of chicken at $50 (all breasts and leg quarters), plus several pounds of lamb (free), plus Monday's free turkey will equal one very full freezer for two people.

We cooked the chicken leg quarters and about 2/3 of the boneless/skinless chicken breast. The white meat will become either stir fry (six 2-portions ziplocs, shredded and frozen). The lamb went into two big ziplocs for meals already cooked for later, and several more smaller bags' worth are yet to be sliced and divided as sandwich or curry packages. Half of the cooked turkey is frozen.

I'm glad to be leaving Hardi with a full freezer in January, but the most fun part was Newbie and her leg of lamb bone.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Nov 17 - 09:43 PM

I didn't do much productive most of the day, just lounged around and enjoyed a day off. Something I rarely do.

This evening I made a pot of turkey soup; it's finishing simmering to let the rice I added cook completely, then it's into the fridge for meals over the weekend and next week. After having people in for the meal yesterday, the house is looking good. As the soup cooked I reduced the size of the dining table and put my sewing project out on it again. I puttered in the kitchen, clearing up, gluing, repairing, tossing a few things.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Nov 17 - 09:23 AM

Last weekend I completed my self-assigned task and replaced the handles on my wheelbarrow. There is a brace between the posts down at the front end, and when the old handles were still on it shifted and the wheel scraped against it. I had to stop and move that loose brace to do much; now everything will stay where it is supposed to be. It feels like a new device. Today I'll use that barrow to pick up and move some of my concrete stepping stones that were moved across the yard out of the way of the work. And I need to mow the lawn for the last time this year (though I'll have the mower out a time or two more for mulching leaves.)

My fridge is full of food, even after I sent a lot home with people. Sweet potatoes for breakfast this morning - mmmm!

Subject: Bad Back in Motion for Rebuilding Stamina
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Nov 17 - 11:41 AM

PA

Bad Back in Motion, for Rebuilding Stamina

We were both so tired last night that we went to bed before 10pm and slept til 7:30 am. After a lazy wake-up Hardi planned to head out back to put on the snow plow blade (first bringing me cooked chix legs and breasts into kitchen), and I got to work with the next round of dishes-- big pans to dishwasher after a quick soak/scrub. Started chicken packing, which Hardi ferried to freezer as he passed by.

Next I grabbed more DW items from LR (keep that sore back in motion), added those, staeted the DW, refilled the vinegar jug, and took a bag of lamb to LR table to slice. This resulted in one feta-sauce glass pan of weekend eats, and 2 small bags for sammy/curry while I'm in Ohio (labeled).

I discovered the lamb shank cut off ydy but not cooked and frozen, that I chuckef into the freezer instead of poaching-- we need to close this project, and shanks are always slow-cooker fare anyway; so freezing twice = no problem for a future shared meal and bone for Newbie.

There's one giant pan left of chix thighs to pack, once the Lodine kicks in, at the LR table where I've already gathered the supplies. The glass pan with feta/lamb is in the nukerater for Greg to fire up when hungry after snow blade is installed. I'm not hungry, yet, having snacked on meat shreds as I packed meats.

It was an intense 1-1/4 hour in motion before my back screamed SIT. So Ah settin'. Oh yeah I spent an hour early this AM picking out 6 months of Saturday music and setting up the year's planner which involved removing half the pages to recycle-- it includes ALL saint's days for possible planning, but we use this only for Saturdays and leave the rest to the organist.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Nov 17 - 04:25 PM

It's hard work preparing all of that meat but in the coming months you'll thank your past self again and again. I read a Boston Globe story from 2015 about former Gov. Michael Dukakis and his love of turkey stock - he takes the turkey carcass home with him from dinners at friends or family homes. I make stock with the carcass of turkey or chicken, though won't recruit other birds. There's a batch of soup in the fridge right now, and the fixings for another batch soon. He's also a gardener, and believes in not wasting food.

The back yard has been mowed, now to the major job out front - hauling the remnants of the vegetable garden back to the compost area. A friend gave me a compost enclosure thing I'm going to try out for some of this (including the food scraps from buckets can go into this - they've already broken down for weeks in a covered 5-gallon bucket, but you'd be amazed at what my pit bull will dig out of the regular compost pile). The front needs a lot more work, but I wanted the back to be ready to receive anything I haul from the front. I pulled out the holiday lights and I'll put them up this afternoon as well. There's a juniper that is perfect for decorations this year.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Nov 17 - 10:10 AM

Acme,

Yes, I've managed our meat supply that way now for years, and that's why we were able to squeeze in an actual Thanksgiving between a death call and a funeral (two different people/families, 36 hours apart), very smoothly. The difference this year is packing the freezer, also, in light of my planned absence and return, with the surprise meat sale... for which I had packaging materials already on hand.

A big change I'm looking forward to, when we retire, is not having to run it this way. We're actually too old for all this bulk management. I just wish my DIL's lived close enough to learn this approach to kitchen economy.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Nov 17 - 10:13 AM

Montreal:

Charmion! Thank you for a good laugh - but so true!!

"A house is a hole in the ground into which you throw money, shovelful by shovelful."

Beaver is getting further tightened with rigid insulation on the floor upstairs and plywood on that. Dan says it looks like a real room now! It is high enough in the centre for a not-too-tall person to stand so we will be using it as a sleeping loft. He found lots of holes where cold was getting in. He is also going to do some structural strengthening before I get back. He also made styrofoam insert for me to put in the hole for the trapdoor-to-be. Currently, there was only a piece of plexiglass - which is great for letting light come down from upstairs windows but not very good for keeping heat downstairs. At night I can put insert in place; daytime have light!

I finally arrived at the house in Montreal to find R had actually decluttered enough of the LR that there is room for 5 chairs! and we can see the floor! Far from nice middle class gentility but a tremendous improvement. He did not have time to vacuum, alas!!! I am too fearful of dust to do that so it remains filthy around the edges. He did wash the wood floor. And cleared enough surface in the K that food prep was possible - with care.

Thank heavens for airbnb!

My beautiful granddaughter along with my 3rd ggd in utero and the father of such, arrived on 16th. We had a terrific weekend - at least from R and my point of view. A marvellous accordionist at the cafe in St. Isidore on Thurs, and a good meal. Fri, Ali and I went to a special Quaker meeting at Friend Molly's long term care facility; Molly was in far better shape than I expected - So terrific!

Then we picked up Jeremy and I took them to Old Montreal where we wandered around and had lunch in a small cafe. The big event was an evening at the Yellow Door Coffee House - where I worked for years and my young sons hung out, perforce! This was top priority for son Troy as he has such positive memories and it started him on the music track that has so enriched his life.

A quick side trip to the All Night Bagel Factory was also on the list and elicited a surprised response from the young ones. J posted an excellent pic on FB! Saturday, A & J walked up to the Fine Art Museum, spent the day and then walked back down to our place where we had chili, family photo albums and visiting until they walked the 5 blocks to their airbnb.

On Sunday, A, R and I went to meeting and pot luck then picked up J to go to a museum/house dating to late 1600s. Wow! Then to a big buffet restaurant - crowded bit not overly.

We got them to the plane on Monday and I collapsed. R went to work. Tues took car for a new oxygen sensor, thinking this was it - but NO, something wrong in the front wheel; have to order part from US, come back next week. Thursday, it started making a nasty noise. Fri, I arranged to leave it at the dealer en route to cafe; R followed me in his truck and we left my car and continued in truck. Good music, went to mill to pick up distiller as we were running out of distilled water. Stayed the night and left early (for us!) and had big BF at a restaurant.

My 10 days in Montreal is turning into almost 3 weeks. A friend is arriving next week to stay for 18 days. We will give him upstairs BR which is --oops, we cannot move our clothes up there until after this visit. R did live trap the rat!! We will use the new-to-us futon downstairs. Hope it is reasonably comfortable.

I have triaged a bunch of stuff to take to thrift shops and some to Beaver. It is a relief to be able to "swing a cat" in the LR. R is happy to have me cooking him good food. I am feeling appreciated. It was so wonderful to have Ali visit, and to meet J; they are fine young people. It does help de-clutter the mind to have assurance that the younger gen is fine.

Today R & I are having lunch with a very dear special friend from the 60s, and his wonderful wife. They have moved back to Montreal after many years in the USA.

I have given up thinking about dieting for now. Just eating good food.

My health consultant Connie, rose to the occasion after we talked a couple days ago about my discomfort/pain that resulted from the removal of lymph nodes 12 years ago. She found a post on line with good explanation and suggestions for self healing! R and I are so happy as it was becoming a serious issue. I posted it on FB.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Nov 17 - 10:14 AM

As I was drifting off to sleep last night I figured out how to use the broken up concrete resulting from two segments of my front path that were broken up during the sewer line replacement. I'll place them a couple of inches apart and fill in around them with pea gravel next to the front porch.

I did the same thing a number of years ago when next door broke up their concrete driveway to put down bricks. I put down chunks and pea gravel in an area where the dogs were always making the lawn muddy near the back gate. There's a lot of grass in it now, but the area is stable as far as the dogs running over it. Out front it will be easier to keep out the grass because the pavers and gravel will be on that bit of foundation. I was thinking about building a deck over the area, but this will work better and I can still put potted plants and a bench on that spot.

After yesterday's yard work I'll pace myself, I can feel a few sore muscles today. Dorothy and Charmion, I am amazed at everything you're doing these days. All of that activity is a great way to stay warm in winter.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Nov 17 - 12:05 AM

The seasons are changing - and I'm chasing the Labrador retriever off of my sofa, so it's time to put the waterproof dog cover over it and it's theirs for the next couple of months. I need to declutter all of them of long nails so they don't rip it - I have a clipper, I just need to nerve myself to do it, without scaring them in the process. I can give them their annual immunizations, certainly I can clip nails.

Three Shark vacuum canisters full of dog hair emptied into the trash today. I went over all of the rugs and ran the wand through all of the corners.

It seems to be mostly dog stuff in this report - I also set up the compost enclosure, reinforced with three fence posts (the kind you pound in and catch the chicken wire in the little notches). I filled it with garden stuff and contents from three compost buckets. I scooped dog droppings from around the yard and scattered them in the bin and around the base. That will repel at least two of the three.

In the front, it will take me a while to empty that shallow bed and move in the pavers, but the shovel can live beside the kitchen door and a bucket is handy - a few minutes a day will get me there. My next door neighbors were glad to see the lights up already - for some of us, it's a sign of life. Someone got out and did something the neighborhood will notice (though I daresay the trench through the yard probably achieved that even more than two strings of lights). :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Nov 17 - 09:13 AM

I spent the weekend wiping and vacuuming and mopping plaster dust off everything on the ground floor, where the sitting room furniture was once again veiled in grey and the cats were picking pussy paw-loads sufficient to mark every surface in every other part of the house. Then I did the same in our enormous bedroom, which contains five chests of drawers and a row of three floor-to-ceiling bookcases as well as a queen-sized bed. Upholstery got vacuumed and cushion covers laundered. The dryer whooshed and thumped for two days straight. My feet are a pair of hurtin' units now.

Only the study (seven floor-to-ceiling bookcases), Himself's office (two floor-to-ceiling bookcases), the guest room and the basement (eight floor-to-ceiling bookcases and five sections of storage shelving) to go. Not to speak of the furnace room and the laundry hole, where sawdust abounds ...

Cabinet installation begins today, hooray hooray hooray hooray! The cabinet-maker and his guys were loading their trailer when I called at 0850 hr to find out the order of march. I look forward to a week of visible progress!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 27 Nov 17 - 08:07 PM

Montreal

Charmion! You are living in a situation that would make me dreadfully ill in minutes. Breathing drywall dust and sawdust are very much not recommended. Perhaps you could, at least, tightly close the BR so you are not breathing in that stuff all night as well.

Tonight, I hope to broach the subject of finding a home for both of us in less urban Quebec - 30 minutes from the centre of R's work area rather than 15 minutes. I found 4 on line today at reasonable prices - small, suburban, with yards and parking. One even backs onto a nature preserve! This will be an initial suggestion and maybe shot down instantly but nothing ventured, nothing gained. I am concerned that he does not eat properly, by his own admission, when I am not in residence, cooking and serving his tired self.

Considering the condition of this house and the fact that he actually is considering the possibility of selling it, which, of course, does not mean it will happen in my lifetime but hope does spring eternal. Being rid of this derelict heritage house could be the most monumental bit of de-cluttering in both our lives!

We visited a friend of 49 years, and his wife, yesterday. We sat down in their modestly furnished but clean, comfortable and tidy LR and my first comment was "On my, a nice gentile, middle class LR!" (Very dear friends!) What a pleasure to be in an uncluttered LR, and DR! Maybe I have been away from Beaver too long.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Nov 17 - 11:10 PM

I remember seeing photos of the neighboring house - it's in a great area, someone should get it and actually do the fixing-up, Dorothy. And treat it the way it needs to be treated. And you two can move on, as you say, to a less complicated and tidy living space.

I took the year off of the title of this thread. It's puttering along quietly, and with mudcat loading faster now, should do well enough for at least the next year. I can add 2018 into the title in the New Year - if the number is what helps you spot the thread.

One more eBay item sold, they're going at about one a week now, and I'm keeping up, getting more listed every couple of weeks. This isn't fast, but they add up to enough to pay at least one bill each month. For now, it'll be a modest vet bill as the oldest dog is kept comfortable. I have a lot more stuff to list.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Nov 17 - 10:35 PM

It's amazing to consider how much activity and information is packed into the tiny space that is my smart phone. And how naked I feel without it. The phone or the battery died suddenly today. I tried various things, nothing worked. I have another one on order, should arrive on Friday, and if this is fixed before then I'll return that one unopened. I found a battery place in town to go test this Powerbear battery (that has a warranty); if it's dead, I'll wait for the replacement. I've lined up my ducks to get the battery replacement if that's called for (I hope they still make it.) I wish I'd kept the other battery; it lost it's charge quickly but still worked, I could have used it to test the phone now. I seem to keep everything, but not that. :-/

Fairly recent used phones can be sold on eBay; I've done it. But I can't sell a non-working one because it's full of my data.

I have other things to do around here, but that is a major distraction. I am continuing a project from last winter, soaking some old lace table cloths and linens to see if I can bring them back to white or cream color. Some to keep, some to sell on eBay. And I have sewing stuff spread out on the dining table again.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Nov 17 - 10:03 AM

The dining-room floor was laid yesterday, and it is beautiful -- even though it is very obviously not the same shade of brown as the abutting floor in the sitting room. That's the last time I consult Himself on a colour comparison and let his opinion over-rule my doubts.

The sample board provided by the flooring supplier was more of a hindrance than a help. No matter how I held it, I could not align any of the most likely samples with the existing floor. Also, during the week we had it, Stratford lay under a blanket of cloud that made high noon look like supper-time, making colour discrimination that much more difficult.

We had a short, blunt discussion of the issue yesterday and decided that we shall never mention it again. If necessary, we can use it as a litmus test for potential jerks; he who mentions it in criticism can be safely identified as a jerk and never asked back.

Cabinet installation is going well, and the shape of the kitchen to come is now clearly evident. It will work, and it will look "sharp" as Himself says. The counter-tops (five slabs of granite) and the new appliances are due to arrive on Monday, which will therefore be fraught with incident.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the forest, I am cleaning up after the plaster work. The forced-air heating system distributed grey powder throughout the house, so I have been wiping and vacuuming as if expecting an inspection by the Admiral of the Fleet. After a day of cleaning dusty books, my voice is reduced to a creak and I sneeze volcanically -- but the damn' books and the shelves they sit on are clean! Well, clean-ish. As clean as aging books can be expected to be.

The north-facing window of the study has proved perfect for my collection of orchids, which are putting out flower spikes at a great rate. They look a bit ... shall we say ... surprising, among the computer equipment and bookcases, but their continuing vitality perks me up no end.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Nov 17 - 11:08 PM

It appears to have been the phone, not the battery at fault in my lack of connectivity this week. The new one should arrive tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I have taken WYSIWYG's advice and looked at root killers. My new sewer line is attached to the old one near the house, and it's fine there (and has a new two-way cleanout a few feet from the house), but the last segment that dips down to the street level may still be subject to roots because they didn't want to get too close to the gas line during installation. The connection left some of the old line down there to be safe. (Wise men.) I picked up a jar of the foaming root killer (yes, $20 seems expensive, until you see the bill from the plumber!) to do this weekend, and a bottle of Zeb, that will be used every few months after that to maintain the line free of roots. One evening this weekend I'll pour the powder into the cleanout out in the yard then flush a couple of times to push it to where it needs to be (to stay in the line overnight). The guy at Home Depot was impressed with my description of our setup and we discussed the options - the folks who work there enjoy being more than just sales clerks.

eBay stuff is starting to move - even for small sellers this is the season. I'll put up more listings this weekend - the plan is to spend days in the yard, evenings working in the sun room.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Dec 17 - 12:46 AM

Killed most of the day today waiting at home for the phone delivery. I did get some work done for work, but since my existing phone was dead I wasn't able to uninstall many of my security two-factor accounts, so I've had to set them up in the new phone or logon via the computer and disengage then reinstall so they point at this phone. It often involves a barcode displayed on the computer that the phone software then scans. This is necessary phone clutter in this day and age.

Lovely weather, no rain lately. The yard will be drying out (soil gets rock hard) but after so much disturbance, I imagine I can still get a shovel into it to start working around the front porch.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Dec 17 - 10:30 AM

Last night before bed I poured Roebic foaming crystals poured down the nifty front-yard sewer cleanout, then two flushes of the toilet to position the chemical in the line to kill tree roots. I'll be doing some landscaping around that area today, moving defacto paving blocks (broken concrete from the front path) into position next to the porch.

Charmion, we all await news of the progress at your house, and Dorothy, keep us abreast of news of your various domiciles. Susan, are you still moving as much stuff now that it's winter (and presuming snow season)? Lurkers - have you performed some magical clearing of your homes that you'd like to share with the declutter thread readers?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Dec 17 - 11:43 AM

Montreal:

Charmion! Orchids amongst the computers sounds great!

New modem: Netgear aircard is working SO much better than the old model which was driving me crazy. This one turns on an off in a moment so I hope it will be more efficient and less expensive, though I do not understand what it is that costs...

I visited the two possible home sites off Island - after car was finally repaired Thurs - with two new tires on front due to one having been destroyed by broken coil spring rubbing on it. After over $2000 in repairs there is the - maybe I should have gotten a new vehicle instead! But we never know. Well de-cluttered finances! And the thought of planning to be able to obtain a new car in the next year or so. R says, "wait until something goes wrong"! NO! I do not want to be at the mercy of a car dealer at the wrong time of year...

So I picked up the car in Chateauguay and started looking for these two houses by "instinct", for lack of a map. I found a marvellous treasure! Totally lost I ended up following signs for a "refuge faunatique" and found a beautiful facility - cafe and visitor's centre for the wildlife refuge which entails most of a large island between the Chateauguay River and the Saint Lawrence. Ile St. Bernard was a "nuns" island so it is historic, with a convent as well. I was vibrating with excitement; it was so wonderful. The nice man at the cafe gave me directions to one address - a small suburban house tucked between others but backing onto another huge nature preserve! The whole area is mainly swampy! What else can be done with it!!! It is half a block (west) of the Chateauguay R. as well. The pics on line look good; we have both looked at them thoroughly and find it OK. A big clean basement and a shed in back yard, 3 BRs (one for a library), and a decent K, back deck, etc.

Then I managed to find the other one which has a darkness to it. I have not bothered to show R. So, IF this house sells, it is possible we can buy something else. Whether or not R will go for the extra distance...? But I have not yet taken him to Ile St Bernard! He has seen the booklet and seen it on line - Beautiful, Maggie! To be five minutes away from real country - not agricultural!- and near two rivers!

The plot would be to spend more time with R so he eats better... Meanwhile, someone is coming tomorrow to see house and R has some de-cluttering to do!! This is an "as is" sale, if at all but a person has to be able to SEE it! I cleaned up some dust with a damp cloth and have a headache for my trouble. Back to Beaver on Monday for a couple weeks then back here in hopes of getting R to Beaver for Christmas.

It would be such a joy to have a decent home here and be able to spend safe time with R. AS we get older, this is becoming an issue - in my mind, at least. Driving still affects ankle and dust is my worst enemy!

My big job to day is to concoct something substantial for a potluck to night. Starting with beans (on stove), rice (next in line), veggies and seasoning. Ah, yes, ye useful onion, celery...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kitchen re-organization....

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

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

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

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

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

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

Michelle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Life is good in Stratford.

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

PA:

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

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

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

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

PA:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

....

PA:

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

~S~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PA:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PA:

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

~S~

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

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

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

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

Michelle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(((Acme)))

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

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

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

PA:

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

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

Montreal:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PA:

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

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

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

Artwork-- I could take a bunch of large

artwork that would not travel well on an open trailer.

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

~S~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Michelle

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

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

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

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

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

Montreal:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Michelle

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

Montreal:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The holiday is successfully under way.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But right now I have an uncluttered house!

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

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

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Dec 17 - 03:01 PM

Sounds good, Mrrzy! (And I've reconsidered the socks - anyone else is going to have the same problem I did, so they're headed for the trash.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Dec 17 - 07:16 PM

Some of the things I wanted to do over this break rely on nice weather, and it has been anything but. Not like the deep snow and icebox temperatures of the northern tier and New England, but still, off-putting as far as yard work for Texas. On the other hand, I could pack the contents of my upright freezer in cardboard boxes and set them on the table on the back porch and they'll stay frozen for the brief time it takes to defrost. As I prepare to cook for company, I find walls of icy buildup in my way, and I didn't defrost this fall.

I gave some of the freezer contents to a friend when I realized dietary shifts would mean those foods will go uneaten by me. I might as well pass them along and make space. And I know there are some ham hocks in there somewhere - it's split pea soup weather and if I buy more, the ones I already have will meet them at the door as I bring in the groceries.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Dec 17 - 12:09 AM

After an hour of tossing ice chunks into a bucket and mopping up water draining into a cake pan, the freezer is once again defrosted and organized. And I did (finally!) find the ham hocks. The compost pile will grow some this weekend if it warms enough to go out and do a little work around the yard. I have two 5-gallon lidded buckets next to the side door for kitchen waste, and this latest project uncovered some very elderly garden produce. The dog who was the worst about getting into the compost is the one that we lost last week, so I can start putting more stuff directly into the pile, not having to leave it in the intermediate bucket to break down until she'd leave it alone in the pile.

Calendars for the new year are in place. I forsee a lot of exciting changes coming in this next year. I hope everyone has a lot to report as January rolls around.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Dec 17 - 10:02 AM

The electric mixer is whirring away in the kitchen as Himself makes cookies to take to his brother's family in Toronto tomorrow -- not that his brother is not up to generating his own cookie supply. In fact, we will almost certainly come home with a box of his fudge, reciprocity being the Only Way To Go.

The design and construction of the new kitchen, dining room and loo have decluttered our capital funds of a stunning sum, well north of twice as much as I expected, but I have to confess that it's money well spent. Now we have to knuckle under and deal with problems in the rest of the house -- starting with a paint job (Himself's office is still Pepto-Bismol pink). Also, a humidifier added to the furnace would make my sinuses much happier. How much will that cost, I wonder? Should I think of a number and double it?

On the decluttering front, I have decided that my mother-in-law's prized Wedgwood majolica (bright green, raised designs of vines and grape leaves) must find a new home. The dear lady died almost eight years ago and the settlement of her estate landed us with what remained of her fine china. Over seven years of possession, I have never used it. Not once. When I removed it from the china cabinet in the dining room, suddenly there was enough space for everything we do use. The True Sign ... Sigh.

I shall canvass the nieces, but I'm fairly sure that I'll get no takers -- the younger generation wisely prefers crockery that will go into the dishwasher without complaint. EBay, then.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Dec 17 - 12:09 PM

Charmion, you can also check and see if Replacments.com has any of it and wants to buy more.

This morning I was going to make spritz (cookies) for the kids since my son arrives soon and the whole family will get together this weekend. But instead, I'll have him help me make them. We (the parental units) concluded recently that after several years of cooking Puerto Rican favorite dishes together at the holidays that we've managed to pass that baton. They will continue to be part of holiday meals, but we don't need as big a production to teach everyone. We'll find other dishes to teach them, and it dawned on me this morning that their favorite cookie is a good one to do now.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 17 - 11:23 AM

What a year - people with new jobs, people with new houses, people with remodeled houses, people with improved health, and much more.

I propose to let this thread continue - a while back I took the year out of the title to this end - but one issue that sometimes arises as threads get longer is that they are slow to load on portable devices. If several people have this problem, let me know and I can reconsider. In the meantime, if you open the main Mudcat page and see this thread in the list, if you click on the number to the right of the thread title that will open it chronologically from the beginning but with only 50 posts and links to the rest of the pages. You can click on that last link to get to the current page. OR, you can click on that little blue ^d next to the number and that will open the thread at the most recent post and read in descending order.

I have a few articles that I return to for inspiration, and The Tyranny of the Heirloom from the New York Times is at the top of the list. I love the philosophy espoused in Don Aslett's Clutter's Last Stand (I linked to the author and his many books on cleaning and decluttering).

A friend of mine lives in a small (~1000sf) house that recently needed to be completely emptied in order to take up the warped wood floors and replace the sub floors. Much went into the small 1-car garage, the rest was packed up and moved to storage until the job was complete. My friend now has a new lease on his house - he is setting up each room with just as much furniture and decorating as it needs and is donating the unneeded furnishings and decor. It's difficult to let go under normal circumstances, but taking a fresh look at everything has helped him make the house look roomier and made rooms (like his largest bedroom that serves as his office and art studio) an efficient space, and he will no longer be tripping over possessions in order to get into the room and try to use it.

I continue to move items into my sun room where I list eBay items from. The bench beside the door is stacked with boxes ready to ship. I'd like to use the bench for sitting, but right now it's higher purpose is to help me clear these things from the house and make a little income in the process. The proceeds in my PayPal account pay a couple of bills a month and I use it for things like paying online postage and making donations to charitable organizations. The goal is to not have to transfer bank money into PayPal, but always the opposite.

It feels like we're entering darker times, when charities will be strained because of new tax legislation in the U.S. affecting the deductible nature of donations. Take care of yourselves, and if you have the ability, please continue supporting good organizations if even if you can't deduct the donation.

To close on a positive up note (this is a music site, after all!) you might enjoy this story from Weekend Edition Sunday on National Public Radio. Twitter Wants To Help You Welcome 2018 With One Climactic Musical Moment. It started with Phil Collins recommending the timing of one of his songs so the drums hit right at midnight. What a great idea - the Guy Lombardo "Auld Lang Syne" is as hackneyed as they come. Looks like a good thread topic. . .

Onward into 2018.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Dec 17 - 12:52 PM

Thanks for maintaining this thread, Acme. All through this tumultuous year, I have found it a useful place to pound out my dread and frustration, and to brag when I have accomplished a mission, however trivial.

I refuse to believe that neatness is trivial, but some of the steps I take to get there sure can look that way.

I have a tentative taker for the Wedgwood majolica, thank God; Himself's sister-in-law nibbled gently at the bait and may be convinced to take ten fruit nappies and a frankly gorgeous 12-inch serving bowl off my hands. The rest, I think, can be safely consigned to the church bazaar in the Spring.

It's New Year's Eve and a Sunday, and so it is washday. I like to start the new year with clean towels and a clean bed.

Not too much to ask.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 17 - 02:47 PM

Great minds think alike - bed linens changed, and for a while the down comforter is in place. I didn't use it at all last year. We still have a big family event - probably tomorrow - it'll be our xmas and new year rolled into one. I have to keep cleaning and clearing, wrapping, and putting things away. I don't have many decorations out this year, I do need to make two xmas stockings (we've used temporary ones for a couple of years for repeat visitors - that writing is on the wall.) The goal is to have things ready for the event and afterward be able to put away the few ornaments and the house is finished with the holidays. I'll turn off the dusk-to-dawn sensors for the outside lights after the family event, then take the lights in when it warms up a little.

The big box stores put storage containers on sale this time of year but I've managed to declutter enough that I disaccessioned several of those bins, stacked for now in a little-used closet. No more buying bins. I'm not ready to get rid of them, they help when it comes to sorting (whatever - fabric, crafting items, paper, etc.). I have to sort the craft room soon, but for now I'll use the bins to stash things piled on the bed so I have two guest rooms.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Jan 18 - 11:50 AM

PA:

I was supposed to leave for Ohio this AM, but lingering crud-bugs have held me up. I'm hoping the antibiotics get me underway by Friday!

I've been "enjoying" a premature opportunity to bid farewell to more PA items as I focus on what to truck out in May. I always did like pre-grieving inevitable goodbyes; this round seems to be about furniture-repurposing projects I'd have loved to have done, that we will definitely never be able to do.

It turns out that it's enough for me that I've enjoyed finding out/planning how to have done them. (There are only so many clear-coated antiques I can put in my garden-- and the Ohio house can't possibly hold more pieces than I've already planned.) So, more to leave for the parish yard sale.

One item that was hard to decide about was a much-loved antique rocker my SIL gave me 30 years ago. She had wanted it back at one point so she got first refusal. It's a reddish-stained oak, someone's homemade craftsman knockoff of a well-known type. (I can tell because it's not quite square.) She and I decided together to avoid the Californy shipping hassle and donate it to the church. Afyer we decided that, at first I envisioned it in one particular church location... but I have some fabric that's almost a dead match for some church hangings, and it will be a lovely addition to the Chapel that houses the Columbarium, for folks to set a spell with the memories of loved ones inurned there. I'll add a donors' plaque and a rug to go under it, to keep it in the Chapel and out of the yard sale. There's an almost-matching companion chair we're also leaving, to pair with it, that also sees occasional duty for bishops' visits. (We've talked for YEARS about a non-pew sitting spot in there!!!)

In a recent spelunking of an upstairs closet, I found some of the priscilla curtains I've loved so much here in this old house that are no longer available; some of the downstairs priscillas may be too old to wash once more, but I think the found ones can replace any that do fall apart. They are spead out around in two adjoining rooms, so the color doesn't have to match perfectly. One set is ivory and one is white. (A tan dye job should make them all work well enough.) As long as I have enough intact for the living room, that works!

I was able to fill out a truck-sized packing list after several relaxed chats with Hardi, about priorities-- we love those long drives where we dream about retirement dates we still can't plan. I'm wondering if our final move will happen while we still have two cars to deal with, in which case a pod would be better than a last truckload.... or whether by then we'll be down to one vehicle. (I do like the idea of a pod we can take our time UNloading, but I'm sure keeping em ain't cheap.)


Wishing all a good year with house-happiness,

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 02 Jan 18 - 08:57 PM

2017 was a good year, I managed to clear out my house and sell it. Had an epic moving sale which went very well, aside from all the other hauling-off and selling and donating. Did keep a group of things in storage that are worth keeping. My goal for 2018 is going to be to organize and thin that herd too, but can't work at it daily since I'm roaming around the country, seeing the sights.   As far as my little house on wheels, still a bit too much stuff, but mostly there is a place for everything and everything is stowed away, at least on travel days.

Anyway, Happy New Year, clutter-busters. Hope everyone is able to simplify or optimize or whatever your personal goal may be.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 10:48 AM

People seems to do more shopping over the holiday break. I had a number of small items ship yesterday and more today. No going outside in this cold, might as well check out eBay, apparently! I have quite a few decommissioned but functional electronic items to list and now seems a really good time to do it since I'm not going out in the cold, especially with this new year sinus infection. First bill of the year was a co-pay at the doctor's office.

Patty, you had a great year with everything you managed to do. I'd love to hear where you're traveling (and I hope you're staying warm right now - there aren't many places in the U.S. this week that are comfortable for mobile dwellings!)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 11:05 AM

It is definitely a prime time for selling things. I sent off a good many tools, gadgets, and stereo components to guys snowed in on the Great Plains and upper Midwest last year. I could just picture them down in the basement workshop, bored by not being able to get out and do much.

I'm in the Rio Grande Valley where the weather has been nasty, palm fronds are blowing off the trees, constant cold rain and drizzle, but at least not below pipe-freezing threshold. I know everyone else is suffering worse, except for those in the far Southwest. Will shove off towards Arizona in a couple days when the hard freezes let up.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 12:19 PM

(Have not used computer since 23 December.)
Montreal:
The following is a note I wrote to friends about our craze life:

"Since John gave me near half a day of COLD labour for which I am beyond grateful, I have spent a week in Montreal - to spend time with Robin, who was away for most of that time, and the house was beyond terrible. We managed to get back to Bancroft in time for the Christmas Dinner at the Legion and a quiet week of recuperation for him, which was not enough time. We came safely back to Montreal on First, to frozen pipes and a 34F house. Put on as many little electric heaters as the circuits would hold and went to supper. It was almost up to 40 when we returned.

I was going to leave on Tuesday - enough is too much! - but it was snowing when we went out for BF - after sleeping with ALL my clothes on, including my coat. I called Harvest Moon (in Bancroft) while we were at BF, to see what it was doing there: "If you are safe there, stay there!" said Arlene. Darn!

By late afternoon, the house was about 58. (It warmed up outside.) How could he have lived here since 1982... But he had only been camping out - work has been his life and I am in the way in a sense. He is glad to have me but this house has never been a priority ....... He is trying ---VERY!

Last night, he got enough heat in the upstairs BR for a comfortable night! There is actually some baseboard heat up there! The LR is still 59! I sit with a cube heater on my feet and read or watch TV or use computer, with a throw on my legs ... Resigned to being here until Saturday when we will be between snows, or so the forecasts say. Is it really only Wednesday? I feel like I have been here at least a week!

I intend to stay in Bancroft for an extended period. At least there I can be warm - throw another log on the fire! Here, I feel like setting the house on fire. Robin did that as he was thawing the pipes; he "found" the rat's nest under floor of the kitchen counter. Arghhh!

The saga of the battery continues: Car would not start after Christmas - at -30. R warmed up the old battery in the K sink full of HOT water and boosted the NEW one. He believes there is a bad connection somewhere but he is not looking for it in this cold. He bought a booster pack. (I used to have a really good one but he needed it somewhere else and...)

How can someone so brilliant be so dumb, so totally disorganized. I wonder how he has managed to live 70 years with so little attention to self care or comfort. He cheerfully agrees!

Gee, I was thinking I might go to the Atwater Market (about 6 blocks away) but R went out ... - Oh! He has not taken my car... but he will need it to get to his truck (elsewhere!), with the battery for it which someone caused to go dead after being told to be sure and close the door or the battery will run down... He brought the battery here yesterday for TLC ... It was a new battery...

Then he came down from upstairs where he had been texting, etc in the warm BR! Now he has gone off ----but he forgot the battery for the truck!

So, here I sit... I delight in Charmion's new kitchen!!! And in mrzzy's success! and whoever I have missed... May we each have a de-cluttering new year! And stay warm! or cool, as the case may be.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 12:31 PM

CLUTTER-BUSTERS

I like it!

We are truly that amazing group of women and men. I for one cannot begin to calculate the sheer volume of gone goods we might have amassed-- it would be fun some time to estimate and add up our respective cubic yards of goners!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 12:35 PM

Separate post due to fone screen limits... leaving PA Saturday for OH without wifi and on ridiculously slow data plan. Will try to keep up as conditions permit, maybe via fone memo app composition but batch-posting at odd wifi hotspot opportunities. Lot of measuring on this trip planned but budget precludes garden purchases for spring planting.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jan 18 - 01:35 PM

Dorothy, it sounds like time to declutter yourselves of that house to someone who will come in and completely redo the insides. Clearly you're not going to be the ones to handle that. The smaller projects have sounded great, but that big one is too much!

A shower helped clear my head this morning as a sinus infection runs its course. It's sunny today so when it gets above freezing I'll walk over to the sheltered spot in the yard next to the greenhouse and stand for a few minutes with my face in the sun. That always feels therapeutic! No doubt I'll have dogs for company, they also enjoy that sunny nook (they're the ones who use it most of the time.)

Many rest areas along major highways have free WiFi connections. They may be slow, but they're there. My old phones were kind of clunky for connecting, but smart phones of the newest generations (in the last five years or so) are much better at finding and connecting.

I sent a note to Patty about some of my favorite spots to visit in South and west Texas.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 04 Jan 18 - 06:26 PM

I currently have 5 bags of books and 4 bags of clothes decluttered from Jeremiah's room.

I had a stressful recertification exam at work (which allows me to run assessments) and it was making me twitchy nervous so instead of doing the assessment right away I dumped two desk drawers that have been getting on my nerves right onto the top of my desk. I puttered, sorted and organized and ended up with some spectacular looking drawers and THEN I took the assessment. I passed on the first try (it will let you try different versions only so many times and then you are blocked for the year of administering that particular assessment).   Hooray for decluttering relaxation!   

I have an impressive collection of pens, post-its, paper clips and clasps.......all very neatly organized with all the other things that make my office run like a well oiled piece of machinery! :)

It's bitter cold here, many schools are already closed for tomorrow. Temperatures are predicted to be -20 to -30 with the windchill. Stay warm everyone!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jan 18 - 08:33 PM

I've wondered how it is for you and Max and some of our regular New England participants. On NPR this evening someone described seeing a man on skis being pulled down the street by a pickup - in South Carolina.

Susan, I hope your bug clears up enough so you can comfortably make your trip. There's nothing worse than trying to travel when all you want to do is curl up somewhere warm and take a nap.

Holiday ornaments are down, the lights are still in the yard until it warms enough to retrieve them comfortably. Photo cube is set up on the dining room table and I'll be using it for the next batch of eBay items. It's a cloth device that allows light to diffuse and give clear photos uncluttered with background objects or shadows. It folds down to about the size of a stack of dinner plates when compressed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jan 18 - 09:47 AM

The new patio door was installed in the dining-room yesterday with maximum strain on a crew of three carpenters. The outside temperature at noon was about -13C and never clambered any higher than that, so the house was thoroughly chilled by the time they finished.

Everything went fairly swimmingly until the original garden door was extracted and the new door -- carefully measured not once, not twice, but four times -- DID NOT FIT. Close examination revealed that the two-by-four framing timbers were set in crooked, so the opening did not have four 90-degree angles, but instead was a parallelogram wider at the top than the bottom. Much agony ensued.

Every installation job of this type involves extensive shimming, so the shop materials brought for the job included one great big box of long, skinny wedges of wood used to square up the new door (or window, or cabinet) from side to side, and another great big box of thin, flat shingle-like pieces to be stacked on the sill-plate to bring the door to a certain height -- usually about an inch -- above the level of the interior floor. By the time they had finished, both boxes were empty and the crew chief had sent back for more.

To set the new door into the irregular opening, the carpenters had to left it into the frame, add shims, add more shims, take out some shims, put in more shims, check the level, and then take the whole thing apart and start again -- at least six times. They all went for lunch at about 2:00 p.m., then came back and resumed the attack. I offered tea and biscuits at 4:30, but they had finally achieved the correct degree of plumb-ness and level-ness and could not stop until the job was finished.

The entire job was supposed to take "a couple of hours". The crew arrived at about 9:15 a.m. and the last guy left at about 6:30 p.m., sweeping up plaster dust as he went.

We now have only the tiler to go, and I'm not sure if the kitchen contractor even knows where he is, let alone when he is prepared to tackle our backsplash and the holes in our floor. That will be the last major messy and expensive thing we do to this house for a long, long time.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jan 18 - 10:26 AM

Thanks, Acme; hope you're feeling better too.

We're in the same weather LF just described.

Yesterday AM Newbie-Dog manifested that her cold and drafty corner was beyond her ability to stay warm, so we added layers under her at bedtime and into her corner she went... but I wasn't sure she'd handle the dropping temp and faster dropping wind chill so I came back down due to not falling asleep and added much more, thinking that if she used it instead of taking it apart to shred I'd spend some time today putting in a small chair to really get her off that drafty floor-- the one I can't stand to stand on myself.

Making the too-small seat big enough without making it all too big for the tight space where it will have to fit .... I had enough cheap quilts I'm not married to, and she's busy now making it her smells and lumps.

Later it will go into her corner for use tonight (and next winter), and the pretty and thick rug I folded for her will cover the bare, cold tile at the foot of the chair so that she has a cool-off spot, cuz she likes to alternate. The rug available hapoens to be GORGEOUS, and the chair is an old boudoir chair given to us years ago. I think using these for Her Highness's palace boudoir makes sense! The flounced are safe from chewing now that the crappies qhilt has gone on top to use and discard.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jan 18 - 10:30 PM

We've made a neat arrangement w a Mudcatter to take our old vinyl, and maybe auction off some of it to benefit Mudcat. My end on that today was researching best practices (and best shipping boxes), so that he and Hardi can work out the transfer while I'm in NoWiFiLand (sporadic access online) thru March 1. Hardi's next step is figuring how many boxes he'll need.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 06 Jan 18 - 11:55 AM

Montreal:
Bitterly cold. Going out for BF --- well lunch. Well, if it is lunch, there is soup ready that I made yesterday! I would, however, like a room that is at least 60F, not the 49 it was when I came down a short while ago. The BR is warm! May be where I spend the day.

Yes, Maggie, I do wish for this house to be sold. The one in Bancroft is so much better but too far for R. I suspect even that might be cool at minus 35C! But over 49F!

Charmion- ah yes, the joys of an old, poorly built house. We know it well! Congratulations on one more nasty job completed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jan 18 - 08:40 PM

Today warmed to about 65^o so I wrapped up the two strings woven through the juniper and cut a length of cardboard to use for wrapping the two strings of different types of lights that were on the front porch. The wreath that I'd completely forgotten is now also put away and I've disassembled the macrame basket that used to have lights wrapped around the hemp cords and blinked various patterns or glowed and dimmed until two of the colors stopped working completely. Now that set is in the electronics recycle bag. I found some new lights on sale a Walgreens and have added them to the basket to assemble next year.

Picked up a steam humidifier that will live under the bathroom cabinet when not in use. I cleared some of the towels out of there a few weeks ago so there's room.

For the holidays this year my ex gave me a kind of a joke (but practical) gift - for years I've had several dozen old terrycloth wash cloths that were used at the table when the kids were little. I still pull them out but they're tattered, and mostly I use them for cleaning surfaces in the kitchen. He gave me a box filled with new terrycloth washcloths. They're already in the bin in the kitchen, ready for use. The others are in a ragbag right now, and as they get too stained, will be tossed into the trash.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jan 18 - 11:22 AM

There seems to have been an explosion of paper over the course of the last week. It's the usual transition from one year to the next, but my having been out of sorts for several days meant I didn't attend to it. Today it greeted me in all of it's glory around my office. Looks like it's a day of shredding and filing.

Charmion, that door sounds like a smallish nightmare - does it end up looking like a normal doorway after all of those shims were put in?

Congratulations on the recertification, Michelle! (And the drawers!)

Stay warm, everyone!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Jan 18 - 12:54 PM

Montreal:

65F sounds heavenly! Forecast is for 32F at least one day soon. I need to check on snow conditions - and icy road conditions, in hopes of getting back to Beaver SOON! Before the snows start again. Emailed next door neighbour to, please, check the bathroom. If pipes break, pump could pump until it burns out - gallons of water flooding the house.... A major clutter I would prefer not to have.

Brunch yesterday ended up at a buffet: it was warm and we spent almost 2 hours eating and eating. At $12.99/each, it was well worth it and yummy. I only ingested veggies and protein until 2 small cake squares for dessert. The house was still cold but we ingested enough calories to cope. I ingested enough to go to bed with a book, after falling asleep downstairs with coat and hat on - ah warmth! And was able to cook porridge for BF this am; the house still 52F!

I have had to accept that plants at the mill and some at Beaver are probably history (category of brain de-clutter).

It is supposed to be warming today but no sign of it yet in here. Guess I need to go back upstairs with my book - or wrap in a quilt.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jan 18 - 08:47 PM

Several items on eBay sold this weekend; it seems that when they are forced to stay indoors people shop online. I need to get more stuff listed while it's still cold outside. It's nice to send these things to a new home and see the shrinking pile of boxes on my bench in the sunroom.

After two weeks close to home I did some running around today; a trip to the airport, personal errands, and shopping. My fitness routine will start up again next week with returning to exercise classes (hopefully the coughing will have cleared up). I visited a favorite thrift store and found an item for eBay and one for me.

I have done some more paper filing and while organizing my computer desk I dug out the previous set of speakers to replace the poor results I get from the built-in monitor speakers. That about does me in for the day, this cold hasn't completely lifted yet.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jan 18 - 11:14 AM

I signed up for a year of personal training at the Goodlife Fitness gym here, at no little cost. While I sign on the dotted line and mentally add the price to our burgeoning monthly budget, I mentally castigate myself for lacking the willpower to do the workouts on my own, like the wiry seniors and buff young people I see routinely on the gym floor. But then I tell myself -- sternly -- that the trainer not only prevents me from hurting myself, as I have done in the past, but also ensures that I get my arse to the gym in the first place, and that I do the exercises I don't like as well as the ones I don't mind. (I can't honestly say that I like any of them.)

So much of the fitness industry's rhetoric is about finding something you love to do, or find amusing ("fun"!), but when I'm honest I have to admit that the activity I like best is sitting and reading, followed closely by doing the New York Times crossword puzzle. In third place is cooking. None of these pass-times does a darn thing for my cardiac efficiency or the capability of my waning musculature. Damn it.

It has just finished snowing after two days of accumulation, and the temperature is hovering around the freezing point. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow and Thursday, which means that the highway from Stratford to Kitchener will be quite unpleasant when I set out on my monthly pilgrimage to the doctor for my dose of the magic anti-asthma drug. The GPS always directs me to the county road that parallels the highway a few kilometers to the north, but in foul weather that is a terrible idea; the last time I took it going east, the wake from a west-bound farm truck doing no more than the speed limit literally covered my windshield with slush. The heavier highway traffic will have cleared most of the crud off the asphalt by the time I leave home, so the extra driving time the highway route requires will pay for itself in stress reduction.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 09 Jan 18 - 06:58 PM

No extra decluttering this week but I did join the YMCA and went walking on the treadmill last night. :)

Michelle

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

Charmion,

A good friend on mine found a Baltimore, Maryland gym program that has some neat features i can see spreading thru the US retired-folks marketplace. Maybe Canada has these here and there, too.

As I understand her reportage thru my own envy, the first signup period includes physical-therapy-level trainers to assess what FITNESS workouts-- not PT routines-- are possible as the new member's gentle and DOABLE starting point. It's a 60 or 90-day program with many incentives to come 2-4 days/week and form the habit.

Then, there's a huge discount on a second, ongoing membership on the other side of the facility-- which looks more like most gyms most folks start with and then fail to keep up with.... group work, classes, self-led rotation thru strength/cardiovascular machines-- the whole candy shop with staff to facilitate machine use... and the option to get back with your 1st trainer anytime you want their tweaking.

The idea is that max help at startup can train we brilliant retirees to have fun NOT hurting ourselves.

My friend and her much-more-challenged roommate are having a ball now, having graduated to that 2nd level's harder machines and colder pools.

And this theory of fitness marketing seems to be percolating into the Ohio Y near the house we hope to get into fulltime (before we 'decrep' our way into more restrictive levels of senior living).

Now the big advantage there, cost-wise, is that Y memberships are adjusted for income. Yeah baby! The local Y pool is great (I have used it every Ohio vacay), they have a great basement full of strength machines plus main level cardio with windows and... wait for it....

The brand NEW facility-- blocks from our little house-- breaks ground this fall. Walk, walker, bike, and/or scooter range! Pension benefits include part of membership fee! :-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Jan 18 - 05:02 PM

OH:

Let's see... I left PA Saturday in subzero/windchill hell, and had some road budget hiccups causing my planned overnight stop to come an hour earlier than planned, at a cushier known motel where I was forced to sleep in and take Newbie to the inside-hallways on site Mexican restaurant for further svc dog training. They remembered me and fed/watered her as well.

When I got back on the road I drove thru the Sharon Pipeline section of 80, which is totally owned by the semi's needing to change lanes fast and dangerous to "swing" the hills surrounding that areas multiple, intersecting truck routes. The wind had gone but it had left the ditches full of tipped-over and broken semi's. I was grateful for that inner voice insisting I not push thru the Pipeline to reach my planned motel!!!

Having NOT put away everything in the Ohio house to welcome myself back with a tidied magazine layout, I had zero confusion upon entry-- and feel like I never left. The first night I could have sworn Hardi was right here with me-- he must have been praying while missing me again. Newbie likewise settled right in, first night. It has usually taken me several days to adjust my mind.

So I've had a very productive few days here. Hardi loaded what I'd packed in such a way that I had only one small bag, my heavy purse, and the dog to unload upon arrival thru the frozen slush blocking the front door. I'd left a lot more food in the freezer and pantry than remembered-- dinner on hand and brekky to thaw. No need to shop thru icy roads.

The next morning (Monday), I found the snowboots here, got the garage unlocked, moved the jam-packed car into it, and brought one more bag in (meds). And slept a bunch more.

Ydy (Tuesday), was given to haircut (goodbye old styles), doc appt prep (paperwork), dog meds refill picked up, two bags' essential groceries-- no room in still-loaded car! Jammed to ceiling! And phone calls to restart sociopolitical stuff from the fall. I planted the paperwhites I'd left myself in the fridge, using up gravel I'd also left-- in pretty glass tumblers I'd found in November in the garage..... more napping....

Tdy was the actual doc appt (they OKd Newbie coming next time), MY meds picked up, and a toenail trim for Newbie at the enormous kennel where they know her, on sight, by name. Then before my new cold's fever could catch me, I 'girl-power'-unloaded 2/3 of the car into garage space cleared in November, and was able to catch the 12-year-old neighbor getting off the bus for muscling the cargo over the next few days, during the anticipated Friday snowstorm. I brought in one strategic armload.

That leaves tomorrow (Thursday) to fill the car back up w groceries and dog food, bringing in only what must come in, tmrw-- a lot can sit in the car for me to bring in gradually, in my snow boots.

Till then, the thaw and sunshine between snowstorms here has shown me a good look at my thriving, sleeping gardens.


I can mostly only skim the thread to see everyone's great progress: GogogoGO!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jan 18 - 09:41 PM

The head cold symptoms are decreasing so I got some exercise today climbing stairs at work and walking the dogs when I got home. Paper is still on most horizontal surfaces, but I managed to clear my computer desk. There is micro glitter on my desk and keyboard because I finished the holiday cards and mailed them on Monday. Not in time for the holiday, but at least people will hear from me!

I need to make a push to clear out old containers in the fridge (condiments rarely used that are now way past shelf date, etc.) but that can wait till the weekend. And I need to move buckets of compost slurry from the side of the house back to dump into the big compost pile. The dearly departed pitbull illustrated perfectly the term "dogged" in her pursuit of food, even digging deep into the compost. The other two have a typical dog-like interest, but I can police dog poop from the yard into a bucket, cover it over with water for a few minutes then pour that dog-dropping tea over the compost and they have no more interest in eating anything in there. It didn't always work with the pitbull.

Susan, that fitness program sounds organic and welcoming. Does it have a name? I'd like to look at the program and see if they are affiliated anywhere else.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jan 18 - 03:59 AM

Acme, I don't know and won't be talking with my friend for several weeks, but I bet Google can find it.

....

Apologies if this has been run before, but it describes several things I've found helpful in our downsized little Ohio house:

5 Things People With Tidy Homes Don’t Do:
http://thenester.com/2016/03/5-things-people-with-tidy-homes-dont-do.html

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jan 18 - 09:20 AM

Hi, Susan wysiwyg: I have been on the gym routine for many years now, and Himself is less than a year out of the army and very fit and well, so we don't need either the assessment service you describe, or the specialized facilities -- which is a good thing, since Stratford has nothing of that sort. In fact, I doubt that we would find anything like that outside a hospital or rehab centre, where admission would require a doctor's referral.

The habits in question are well formed, but my attitudes remain unreconstructed. Way down in the heart of me, I am just as lazy as ever, and my child self continues to whine and complain at the requirement to get off my arse, pack my gym bag, assume the habiliments of the great outdoors (in January, a significant barrier), and actually GO TO THE EFFING GYM. When I get there, I play all manner of tricks on myself to complete my self-appointed tasks: row just 5,000 metres and you can quit; keep trotting until the treadmill counter says you have worked off your breakfast; etc., etc. I am way too old to learn to love what I have to do at the gym, so I have to make do with the knowledge that it is good for me, which -- as you know -- is not always enough to overcome the frailty of a slothful soul.

That said, I can at least say I am a "tidy person" as described in the article you referred us to. I do all those five things, so I guess I could be worse.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jan 18 - 07:41 PM

Lol, Charmion; that kind of gym is also designed with exactly the motivation you're blaming yourself for not having, but yes I agree that if you're generally tidy you're probably head and shoulders above many of us on that account!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jan 18 - 09:44 PM

I'm selectively tidy - some rooms are in much better shape consistently than others. I can fix a meal at the spur of the moment and not worry about the cleanliness of the kitchen and work surfaces or materials, but you're liable to find dust in a number of other rooms that are somewhat neglected.

If I have a tax refund this year it is tentatively going to cover the cost of the ceramic tiles I want to put down in the hall bathroom. The trouble with tax-time is that if there is a refund, some major appliance gets it into it's tiny machine brain to die or need a major repair, messing up any plans. I'm thinking it might be time to actually sign up for one of those home shield insurance accounts - most of the appliances in the house are upwards of 15+ years old.

There were some great sized and shaped boxes in the recycle bin at work today that came home with me, though right now the state of the sunroom is such that boxes seem the last thing I need to stock up on. It's the variety of sizes and shapes that I try to keep in stock. This weekend I'll flatten and store them in a cabinet I use to organize them by size.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 Jan 18 - 07:44 PM

Three full bags of children's books, 2 bags of children's clothing and a bag of shoes delivered to Goodwill today. Two bags of clothes in especially excellent condition delivered to a co-worker with 2 nephews in need. The smile on my coworker's face was priceless. <3

I have a 3 day weekend ahead.....as usual, I have lots of things I want to get done but I'll just wait and see where the day directs me. :)

I put in a very full week and am happy to be home with Oatie snoring on the couch and Jeremiah upstairs playing "The Fight Song" on his guitar and singing his little heart out.

*Big, happy, contented sigh*

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle

PS. The temperature at 6:30am was 52 degrees, by 1:30 it was 62 degrees.....and predictions for tomorrow say 12. LOL   Craziness! Like the moon phases, I think these extreme weather swings have a very large effect on behavior.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jan 18 - 01:04 AM

I also have three days off, and after a week of not doing much due to recovering from a virus, and the virus itself the week before, I have a lot of catching up to do. And the week before that the weather didn't help, it was so cold, so I'm way behind on a whole bunch of chores.

Yesterday the temperature was in the 50s, this morning it was again in the mid-20s and enough wind to make the walk into my building at work really painful. Last year I think we had one really cold day all winter.

This evening I've sorted a lot of paper, shredding some and recycling most. I've also filed some as I've uncovered notes for several projects that were buried in the stacks. Some have been moved to the appropriate part of the house (shopping lists on the kitchen counter, notes for eBay in the sunroom, etc.) The rest will wait till tomorrow, when I start again.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jan 18 - 09:57 AM

Today I can see progress from my work yesterday, but it has reached the point where I must go outside (it has been very cold here again lately) to muck about with the compost (empty bins at the side of the house into the pile in the back of the yard) and haul a large bag of glass and plastic and a large basket of paper over to the city recycle bins. That way I make room for myself to finish emptying out the fridge and to continue emptying paper out of my office.

It is also the day to flatten boxes. That act alone will free up many cubic feet of space. I'll pick a few that fit specific eBay projects now and flatten the rest. I have a place to store them flat, but I can't reach it till I flatten everything in the path.

Dorothy, where do you find yourself today? Last week you were in Montreal hoping to get out to Beaver soon. Did you manage that, and is there water (no burst pipes), heat, and a wifi signal?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Jan 18 - 07:56 PM

OH:

With expeditious kid help, the car is now unloaded (mostly into the house), and I have opened and rough-sorted boxes' contents towards their destination rooms. Along with groceries awaiting their pantry destinations, these all flow towards their spots as I pass them, and in this one-story house it's easy to keep moving; this morning I felt terminally un-tidy-able (and ooky from antibiotics), but already it's looking sane here.

I think "selectively tidy" may be different from "serially tidy" which this place really is. It's a rhythm reflecting that real ppl live in houses, living organically messy lives. It's all good. I guess actually I'm doing both-- there's that curtain dividing off the BR areas from the public mtg spaces..

I would also observe that decluttering is different for retired folks. Those of you still employed with paychecks have different challenges than those faced with retired/partly creaky schedules and bones-- we have time but not always capacity. I hoped the lessons I'd learned 10 years ago would serve me well, now. ... but AFGO. ;-)

One ginormous box left, too big/busted to tote-- but a smaller box, for fetching some of contents at a time, is ready and waiting for a warmer spell.

And I'm sorry-- but it was hilarious seeing how 4" of snow are a big deal here. Decrepit I may be, but I guess me and Newbie are northern-hardened, cuz it was not so bad to deal with after the driveway was plowed by the mow/blow/snow service. I shoveled to the garage, being old enough to have set the shovel handy before the brief blizzard.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 13 Jan 18 - 08:47 PM

Basic picking up happened in spurts here today but far better was the hours of ukulele playing, some with Jeremiah playing along on his guitar (I think it's SO cool that he can play along...his collection of chords is becoming impressive) and then a few more hours of reading (Currently reading "Endurance" by Scott Kelly....I'm am freakishly attracted to all things related the International Space Station) and just plain old family time.

It was a good day to do lots of nothing more than hang out in jeans, a t-shirt and slippers, doing whatever the heart dictated. :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 14 Jan 18 - 02:08 PM

Today I am working on one of the bookshelves that is 7 feet tall. I have only attempted to get through 2 shelves. One of those shelves was full of medical paperwork for when I was going through chemo. Tomorrow I celebrate 8 years of being cancer free and I have decided that I don't need that paperwork anymore. Looking through it makes me cry and there is no earthly reason why I need all that. I kept a few select books that were helpful, the book that Maggie made me (a treasured item), the video I made of my journey, a copy of the speech I have given when asked to be the speaker at a few Relays for Life, a Relay for Life calendar that has my and Jeremiah's photo in it along with a favorite quote and a book published by Georgia Ovarian Cancer Alliance that has my written story and photo. I did keep (and it has been tucked away for years now and NOT on the bookshelf) all the cards full of love that I received during that time.

I have also removed several books that just aren't being used here and I'd much rather have the space than the books. One shelf is binders of neatly organized and divided into categories.

It doesn't sound like much but it took some time and I dusted as I went through. Also, I have all my favorite books together on one spot.   Looks and feels good.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 14 Jan 18 - 08:09 PM

So it's been a busy day here. In addition to the stuff I posted previously, I got all the Christmas things put away. The tree has been down since the day after Christmas as it was getting droopy despite daily fresh water.....guess that's what happens when you get your tree early and have very dry heat!!! Anyway....the nativities are all packed up until next year and the garlands, Santa items, angels, etc. I love Christmas and all the decorations but I equally love when it's all put away and all the surfaces are empty (for the time being..LOL).

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jan 18 - 11:38 PM

It sounds like you kept the best memories, Michelle, and there's a lot that could be added to that book, all good stuff. ❤

Today I did the work on the compost, wheel-barrowing two five-gallon kitchen waste buckets back to the pile that has a heavy-duty plastic frame holding in the contents (to keep the dogs out of anything that still smells tempting). I also did a deep purge in the fridge; sauces past shelf dates, crystallized jelly, ancient pickles, things that were in plain sight and totally forgotten. This evening I went through the side-by-side freezer for oddball frozen things that will never get used (like ancient chicken backs, frost-burned veggies, old plastic bags of frozen herbs, etc.), and that's my last thing this evening because I'm putting a heavy duty contractor bag out at the curb tomorrow with all of the things that can't go in the compost. (When I took a bucket of the veggies to the compost I heard something rustling around in the brush behind the fence. This will probably give the wildlife something to poach out of the bin when the dogs aren't looking.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Jan 18 - 03:53 AM

We spent a happy weekend turning out all our wardrobes, cupboards and drawers, and sorting out all the clothes we no longer need or wear, and all the tins of food that are in date but not likely to be eaten.

The clothes were sorted into those my husband can take to Africa on his next trip and those we can take to a Charity Shop.
The tins all went to the supermarket Food Bank crate.

It was amazing how much dust gets into wardrobes and drawers, so we had a good old go with a damp duster and some polish.

Here in Norfolk, this is called a 'fye-out'!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jan 18 - 10:10 AM

Senoufou, after going through several pages of search results I finally found a link to the 1895 A Glossary of East Anglia in Google Books by Walter Rye.

Fye. To clean or purify. To fye out the pond; to fye up the corn [Spur.]. See Fie.

[skipping back a few pages. . . ]

Fie, or Fye. To cleanse out a ditch, a pond, or any other receptacle of mud or filth.

Learn something new every day!

I added a couple more things to the large trash bag (it has a simple square knot holding it closed, easy to untie, and when the trash guys come by, easy to pick up). Things I thought better of and decided I would never use.

The weather is nice this morning but supposed to be snowing and bitterly cold by overnight. I'd best finish up any outdoor chores early and play on the computer later.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Jan 18 - 12:03 PM

Acme, that's fascinating! The word is pretty generally used round here.
It's also encountered in that song, "Martin said to his man, "Fye man! Fye!" Which I think means "Clear off"!" (much the same thing)

I notice you put your rubbish in a sack for the bin men. We have very robust polypropylene wheelie bins, (three different colours, recycle, landfill and garden waste). Foxes and cats can't get into them as they're too high and shut firmly.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Jan 18 - 10:01 AM

As usual, Eliza Senoufou comes up with the mot juste -- a fye-out. I feel as if I have been fying out our lives for the last year, and I'm damn' well ready to be done with it. Himself is so ready to be done with it that he now automatically digs in his heels at every new proposal to disembarrass ourselves further.

I keep thinking I have finally unpacked the final box from the move, only to find another lurking on a shelf or in a corner, pretending to be something else.

Yesterday it was a large carton that once held a vacuum cleaner, sitting on a shelf in the garage. At first I thought it was empty, kept against the day when the vacuum cleaner might require repair, but then it occurred to me that it might contain framed pictures or other ornaments that we had no room for and had therefore stashed in the basement of our house in Ottawa. (We both inherited many framed items from our deceased parents, and acquired many more over the years -- and then got married and multiplied the problem.) So I hauled it into the house and pried it open, and what do you think I found?

No, not a forgotten Rembrandt, or even a neglected set of dishes. It was a dead vacuum cleaner, the wreckage of the Hoover central vac we gave up on in Ottawa when the manufacturer went bankrupt and we could no longer get parts. Dang! How did that escape my decluttering efforts before the move? This enquiring mind really wants to know.

So out it goes to the landfill next garbage day, at the cost of two City of Stratford garbage tickets.

As for the excess art, our new church has a potential solution. In Spring, St. James's holds its annual "variety sale" -- what we Anglicans used to call a rummage sale. People like us abound in this prosperous town, one of Canada's top retirement destinations (honest, we didn't know until we got here!), so Stratford basements abound in decorative items that have not found display space. So an enterprising member of the congregation, who just happens to be a retired curator, collects paintings, graphics and objets de vertu and organizes them for sale to the benefit of the parish, which has a handsome Victorian church complete with ring of bells to support, not to speak of its real work in the community, and needs every penny it can scrape up.

Now all I have to do is persuade Himself that we can contribute a significant stack of framed items. Wish me luck with that.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 16 Jan 18 - 01:52 PM

A 'variety sale'! What a good idea Charmion.

We have lots of car-boot sales round here during Spring and Summer, and table-top sales in village halls when it's cold outside.
We're planning on doing a garage sale on our front drive (and inside the garage of course) at Easter. It's much easier than carting stuff away from the house to a car-boot sale.

We have a Facebook page for our village now, and we can also advertise it in the Parish magazine. I have lots of kitchen equipment I no longer use, garden tools, planter tubs and pots, odd pieces of furniture, rugs, excess Christmas decorations, arty crafty stuff, no end of clutter.
We love doing it because everyone natters away, it's like a party. And many of them bring their lovely dogs (who all know us) My husband offers orange squash in paper cups and I do small cakes.
At our last house many years ago we did one and made £250 - not bad.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 18 - 09:39 PM

This year we exchanged a lot of kitchen equipment at xmas, and the items that work but were insufficient to the task are now in a drawer where they can be called upon if spares are needed, or, more likely, the next time someone needs a donation of kitchen equipment.

The larger city around our village has very strict trash collection rules; it must be in the correct bin (black for trash, blue for recycling) and the correct stuff must be in each bin. They write tickets if it isn't correct (after random checks or complaints from the collection truck folks). Here in our village it's a crap shoot as to what people will do about trash - I have a couple of cans, but when the guys collect the trash from cans they don't usually put them back on the curb or lawn, they often are dropped on the concrete driveway or at the curb in the street. They can get knocked over, blown away, run over, etc. If I don't have much it goes in a small bag in one of the cans, and waits near the garage until I have more that makes it enough to bother putting out for collection. I recycle and have a compost pile, so there isn't much trash. They collect it two times a week and I put it out about once every other week.

I put that kitchen waste in a heavy bag (a "contractor bag" that can be used for collecting building waste on a work site) in a trash bin, but by morning when I looked out they hadn't picked it up yet but would be by soon so I left the bag at the curb and put the bin up by the garage. Dogs and coyotes don't usually bother trash during daylight hours.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Jan 18 - 12:54 PM

(Ohio)

And I'm transferring duplicate kitchen stuff to Ohio every time I come down from PA-- because if it works well enough to have been kept or recently acquired, I'd rather not take a chance on a worn-out Goodwill item. And from my Ohio stash I was able to give a few items to a friend lvg a domestic hot mess, because I knew I had a parallel item to bring down on my next trip-- and a backup item already here to use til then.

It's good to have enough gear on hand for group cooking, or to be able to leave dirty items soaking when sick or all hell has broken loose.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 17 Jan 18 - 01:12 PM

It's interesting to hear about rubbish collection and removal in other places.
We have three wheelie bins and all have strict rules about what can and can't go in them:-

   - a brown one for garden waste, no sticks or branches over a certain diameter, no stones or lumps of wood.
   - a black one for recyclables such as glass bottles, tins, plastic containers (milk, cooking oil, ice-cream tubs etc), paper and cardboard
   - a green one for landfill stuff

We have many urban foxes, rats, mice and feral cats etc which used to get their noses into the old large plastic sacks, and spread the rubbish far and wide. Now they can't do that.
The bins can weigh quite a bit and I have to get my trusty husband to trundle the correct one out the front for me. But they have inbuilt wheels, so it isn't as hard as it sounds.

Does anyone on here get furious (as I do!) about the totally MAD amount of plastic used for wrapping up food in supermarkets? Even onions, potatoes and nuts are sealed in plastic. Meat can have two or three layers if one includes the outer tray. No wonder the oceans are awash with the stuff.
In the early fifties, I can remember that NOTHING was wrapped like this. One bought vegetables loose from the greengrocer, and meat at the butcher's was cut in front of you, then wrapped in white paper, as were loaves of bread. Our metal 'dustbin' was only for ashes from the coal fire!
There's a move afoot recently to reduce all this pollution. It can't come soon enough for me!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: ketchdana
Date: 18 Jan 18 - 01:46 AM

"Let's recycle" sung by the McCalmans. Fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01x9PXN5dI

..Bob

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jan 18 - 09:41 AM

Yes, the amount of plastic packaging is mad. On the other hand, that awful plastic film keeps fruit, veg, meat and baked goods clean, and easier to handle at the check-out counter as long as the cashier can be prevented from flinging one's carefully bagged fragile comestibles. If our society insists on marketing food as if apples and animal parts were widgets made of stainless steel, then plastic film is essential to the maintenance of even the pretense of food safety.

People talk a lot about food poisoning and fret noisily about botulism and E.Coli contamination, but the actual incidence of food-borne disease has declined radically in industrialized nations over the last century. That's mostly attributable to public health inspections, vigorous prosecutions when negligence is found, and widespread use of impermeable food packaging.

There is such a thing as biodegradable plastic film; I've seen it in several Ontario grocery chains. I have a nasty, sneaking feeling, however, that it is more expensive than the bog-standard kind, and I know from messy experience that it is not as strong.

The Ottawa "solid waste" (i.e., garbage) system is so complex that the city distributes leaflets and calendars to every single municipal address to ensure that people know what is collected and when. I suspect that every household that manages its garbage competently has a member who has accepted the role of Garbage Guru, and spends anywhere up to an hour a week rounding up and sorting debris.

The collection and composting of animal waste -- everything from chicken bones to dog droppings -- was one of the city's most debated programs, second only to the construction of a multi-billion-dollar light rail system that includes a tunnel under most of downtown.

In Stratford, garbage is a little simpler, but not much. We have plenty of raccoons in this neighbourhood and a large community of crows, so I am just as particular about garbage management in this leafy small-town suburb as I was in the big city.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 18 Jan 18 - 10:15 AM

The thing is, most of the vegetables will be peeled first and then cooked. The fruit will be well washed before eating. Meat will be cooked. I can see that, say, bread will need to have some sort of cover, as it may not be heated before eating. Similarly ham or tongue.

Our milk came in glass bottles which one later washed for the milkman to collect. They were refilled at the dairy.

But decades ago, we had a nice compost heap where the peelings went.
We never became ill from food poisoning. In fact, I'd say we were healthier in those days than people are nowadays.

I'm so tempted to do what has been suggested on 'green' websites, and after passing through the checkout, unwrapping/removing all the plastic junk and leaving it for the supermarket to deal with! It amounts to absolute piles and piles from a single visit.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 18 Jan 18 - 10:25 AM

By the way, loved that McCalmans' song Bob!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Jan 18 - 04:13 PM

Ohio:

The trash processes here are about halfway between easiest and worst. Two big bins. Robotic arms pick up the bins weekly, into mega-trucks too big for our little streets. One is for recycling.

They distrubuted guidelines as rules when they transitioned from 'human-handles/sorts one small bin' to this robotic approach.... they threatened that if you recycled stuff not on the list of authorized items, they'd leave the whole bin curbside, not emptied. Not ticketing us, but massively inconveniencing us.

While I was away, apparently citizen pushback occurred. Now its pretty much, "Just NO styrofoam, people!" They adapted to US-- because WE are their source for income-producing material. In kindness to them and the longevity of their sorting/processing machinery, I do disassemble boxes thst process as misc paper-- not only large cereal boxes but tiny raisins boxes.

Never once have they left anyone's bin, in this big little neighborhood, un-emptied. Hmpf! :-)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 04:40 PM

Beaver:
Since I obtained the new modem, I have rarely been able to use it here. The old one could be put up in a window to catch a signal but this plugs into the computer. Useful in Montreal but not here! I am seeking a new system and a friend suggested a local company which tells me that in a few months there might be service on my road. Very local! When I asked where they were located, I had just driven past it on the way to and fro mechanic. She told me she also goes to Pete! (about 6 minutes away.) I have been taking vehicles to Pete for 32 years, but not the years I lived away. I missed him then.

Happy to come home to a warm bathroom - where all the pipes are warmed by a small electric heater. When it was SO cold, I asked a neighbour to check- just in case. If the pipes broke, the pump would spew water until it burned out! So, Sue happily informed me that all was well!! However, the door to the studio had blown open due to heavy winds. All the plants and clay... Oh well.

Car did not wake up on Saturday after minus 26 C night. Neighbour Larry came to rescue but could not start it; But he did leave it to charge from his car for about 15 min while we had a cup of tea. He doubted it would help and went home. After a bit, I went out to close the hood. He had disconnected one of the terminals. So, I put it back on with a "why not give it a try" attitude and -it started right off. I was able to do errands after leaving a second voice mail to friends canceling the first one - a request to send out an email to the group to try for a ride to a Celebration of Life on Sunday! I got through the next few days, and am still, doing errands then disconnecting overnight. The mechanic thinks he fixed it but the nature of electrical problems has me still disconnecting so I can get running the next day. The day Larry charged it, we found their were small lights on even when the key was not in the ignition!

I emailed #2 son a request for a phone consult re my concern that this car may be reaching the end. I could have made payments on a new one for several months for what I have spent on it the last three. Well, having written that - maybe that is not too bad, if this run of repairs does not continue.

I came back to Beaver on 9th after having to wait out snow storms in Montreal. SO glad to be back: warm house, friends, fresh air and the exercise of bringing in the fire wood. The latter is wonderful exercise and I really detest "made up exercise". I also clear snow off back deck almost daily. There was quite a bit when I arrived; wonderful neighbour had cleared driveway! Then we had rain which uncluttered a great deal, but not all. But two above freezing days were welcome. Each one is a gift. I am hoping the next couple - on the weekend- will warm the studio enough for me to feel inclined to pot, which I have not done since early October.

Trying to get back to a modified Keto diet. A friend lost 25 pounds with NO wheat, dairy or sugar! What a challenge! She looks terrific. I have trouble with the no dairy but I am beginning to see that cheese causes me to cough; of course, it builds up mucous and my throat is constantly tickled into coughing.

Being here has many advantages. The nature of the uncluttered house, in which I can stay organized while keeping warm; the uplifting views, the sense of being home, the freedom to run to town (4-5 minutes, going into shops where I know staff and they know me. This is a generally friendly community where folks smile and greet each other even if they do not know who!

I finally gave up and took the computer to the library on Tuesday and shall do so again, maybe tomorrow. The air made me cough but I put on my mask and stopped. I love to go out on the back deck and just breathe in the wonderful air.

I am still lobbying gently for a better house in Quebec so I can spend more time with R. He has eaten up the food I left for him. I do not intend to go back there until the weather warms. He is not home much but it has been about 48F in the house. No fun getting up in the morning!

I have still not gotten into sewing. Waiting for .... I hope to surprise myself by just starting. I did not have to put Christmas things away because we never got them out! R was so tired we did almost nothing.

So, while I have finally managed to get in here: This am I managed to do the ironing for the last ten years, more or less. Not a lot but finally done and put away! Came to A Place for the Arts to use my modem. warm and friendly. Just about freezing today. Wonder what tomorrow will be!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 05:10 PM

Auntie Soup is happily exhausted from joyous, spontaneous playtime with brilliant 2-year-old Gavin (and modeling nonviolent discipline for daddy)-- fun!

It had been a long time since the last folkbaby sat in my lap... and aside from the fun of finally meeting my helper's son, it was a good chance to gauge my current fitness for childcare (and the house's fitness too.) I had lots of fun and creative things readily avsilable to hold happy interest. Not toys. Real THINGS hed never seen.

Potential housemate issues with his daddy were identified, named, and worked out. However, Tyler needs to stay in Dayton for work, and I need the jazz room as a daily setting spot-- but it would also be fine if something changed and he used that room. (Of course, it's still a guest room, and he'd be a guest.)

I was definitely right that past housemate issues have arisen largely from not physically being here for an actual trial period, when each of the previous incumbents moved in.

S~

Subject: Artwork Planning
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 05:56 PM

Ohio:

One of my designated hats to wear in Ohio is to be the "Merge" team/decorator. And I shop the PA house for decor. (Google that TV progran.)

When we married/blended kids/started in another rectory, my tastes kinda got squished under his tastes plus the house's rental limitations. Here-- I get to make us a home, and finally blend beautifully what we both love into this house made just for us.

I'm thinking about artwork today. Nothing of real value-- framed prints and posters mostly.

I'd been picturing two particular favorites together in the LR on one wall-- love the wall color and assumed they'd harmonize on that color. WRONG!!

These two look hideous together! But the frame sizes kinda work here and we have other pieces in that size to pull from. That Renoir print that looks awful here needs to live either in the loo, my office, or our bedroom over the dresser. And with that realization, I can suddenly see our whole artwork plan. Here it is.

Each Ohio room has one large potential art wall, with room for two big pieces and several smaller ones set among the bigger ones. Each room also has a small area for an arrangement of 2-3 smalls. Many of the rooms have already have nails in the right places-- eerily superb.

We will have to rotate pieces within each room seasonally, to enjoy all the ones we love-- but I was worried that we had more than the house can hold. They can stay right in their assigned rooms-- one set, up on the wall, and the alternate-season set, slid behind furniture-- won't need to go into the garage at
all!!!

All I'll need to do is label each item when I pack, to go into the parallel room here. The wall colors differ some-- but all go together well. I'm ready now to bring it all down in May.

Exceptions-- Hardi's gold-framed degrees and certificates I've been worrying about can be treated that way in either his sewing room or on the wall on his side of our bed. Family photos now in the PA DR can go above our headboard.

Sculptures/3D items-- the sellers of this place left, of all things, 3 pretty cube-cubbies that hang on the wall. Add a sculpture on top, a small knick-knack inside-- boom! Interest and texture and shape variety, scattered between framed items. (Hardi has a woodshop to duplicate more!)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jan 18 - 01:46 AM

My work this week has been technology-driven; an outage in the neighborhood that the Internet cable company didn't recognize as an outage meant that I went and bought a new modem because the customer service office person did their test and said it was my modem. My router was blinking out lately so I got both. Only to learn the problem was the cold contracting the lines so much that a fitting at the pole in the yard next to mine pulled apart. But since I have the new equipment, it's in for now. I like the router interface a lot more than on previous models and the modem is just another modem, same protocol (Docsis 3.0) - amazing how devices with no moving parts can wear out, but apparently the connections inside are made of very thin wires or printed circuits and they burn out after a while. I'd had the previous modem long enough that it was due to die one of these days.

Paper inventory and organization improved for a while there, but got out of control again during the week. Round two this weekend.

I also liked your song, Bob. Are you a lurker here or did you come across a good song and go looking for a place to park it?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jan 18 - 03:24 PM

The U.S. Federal government non-essential employees are not going back to work until the House and Senate agree on several bills. The Post Office is self-funded so our mail will continue to arrive and shipping will be possible. The main thing that will be put on hold is the IRS - and I've prepared to file my taxes early. That will have to wait till a budget is approved. If any of our participants are U.S. federal employees they will have some free time to work on these projects (and here's hoping there is back pay at the end of these days of political turmoil.)

Thank goodness the cold temperatures have moved out of the region; I've had yard work waiting on good weather and my improved health. Today I'll start out by trimming out all of the dead asparagus fronds and moving some soil into the depressed area where the fill is settling in over the new sewer line.

I hope some of our lurkers will drop in and tell us what they're up to. New blood is always welcome!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jan 18 - 12:18 PM

Yesterday I did several loads of laundry - I used more bulky clothes during the cold spell but I didn't like doing chores that brought me in contact with moisture, it just makes you feel colder. There were a number of mid-layer garments (shirts or sweaters) that are now back in the closet, no longer lying on the trunk or chair in my room in case I decide I need something to take the chill off. The bedroom looks like it's had a makeover.

I need to do another donation run since the bin in the laundry room is filling. I find this a particularly useful way to clear stuff out of the house. Once I've decided an item will be donated it stays there, out of sight (the lid is opaque, the sides translucent), until I notice through the sides that the bin has filled up.

The discount grocery I visit had a good selection in the produce warehouse yesterday; I was out of poblano peppers in the freezer, they had nice salad greens, and I loaded up on several fruits. The trick now is to use these fresh items fast enough that they don't become compost contributions due to neglect.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Jan 18 - 04:03 PM

Beaver:

YAY!!!!! I did it! I did it! I actually vacuumed the whole (little) house and then left to come to the grocery store that offers free wifi! Dual purpose: escape the dust and use the internet. Also did a load of heavy clothes this am that are hanging in the house - much nicer in this weather. The jan Thaw has been wonderful, enabled me to go out to back-back shed and find hepa filter for shop vac and clean it. It is due to end in a couple more days and dump a new load of white stuff.

Feeling caught up. Well, still no sewing... But feeling stronger each day and was able to go out last night to hear wonderful Bobby Dove. Now back is tired of sitting here so I shall go home to finish one of the 3 "seven day" books on the pile. And think about the next thing to complete. One bag went to thrift shop this week, another is started.

I was doing a good job of eating good stuff, not bad stuff. But spent the aft nibbling cookies and cashews. Home for veggies and chicken.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Jan 18 - 06:17 AM

Yay DP!

Ohio:

PTSD after an oral surgeon visit years ago (people died in that chair) = no dentists for 30 years. Great teeth genes (no significant cavities), but gum issues.

Finally found great PA dentist/practice who can work w that-- a week b4 getting on the road. Made March appt for major gum job.

Oops! Not in time for two particular teeth-- may lose 'em b4 appt. Joy of living in 2 places! Not worth 7 hour drive for teeth past saving!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: billybob
Date: 22 Jan 18 - 08:35 AM

Been reading your posts for many months, I think I did pop in a thought a few months back, so as it is a new year here I am. Two years ago my mother died, she moved in with us 6 years ago and after settling her in a lovely room serrounded by her precious bits and bobs , everything else went into big boxes and into the loft. Putting the Christmas decorations away I looked at mum's boxes and thought the time is here to start going through everything. I started with a box full of discs that Father had transferred all the families home films and photos onto. Thousands of slide photos (which are in boxes in a blankèt box in one of my bedrooms) and years of family history. We spent a happy evening with my daughter and grandchildren yesterday watching them , how lovely to watch the children watch and listen to the voices of their great grandparents, Bunny had told me recently she couldnt remember Nanny's voice.
So one box out of the loft,and kept, about 12 to go!Lots of paintings and certificates in frames.Suitcases full of books that can go to the hospice bookshop after I have looked through them. Now I have joined this group I have no excuse, time to begin?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jan 18 - 09:42 PM

billybob, good start! And though 12 more boxes doesn't sound like a lot compared to the housefuls some of us are looking at, that family material is probably densely-packed heavy lifting.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: billybob
Date: 23 Jan 18 - 07:26 AM

Yes Acme there are some very heavy boxes that may have to be unloaded in situ. One is full of brass candle sticks, horse brasses and a Victorian fireplace set that belonged to my grandmother. I have thought I might polish it and put it in our fireplace.Luckily the loft is in the eves of the house so there is a door from my bedroom. no ladders!When the weather gets better I shall get Bill to tackle the garage, we did empty it 2 years ago but it has accumulated lots of "stuff" again. Bills idea of throwing away is stage 1 from house to garage stage 2 when garage is full, local tip, or hire a skip.Out of sight out of mind!
My father never threw anything away, when he died at 91 he still had all his railway season tickets from when he commuted daily to London and all his old cheque books!I have all his RAF ties and cap and his medals , I think it is time to get them framed and give them to my son.
So this weekend I shall venture into the loft and see what I can find, somewhere in the box of framed things is an original copy of the Times of London telling of the death of Lord Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar and mother kept all the Newspapers for George VI Coronation and the abdication of Edward the VIII.There is also a huge book that celebrated Queen Victoria's Coronation. I am looking forward to seeing what I can find not sure how much will be disposed of though ?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jan 18 - 11:58 AM

Today, I took screwdriver in hand and proceeded to remove the ugly, ill-fitting Venetian blinds from the study and guest room windows.

I'm on a roll.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Jan 18 - 02:45 PM

Go CHARMION!!!

Ohio:

It's official as of last night's parish annual meeting: Hardi is now contemplating an actual date to retire, and will announce it when he's ready.

This modifies so many of my Ohio plans! For one thing, it changes a lot of the May truckload contents, and that means getting a jump on my clothing storage here.

The timing is excellent-- all my laundry is done and folded. I've got a good sense now of getting dressed in my actual bedroom-- not possible in the 2-story PA house, where I've been dressing in the cold, small bathroom for 23 years.

Here's my new clothing storage plan:

Narrow 3-drawer antique dresser-- that will sit either in the LR as it does in PA, or preferably in the alcove outside the master BR. This will hold accessories for going out, and emergency off-season basic outfits because the master BR closet may not hold all seasons' items-- they may need to rotate via garage storage. (I have zippered wardrobes to keep them fresh, which successfully housed camping linens for 2+ years.)

Low, wide BR dresser-- dailywear for housework/gardening/errands, which can be folded; undies and nighties for all occasions. This will free up closet rod space.

The closet presently has an upper and a lower rod, with deep shelf between and another shelf in thrre up at ceiling height. No doors-- curtains (as I prefer). I'm only using the lower, now, and it's jam packed-- because the upper is too high for me (and therefore suited to some offseason storage).

Until last September, there was no BR dresser. All my stuff was in a tiny alcove dresser (4 child-sz drawers)... in plastic drawers on the low closet shelf... and on the low closet rod.

In September, the housemates who departed left a dresser I'll replace, in May, with one currently holding kingbed linens in PA. But altho the drawer depths are a tad different, no reason I can't train myself to use it NOW the same way I'll use it when #1Son/DIL unload MY dresser! Cuz my closet's making me NUTS, I have more here now than fits in there, and madame likes leisurely boudoir dressing so much!

So-- since life in Ohio facilitates female friendships, as well of course as social stuff w Hardi, I do stuff here with friends at least twice a week. And since the grocery, etc are a short scooter-ride away, I'm shopping every few days instead of twice a month. That means I want my dresser to facilitate OUT more than staying IN.

TMI:

Current dresser configuration is a bit different; instead of deep, wide drawers, it has shallower drawers; narrow ones on the left and 2x wider ones on the right.

L top: panties and socks

R top: bras and eventually slips/shapewear


L middle: shirts, flat

R middle: shorts, jeans


L lower: playtime and pretty nighties

R lower: cotton nighties, loungewear. Roll heavier loungewear and stack nighties.

......

Now that I know the dresser layout that will best support our Ohio lifestyle, I can start the switch, and transform the closet a little at a time.

Yaaaaay!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Jan 18 - 04:00 PM

All clean laundry plus one plastic closet drawer-- in dresser. Almost exactly as planned!


L lower: gardening/grub shirts

(playtime and pretty nighties all fit with other items in R lower)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Jan 18 - 06:26 PM

Beaver:
23 January
3 inches of beautiful snow followed by freezing rain last night and today - thawing in the 30'sF. I have cleared the back deck and the wood pile area, tried to put the wood covering in a useful manner to avoid trouble when the next snow comes. Had to go out the back door and around to the front as the snow and freezing rain precluded opening the front screen door; OK now. cleared front and around car. R removed the back screen door in Dec. Snow is melting well. Road seems to be plowed up the hill but not from here out to the more main road (peculiar). I could get out but no reason; tonight's meeting (horticultural society and for once I had prepared for the "competition", a nice succulent/moss affair) canceled. I have lots of wood inside in prep for --whatever comes next. And plenty of food.

Wrote a letter to editor and was concerned about sending it. Went out to car to peruse road and decided to see if modem would work outside. It did! So emails were sent and received. Came in and dealt with new ones and went out and sent new batch! Great! It has been SO frustrating to be out of touch, having to drive somewhere to get a signal. So, I can sit in house and write, go out and send - maybe - as long as it is not precipitating! On a sunny day, the car would be warmish; we have only seen the sun for short periods about once a week since - I don't remember when!

In Montreal, R reports a flat screen TV which has been sitting around for a couple years - in the box! is now installed and working in the - warm! - BR. "Richie did it". Richie may be on the Spectrum; no social skills but smart. Now R can fall asleep watching TV and wake up to the news. Arghhh! Not if I am there. He talked about putting the other one in LR. Yep, when one did not work, he bought another one. Now we know why de-cluttering that house is ....

Well, life is cosy here and a nice veggie stew is on the stove burbling. 2pm - brunch! Cannot believe I accomplished all that on a handful of delicious German cookies. None left so I can get back on track after a "way out there" day yesterday.   

Today:
Have found that sometimes I get a signal outdoors; it was warmer yesterday and I was able to send off emails. Today - Brry -10C. So I came to Foodland. What a misnomer! There is very little in here that I consider food due to chemicals,....

Happy that eating everything in sight plus working really hard on snow and wood - I may have lost a couple pounds - enough to encourage a better effort.

Did a bit of straightening up in studio today and have a couple small sewing projects lined up, and machine on table. That's a start.
1

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 18 - 09:34 PM

The cold weather really torqued up my appetite - I keep track on MyFitnessApp and while I'm doing okay on calcium and sodium (most days), the calories are over the top several days a week. As it warms up I'll get back to my old self; there's no point in beating up on yourself when your metabolism is responding to the weather.

My energy is gradually returning after that virus hit a couple of weeks ago. The garden got some attention last weekend, and yesterday I worked my way through the entire house with a broom to chase the dog hair out of corners and crevices. Losing a dog this winter didn't affect the amount of hair - the pitbull had a simple short coat and didn't shed at all compared to the lab and the blue heeler.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jan 18 - 09:09 AM

Okay, fellow declutterers, please consider the problem of electronic debris for a minute.

I found a beer box full of cables, connectors, docking stations and other computer-related doohickeys last night. Each item is carefully packaged in a zip-lock bag, so I must have decided once upon a time that this stuff was worth keeping; today, not so much.

Sell? Freecycle? Trash?

Opinions?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 25 Jan 18 - 02:04 PM

Many thrift stores take them. Or if you feel like it, they can sometimes bring in a few bucks on ebay. Feng shui people say they store bad energy in a house.

I am down to almost nothing but i am finally admitting i will never ever learn one song from my fiddle book so i am donating it and a few cds to rainycamp auction..camp this weekend.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Jan 18 - 02:06 PM

Beaver (via library!)

Charmion: Stratford must have a place for such things. Maybe phone a couple smaller computer places? A couple years ago I bought a CD from Apple to upgrade computer then gave it to small computer outfit; Patricia said she could use it. I am considering giving her all the odds and sods of cables, etc. If she is willing!

Yep, Maggie! minus 20C this am and choc chip cookies... I also seem to need the house a few degrees warmer - 70F rather than 66. If I keep that in mind, I may not ingest so much sugar.

Oddly, I am happier doing wood and snow than getting into the sewing. Love the fresh air! Due for above freezing weekend, then snow. So nice to have the option of a warm home!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jan 18 - 10:50 AM

It's an unexpected day off for me today after hurrying around to clean the glass on my SUV at the gas station last night and tripping over the hose in the tank. It was a slow-motion unceremonious toppling over that wrenched one ankle and this morning I can also feel it in that hip and in the opposite knee. I have a very long walk from my car to my building at work and didn't want to get half-way there and find I couldn't walk further on it. Step just wrong and it really smarts, but I have plenty of low-impact declutter activities around here for today and the weekend.

Charmion, I weed out extra old cables every so often and used to donate them to Goodwill, which has an e-waste recycling component to the company. These days I take expired devices and extra cables to work where we have a large rolling gray bin for e-waste, including batteries. The university has a contract with a company that collects this (bins in several buildings, I lobbied hard to get one in my building!), including things we bring in from home, and the company refurbishes and reuses things that can be fixed. The rest is stripped and recycled as wire, plastic, glass, etc. I took in a lot of VHS tapes, but now I find that people still buy even the used ones as "blanks" on eBay. And many of the small cables and devices - sell them as working, or for repair or parts. I can even illustrate why those old bits are sold there:

Last week my dozen-year-old HP laserjet printer was acting up, and I printed the self-diagnostic sheet. I never look at those, but this time I skimmed the list and realized this printer has a DIMM slot that I'd never put any memory in. Typically if I print something like a PDF or article with photos it takes it a minute of humming before the output between each sheet. I found the right card on eBay for $6.64, including shipping. New, sealed in it's anti-static container. This little 64MB SDRAM card is not the largest available, but it will considerably speed up any printing I do. As long as there are people like me keeping old devices up and running, we will need parts for them.

Dorothy, I also love those out-door chores, as long is it isn't so cold or windy that my eyes do nothing but tear up and make my face chapped. A northern climate in winter would be difficult for me these days. I don't remember if I mentioned recently trimming out all of last year's asparagus shoots, but the garden looks tidier and I'll be able to spot the new ones as they emerge. There's more to do out there but I typically use my right foot on the shovel or spade fork and that's the ankle I twisted, so that will wait a few days.

Subject: Tidy or Organized?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Jan 18 - 11:03 AM

Ohio:

The 'tidiness' cycle vs being 'organized'?

For a number of health and other reasons, this little house can be untidy-looking pretty quick. (For instance, when we're no longer paying utilities on two houses, I look forward to occasional, inexpensive kid help in the living areas).

But despite some tidying up on the docket for today, there's a small project I've been itching to do. Since I woke up knowing exactly how to go about it (finally), I started by looking for tools and hardware-- some of which got relocated to the garage, right at the end of the Fall visit here.

I was thrilled to find that I'd been smart when I sent stuff to the garage: my little cordless screwdriver and bit case were in a kitchen drawer, right where I expected to find them. Good! There was even a long drywall screw in the bit case, where odd screws left from previous projects are often found.

But-- better-- right next to them in the drawer was a loose handful of the ubiquitous drywall screws every project here seems to use.... the shorter ones best for this project, even!

So I think that tidiness is nice for many reasons, but that being organized is actually more important.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Jan 18 - 03:19 PM

Ohio:

"Why do we give away furniture?"

"Because that's where you'll find some good stuff you've been missing!"

;-) Of course, the real reason is because it helps someone, like the mom getting custody back, whose daughter's room that sweet little dresser will grace. Bye, dresser. I loved you! Have a great new life!

But I can't hekp being tickled to teclsim these items long stored in the camper, thst i cannuse now:

. THREE ultra-lightweight, woven cotton nighties with eyelet trim
. One knit, heavy cotton nightie suitable for stomach flu
. One sexy, black satin nightie
. One satin peignoir belt like the one I use to hold my jeans up-- was just wishing for a 2nd!!!
. One filmy leisure "bra" someone snuck in there (and I'm sure I know who).
. A satin twin sheet with lace trim to use for a sewing project.
. A red plaid print, longsleeved knit nightgown for cold winters (so now I have two!)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jan 18 - 10:56 AM

This morning I bagged the slender strips of frozen poblano peppers that I picked up last week to add to the freezer. They first go in on large baking sheets and when they're bagged it's possible to pull out as many as I want instead of breaking a piece from a large brick of peppers. To be efficient I need to now remember that those peppers are in there. In the past I've printed out a list of the freezer contents and left it on the front as a reminder. Since I recently defrosted and organized this is possible again.

The postal carrier just stopped by and I handed over an eBay parcel. I made enough in sales this month to pay a couple of smaller monthly bills, and I use the PayPal account to pay for any personal shipping and some online purchases. It may not be as charismatic as Bitcoin, but it does the job. I'm set up to do some more eBay listings today.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 27 Jan 18 - 01:14 PM

Beaver, via A Place for the Arts:

Thinking the library might be crowded on a Saturday (am I hopeful?), using the modem here instead of the free wifi there. Get to say hello to a few folks who wander in, bagged a payment for bottle of supplements I left for a local artist some months ago! In the spring, I shall go look at his painting ($600) that I would love to have. Might have the money by May. Amazingly quiet in here for a saturday. Not many tourists in town in January!

Yesterday was the anniversary of the broken ankle. I am careful, very careful not to hurry or make any sudden moves. Every step with mindfulness! So happy to be able to walk normally - only in the last few weeks. Most of my life I moved full tilt ahead. I do not want anything else to break!

I managed to un-lose that couple pounds, some of it anyway. Discovered these wonderful cookies ... Today is a new beginning! Maybe tomorrow will be also.

Thankful for the exercise of bringing in wood! Did a bunch this am and then covered well in case of rain. Still waiting for the spirit to move me in the sewing dept. Maybe today?

Days ARE getting longer! We are having another thawing day. Unusual number of thaw days in January.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 28 Jan 18 - 12:37 PM

The upcoming week promises to be a challenging one (several of my charts are being audited) so I am decluttering the fridge today and making all kinds of food so I don't have to worry about prepping and cooking after what will likely be an exhausting week. I have a pot roast in the crock pot, cheesy vegetable soup will soon be simmering and I have a bunch of summer squash to use up so I'm making Zoodles to go with some spaghetti sauce and meatballs, maybe some sausage.

Tonight our church is having a Singspiration that I am looking forward to. Pete will play his guitar and I will be playing my ukulele. It's going to be a fun evening with a great group of people!

No real decluttering going on here this week....I imagine next week, after a good long sleep and the audit behind me, I may just take a weekday off to have the house to myself and work on the things I think need the most attention. For now, I'll settled for pre-packed lunches and breakfasts and my clothes all lined up to go so I can hit the ground running tomorrow morning. :)

I love my job, even though this past week and upcoming week are somewhat stressful! :) I just wish I had a little more free time and energy to complete all the things I THINK I should have already done! *shrug* :)

Have a great week everyone!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Jan 18 - 03:03 PM

Ohio:

Now that Hardi's retirement clock is finally audibly ticking, its time to start actually re-purposing some stuff in the house to see if things'll actually work the way I envisioned when we furnished the little house as a camp.

What style do I actually LIKE? Thats easy-- Frank Lloyd Wright mansion with supermodern simplicity. I wish! How do we actually live within an accessible footprint we can afford? Answer: real stuff with memory stories, in a Crazy Quilt design proportioned to the footprint. Not a fan of matchy-matchy or contemporary furniture. If we could afford it, I still wouldn't buy that stuff.

There've been some indications of this direction. There are two mirrored "faux windows" on nails the sellers had left. On the day I opened the house with a few pieces of furniture now 4 years ago, I hung quilted placemats as faux valances everyone loved. Since then... the house looks more colorful than those placemats... which I've loved but am tired of looking at.

Now, I have a pile of colorful fashion scarves, which look great draped there instead. They "go"-- but don't match--and I can swap them around anytime I pull one off to wear.

Living here so much of the year has caused many well-loved "first-looks" to evolve just like that.

Today's "lets just check" project will involve some sweat equity:

Measuring the bigger, newer, and bluer rug currently in my office here, I find that yes, it will replace a smaller green LR one as planned (which will then be available as a front door and/or kitchen door mat).

The bigger/bluer rug will have ongoing traffic wear at one corner... which happily turns out to be diagonally opposite to the least-wearing corner, for periodic rotation. All these can be cleaned periodically (out in the patio).

The LR area it will cover extends from abt where the smaller green rug is now, across to near the dining table that is also in the LR. In other words-- again happily-- it won't get a lot of food spills! It will be under recliners in 3 corners to help prevent shifting. A LOT of the existing (stained) beige wall-to-wall carpeting will be covered, and left in place for now.

When finances permit, that old beige carpet and padding will be replaced by laminate flooring, but I much prefer removable rugs to wall-to-wall carpeting. (We might even just keep the existing asphalt tile under the padding, which is a faux cork pattern I like and am about to live with in my office.)

I'm hoping to swap out these rugs myself with zero paid labor, because altho furniture coming in May will sit on it, every spare penny is going towards consumer debt payoff.

After I try getting that rug out from under the library shelving, I'll know if I need to call upon BIL an hour and a half away.

Wish me luck!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Jan 18 - 08:48 PM

Ohio:

Bad news: my mom's antique dresser won't quite fit where I want it (but Plan B is already working).

Great news: BIL and his Boy Scout son are down with helping with a little prep here, before the May 1 truckload lands on the house, so that their brother/uncle (Hardi) can arrive for his August vacation without a Honey Do list waiting for him.

I'm very relieved! Since I re-manufactured 3 squashed pillows today, I expect to sleep well!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jan 18 - 01:02 PM

We have painters in the house again, this time tackling the Pepto-Bismol pink of Himself's horrid office. The walls were so badly damaged by the previous occupants' inept installation of a television and a shelving unit that the first day of work is nothing but plaster repair.

Himself's sister is minding her grandchildren down the road in Waterloo, so we had supper with her last night. Alas, it appears that she intends to maintain a well-established tradition that drives me nuts: she turns out her husband's wardrobe and gives the clothes he doesn't wear to Himself, whose own wardrobe abounds in items he does not wear! I said, several times, that she should donate these unneeded garments to the Sally Ann or the church rummage sale, but both of them literally ignored me; it was as if I had not spoken.

Aaaaagh!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 18 - 12:10 AM

I have a few sheetrock repairs to make around here, with or without a paint job coming up. Most are dings, one is an intentional hole because the carpenter didn't install the cable the way I wanted in the wall between two rooms (a cable to each room, not one that would get a weird loop and somehow be used in both). I had to make room for my hand to fit in to redo the cable. And I know how to fix it, if I ever get around to doing it.

I recently visited the village recycle bins and picked up a sturdy box that was 1/2 full of styrofoam peanuts. I'm using that this evening to list an item I found at the Goodwill that I think will bring in considerably more than I paid for it on eBay. The trick to selling on eBay isn't having the items to sell, it's having the proper packaging to ship the items you're selling. It's always good when the box doesn't cost anything.

The tomato seeds I ordered arrived, now I'm thinking about where I can rig a homemade grow light for them. The greenhouse isn't reliable enough, not very insulated for starting plants this early. It means I'll have to declutter a space to rig up the light and put the pots. And think about weeding the garden in preparation.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Jan 18 - 12:11 PM

Acme, I'll be watching your "where the grow light" goes progress-- space is tight in Ohio. One option I'm considering is a re-purposed full-spectrum fluoro fixture I wired onto a mic stand for vertical sunshine. It will mean a lot of manual rotating of trays of pots, but I like to visit the babies and see the details of what's developing!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 30 Jan 18 - 07:51 PM

Beaver: Catching a signal by the front window!

Charmion! what could stop you from giving those excess clothes to a thrift shop!

Grow lights: trying to determine how soon to start plants or if i shall. Have a nice shelf unit with attached lights in the bathroom! Perfect spot for the job. Too bad I did not use it for the geraniums while I was away after Christmas. Door to the studio blew open and everything froze. One plant in Bath survived and is doing well. Today I bought a $5 orchid (pot broken) and it graces the table in the east window. I needed something flowering as the A. violet is done for now.

I continue to get small things done. Trying really had to eat carefully. The cookie binging was a call to action! Time for a salad!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Jan 18 - 09:35 PM

Ohio:

The dispersal of furniture, etc. continues. One minute I love something so much I never want to let it go, and 5 minutes later I can't wait to say goodbye and bring this little house to our vision for us in it.

Friend Trish is gettin most of those hard-to-let-go pieces-- I've decided I'll ask her for photos of them in their new home, so I can remind myself that they've gone on into somenone else's story. Also departing this weekend is likely to be the weight rack and bench the sellers left in the gaage here; scrap iron prices here are pretty low right now, and I do not have the trailer here. I had thought Hardi would incorporate then into his garage gym, but he says no-- so more gardening equipt room for me, I'll take it! It's fun surprising people with these offers, abd it's good neighboring, plus easier than FreeCycle.

I registered myself today for home services in Ohio with the reputedly stellar local Area Agency on Aging. The thyroid brain fog rollercoaster has me taking a social wokerer friend's advice to et on their list now before it gets too full. Odd feeling, reporting my own need when, as a clergy spouse, I've usually been on the other end of getting someone else onto services. Six weeks till a care manager visits to discuss.

And I filed the paperwork today for Medicare. Who knew I'd BE here?!?!?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Jan 18 - 09:23 AM

Dorothy: Yes, they will go to the Sally Ann as soon as I can open a brown paper bag. What drives me nuts is my dear sister-in-law's refusal to stop buying clothes for her husband who doesn't want them, or to give them to the perfectly good Sally Ann in her own neighbourhood. Why foist them onto us?

Painting continues. Himself's horrible pink office is now the same gentle shade of duck-egg greenish blue (or bluish green) that graces the dining room, and the change reduces the clamour of "God, but I hate that!" rattling around in the sub-basement of my mind. Next is the stairwell, which requires a special ladder. I'm so glad I'm not doing it.

The new curtains are up in the bedroom, and boy do they look great. Thick, cream-coloured inner drapes with sheers made of a soft voile with a herringbone weave, they improve privacy (not that anybody is really looking) and eliminate most of the draught from the windows. Good thing, 'cause they cost the earth.

I have the local cold, and am therefore officially hors de combat. The headache has passed and I'm a little less shaky than I was yesterday, but the cough is reaching for full resonance. It's gonna be no fun for anyone.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 Jan 18 - 05:16 PM

That "Tidy People" thing about clear floors kerps coming back to me as I plan decor, which involves using higher sections of the walls than my 1950's upbringing led me in the past.

Visual balance without packing the floor.
Resting points for eyes, in spaces between interesting textures. Oy! I need to see some examples!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jan 18 - 11:09 PM

I think it might have been the Nate Berkus show that always had some excellent design tips - don't keep things at the same level around the room, or keep all of the furniture against the wall (the furniture is "under arrest" - "up against the wall!) Tall things interspersed among shorter objects. I have a couple of things hanging from the picture rail around my living room and I have some pieces of furniture that are tall alternated with shorter pieces. It is visually more interesting.

This evening I finally made it into my dance studio for an exercise class. I have to learn how to avoid flare-ups of the bursitis in my hips before I go back to the dance classes. After class I headed back to REI to exchange the too-small pack for a larger one. I thought I was going to have to pay more but it was 30% off, nice surprise! North Face with lots of pockets and compartments in the front zip pouch. I need to walk without having to hold straps across my shoulder if I want to get the most out of my fitness tracker, so I'm substituting this pack for my shoulder bag, my messenger bag, and frequently, my lunch bag. The principle behind these trackers is that we move our arms during exercise, primarily swinging them back and forth when we walk. I want a more accurate reading when I'm walking around at work or elsewhere. I have a small long-strapped bag in the pack to use for those times during the day when all I need is my phone and wallet.

I tossed a few more items into the donation bin this week and other unneeded items have been listed on eBay. Wouldn't it be interesting to reach a point when I could live in a small portable house like this.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Feb 18 - 04:24 PM

Thx Acme but what I'm looking for specifically is about going up high on the wall.

~S~

Subject: GOING HIGH WITH DECOR
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Feb 18 - 05:18 PM

Ohio:

So I got WIFI installed tdy and had a little search time. Results:


GOING HIGH WITH DECOR


What I noticed in the ones I liked in the 14 pix I saved is:

. The balance between densely decorated space and sparsely decorated space
. The use of linear visual pathways to organize the eye's tour of the space
. The mix of textures
. The leading of the eye to look UP
. The balance of proportion: frame sz or groupings/scale of furniture/doors/carpets
. Setting an upper boundary all the way around the room-- same space of paint-only at the top, to define where the wall actually ends and prevent chaos effect.


What I'm DIDN'T see-- that I think will be important-- is circles and ovals. Too many rectangles, and not enough curves.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Feb 18 - 06:16 PM

Your list pretty much amounts to what I was saying, without spelling out how to do it. I think we're on the same wavelength there.

It took only one day of experimenting with items from the purse in the front compartments of the new pack to remind me of one issue--while I want this to replace lugging several bags and items to work, I don't want to carry the entire thing around when I go into the grocery store, etc. So I've pulled a small handbag (too small to use everyday) and put the essentials in it, put the rest in the front compartment of the pack, and the large compartment is where papers, books, and the handbag will go. When I need just the handbag out it comes and the rest can stay at home. My hands will be free when I walk with the backpack on my back or with just one handbag over my shoulder. It's not rocket science, but in this first day I think I'm getting a more accurate reading on my fitness tracker.

This morning I set up the next batch of pages in the Bullet Journal. It's nice to look back and see most of the things on my task list checked off. The rest get moved forward to try to get to this month, with a few new ones added in.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Feb 18 - 11:44 PM

Beaver:

cleared about 4 inches of snow - light and fluffy - off the back deck. Larry stopped in for a visit and cleared the pile left by the plow. I was just going to leave it.

Getting a good signal from this east window; no hills in that direction. Also, remembered there was something else in the box of the new modem: ah yes, a short cord so I can actually but the modem up on the window sill! This is such a relief, so much better than sitting in the library or grocery store!

Sent R an email explaining my feelings about the Montreal housing. He actually "heard" me and is making an effort toward being able to buy the small house we looked at -- or something! I feel like there is hope! It would mean spending more time in Quebec but in a real home, out of the city, without the worry of finding a place to park, with a nature preserve in the back yard. I love being here but miss him and am concerned for health care if either of us needs it and we need to be able to dare for each other. We would still be able to come here and I will spend time here in the gardening season. Hope...

Second son phoned this eve and decluttered some of my concern for him as well as my questioning my car situation. I was confronted, however, with the fact that my son(s) are now "old" as he talked about working with people "in the 20s and 30s! It just never occurred to me before; he is still "the kid" - 55 this year and having trouble getting the younger co-workers to understand him.

Communication: like Charmion not getting across that they don't want those hand me downs!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Feb 18 - 11:15 AM

A rare day at home alone for me. Much needed on many levels. I'm spending the day between puttering/decluttering and resting.

Just the short time I spent in the kitchen has made a HUGE difference. My nana always said that when things look overwhelming, start in one corner and work your way around. Such a smart woman! She would be proud of me I think. :)

Weekend plans here include soccer for my little man, playing with a group of local violinists, some quilting time and relaxation, maybe some cards or a movie at home and popcorn.

One construction size garbage bag filled with things we no longer need went with Pete this morning to be dropped off at Sally's on his way to work.

I also have some plans for this weekend to go through a big cupboard that is full of CDs that belonged to my Nana. I've had them for over a year now and haven't played one of them. I will keep a few that I remember listening to with her but the rest have already found a home. There's lots of big band music and other music from the WWII era. It's funny how sometimes I feel like I need to hang on to some items because they had belonged to someone I love. I really do struggle with that which is why my house is so overloaded. I'm getting better at it but there are just some items I can't part with, it's the connection, I'm sure.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 02 Feb 18 - 12:46 PM

Michelle, I inherited my father's CDs and it took me a while to realize that I needed commingle them with my own CDs to start using them much. When there were my CDs and Dad's CDs the separation was a reminder of the sad loss. Once I "owned" them, I used them more. I did the same with a windfall of classical CDs some years back, I had them on a separate shelf, but I finally filed them in amongst my "regular" CDs and then began using them regularly.

And we all know that your Nana was extremely proud of you (as are we!)

Dorothy, I'm glad R got the message - you'll both be much comfortable in a house that doesn't have regular theatrical breakdowns and rats nibbling at your toes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Feb 18 - 02:25 PM

A six-foot curtain rod lies on the floor in front of the patio door in the dining room, and I'm too damned sick to get on a stepladder and put the damnable thing up. Dizzy and shaking from this damnable cold, I just don't dare. Besides, I'd probably get it crooked.

Patrick the painter is finishing the first coat on the stairwell, and the improvement is dramatic. No more baby-shit brown, but a pale shade of duck-egg green that brightens up the whole going downstairs experience. This is important, because the light fixture in the upstairs hallway was located so as to ensure that no light from it would fall more than five steps down.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Feb 18 - 05:22 PM

Beaver:
Two good chuckles from today's posts! Thank you! Charmion does have a way of expressing things. And - just leave that rod until a more propitious time! The bit about "owning things" is good. Own them or disown/dump them! And tackling a little bit at a time! Just what I continue doing and eventually... The studio is ready for work but I am not ready to do it in this cold weather even though the inside is warm enough, the trip (25 feet!) in the bitter cold is off putting. But today, with the sun on full, I could have done a couple hours so I took note of that to encourage another day. Brought in a LOT of wood in lieu of making pots.

Wrote son an email of my delight in his taking charge of his life. And a neighbour to see if he can use some of my excess wood ash.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Feb 18 - 02:35 PM

Charmion and our occasional visitor Ranger1 are both recovering from viruses or worse, so trying to do anything more than resting and getting better means you'll likely have to re-do anything you attempt now. Might as well save it to do correctly when you're feeling better. Now is the time to look to the list of NetFlix videos you wanted to watch or to read a book you've been meaning to get to.

It's cold here today also, a day when I think the best use of my time is to tackle the sunroom, allowing me to move things back in there that have strayed to other parts of the house.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Feb 18 - 04:17 PM

Despite the continuing Cold From Hell, I moved Himself's office clag out of the study and the guest room, where it had been moved so Patrick the Painter could work his magic, and back where it belongs. This activity did not require any task more demanding than toddling gently up and down the corridor with armloads of books about murder, rape, robbery, fraud, and what to do when your client has been accused of some of all of the above.

I will not deal with the curtain rod today; that can wait until next week.

Much against my will, I have concluded that we cannot re-use the pleasantly bland unbleached cotton curtains that we brought from Ottawa; they are just about four inches too short to cover the patio doors while hanging high enough so the rod finial will not break the glass in the door of the china cabinet. Fuck. It.

I have to go to Kitchener next Thursday for my monthly needle at the allergy doc's office. While I'm at it, I'll hit the big-box mall for a pair of 96-inch panels as much as possible like the ones I recently bought for the sitting room. I can hardly wait to find out that they're about one inch too long ...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Feb 18 - 05:28 PM

Day two in the sunroom: I've rearranged some things, flattened more boxes, and stumbled across some wiring items I was looking for a while ago, including some I don't need any more (I'll put them on eBay). I no longer need to install phone jacks, but I bought a few extra data port jacks to wire around here and I can't find that bag now. I did find the wall plates that work with either phone or data jacks, so everything I need is somewhere in the house.

I've managed to stir up some dust around here but after a sweep and vacuum that room will be a pleasure to work in. I'm thinking about putting up a shelf above my packing materials to place the TV in that room (I have them on in a couple of rooms as I work back and forth, watchinglistening to the same program). The shelf location happens to sit above the jack with the data port. This little smart TV has WiFi but would stream a better picture through my wired network.

This work has also contributed to a bag of discarded e-waste - it's filling up enough that tomorrow I'll take it to work to the bin put in place by the company the university contracts with to recycle, reuse, or destroy e-waste. Better than to the landfill and it saves the Goodwill the bother of recycling it. (In the US they handle a lot of the electronics recycling collection in large cities).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Feb 18 - 10:35 AM

Ohio:

Work began yesterday on removing some drywall to widen the nook where my antique dresser will go. We resume Tuesday.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 18 - 09:12 PM

Winter has returned so the hats, scarves, and jackets I keep on a rack in the hall are back in use. They used to live in a closet where they were out of sight and forgotten. I suppose in the summer I can hang my various ball caps on it. This is a new system for me.

I'm clearing more space in my office by slowly moving cassette tapes into a box for eBay. I have a lot of them that I no longer need the contents or they've been transferred. Surprisingly, cassette tapes sell on eBay. I pop a tape into the office console, hit record with nothing playing on the radio or turntable or CD changer and it erases the contents. After a few days I have enough to list. I have a lifetime supply of cassettes around here, these are the ones I used for recording class lectures, phone calls to the cable company when the diddled the bill, radio programs that I thought I might want to keep.

On the way home I stopped at a small but well-stocked Goodwill store and found two items for eBay and one for me. I love the large acrylic food storage containers that have the silicone ring seals. I find if I don't have beans, grains, pasta and such in clear containers I forget what I have here. I've also incorporated my Food Saver for storing some things in vacuum sealable jars.

The rest of the week looks pretty yucky weather-wise, but I have none of the challenges of declutterers in Montana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Maine, etc. Except Jeri, who's gadding about the Caribbean somewhere right now. :-)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Feb 18 - 11:03 AM

I now have pneumonia, so climbing ladders is off my agenda for a while.

On the other hand, it really is amazing what one can do when one must. Patrick the Painter is at work in the sitting room, and yesterday I rolled up the rugs, emptied the cabinet and moved all the furniture into the middle of the room. I did not tackle the curtain rod, or spread out the drop cloth; by the time I had finished, I was ready to face reality at the ER.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Feb 18 - 11:27 AM

Charmion!?!

Ohio:

As I dropped off to sleep last night, an epiphany started that's continuing this AM. A closet epiphany of all things.

There's a double closet in our master BR here that, so far, we've divided into a L and R pair of tall, 36" apiece closets. It came with high rods on each side that I can't reach, and a low rod on the L side. Being short, I chose the L side. Both sides have easy-out shelves resting on 2x4's. There are many 2x4 supports at various heights, from previous owners' preferred closet configuration.

I've been assuming those 2x4's will be replaced with supports stealing less hanging space.

In another part of my brain I've been considering the best spot for an 18" wide x 15" deep x 55" tall metal cabinet. I thought about the guest room closet..... then, last night, dropped off thinking about putting it in Hardi's closet.

But DUH! Divide our closet horizontally, not vertically! I'll take both lower halves, and Hardi's can take the top halves!

A shelf on top of that cabinet (and a tension rod between cabinet and wall) will just suit me for accessories and hanging dresses. Hardi's an excellent framer to configure the top halves just like he wants them, but I bet he'll keep the sturdy shelf I put in last year.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Feb 18 - 11:27 PM

I love the eBay phone app - any time anything sells you hear the "ca-ching" sound like was made by an old-fashioned cash registers. I need to keep adding new items - a number of them have watchers, but it may simply be other people selling similar items watching mine. Another item sold this afternoon.

A co-worker has been making much of ordering flower and vegetable seeds for this year's garden. I need to get some tomatoes started and possibly a couple of other crops, as well as buy seed potatoes and get those in the ground. It's cold and unpleasant for yard work now, but it's a good time to plan. I organized the potting bench that's in the sunroom and I think this weekend is when I need to get that grow light rigged, probably over the potting bench.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Feb 18 - 03:54 PM

You know, Acme, we COULD be shooting short YouTube videos of our projects and posting links to them here.... ;-)

I have used those to show Harding some ideas in progress....

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: robomatic
Date: 08 Feb 18 - 04:12 PM

I am creating an organizing book to have something physical and not on the hard drive. Better with a solid book with no ability to simply remove pages or a loose leaf? I'm staring with a looseleaf but I'm feeling that it's better to have a solid tome and leave the mistakes and things undone in it. But it won't organize as well....then, do I need to organize well?

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

robo, you may be ripe for the new form of note-taking called Bullet Journaling. I have one in a book I was given at work, bound and with an elastic loop from top to bottom on the back to keep a marker at the current set of pages. It's not the neatest method (the way I do it), but I use it to keep track of various things, not just the declutter project. Actually, when you ask this, I could add notes about my eBay sales that I haven't documented anywhere. If I were to be more businesslike instead of a hobbiest this would be a good starting point. I'd go for the bound book.

Look at places like Tuesday Morning, Big Lots, used bookstores (in several states you'll find Half-Price Books) - I've been seeing these with a couple hundred bound pages for about $5. They're durable enough to use and carry around every day.

I use this as a calendar, an appointment book, to keep short lists, to make quick notes that I want to keep and not have to hunt around later for the piece of paper I scribbled it on. It usually ends up with the left page for the calendar, the right page for the task list, the next page for more general outcome notes, and the second right page for other stuff, I just label it "notes." So four pages per month.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 08 Feb 18 - 09:18 PM

Beaver:

Big oops. Grand daughter called Monday night and told me she had mailed pottery to dad. I hoped she had re-packed it because it was certainly not packed for USPS. Son phoned Tuesday am. One piece survived and, boy, was he upset. He waited almost two years for those.

Nothing compared to me, faced with re-doing 8 pasta bowls and 8 dinner plates. Clay froze while I was away - door blew open... Thawed clay has to be laboriously reworked before using. I started out on it yesterday. Shoulder said, "Forget it. I can throw or I can wedge..." The ankle did not protest its time on the wheel pedal!

Major clutter is a 6 hour round trip to Toronto for fresh clay so I can, hopefully, produce this order by early March. Son and wife will come east to visit daughter and brand new (third) g-daughter and visit Montreal to pick up pottery --- and visit me??? They will get an airbnb. I shall brave the dreaded house.

Snowed today but tomorrow I am Toronto bound. Weather predicts about freezing point on weekend, and more snow! But I can make the studio comfortable (it is well insulated and small). I am highly motivated to get this done. Just hope the shoulder holds out: lots of MSM, Glucosamine Sulfate, magnesium and the heating pad.

Meanwhile, snow and wood have provided exercise, and some sorting of archives. Watching snow fall is nice entertainment - from warm indoors!

Maybe this will get me out of the "doing nothing" phase.

oops again. Wrote that yesterday and went to Toronto to day - a long day starting with a car not starting and finally Larry pressing really hard on the clutch and it did start - not the battery but something in the clutch - maybe ice. It was minus 29 C this morning!

Nice visit to Richter;s Herbs and only bought two small plants: an aloe vera and a Golden Rain Rosemary to form into a Christmas tree. There was a beautiful one there the staff person had formed in only two years so she showed me and told me how. Bought clay, conversed with a potter whom I had not seen in about 25 years. We remembered each other! Then long trip home. Exhausted - decluttered of ALL energy!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Feb 18 - 01:23 PM

Better now, thanks to Prednisone and the world's ugliest antibiotic. I still have next to no appetite, and I have yet to regain the capacity for horizontal sleep, but I'm definitely on the mend. Tonight I take the last 40-mg whack of Prednisone, so I hope this is my last night of sweating and fitful dozing interrupted with coughing fits.

Patrick the Painter has finished the sitting room, and it's just beautiful. I put the furniture back where it belongs last night, and this morning I tottered up and down the basement stairs with trays of china out of the one cabinet affected by this late phase of The Project. Hanging pictures will have to wait; I've had it for today.

It's snowing in Stratford, too, probably part of the same system that's hitting Dorothy's place, and it's expected to continue for
days. Himself wants to go to Sarnia in the morning to watch the Six Nations rugby tournament (not available in Perth County), but he's still sniffling and sneezing. He promised that he would not go if the road conditions are bad, but I am firmly convinced that he will go whatever the roads are like. He can be such a blockhead sometimes.

Subject: Honeymoon linens
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Feb 18 - 02:47 PM

Ohio:

A few years ago, I discovered how helpful were the recycle bins the city had issued-- for sledging a whole carload of groceries across the snow from driveway to door, by adding a rope pull. I kept the bins when the city later went with the huge curbside (ugly) bins, which   now live out of sight by the outer garage door.

So, trash and recycling now go thru the patio and garage to those bins. Usually I just carry the paper grocery sacks I now use to catch recyclables, but an injured shoulder led me to use that trick again today, to get rid of a bin full of recyclables.

As I dragged it, thru the narrowly-shoveled patio path, I widened the path with the bigger shovel that lives out there (with two brief sitting breaks). And after dumping and refolding the sacks, I spied the big broken box still in the garage awaiting unpacking, full of fabrics. So a big load from that came IN, via sledge (with two more brief sitting breaks).

The patio path to garage is now 2x wider to facilitate dealing with more snow/ice and/or ice from mini thaw. Hard to know which way Saturday night's ice forecast will go, but have better foundation forrit now.

Among items brought in-- honeymoon fabric to continue the master BR design-- how it plays with the existing green paint, and what color may be needed to bridge the two palettes as sheers, art, etc. Goal: not painting!!! This is a beautiful coverlet and pair of drapes from our wedding gifts 25 years ago, that I've envisioned here since we bought the house. (As we blended our families and household goods amidst ministry chaos, this set was the first thing we ever picked out TOGETHER.)

We're finally old enough to appreciate how the brocaded coverlet reflects heat back to the body; Hardi is in the habit of making the bed daily; there are no longer cats to wreck it; the windows here are the right size for the drapes; the king headboard is the width of the valance for hanging coodinating faux bed curtains at the head (one side of which will run into a draped window). The bed is biger now, but the coverlet is large enough to form the top for coordinating, gathered sides which hobby-sewing Hardi will add.

I was concerned that the colors might not go as well as I'd hoped, and.... the prettiness of this fabric against this existing green paint couldn't be photographed faithfully, unless I set up bright photog lights... but it's just.... so gorgeous! I can't wait to show Hardi the mockup when he's here with me for summer vacay!

I think the pattern of the fabric worked w/the paint mostly because:
. Any brown works w/any green
. The green in the fabric is minimal but any green goes with any green
. The blue in the fabric has a lot of green in it
. Both the green paint tone, and the fabric's ground color, are creamy/warm-- not bright white/cold (or one warm and the other cold)
. A white ceiling

This also means that Hardi's room-sized heirloom oriental rug will work, because it's why we chose this coverlet, and our first bedroom together had that rug.

These weekly forays into making our dreams come true (and adjusting where needed) is SO.MUCH.FUN.

!!!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Feb 18 - 12:24 AM

Charmion, I hope they don't have you stop the Prednisone cold-turkey; even a short dose of it usually requires some kind of tapering off of it.

Dorothy, that irresponsible shipping of ceramics sounds rather passive-aggressive. What a shame so many pieces were demolished.

Hard fought week but I finished a big project at work; the proof now goes back for final examination and next week my third of three print projects begins. All of this design and editing means I have less interest in doing similar projects on my own behalf on the weekend.

Last week I took a co-worker/friend to a "First Friday" party so he could meet the hosts - passionate gardeners, as he is. Turns out they had met in passing and knew each others yards from walks around the neighborhood (they're a few blocks apart.) It's fun to see now they are planning their gardens and consulting and planning visits. I enjoy this kind of networking. I get to do some networking with new next-door neighbors this weekend; my other next-door sent a text today saying the new neighbor wants to get together to talk fences. I hope our conversations are as forward looking as those last week.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Feb 18 - 10:33 AM

Darn. Yesterday was warm and bright but I had a series of events and work that kept me not only indoors all day but I didn't get home till late. So today now that I have free time it's cold and not expected to get above about 40^o. The forecast for the week shows lovely weather on Wednesday and rain predicted for next weekend. Grrrr.

This morning was one of those times when I got up, looked around me, and decided I needed to start picking up right there and move outwards. Hung up or put sweaters to air before they're put away, hung up jackets (two of them on the cedar chest in my bedroom), dusted and picked up in the bathroom, got rid of hand lotion and products I never use, finally tossed those orphaned inexpensive earrings whose partners are long gone, dusted some more, put shoes away, the usual drill I've ignored for a few days. Piled all sorts of stuff into the laundry basket and changed out all of the hand towels and such. As cold as it is, this feels like a response to the longer days - more daylight means the Spring Cleaning impulse has me in it's grip.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Feb 18 - 04:42 PM

Happy Weekend!

I am here to report that I am doing lots of NOTHING.

I walked up the hill to my car on Thursday morning, opened the door and promptly fell. I twisted my ankle, thumped my head and landed...I thought...on my tailbone. Apparently I arched my body and landed on the side of my tailbone. I am SO sore.....I feel like I ripped a bunch of muscles from my navel, up the right side of my body, wrapping around my back to about my armpit. Yep. I'm sore. I've had a hot shower, did some dishes and general picking up and have been told to plant myself with the heating pad...so here I sit. I'm good as long as I'm not moving around much. Crap. But.....believe it or not, I did NOT spill my cuppa coffee while flying through the air...LOL.

So....all kidding aside, I'm taking it easy today. Weekend coffee, popcorn and a movie...and maybe some uke playing a bit later.

Charmion, I'm glad to feel that you are starting to feel better. I hope Himself is feeling better and stays safe in his travels.

I liked Susan's idea of linking updates to YouTube...that could be motivating and fun!

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Feb 18 - 05:52 PM

Yes, Acme, the doc really did tell me to halt the Prednisone abruptly. It's a regimen developed for asthmatics; five daily doses of 40 mg in pill form, then go to the low-dose steroid from the inhaler. It's far less hassle, it gets great results, and the side-effects are over in a week. And if the Prednisone won't get the job done, you find out much faster so you can try something else.

Today I did almost nothing. I have all the initiative and follow-through of a dead haddock.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Feb 18 - 10:52 PM

Michelle - I'm so glad you saved that coffee! ;-) Take care, rest up. We have a winter weather advisory for tomorrow - slip and fall is not a good way for any of us to get our gymnastics exercise. (The mental image of that maneuver is astonishing! Pardon a chuckle, but you described it beautifully.)

I thought I'd lost a backup of work photos on a hard drive that seems to have failed, but I found today that I had a preserved backup on a good drive that I was using also for general computer backups. Those full backups are on a different drive now, so the photos are in a place where there is lots of room for more.

Charmion, life with steroids is complicated - it makes a world of difference in clearing up illness, but it does have side effects. Good luck sorting out your side effects. My dose is much lower but it is every day, for months, possibly years. Tapering isn't always easy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Feb 18 - 01:37 PM

A microscopic layer of ice has turned bridges into Disney E-rides here this morning so it's just as well I had no plans to do anything but stay put and putter, starting with bringing four large boxes in from the SUV. I helped a friend pick up some boxes of tiles at a local store - they were shipped across the US to go into his tub-surround next week, packed one case per very large box, and I put dibs on the boxes and cornstarch packing materials. I brought four home because I have some items to list that need those large boxes. I'll keep the cornstarch peanuts until I decide I don't need them, at which time they can be dissolved with a little water. Sometimes decluttering requires packing materials.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Feb 18 - 07:28 PM

Ohio:

I mocked up another small wall's art plan today, and started a FB album of before/after pix.

FB can be helpful to share planning when parts of the team are in distant locations! Hardi is measuring frames on an Art Hunt through our crumbling PA house, and as soon as my eye tells me where main pieces should go, I cut out a paper placeholder, label it, and stick it up w mortite putty. If I don't like it, I can adjust it before hammering nails.

Today I found a perfect corner for the mounted jackalope head to lurk, where no one will mistake his antlers for coat hooks. He promptly became the centerpiece for a critter collection-- deer antlers, jackalope, Groot, plus animal knick-knacks/pix.

:-) I USED to do my art/picture layouts in the usual ways.... but I have frames from a 4000'+ house (blended families and goods) to Merge into 1000'. (Oy! I don't have Lisa Rinna's body-age or pro designer/crew, unfortunately!)

In that album, I'm also putting in the relevant worklist for each area or item; not Honey-Do tasks awaiting Hardi, but things I can do myself or that family, friends, and my paid helpers will assist with.

For example, say X is coming to help and wants to know what tools may be helpful to bring: tag them to that picture/info. Or say I decide which mutually special item goes to which display shelf-- a note to self, right in the album. (Then as I unpack it won't be quite so overwhelming, I'm hoping!)

At this stage of life I'm enjoying the planning, sharing/showing the process to hubby in PA, and the prospect of orienting helpers when the truckload of stuff arrives May 1. Then, I'll be able to hand a helping friend this or that corner's pile of frames, and let THEM eyeball and go for it working from that album, while I work on the more handicap-accessible spots and wash knick-knacks.

I also moved a bookshelf today, to clear space when bigger items arrive. It's fun living in a working puzzle if you get to move the pieces yourself!

From everything else I swapped around this last week, I have a small pile of expired 'important papers' to go thru-- plus the 'lost' garage door opener to reprogram so Hardi can have his own.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 Feb 18 - 06:26 PM

Beaver:
Michelle! Ever since a friend told me of breaking a wrist when going to get in car, I have considered VERY carefully any move near the car - getting in or out, I hold on to whatever is available!

Acme: not passive aggressive, just purely flaky! Hope she does better as a Mom! It really is hard to package so the shippers can drop things off a tall building or use as a football. And we are told never put "fragile" on the package. This one had it written all over! It did not have a chance. There are lengthy discussions on "clayart" about how-to.

Meanwhile, I am de-cluttering LR of boxes of lovely fresh clay - turning bags of clay into plates at the rate of 6/day, since Friday... With days of rest in between! When I have the energy: 12 thrown, nine trimmed and me worn out today after shoveling too much snow yesterday. Then backed the car into a snowbank, went and trimmed 9 plates and tired! - realized I can either pot or shovel - not both. So I phoned a neighbour who contacted another neighbour who came and dug out my car! Car actually started this am - was about minus 30C last night - and I did a couple errands, act everything in sight and was too tired... Took a nap and now this, then will read until I fall asleep. It is only 5:30 pm and I am ready to sleep. Next box must await tomorrow.

Lotta snow out there!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Feb 18 - 10:51 PM

My sunroom was looking good but now it has empty boxes sitting in it - for a little while, anyway. They're meant for some of the bulky things that need to be listed (and sent away once they sell.)

This evening laundry is put away and I have a bag full of old wash cloths that get used for cleaning that need a place to live. A basket or box in the laundry room, I think. I have new wash cloths for use at the table (in lieu of napkins) that have a sliding basket in a cupboard in the kitchen. The old ones (that used to live in that basket) aren't ready for the trash or compost, they're perfect for cleaning the stovetop, windows, etc. But like I say, I need a place to keep them separate from the new nice ones. A problem to solve next weekend.

The garden seems to be waiting for something - the daffodils don't have blooms yet (they're about 2 weeks late) and the asparagus hasn't sprouted. The days are longer but the temperatures are much cooler than usual. I'm going to be putting in a new piece of concrete walkway out front once it warms up - like everything else, I need warmer weather. Everything is charging, waiting for the moment to burst forth.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Feb 18 - 10:54 AM

Yesterday I put up pictures.

I'm really, really fussy about pictures: they have to be at exactly the right height, centred precisely in their space, and straight. So the picture-hanging kit includes a tape measure, a ruler and a spirit level as well as my dear little hand drill and a ratchet screwdriver. The hangers I use are oblong plastic things that screw to the wall and hold the picture wire in a groove across the top, steady and straight. I bought a bunch of them years ago at a Home Depot in Ottawa, and they work so well that of course I can't find any more; they seem to have vanished even from Amazon.

It took me all afternoon to hang three paintings, two etchings and one Japanese wood-block print. The sitting room finally looks finished, complete with curtains, carpet and art, and I did not fall off the ladder.

My lungs are slowly recovering, but the cough is still a definite presence -- I have to sleep propped up on two pillows. I'll know everything is back to normal when I can lie flat on my back without wheezing.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Feb 18 - 04:24 PM

Dodged a bullet on a home repair today when the outside unit of the small heat pump was worked on. It came out a lot less than I feared but I ended up spending the whole day here so I've been listing eBay items. The only order I'm listing in is by what's the most in the way right now.

I understand about your favorite picture hangers, Charmion. When I moved into this house I decided to put up xmas lights and went looking for the metal clips we used on the house I grew up in. They were like a barrette - the backing had spikes and the whole thing was pounded onto the eve, then the heavy-duty wire loop was lifted up, the lighting wire run under it, then you pressed it back down over the raised bit. It snapped easily into place and they were durable and sturdy. Can't find them anywhere, no how.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Feb 18 - 06:51 PM

Ohio:

This house's sellers had left a weight rack with lat pull bar, and coordinating weight bench, in the garage. The set has been moved twice in that garage while Hardi decided he liked his PA set better, and said it could go.

I offered it to neighbors, with no takers, and I need the space for furniture coming May 1. One neighbor said he wanted it, then hung me up for a wk waiting on him to get it, then changed his mind. During that week I'd had a helper here who could have dragged it out.... won't be offering them anything else!

So I spent the warm rainy AM clearing items blocking its removal... I thought an afterschool helper would move it out later.... who I never heard back from. "I'll only do as much as I can...." and by the afternoon, I started to see an empty corner...

It turned out, after several breaks, that I was able to drag out both pieces and set it them in the driveway. More offers... incl seller who has wanted other items back..... more non-responses... took pix,,listed it on a local FB sales group, specifying pickup TODAY. Free!

Gone in an hour, picked up by a person interested in the weekly antiracism mtgs I've been doing. With a pickup truck I suspect he'd help me out with, sometime.

Now I'm sore, but it's OUT. And better yet-- GONE!

Next.... PantpantpantSit....

The foam guest twin bed is being replaced with my old boondocking cot, which has its own narrower linens. Fam crew coming 2/25 to put foam and frame in the garage. So... the guest bed linens except mattress cover and box spring cover-- some heavy/bulky/unwieldy/big (down comforter)-- were stripped, folded, and put away.

A mystery black trash bag I'd come across in the linen closet was opened, and most of its contents left in it to create a Goodwill bag I will fill later with closet/dresser purges. I put away the kept items.

So far, all guest linens except pillowcases are accumulating in the guest/sewing room closet pending another round-- the guest bedding and inflatable mattress may go into furniture arriving May 1, or into zippered garage storage that formerly held camping linens with no attrition.... or stay in this room on high sewing room shelves, over the murphied cot. Hardi decisions.

All this was supposed to have had Cameryn's paid help (and more)-- still no response. :-(

In prep for the first of several planned fam crew visits, a huge load of laundry including curtains was folded. Linens were put away. Stuff for my closet/dresser, not yet. I have another huge clean load awaiting purging/hanging up, so I'm hoping to get to all that tmrw-- purged some of what I just folded (and will keep purging during weekly laundry as well).

Forgot to drink water much today, so sitting for muscle recovery and rehydration. May have energy to do a round of evening closet purge with news on via fone stream. That black trash bag is calling-- once full, it can leave... and a Friday appt could include drop-off.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Feb 18 - 08:25 PM

Ohio:

Newbie is napping on the guest bed about to be stored, on a mat with her smell, for Overnighting Service Dog training. ('Up' only when invited, as she already knows for chairs/laps.)

Huge laundry backlog sorted out during (radio) hockey game intermission, resulting in much cleared space in the master BR. Most items hung or folded/stowed. A few items added to Goodwill bag. One needing repair set aside. Linens folded and ready to stow in closet. Laundry in progress.

Lovely to see closet space available due to using a bigger dresser!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Feb 18 - 11:06 PM

Ohio:

I came up with a fabulous storage solution for the white wicker set I've collected, a few used pieces at a time. The garage here is framed in 2x4's, while the vintage modular house was originally framed in skinny lumber. I tend to forget this.

But the empty space left by the departure of the weight rack/bench spoke to my eye. It said, "Get a few of those heavy bike hooks you have on the other wall-- and put your wicker up on this wall!" And I could immediately see lifting pieces up and down as needed for warm weather use, to be left out a few dry days at a time.

Across from this newly-opened spot are the wrought-iron summer yard chairs I use for song circles and gardening breaks. It only makes sense that those live right in the front of the garage, where they can be used on a whim... and then easily set back after use!

The wicker loveseat actually rode home from Goodwill, the day we bought it, on the van's bike rack-- so I know it'll survive being hung up! MUCH better than anybody trying to get it up into the rafters! ;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Feb 18 - 09:59 AM

I just signed the contract for the last phase of the kitchen renovation: repairing the divots in the ceramic tile floor, and installing the tile backsplash. Work begins on 1 March and is expected to take three days. I can hardly wait.

For the first time since I got sick, I actually slept all night --
nine whole hours! -- without propping myself up, and without waking for a coughing fit at zero dark stupid. With the new (ridiculously expensive) custom-made double curtains now hanging in the bedroom's huge windows, the crack of dawn failed to jar us awake and even the cat did not succeed in getting our feet on the floor until almost 0730. I count this a major improvement.

As well as two weeks out of my life, this bout of pneumonia cost me about ten pounds that I *so* don't want back. Today I'm going to the gym to stretch and walk on the treadmill. I will stop before my knees start to wobble.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Feb 18 - 03:29 PM

Charmion, housemending, sleepmending, bodymending. (Keep it up!) Stealing: "zero dark stupid".

Ohio:

SO relieved that son and DIL heard my request for her to come on an overnighter to help-- and translated that into BOTH of them coming for TWO days to catch up and help move stuff out! Tomorrow!

This means that if BIL w two kids has a family flu outbreak precluding NEXT weekend's work day, we'll have gotten a lot done. And if he CAN come as planned, there are tool-oriented jobs galore. But this wknd we'll focus on clearing SPACE.

WinWin!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Feb 18 - 08:51 PM

Ohio:

Master BR cleanup in progress; area on my side of bed DONE-- spilled meds, errant q-tips, empty meds bottles that didnt land in thecrecuvle bin, stray receipts and biz cards.... uck! Amazing how they find hiding places!

A little sude table ive really loved was unpacked and is now ready to go to the friend who has taken most of the passed-aling furniture. (An even smaller spare table was found to hold that corner's lamp untol Hardi's tall dresser lives there.)

But clearing out that table unblocked a window, and we can put up its honeymoon-fabric window panel this weekend! Can't wait to see!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Feb 18 - 11:48 AM

I think the day has come for the messy job of decluttering the buildup inside the fan over my stove. I clean the filters periodically, but this is on the moving parts themselves. It makes a clunking noise in low, probably due to the uneven collection of hard grease. If the thing is too far gone, I'll have to replace it. I think it's about 16 years old, so the time may be approaching for upgraded technology.

Lovely gentle rain overnight, so it's time to start removing weeds from the garden. Still no buds on the daffodils, but the leaves are growing taller fast. The A/C repair guy who was here this week tends to keep a good eye on the weather, and the tells me the blooming right around the first of February we saw for a few years was very early, that this winter is more typical.

Before the kitchen hood I think I'll procrastinate by picking up and filing or recycling some of the paper around here.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Feb 18 - 10:21 PM

Son and DIL kicked ASS on things I'd prepped late last night or got back from mtg in time to physically help with:

LIBRARY:
Removed tan rocker-recliner to garage, near scooter. Iron chair now there in garage added to stacked iron chairs.

Removed all cot coverings except metal/wood base and foam mattress. Misc ofc items on cot went to desk chair. Bag of role-playing dolls went to top shelf of closet. Pillows went to middle BR closet. Thick cot covers went to master bedroom for mattress adjustment.

(Tmrw: Secure cot for standing upright-- fold legs, tie mattress to frame w cord. Stand it up. )

Items under cot (big bag) went to middle BR closet. White shelf full of fragile items unloaded, moved into library where cot was,,l reloaded.

HALL LIGHT: Bulb on hand changed.

GARAGE DOOR REMOTE: Reprogrammed.

SEWING ROOM (middle BR):
Stripped mattress pad and washed. Mattress covered for storage. Mattress, box spring, folded frame to garage. Bar clamps under bed stored. Headboard shelves unloaded and headboard to garage.

Tomorrow: Pull white rug closer to door (all the way!), and cut rug neatly around closet base behind door, after seeing that it's reasonably parallel along wall.

LR:
Brown bookshelf unloaded, contents moved to hallway shelf. Brown shelves went to garage.

Unloaded antique 30' x 6' kitchen pantry, moved pantry to side of fridge, reloaded pantry.

Restuffed my mattress and remade bed. (I REFUSE to buy new innerspring mattress here! Will never buy FOAM mattress again!) Small BR table taken out to garage.

After GF pizza, hashed put the May 1 truck dates. Son and DIL will meet me halfway, so 3 drivers for 2 vehicles. (Can hire local unloading crew now.)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Feb 18 - 07:49 AM

Ohio:

PS, They brought me their spare car so that when I drive mine to PA to pick up a truckload of furniture, I'll have theirs to use until Hardi joins me for summer vacation, and I can ride back with him to PA.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Feb 18 - 04:39 PM

I didn't do the fan - yet. I did list a lot of eBay items so I'm up to 20 items for sale. I sell most as Buy-it-now and for 30 days with 2 automatic renewals. If I keep adding things as they sell I'm more motivated to do this regularly. And when I sell often enough there are extra ratings buyers can look at that show your previous customers rated you highly for description, speed of shipping, quality of item, etc.

I seem to be to a stage of swapping out some of the old electronics with newer low cost but much more versatile versions. I think some of the old ones will end up on eBay.

Cold windy day today; clearly it was a mistake to think I could do yard work today. All of our nice days are all landing in the middle of the work week.
:-(

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 08:29 AM

Cleaning inside the range hood is one of my least favourite jobs, right up there with cleaning the oven. Both require me to assume an uncomfortable position while using noxious materials. I'll know I have been condemned to Hell if in the afterlife I find myself down on my aching marrowbones and dabbing awkwardly at caustic soda while clicking my neck in a vain effort to see what I'm doing.

Housework it's not for the weak.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 09:41 AM

Ugh Charmion, that's a rotten job, cleaning the oven or anything to do with the cooker.
Here in UK there are cleaning companies who will come and do that job, dismantling the entire thing and making it shine in every corner. But it costs about £70.
Our cooker is self-cleaning, and the extractor has a paper filter which only needs changing. The hob is a ceramic one, completely smooth, glassy thing, so quite easy to wipe over.

This morning we've just tackled the utility room. This room isn't heated, and so in winter it's running with condensation. We get a lot of black mould on the walls, window frames and even the window panes, so my husband went round with various products and several cloths, plus his trusty mop. It's gleaming now and smells lovely and fresh.
The poor man then got into his uniform and set off for seven hours' cleaning at the school where he works. He really is a treasure!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Feb 18 - 09:30 PM

One of the huge boxes I inherited last week has gone to list a lot of binders on eBay; tonight I used another to package a large terracotta clay baker (Romertopf) that needs either a very specialized styrofoam molded form or a lot of packing peanuts to deliver it safely. I have a smaller clay baker I use for roasting chickens - there's something about that method that makes the moist meat fall off the bones.

I decluttered parts of the yard of stands of henbit that are growing rapidly now that the days are longer. The lawn in the back is still dormant (Bermuda) and the henbit is a striking green against the golden brown dead grass; in front I have lots of Rescue grass, like a poor man's Rye grass that is wild and comes up every year. I used the steel rake and pulled through the henbit to dislodge most of it; what remains is easy to pull by hand. I'll be doing this for a couple of more days and adding the weeds to my compost. Hopefully I won't have to do the first mow of the yard for a couple of weeks yet. And that reminds me - I need to get the starter cord replace on my string trimmer. Long story, but a repair (changing out the fuel line) I was doing myself went awry when the plastic handle on the broke upon release and the whole cord wound up inside. I looked at the YouTube video to fix it - what takes that guy 15 minutes would take me ages. I have a guy who does this kind of thing, and if I get it over there now, he won't have a long line of things ahead of mine.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Feb 18 - 10:59 PM

Ohio:

Going nuts over which curtains get swapped around to which windows when the furniture comes, because it'll be easier to get at the windows first.

Trish came by to pick up the 2 items I'd known she'd take plus the one I'd hoped she'd take, and offered to be on the truck-unloading crew!!! She is about 50, very strong, knows how to turn things to get them to go, is hilarious AND reliable-- and knows that the world runs on #GirlPower. She's worth the whole block full of hormone-assaulted teenagers who won't commit! Whoo-EEE, I got my crew!

This means I do NOT have to unload the dresser she's taking-- the one from PA will come in, she'll swap out my stuff, and out the door will go her new dresser! She wants to buy DIL's car I'm borrowing!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Feb 18 - 12:38 AM

The carpet cleaner was set on "spill pickup" as I hoovered up the water that puddled around the fireplace and back door from all of our rain. I have to put up a rain gutter to keep it from pouring onto the poorly-grouted bricks of the chimney and working it's way into the house. The roof is good, the masonry, not so much. Add to this that it was a complete turnaround to read about New Hampshire temperatures up to 78^o today while in Texas it was 36^o and raining.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Feb 18 - 09:18 AM

The temperature is back to its normal late-February position below freezing today, but it won't last; Environment Canada promises a high of 10C for tomorrow. That's just nuts. Okay, Stratford is not as cold as Ottawa, but it's not supposed to be like central Europe! The last time I lived through a winter like this, I was in Baden-Wurttemburg where the asparagus season started in early March.

It's time to start packing up doohickeys for the church variety sale, which I hope will result in an empty cabinet in the basement ... so I can then declutter the basement of the cabinet! I'm learning to love Kijiji.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Feb 18 - 02:26 PM

Ohio:

The crew of 2 expected for Sunday has grown to a full crew of 4-- two adults, their tall young son, and their very young artsy daughter. So some curtain-swapping will defintely be added! And more placeholders for the framed art on the way.

A new project will involve patching a door... The sellers apparently had installed an interior-grade door on the patio side of the garage, which (predictably) has been rotting away inside the hollow core.... the 2×2 inside the bottom edge of the core dropped out, and took a ragged 3-4" of outer door skin with it.... so I can't just put a new 2x2 up in there-- nothing left to attach to it.

I have to buy a sheet of plywood for another project we're doing Sunday, of which we'll use less than half. So, since Hardi will want to choose its replacement and probably install it himself, we'll install plywood kick plates from inside the garage and probably outside as well, to discourage squirrel intrusions.

We'll cut and attach these XL plates high enough to connect with good wood; a spray of clear-coat on the exposed edge ought to prevent the ply-peeling from getting too far along before Hardi can see it in August. I'm betting he'll opt to just paint all that and defer replacement until he retires! ;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Feb 18 - 08:54 PM

Tomorrow evening I'll be busy straightening for company on Saturday. The mature approach is to put things away and tidy; the quick way is to stuff everything into the sewing room. I have company for a couple of nights next weekend as well, so there's no putting odd stuff in the guest room.

I've read Susan's discussion of the stuff stored in her garage and considered how to sort and compress what is in mine. I can park one vehicle inside, and I have only one vehicle, but it is technically a two-car garage. I may move some of the storage shelving on one side and see if I can give more floor space. Stack up on shelves but not on wall steel shelves perpendicular to the walls, as it is now.

A new fence is soon going up next door, along the true property line. I'll be able to dismantle the existing fence that is about 18 inches closer to my house and recycle it into a couple of places around the yard where planks are deteriorating. I'll have to dig up the metal fence posts and knock the concrete footers off, then reuse them or more likely offer them up on one of the freecycle services in my area. These are truly signs of spring. It's not here yet, but it's close (my asparagus are beginning to sprout.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Feb 18 - 08:58 PM

Menu for Sunday crew:

Panful of fried cheese grit patties
Crockpot of bbq
Raw sweet peppers
Clementines
Bananas
Vanilla or strawberry yogurt
Cereals
Corn chips
Shredded cheese
Halloween candy and dark chocolate

The bbq is chicken thighs and breasts, plus a pork steak, all slivered and shredded into marmalade bbq sauce, after a reboiling of all the meats.

Dog will be boarded this time-- this combo of ppl always results in an overly revved up service dog, and I'm tired of being ignored on ignoring the svc dog-- she'll love playing with her human friends at the kennel.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Feb 18 - 01:07 PM

This part of the state has recently decluttered itself of a drought. I thought we'd done that last year, but apparently there were still remnants of dryness. I read an article this morning about how the cold and rain should combine to let the peach trees to my west become totally hydrated and because of the cold the blossoms have been delayed. This should result in a bumper crop. I, on the other hand, have been washing towels that line the back door and will make a point of putting up a rain gutter next month. I don't consider all of these dirty towels a plus.

Company coming so the dogs will spend much of the time in my office. I'll crank my desk into standing position to move the cables out of tail reach - the prospect of a dog tangled in this stuff is why I usually keep the door closed when I'm not in here, to keep them out. (If I put left them in my bedroom unattended they would make themselves completely at home on the bed and with Poppy's trip to the vet this morning and a yeasty-smelling hot spot just treated, it would be hard on the bedding).

Asparagus are sprouting but still no blooms forming on the daffodils. It's already about four weeks later than they've bloomed over the last several years. On the other hand, it's so wet right now it's difficult to step over to the asparagus to pick any so some have gotten too tall to eat so what's out there is under appreciated.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 24 Feb 18 - 06:18 PM

The weather in north central PA has been so very strange for this time of the year. Last week it was pushing 70 degrees and then we had a very fast moving storm that dumped enough ice and snow to shut things down for the day.   Now it's all rainy and in the high 30s. My yard is a super highway of MUD. However, with the odd weather, we have seen flocks of geese returning, a friend recently posted a photo of a bear under her feeder and a photo of a robin. Today we noticed some flowers about to bloom in the back yard....small whitish ones...not sure what they are though. I think Mother Nature is going to have a very good laugh about all this sometime in the next month or so. We really haven't had winter to speak of.

Today we decluttered the entire family of excess hair...LOL...we all got haircuts this morning. It's amazing to me how getting a good haircut (taking care of oneself) or decluttering a section of my home make me feel equally fabulous!   :)

My crazy work audits are over but this week had me training a new hire and doing 3 additional intakes so I'm dragging a little bit. I think if I can catch a nap here shortly, I may get some work done tonight. If not, there's always tomorrow but then again, I've been asked to go out for the afternoon with someone. I would like to go out but I'd also like the time at home so we shall see. Decisions! Decisions! ;)

Pete and I are trying to decide how to handle the room switch....my sewing room will soon be Jeremiah's bedroom. He thinks we should let Jeremiah pick the color. I think we should pick out 5 somewhat neutral colors and let him pick that and THEN he can pick out what he wants for his blankets and such. He loves one of the Avenger characters a ton at the moment but as we all know, that will be fleeting. I don't mind changing out linens but I do mind the thought of having to repaint every time he changes his mind about his favorite character/animal.   If we were to paint the walls in a neutral color, those changes in his likes would be MUCH easier to handle and continually look good...at least that's my thought on the matter!   Currently that room is a very soft pink color so it absolutely will be changed for Jeremiah. Jeremiah's room was designed as a nursery with gender neutral colors as we didn't know what gender our child would be. The walls are a soft buttery yellow and there is a soft grass green carpet on the floor. I love the looks of it the way it is and will not need to make any changes to the walls or floor when that becomes my sewing room.

Speaking of sewing, I am ever closer to finishing the House of Care Quilt. Next weekend, I will be joining a group of friends for a day of sewing (interrupted by orchestra practice) and then an evening of theater, I am looking forward to that day with great anticipation! :)

I did declutter the front seat of my car this weekend and left office in stellar shape for the week ahead...I say those things count as they make my life run more smoothly.

Enjoy your week friends!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Feb 18 - 08:58 PM

Ohio:

Today I picked up all the materials for tomorrow's work day. It was already a full day, so no energy left for the funny story it included. (Story will keep.)

But not only do I exoect 2 energetic adults younger than me, tomorrow-- helper Tyler is looking for Tuesday hours next week, which means he can work with me to finish anything not completed when the family must depart early tmrw evening to get the kiddoes off to bed. So I'll prioritize the list accordingly.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Feb 18 - 10:11 PM

Beaver:

Great news! R has decluttered our lives of the odious house! It is actually sold but he needs to live there until December; keep it occupied until the buyer is ready to start "renovating". When I go back to Montreal in a couple weeks, we will be able to consider what we can buy for the next phase of our lives. I am still hoping for a house near those nature reserves. He seems to be amenable. Whew! He texted me, "There are squirrels in the attic! They aren't ours! YAY!" What a relief, we are each feeling. After all these years, he no longer has the "house needs to be renovated" hanging over him! The buyer is going to totally gut the interior so nothing matters!

We will still have "Beaver Haven" but I have agreed to spend more time in Quebec. This also is a sort of de-clutter - so we are in the same place if either of us has health problems. Being a prisoner in that dreadful house last winter ...

The studio and house are totally cluttered with drying pottery! That is GOOD clutter! Monday looks like it will be a decent day to deal with loading the kiln for the first bisque firing. I have a fair chance of finishing by 5th or so. Load car and trek to Montreal - on a non-snow day. And hang out until son and wife come up from NYC, where they are visiting third grand daughter (my third greatgd), Ali's first child, to collect his pots - And have a short visit! Troy lived in Montreal in his teens so it will be a bit of a pilgrimage for him - showing Julie the highlights of his youth.

Packing pottery: Double boxing is highly recommended, with the outside one lined with spray foam, or maybe the interior one and the pottery wrapped in bubble wrap, placed in a plastic bag and then into foam lined box which is then filled with more foam. Then the outer box could have foam or some other filler. Strong boxes! I had good success using bagels as filler - instead of foam!

Not much else done but managed the laundry in two loads/two days, drying in house. Warmer days and solar gain in afternoon means less wood needs to be brought in. A week without snow is a nice break for my shoulders. Another day or two and I may be able to get to the car without risk of falling. Using gravel in a large yogurt container to strew in front of me as I make my way - very carefully! I can see small patches of bare ground.grass! But fully expecting more snow before April.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Feb 18 - 12:46 AM

R is being held hostage by the buyer? How is that possible? What conditions of sale would require the seller to continue to live there?

Last year the Photobucket photo storage site made a huge change, blocking users from third-party hosting of photos unless they pay $700 a year for the privilege. I've finally found a place that I think will work and I'll have to upload then reassemble the photo links into an organic garden site I've contributed to.

The yard is a sodden mess, guests today left with muddy shoes after trying to look at the garden to discover any pending blooms and to admire the asparagus. I have four pairs of my own shoes and boots by the door that I'll have to knock the mud off of once it's completely dry.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 25 Feb 18 - 11:30 AM

I can relate to the muddy mess. I have to roll my pants up x3 so that when I get to work I don't have it all over my pants from mud that splashes up as I walk. Ick.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Feb 18 - 12:39 PM

R is being held hostage by the buyer? How is that possible? What conditions of sale would require the seller to continue to live there?

R is SO happy to be rid of the albatross and receiving an amazing amount for it, that he would have just said, "How high would you like me to jump?"

Laughing at your mud! I am still under ice and snow! This morning I could not safely walk the 20 feet from back door to studio - on the wood walkway! Now it is over 40F and I am hoping for the energy to go to work - after lunch.

I actually did about 15 minutes on the sewing machine - made a pouch for the comfrey so it doesn't go everywhere while in use! The ankle was being somewhat painful but the poultices the last couple days have cleared it. Comfrey everywhere! This summer I will be drying quantities of leaves AND putting them into a animal proof container.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Feb 18 - 08:26 PM

Ohio:

Workday-- 6:30pm ending before dark; started at 11am with a crew of four helpers. (30 man-hours on top of my time to prep, plan, purchase, work, coordinate/teach, and clean up.)

The 2 trickiest jobs on my wishlist were done well, to completion. The rebuilt HVAC-enclosure wall is especially lovely, and involved a lot of thought and tricks-- but looks just like it was always just the way we did it.

Several other jobs were not completed fully, but were started in such fashion that I can finish them with Tyler's help Tuesday. Others I can finish on my own-- in both cases, the helpers did the parts I can't possibly do. And brought me a Coke when I badly needed it.

One of the best parts was teaching my awkward-age nephew how to use a cordless drill/driver, work smart, use a framing square, and lay out a project. He is a certifiable genius-- super-quick processing-- but SO bored and awkward, and also at the age of not wanting to know a thing his ma and pa try to teach him. I finally got to that magic smile with him, that'd vanished of late under too much AP schoolwork, and far too many structured afterschool programs. He got very handy with that little tool, relaxed, and gained confidence-- good for him!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Feb 18 - 10:24 AM

Not much going on in Stratford, now that the ground floor is just about finished (only the kitchen tile to go, and that is scheduled). My lung complaint is gradually ebbing, currently down to occasional coughing fits that still sound awful but don't leave me reeling with exhaustion as they did two weeks ago.

I went back to the gym on Friday for a full workout, and boy did I feel it on Saturday. Every muscle in my legs, butt and back had criticism to offer, which tells me that I need to do that workout again today, and on Wednesday, and on Friday, too.

Himself is looking particularly fine these days, after almost four months of watching his diet and working out vigorously. He's lost almost 25 pounds and is back into his snazziest suits; the new one he bought last summer now hangs on him like a tent. The gym staff are so impressed with him that they just about offered him a job, on the theory that if the flabby old guys see an fit old guy behind the counter, they might be a little less reluctant to sign up.

I'm looking a bit gaunt, myself, having lost my jowls and a full size in trousers to the pneumonia. I thought I had come to terms with advancing age, but it's still always a bit of a shock to look at myself in the mirror and see the same lines on my face that I remember on my granny.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 18 - 08:18 PM

Charmion, it sounds like himself also took advantage of the extra work involved in moving. I always lose weight when I pack and move for hours at a time for days at a time. Right now I've gone back to alternate day fasting, managing two or three days a week. I got the idea from Dr. Mosley's Eat, Fast and Live Longer program that originally broadcast on a BBC science series. It comes and goes on the Internet, but it looks like BBC has a YouTube channel now. He tries several different forms of fasting; the one I adopted shows up about 38 minutes into the program. (It's also on a Spanish language Vimeo channel, in English with a less distracting background.)

Thanks for the note, Dorothy. That is an interesting outcome after sitting on that property for a long time.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Feb 18 - 09:18 AM

Actually, Acme, the move left both of us fatter than we had been in years. After so long in Ottawa, and with all the shenanigans surrounding release from the Army after 30 years of service, we were wined and dined a great deal during the spring and early summer of last year, to the extent that it seemed we were in one fancy restaurant or another pretty well every weekend for about two months. Then the move itself put us in hotels for almost two weeks in high summer, and eating all our meals in restaurants and diners. We both got seriously chubby.

When we finally finished unpacking the books (a job that took ages), Himself looked at me seriously across the dinner table and said, "We have completed the task of Moving To Stratford. It is now time to start Living In Stratford." Within a couple of days, he had entered into a contract with a personal trainer at the gym and joined the local hiking club. Then he downloaded MyNetDiary, a diet-tracking application, onto his phone and started weighing and measuring his food. He said it made counting calories into a video game.

Neither of us is any good at fasting. Himself gets grumpy and impossible to live with when his low-food light is flashing, and I find that I really must eat when my stomach starts rumbling. I don't have to eat much, mind you, and it's important that I wait until I actually feel hunger, but if I don't eat when those signals start arriving I am likely to gorge when I finally let myself eat at all.

With the kitchen renovation project and the redecoration of the rest of the house to manage, I do not really feel that the Moving To Stratford phase is quite finished, at least not for me. In fact, just the other day I found yet another box with movers' tape on it, cracked it open, and decided that its entire contents could go to the Sally Ann. I won't really settle until the bedrooms are patched and painted, and I've put up curtains in the upstairs windows.

It's another unseasonably beautiful day in Perth County, sunny and warm, so I have decided to jettison my original plan for extensive housework in favour of a nice walk downtown to mail my brother's birthday present. Yesterday's workout did not leave me with the stiff legs I suffered on Saturday, so my body has evidently decided to forgive me and get with the program.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Feb 18 - 04:50 PM

Ohio:

It turned out that both helpers planned for today bailed at the last minute, and the weather was too warm and sunny to waste, so I finished the patio door project, as well as I could on my own. I was not able to totally secure the lower edge with bolts, but I was able to screw thru the front plate into the back plate with extra long exterior grade screws which, unfortunately, were a tad long for the width of the door and will have to be nipped off.

Unfortunately they also were to have loaded a chair into my car after first unloading the full hatch area; I need it for a pain-free weekend workshop Friday-Saturday because I did not bring my walker-seat which is perfectly set up for 90° joints.

Since I now can't walk at all after that door project, I'm not excited about attempting the chair move on my own. It may just fit in DIL's open trunk and the workshop is right here in town. If I don't take it, my back will be fried after the first hour. :-(

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 27 Feb 18 - 10:42 PM

Beaver:
Energy level kind of hit the wall today. Hope it renews! Two bisque firings complete and two to go ---- I looked in the glaze bucket and OOPS - need more. I have the materials but the scales I have are iffy and I do not have the required sieve. It's at the mill. Considering possible solutions... Trimmed more pots today - threw yesterday - and hope they will dry fast enough to get into the last bisque load. House is de-cluttered of pots!

I did a wonderful job of restraining myself from buying some epiphytes tonight but passed on to the presenter (at the horticultural Soc) my copper tubing plant support idea. Copper kills epiphytes but the dipladenia is doing great in its "cage". I am down to one geranium - about to bloom!, two neophyte spider plants, one af violet and my new rosemary and aloe vera - all doing well. I do tend to be a plant-aholic!

Trying Keto diet again. All lost is regained; I alternately give up and try again. Spring is giving me hope but there is still a lot of snow out there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 01 Mar 18 - 02:33 PM

It's a cold storm blowing over the top of our UK members - stay safe, warm, and dry. And here's hoping your buds and blossoms survive this weather.

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

Ohio:

I came home from a lunch meeting during brief break in the huge all-morning downpour-- "Aha! Load that chair NOW!" I immediately changed into grubs, unloaded the dog crate and suitcase from the hatch, and had the car in front where the chair was for my workshop-- just in time for middle schoolers coming off the bus. In 3's, there is ALWAYS one raised right who responds if I yell, "Hey, could one of you guys give me a quick hand?" One will always gallop over to do a lift and be invited to leave his number for paid work.

So I was able to park the wet faux wicker lawn chair to dry out in the car, in the garage,

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 18 - 09:27 AM

The time has come, I think, for the new fence next door that will be between our properties but will actually follow the property line (my request - the current fence is about 18" inside my property line because the previous owner was a bit of an idiot when it came to cooperating with neighbors and put it up willy-nilly in a hurry.) It means the old fence is up to me to take apart (my request) because I have a heavy-duty wire stapled to the base that is part of my dog containment system (it carries a radio signal that their collars respond to if they get too close). I also have to possibly make a connection between my old fence and their new fence at the street facing narrow end or we could end up with an odd gap.

The last week was mostly heavy rain but it's forecast to dry for a few days. Today should be nice and though the ground is soggy there is yardwork to be done. A wedding and houseguest this weekend mean it was prudent to take a couple of days off to get the usual weekend stuff done ahead of time and have the house looking good. I need to take my gas trimmer over to the repair shop and have the pull cord fixed (the handle broke and the cord pulled inside the machine). Gotta beat the regular spring crowd.

My eBay listings are up and running and I'm adding more regularly now. It still seems the best way to declutter and get a little extra income at the same time.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Mar 18 - 11:09 AM

We are having an unexpected family day at home due to the snow storm.    Pete made a wonderful breakfast, Jeremiah is cleaning his room and I am soon going to tuck away into my sewing room in hopes of completing a quilt top for the House of Care this weekend. It is a signature quilt and over 70 cancer survivors have signed different blocks. There are still at least 70+ open blocks to be signed. My hope is that the quilt top will be at Geisinger by the end of the week and then folks at the House of Care and people at the clinic will be able to sign the remaining open blocks. It was offered as a gift of love and thankfulness for my time at the House of Care but the higher ups want the quilt on a given date and are breathing down my neck about it so now it feels more like a chore. I overestimated my available time and energy when calculating the due date. I work 60+ hours a week, drive 30 to 45 minutes each way to work (unless it's snowing and then it's longer), take care of my family, take care of our home, grocery shop, cook, take Jeremiah to soccer, swimming and guitar lessons and then church on Sundays sometimes if the weather is good and I'm not completely wiped out...and the quilt. I don't think I will ever commit to creating something handmade for anyone ever again. I will simply make something and share it when it is complete. *whew* I will spend a few quiet moments handling each block and reading each signature/quote focusing on that to bring me back to my original heartfelt wish to make something out of love for people who are so very deserving.

So.....my hope is that by tomorrow, my sewing room will be decluttered of one more quilt top. :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 18 - 12:40 PM

That's a wonderful project, Michelle. They're lucky to have someone with your passion and experience working on this on their behalf. An idea occurs to me, but I'll wait and look for your report about handing over the quilt to see if I was correct.

As I started on my eBay work I realized I needed more clear desk space, so have spent time filing, shredding, and recycling paper. I can see some of the wood on the second desk in my office. A few more eBay items have moved into the sunroom, and I'm also finding more donate items.

I'm setting up the dining table for a sewing project. I have to spread out the cutting board to place a pattern on fabric, and have enlisted my son's girlfriend to remind him again to send me measurements I should have gotten last time he was home for a visit.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Mar 18 - 03:41 PM

Beaver:

Michelle: you are amazing! Two hours and I am pooped!

I drove about two hours this morning - to fetch my fav yogurt from the next town, where an independent grocery is willing and able to special order. A flat of 6 was supposed to come on Tues but it did not arrive and Jeff did not call me and Amanda has been feeling badly for two days that she had not had time to fetch it for me (she lives there). SO: Jeff will phone whether or not it comes on Tues. I will have the smarts to check before I leave. I will not ask the overbooked Amanda to fetch it. I am muddling through the weekend with 6%.

So, any throwing for today is cancelled. I unloaded and re-loaded the kiln. Looks good! But did not do any of the lots more tasks that could be done. The tiny kiln room is still crowded but less so.

I need to check the local Gallery for what pots I have there as next week I could take in a few more.

No rain. No snow. YET. I feel the impending rain that is taking its time. Time for me to relax and recuperate.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 18 - 09:14 PM

My gas engine string trimmer is now in the shop. Last fall I was working on it, I swapped out the silicone bulb to prime it and changed the fuel lines, and on my first attempt to start it, the starter cord plastic handle broke off and the whole cord pulled completely into the engine. The YouTube video shows a guy dismantling the trimmer and fixing the cord in about 15 minutes, meaning I might finish in 2 hours and have parts left over.

I have "a guy who does" who I took it to this afternoon and he said it takes him about 45 minutes to do the job. That'll work. And when he depressed the bulb he said the resulting clicking sound says there is a diaphragm that might be dried out. Okay. $6 for that item, $23 for a new carburetor if needed. We're still looking at a repair that keeps it well under the cost of buying a new one like this. There is a kind of depressing pile of dead trimmers on the side of his building, but this one isn't destined for that heap yet. I trust this guy to do the job right. Why? Because the first time I took this trimmer over he said he didn't have time to get to it for weeks, but I could do it on my own. He sold me $2.00 worth of tubing and told me how to do the repair myself.

This, then, is my way of not having to declutter myself of a defunct trimmer after buying a new one. I prefer to keep this tool in service.

In other activity, I've set up another station in the house for playing audio books from my phone. Goodwill and other thrift stores have discarded iPod docking stations that have auxiliary plugs, so they can be used to play from any device. In the kitchen I have one that is bluetooth (no port needed), and now one in my office that I can use with a cable or with my spare bluetooth receiver. I'm using GoodReads.com to keep track of books, mostly audio books, and the last one I read was 600 pages (equivalent to two typical books) so I'm pushing to catch up to my goal of 24 books this year.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Mar 18 - 01:10 PM

Ohio:

Young Tyler has renewed thoughts about a temporary house-guesting arrangement! I'm excited, because I was just thinking how I had not set up garden care while I head back at the end of the wknd for furniture.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 04 Mar 18 - 07:56 PM

Well, I did not reach my goal. I put in over 16 hours on it but it still likely needs another good 8 hours or so. I was going to work on it more today but my eyes were burning, likely from small fabric dust particles. Pete said it was enough. I ended up taking a 4 hour nap. I had no idea I was that tired. I slept so hard that I was disoriented when I woke up. I guess those *higher ups* are just going to have to wait. *shrug*

I did clean out 4 drawers of a desk that was my Nana's and sits in my living room. Two of those drawers were full of crafty this and that. No more!   All crafty things have been relocated to the sewing room which is really where they belong anyway. I paid all the bills today and sorted through various paperwork and am now using those two drawers for highly organized bills/medical/school papers. It clears out a bin that I have had out for paperwork for years which means there is another surface that has been cleaned off. :) I made homemade muffins today too. It's been a lovely day.

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Mar 18 - 06:45 PM

Ohio:

Tyler is all moved in and getting settled. The guest bed we'd hoped to Murphy up for the sewing room worked a treat! All the organizing of linens I'd done came in handy!

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Mar 18 - 08:11 PM

I decided it was time to empty the bins arranged by garment size in my closet. The smallest size is 8, but it'll be a while till I can fit into size 8 again - the stuff in there is really nice and I'll be sorry not to have the garments if I do reach that point, but anyway - that little "what about eBay?" question crossed my mind as I was preparing to bag them for the Goodwill. Someone else in the same situation I was in, with a modest budget but needing serviceable and attractive pants and slacks to wear to work, including some gorgeous black jeans, linen pants, wool pants, gabardine khakis, and more, will have an opportunity to bid for the lot on eBay. If it doesn't sell, then they can go to Goodwill.

A care package was dispatched to my son; he's getting to be a good cook but from his standpoint it's still nice to have your favorite banana bread shipped in time for your birthday. Soon it will be too warm to ship such delicacies from my location; the hot weather that the parcel travels through causes it to mold pretty quickly.

Making progress around here as I've continued to file, shred, and put things away. Spring must be near!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Mar 18 - 10:41 PM

Montreal:

So, on Sat am, the kiln had not turned off so I did it for it! After it cooled enough, I determined that the kiln was dysfunctional and, with two firings to go and the deadline closing in, I packed the car with all the pots, complete and various stages of incomplete and drove to the mill where the kiln would work - hopefully. I will prob be able to fix the kiln later when not under pressure of deadline.

In the meantime, I have all but one bowl (of 8) and the 8 plates are complete and lovely! Another firing went in the aft and I will go back in am to the mill to open the kiln and do one more firing of misc pots that are still to be fired.

My west coast (Whidbey) son and wife will be driving up from NYC, after the 10th, with GD Sarah from San Diego to visit and pick up pots - a chance for son to show wife and daughter his old haunts in Montreal. They will get an airbnb! And lots of pots!

Hoping R will have a bit of time while I am here to look at a couple more houses. We are each looking forward to the move; I have some trepidation as I wonder how much of his Stuff will become clutter!! I think we will need a house with a garage - just for his stuff! I came in tonight to find a seriously Ugly sofa in the LR. NO! IT does not deserve house space. I hope it is en route to somewhere else!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Mar 18 - 09:14 AM

The Brother and his wife are coming for Easter, and bringing with them a box of Bohemian crystal wine glasses that belonged to my Dad. Sigh. I thought I had successfully parted with them, but no; I had merely kicked the can down the road a few months. Consequently, I must re-think the contents of the china cabinet and decide what I really, really want to keep and what I'm willing to let go, and then persuade Himself to agree with my conclusions.

The kitchen tiling is almost finished; only the four square feet of backsplash in the pantry remains to be grouted, and then the entire kitchen project will be finished. Oh, except for the kick panel under the cabinets on the sink side of the galley, where the tiles were broken and had to be replaced. Oh, and putting a bevel on the hinge side of the china cabinet doors so they don't have to be opened to their fullest extent before the drawers can be pulled out. Come to think of it, is such a project ever quite entirely finished?

Dorothy, I sympathize with your grim thoughts of what might become clutter in your next abode. Our neighbour Neil, who walks his dog for hours a day around the neighbourhood, informed us that our two-car garage might be the only one on our street that actually contains two cars. The furniture restorer who repaired my old rocking chair also pointedly remarked on this unusual characteristic of our household; apparently he sees a lot of garages crammed to the rafters with everything but the family car. I guess it would have been easier to let some of the moving boxes stay packed and stacked out there, but both Himself and I utterly loathe scraping ice off the car, especially in the early morning when one is in a hurry to get somewhere.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 06 Mar 18 - 08:20 PM

Montreal:

Charmion! "When your house is finished, you die!"
It will take a great deal of patient Dealing to keep R from filling however large a house we purchase from filling with stuff! I will NOT live with clutter. I am making it clear.   

In de-cluttering our lives of this odious house, I have spent about 4 hours on web, looking for possibilities! This will be a long process - but Chamion can also relate to that! Clearly, the dear little house is not going to make it! But I continue to seek something close to the nature preserves, and to the city for R.

And big enough for STUFF! I peeked into the room that was once screwed shut and ... Gulp! Full of stuff!! Daunting!

R took delight today in observing that he no longer needs to deal with the burgeoning Manitoba Maple!!!! But he spent time putting a hole in the wall to install a large TV????! One more chance to remove a pile of dreadful towels from the LR and, I have told him, they are going out on the sidewalk for whoever needs them - rags! (we have enough!)

Still not apprised of when family is arriving! But the pottery is ready!!! Super YAY!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Mar 18 - 01:07 PM

Ohio hoping for AM departure tmrw:

Tyler is such a gift. The free workday he offered to support my going in return for my support around his sudden move-in-- kewl Adding his younger brother ALSO-- free-- PRICELESS! Because until he got a full time job, Caleb worked for me and for last housemate-- knows the house and the cleaning info!

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Mar 18 - 11:58 PM

I've had a couple of periods of time when things that came out of storage were placed in the garage and there was no room for a vehicle, but I decided when I bought this place to stop using remote storage and to use my garage for my vehicle. I did put in joists when we built the garage so there is robust storage in the attic of the garage, or support if I push it up to a second story studio, etc.

My ex has finally gotten to where he can park his car in his garage, and I encourage him to call me when he needs help moving some bulky object out (especially to donate to the Goodwill rather than the trash).

There are occasional break-ins around the village when cars are left on the street, and I had someone come into the back yard years ago before I put up a gate and steal a wet saw. Having the yard nominally blocked (if someone really wants they can get in, but with a lot of noise and fuss) and the vehicle in the garage means people can't really tell if I'm home or not, and the house and SUV are safer. It isn't like having a castle with a moat, but it's the same principle.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Mar 18 - 08:58 PM

I seem to have hit the sweet spot price-wise on eBay; in the categories where I'm listing the sellers offer a flat price and free shipping; I have calculated the shipping and offer the item a few dollars lower but they pay for shipping. In the end there is only a couple of dollars savings to the buyers, but it seems to work. My listings are just enough lower that I get the sale.

Spring break is coming soon and my yard is going to get some much-needed attention. I finished a series of big projects this week so feel able to take time free of compromising any deadlines.

A local broadcast channel plays old episodes of some of the Canadian design programs from the mid-2000's; I saw them new on cable but now they're old repeats on TV. I am getting a couple of ideas that are relatively timeless, in particular the replacement of a solid bathroom door with a French door with translucent glass to let more light into the dressing room. This would be wonderful.

For now I'll concentrate on selling off the items in boxes in my sunroom, and perhaps sooner rather than later they'll add up to the price of a new French door.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Mar 18 - 09:26 AM

I wrote a substantial post about cars yesterday, but the Cat crashed and it vanished. C'est la vie.

Although I lived in downest downtown Ottawa for so long that putting away and locking up any and all useful things became second nature, my car was burgled twice, once in a shopping centre parking lot (bag of maps stolen) and once when parked overnight on the driveway in front of the house (radio stolen). It never ceased to amaze me that a burglar would go for an ancient VW Diesel, that most unstealable of cars, and surely nothing of value would be found in a 16-year-old car, but there you go.

When Himself was finally able to tear himself loose from his last court-martial client and come to Stratford to see the house I had bought, we found the seller in a state of agitation awaiting the cops, whom she had called because she found her car broken open and minus a tool kit anmd a substantial stash of parking change. The car, of course, was normally parked on the driveway in front of the garage door. Clearly, our leafy corner of idyllic Stratford shares at least one threat with grungy old Ottawa: opportunistic burglars. The very first thing I did on taking possession was to call a locksmith.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Mar 18 - 04:28 PM

Montreal:

Cars: At Beaver, I never lock the car. In Montreal, I always do; if I forget, something is gone, for sure! At the mill, no locking; no one nearby; also large barking do in front part of building - well contained but LOUD! Same with buildings. Beaver is never locked. Mill only when we are leaving for city.

De-cluttered R's head of several inches of hair! He looks less like Einstein! weeks overdue.

Being away for 7 weeks was TOO much! Getting our mutual lives back on track has been worse than clutter. I recognize this must change; clutters my life to de-clutter his? Well, I'm retired.

Looking at two houses tomorrow. Looking forward to this next step. I spent a couple half days, looking at the neighbourhood and learning the area. Also managed to fire all pots. Son's are completed. And a few more. De-cluttered bill paying by picking up a goodly sum from the consignment shop for the pots she sold. She needs more pots so I need to see about energy to drive to mill and throw and trim. Son not coming before Weds! I thought I would be back to Beaver by Sunday! Oh well! Need to call someone to water the plants! Henceforth I shall have to stick to outdoor plants for there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Mar 18 - 06:01 PM

There are times when I've forgotten to lock a door or close the garage door, and when nothing happened I considered myself lucky and vowed never to do that again. I think we don't communicate well amongst ourselves as neighbors to compare notes on criminal activity, and I find the online "Nextdoor" site offputting. I can look in if I wish, but I've turned off their email function because there are too many racist and bigotted reports that come through that moderators should be blocking.

This year I took my string trimmer into the shop early enough that he wasn't loaded down with mowers and other trimmers to fix yet and only a week later it was ready. As it happened he didn't need to replace the rope (the handle broke and it rolled into the housing). He showed me the washer that he put in the new plastic handle before he tied the knot - he said that the washer is enough to keep the rope from fully contracting into the machine again if the handle breaks. I'll do that trick on a couple of other devices to save possible later repairs. It was $29 well-spent—trying to do that job myself would have taken ages.

On my way home I stopped at the gas station and noticed a couple of 25 gallon black plastic nursery pots that had blown up against a barbed wire fence with other trash. They join my collection of pots beside the house where I'm experimenting with planting crops in pots.

My next little audiobook listening station is set up in my office; I have a bluetooth setup and have my audiobooks in my phone. I can listen to it while I work. The book is on the computer because I ripped it from a CD to the mp3 files I'm listening to now, but this little phone app (Voice) knows where I stopped listening and does a much better job than my former player (a Sony Walkman - I had to manually tell it to go to the next folder in each book). The player is a thrift store find that fits nicely in the desk corner next to my monitor.

The top task this weekend is to tackle the yard since the weeds have bolted into a tangle of tall greenery.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 18 - 11:03 AM

Spring Break for many in the US school system, and ♫ I've got a little list. ♫ (Someone should have told Mr. Gilbert that the correct grammar is "I have a little list," but whatever).♪ ♪

My jeans that are so worn they are designated to yard work are soon to go in the laundry so I'll putter around the house until they're ready, but this weekend is the Big Push into the yard. And the garage. I may never have enough room for two cars, but I still have plenty of things I can dislodge from the space.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Mar 18 - 03:32 PM

PA:

The drive back was pretty awful due to lack of sleep plus poor weather plus an early AM DV.

House here.... the main floor is full of furniture in my way that needs to go out to porch for pre-loading, but that awaits a warm day to prep the porch. ....

Packing brain still spinning. About all I can do right off is purge, and start filling trash bags and Goodwill boxes. If we have time together we can sort thru the next round of the book purge-- the ones we have to go thru together. None of these are calling me to get going.... yet... Still in drive recovery and unpacking car bags.

An Equinox bearing is shot, again. :-(

On the plus side, Black Panther is playing in Wellsboro and we're going tmrw night.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Mar 18 - 08:14 PM

This has nothing to do with decluttering but I'm going to share it anyway...today we celebrated Jeremiah's 8th birthday!!!   We had a birthday party for him at the bowling alley, complete with arcade games, pizza and cake. He invited several friends and a grand time was had by all!!!

:) What a wonderful day!

It's more quilting/piecing for me tomorrow.....can't wait for that project to be wrapped up!

Have a great night everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 18 - 08:39 PM

Amazing how fast the time has passed - but it is such happy news, considering the cancer that you were battling when Jeremiah arrived. Such a great outcome!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Mar 18 - 04:12 PM

Montreal:

"since the weeds have bolted into a tangle of tall greenery." !!! I am looking forward to seeing something like this in the next few weeks!

And Wow! Jeremiah is 8 already! ---geez, I think my great granddaughter is almost that old!

Just spent an hour or so on the phone with tech support re internet connectivity. He was very nice but nothing monumental was accomplished except that I have to try harder to use less mb!

Pottery is ready for pick up. Family may be here on Weds - I hope! Had to email a neighbour to Please water plants left in Bathroom. This is the last time I leave indoor plants; I hate losing them.

House search is probably complete. R "fell in love with" the 6 BR brick house as soon as he walked in the door and saw the beautiful wood staircase, circa 1915, more or less. Wonderful house with room for everything we want - all R's age appropriate furniture, studio in finished basement with outside entrance, airbnb potential in beautiful two room and bath addition with sep entrance, room for gardening, old garage for storage, old side of basement for wood working area and woods behind. Ten minutes to nature preserve, about 30 to office, river down the hill about 100 yards, public boat ramp if one is in to boating. This is a house to be treated with great respect - all the beautiful wood is intact, marvellous pantry, decent K but not the original one- I'll bet the old cabinetry was amazing. Rooms are large and lovely. We are both excited. ( you can google 17 Dupont Ouest, Chateauguay, QC)

Hardly know what to do with myself now that the search is, hop efully, complete.

Hot water heater quit so R has a project - working on it now. Will really need that hot water when he comes back out of the cellar!

Will try to go out to mill tomorrow to throw some pots. Will take some things there to start clearing this house. I bought a pretty set of dishes at the eco-centre yesterday - for the new house! And R has not even put a deposit yet!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Mar 18 - 06:40 PM

Nice looking house, Dorothy, and it sounds like all hobbies will be addressed.

Today was cooler than I expected after an 80^o high yesterday, but it will warm up more during the week, so I spent today cleaning my office - one of those tasks that takes you all over the house putting various small items away after they were carried into the office and left in various nooks and crannies. It also involves pulling together all of the pens, pencils, markers, and various implements that accumulate in offices and putting them into centralized cups and boxes. The shelves need dusting big-time.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Mar 18 - 10:22 AM

Beautiful house, Dorothy. Noting the electric baseboard heaters, I would ask pointed questions about energy costs if I were you, and take a hard look at the windows (have they been updated?) and the weatherstripping on outside doors -- since moving to this house, I'm relearning everything I had forgotten about drafts.

I have a date with Patrick the Painter, who returns next week, on Himself's birthday, to deal with the grey walls and damaged plaster in the guest room. The timing is good; I can get the curtains up and hang some pictures in there before The Brother & wife arrive for Easter. That leaves only the spaces with too many bookcases: our bedroom (which also involves an enormous and very overstuffed closet), the study (six full-sized bookcases and a filing cabinet), and the basement (eight bookcases and a full wall of storage shelving). Unfortunately, the bedroom and the basement also feature quite disastrous colour choices by our predecessors: baby-shit brown in the basement, and aubergine purple in the bedroom. The study is quite tolerable, by contrast -- probably because the walls are almost completely covered with bookcases.

Last week, I started on a massive editing project for Army Headquarters. It's a three-volume book on Canadian operations in Afghanistan, a project that has been badly handled over the last six years and is now seriously overdue. I hate it when a book is already in layout when somebody with signing authority finally notices that the editing sucks and decides to get it fixed. I have done this before, and it always means hot breath down my neck as I trudge through a massive hard-copy edit, followed by many rounds of proofreading as the layout people input only about 80 percent of the marked changes. I still don't have a contract in hand, as the poor, suffering staff officers in Ottawa wrestle with the civil service administration -- as close to wrestling with a pig in mud as you can get without actually rolling in mud. The Canadian federal government has a continuing crisis with its civil service pay system (google Phoenix and Canada, and see if you can figure out why they're not up to their necks in class-action lawsuits), so I kinda wonder when and if I'll get paid.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Mar 18 - 11:05 AM

PA:

The purge is on. 1 33 gal trash barrel full of clothes for Goodwill is full enough to GO. Whej the bag is loaded in the car, the next bag will be trash.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Mar 18 - 11:30 AM

Charmion, that is the kind of editing project to drive one round the bend. If the editors insist the copyediting is complete when a task is handed to me there are usually a few corrections to be made (I can do those) but after it is designed the only change should be typos, not content. At least InDesign has a good find/replace feature.

The house (https://www.centris.ca/en/houses~for-sale~chateauguay/10733476) is spacious, but I agree with Charmion, ask about those windows and the electric. That's a nice big basement for shop activities. The creeping decor changes from over the decades will have to be treated as part of the charm of the place. :)

My attention shifts to outdoor work today and I foresee several trips to Home Depot. The alternative is to drag the kids' wagon over to the bridge and drag buckets of creek pebbles up to the house as part of this project, but the pebbles aren't uniformly small so they're harder to work with than store-bought pea gravel.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Mar 18 - 12:55 PM

Montreal:

Energy costs: $4000/year. Comparable to current house. Door drafts can be dealt with. I am looking at keeping heat costs down - close off rooms not in use, if possible. R has considerable experience with all manner of buildings. First major will be new shingles but we are assured roof does not leak - yet! Windows would, obviously, be frightfully expensive but maybe someday. The fireplace is open and, of course, a heat escape which can be managed. We could not find the damper; will look again. I reached up inside but felt nothing in the way of a lever. The owner may be able to help. He is a surveyor and may well have some ideas to share.

I would be concerned about 9 foot ceilings; R loves them. Need a bathtub in main house but see way to do that efficiently, adjacent to powder room on 2nd floor.

Doing airbnb will help with expenses and I enjoyed it the last time I could do it. A good garden will be a big plus. Might even share pottery studio with a couple others. But R is not concerned.

R points out: airbnb will be helped by being adjacent to Mohawk reserve, to Ile St. Bernard refuge, boat ramp down on the river, and 20 min to Montreal. And I only have to do it when I feel like it.

I am looking forward to the de-clutter of: having room for things, an amazing pantry in hall between K and big DR, having a guaranteed place to park, room for company for supper, for overnight, maybe even for house concerts, picnics in the back yard, the "real life" that has been missing from this derelict house. And visits to the wonderful nature preserves, walks in the woods, meeting new people in the area...

Of course, today R is working on re-storing hot water! So, I am hanging in to provide food at intervals and encouragement as needed. There is quite a pile of dirty dishes so far! There is very little around a house that R cannot do himself and he loves doing those sorts of things. Thankfully, he would not try to roof this house himself!

Once again, or as usual, my life has the "Arkansas Hard Luck Blues" feeling of: "And the only reason I'm hanging around is to find out what the heck is going to happen next." Starting over once again and thankful that Beaver is there to actually live in, in the meantime. And, once again, had to ask neighbour to stop in and water plants. Next trip, I will bring them here so I don't have to ask again.

That editing job sounds horrific! will be thinking uplifting thoughts for you, Charmion.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Mar 18 - 03:35 PM

Today I started the task of re-arranging the defacto pavers left over from the sewer line work last fall. I've brought the soil to a level I want with a mix of old rocks, brick fragments, and soil then put down a layer of landscaping cloth, topped with sand to level each paver as I position it. Looks like a 50lb bag of sand might work to level about three pavers, and I have a dozen at least to move. Then the pea gravel goes in between the pavers to level it. The whole thing is going to slope away from the porch for obvious reasons, but will be level enough to hold a few potted plants. This work is okay for me, I can move the concrete blocks end over end on the ground, but I will have the lot loader at Lowe's help move the sand into the SUV (when I get home I'll roll it out of the SUV into the wheelbarrow). One trip today with several stops and back to the yard work.

This week is bulky waste pickup in my neighborhood (once a quarter); I put some stuff down at the curb for regular trash this morning but now I'll see if I can't bag up more stuff that is gathering dust and mud dauber nests. I pulled a bunch of flimsy nursery pots and plastic trays out of the greenhouse so far and got rid of an ancient tarp that may have had sentimental attachment but was one of those old coated nylon ones that smells like vomit once it gets to a certain age, and that never goes away. I feel a tug at my former camper's heartstrings for it, but my kids won't want it and I won't be using it for anything. The Goodwill would toss it. Counting back, that tarp was about 45 years old.

Other things that need moving in the yard - I had some sticks cut to short lengths in case I got a small fire pit built that I liked, but that didn't work so the sticks got tossed over the back fence to rot in the woods. I have to take the wheelbarrow and some heavy-duty kitchen tongs out to pick up the broken-off pads from my prickly pear down at the bottom of the driveway and toss them into the back also. I don't want more cactus by the street but don't mind if they want to sprout and hold down the soil by the creek.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Mar 18 - 06:19 PM

I've moved enough of the randomly distributed chunks of concrete so I can safely push a mower through the tall grass and weeds in the front yard. Tomorrow, I think. I have a couple of more hours of daylight in which to move and tamp in more stones and then shift gears to take the dogs for a walk.

My closet doesn't have an echo, but there's a lot less stuff in there now. I pulled out a 30-gallon plastic bin of long pants and shorts that are way too small and put most of the slacks in a lot on eBay. I have a pair of Levis to sell individually and some shorts to put in smaller lots. I also pulled down the bin the next size up to list. Finally, there was a last 30-gallon bin full of cotton summer tops that are dated, too small, and will probably be donated to Goodwill and labeled to be put in the rag bin.

I have sweaters in a basket that I forget about because it's tucked into the knee-hole under my dressing room counter, so I'll put the ones I might still wear into one of the now empty bins for next winter. I use a plastic sweater organizer that hangs from a rod in the closet for my best sweaters, and there are some that need to be culled. The goal is to have everything on the rod be something I can wear. Things I'm not quite into yet will go into the last bin and back up on the shelf. I'll see if any of them fit during the summer, or sooner if my current pants get too loose (who doesn't dream of that?) ;-)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 18 - 12:11 AM

Mucking about in the Windows 10 computer since an automatic update went sideways. I had to refresh the C: drive and discovered that my favorite anti-malware program Malwarebytes had somehow been uninstalled (it's one I pay for, all the more reason to keep it).

I finally tackled the over-the-stove hood that was making funny noises when running on low. I think it was a buildup of grease that was making it off balance; careful application of a hot soapy cloth in each louver of the fan cleared it up. Not a fun job.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 15 Mar 18 - 05:33 AM

i couldn't find my malwarebytes either..

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Mar 18 - 09:46 AM

Montreal:

So, after all that mad dash to get pots made and son's trip being put off a few days ---and greatly anticipated----- it did not happen. Yesterday was dark blue as I sat here and processed and recovered - what else can one do! The weather.... He has promised to visit in June. but just he and wife, not GD from San Diego... Meanwhile, the pottery will sit here waiting.

R got the water back on track, the dishes are washed, I am going back to Beaver on Sunday by way of a friend's open mike in Kingston Sunday aft. R is working on the logistics of purchasing THE house. I am looking at trying to get every non-essential out of this house to the mill over the next few months. Having loaded stuff into the car for next trip to the mill, I realized the pile of snow that prevented me from getting close last week is still there. I may end up taking some extraneous stuff to Beaver rather than carry it an extra 100 yards across the snow. Another -Oh, Well.

Having agreed to spend less time at Beaver and more time here, I shall need to bring the portable wheel and some clay next trip and set up to work upstairs - lest I lose my mind - with nothing to do except prepare meals. Yesterday, I considered "shopping" - for what?? where??? just for something to do? I would go to a toxic mall and look at all the stuff - of which I want nothing? So I read a book and watched a little TV and wished I could vacuum - but that would fill the house with dust and I would have to leave - go where? shopping??....

The sound quality of the new TV seems to make it possible for me to understand the verbal rather than have to read the CC - mostly! The picture being clearer has me amazed by the way the persons look! The newscasters look older!

R actually seems to need me here; I need to prevent total chaos in house and frig! The greatest "de-cluttering mode is prevention! I will come back in a couple weeks with pottery wheel, and hope.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 18 - 11:45 AM

Mary, the computer knew the account was active once I downloaded the newest Malwarebytes version, but that disappearance is disconcerting.

A large black bag of crumbling nursery trays and pots is at the curb for regular trash; I never managed to generate enough bulky stuff to put out for the large-scale pickup that can happen any day this week in my part of the village. I did clear out files and the resulting six-inch stack of papers with account numbers would have taken ages to shred and another bag to fill but I bought a 20-gallon burning barrel to put that stack of documents in on end and propped up with a couple bricks. They burned for several hours and I prodded them to keep from smoking. The barrel will live under a shelf in my greenhouse, it isn't super sturdy and would probably rust if left outdoors, but for burning documents a couple of times a year it is perfect.

A week of spring break has contributed to the clearance of a number of parts of the house, but I usually leave the radio on in the kitchen and it has been depressing to listen to so much political news. I've switched over to the classical station for a while. (Keeping a radio on to a station with conversations all day long is one of those home-security tips - someone considering breaking in will hear voices and think twice.)

Dorothy, good luck with all of that house juggling. It sounds interesting despite the amount of labor involved. I spoke with a neighbor yesterday about our gardens - we use the same handyman for some of our heavy lifting and outdoor tasks, and as late as gardens are going in this year (so much rain made the soil unworkable) that handyman is probably going to be very busy visiting neighbors to till garden spots.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Mar 18 - 04:22 PM

PA:

After almost 11 hours of badly needed sleep.... a productive day.

Headbands sorted, only 1 is trash now that my hair is short.

Brought down fabric for Goodwill and cushions for chair. Then 1/2 hour at hard labor undoing :-( chaos, with one stair climb :-) . Net = 2 trash bags, not 1, for Goodwill; night chair I can sit in upstrs; streaming-movies platform to use upstrs now or dnstrs later when dnstrs chaos gone; fabric for spare swimsuit found; fabric for tying mattresses found; fabric and pattern for shorts found.

Uupstrs linen closet purged and keeper fabrics stored therein YAY. Net: reclaiming landing floor space for sorting/packing/staging boxes.

Gardening room visit = more chaos noted. Will be hard to find space for two to finish book purge in process there-- take stool up.

Later, 1/2 hour by desk emptying a laundry basket. Net: found eps for tater flakes. One wallet to Goodwill w usefull or shreddable items removed. One pair sweats and socks reclaimed. One box safety pins reclaimed. Several items trashed. Reclaimed items put away.

Then 1/2 hour emptying and wiping contents of shampoo-soaked toiletries bag and replacing trashed items. Found missing salt sub for MIL to send her with Hardi. Bag in wash to dry, repack, and reload.

Off to a movie!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 15 Mar 18 - 09:05 PM

I am going to check out lush shampoo ..bar one..for that reason. I rarely travel with shampoo.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Mar 18 - 12:49 AM

Since I am allergic to coconut (read "Sodium Laurelth Sulfate" on most shampoos, soaps, even in lotions and toothpaste), I use Old World soaps made with olive oil or shay butter. This includes using them to wash my hair, and I alternate every few hair washes with a shampoo that is sulfate free (and seems to push coconut lower down on the ingredient list). "Kiss my face" is a nice lavender-scented olive oil soap. It isn't inexpensive, but it seems to fall in the category of "hard milled" and each bar is large and lasts for a very long time.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 16 Mar 18 - 10:59 AM

Montreal:

Still in holding pattern due to wanting to get to open mike on Sunday: it is 3 hours from Montreal and just about 2.5 from there to Beaver. I have been wanting to get to one of Kevin's events for over a year so this is it! I can be home by about 9 pm, being very careful on the last 60 miles, watching for deer. Hitting one would create a dreadful clutter!

R is trying to connect with real estate agent. Business keeps intervening. This aft, a realtor is producing a video (having it produced) to sell one of the business properties; R has a role as a geologist (which he is!) in this endeavour to sell an extremely historic piece of property. This darn business does clutter up his life!

Having discovered a stash of clay here, I plan to do a few hand built pieces today and moisten a bag of forgotten for too long clay for future use.

Latest snow is being cleared - not a big deal but it has frozen. Seriously cold the next few days. It will be challenging getting the house warm - thankful for electric heaters and heating pad! And the wonderful wood stove.

Time to get to work! Enjoy spring - those who are in its midst!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Mar 18 - 03:59 PM

I lowered the middle row of seats in the SUV to transport some very large flat cardboard shipping containers (from a desk) to the recycle bins at City Hall. Those bins are emptied on Tuesdays and with spring cleaning weather here now I knew I'd better get this over before the weekend crowd fills them again. When the kids were small large pieces of cardboard might have been put to use building forts or doing art projects. Now I don't need to hold onto that in case someone needs it.

Also dropped a few items at Goodwill because I was going to be in the neighborhood. There will be another dropping off/shopping/delivery run this weekend as I help my ex transport two new toilets to his house because they won't fit in his little Toyota. One thing I don't envy about the house hunting and interesting remodeling that Dorothy is doing is all of the driving that is involved. I enjoy driving but I also enjoy not frequently filling up the tank.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Mar 18 - 03:19 PM

In for a cool-down after coming close to finishing the leveling job on the north side of the front yard (where the new sewer line meets the street). The soil has settled into the trench mark and soil that was still piled on top of the former lawn level was scooped up and dropped into the dip and packed down. Mulch over the top. I moved bags of leaves that were sitting there to distract the eye from noticing the depression (they'll be mulched into my garden plot soon). There will be more fine-tuning as it continues to settle and adjustments to a spot near the front path where I'm going to put one of the broken concrete pavers and place a potted plant.

Moving rocks is a slow and steady job, and now I'm finishing removing the lowest level of what I call a "wing wall," an extension from the house that was popular in the 1970s. Placed on each side of the house, they had a light coming out of the small column at the end of it. I took down one wall years ago but this one languished. Now it's coming out and the debris of the crumbling mortar that held it together is being used to level the flagstone area in front of my porch. I had to get the wheelbarrow out for this so I figured I'd do the leveling on the other side of the yard as a break from rock moving and because it looks like I actually finished something. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 17 Mar 18 - 09:03 PM

I spent a little over 10 hours working on the Survivor's Quilt today. It currently is a queen size but I still have maybe 6 more rows worth of fabric with signatures on it which I will finish up tomorrow. The rest of the quilt is in ONE (finally) piece. I still have to cut the fabric and add two sets of borders. I chose teal and purple for the borders.....teal for ovarian cancer (my mark on the quilt) and a wider outer border of deep purple for survivorship. There are 16 rows, each row has 52 pieces of fabric.....that comes out to 832 pieces of fabric that have been cut, ironed, sewed, ironed some more and sewed more. Whew. I love the finished project and the intention with which it was made but I will NOT be doing another one.

It will be hand delivered to the House of Care next week when I head down that way for an appointment.

Michelle

---

I speak for all of your followers: 👍

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Mar 18 - 12:00 PM

PA PACKATHON:


Sun 3/18

Benasleep ~9.

Sorted two med boxes from Mom's estate that had been in storange at church. Kept and packed or put away a few items, pitched anything broken or junk, anf divided the balance to give away.

~S~

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.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Apr 18 - 02:54 PM

Yes, Vashta, 'tis the season to change the counterpane. I took the big duvet off the bed on Thursday last, and now I'm just praying it doesn't turn wicked cold again as spring in Ontario is wont to do.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Apr 18 - 03:21 PM

Hired someone to fix the broken tiles on the roof where the birds always nest. Got in just before they started nest-building. And now they're tidying out a former air outlet in the neighbouring house, so we can see fluffy little sparrows flying busily in and out with material in their beaks as they ready their spring nursery.

The handiest in the family put up a new clothesline, with a handle and a pulley so the drying clothes can be raised high off the ground. So cool, and so efficient!

Deployed a series of new dust-free glass-fronted bookcases; mind you, I now have to find places for the things that were living where they were, but at least it disciplines the books.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Apr 18 - 02:47 PM

PA PACKATHON:

How I'm doing fragile items has been fun. A set of items I'd bought last fall came shipped in large, flat, square boxes with brown paper squares and rectangles for padding. The packer was too lazy to crumple these so they used about 8x too much paper, and I got a zollion pristine flat pieces. I've used this all up today wrapping and cushioning boxed items.

I'm lining the bottom of each Fragiles box with shredded ad papers and seed catalogs, and I just shred a fresh batch for each box before gathering up its planned contents.

In Ohio, all this paper will be used for gardening projects. In fact the shredded paper is so pesky that all those boxes will be unpacked outdoors because if the PA floor is any indicator, I won't want that stuff I'm the house at all!

Two divided vodka boxes are packed. One is antique stemware and a few bar glasses to finish using up the space, plus 2 decor coke bottles. Most of that is earmarkrd for use, not display, and will go into a kitchen cabinet. The other one is glass decor/serving items for the china cabinet plus two mason jars for the kitchen counter.

Two cube boxes are packed for display in the china cabinet, which is shaping up to hold our pretty, mismatched serving items and small knickknacks. Tureens, sugar bowl, wax angels, Monica plaque, small plate stands (easels). One more lg box to pack w pasta bowl and platters, after Hardi gets my mom's platters down from the DR wall.

I could just about pack the glass shelves inside the china cabinet now. Or I could pack the two standing crosses headed for the Five Madonnas shelf, next. In a divided box.

I've definitely decided this is my last move. It's fun to solve all these packing challenges with no outlay for materials but its getting old!!! If and when I have to be moved out into assisted living, the kids are gonna have to do the packing, while I point!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Apr 18 - 02:49 PM

PS of course now that those nice flat boxes are empty-- framed artwork! Maybe two in some boxes, of which I have three.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Apr 18 - 10:23 PM

Thompson, I had two spare metal fence posts after work was done at this house so I set them in concrete and built myself a four-strand clothesline. I understand your glee at having the use of one with special features! I find hanging the laundry to be peaceful; the process of standing back there behind the greenhouse, surrounded by (not under) trees, hanging sheets and clothes. The dogs are usually hanging out nearby enjoying my company and I'm listening to birds and neighbor's wind chimes. I like the process of reusing available materials (a portion of my fence was removed to put in the new garage so I sledge-hammered off the old concrete footers, and I had a cedar 2x4 piece of lumber to cut into two and mount on the fence brackets. All I needed to buy were the heavy duty hooks for the cedar, the metal rope channels, and the nylon clothes line.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Apr 18 - 06:13 AM

PA PACKATHON:

Poor sleep interrupted by several fine notification's of "urgencies".

Came down to tend notebook backups, shred, packed a sm box: Vigil bell, glass cross, Turkish coffeepot ("samovar" but isn't), in the Tippy Cow box.

Found another item for my son, but not sure where rest of set went-- one centerpiece Southwest kachina image on ceramic tile, still on the garden room wall from that room's former office setup. More (the smaller ones) may be in drawers-- not going to spelunk for it on this trip.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Apr 18 - 02:44 PM

In fitness, a 'rest day' isn't a day to crash-- it's a day to walk your workout back to a maintenance level before resuming a training level. So it is with the week's packing rhythm, as I contemplate the rest day/church weekend. I'm thinking what small NON-packing tasks I can incorporate into the next few days to facilitate a return to messy shredded paper on Monday.

I'm about to prep a divided box for knicknackery I'm sure to come across as I recheck each room for artwork (lining the base with shred). But most of those types of fragiles are packed.

Today marks the transition to packing the framed art. Some of the upstairs art is now downstairs, and some packing materials for them are gathered. Today I customized boxes and other cardboard, to pack my mom's family barometer into a box a bit too tall for it.... the box is about 5x16x48".

I took a smaller box and cut it down to cradle the lower, round part-- taping the plastic-wrapped, padded barometer into place. Then I slipped all that into the box, putting an open egg box over its head (and wishing I had a spare banjo case!).

That left a handy compartment for one framed piece, which I wrapped with a small mirror that just fit inside the edge molding of the picture frame-- taping all that together to preclude shifting. Two hollow plastic legs left from an old shelf took up some space, and gave strength and rigidity to the long, shallow box. I wrapped that framed item with a thick, paper leaf bag, and cushioned that with a bit of shredded paper.

It took over an hour, but it was worth it. It will hang in the hallway alongside Hardi's rectangular barometer, framed by the archway that leads to the hallway from the LR, which is also directly ahead of the front door entry area-- to remind us how we started blending our households 25+ years ago. Our framed wedding invite and a framed St. Francis prayer will complete the composition.

The rest of the framed art requires a weekend of pizza for the remaining boxes needed. I'm not taking ALL the art on this trip-- just one of each size for layout planning, since the art will be rotated seasonally.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Apr 18 - 10:20 AM

Two 3-cube boxes of crockery and glassware went to the church yesterday, along with a stack of framed art. (My back is talkin' to me, and not with love; I heaved a 3-cu of heavy earthenware off the floor in less-than-ideal style.) I still have a bin full of antique fancy linen to go -- items that will probably sell to bed-and-breakfast operators with fancy Victorian houses -- and another plastic crate of stained-glass window ornaments that do not suit this house. Plus some clothes.

The dining-room china cabinets have actual space in them. Space is good. The cabinet in the basement is empty. Maybe I can get it out of the house sooner rather than later ... !

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Apr 18 - 10:25 AM

Oh -- further to the changing the bed quilt phenomenon: I took the eiderdown off the bed last Thursday, and guess what? It's been snowing in Stratford since Tuesday! A big windstorm blew through here on Wednesday, with gusts powerful enough to knock our gas barbecue flat on its face.

Darn it. I had visions of spatchcocked chicken dancing in my head, and hopes of outdoor cookery within the next couple of weeks.

Obviously, Mother Nature doesn't approve of early eiderdown removal, at least not in Perth County. It's all my fault.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 18 - 11:48 AM

Aww, you jinxed those grilled chicken plans? Who knows how far back the offense went. It might not be the down comforter, it might be when you packed away a few sweaters or hung up the snow shovel. :)

The garden is getting attention today. A friend is coming over this afternoon to till it, so I need to hustle and run the mower over the spot one more time so he doesn't have to fool with tall weeds also.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 06 Apr 18 - 12:00 PM

Montreal:

Yes, Charmion! The wind has been at the scary level! No damage that we know of in Montreal but the news from your area had me concerned. Glad your house still stands - some are not! A mite chilly here,also.

Glass front book cases would be so nice! For hundreds of books???!!! Oh, well!

modem for internet connection died and it was a project getting that sorted. Lack of knowledgeable people had me to 3 parts of the city and a couple hours of tech support and - wow!- customer service - to get phone numbers for places that might give help rather than insisting on me letting them do what what just took the last place an hour! Now that I am back on line, Telus will be hearing about that witch. Finally connected by phone with someone knowledgeable and helpful. I told her I would be there. I tried but could not find a place to park. So tried again the next day. "You were coming yesterday." Well, apparently there is free parking but she could not tell me how to access it! That is good info to find out for the future. In the meantime... I had to buy a new modem as the old one was to be sent for repairs -NO ONE in the city had one as it is obsolete; I got it in November! Life remembered 50 years ago seems to have been much simpler??

A biggy out of this episode is the unhappy fact that walking about 5 blocks with computer case on my shoulder all but did me in. I stopped to lean against posts a few times and wondered what I could do if I could not get there. Arrived, breathless for a few minutes. Managed to do the return trip OK. But totally appalled by the incident. Later went for groceries and had no problem but it was only a hundred yards. Bringing in the firewood is so much easier! Up and down stairs a dozen times a day is not enough...

Had a bit of a heart to heart with R this am about our respective views of CLutter. I want to take every non-essential item down to the mill; he does not want to move things twice. I hope much of it will never make it to the new house! This is going to be a a LONG 7 months...

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

Good luck keeping the clutter out of the new house, Dorothy. Once it's at the mill will you be able to donate it from there? Sell it?

The garden has been tilled and the beds will soon be shaped (beveled sides on raised beds and I'll put down cardboard covered by mulch for the paths between). A load of mulch picked up from the bunker where the city parks department places it for free use. It's 88^o right now but supposed to dip to 39^o overnight, so I'll wait until tomorrow to plant, keeping a cover over the plants I have ready to go in so far. Here in the creek bottom sometimes we get frost when no one else does. It would be a shame to lose all of my potted seedlings.

eBay listings did a little backslide this week, one item went missing in the mail system of an Eastern European mail system, probably pocketed and never to be seen again. Note to self: don't ship to those places. Another one messed up her eBay account by not updating her address and the parcel came back. She didn't have enough in PayPal to pay the paltry postage (again), so she opted for a refund. This house seems to be loaded with boombox radios and I've realized that the better brands still sell on eBay, so that's my next venture, finding the boxes to fit them.

This is the weekend I'll finally shampoo that carpet in the den, and get the furniture put back where it belongs. The table that goes on top of it is covered with various projects, some will be finished, and one stack of stuff is for Goodwill. And what I need to do is find a good place for the carpet cleaner and the vacuum to live when they're not in use, they seem to migrate to the front room, but that's not a great place. Maybe move some of the clutter beside my dryer and make a berth for them there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Apr 18 - 10:26 PM

PA PACKATHON WEEKEND EDITION:

After brekky and Hellboy with Hardi, I moved ramp rail-stored items down to the porch and moved a shelf already there for less weather exposure. Hardi came out to see and offered help, so he set more items stacked in the ramp up onto the rail, which I delivered down to pallets placed ydy. Then he emptied the LR of packed boxes, and set them on the rail. From the ramp i just lifted them across to the top of the boxes id stacked with care, to top the now-tall stacks of boxes.

Amazing pile out there now! Most-fragile items will ride inside furniture cases, placed during loading of the cases.

Later we took about a dozen art/decor items down from the kitchen bulkhead where I'd put them up almost 25 years ago-- they're waiting to be cleaned and packed. Then I took fotos of the ground floor's remaining pictures for planning, and uploaded all of the above to FB.

Pizza supper netted two pizza boxes, to pack framed art. More pizza planned for tomorrow.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 06 Apr 18 - 10:51 PM

Acme, sorry your shipment went astray. I've had a few snafus with online purchases lately. Keep trying to buy a slightly older model trucker's GPS, kind of need 'new' so I can register for the road updates. One seller on Amazon sent me a used unit (grubby-heavily-used) as New, said there were no new ones left (then why list 6 on Amazon?). Then an Ebay seller cancelled my order claiming 'sold out' (then why list?) I imagine was too scared to ship to a General Delivery address. I can understand the reluctance, except I had a really good seller and buyer history which should have been checked. Oh well. Wasted time and effort. Both channels are so handy for smaller items coming General Delivery, but it seems anything valuable it's a big mess due to scams on both sides.

Had a blast traveling the Southwest this winter. My poor old guitar died in the desert air, but got 2 new, smaller, sturdy ones that will travel better.

Back in Dixie, where the whole place is like one giant floral arrangement, mid-March to April is such a great time to be here. Had to come before it gets hot to reorganize what's in storage. Protip: if you do ever have to set up storage units, put in metal shelves first, it really helps. Hopefully I can empty and cease paying for one of the units just by getting the stuff better stored, and hopefully a bit of purging before getting back on the road. Next swing through, I can do some of the shredding and purging that remains, rather than spinning my wheels figuring out what is where. That's my plan. The rain and the IRS seem determined to bog me down, but that's part of spring too, I guess.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Apr 18 - 12:05 AM

I put shelving in the storage locker I rented when I worked on my Dad's estate, it was a big help. Most of the shelves are around my garage walls now.

Do you have a friend with a more traditional form of address who would receive parcels for you?

After my last post I went out with the hoe and blocked out the general shape of beds for the garden. I don't put in solid edges, I just bevel the soil at the edges. I came it because it looked like rain, but I think it missed us. Fingers crossed it won't freeze, the bedding plants are slightly protected where they are right now.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Apr 18 - 02:42 PM

Yesterday was in the high 80s and I worked up a good sweat shaping the new beds in my garden. Overnight it dropped nearly 60 degrees as a cold front pushed into the region; this morning I consider myself lucky I seem to have dodged the bullet of frost damage to my bedding plants still on the potting bench beside the side door.

Clearing duplicate files still; I use CCleaner and I got rid of a bunch of duplicates but the computer slowed down so a crawl so I restarted this morning. The scan is running again, but there are a lot fewer items there to be in the results. It shows all of the duplicates and lets you select all but one to delete. Now that I know where some of the duplicates are I could in theory just delete the folders, but there are a few things in the folders that are not copied anywhere else.

Tomorrow warms into the 60s so I may start planting. For now, I can mix up stuff and pour it over the beds. First, use some liquid organic fertilizer and add BT to drench where I will plant because otherwise the cutworms in the soil will lop off the tender new plants at soil level.

Now to eBay listings.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Apr 18 - 05:08 PM

PA PACKATHON:

Hardi got inspired, this morning, to finish clearing the garden room and vacuuming its rug, which is going to the Xenia library. He disassembled the potting bench we'd cobbled together up there; two 8" lengths of 2x8 came down, and went to the ramp for Xenia. He brought down a box of books we'd decided to donate, the huge Aerogarden box, and other packed items from the upstrs landing.

To make room for those in the DR, I packed the packing materials stored on the card table I'd used to pack DR stuff, and we moved that card table back to my LR office corner for Monday's picture frame packing. Getting close to done with packing! Then we're on to other prep work to gather Ohio items-- time to check my list-- and repurpose some furniture for his use while I'm away.

The first box of framed art is packed. All pcs were cleaned and measured first. Measurements are in an Artwork Planning album w pix/memories. Small box of bulkhead knicknacks packed. Good planning conference with Hardi. NO MORE PACKING this weekend!!!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Apr 18 - 11:53 AM

CCleaner sounds like a good idea for photos. I do keep a backup set on an external drive, but it would be good to clear up excess copies.

I don't have a friend's address within about 50 miles of here. I thought it would work to do General Delivery that time because it works fine on smaller parcels and is convenient. On big or expensive items, I'll usually wait til I'm visiting relatives to get a shipment sent to them.   

The struggle to 'throw things over the side' continues. Yesterday in an effort to pare back, I decided that heavy shirt in dark colors needed to go in storage for a season. This morning it's 35 degrees. Sigh. Some people swear they don't need very many clothes to travel in an RV, but geez I've been in a million kinds of weather, and I've used everything in the closet, and haven't even ventured north in cooler months.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Apr 18 - 01:14 PM

What part of the country are you in now, Patty? Is that the delivery difficulty, you're travelling?

Weather is still cold today, not quite as chilly overnight but it isn't showing any inclination to improve. More work in the house (to the benefit of the house!)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Apr 18 - 07:54 PM

Yes, traveling all the time, Mississippi right now.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Apr 18 - 12:50 PM

PA PACKATHON, ETHICAL PLASTICS EDITION:

I made a firm commitment not to put our money into any more plastic than absolutely required, which we tighten up all the time as able. We re-use as much as possible, and then recycle. For this move I've only bought tape, because that commitment includes packing supplies. I just found a haul of someone else's Styrofoam purchases right in our attic box repository: inside a box almost too big to deliver down the stairway to the old MudDorm. A box of that size was on my grab-list, but I had not known THIS was waiting!

The enormous box I found is a treasure!!! Super-heavy cardboard, with additional flat cardboard in it. AND not only filled with Styrofoam I can cut-- it's not even foam for which WE ever paid into the genocidal plastic industry!!! The box and foam originally cushioned a ceramic cooktop and its exhaust fan assembly....

That box will hold all the individually-packed framed art, standing upright, on edge! :-) (And come right back to PA with its Styrofoam, for the September packing job!)

From the Ohio garage, I have one "found" commercial frame-packing kit, which one of our former housemates must have left in our garage; I'll study that and make our own from the cooktop Styrofoam.

I also threw/pushed down additional packing materials from the attic box repository. (We began collecting all this free cardboard around the time we bought the Xenia house.) Then I grabbed a big gym bag of tarps, for furniture wrapping; more were left in the attic for Hardi to get-- I can only do one trip up there a week at present, and warm but rainy weather is due shortly. I also took pix of the stuff I'll want next, if I need more cushioning material.

My plan for frame-packing is to line each pizza (or similar) box with brown paper, to help control the shredded paper which will supplement the corner foam. I'll cut old pool noodles to gently cushion the glass, and use flat cardboard between pictures for the boxes deep enough for multiple frames.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Apr 18 - 01:33 PM

Montreal:

Once stuff is at the mill: I hope to be able to find things that might be needed or will actually suit the new home and forget the rest exists! We dropped off a car load yesterday and refilled the car this am for my next excursion. I told R, "That black cabinet is ready to leave (permanently)" "I have stuff in there!" "Yep. it is in this box here, which I will label." "OK. I will see it again sometime - or not."!!

The cabinet is not gone yet - too large for my car, but a small table which came out of the trash has gone out for someone to pick up. Also a monitor of some sort which was taking up one chair, went out and was picked up almost immediately! (This is a pretty busy street!)

Net win: I was able to clean the lovely Victorian table and I can see most of it! R has been reminded that "Those boards are the shelves for the buffet." A huge (30x40inch) picture of a WWII fighter plane is tucked over there - blocking part of the table until R has time to take it to the plane museum, courtesy of the son of the (94 year old) fighter pilot. And I can get to the palm to water and care for it!

Yesterday's excursion also netted us two lovely stand lamps (we will need a bunch) and a small iris print- with mandarin ducks, and another dozen books, of course. Also a grand plywood wood box for the back deck of new house (very useful!) and a nice wood plant stand - both from someone's trash. Also supper with Geri, and dessert (our fav cookies) at her house to help her think about how to brighten her huge dreary LR, and K. She needs help; I suspect R will be going down there soon to initiate some of our ideas. A ladder and a bit of expertise is needed - the sort he does very well. I do not do ladders any more.

It was a fun day and I am happy that he is beginning to accept the concept of getting non-essentials out of here and then choosing what goes into new home. I am trying to dead up to getting the contents of the dreadful (imo) dining china cabinet packed up and gone, along with the cabinet - "get Chrissy to put it on E-bay" --?? Also the table and chairs that go with it, which are around here somewhere. My theory being that the less there is to move, the easier the move and the less tripe will land in new house. Rather like S's well-planned move.

"Don't you owe Merle something?" elicited a conversation about a beautiful wooden circular staircase he had bought from Merle (next door neighbour at mill). "Could we use it to the basement?" in place of dreadful steep one there. Or maybe to the attic? As he is determined to get to the attic! There is plenty of house without the attic, but.... It could well be put into the to-be Bath room which could put it up to the highest point in the attic. It bothers him that there are two lovely stained glass windows up there that cannot be easily seen. And "lots of room!" Do we really need more room? well...

"moving" right along here! Need to be clear of the back cabinet to get to the shelves hidden behind it - stuff which has not been seen since we placed a full sheet of drywall across to keep Frick and Frack out - in 2010! Or maybe not... There seem to be couple doors there now... Onward and upward! Fools rush in... (My second son was born on April Fool's Day, I told him, at an appropriate age, "if anyone gives you a hard time about having a birthday on AFD, just tell them, YEP, I was born on AFD! Mother was the Fool!" How appropriate! I have heard him use that line.) R's dad's b-day also!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 09 Apr 18 - 08:28 PM

One baby quilt made and a receiving quilt too.....that's more fabric that's made it's out out of my sewing room! Yes! :)   

On the horizon......all of one specific size of clothing is headed to Sally's. :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the Hous
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Apr 18 - 08:37 AM

The entire contents of a large cabinet have gone to the church for the spring variety sale, along with a substantial quantity of embroidered linens that I have never used over more than 30 years of having custody of them. Next Tuesday, the cabinet will depart for the same destination -- I made the arrangements yesterday. We still have a superfluity of framed art, but by next spring, when the variety sale comes around again, the rest of the house should have been painted and final decisions made about most of it.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the ugly walls of our basement TV-watching space.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Apr 18 - 11:05 AM

Downsizing the containers that I use for some foodstuffs. At one time I baked a lot of bread, rolls, pizza dough, muffins, and more, but now I don't so much. I have large nesting Tupperware containers in a cupboard that are slowly being replaced by tall and much slimmer acrylic storage jars with robust silicone seals. I found three more of these jars at a thrift store ($2 each, vs about $15/$20 each at The Container Store) and this weekend will swap out some contents. I don't know if I'm ready to let go of those great Tupperware canisters yet, but I'll put the nested set into the pantry and think about it. I got rid of a lot of other Tupperware containers because I don't know what kind of plastic or chemicals are in them. These should probably go the same way. I have an antique Hoosier kitchen (also called a Kitchen Queen) that houses many of these jars, but right now the doors don't close. I aim to streamline the contents and clear the counter top.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 18 - 12:53 PM

PA PACKATHON, GALLERY EDITION

It turns out at this stage that I can't even think how to pack things until I actually see where they should go. This AM it was 5hrs sleep last might, then being insistently woken up 'seeing' our framed icons by the laundry in Ohio! Then it became seeing my flying duck up on top of our PA china cabinet, flying over to an Ohio LR corner shelf (it's now packed in a tall Rubbermaid bucket box!), and Hardi's barometer (since I'd already seen its spot a few days ago). And sconces. And saucer hangers plus barrel stave with duck.

All were carried out to the porch's box stack as packed, except the barometer and a patina'd rooster to go into large box of other framed items I'll pack later. Needed brekky so stopped. Now need water and laundry break!

Later, I made one trip upstrs to assess linens, gather art to pack, put risers into dresser, and carry down a load of linens/rags. Another trip soon for two more (small) icons, to pack together with large icon brought down. Ouchies-- backwards on steps not fun anymore.

... Second trip upstrs done and small/med icons packed-- one icon to go. In fact I thought I was done w frames til I sat to rest from a messy job that went way too long, and saw two I'd missed. Aaaaarrgghhh!!! Hope the last good box fits!

For framed items, that leaves my large oval mirror, which I may just wrap into a furniture pad, day-of. There are several art pieces I'll leave in place til The Big Move, and a wall full of family fotos also going last. All the packing materials from this load's frames will come back to the attic for that last round.   

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 18 - 01:52 PM

FRAMES DONE!

All that remains (besides mirror) is putting them into the pre-cushioned box. I've lost track how many boxes are multi-frame boxes... hoping the mirror may also fit.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 18 - 05:14 PM

It did all fit into the big box, including the mirror in a cardboard sleeve (there's room to wrap it in a pad also). The barometer will also fit in-- right now there are slabs of Styrofoam keeping the contents tight.

The base is lined with a big slab of Styrofoam that was made to fit tight. There are two rigid cardboard "rails" along the sides to keep boxes centered, with space to fill with pads.

The box can't be MOVED with the frames, etc. in it-- but it will HOLD them all, in the truck.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Apr 18 - 01:00 PM

To save on fussing with other shipping materials I'm using the cornstarch peanuts that I got from huge boxes that were shipped to my ex. I have enough to last quite a long time. The boxes would probably be handy for what Susan is doing, but shipping boxes isn't helpful (a friend asked me to do that once, and when he saw what a lot of trouble it is he resorted to looking in the recycle bin in his apartment. I do the same, checking the village recycle bins for the size boxes I need.) Do you have any nearby organizations or businesses that would let you harvest good boxes for these specialized uses?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 11 Apr 18 - 07:30 PM

Oops. I forgot to share. Down 0.4.
It's not much, I know but it IS going in the right direction! :)

Yesterday I celebrated my 50th birthday, including lunch out at a Mexican place...I'm pretty sure the scale is going to go in the other direction this Saturday. LOL Oh well....it was my birthday! :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Apr 18 - 07:46 PM

We have had all the boxes needed except a few with dividers, which were found in abundance at the local liquor store.

PA PACKATHON

Now that the boxing-up is nearly done, we're reclaiming the LR, and none too soon-- the Stanley Cup playoffs start tonight! Thr card table is stowed; the LR floor needs to be cleared of spilled shredded paper; and warmer days impending.

So I gathered a few back-porch things to move to the front porch. And that means a cleared-up sitting porch, to enjoy together before I head south.

As breaktime during hockey games we can work together to empty/move around/preload a few big pieces of furniture. Some stay for use here, and some go out to the porch, Ohio-bound.

I cleared the office corner of about a 1-inch layer of spilled shredded paper, where I've been packing all the fragile/framed stuff... while I ran laundry because it'll be a hockey night in front of the TV.

Thursday's goal after a pte-Vestry chat w Hardi about next steps to pre-load stuff to the porch-- I'll fill the armoire cavities and start tarping of same (he took that out of LR before going to work, to surprise me, along with two enormous boxes. After I fill in the armoire, I'll empty the counter section of the big 2-piece hutch were passing on to my son (and put away groceries now on the kitchen island). So that, Friday or Saturday, the hutch can be swapped for the brown shelf now in the weight room, which he sked for Friday emptying.

That brown shelf will become the repository for the canned/dry goods now in a pantry I'm taking.

The hutch, when it goes to the porch, will block the armoire, and I have a plastic tarp I hope will cover both. Then the hutch cavities will be filled with cargo.... and succeeding furniture placed in front of that... and filled and covered... and so forth over the next several days.

In Ohio, housemate Tyler is cutting a wall so my antique dresser will fit upon arrival, and the driving crew confirmed dates with me today. Last night, my Ohio BIL said he might be able to join the unloading crew, and I'm checking with other committed or potential crew as well.

Time for HOCKEY! GO PENS!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Apr 18 - 09:14 AM

Doublewide kitchen junk and chargers drawer reduced to one small box yesterday. Another similar effort planned for today.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 13 Apr 18 - 04:55 PM

Another Sit & Sew planned for this weekend with friends. I will be shopping in my sewing room for a project to work on. :) Little by little and step by step, that room is emptying out.

Today it is a beautiful 79 degrees outside and I have the windows open for fresh air and am enjoying all the birds who are singing. There is nothing quite like the first true days of spring to make me feel like cleaning house.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Apr 18 - 06:13 PM

PA PACKATHON, OLD LAY MINISTRIES EDITION

It's been decided to move the hutch in October on the trailer, and use it temporarily for canned and dry goods we'll be clearing from the pantry I'm taking.

The brown bookshelf in the weight room has been emptied. A whole box of small/rural church dev materials goes to the Bishop because she's visiting the parish this wknd and can distribute it further. Three bins/boxes of audiotapes (including my Gospel music set) were stored for my September purging. A boot box of CD's was boxed for sort/purge/burn/donate in Ohio.

A book bag of books remains to sort/purge/keep in September. A book boxful of recyclables remains to be separated into the bins tomorrow. A few items went to trash.

A nonfunctional shelf-stereo was sent to electronics recycling, and the speakers went into the Goodwill bag-- the 4th or 5th BIG bag now-- which we're dropping off tonight.

We worked well on all this in tandem, spending an intense hour and a half. The shelf will replace the pantry after I head south.

~S~

---

Duplicate paste of message removed for clarity's sake. ---mudelf

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Apr 18 - 10:39 PM

April 13 and I just switched one of the heat pump units over to A/C. That's depressing.

I had a lovely visit with friends at their home after work, and like me they have a mature garden with lots of iris and lilies that come back every year. But they have a larger variety of iris and lilies and other flowers that I've tried in the past and didn't manage to get established. Despite the "declutter" aspects of this thread, I hereby declare that I want to clutter my gardens with more flowers. Actually, I have an iris she would like, so I think we'll soon exchange some roots/rhizomes after the blooms are gone.

Now comes the tug-o-war between work in the house and work in the yard. Until it gets really hot out there, the garden tends to win.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Apr 18 - 03:44 PM

Montreal:
"April 13 and I just switched one of the heat pump units over to A/C. That's depressing." Yep, it sure is! Friends posted pics of the snow in Bancroft this am and Geri is getting it in southern Quebec now. In 2010 we had a dusting on 8 May! Oh well!

I was planning to go to Beaver on Monday - weather permitting.

Gone: box of pic frames, huge hoodie, big bag to thrift shop, nice piece of fabric - took it to Geri to cheer up her LR and she deemed it a future cushion cover. Also gave her an extra lamp shade, moved one to mill for repairs and brought a better one to house; it will be be gone as soon as a better replacement is found.

Went to laundromat, twice, and now R has a good supply of clean clothes. Dishes are done.

Drove past "new house", delighted in "SOLD" sign! Interested in seeing what plants are coming up - none yet! Even though we cannot move until November, I started exploring the new territory - library, shops for fav products, walking trails I might use now that walking is easier, best routes.

R admitted, this am, that he/the business has bought another building. Two hours away??? in a direction we never go??? He will move machinery from a more expensive city location down there - greatly de-clutter expenses! And perhaps cull some in the process? "Part of my master plan." I hope see it next month - if it stops snowing. It comes with 14 acres - down close to Vermont. But I thought he was going to sell ALL those machines in a few years! Oh well. Then he went off to take a load to the scrap yard!

Until he moves the black cabinet and some other things from in front of the bookcase, I am stuck. Until warmer weather when I can sort out the mill stuff, and we can take a load of books to beaver.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 18 - 06:14 PM

I've finished playing musical radios. I have a small one on the bedside table in the guest room now, the big clunky boom box in there will go probably on eBay; I have one centrally located in the bedroom/dressing area instead of having one in each room. While I was out making rounds today I found another high-end Goodwill store in what I think was an old post office building in an area I don't go through often (but I can, I just don't think of it). Found a small and inexpensive cross-cut shredder so the others (as usual) will go on eBay. I picked up a library item I'd requested delivered to my branch, and since I was over near another branch I don't see often I stopped in there and found a couple of audio books. I may eventually join Audible to listen to some of the books that are gaps in the city library collection (especially if I'm trying to listen to them in the right order.)

I picked up another batch of mulch, but the weather has been so contrary, today is cool and very windy, making it difficult to work on the garden (I usually end up with something in my eye in weather like this if I try it.)

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

PA PACKATHON, WEEKEND EDITION

No more weekends off-- coming down to the wire now.

Hardi worked on moving pantry goods into the hutch, and I assessed the 'wayback' prospects while looking for my circa-1972 Boston art. Nope, but found my very old Teddy Bears Picnic poster, and other items, such as central PA relief maps, which I added to the box of framed items. Hardi cut me a plywood base to decoupage the Picnic piece, which I'll pack in the 27"-pizza box. I assembled a few boxes, and used one to hold two smaller ones both going to the same destination. A handful of posters went to Goodwill.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Apr 18 - 09:32 AM

PA PACKATHON, BEST HUSBAND EDITION

Awake knowing how to secure the glass China cabinet shelves, which occupied my wake time in the night several times...

Mortited/packed the Teddy Bears print in the 27.5" Uncle Buck pizza box, then saw that Hardi had somehow snuck my dresser mirror downstairs-- THANK YOU HONEY! So I can wrap and stow that in GigundaBox, reinforce that box's corners, with Hardi, later, and BOOM!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Apr 18 - 02:46 PM

OH UNPACKATHON DREAMS FROM PA:

It all started running itself in my head once I'd asked housemate Tyler to take the lawn chairs out to the yard...

The following is an unedited paste of a message to my wonderful, matriarch-in-training DIL, who agreed to be my stunt double:

GARAGE LAYOUT FOR TRUCK UNLOADING

Jaclyn, this is so important. Can I put you in charge of putting labeled boxes in the right garage areas to make it possible for me to get/deal with each box on my own in succeding weeks of unpacking?

FOUR CORNERS:

Corner by door into patio-- BR and K boxes, tarped over (roof leaks)

Art Corner by fenced area behind BR's-- Framed art (LR decor boxes on top of adjoining green tool shelf); lightweight wooden wall shelves on top (one on truck and one in LR).

Furniture corner-- Scooters; armoire behind scooters on window wall. Garden stuff can go into (or stacked on tarped-top of) armoire.

LL Corner where weight bench was-- LL Boxes under corner desk, white cubbies with bases stacked on desk; file cabinet, and archive boxes or LL boxes in/stacked on file cabinet.

Walker-- trunk of Saturn.

Dog crate-- backseat of Saturn? Blanket/tarp underneath, in case dog carsick.

Tin roofing-- beside garage behind privacy fence.

Tall pantry-- Garage, beside stove. Hanging closet now there: to middle of garage for me to sort/relocate.

Round dining table/chairs-- LR to replace card table, or leave in garage.

Flat Xmas figures and portacrib-- Garage rafters, in sight.

Misc gardening crap-- garden wall of garage. Tomato cages can go beside garage behind privacy fence if necessary. Lawn mower can be hanged if necessary-- hooks would prob be needed-- we do not use bcuz lawn svc.

Tools-- portable bench, garage. Hand tools, K sideboard.

Lumber-- Lumber corner of garage if possible. Pressure treated 2x6's beside garage if necessary.

Scalloped-edge table-- LR; replaces narrower wicker lamp table. Wicker table to Tyler (loan), or garage rafters.

Farm bell: Garage where it won't need moved to park-- heavy!!! Cardboard or plastic under it pls.Thanks-- Tyler is prepping those spaces and I'll check boxes as we load to be sure they're routed right. All the Fragile also have Up arrows to prevent crushing. One or two are marked DJ for you guys, so you'll want to watch for those.

Boxed/disassembled white bookcase-- Garage (center or LL corner), for Tyler to assemble later. (A DRY area.)

***

The idea is to fill the corners to my height first, then extend from there into the center of the garage as needed. That way I can start in the center of the garage as I unpack 1 box at a time, so I can park the Saturn in there as soon as feasible.

There is an easy chair in the garage now that can be moved as needed but has to stay in there-- it's one of my emergency break chairs and goes anywhere on the driver's side of the parked car; on the brown rug would be OK, or in the middle of the garage for Tyler and me to deal with later.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 18 - 09:39 PM

I finished mulching the garden paths and a few bedding plants are now in the ground. I've put a few more seeds in starter pots on the potting bench.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Apr 18 - 10:23 PM

(It feels SO GOOD to have gotten all of the above out of my head and written down! Even if I just use it to remind ME of what I decided-- I've been holding all that in short term memory PLUS where each item goes, unpacked, in the house. Too much!!!)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 16 Apr 18 - 04:58 PM

Montreal:

City is being decluttered of a sheet of ice but expecting a new one tonight. Hope to be able to go back to Beaver on Weds. I am cocooning until then!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Apr 18 - 09:47 AM

PA PACKATHON, SOMEBODY'S MOVING EDITION

Yesterday, Hardi brought down most of the portacrib components and one of our big amps, and brought 11 of my workproduct archives into the LR packing zone. This morning before coming downstairs, I gathered the rest of the portacrib parts and set them ready to come down, including the 2 custom boxes that elevate the mattress up to where I can reach in.

I came down to find the weekend-emptied pantry "missing". Can't find it! It's too big to hide, at 7' tall, but I don't see it on either porch.... :-o

My project today:

Transform 11 full boxes into:
. Resources for current AR work that will fit into the tall file cabinet I'm taking, in banker's boxes already on hand (for easy grabbing)
. A very few mementos
. Boxes we can use for moving
. Recycled paper/cardboard

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Apr 18 - 12:02 PM

PA PACKATHON, ARCHIVES EDITION

I've posted before about my no-filing/archive mgmt system. Today it is fulfilled.

TBTG all 11 archive boxes (circa 1982 - 2000+) were accurately labeled, so next steps were to place a tray table for further re-labeling (and water!), and start confirming/purging contents.

In gathering supplies to do this, I found the missing pantry and file cabinet! :-) (And I found more leaf bags upstairs, yay!)

After the first energy-burst: Three of 11 boxes now = recycle. One = keep, of ofc supplies/communication planners. One = keep, mixed files: fph; church strat plan; homeschooling org; more. One = all LL journals I'd been missing that failed to surface the last time my archived professional library was transported.

One Goodwill box started.

There's room in all of the above for more in their category. Apparently now my mind organizes by category, not date or organization, for what is probably my last career.

Five of the 11 boxes are left to explore/sort/purge. Based on how much of the first six I explored are being kept, I'll meet the day's goal.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Apr 18 - 05:10 PM

Oops... that last lift. Can't finish until med kick in. One big box to go is 1/2 done and Hardi is hauling out recyclable paper to clear front door access. This will make it possible to haul OUT the finished boxes. Tonight. Myself. Maybe!

Ow!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Apr 18 - 07:29 PM

DONE but honestly it's just a first sorting. It's all in banker's boxes as wanted... but the categories could really be sorted out further on a fine spring day. So instead of going INTO anything, or into the house, it's all going up over the garage door in Ohio for easy access.... until the arrival of music books planned to go there pushes me to go back thru the boxes to re-sort by program. And one lacks a lid-- a spare one of which is in Ohio.

The incentive is: program interest in Ohio for the program whose original materials are scattered thru put the boxes. Possibly paid interest.

The review, as all the programs passed before my eyes and mind-- priceless, what I learned about my own working process. Lot to reflect upon!

The most FUN memory in these 11 boxes was Hardi and me, 26 or so years ago, moving me out of the office where so much of this paper came from. It didn't feel quite so heavy to us then, but 11 boxes of copy paper at 5lbs/ream... THAT is heavy lifting! ;-)

~S~

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

Although I often look at the china cabinets with a fiercely critical eye these days, I found myself unable to part with the green Wedgwood majolica fruit set that we inherited from Himself's mother. No, I have never used it, and there really isn't room for it in the dining-room, but I felt a real pang when I started packing it up.

So I parked the box on a shelf in the basement storage area known to us as the Glory Hole. It can stay there for a while, maybe years. At this point, I don't care; we don't NEED to get rid of it, and we don't need the space it takes up for something more important, so it can stay. Maybe one of the younger generation will show an inclination for fine crockery some day. I can wait.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Apr 18 - 08:33 PM

Today I cleaned my office, starting by bending, cracking, and pulling the little slider casings off of 3 dozen old 3.5" floppy disks. I kept three, the oldest (from 1996-97) in case one of the offices on campus runs another contest for the oldest files found saved. I think it should apply to more than paper. The rest went into an e-waste bin. I also brought some books home and I can see a spot from here where they will go in the bookshelves.

I found a handful of audio books at a library branch I don't visit very often so I can reload my supply of books for my drive time each day. Virtual books don't take any space so are a great bargain in this decluttering household. I'm not really enjoying the one I started listening to this week; I'll give it another day of listening before I decide to bail on it or not.

The garden will get my attention because we have rain coming in a couple of days, and on that rainy day I'll work on stuff in the house. I'm down to 15 listings on eBay (happily a few sold) and I'll list at least five more since I've decided to try to keep 20 minimum going at a time. I think this will always be just a hobby that makes a little money on the side, but I have a lot of stuff to offload via this hobby so I have to keep going. It's still better than all the trouble of doing a garage sale.

Charmion, is that Wedgwood fruit set attractive? There's nothing wrong with having a few beautiful pieces around just because of their charismatic looks. I have a shallow cabinet behind two sliding mirrored closet doors in my sun room where I store a lot of the family crystal. If one side or the other is left open I invariably find myself smiling at the beautiful pieces when they come into view as I pass through the room.

Hungry dogs want to go for a walk then have their dinner. Same for me. It's nice when Spring finally gets here and the days are long enough and warm enough to enjoy after I get home from work.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 10:24 AM

Yes, Acme, the Wedgwood is beautiful, in a very Edwardian way. It's a bright green with a molded pattern of grape leaves and fruit -- très, très art nouveau. Here's a link to the relevant page on Replacements.com: Green Glaze by Wedgwood

The set comprises a wide, low-sided serving bowl (designated "11-inch salad serving bowl" for $179 on Replacements), an 8-ounce jug, a 24-ounce jug, and ten "6 3/8-inch coupe cereal" bowls. I'll bet there were originally a dozen bowls, but two fell victim to time and circumstance.

Because the decoration is raised, they aren't practical for frequent use; the pattern is not uncommon, and pieces turn up at junque shops with chips and glaze-worn-off white spots. I imagine that my mother-in-law thought the same; hence, they're still with us.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 07:46 PM

PA PACKATHON:

The project is nearing completion, and good thing too-- Penske wants us to pick up the truck a day early (free).

This evening after supper we made two pallet stacks of boxes, including the giant box of framed art, the banker's boxes, 4 more I packed today, and the two dresser-mirrors I married into one mutually-reinforcing package deal. The portacrib also went out. Over the weekend, the burrito-stuffed china cabinet, last boxes will go out, and my summer church amp will come home to go south. Tuesday is dentist (2 hours drive each way), and Weds. we pick up the truck. Loading is Thursday, and departure is Friday.

If we get a chance and hit the jackpot on helpers, we'll swap out a fridge to send south, too. And make one last trip to the spring, for recreation, weather permitting!

Tonight we nest and rest!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 07:52 PM

Beaver: So glad to be back where I can look out at the hills and trees! And the 15 inches of snow covering the entire yard and deck, ice covered snow that I have not had the energy to move. Fortunately, the small pile of wood neighbour Larry put outside the back door months ago is reachable and will get me through a couple days until things thaw some. The main woodpile is about 20 feet away - 20 feet of ice-covered snow. I could do it if necessary but am thankful not to need to risk back and shoulders.…

Hoping the weather Report is correct and the weekend thaw will melt much of the snow, Today, I have merely put things away, sorted a pile of papers, found more maps for the map organizing folders, looked at organizing trips back and forth, and read. Heavy weather does not fill me with energy. Plants in house are fine. Those in Studio are “unreachable”! Snow flurries all day and dripping ice cycles… Hope for tomorrow: more energy and warmer – 5C.or more!

Watching a 24 inch shelf of ice, with ice cycles, that is hanging off the studio roof! Expect it will crash down to the ice below with a resounding crash. Hopefully not in the middle of the night!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Apr 18 - 10:37 PM

I congratulated myself on not picking up anything (because there was nothing I needed) at a Goodwill store I happened to pass this afternoon. If I were interested in antique porcelain saucers I'd have hit the jackpot, but selling small antique saucers isn't a business I want to get into. This is the closest Goodwill to an older section of town, so I imagine this was left from a garage sale or estate clear-out.

Family members know I visit thrift stores so I have a list in my head of items they want me to look for. I found a second old small pressure cooker for my ex who wants the heavy weight pans because they hold heat well for making candy (in particular, his annual peanut brittle he makes at a friend's house, though he tells me this year he and the kids are bringing them to my house over the holidays to experiment making cashew brittle). I told him they'd better be sure to bring plenty of sugar, I don't have that much here now that I'm not cooking as much and I haven't canned anything in a while.

Susan, when is the truck part of the move going to happen? I had the impression that despite all of the packing it was months off. I guess I misread somewhere. Do you have to bring it back round-trip, or will you leave it in Ohio?

Dorothy, careful with the ice and firewood! One broken ankle is sufficient. A friend of mine had surgery a few weeks ago on a broken ankle and is using one of those wheeled supports to kneel on and keep her ankle up. Even those are hazardous and she's had a couple of falls off of it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 06:47 AM

Acme, the final move is yet to be scheduled when Harding sets a retirement date. This interim load has been scheduled for approx May 1 for some time, and a major focus of it is gathering fragiles for the installation of decor and artwork; that's better done while I can access the walls (before furniture blocks them).

The whole 8 weeks or so I've been in PA, we've been getting ready for this truck trip. It's a one-way rental, so my DIL has left me a car in Ohio to use till Hardi joins me for vacation with the next open-trailer-load of furniture. Therefore, the truck is also going to carry the antiques best NOT carried on an open trailer.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 09:56 AM

I think Himself might be getting into the less-accumulation headspace. Last night he actually volunteered to de-accession a coffee pot. I reeled.

Mind you, that would leave us with five different kinds of coffee-making technology.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 11:16 AM

Years ago I got one of those free Gevalia coffeemakers and that is still my only automated coffee making apparatus. I have a French press (that also works for tea) and when you get into tea that's where my duplication occurs. Years ago my brother sent a boxed coffeemaker for xmas, and we don't drink coffee so I set the unopened box on a shelf. Literally years later I opened it to find the box had been used to ship a large handmade teapot (that now sits on top of my kitchen cabinets collecting dust). I have a porcelain pot I use when I make a pot for several people, and I have a small glass single serving Pyrex pot with a steel strainer. Mostly what I have are all sorts of tea strainers, balls, spoons, shapes, and baskets for brewing tea. Over time I've given away duplicate tea strainers (many of them came from my father's house, but I already had several of my own). Now that the topic has come up, perhaps I should address these duplicates (or at least put them all in one place).

Susan, we've watched this from the sidelines for months, understanding what you're doing. That plan of gradually moving makes perfect sense when you have the luxury of managing it at your own pace. Too often when someone has to move everything gets packed and sorted out at the other end. As Charmion has been illustrating (and how I have done it a couple of times.) We'll have to see if Dorothy can wrangle R into letting her manage their move in such a way. If I ever get to a point of moving back to my home state I would like to think that I've offloaded a lot of extras before the move - that's where I am now. And not leaving all of this stuff for my kids to sort through wherever it ends up.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 01:01 PM

Yes, Acme, disruptive moves are what I grew up with and have experienced since. I like very much that despite our age, we're moving into our first *owned* home and doing it our way. It's great being able to designate where things pass now and after WE pass. I'm also grateful to have the physical and mental stamina to do this BUT I'm equally pleased knowing that it's the last one I'll have to manage/oversee, and I'm missing a gardening season! :-(

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 06:14 PM

I went into the move last year in the full and urgent hope that it's our last. With any luck, I'll leave this house feet first.

Susan points out that she's missing a gardening season. That happened to us last year, along with most of the preserving season. I managed to crank out a load of chutney in late September, when I had finally unearthed the canner and enough Mason jars. The move, including selling the Ottawa house and settling in here (plus the renovation), ate most of my waking life for eighteen months.

Now that the worst parts of the house have been renovated, repaired and repainted, I find that I'm willing to live with the aubergine purple in the bedroom and its en-suite bathroom for a while longer, if only to avoid unloading the bedroom bookcases. The greyish mauve on three walls of the bedroom is even harder to take, but in some lights it's close to a Farrow & Ball colour called Mouse Fur, which kinda takes the curse off it. The baby-shit brown in the basement is bad, and the holes in the plaster make it worse, but enough pictures and bookcases do a great deal to ameliorate the situation. It would help if I could bring myself to call that colour something euphemistic -- "old gold" perhaps.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, the civil service paperwork required to get me paid for the book project has finally reached critical mass. I signed the formal Letter of Offer yesterday, only seven weeks after the original start date, and I'll get back to work on the manuscript on Monday. The author is incommunicado for two weeks while he marks papers (he's a history professor), so I have time to get a chapter ready to thump onto his desk as soon as he breaks cover.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 07:37 PM

I did designate the germination stuff go straight to its kitchen destination, and I do have a packet of seeds in my purse, with time to snag topsoil etc for the big nursery pots in the Ohio garage. And I'll definitely buy flats of annuals to display with those seeds, in the patio.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 07:58 PM

I planted four pots of squash (a mix of zucchini and yellow bent neck squash) into the garden today, followed by watering with Bt and a topping of home-chipped mulch (branches from the yard run through my electric chipper). I was going to try to inject Bt into the stems but they're too small, so those I tried I hope I didn't damage. I'll do the injecting as they get larger and the lower stems turn woody. These were started from seed on the outside potting table; I'll fill the clay pots with more soil and start something else. I'm waiting for tomatoes, okra, and poblano peppers to start sprouting. There are small springs of Swiss chard and the basil is starting to pop up. The squash I planted today (two per pot) saved me about $10 so far.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 20 Apr 18 - 10:30 PM

Wow, lots of stuff getting done! Remember not to bite off more garden than you can chew come dog days of August ;-)

I plodded along with the storage units, until they are now shelved and organized and condensed, with a little purging and donating done. Was able to empty one completely and cease paying rental on it, yay!

And got the SUV completely emptied and cleaned inside and out. Also, reorganizing contents, and paring back what I travel with, so it can be used more often as a group expedition vehicle and not a jampacked cargo ship.

I need to put 'clean out the car' on the agenda monthly or at least quarterly, it feels so good when it's done, kind of like a fresh haircut or a tooth cleaning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 18 - 12:34 AM

Patty, will you be passing through North Texas (DFW) at any time? Let me know, I'd love to have you stop by. This is a good time of year to spend in TX, especially if you're looking for good temperatures. Tornadoes, well, they kind of come with the temperatures (thunderstorms).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 21 Apr 18 - 08:53 AM

This year’s efforts follow on in part from having the heating revamped last year, me doing the bulk of the cooking and even a comment in the cats thread here…

Bathroom, Washbasin: fitted thermostatic mixer valve for hot tap, extended lever taps, click clack waste, paper roll dispenser, redone silicon sealant. Bath: fitted new waste and overflow, thermostatic bar bath/shower mixer. Other: tidy up grouting in tiles. To do: redo silicon sealant for bath (I don’t fancy that job), tidy up around toilet and old pipework, probably change bath mixer tap – I think the idea is right but I think trying a cheap one was a mistake for what we want.

Kitchen. Clear out of most pots and pans, replacing a couple with new ones – we have a better selection now and it is less cluttered, fit spice rack on cupboard door, fill gap left by old boiler with shelving unit under work top, replace cupboard hinges with soft close ones. To do: try to find bit of vinyl to patch floor where boiler extended beyond kitchen units, fit new curtain, try to better organise cupboards. Possibles, new tap, shelving on remaining bit of wall I could use.

Shed. We lost storage in the airing cupboard with the heating changes. I added new shelving in the shed last year but I think even with a sort out, we will still be short so I think I need to find some mobile shelving.

Other: Dispose of accumulation of junk. I’m not on clear the best way but probably some combination of mini skip hire, trips to recycle centre and council collection. Matters would be easier if everything could go in a skip but electrical items are a problem there.

–
Oh and on the cooking, I got myself a few (cooks, paring, bread and super slicer) Wusthof knives. It seemed like a good idea but I’ve barely used them. Pip doesn’t like sharp knives in the kitchen so they are stored in a roll in a cupboard in my room. For say the qty of veg I need to do for the 3 of us and considering getting the knives out, I just reach for the trusty old bread knife (like this one – it’s got different serrations to other bread knives I’ve seen). That and a veg peeler get me through most things.

–
Garden. This year’s mowing already started. Tomatoes, peppers and aubergine in pots on windowsills. Some other seeds in propagator. Visiting brother and family cleared a load of leaves at front of house.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 18 - 12:49 PM

I have some heavy duty black plastic trays that came from a local bottling plant (a friend had them in his greenhouse and I inherited them when I bought the greenhouse). I have marked in red wax marker on the sides what seeds I started in the assembled clay pots in each tray, and I also use these markers around the house. Who knows where the black and red one I use came from, but I'm about to increase my supply with a small box of Dixon china markers in other colors. Five more of them will be a lifetime supply. I date lids of jars going into the freezer, I write on plastic canisters then put tape over the impromptu labels.

I had three small red lasoda potatoes that were liberally sprouting so they're now in the garden; I usually plant them in January or February, but I'm curious to see what happens. They're in well-worked soft soil so if they do produce they should do it easily. There is no point planting potatoes if you're not going to work the soil, you don't get the tubers in a hard small space. It's a gentle rain today and I'm hoping this inspires the seeds in pots on the bench to burst forth.

Since it's raining I'll work in the house. eBay, video production, laundry, sewing. I'm making this a fasting day (500 calories) so I won't tempt myself with much cooking.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Apr 18 - 03:09 PM

Go Jon!

Today was possibly our last water-fetch from the spring in Ulysses. Frankly it just hasn't been fun to fetch water since Cherry Flats closed due to fracking, and signs of fracking were evident as we neared our destination. But we got eight 7-gallon cubes of springwater, which we started cutting w/50% fracked faucet water during this last year.

We did it together, and Newbie-dog got a few minutes to smell dead things. The water may last till we leave PA, or Hardi may get up there to visit one last time; or we might fetch a wee bit in the fall... weather makes it crazier each year-- AND we's OLD! ;-)

The good thing-- no freeze anticipated here, so no rush to carry all that water into the house! And a day off of packing!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 18 - 11:38 AM

I have a year round creek in my back yard and a pump to use to move the water to use in the yard, but an urban creek is probably polluted, so I've never gotten around to using that pump. And yes, there is fracking in this area. No wells that I know of to be impacted in this urban setting, but that doesn't mean the groundwater and surface sources aren't impacted.

A run to the recycle bin is due (paper, cardboard, plastic, glass); since the weekend is a busy time for neighbors the bins will be full so I probably need to wait till Tuesday (after the bins are emptied). Jon, I separate out the electrical devices for an e-waste disposal service (this stuff goes there along with batteries, discs, cassettes, etc.) I compost yard waste, and don't put out trash often. I have some stuff that needs to go to a hazardous waste pickup (I've been organic for years but there are a few bottles from the old days that need disposal). That's difficult, city and county jurisdictions have different rules about where you can leave this stuff. My village doesn't pay into the county disposal plan so I have to watch for a general community collection event.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 22 Apr 18 - 01:05 PM

Our council collects the recyclable paper, plastic, etc. and general household waste on alternate weeks but you have to make other arrangements for things that don’t fit those categories.
Regarding your hazardous waste, I wasn't sure of the situation here on that. It looks as if I could dispose of that sort of thing at the recycle centres but would have to wait for a “special domestic hazardous waste day” to do so, the next one being in September.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 22 Apr 18 - 01:19 PM

This morning I cleaned out the lunch container cupboard which was a mish mash collection of Rubbermaid and Ziploc containers. We found that the Rubbermaid (Heavier Rubbermaid) does not leak....all the others do with the exception of Tupperware but even then....

Anyway, it ALL went in the trash. I cleaned the wood inside the cupboard and filled it with new, non-leaking containers and also more containers in the size that we both prefer in our lunches (the square ones stack nicely in my lunch bag).

I use canning jars quite often to tote my lunch that has any chance of being a wet leaky mess....works out just fine, especially since we have reusable lids.

I have been repacking meat this morning too and filling our freezers.

Later I will be packing my lunches up for most of the week as it proved to be most helpful for last week which was busy with work, an evening presentation I had to do at one of the larger high schools in the area and one day was spent volunteering with my coworkers at the food bank. Busy. Busy. Busy and happily enjoyed.

I am down 4 pounds this week! YAY!

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 18 - 01:45 PM

Good job on the weight loss, Michelle! I also did that kind of clear out of food containers you describe; after discarding the Tupperware I also settled on the Rubbermaid set (red top, clear bases) that stack well and don't leak. And when I'm taking soup or wet stuff, I also use a glass jar with a good lid, usually a canning jar. In my work backpack side pocket I have a small (~1/4 cup) Rubbermaid container with a few Brazil nuts in it (the nut mix I buy has an inordinate amount of Brazil nuts). As I walk around outside at work some of the squirrels are accustomed to panhandling and when I pull out that plastic and rattle it they come running!

This is Earth Day and you'd think one of those hazardous chemical waste collection sites would be set up, but I haven't found any. So it sits on a shelf at the back of the garage and waits.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 22 Apr 18 - 06:49 PM

Feels a long while since I last thought of Tupperware. I remember Pip/mum and Tupperware parties late 60s/ early 70s in a small North Wales village.

I think this one has gone whereas Tupperware still exists but there was also (probably just UK and maybe door to door sales and a different product range including brushes) Betterware then. Some of the stuff lasted ages. I don’t know if there are any Tupperware boxes still here but the peeler I mentioned a few posts below is Betterware and bought heaven knows when.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 Apr 18 - 11:05 PM

Beaver:

Sometimes I wish Maggie were here! Tonight it was the two hours spent fruitlessly trying to print something; even with a cord connecting printer and computer I kept getting a message that the printer was offline and something about a WSP button on a router. What router? what button? I could not bring myself to phone son - either one. I will try Epson tomorrow. I just want to vote on Whidbey!

SLOWLY, the snow and ice is melting. Yesterday I managed to get into the studio and water the plants. Today I tried to put up the "umbrella" clothes dryer but could not get it to go up because its hole is full of ice and it was too high for me to reach. The main wood pile is still not accessible but it it has been warmish so I am managing to stay warm. Up to 13C tomorrow! Then rainlater in the week should clear the decks - and make the yard a lake!

Today's best laugh: "With any luck, I'll leave this house feet first." I said that back in - well, when I moved into the house in PA, how many moves ago?! as for the five coffee makers!!! I suppose if we do airbnb at the new house we will need such an object: I welcome advice on one that will be fool proof for myself and guests. Something environmentally suitable. And how to keep coffee that will stay drinkable! The last time I made a cup of coffee - about 20 years ago - the recipient poured it out on the ground!

So, very carefully moving bits of ice and snow has utilized my energy, and three loads of laundry! I have oregano and parsley babies started and two forgotten-what they were- flower seeds started. Surprise!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Apr 18 - 10:55 AM

PA PACKATHON 2018

April 23 - 26-- last work week, and GO! :-)

Truck pickup is Weds evening with Hardi driving it from the pickup locay an hour away-- I'll set up the cabin for my particular disabilities and practice drive it Thursday. Thursday night Hardi and helper load the truck. I leave Friday morning.

I'll meet son and DIL Saturday morning halfway to Ohio at a frequently-used motel/restaurant. From there I'll probably leave the truck to them, and proceed ahead of them with their car and my dog, to prep house and garage for a smooth unload of the barrage of boxes and furniture, hopefully with a few daytime hours of housemate's help-- he just started an evening job.

The truck will arrive at the house sometime Saturday aftn/night, for Sunday unloading from 8AM til 2:30PM. Helpers are confirmed.

Remaining to package are a set of 3/4 size Christmas creche figures I'm restoring with the expert help of an Ohio community theater group's crew. My prep for encasing them will result in many trips up and down the warm, sunny ramp to fetch them individually, bringing one fragile, 1950's-decoupaged figure at a time to the just-cleared DR table Hardi's ready to disassemble for transit, where all the cushioning/packaging supplies are-- and the 2nd huge box they'll travel in, just like the huge box of framed items.

The creche figures' garage spot is designated, and their restoration plan is in place: polyurethane fronts and black-green exterior paint for the backs, plus artwork by theater artists. We'll dispay them in Ohio for one or two seasons, and then they'll go back into their protective packaging for delivery to a designated churchyard (in keeping with the donating family's direction).

Our site layout will be per young neighbor Camryn's eye and muscle-- he designed a superb garden bed last fall-- against a stretch of privacy fence as a backdrop. On that fence, I can just screw a few 2 x 4's to suggest a stable-roof. It's so windy there; some of the tableaux will screw right to the fence via cleats on their backs. (There's electricity there for lights, and I can already see the whole tableaux.) There will be pictures, to travel with the set to their next home and for me to frame for us.

Only a very few other items remain to be gathered for loading. A large dresser needs to come downstairs; the china cabinet and DR table need to be disassembled; a rug needs to be rolled and tied. The weather is forecast to be warm and dry most of this week, and I suspect Hardi will roll that rug this evening.

Tomorrow is all-day dental.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Apr 18 - 05:31 PM

Beaver:
An hour on the phone with a nice tech support person determined that the printer is not working. I am thinking this over while I managed to do the income tax return, find to my shock that I had to go to the Credit Union to pay - cheques are obsolete!

Gorgeous day and melting well! I can get into studio easily - after negotiating a few feet of snow and ice, and into the tool shed so I might be able to fix kiln! The main woodpile is still inaccessible but I still have sufficient wood, thanks to Larry! The impending rain will probably clear the remaining ice. I was able to weed the east strawberry bed!!

Accomplishing the income tax required about 150 grams of dark chocolate; it certainly assisted brain function - seriously! I am not losing any weight but not gaining either. I am slowly rebuilding some strength after the long winter.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 24 Apr 18 - 09:36 AM

Coming back from trip to ireland. Planned careffully but still too much. Fell off bus in seattle and hurt my bottom. Jacket was boggest problem. Have goretex bjt so cold and clammy brought my london fog, warm but not waterproof. Have not had good jacket.combo for seventeen years. Somewhere there is a good lined.absolutely waterprlof jacket and no layering is not the answer. bottom line..take half as much and a bar.of.soap.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Apr 18 - 11:47 AM

PA PACKATHON "ENOUGH!!!" EDITION

For too many reasons to specify, I canceled the all-day PA dental in favor of following up in Ohio, and going scootering today with the dog. And a romantic dinner with DH, later.

After several morning packaging adjustments, the 14 (!!!) creche figures are packaged for transit-- half of them wrongly packaged; but all are numbered for identification and I took pix as I packed to remind me of heights-- some are kneeling. A new numbering will occur when they are unwrapped, by category.

The truck rental dude left me a message this AM pressuring us to get the truck even EARLIER tmrw. NOPE! Cannot juggle further!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Apr 18 - 10:01 PM

Fixed Susan's typos, too bad I'm not there to help Dorothy with the printer. Dorothy, I've been reading about the various payment apps out there - take your time in choosing one if that is the direction you're going. Some are more secure than others. For those times you have questions you can send email through mudcat - maggie at [this site] dot org will reach me - and I'll see if I can help.

I have a lot to do over the next couple of days, but when my time is free I'm going to repackage a couple of my current eBay listings and formulate some new, smaller ones. The process involves photography, finding the best box and packing materials, and listing them. I sometimes list things in larger lots - less per piece to get them all out of the way at once. If that doesn't work, then I go back to fewer in smaller boxes.

Watching PBS last night - polar bears catching beluga whales - wow. I don't have cable, but I do have NetFlix, something I think my son (on my account in a distant city) uses more than I do. There are a couple of disks around here that have to go back. I go in spurts as a viewer of movies or television programs. These days there is so much available via over-the-air television. I have disks of films as my backup, but more and more they're also saved as mp4 files and I can watch them on the computer, phone, or tablet.

Wow. I found this just now but I had started it last night and evidently reduced the browser window without sending. Decluttering browser windows. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Apr 18 - 10:20 PM

Thanks, Acme.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Apr 18 - 09:54 AM

The big IKEA cabinet has left the building! Along with a straight chair (pleasing, but also unnecessary) and a nice, clean, step-on garbage container, also excess to requirements. I am more than pleased. The basement TV-and-reading room has breathing space for the first time since the beginning of the kitchen renovation. Now, all it needs is a paint job, but that will damned well have to wait for another infusion of money.

Two guys from the church arrived with a flat-bed trailer and within about 15 minutes the job was done without so much as a chip out of the fresh paint in the front hall.

Floating on a wave of accomplishment, we cleaned a winter's worth of debris off the deck and the front porch. Stratford is a house-proud town, and we don't want the neighbours to think we're slobs.

The church variety sale -- destination of the above-mentioned cabinet and many large boxes of doohickeys -- starts tomorrow. Himself and I have been conscripted to guard the doors and the booths with the most-thieved items; apparently this major fund-raiser attracts le tout Stratford, including some of our lighter-fingered fellow citizens. Himself asked me what I would do if I caught a shoplifter; I replied that I would embarrass the hell out of her. The parish verger, our boss for this gig, opined that fear of public humiliation is by far the most effective security method available to us.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Apr 18 - 08:28 PM

PA PACKATHON 2018

We picked up the truck this aftn. It's built for shorter, spryer folks than I, but getting it a day early will allow me to rig a step I can pull up after getting in. I'll add a rope to the one I use for our very tall bed.

Hardi is boxing our treasure chest which sits on my dresser, and is about to muscle the dresser downstairs.

Tomorrow afternoon we load, using the upcycled baling twine I reassembled one nervous afternoon to keep my hands busy to tie it down inside the truck. In the morning I'll get an Rx for strep throat. :-( Friday I depart, to meet son/DIL to share driving. Unloading is scheduled for Sunday, with weeks of UNPACKATHON to follow.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Apr 18 - 11:23 PM

Difficult to believe we're at the end of April already, since spring seems to have barely gotten off the ground temperature-wise. Allergy season is in full swing though, and everyone around me is feeling it.
I was home today working on some paperwork between naps. The only decluttering I managed was a bag down at the curb for trash tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Apr 18 - 09:34 AM

Oh, Susan, how well I remember truck-packing day, and then driving across Ontario with a load that I thought I had tied down in a sufficiently seaman-like fashion. I was wrong; for hours and hours of highway travel, I listened to the handcart slam back and forth from wheel-well to wheel-well. At least it wasn't a box of wine ... going tinkle, smash, tinkle, dribble ...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Apr 18 - 11:30 AM

Lol, C. I've been making THAT kinda trip for 4 years with an OPEN trailer! ;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 26 Apr 18 - 10:12 PM

Thanks Acme, I am in Florida for now and then have some expeditions to Arkansas and Missouri next on the docket before fleeing to the North Woods when it gets hot. Looks like I'll make swings through DFW in the fall for O'Flaherty and maybe in the spring for NTIF so hope we can connect.   

March and April have been fabulous this spring in the South, and even in Florida, April is a lovely time here. Things aren't too hot, and they have some wonderful roadside flowers (hot pink, no less!), as did Alabama, Mississippi, Lousiana, and Texas, each their own amazing assortment. I've never caught the bluebonnet time in TX, but I can imagine it's something to see.

Made Texas Caviar today for a gathering, it was a little tricky with my tiny saucepan, but, guess what, I was able to borrow somebody elses, and between the two, it worked out fine. Turns out I was right to ditch the larger pots and pans, can make do without them.   I can't make a very wide range of recipes, but then again, I don't want to!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 18 - 11:16 PM

Whenever, Patty!

I enjoyed the description of traveling with trailers and trucks. I had family antiques in a U-Haul truck from central PA to Texas; Pennsylvania is particularly bad - as I drove across I-80 from near Williamsport to Pittsburgh, then down I-79 and out of the state, there was a crack in the concrete every 50 feet. Ca-lunk ca-lunk ca-lunk ca-lunk all the way, and anything that wasn't completely padded and blocked into place rubbed against something else. I had several pieces with the marks of being sanded on that one spot from all of the rough roads.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Apr 18 - 11:02 AM

My hope is that my scooter crushes neither the dog crate nor the wing chair adjoining it, and that the uncrated dog stays in her designated spot-- especially when I get out to pee/refuel.

Departing shortly for 1st leg, which I hope doesn't require a refueling stop.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Apr 18 - 11:47 AM

Have a safe and pleasant drive, Susan! When driving west I always make a point of stopping somewhere at sunset to avoid the glare. You'll notice most of the truckers do the same thing. Sunset = Dinner time, walk around a rest area time, whatever. I always enjoyed travelling with an animal, most of the time I travelled with a cat. They can be great company, especially at that point after sunset when the dome of darkness is advancing across the sky above you, the last light before the stars come out. There's a psychological event if you're out on the road at that time, I'm sure of it. Having the dog will help.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: keberoxu
Date: 27 Apr 18 - 11:50 AM

Acme, I know what you mean about the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Like clockwork with a ticking second hand!

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

No cat of mine has ever been great company in the car! When I travel with cats, which thank the Lord isn't often, they grumble and fuss in their carriers, or howl, or swear, or mew piteously. Our Siamese would wait to unleash her most unearthly yowls until the car was close to pedestrians or other uninitiated witnesses. She put on the performance of her life one day when I had to tank up the car on the way back from the cattery where she had spent our vacation, kicking up such a ruckus that the cashier (who was indoors, well away from the diesel pump where the car was parked) felt obliged to ask if there was a baby in the car.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Apr 18 - 07:58 PM

I've lucked out with cats who travelled well. One of them was a great camper, and when I drove cross country I had a pickup with a sliding glass window in the back of the cab and another one in the front of the camper shell. Her litter box was at the back of the bed of the truck, and she would indicate she wanted through and I'd open both windows. There wasn't much space between the windows so no danger of slipping anywhere, but it was a bit of a wind tunnel if we were driving.

It looks like we'll have nice weather this weekend so I won't try to predict what I might accomplish indoors. I'm gradually working my way down a list, and in a couple of weeks I'll be adding some more after I have a guy look at the house and tell me what kind of shape the foundation is in. I have a couple of projects that require the advice from someone who knows about foundations, and depending on their cost, they may move up near the top of the list.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Apr 18 - 08:12 PM

I arrived at my overnight stop in good order before sunset, by choosing the right departure time; I've been doing this part of the drive since we moved to PA, for stepkids' annual Xmas and summer visitation in Chicagoland-- that was the tradeoff to get their mother's OK to move them out of state when Hardi was elected by the parish here. After the kids left home, we made this jog often to visit family and friends during vacation.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Apr 18 - 02:05 AM

Almost 25 years

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 18 - 10:27 AM

Lovely weekend morning that began with a walk around the neighborhood with the dogs. I have recycling stuff to deliver to the village bins and a couple of brief stops but I think the best plan is to make the most of this nice weather and address stuff in the garage that needs to be moved, donated, or sold. I park in the middle of the space and have plenty of room to get in and out, but I think I'll concentrate the stuff that I keep on just one side. This would give me room to set up a table to work in there (the table consists of a door and two steel folding saw horses). My first offer on one of the Freecycle list seems to be looming.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Apr 18 - 11:28 AM

This morning I nailed a horseshoe over each of the three entry doors to the house. Himself will sniff about pagan practices, but I don't care.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 18 - 04:50 PM

Dusty job out there in the garage. I just made my first ever offer on Freecycle - I snapped a photo and sent the email. I have boxes of tile fragments that might interest no one, in which case they get dumped in the back where rocks and other lumpy things get dumped to help stabilize the soil (lots of plants also put back there). I was thinking I'd like to try making mosaic crafts but never got around to it and doubt I will now. I can load up the boxes and meet the taker somewhere, they don't need to come to the house.

Other dust was disturbed this morning when I started looking through the huge stash of old cassette tapes on the shelves in my office. That's another task I need to tackle sooner rather than later because it's going to take a while.

I hope you're finding good road food and pleasant conversations at rest areas, Susan. The people one meets are some of the best part of travelling, and if you have an animal with you, they act like an ambassador, starting conversations.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Apr 18 - 07:48 AM

Arrived safe but housemate not here and toilet/tub clogged, so went to cheap motel last night pending Monday plumber. (And locksmith.) Heading to house now to unload-- and inventory damage/theft.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 18 - 10:36 AM

Oh dear. I hope it doesn't become the sad outcome your concern telegraphed. It would have been just as easy (or easier) to live up to the your expectations since he was already in that zone. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday's progress was inspirational enough to get me out to the garage for day two to finish the job. I have some large sheets of Styrofoam stored out there that I thought might come in handy (isn't that always the case for the beginnings of hoarding!) that may be broken and placed in the trash over coming weeks. I need to move the door/tabletop over to the area where I want to use it, not bury it in a compressed stack of stuff.

I've also given up on some of the recently-planted seeds that seem to be no longer viable so this morning I put in new ones in the same pots. I can tell if it is a pepper or a tomato once it sprouts; sometimes you end up with both this way, but one can wait for only so long when watching empty pots of soil. In the garden itself I'm testing weed control on the places where the tilling didn't knock out all of the Bermuda grass. I use a glass electric kettle to boil water for my tea and clean it by adding white vinegar to the water to boil. I usually pour that hot water mix onto the bricks out on the back patio to kill weeds, but I've been boiling it just to use on the garden. Boiling water by itself works pretty well, I think the vinegar hurries it along.

May Day is almost here. Does anyone have any rituals to celebrate? When I was a kid we used to weave a basket out of construction paper, fill it with lilacs, put it on the door knob for our mother to discover after we rang the bell and ran to hide. Every year she was so astonished as we giggled and watched. #FrontPorchDrama

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Apr 18 - 02:47 PM

There's a lot that's missing, apparently including power tools and Hardi's electric guitar and Kentucky-style mandolin. There's a lot that's damaged. The pantry and freezer stocked for my return, of course, are empty.

It's way, WAAAAY beyond a normal 24-year-old having a party get out of control and not cleaning it up in time. A number of decor/art items were removed from their locations and displayed elsewhere-- with a woman's touch. A whole bookcase (and its books) is missing but I'm not done looking.

So what are we doing about all this: First, son, DIL, BIL and I spent about an hour and a half consolidating piles of trash, dirty laundry, recyclables (and towels soaked with overflowed toilet water) into manageable piles (plus taking down smoke-soaked curtains to add to the 6 laundry bags), and created traffic paths thru the house to bring in the four heavy pieces that come off the truck today.

Then we did the garage-consolidating Tyler had committed to doing, to create interim storage and ongoing workzones out there-- a corner for framed art and other decor I brought; a corner for kitchen boxes; an area for BR boxes; a corner for Liberation Library boxes and furniture; a corner for scooters/walker. Large furniture pieces to go in back of two of those corners were unloaded and placed. The individually-numbered creche set went up into the rafters, with numbers visible from below. Boxes coming off the truck to get to those furniture items coming into the house went to their above destination corners.

We're on lunch/nap break now, and then those last big pieces will come into the house, and one big item that's being replaced will depart. Behind them in the truck are my 6 bankers' boxes, and heavy electronics/stationery boxes, with designates garage space awaiting them.

My germination kit came in along with the rolled plastic sheeting, for a perk-me-up project in a few days.

The plumber comes tomorrow morning. I'm still waiting to hear from the locksmith.

My bed is full of nail polish and cigarette butts, and DIL and I'll tackle that tomorrow. I found clean clothes to put on, and we're running a pee bucket with portapotty chemicals. I'll take a few pillows back to the motel tonight and hope plumbing is functional tomorrow with new locks.

We set up a patio dishwashing station in case we can't use the kitchen sink. The dirty dishes they left piled high in the kitchen smell bad enough that I'll probably soak and rinse them out there and then load them in the DW when the plumber gives the OK.

Everybody is mad at me for trusting this housemate, including me. So far, everyone else feels free to vent about this-- at me-- except me.

I'll file the police report when we're done unpiling the closets where they may have shoved some of the items I'm missing.

It looks like he let 4-5 friends stay here, hosted large, wild and messy parties, and then they left him too big a mess to finish clearing. But failing to do the agreed work (in lieu of rent) appears to have started right after I left.

The neighbors say that in addition to the trash left that WE are dealing with, there were 15 bags of garbage at the curb last week plus the 96-gallon trash and recycling bins the waste mgmt company supplies.

A rotting teak patio set (left around my fire pit) went to the curb.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 29 Apr 18 - 04:09 PM

This morning I sorted through paper clutter. Funny how even though I do go through it periodically, it piles up and up and up. Ah well, it's done for now! :)

One load of no longer used toys and clothing made it's way to Goodwill this weekend although I cannot take credit for it. Jeremiah did some sorting in his room and Pete delivered it to Goodwill yesterday as I was on a bus trip to Buffalo to see Phantom of the Opera (which was outstanding by the way).

We added 5 turkeys to our little homestead this weekend too. They are so much more quiet than chicks.....

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 18 - 04:23 PM

Too bad the neighbors didn't think to alert you to what was going on. And since he was staying there with your permission, chances are the police aren't going to be helpful. I'm so sorry. There is still a reputational aspect and I bet the word can get around that reparations are in order and not to trust this kid. And you could always get some small satisfaction by going through small claims court to get some cash or materials back. (I'm sorry to say his behavior sounds like something my youngest brother would have pulled at that age. Or this age, come to think about it. I wouldn't trust him as far as I can throw him, but when you first meet, he's all accommodating and pleasant.)

Quick stop at the neighborhood garden center for a few seed packs and a couple of bedding plants (tomatoes and strawberries). Big chunk of cardboard that was once in the dog stall is now in the village recycle bin, and the last few parts of a 3-piece office desk dropped off at Goodwill. My next door neighbor stopped in to catch up on the work they're doing and as often happens we found ourselves standing beside the garden talking and pulling weeds.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Apr 18 - 07:10 PM

The neighbors DID,and that's why I wasn't too shocked to buckle down to deal with it-- but I didn't my post about that last weekend.... and they hadn't been inside, to see the extent.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 18 - 11:53 PM

Two-thirds of my garage is organized after a weekend of steady work. I must have swept out 20 pounds of mouse turds and I tossed a lot more volume/weight in mud dauber (wasp) nests stuck to the walls and planks. I made two trips to the village recycle bins, one trip to Goodwill, and put a number of things at the curb - most of them were picked up; this evening the last item (a funky chair frame) is stuffed with a broken plastic bin and lots of styrofoam and bags of trash.

The dog stall is clean and the bedding washed and boxed for the time being. I still have to work on two sets of shelves (screwed onto the wall), the work bench, and the corner where I keep a number of pieces of equipment (mower, trimmers, saws, etc.) There is bulky stuff to toss or donate (enclosed cat litter box, animal carry cases, etc.) and stuff I've never used I should probably sell. But the end result of this work is that while I had enough space to park in before, I can *almost* fit two cars in there now. I moved my impromptu table (a door and saw horses) to the least-cluttered side and could actually set up a spread out project and still pull the SUV in and out without being squeezed for space.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Apr 18 - 06:32 PM

Plumber's been and drains open.

Police report filed and extra patrols in case of retaliation.

Locks and garage code changed.

Dog back from kennel.

Bedroom habitable.

Garage-ful of stuff looks like I wanted it.

Zzzzzzzzz......

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 30 Apr 18 - 07:31 PM

what an ordeal. and this type of behavior leads to homelessness because people are afraid of taking in a nephew or someone who could do things like this.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Apr 18 - 10:53 PM

Thanks, mg; I was actually expecting an "I told you so." Which I don't need.

Stolen/missing items are at about $6000 so far, with cleanup at about $1000 so far.

It's getting hard to think, now, too. Sleep will help and it HAS to look better in the morning.... but how am I going to do 10 loads of wash with no laundry supplies? Yep. Gone. And cash is awful short since missing blank checks caused me to pause that account.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Apr 18 - 10:56 PM

Near as I can figure, the one housemate/chore helper with weekend visit's from toddler became hosting 6 other people, from nests found, which is some of what needs washed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 01 May 18 - 08:49 AM

Oh, Susan! Aaaagh! I don't know what's worse: the anger, the disappointment, the discoveries of loss following each hard on the heels of the last, the being overwhelmed by all the extra work that you so don't need.

Mary's point is so well taken; this is a bad burn, and you will be shy for a long time to come.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 May 18 - 09:25 AM

Thanks, Charmion.

I awoke after rotten sleep with no idea where to start. Thinking about a nap made me think "fixing my mattress"-- removing a poorly placed layer from a February fix.

I didn't fix it in February because I couldn't think thru the folded layers capturing the hard, compressed foam layer to remove. But I was able to reach thru the folds from another angle, and I think the rest can await opening the camper (weeks away) to use its kingsize mattress to prep the bed for July vacation here with Hardi.

I cut the extra mattress layer in half and slid both pieces into the remaining leg-support pillow I'd fought with all night, to approximate the firmness and thickness of the missing leg pillow (one of three missing key orthopedic supports).

To do the bed, I'd taken a folding chair into the BR. So I took the opportunity to unpack a full-to-bursting laundry hamper we'd found in a closet, which turned out to be mostly clean and folded items for the new dresser-- I must have wisely NOT put away that last batch into the dresser I knew I'd replace on this trip. So I have a dresser full of clean clothes.

And I was richly rewarded by finding a clean towel and flannel bath wrap at the bottom-- I'd been going nuts trying to figure out a shower with no clean towels and no laundry soap I can't afford till funds arrive. The shower is filthy from the plugged drains, and to rinse it for use will require me to get in there with the hand-held sprayer, so I can stand to get naked in there pending a real, disinfecting cleaning via county social services.

Son and DIL left me breakfast sausage to cook up, and I may feel like eating later... so I washed one pot as best I could. The Horde left me a freezer full of frozen vegetables and I brought bulk mashed potato flakes, so if I get hungry I can stop living on power bars.

NOW I can see sleep! I hope. I have the HVAC fan running to flush the air in my BR that had me coughing all night-- some irritating incense residue I think.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 May 18 - 06:03 PM

I'm finding a few odds and ends everytime I look inside a place-- stuff of ours that they'd buried, or useful items of theirs that they left. Two cans of tuna in water is a help, but the countertop canisters for mashed potato flakes and Scottish oatmeal are priceless. They're just big plastic jars that had held fruit or peanuts, but I'm super strict on plastic purchases and if it can't be re-used, that product in plastic ain't coming into my house. These stack and are just right for my hand.

Also thrilled to find the Behringer mini-mixer and a mic. All the instruments are gone-- two autoharps, a nice electric ukulele, an electric guitar, and a good Kentucky style mandolin. A small amp, a boom mic stand, guitar stand. But Hardi will be pleased about the Behringer.

I'm making headway on filthy dishes, using shampoo from my travel bag.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 May 18 - 07:54 PM

Susan,

   I'm sorry to hear all that's happened. :(   We didn't suffer the same amount of loss but when we had the cabin, people broke in and stole things that meant something to us. I know you've been working on making that space your new home so I bet there are things gone that you can't replace either. That's heartbreaking.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 May 18 - 08:08 PM

Thanks.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 18 - 08:27 PM

Thanks, mg; I was actually expecting an "I told you so." Which I don't need.

You're probably doing a pretty good job of that all by yourself. No need to pile on.

The instruments - anything you can put up on the Mudcat site or the Mudcat annex on Facebook as far as descriptions, serial numbers, photos, would help people in the community keep any eye out for them on eBay or in pawn shops. (Link the facebook reports to mudcat.org and people will be able to see the photos.) That theft is heartbreaking - because clods who stole these have no music in their hearts. They see only dollar signs.

Over the last few weeks I've also cleaned up around my employment cubicle. The urge to declutter has jumped boundaries. I got rid of several dozen old 3.5" floppy disks that were in a couple of cases - I don't think we have any devices that can read them now (and I'm sure I moved the data ages ago). The disks and the storage cabinets went into the e-waste bin.

In the garden the tomatoes are finally growing and I think the ones I planted a couple of weeks ago doubled in size overnight. The potatoes are starting to send up shoots and the squash leaves are spreading out. Soon the garden will be visible from the street (right now it looks like a dark brown patch of soil.)

This morning I moved a few things in the garage along the back wall - I need to finish the job - for now I'll spend a couple of minutes each morning (before the drive to work) putting things where they should be stored.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 May 18 - 10:45 PM

Gotta love the irony though-- the live in helper chosen to make things just a bit easier is the one who just made it harder.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 May 18 - 08:10 PM

Aw, a SURJ friend who had offered to look at the Liberation Library to try to restore it, did come.... and is not only coming tmrw afternoon to work with me in it, but after she left... she came back with dinner, dishwashing supplies, a hug-- and flowers! :-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 May 18 - 10:37 PM

That is nice!

My new "walk the plank" mousetrap arrived and is set up in the garage overnight to see if my cleaning activity chased them all away or if they are still lurking in the joists and rafters. So much sign of mice in the garage, but it was cumulative.

Hoping for a soaking rain tomorrow - something moist is forecast - I'm hoping it's just rain and not high winds or hail that can play havoc with a tender garden.

Busy weekend coming up, foundation work quote coming soon. Computer is acting up - I think it wanted an update.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 03 May 18 - 09:55 AM

Now that the house is as squared away as I can make it right now, it's time to turn my attention to -- sigh -- fitness.

While I wasn't looking, I regained five of the pounds I lost while having pneumonia (and little else *rimshot*). The fat pants are out of the storage box again, and I'm back on the wagon with respect to portion control and avoiding foods that say "Eat Me Now" rather too loudly.

Fortunately, it's spring in Perth County and the asparagus will soon start rolling in at the farmers' market. I can eat asparagus until I piss green, and then eat yet more asparagus. Also tomatoes.

But dinner tonight will be roast pork, so restraint must be today's watchword. Darn it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 May 18 - 10:50 AM

Decluttered an expensive 1/2 gallon (the remainder) of a mango yogurt drink when it became clear that it had turned into something not so benign. It's fertilizing the tomatoes now and my gut will recover. I like the store where it came from, but they sell lots of imports that don't always have sell-by dates. In this instance, I think they washed off the dates because this brand usually has them. The hurricane last summer made importing some stuff more difficult and more expensive. They're taking risks by keeping things that get so old they're no longer edible.

This morning I decluttered some mapped drives that I used when I telecommuted for work. The red X over each (disconnected) drive was making it difficult to see the large external drives on my home computer (for some reason the letter drives were duplicated). I should have done that ages ago since there is no trust in the workplace that telecommuters are really doing their job from home. Too bad, for 15 years it saved me a lot of money as far as the daily round trip commute.

The garlic will be ready to harvest soon and the cilantro has bolted, so that bed will be ready for more bedding plants soon. Cucumbers seem to like it there. Salads and pickles ahead! I need to organize the canning jars in the pantry shelves to be ready.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 May 18 - 07:45 PM

Cleanup continues, slowly.

The hug-bearing friend returned today to start sorting out the Liberation Library. It's very hard to be in that room but we cleared it of items just delivered and started sorting books. I'd found pictures showing where the categories went and they aren't clear enough to read titles, but I can do a lot from the colors of the spines.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 May 18 - 10:59 PM

An evening spent sorting out my computer banking software. Quicken killed off my ability to download bank files to update my accounts, and even had I entered each transaction manually, it wasn't letting me select "cleared" or any other status. They're going to a subscription mode. Grrr. The time it would take to find a new program and learn how to use it was more than I wanted to spend right now, so I bought the lowest-end version (downloaded the software), finally got it to download the bank account info, and I have 14 months to find and practice with another program. I wasn't paying attention when Quicken kept trying sell me a new program, I didn't realize it would essentially turn into a brick. I'm caught up now, and anything else I planned to do this evening will wait till the weekend.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 May 18 - 11:48 PM

Jed's death has kind of knocked the stuffing out of the week. I'm keeping my eye on information about upcoming events. The service on Sunday is for family and close friends; there will be something else later for the rest of us. I have a guest room if someone travels far and needs to avoid a hotel cost.

I moved the rug back into position and the table on top if it. It seems to be dry after a day of a fan and air conditioner. Guests coming for lunch tomorrow so I did a little cooking ahead tonight. One is a vegetarian, one has a salt and tomato restricted diet, so I have a few things available and let people mix and match, or we heat up tortillas and make custom quesadillas according to taste. I fried up some sliced potatoes and made a batch of boiled tomatoes to make mashed or hashed (potato tacos are pretty good - and I have masa for making corn tortillas). We tend to decide what the lunch will be once everyone arrives and we see what people brought with them.

The rest of the weekend will be eBay and yard work. After 2 days of rain the weeds have gotten a big head start on me.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 May 18 - 09:23 AM

Friends coming over for lunch today so a quick tour of the house to sweep (dog hair, one guest is allergic) and organize my stash of boxes in the sunroom - it has grown recently. After two days of rain my garden is in drastic need of weeding; it's astonishing how fast plants grow when conditions are perfect. Boiling water with white vinegar nips many at the bud and will be one of my main defenses this year against the creeping Bermuda.

I think it's time to weed out extra coffee mugs and donate to the Goodwill. They're coming out of the woodwork, since I brought a few home from work. That's a long story - I'm downsizing the amount of stuff I have there.

Must vote today. It's a small one, but so small that every vote counts. This one to do with a bond to make river levee improvements. They won't impact my part of the creek that feeds into that river, but all of this stuff is eventually connected. I'd love to see a hiking path developed up to our area, the creek is lovely and there are long wooded stretches beside this urban creek.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 May 18 - 12:19 PM

Others family members will disagree with my action, but after much thought I decided that Tyler's family gets a piece of the recovery/consequences too.

So I reached out to neighborhood family members, indicating that I have his little boy Gavin's items to return but desire no face contact. A younger brother replied (who was the first family member that had worked for me but whose own drug use this year is obvious), and we worked it out via txt that he'd send his mother with car when she got home from work, and that they would contact me first so we don't talk. It's a police matter, and for that and other reasons, it's best we don't meet.

In text, after the pickup, I urged her to contact the child's mother to interrupt unsupervised visitation. Since I don't have Gavin's last name or his mother's name, I've also requested law enforcement follow up on that. Tyler apparently didn't think I might report him, but in addition to my own deep concern, I am a mandated reporter.

So I bagged up the visitation-bag of clothes and tiny shoes, tub toys, dinosaurs, and new gifts for Gavin that Tyler had left in place here. I bagged up Tyler's friends' filthy frypans I don't care to wash or put in MY trash bin. I bagged the chess, dice, and dominoes they played with during long meth highs. I bagged the gluten-laden food he left, and the peanut oil we dare not use here (my BIL who is here often is highly allergic).

I loaded all this into the red recycle bin I use for hauling heavy items between house and garage. She picked it up from the front doorstep without conversation, leaving the bin as requested, while I unpacked a few boxes in the garage.

Several items I'd been missing from the LL were in that guest room. Now that most of the nastiness is out of there (I took out food trash ydy), I've set the guest room to air. And now that I've cleared some floor space in there, it's a good place to drag all that laundry I'll need to do, in hopes a County seniors-helper can load it into my car to go to a laundromat, and go with me to get it all done and re-loaded. There's nothing in it I need soon, because we bagged laundry by category when we got my bedroom ready. And I don't care to overload the fragile plumbing with Tyler's mess.

A plan I want to start soon involves using blue tape on the Liberation Library walls to stake out placement of furniture I brought.... BEFORE draggifng it in from the garage-- so I can move the library's existing furniture to IT'S planned locations and thereby create space for a table to organize and CATALOG the books which MUST BE DONE ASAP-- at least a photo catalog.

After a transfer glitch, I finally received PA funds early this AM to replace supplies, but now I'm down with a nasty head cold and ucky tummy, so it's a good thing I got chicken soup with my scooter yesterday. Despite both pairs of comfy slippers being gone, I found a pair of slipper socks and a blanket I'd brought from PA and cranked up the heat.

Today my only "work" in the house will be putting away groceries and clean dishes, hauling those loads of laundry to the guest room bed, and bagging uo the remainder of the guest room trash so I can stand to be in there again. Once upon a time (just two months ago), it was a peaceful haven. I could use one!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 May 18 - 06:58 PM

Finally remembered that the stuff in the dresser I brought included a woven cotton serape, so I added it to the sheet I've been using. I'll top it with another flannel sheet and look for a Goodwill comforter in a few days (I'm sick), to replace the one they stole.

Between streamed TV murders on my fone and a few naps, I moved most of the dirty laundry out of the LR and into the guest room. Now I wish I hadn't put it where I did, on the bed, because I want to move the bed.... I'll move it to the closet, the curtain for which is still up. I bagged the busted drain snakes they'd left and the clothing of unknown ownership, from the guest room, and emptied a trash can of bathroom crud that contained my water pitcher, which I set to soak.

In the guest room I found a bit, that fits my cordless drill/driver, so now I just need a bit for that. The guest room still has another trip's worth of trash to bag up, and then I can see if the electric recliner still works and, if so, reclaim that room.

I'm not trying to make it all like it was-- that vision is broken. I'm making new visions as I'm able.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 May 18 - 07:46 PM

The guest room is now clear of visible trash, and all parts of the electric recliner's power cord were found and connected. It works. It's padding needs to be put back together but TBTG I won't have to junk it-- that will have to be sawed in two to get it out.

The room's trash occupied another two big trash bags, which, when I take them out to the bin, will finish filling the 2nd 96-gallon trash bin. I'm sure I'll find more when I move the bed.

Of course I'm continuing to find ruined items. Such as two prayer shawls. Can you imagine?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 May 18 - 07:49 PM

The good thing about having people over for lunch is that it forces you to do some of the most immediate things that help clear up the spaces you'll use for the meal. And as it wound down I put everything in the dishwasher. By the time we stopped talking in the yard the dishes were finished and now I have a great looking kitchen and dining area.

It's a lovely evening to start on the last part of the garage cleanup, the back wall with the window and workbench. Plenty of stuff to donate or discard back there and other things to reconsider - start using them or sell them. My mouse "walk-the-plank" trap hasn't caught anything, probably because all of the work scared off the most recent residents. I'll put it away for a while and re-set it after all of the work is done and if I start seeing any more signs of rodents.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 May 18 - 08:25 AM

Gang, if you're reading along and want to support, "Go Susan!" is a good phrase to post. Please don't do that if you're not actually reading.

NINE hours bentramasleep under just enough covers!

Used AM energy to further de-Horde the guest room and sent leads found to Det. Wilson. Almost ready to move bed, which I suspect is harboring a down comforter as an extra mattress pad. MAYBE it's even clean and undamaged?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 May 18 - 09:00 AM

Good things come to those who wait. And he wants to get caught.

Comforter, yes! One ash smudge on removable cover.

Shouting alert--

UNDER it:

In guest room, found PAWN TICKET WITH SERIAL NUMBERS, for Hardi's guitars, dated March 10. IN TYLER'S NAME.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 May 18 - 11:58 AM

Go, Susan! To the phone, and call the cops.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 May 18 - 12:09 PM

That is a lucky break, and a paper trail to find them again, we hope, even if they sold from the pawn shop.

This morning I've addressed the contents of a steel shelf in the garage. It's fastened to the wall and can stay there, but the things stored there are getting dusted and sorted. Some to the greenhouse, some to a stack for the Goodwill, and a lot in the trash. Up on the top shelf I can see traces of mud stuck to the vents on my Coleman stove, so I need to take it down to see if the inside is completely bricked in by mud daubers. They spend a lot of time in my garage and I am still finding and tossing out old nests.

Boiling water into the vegetable garden to knock out some of the patches of weeds that sprouted after the rain last week. I also have 10% vinegar to use to keep weeds out of some of the pavers and gravel I put down last month.

Lovely weather today so it will include a dog walk before dinner.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 May 18 - 01:18 PM

Charmion, first thing I did.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 May 18 - 05:16 PM

:-)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 May 18 - 09:25 PM

Finished most of the clearing in the back of the garage by the workbench. There are still a few things that possibly should go, but for now, the worst of it is in the trash for morning pickup and the useable stuff is at Goodwill.

Now for a load of laundry, this was a sweaty dusty job.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 May 18 - 10:07 PM

Some good news-- there's been no nefarious account activity for the checking account whose blank checks were found in Tyler's closet. In fact Hardi was able to go thru the special statement with me over the phone and compare numbers with me to determine that none were missing (even from the middle of the 2 books found).

To limit electronic use of the account, I'll notify the bank tomorrow that the only transactions they should see until further notice are SS by direct deposit as usual and SS out via my monthly same-day transfer to pay down a card. And the surplus current balance just went to that card before anyone can sick it out.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 18 - 11:50 AM

It's a pain to change out account numbers, especially if you pay bills online or by automatic withdrawal, but banks will usually help with some of that. The activity you need to look for isn't at the bank - though sometimes thieves will wait a month or two and swoop in after the monthly check is deposited. It's the information on the check that thieves use to set up accounts you never see - identity theft. You don't know about the new accounts until the bills aren't paid and it hits your credit score. You know you can get a free credit report from each of the big three credit reporting bureaus; I usually get them one at a time, spaced out through the year. This happened to a friend after her purse was stolen, she decided the checks were okay only to get clobbered a few weeks later by a hefty withdrawal, and the new accounts set up. Because you are the victim of this kind of crime the bureaus will let you choose to add an extra security level and they let you know any time any new activity happens as it happens or will block the establishment of any new accounts.

We're supposed to reach 91^o today, so I need to do my mowing before noon. I also need to set up sprinklers in the vegetable garden. It begins.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 May 18 - 03:03 PM

A very generous friend sent a surprise today by special delivery and it's safely in the local bank (not the one whose checks I posted about). Her gift may covery a security system.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 May 18 - 07:49 PM

Ohio:

I'm having a really odd reflection.... that once I get the house back to "normal" no one (including me) will feel like it happened. A kind of resistance to doing more. Very weird feeling. Don't want to let this get buried as one more PTSD!

So.... after simple supper.... 20+ minutes upright time before sitting, ouch, but DW emptied and some kitchen order emerging. Fruit basket reclaimed and stocked. Unsorted spices abused/added by Horde set in bin in spice cabinet to sort later. Misc more groceries/bags put away as Penguins hockey game remains scoreless.

Ten more minutes after very brief sit, OWWWW but DW loaded from Horde Filth, and running. (Found missing dishpan NOW of course.)

Not all items may wash clean in one cycle, so may have to re-run some items. Also not loaded are company glassware they used... And befouled. .... That's a separate load w glassware I btought to unpack in a day or two, but the big kitchen island table is now nearly clear of Horde crud, though it needs to be scraped and disinfected. Hockey game still scoreless but stats are in our favor. I cannot imagine getting this all done without that game radio!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 May 18 - 07:56 PM

Oh and I hauled out the heavy, last 2 bags of Horde trash earlier, which has cleared quite a bit of hallway/kitchen floor space. There's almost room there to unpack a box or two.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 May 18 - 08:39 PM

Montreal:
Nice trip to Montreal in the rain on 28 April, via folk concert in Gananoque.. Have managed to little bits of clearing up here and at the mill. The LR looks so much bigger with the black cabinet gone (this am) – to the curb – and the stuff behind it. Have packed some of the shelved stuff and de-cluttered the shelves of years of dust.

Today R collected enough boxes to pack lots of the books that are on the staircase and the plan is that he will bring a whole lot on the truck to Beaver when he arrives for some part of next weekend. I thought my desk was empty but… Will empty the rest of drawers into one of those boxes today. On the other side of the LR is an electric organ that he found last week and brought in out of the rain – for how long???

Yesterday R divulged the amazing news that he no longer feels a need to collect stuff but only to find things good homes. Clearly this does not include books as 4 more bags full arrived on Saturday from the Little Green Library! But he found a good home for 3 nice light fixtures – installing them in Geri’s LR so we can see in there for the first time – in 30 years, she says! It was an exciting event to be able to really see her art work – by her! But he came home with the 3 old ones! Thrift shop, we agreed!!

Picked up the printer from the mill to take to Beaver. It worked fine last time I used it. Also found the instruction booklets and discs for it, if need be.

Will check with credit union when I get back on how to purchase things on line safely, and pay odd bills. No apps, Maggie, My phone is archaic.

Will leave early tomorrow to return to Beaver so I can be going north before the sun is in my eyes. (driving west)

My cat Friendly was the best of all possible cats for 17 years. Have no intention of taking a chance on another one! And, when I suggested to a friend the other day that I might like another dog, she responded in horror! NO! you don’t want to do that! Borrow one, offer dog walks… I have to agree. No more dogs.

No housemates either! Susan! What a dreadful end to a long trip! Thankful for the misplaced pawn ticket! Hope it leads somewhere! This far beats the worst “housemate” experience of my 81 years!

Rec’d email that plants were shipped on 4 May. Responded with a curt note that advance notice would have been acceptable as I am 4 hundred Km away. Hope all is well tomorrow and that I can find someone to dig the necessary holes! Cherry trees, blueberry and raspberry plants! And the yard a morass of roots that are almost impossible – for me – get a spade into, or a fork – maybe a pick!

Mags gardening notes are so amusing; our climate zones…! I am looking forward to getting back to Beaver to see what is up. In Montreal, the crocuses have bloomed and daffodils are in bloom. I saw a forsythia the other day. WOW!

R bought a brand new guitar at a yard sale on the weekend for $50, in a case. We will keep it until my django jazz son visits in June and dispose of it according to his advice. Googled at about $250 US at Amazon. He thought of putting it at his airbnb place in the Laurentians but I would like to know someone was going to get good use and appreciation from it.

Bro uses “walk the plank for mice: a bucket of water and a suitably placed stick. Or several of same if needed!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 18 - 10:02 PM

Dorothy, for future reference, Manuals Online is a good place to start your search for manuals for older items of all sorts. I've uploaded several PDFs to them. And if this doesn't work, try searching the company, sometimes they have the older items (I've found that to be the case on several iHome devices I've brought home recently. Some of those will go on eBay with a printout of the manual).

I'm glad R is beginning to see the light. This weekend I finished the big push in the garage and ruthlessly disposed of a number of things that might have been usable - in the future - possibly - but I've owned for a decade or more and never used. Gone. Books are tough; I just pulled two slim volumes out of my "to read" stack to put back on top. The stack of books to read keeps rearranging itself as it grows.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 May 18 - 11:12 PM

Aaaarggh! Fone autocorrect!

Thanks, DP. I have so much PTSD from earlier in life that it's actually not clear to me how bad this is. 

But it appears that the Horde funded their meth use at least partially by charging underage kids a cover charge to attend the drinking parties-- the older addicts addicting the next generation. Nice, huh?

So, living in a crime scene is.... interesting in too many ways.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 08 May 18 - 09:28 AM

You know, Susan, even people who don't suffer from PTSD find it difficult to assimilate just how wicked the behaviour of people they know and love -- or even just like -- can be. The act of bringing a person into the charmed circle of home and family, as you did with your ex-housemate the druggie and friend of meth dealers, seems to cancel part of our instinct for self-protection. It makes sense; we can't relax and get comfortable in our homes (which is what home is for) if we remain on guard against the people we live with.

Life's a bitch sometimes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 May 18 - 01:21 PM

Of course if I'd been told about the meth by my "friend" his mother... or by his younger brother.... or his parole officer....

If the friend with a key to water plants weekly had USED it instead of taking the plants home because "poor Tyler is working so hard/late that I can't wake him up" (when he had no job and was actually METH-crashing)....

Or if the neighbor who asked how many housemates I had, had been honest when I asked if there were problems....

Or if the mailman who told me ydy what a shithead the housemate was for hosting kids to drink, had called 911 or the number plastered on my front door....

Or if one of those kids' parents had called 911...

Or if the lawn service crew who watched the Horde moving out had called me...

Or if the other neighbor who wondered why she hadn't seen me but seen a woman living in my house, had texted me....

Or if the THREE kitty corner neighbors had....

Or if the cop living across from me....

Or if the neighbor who DID call me hadn't waited so long that our house was trashed....

After personally speaking with each and every one of these nice people to give our number and encourage watching out for odd things....

Yeah. "We didn't want to invade his privacy." They're all eager to have me listen to THEIR stories NOW-- but seem unable to hear mine. "Too much drama." (Class issue. Po' folks GET IT.)

Yeah. I'm having a little trouble making sense of ALL that, and nothing any wisenheimer here can say can actually help. Until it happens to you, you can't truly understand.

My social worker friend gets it. "You were conned by a drug addict. They're good at that."

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 May 18 - 04:09 PM

My DIL's kindly-loaned car is now safely garaged again in case of meth-fueled vandalism (when Tyler learns I've fucked up the visitation he lives for).

Young neighbor Camryn made a few bucks today helping rearrange the garage a bit to make room for the car, learned how to use a hand truck, and took a message for the neighborhood grapevine-- "No valuables in these boxes of papers and pictures." He even took that pesky last big bag of trash to his family's bin, after stowing the two big heavy bags to fill mine. That leaves me just enough space for the kitchen trash tomorrow night, more than half of which Tyler left me.

I'm mostly using the scooter for local shopping, but it's great to know I can use that tiny, uncomfortable old car when I need to.

Newbie and I celebrated being ALIVE with a rarely-indulged Coke and Burger King feast-- radio blasting-- after a very short highway spin to let the car run a bit. (MOMMY! TRUCK!!!! WHERE MY CRATE!!!) I wonder-- does it have a name?


~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 May 18 - 11:12 PM

Sending an item that doesn't work to Amazon as a return. Lucky me I had the packaging nearby, I often just toss it straight into the recycle bin (that I emptied last weekend).

Paper and books are piling up in my home office as I clear out extra stuff at my work office. Much of this will go into the recycle bin also.

Only two more weeks of tutoring in the public school district where my university sits. The U student tutors are taking finals and walking the walk this week, so the next two weeks will have skimpy tutorial help (since U students usually hit the road as soon as they can after finals and/or graduation). Means I'll probably double/triple up with the kids I work with (they get out around June 1.) This is how I remind myself that I've decluttered myself of math facts from long ago and have to read the workbook or look very closely at the problem examples to help these kids. Today's child had a writing assignment - right up my alley!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 May 18 - 11:22 PM

Happy teachers day, Ac.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 May 18 - 01:11 PM

Ohio:

Found much loved (matches another) fleece in evidence they'd used the garage to store stolen goods, as well as Grand Theft Auto plates ready to use. :-0

Found local bank checkbook buried in the wrong section of purse-- huge help. Substantial balance there to pay kid labor, and Cameryn's aunt/step-mom next door was the neighbor who DID call me. Laundry bucks-- yaaaay!

My boombox Tyler kindly left WORKS and has CORD. (I still show no mercy.) It's a solid old Sony that does radio, TAPE, CD, and MP3 disc. Decent sound; I have a lot of audiobooks and music in tape and MP3. This belongs in the Guest Room, and is now playing. That will help relieve my fine battery! The always-on station was jazz and will now alternate jazz/NPR.

I got the Mother's Day card off.

I brought in and washed a chairside trash can they'd left in the patio full of crud.

In a little bit I'll take out kitchen trash and recycling that accumulated during de-Hordeation.

I invited two friends for dinner OUT, and I can afford a long-postoned wash, haircut and style on the way to dinner-- on my scooter.

I am informed that the Saturn's name is Polly. She picked up a flat yesterday, but I have AAA... and I'm gonna let them get this one. They can dig her spare out.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 May 18 - 11:19 PM

One of my larger eBay items sold today; the shipping box is 20" x 15" x 16" and is mostly filled with cornstarch peanuts (to ship a terracotta piece). That will free up the space in front of a storage cabinet and is good enough for a school night. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 May 18 - 12:11 PM

Ohio:

Digging out continues slowly and painfully. Pursuant to preparing to put away clean laundry, I cleared the BR "it can wait" area around the antique dresser-- hanging up honeymoon curtains and blackout fabric; setting clean linens aside; putting unpacked scarves and scarf hanger in a drawer; hanging up bath towels that migrate to the BR; consolidating drawer contents. It looks better and the million thumbtacks in the blackout fabric are safely cased.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 May 18 - 04:22 PM

Ohio...

As I'd hoped, the design of the panic button delivered and set up yesterday prevents accidental triggering if I wear it while sleeping. The base unit make just enough night-light, too-- red, and about like the PA dresser clock.

I take great pleasure in knowing that if the worst happens ("starring" on Forensic Files, lol), help can arrive in time to start the investigation promptly! ;-)

Busy day at Camp Ridgebury--

The county's Council on Aging grab bar installer Larry came and worked with me to determine best placements, while the lawn service loudly mowed and I called AAA to fix a slow flat on DIL'S car. Then Det. Wilson emailed an urgent request for a new signed statement, in order to FILE CHARGES YAAAAAY!!! Guitars have been located per the pawnshop ticket I'd found, and are being held pending case disposition.

Dealt with AAA and was then promptly off to bang out the story and paste the list I'd been working on, of stolen items.

Only 1 bathtub bar was installed because studs were not found near the 2nd desired and more needed location-- only a stripper pole will work there.

One was placed in the back door opening. One inside the garage door.

What I submitted to Det. Wilson was a detailed, 3-page witness statement including 58 high-value missing items. OMG. Only a typo or two and the wrong number for the time submitted-- they wanted a 2400 type number, and those never come out right for me. BUT IT'S DONE.

Hardi can use all that to submit an insurance claim. I'm just not up to managing that like I did our house fire claim in 2000. And the medical claims after my 2012 botched surgery and aftercare. Not this time. NOPE.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 18 - 10:25 AM

These days the term "stripper pole" doesn't bring to mind the same thing as it used to. (I have friends who take classes with the poles because it's great exercise, offered as one of many forms of dance at a neighborhood studio). ;-)

For a couple of weeks I've brushed against several plastic dry cleaner bagged garments hanging outside my closet. Time to try them on eBay, I'll never wear them again. They were special so I kept them, but no one in the family is that size, so. . . off they go. Two parcels shipped this week, and the combined income covers the electric bill that just came in. There's no telling what or when things will sell on eBay; sometimes they sell right away and I think I might have priced them too low, but because I research these things and try to put them in the marketplace correctly, someone just needed that thing at the moment I listed it. I keep my feedback score at 100% and have sold enough items that the extra information shows (speed, satisfaction, shipping costs, etc. are all rated by buyers.) You have to take it to the next level to make a living with eBay (buying wholesale, selling retail), I'm not there yet and probably never will be, but it's a good hobby.

It's an overcast weekend so into the garden.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 12 May 18 - 01:02 PM

Down 1.6 this week...surprising as I had my annual oncology checkup/new oncologist (physical check up is annual/tumor marker check up is more often) and I was stressed out about it. I did fine until after the exam and even then I had a decent breakfast, behaved myself at lunch out...but when I got home....I don't know what happened other than I was starving and ate exactly what I wanted. It was ONE day and that isn't going to derail me. :) Good news from the oncologist and I was most thankful that she was very nice and not all clinical...I NEED that personality along with the clinical!

I worked late last night and took about 20 minutes to clean off some of my shelves and the bottom drawer of my desk as it had become somewhat of a catch all. I have been wanting to re-organize some of my hanging files as I'm working with both children and adults now....I want their stuff separated but within easy reach and easy to locate.

In about 30 minutes I am off to my sewing room to do some organizing but also to select a project to do for an upcoming quilting retreat. I have plenty of fabric in my stash so I'm sure I'll come up with something. I like to have everything pre-cut and bagged before I go so I can spend the majority of my time at the retreat actually sewing. While I'm up there, I'm going to find a bag of fabric that was donated to me for making dresses to go to Africa (surprising how many folks around here actually go to Africa on mission trips). I'm not into making clothes so I'm going to get it out and deliver to another woman who just finished 58 little dresses and is interested in making more. :) I'm happy it will be out of my space and going to someone to make what was the fabric was intended for.

This week begins my walks during lunch time. There is a nearby park with a lovely trail around a pond that I'm going to check out. I normally eat my lunch while I'm working as it is so I'm going to use that *mandatory lunch break* to go out and get some fresh air and rack up some steps for the FitBit.

My car has been cleaned inside and out with the exception of winter gear that still is in the trunk. I was hoping to empty it out today but it's currently pouring....it will wait.

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle

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.

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

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

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

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

Michelle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~Susan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ohio:

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

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

~S~

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

Ohio!!!

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

Wednesdays are also trash day!

~S~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beaver:

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

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

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

Ohio:

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

~S~

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

Ohio:

Another Topic Kit catalogued.

~S~

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

Beaver:

Lots of pottery work accomplished!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ohio:

Friday 5/25

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

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

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

~S~

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

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

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

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

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

Acme, YES.

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

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

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

Ohio:

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

~s~

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

Beaver:

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

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

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

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

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

Ohio:

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

The kitchen is gradually getting close to Normal Mode.

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

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

~S~

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

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

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

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

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

Ohio:

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

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

~S~

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

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

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

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

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

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

~S~

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

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

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

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

Ohio:

Another Topic Kit catalogued, BOOM.

~S~

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

Ohio:

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

~S~

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

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

Tomorrow promises to be much the same.

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

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

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

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

(((Acme)))

Ohio:

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

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

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

~S~

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

Beaver:

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

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

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

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 May 18 - 05:38 PM

Ohio:

The "last" load of Horde wash is going.

There were some more-'lightly-soiled' items I had to use anyway, which will just get washed in a normal rotation of changing out chair covers, towels, etc. THEN I hope the cigarette and perfume smells will be gone... except I'll need help from Hardi to rip out a room and hallway of befouled carpeting and padding. Sigh...

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 May 18 - 10:00 PM

It's funny how I think I'll be doing one thing during the day, only to find myself finally addressing some other thing that has been on my mind for a while. After mowing the back yard I sat on the patio cooling off and looking at the bricks I put down years ago to extend the hard surface from the concrete patio. The dogs have dug beside the bricks creating a hazard, and I recently found a bunch of the same size/style of bricks and dumped them at the back of the yard. I watered the area for a while then dug up soil and placed several square feet-worth of bricks. The extension still isn't a square, it's kind of "L" shaped, but it gives me a couple more square feet of walking and rolling my barbecue grill-space.

Then I mowed the front yard. I moved slowly to not overheat, and as it gets hotter the lawn is going to slow down and hopefully not need much attention during the height of summer. The vegetable garden is a different story and I will finish setting up sprinklers and hoses this week.

I'll plan to dry at least one load of laundry a week on the clothesline in the back yard. The new line looks good and I found a bag of new unused clothespins. The spares usually turn up after I buy a new batch. :-/

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 May 18 - 11:12 PM

Ohio:

That last load is now in the dryer. These were four big, heavy, cotton drapes; two panels per wash load but dried one panel at a time-- it's a 3/4 size stacking washer and dryer and wrinkles are not wanted!

According to the detergent bottle, which is empty now, Hordewash plus mine was 39 loads.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 29 May 18 - 09:26 AM

Yesterday's fitness tracker report says I almost doubled the daily steps that are my goal, and it says I slept for 9 hours overnight. I remember getting into bed but I must have been asleep before my head hit the pillow, and I feel like I could sleep for another nine hours.

I got a lot done yesterday. I'm out of Tylenol.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 May 18 - 10:46 AM

Ohio:

So.... the senior services housecleaner starts early tomorrow afternoon... and they don't bring their own equipment... and I'm dying to get the most trashed areas started in a weekly rotation until actual 'normal' cleaning can begin... bathroom, and deep-vacuuming carpeted traffic areas... and I'm on my way shortly for dinner w Hardi with an ear infection... when I realize... that... the length of black hose I've been seeing by the washer is NOT from the extraneous vac pieces the house's seller had left in 2014... no... it's the HOSE from the GOOD vac, cut off (!!!) .... by THE HORDE.

Who also used up/stole my numerous rolls of duct tape (in colors)! And the cleaner's arrival already meant skipping a restaurant breakfast with my honey at the ONE face visit we'll have during this... 3 month separation! Cuz we old and need our sleep!

Yeah I'm mad! Yeah it's going on the insurance claim! Because it's too late for Hardi to throw the spare shop vac into the van-- he's already on the road. But he's planning to grab duct tape at a fuel stop for me, TBTG! Perhaps while the cleaner de-shits the loo I can fix the vac hose, splicing with a paper towel roll... because there's less than 2" of hose left on the vac to reattach the rest of it. You know-- the hose that sends the dirt from the beater bar on the floor up into the vacuum cleaner's bag? The suction.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 29 May 18 - 11:45 AM

Is there a Goodwill or Salvation Army in your area? I always see a few vacuums in stock when I visit my stores. Maybe a working vac, or at least one with the same size hose so you can marry the two to have one working machine?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 May 18 - 03:45 PM

The Ohio upright vac duplicates a better one in PA, where there are also 2 shop vacs. And I have a featherlight here. So I'm not willing to invest in anything but duct tape because the good PA vac (and/or the small wet/dry shop vac) can arrive in July.

Thanks though.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 May 18 - 10:11 PM

I realized this evening the the hall ceiling on one end, on one side, is slumping. I'm going to have to push it back into place and use drywall screws to re-attach it. Something for the weekend, I think. Good thing the light fixture is there to hold it up.

I intended to do a few things around here this evening, but I've run out of steam. There is a film I've been meaning to watch, that might be enough.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 30 May 18 - 08:00 AM

Now that most of the plants are up and blooming, it's time to start work on the garden.

On Sunday, Himself took a pruning saw to the wildly overgrown forsythia, cutting the whole thing down to knee level; I doubt that it had received any attention in this century, and most of the lower branches were dry and leafless. That done, my eye started roving over the Hungarian lilac beside the garage (two stories tall and half leafless), the Manitoba maple sprouting into the middle of a dogwood, and the profusion of nameless shrubbery masking the gas meter. I think I can deal with the shrubbery myself, but the five ratty-looking cedars and our four enormous maple trees are a different matter.

The cedars probably started out as ornamental shrubs but, after 20 years of neglect, they block too much sunlight from the garden and the house, and they just look overgrown, underfed and thirsty. The maples are beautiful, but two of them overhang our neighbour's house, making him nervous. "Don't you think they're a bit ... um, you know, big?" he asked the other day. We get major wind storms here, so I think he might have a point; if a big limb came down on his humble bungalow, it would be a big mess for him and an expensive liability for us. Also, whenever I look out the bathroom window, I note the scatter of leaves and twigs on his roof and wonder if his attic has been invaded yet by the resident squirrels. I often seen them scampering along his eavestrough.

So an arborist is booked for a house call next week. His website has lots of photos of him up in trees even bigger than ours, so he should be capable of easing the worries next door.

Speaking of the neighbour, he's planting lettuces in his garden -- right next to the cedar hedge that covers the entrance to what must be a major rabbit warren, judging from the bunny traffic across our deck last winter. If ol' Brad gets more than one salad for his efforts, I'll be very surprised.

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

Cleaner Brittany tackled the bathroom, gathered up all the trash, helped inventory supplies and equipment, and shared a few stories from the trenches about the local meth community-- the paranoid stuff that follows the high is from what it's currently laced with and yes, I should be concerned about retaliation. (She's protecting her four young sons from her family's recovering meth head.)

And no she does not get the alarm info or a key.

The Dirt Devil has been made functional again with duct tape to reattach the broken/cut hose and mortite to eliminate air leaking where it seats into the base. This will make it NOT work for attachments, but will return it to use on floors, after I get new bags.

The lightweight Bissell is missing one of its two filters. :-( So no vacuuming today. But she'll help me put the bookshelf together and move the pink double-recliner back where it goes.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 30 May 18 - 05:55 PM

My experience of burglar alarms and similar security measures is that the fewer people have a key and the password, the better. I like that old maxim about secrets: three can keep one if two of them are dead. Besides, Brittany the cleaner may be a saint, but the verdict is still out on that; until she's proven herself utterly trustworthy, you want to be on the ground when she's in the house.

Yeah, I know. I'm a suspicious old biddy. My house hasn't been robbed in 30 years, so I guess it's working.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 May 18 - 06:59 PM

Charmion, because she is sent by the county's Council on Aging, I'm required to be present while she works-- she'll never get the key and yes of course we're limiting access to the security system and info about it.

They do background checks and random drop- ins on people they send out like this. Probably drug testing, too.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 18 - 11:50 PM

I tried to tackle a problem in the front hall ceiling where the sheet rock is slouching on one side. I can't for the life of me figure out how they installed these panels, except that it looks like they nailed them on only one side. I can't find any studs on the other to reattach it. I did drive some sheetrock screws on the side that is up at the right level (to reinforce it) and this weekend I'll climb into the attic to see what's up. It'll be effing hot up there.

So many things to do around here, and now with the hot weather coming on, it is necessary to choose the best time for chores and pace myself. Choose my battles, figure out when I need someone to come in to help. The ceiling may be one of those times.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 May 18 - 06:58 AM

Acme, so you know you can bridge to the existing framing to get some wood where you want to screw into it, right? If you drill a big fat pair of holes where you want the wood, the light coming through should help place it along that axis.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 May 18 - 09:20 AM

I may use one of those supports that you can put up for ceiling fans - to brace across the space, as a quick start and go from there. But yes, it's a matter of pulling the insulation out of the recessed area and determining where the cross-members are. And then I'll have to address all of the screw heads in view on that ceiling (but better screw heads than no ceiling!)

The most annoying part of trying to find studs is that damned popcorn on the ceiling. I hate that stuff and the stud finder doesn't move smoothly across it.

Day one of a summer of alternate day fasting (those days are actually 500 calories per day). I have a goal in mind, and this kind of fasting is much easier to do in warm weather. It worked well before (before Prednisone). Info here (my preferred method is about 35 minutes into the program).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 May 18 - 03:38 PM

Ohio:

Off-topically speaking, I have an update to share: arrest warrants for Tyler are out now. One for the stolen instruments-- and one for violating his parole agreement.

I also learned that they're adding more time onto his period of required supervision-- which was already thru October 2020, and probably more will be added when the property charge is adjudicated.

I've shared quite a bit of info with both agencies on how they may find him.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 May 18 - 10:08 PM

I imagine that with the detritus left behind by The Hoard you have a lot of clues, Miss Marple!

When I arrived home this afternoon I could tell there was some food item that had spoiled in the kitchen, but I couldn't find it. A potato? An onion? No. I have rinsed dishes from the sink and loaded the dishwasher, emptied the bowl of kitchen veggie waste, etc and it seems less. But I still don't know exactly what it was. This is a consequence of the hot weather, the house in general is warm enough that things can spoil quickly.

I'm shifting my volunteer activities for the summer soon. I didn't get to work the compressed 4 on/3 off work week I requested (we currently have management who delight in saying "no" just for the pleasure of it.) I still plan to volunteer, I'll just use occasional vacation days to do it. This area is definitely into summer now, even though it's three weeks away by the calendar. I'll be volunteering in city parks.

I described the ceiling situation to co-workers before a meeting started today - it's possible to tell this as a funny story. I hope to have a satisfactory conclusion to the story next week.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 May 18 - 10:38 PM

Acme, yes, I've restored enough order that I'm no longer caught off guard daily by bad-news discoveries-- all I find nowadays are CLEWS left by a "Hordemaster" who desperately wanted to get caught.

BTW it's Horde, not Hoard, in honor of Tyler's immature bragging of his "glorious" pagan warrior identity-- the squatters who promptly squatted on HIM and despoiled what might have been his castle for a time.

~Marple

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Jun 18 - 12:57 PM

Ohio:

A nice rhythm is shaping up as I continue to wish I'd labeled the box containing the rice cooker-- one week I crockpot a big batch of pork or chicken, and the next I use the liquid to make a big batch of rice in it. The cooked meat goes into a plastic tub, and the cooked rice goes into another. I foresee only having to wash the very heavy crock monthly, perhaps letting the cleaner do that.

The clean, folded Hordewash is making its way to the linen closet a bit at a time; adding what I'd brought to that means exploring other options for some categories because it will not all fit into the linen closet. And since I'm not sure what I want to keep elsewhere, it's fine sitting on the guest bed till I decide.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Jun 18 - 07:19 PM

Ohio:

Another Topic Kit catalogued.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 18 - 01:31 AM

I've cleaned out extra stuff I'm not using at my office by bringing it home, and today I've sorted through and tossed or shredded a lot of it. I've also filed and shredded regular stuff that had built up in my home office. I swapped out the paper shredder that was here for one that has a "normal" plug (versus one of the 1.5 lb wall warts that can only be plugged into power strips because they fall off of the wall outlet).

Today I experimented in hanging garments for work on the clothesline. When everything was completely dry I put them in the dryer with all of their creases and added a moist hand towel and ran it on low for about 15 minutes. This moisture was enough to relax the creases and leave them tumbled yet smelling like they were line dried. With as hot as the weather will be around here for the next week (at least), this technique lets me get the look I need for work clothes with a fraction of the energy.

The garden is producing and I'm going to do some cooking tomorrow, for the next few days and some for the freezer. To start I have a bunch of zucchini. Last week I injected the plants with a 50/50 mix of water and Bt and I'll do it again tomorrow, to try to prevent squash vine borers from moving in. I'm pretty sure they are attracted by the flowers at the same time pollinators start coming around.

I found ripe avocados on sale today and have my own peppers, garlic, and cilantro to use in making guacamole that gets frozen in ice cube trays. I'll also put some of the zucchini (sliced) in my dehydrator.

What a difference a year makes. The PMR is responding to the steroid treatment, that I'm tapering by a milligram every month. Last year at this time I was nowhere with the garden.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Jun 18 - 12:43 PM

Ohio:

Crockpot going (chix and chix livers). A box of tools unpacked and serial numbers photographed. The Germination Station box I was unable to set up has been stowed (and is about to be stowed better for next year's use). A binful of garage stuff ready to drag out when I go check the car for a missing item. The kitchen is restored to a walkaround table and almost ready for the cleaner to vacuum this next nexus of worst Hordefilth.

A friend is glad to hear I'm fine. She must really need for me to be "fine," because this has taught me not to seem fine when I'm actually a mess.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Jun 18 - 09:05 PM

Ohio:

I'm seeing firsthand now-- how trauma can get hoarding started. Having my own clutter visually present with sloooowwww cleanup in progress is helpful in erasing the images in my mind of how I found it all trashed.... it's very tempting to leave my gorgeously colored, clean and well-folded linens on display, instead of putting them away for use another day. Ditto kitchen and other misc stuff.

I'm putting it away-- but it's very interesting noticing the resistance. It's not the same as procrastinating putting the clean clothes away, and it's not the pain of my back. I just want to be surrounded by my own pretty stuff, and I'm having to remind myself of my goals for am open and uncluttered home that welcomes new friends-- you know, the human beans I suddenly do not trust at all. ;-)

Weird planet, this!

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 18 - 12:28 AM

I adopted a dog today from the city animal shelter. They were "on sale" because the shelter is so overcrowded and they try to not destroy good animals if they can avoid it. I looked at the web site and read the characteristics, looked at the size and ages, and found the two when I got there, along with another very friendly and persuasive white pit mix. I apologized profusely to the two I didn't take, and brought home a blue heeler mix who is a 4-year-old spayed female. She has had puppies in the past, and her coat shows signs of having been left outside and having to sleep on concrete, but she seems to be house trained and she has a small skill set that includes "sit" and possibly "shake." She mimics the other dogs when treats are offered, and didn't lunge at her food when dinner happened. She is still telling the chocolate lab to back off (everyone is still trying to hump everyone else to determine who is in charge, while I tell them I'm in charge). She got a bath as soon as I brought her home and she tolerated it well. And follows me around now. She is heartworm positive (all of the dogs down there seem to be) and will see my vet next week. I'm keeping her separate from the other dogs at night and will quickly train her to the Invisible Fence system in the yard to keep her from scaling the fences. Many of the dogs in the shelter had the notes "jumps fences" or "climbs fences." She showed an interest in digging under the fence after I introduced her to my nextdoor neighbors and he gave her a treat along with the other two (his daily ritual). She may have been an escape artist, but has already offered a few shy kisses to the other two dogs - something my pitbull always did. We'll get her trained to stay in the yard and these three will be fine - this is just what the other two needed.

I set up sprinklers this morning and figured out the layout I want, leading to a trip to Tractor Supply for a couple of more of the Rainbird sprinklers that go on top of fence posts. Next comes the timer, I'll set that up tomorrow. There were lots of people buying sprinklers and hoses today because we have a heat wave headed our way.

More filing ahead, and bill paying. The dog adoption fee was actually covered by someone who liked her and wanted to be sure she was adopted, but there is no such thing as a free dog. There will be bills to go with this enterprise, but still, my heart expanded today in a way that is always wonderful and surprising when it happens. It's worth it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jun 18 - 08:28 AM

Acme, my pack was at its best at three-- good for you to know one was needed. Can't wait to hear her name!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 03 Jun 18 - 09:38 AM

Beaver:

Some days all I accomplish are "little things". It is amazing how many little things there are to accomplish. But yesterday I mostly waited for the rain - prayed for the rain!, so I would not have to haul buckets of water to the new plantings. I guess we got about 2 inches! It was beautiful! And again today. And again I feel so fortunate to live where water is - so far - more than adequate!

Today's "little thing" was to re-organize a cabinet and a corner of BR. I doing so, I created a homeless situation for a family of beautiful golden brown weasels!!!!! Tomorrow, I shall have to try to figure out where they re-located! I told them to go outside and left the door open all afternoon but I doubt they have left. They did chew up some nice fabric to make their home...

Pots are trimmed now and drying. Hopes of bisque firing in a couple days. It is supposed to be dry tomorrow, so I can push the drying and try to fire on Sunday. The big hope is that the kiln will give me a bisque firing, or two. If I need to go to Quebec to do glaze firings - inconvenient but doable. 14 days until son and wife arrive in Montreal!!!!

I am back to the effort of losing weight... With the pottery crisis under control, I can focus on more yard work - good exercise! Well, so is potting but not for the whole body like the stretching and bending of weeding and digging. If I can just keep the chocaholism under control. I have found that one brownie, or half of one sometimes, will prevent the overdose of 100-200 gms of healthy dark choc. Sometimes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 18 - 11:31 AM

The new dog will be named Pepper, and considering she has been here less than 24 hours, she has offered a wealth of surprises so far. She is polite, though still negotiating this "who's in charge" bit with the other dogs and me. I'm teaching her to wait to approach her bowl to eat meals, that's always the first thing. She understands about the treat bag rattles, she sits and though I'm not sure if she knows the command, lies down. She walked nicely on a leash this morning and - most amazing, when I threw Zeke's bumper for him to retrieve this morning, she shot out and past him and grabbed it up and returned with it! We had a couple of ties reaching it, at which time she took it from him and returned. So, we need to do a name-the-dog fetch routine and will work on that. I'm also going to start training her to Invisible Fence right away.

I think I need to make a loop around the house and cut the sprouting trees, trim grass at the house and the fence, and take the stapler and attach the Invisible Fence wire where it has sagged in a couple of spots. High heat is predicted so I'll finish setting up the sprinkler system timer and will make sure there is lots of water available indoors and out for the dogs. Pepper goes to the vet this week and will be confined to some degree for the next couple of weeks as I train her to the electronic fence.

eBay needs a lot of attention, many of the items have sold and new ones need listing. The dining table is cluttered with eBay bound materials, so that's where I need to start.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 18 - 06:54 PM

I've started pulling and trimming around the slab foundation, and arranging hoses for the summer sprinkling routine. It changes every year. There isn't an in-ground sprinkler system so I have to lay it all out.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jun 18 - 07:06 PM

Ohio:

It took all my back muscles and brainpower for two days of doing a little at a time, but after I wipe the kitchen table down, add a leaf, and put a tablecloth back on, it will once again look and FUNCTION like MY KITCHEN.

. Adding the leaf will increase the space for under-table storage using the plastic bins my son and DIL insisted on buying and leaving, which will relieve the kitchen cabinets' and counters' tendency to get too crowded. It will also eliminate open floor space at the foot of the table, where I tend to dump things better set onto a chair (or atop the sideboard) for unpacking.

. I used mortite and soup cans in my favorite GF flavors, sticking them down onto a pretty wooden lazy susan the Horde had stained, and weighed the cans down with 1/2" steel ball bearings that I had brought, to replace the countertop carousel they stole. It had been a gift with strings attached, and never held enough cooking utensils anyway! (If I like it, Hardi can screw it together and varnish the labels.)

. All misc Horde detritus I have not known how to categorize is now in boxes set aside in the kitchen, to go thru while cleaner Brittney works on the kitchen, Wednesday. (Some of it's our stuff they'd flung around.)

. I sorted a plastic basket they'd mixed my 3 decks of cards into, finding much to my surprise that only one deck was missing a card. (There's a Joker to use.)

. The pots and pans I use most are washed and put away. The cast iron needs a good scrape and re-seasoning, which Hardi can do in his outdoor kitchen in July! (Burnt grease to boil off.)

. All empty cardboard boxes and other miscellany I don't want in the house are sitting in the plastic recycle bin on a rope, to be towed out to the garage Wednesday along with 3 paper bags of recycling. (That bin stays in the garage for towing in heavy groceries.)

. A spot has been found for the dish garden my friend Judy has been tending for 3 months, and she may return it tomorrow.

. A plan to move the sideboard over a few inches without unloading its heavy tools is in place for Wednesday.

. Once Brittney does the Wednesday cleaning, which will include the inside of the PA-dusty china cabinet, I can start unpacking the kitchen boxes I brought and, hopefully, find my rice cooker.

. The mop I hate, which a previous housemate left, has been disinfected for Goodwill donation; a new Swifter mop is waiting, in my trunk. (Did you know that washable rags can be used with those, instead of rayon Swiffer pads?)

. The kitchen wastebasket that goes under the sink for nasty chicken styrofoam trays and their salmonella meat diapers has been sanitized and set to dry, pending its LONG-delayed return to that essential spot, where it belongs!

. Some small appliances the Horde had crammed into the deep recesses of lower cabinets have been relocated to a much better spot in a cabinet with shelves they fit on perfectly, up above my pots and pans bins.

My back and legs are fried, with just enough kitchen tweaks I can easily finish before Wednesday.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jun 18 - 09:33 AM

Ohio:

I found Gavin's mother on Facebook-- Tyler son-- and have initiated contact. She's not on there much but some family members are listed who I may contact if no reply.

There was some kind of party going on at Tyler mom's house here in the neighborhood, which I passed late Saturday night on the way to Walmart. (There's not a good way out of my block that doesn't pass her house.) Hopefully it was his going-away party before turning himself in! But no word from Det. Wilson so probably not.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 04 Jun 18 - 11:45 AM

Beaver:

Finished re-doing that cabinet. No sign of my weasel family. I hope they found a better home. It is good to turn things out once in a while to re-assess what is there. It is all still there. Also the clothing cabinet was re-organized this am; nothing discarded but i is cleaner and better organized

Laundry that went on the line yesterday: First load was almost dry when I returned from brunch, so I took almost dry into house and put out the second load knowing they would be well-rinsed! The breeze is drying but the sprinkles are dampening! Bringing in the almost dry to finish by the wood stove. Lots of noisy traffic this am: the road crew - dump truck and smallish earth mover; the road above me must have washed out in the heavy rain! Not a problem for me but it got me out of bed!

I am making a tiny bit of progress with latest weight loss effort. Having noticed a jar of "PureWeigh Premeal Beverage" that I have had for ages, I am giving it a try. I do not drink milk and it was barely tolerable in water so I mix it with 1/3 cup 10% yogurt. One scoop= 100 c and the yogurt about 200; the fat in the yogurt gives it staying/filling power; makes a good BF. The rest of the day is a struggle to eat veggies, salad, proteins and keep the choc in the drawer. The brownies I broke down and actually cooked myself, are helping; I try for a half but a whole is the limit. And it does cut back on the choc craving.

I bought an electric lawn mower on Friday but the black flies interfered with my attempt to assemble it. It is now in the LR awaiting completion; no rush as there are a couple more days of rain fore cast. It will be challenging attacking foot high grass with this little thing but I must be patient.

Pottery, of course, is still drying!

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

Ohio:

Another Topic Kit catalogued.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 04 Jun 18 - 04:12 PM

It occurs to me that Susan and Dorothy are both have weasel problems. Some two-legged, some four-legged, but all weasels. On the wildlife front in my neighborhood recently I've seen bold daylight street-crossings by local coyotes.

Here, in the middle of a heat wave, this morning we had the surprise of waking to a drizzle. Lovely!

I am listening to a soon-to-retire co-worker shredding his old files today and am glad I have a couple of shredders at home. One is next to the recycle basket in the kitchen where mail is sorted and either recycled or shredded, and one in the office where files that are no longer needed, forms that shouldn't go in the recycling, etc. are destroyed. Those of a more critical nature are carried to the kitchen cross-cut shredder.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jun 18 - 05:58 PM

I'm pretty sure mine's a skunk. ;-)

Ohio:

The next assault on patio weeds is underway-- since Tyler and Horde burned up all the large pieces of deadwood I was stockpiling for a landscape project, that left only dry smallwood covering the second 20' long black nylon tarp.

Since it's a cool and breezy day, I and my reacher/grabber winkled said curled-up tarp out from under its small stick pile. I then dragged it around and into the garage before my back gave out.

And tomorrow, I hope to drag it into the patio to cover more weeds, since the 1st tarp I put down in February is doing such a good job but isn't quite wide enough. That's the easy part.

The hard part will be bending to grab bricks to hold down the corners. It may be a week-long project.

I'm saluting myself with the last of the home-made limeade and tonic. Lovely how the agave syrup sinks to the bottom where the lime quarters and straw meet!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 18 - 10:40 AM

Nothing like a trip and fall to mess up the evening last night. I was leaving campus and the paths outside my building are a pebbled-concrete with inset lines of brick for a pattern. Those bricks work loose and I tripped on one, landing on the rough pebbles set in concrete. This is a regular occurrence on campus, you'd think they'd replace these paths as fast as possible. I'm going to survive, but my pride sure took a header out there. My left knee is tender and if they get the forms to me I'll head over to one of the approved minor emergency clinics to get it looked at to document the fall. I'm more worried about the slow healing process of a deep bruise than the actually clunk to my knee, but my knees have been taking a beating lately.

Looks like a quiet day for listing eBay stuff. I don't need to sit in a chair in one position while the knee stiffens up, as it would at work. Geez. Yesterday I was congratulating myself on finding a former pair of glasses (the frames) to recycle into sunglasses during this benefit year, since I haven't had much call to do anything medical or other benefit-wise (beyond the PMR, which has responded to treatment). Now I get to explore the paper-filled world of Workman's Comp. Making space in the file cabinet for it now. . .

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jun 18 - 11:30 AM

Sorry to hear you're feeling battered, Acme. There's nothing like a sprawl in public to enforce an unwelcome level of humility.

I, too, have a history of measuring my length on uneven pavement, and several of my limbs have the scars to prove it. Recently, the Facebook memory retriever fished up a selfie I posted the day after landing flat on my face, having tripped on a cobblestone at one of the Canadian memorials in Flanders. It was an unpleasant reminder of two weeks of vacation with a huge bruise on my chin, and how close I came to experiencing the Belgian health-care system with a fractured jaw.

Today I return to work on my book project after two weeks of procrastination divided between waiting for the author's feedback on the first two chapters, and panting through a Perth County Particular heatwave. The author -- a genuine, silver-plated narcissistic jerk, like many highly productive writers -- came back with four changes on 250 pages of close editing, which is a massive relief, as the whole reason I'm on this project is his wholesale rejection of his last editor's work.

But first I had to break out the vacuum cleaner for some procrasti-cleaning in the bedroom, where the Afghan carpet was disappearing under layers of cat hair and dust, and remove all traces of breakfast from the kitchen. If I hold true to my normal pattern, the book will get done between spasms of house-cleaning.

When I was an undergraduate, many long years ago, I would cook and bake on essay-writing days, pounding the typewriter for a couple of hours and then getting up to knead or chop something. The cooking task ensured that I would not leave the house until it was out of the oven, which was usually about when the essay was at least fully drafted, if not finished.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jun 18 - 01:10 PM

Ohio:

The first dozen journals annotated for adding to LL Topic Kits, and next dozen set out for next stint.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jun 18 - 06:26 PM

Ohio:

Rainy day, so tmrw's batch of journals is ready to shelve. Probably about 1/5th done. The older ones were very small type-- one batch of those left (and cheap ink on newsprint); then it's onto a whole banker's box of larger print and good ink on heavier paper.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 18 - 07:06 PM

I think I sent you some three ring binders? Is that what some of these projects are going into? It just dawned on me today that I sent them out to several people over the years. Upcycling.

Checkup at local minor emergency clinic confirms contusion, nothing broken. It's going to be a hum-dinger of a bruise once it completely reveals itself, though.

I've so many things to do and the last 24 hours have been slow motion. I need to choose something, anything, and just finish it tonight.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jun 18 - 09:31 PM

Acme, the binders will mostly contain facilitator guides. They came down with me in the truckload.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 18 - 09:55 PM

I've positioned three Rainbird sprinkler heads on fence posts and the hoses are on a timer that turns itself on and off. I'll have to drag another sprinkler over to the second sweet potato area by hand (the hose would cross the driveway so I can't leave it in place). I also have to finish weeding that bed and finish planting other crops.

Today I had a doctor visit to double check I hadn't done more damage than I thought with the fall. They use digital xrays these days, it's fast, though as usual the paperwork is slow. I'm okay, just deep bruising. Tomorrow is another doctor visit, this time Pepper meets the vet for a checkup and planning for treatment of her heartworms.

After the unintended slowdown I'll be content to manage a load of laundry, set up the sprinklers, and empty the kitchen sink. I keep adding things to a list of chores in the kitchen faster than I am able to cross others off. It may be time to consider hiring someone to come help with a couple of things. I'm thinking my odd-jobs friend might be the man to tote all of those branches and limb chunks to the curb this week. But I have to be here to let him in. Maybe in the evening, helping me. My neighbor offered to loan me her garden cart that holds a lot more than my wheelbarrow.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 18 - 08:34 AM

There's more than one way to clear up items on a list - last night the list was in a jeans pocket when I filled the washer, undetected when it was transferred to dry. I managed to unroll one of the hard paper pellets this morning from the dryer lint screen and can still read a couple of entries.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Jun 18 - 08:41 AM

Lol, Acme. That must be from the same chapter as, "Honey, I finally took that old junk box to the dump!" (.... full of stuff I'd been sorting...)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Jun 18 - 08:17 PM

YOUCH Maggie. :(

I wish I had decluttering news to report but I haven't done much of anything other than daily upkeep. I'm just too tired at the end of the day to do much.

I have 2 people waiting for kids books so maybe that will light a fire under my rear this weekend as I have a small storage unit filled to the brim with kids books from when I was teaching (and building a library for K-6). I will need to do it on a dry day when Pete and I can load it all up in the back of his truck and deliver the boxes to my office where they can sort through it at will and deliver the rest to the Salvation Army. I do not plan to go back to teaching and I am happy that the books will go to kids that can use them and would otherwise not have any books.

Good news....in the last 2 months, I've had my annual physical cancer exam and the oncologist says everything looks and feels wonderful...then yesterday after some port drama, my tumor marker results came back a little bit lower than they were 6 months ago...also great news!

I picked up some vitamins today in hopes to perk me up energy wise and also had a conversation with a trainer......looks like 3 days a week I might be slowly begin my way back to regular activity.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 18 - 09:13 PM

Excellent, Michelle! And today while my hairdresser worked on my highlights we talked about her daughter, about 15 months old now, and in particular her LOVE of being read to. When she described the routine her daughter has built up, as many as six books at a sitting, I remembered so well those days with my children. You could never read just one, you were lucky if you could stop at three. Put those books into play and let other families build those memories!

I went to the office today, turned in the paperwork, and was told I wasn't supposed to be at work until the doctor signed off at the end of the week, so I have a couple of days to putter around the house (between ice packs - they really do work well, especially on the thigh bruise). Before the paper was handed over and before I headed back home a health and safety person met me and had me show her where I tripped - when I found it I was astonished - it's a lip of over an inch at the edge of a brick path inset into the area. And I was able to find fragments of the pot I dropped to show how I staggered to keep my balance. I've been lucky so far not to hit it; when we looked around there were lots of those kinds of hazards in the area. Perhaps recent rains heaved the concrete more, but whatever the cause, the walkways in the area are a mess.

After the vet visit today we are back home with a generally good bill of health and the vet's okay to go along with the "slow kill" method of getting rid of the heartworms. If she develops symptoms showing that they are there, then look to the three-step method that the vet does. She did growl at the vet and the tech when he checked her over - he said it's mostly the breed, they're a bit skittish. What I find interesting is that like Poppy and Cinnamon, she has decided this is her home and I am her human and once they decide that then this is the house they protect and the person they guard. Zeke came and went a lot as a visitor, living with Susie for the first year we knew him, so his integration into the household was much more gradual. I knew he was officially part of the pack when he didn't want to leave the house without the others, and they didn't want him to leave without them. Before that he used to come and go with Susie and they knew he was just a visitor. Pepper knows she's here to stay, not a visitor.

Tons of projects rise before me this evening. Where to begin? I'll try to be up early enough to do some gardening and walk the dogs before it gets hot. I have lots of salvia shrubs sprouting where the yard was dug up last fall, and I can stand to reuse them in other areas or give them away, but for now they need being put into pots.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jun 18 - 11:21 AM

It's official. When you lose two or more things in your house overnight because there is so much stuff sitting around that when you set something down it hides in plain sight, it's time to start a concerted Put Everything Away initiative. It will commence once I get another cup of tea.

Also, time for another eBay push. Too many things sitting waiting to be processed (photographed, described, packed to ship, listed). My staging area has gradually emptied over the last month as listed items sold and were shipped. There's space to store this stuff again.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Jun 18 - 11:28 AM

Ohio:

Still discovering items missing as I work through house and garage. A 10 x 10 popup canopy. (Maybe 2 8 x 8's also-- must open camper.) A bar fridge.

That canopy really pisses me off-- always wanted one, found a sturdy but lightweight one on sale. Friend needs for antiracism block party to collect signatures for a justice reform ballot initiative-- right in my wheelhouse and no effing tent to loan. SMH.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 18 - 09:49 AM

I have several stacks of papers, to do with the new dog, with me, with my fall, etc. and so far they each occupy a different surface. This morning is time to give each its home in the file cabinet and work from there to liberate tabletops. If you're out on Workman's Comp it isn't like having a few days off to recuperate. Heaven forbid you just have the days to yourself. They send paperwork, you go visit the doctor, twice. They call with intrusive questions from a company hired to process the claim. After a few of them one must simply say "what does THAT have to do with a fall on campus? No, I won't answer it." Who knows where the pages go and who gets to read them?

Today, the garden and eBay. They have risen to the top of all of the other chores (after filing, that won't take too long.) When I come in to cool down, that's when eBay and the clearing of surfaces will occur. That's the plan and I'll try to stick to it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Jun 18 - 10:46 AM

Ohio:

I turned some kind of corner yesterday, feeling ready to actually cook in what is again, despite cleaning service hiccups, MY KITCHEN. The fridge and freezer are now full of good things to eat, and it's time to put the paper plates away for the next crunch time.

I think the LR reclamation might be next, because today I was inspired to move a big milk crate (full of stuff destined for it) out of the LL. I used the rolling desk chair to minimize back strain, and used the same method to get the old analog TV OUT of the LR and back to its place in the LL (where I'll eventually hook it back up for DVD review).

I also made a decision on LL shelves/section arrangement avoiding adding another bookcase... (instead of $20 for a nice used bookcase, $10 for another flat-plug extension cord/power strip to use behind the existing cubby shelves). That decision allows bookshelf/cubby design completion for a pesky LL spot AND a good decision about repurposing a similar LR shelf/cubby that's headed to the LL.

And THAT means it's almost time to load up the pretty LR bookshelf I brought, on the hand truck, and wheel it from garage to house. THAT will clear garage space for empty boxes to take back to PA in July! And that's the shelf upon which to unpack those milkcrate items.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 18 - 01:20 PM

I don't know if everyone can see this, I'm a subscriber of the New York Times and this came via email.

Subject: RE: GAVIN
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Jun 18 - 03:00 PM

"Subscriber exclusive"

Ohio:

Using my secret pastorwife poweres, and some clever FB research, I have been spending the past several weeks trying to do (again) what police... and children's servives... and parole services wouldn't: deal with Gavin's safety. No one thought I had enough proof that they could open a case.

The last week was especially intense consultations, angles to explore, and FB messaging to her family members.... you want to respect people's privacy, but.... as Father's Day approached I was concerned, frankly, that Tyler would use my two-shot derringer to kill Gavin and then himself.

And that work paid off. I just got to talk to GAVIN'S MOM!!!!! She had that same concern! She's known Tyler since childhood, and has seen his previous descents into crazymaking.

It tuens out that she had already stopped allowing visits-- even supervised visits-- because of small clues she had picked up on, so what I accomplished was filling in the blanks for her (as she did for me), and affirming her over and over as a mom. And then we went on to discuss that inevitable stage when-- good, or bad-- a teenager MUST know that missing parent-- and how to manage it in the child's interests.

She's a GREAT mom! We both cried.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Jun 18 - 03:53 PM

... FB messaging to Gavin's mom and then her family members...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 18 - 10:11 PM

I'm cleared after the fall to return to work on Monday. The visit today took three hours of waiting for five minutes of conversation. Now hopefully the calls and emails will cease.

We are at the seventh day of having a new dog here, and she keeps a pretty close eye on me, not surprising for a dog without her own human for a long time. She's lounging next to my chair as I type. When I feed the dogs I have them sit before I tell them they can eat - she's just at the point of mastering that trick. She will go for someone else's bowl if I don't "sshhhhhh!" her, but that's enough to stop her, and she has figured out that I have a few pieces in my hand for after everyone finishes. Next: get the dogs playing together.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Jun 18 - 10:20 PM

Acme, did you read my great news about that little boy caught up in my house-trashing?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 18 - 11:05 PM

Yes, I did. Handing off the information will be helpful to his mother.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 18 - 10:33 AM

Within a week the evolution of the dog pack has been remarkable, and overnight a lot of things seem to have dropped into place. Until Thursday night I'd been able to put Pepper into the hall bathroom overnight (she isn't completely trained to the Invisible Fence so needs yard supervision) but last night was different. Crying to get out (squirt bottle of water is the correction), and when I left my room this morning I found the lab Zeke lying right in front of that door, waiting for his pal Pepper to emerge. There are still occasional growls as they all negotiate dog things, but Zeke has decided this is his friend, and the two of them were in and out of the dog door several times before we put on the head collars, removed the Fence collars, and headed around a couple of blocks before breakfast. And this morning I put down Poppy's food, without Pepper's face trying for the bowl, same for Zeke's, and when I put down Pepper's bowl I simply told her to sit and stay, and she did. These things, the walk and being in control of the food, help them focus on me as the pack leader instead of trying to jockey for position amongst themselves for that title.

I need to give Pepper a rinse off today, and the vet suggests using a conditioner on her coat. I think I didn't get all of the shampoo off last week, so this should help with some scratching. And the other two need baths. That's a big job.

Digital work today, making some short videos for a friend, work to stagger between forays into the garden. I watered this morning so I can go out with the mattock and dig out some weeds but the weather is hot right now. The garden has reached the point where you can look around and see all of the crops that are planted, they're no longer tiny little things poking out of mulch. I'll weed, then snap some photos to preserve this is the classic garden look, though from here on out everything gets huge and overlaps and it becomes a hedge of tomatoes and basil and such.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Jun 18 - 12:46 PM

Acme, yeah, you try reporting on a child whose name, address, and mom's name you don't know! ;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Jun 18 - 04:32 PM

Ohio:

The crockpot is now emptied of delicious jellied stock and bits (from four recent chicken/pork batches). Clearish stock went to the freezer, and sludgy bits and ztock were added to chix liver bits and jellied stock for a batch of creamed soup to make during the week. I now have the big bag of frozen veg for soups.

Batch of rice cooking in crockpot.

The four glass china cabinet shelves survived the vibration of the dishwasher this morning; they'll get a final vinegar polish later tonight, and then be installed. Then in succeeding days I can start unpacking the decor it will hold.

So grateful to have a plateau of normality! I'm still roller-coastering, but these plateaus are great.

I may get the camper popped up and re-leveled on its blocks tmrw w lawn crew member Ronnie, weather permitting. I hope they didn't trash the interior too bad-- it had just gotten an expensive supercleaning last summer, and we've done our best to maintain it in resale condition. However this access will also allow me to pull the king mattress out to supplement the worn one on our bed here in time for vacation, and cleaner Brittain will help me set that up and make up the bed. The honeymoon comforter is at the dry cleaners, so soon our BR will be completely de-Hordeated. A friend has offered to come smudge the room with sweetgrass.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 18 - 05:01 PM

Dorothy, are you able to do any garden planting or planning at the new house this summer? What will you be doing?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 18 - 11:41 AM

Distributed three zucchini, cooked two others for myself, and I'll set up the dehydrator for a few more.

Some computer research needs doing for various projects, researching senior dog food, web hosting sites, a few recipes for my garden produce, and much more. Trying not to tumble down the YouTube rabbit hole in the process. In the background will be laundry running then drying on the line and intermittent gardening (weeding).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Jun 18 - 12:50 PM

Ohio:

Camper inspected and safely re-leveled. No damage noted except that key camper-opening parts were buried IN it and therefor not accessible to OPEN the camper-- expensive to replace-- so now we have un-needed spares.

Our bar fridge was in there-- amazed they left it. I forgot we'd purposely put it in there last summer for the first time.

This now clears the way for an insurance claim, all areas having been assessed visually.

Lawn dude Ronnie was great to work with. (They all are, the first time). He gets my vote for Bookcase Assembler.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 18 - 10:20 PM

A batch of zucchini is nearly finished in the dehydrator, a load of laundry is finished drying on the line, and another has finished and will go in the dryer (clothes for work). A stack of vintage clothes (by Marsh Landing, from the old Foley's department store) I was considering selling on eBay are in the Goodwill bin because so few of them turn up as actually sold that the odds are against having successful sales.

My next door neighbor brought her garden cart over and between the two of us we made several trips from the back yard to the curb to leave large chunks of the limb that was on the power lines last month. This week is when that stuff is picked up on our street. There are still lots of branches, but I plan to run many of them through my chipper and I'll put the rest at the curb in tidy stacks each week. And as a thank you for her help, I handed a pint of pickled okra across the back fence later when she was trimming the web worms out of a tree near the fence. "Pickled okra? You're giving me this? I LOVE pickled okra!" Well, yes, I knew that - she's the one who has introduced me to okra to begin with. I have four plants in the garden and she'll probably be the recipient of a fair amount of it (though I have developed a taste for fried okra and I do like making the pickled variety).

There are ways to stay on excellent terms with neighbors, and knowing about their favorite foods and growing them is one method. I only put okra in because this neighbor was having trouble getting it to grow at her house and I wanted to see how difficult it is to grow. I told her she could have most of it but I'd like to learn how to cook it (anything except boiled). This morning I gave two large zucchini to the woman who lives across the street, and several family members live with her since her husband died. She is from Guatemala and still doesn't speak much English, but we both understand food and she loves zucchini and later in the season I'll take her eggplant.

Good gardens make good neighbors.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jun 18 - 08:22 AM

Ohio:

Well that's gonna hurt later, but I figured out how to move the double recliner by myself! It's not quite exactly where I want it, but I'll take another tweak at it tomorrow morning.

I'm finding that big lifts are best done about an hour after breakfast to use overnight body repair and then use easier movement throughout the day to prevent getting too stiff.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jun 18 - 11:14 PM

We're slowly progressing towards a peaceable canine kingdom here; the older dogs are aware now that the younger one offers growls and sometimes light-contact snaps as she figures out how everything should be spaced, and she knows that the older ones are largely going to ignore her. She "protected" me from Zeke today when he and I were playing a favorite game of tug-o-war; as we wrestle over a heavy knotted piece of rope he shakes his head and offers a deep-chest growl, so she jumped on him. She'll learn this is a game between us and relax.

I am again astonished how quickly a dog can offer total allegiance to a human, once a safe home and loving environment is offered. I am reminded of the Henry Huggins story (by Beverly Cleary) when Ribsy's first owner spots Henry and the dog - they end up putting the dog between them and both call to see who he goes to. [Spoiler alert] He returns to Henry, of course (but I remember such trepidation reading that section of the book!) I read that book probably 50 years ago or more, and still think of that part of the story. This little dog has manners and expectations. She has had puppies, she came here from a shelter. What happened to her up until now? Did she have only one prior home? No chip, not spayed until she reached the shelter. Yet she has some solid well-trained skills and after nine days has thrown her loyalty in with our household. We got lucky, all of us.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Jun 18 - 09:00 AM

Yes you did get lucky, Acme. You might try some vocabulary games to see what words she knows. She may have been taught basic commands with different terms, or might have some other words she's waiting to respond to. Newbie came with several I didn't realize right off-- STAY being the first one I didn't realize the shelter had taught her, lol!

She's OK not confusing sounds on Poppy and Pepper?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 18 - 09:06 AM

The P sound names don't seem to be a problem. I've also tried commands in Spanish, to see if that brings a response, but mostly she responds to hand signals.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Jun 18 - 11:51 AM

Cool!
.
.

Ohio:

I found an item yesterday to report to Tyler's mother, regarding her now-17 son. Have documented it and sent message requesting short visit. If Det. Wilson hasn't told her by now that warrants are out, I have enough of a picture of events, now, to tell her what the 17 year old probably knew and may have participated in.
.
.

A former end table, long holding decor by the PA front door area, is now installed in our Ohio bedroom on my side of bed. This wider oval/rectangle replaces a cube my sister had made, that had been used in the MudDorm. The game of inches continues-- I THINK there will be room for the gun safe to open, on the other side of it, IF we don't put the matching end table in exactly the same spot on the other side of the bed. We may want to take the crappier one of the pair and cut it in half to mount to the walls. On one side or maybe both.

And I may raise mine an inch to slide my plastic drawer unit under it... it ALMOST fits on top of a plastic half-crate item that allows airflow from the HVAC register under it. Hm... have crutch tips that might just do it! I've used soup cans filled with plaster of paris to make other custom risers, but I'm not in the mood for tomato paste, lol. And I won't know how tall I want that nightstand until our taller PA bed is here.

(Why am I using end tables for bedroom nightstands-- because the nightstands that we're using now in PA are just smaller enough to work better eventually as side tables in the LR, and they all match fine with the custom headboard Hardi and I will make-- one king out of a double headboard/footboard.)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Jun 18 - 04:47 PM

Ohio:

Oh great. The item I found to raise up my little drawer unit of essentials (under the nightstand) is apparently the source of the pepper spray my finger contacted-- and I set it right over an HVAC register. :-( Guess it's a good thing I'm headed to a mtg at Dayton library tonight while it (hopefully!) finishes air drying! ;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 18 - 08:15 PM

Susan and I are playing tag team here - what is everyone else up to? There is probably someone out there who hasn't made a peep in ages who has managed to completely empty a house and restore order to their living space and still have craft activities available.

I re-homed a huge zucchini (as in easily 3-4 pounds) to a friend at work. Her Italian Long Island NY family has traditional recipes for these huge zucchinis and when I have one that gets away from me I take it to her. She beamed and told me about slicing it very thin, frying in oil with garlic, and adding it to a pasta dish. Has me thinking of a number of new ways I can use the ones still here at the house! How about thinly sauteed zucchini in pasta with pesto? Mmmmm.

Emptying audio book files from the phone and adding new books to listen to. Only a few electrons moved in that transaction. I need to go find stuff of substance to put away or rearrange. Perhaps tonight I'll put the DVDs in the new storage cabinet meant for DVDs and I'll find books or something else for the heavy cabinet where they are shelved now.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Jun 18 - 10:38 PM

Acme, perhaps the writing bug may bite us and fictitious reports from the missing may suddenly appear. ;-)

Or another approach-- I always thought (at the worst of my thyroid-disease-caused chairbound phase) that we clutter-challenged folk should organize a Slobs House Walk Tour. To show off what usually evokes shame and self-blame. I had one hoarding friend who'd just laugh and laugh at that image (I think usefully).

So in that vein we could write brochure blurbs. I'd start with today's duct tape decor workshop...
.
.
.
Ohio:

I took a quick look through the 1-1/3 bankers box of remaining journals today, which were down to several groups easily dispersed into their respective LL categories, and did the harder job of choosing articles from 4 or 5 of the harder-to-categorize issues. (For those I have to actually skim the whole issue and choose one of several excellent articles to highlight-- and therefore determine the best Topic placement.)

So that task in the LL looks like one more stint to polish it off, and then it's back to cataloguing remaining Topic Kits.

Newbie quickly learned where it was best to curl up near me as I tossed the individual issues across the room to the piles that accumulated! No rug in there yet, on asphalt tile floor-- nice journal toss/slides slapping across the floor made for initial startles, but we got a rhythm going!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Jun 18 - 08:51 AM

The only decluttering I'm doing at present is the tangle of inept editing in a certain book that I'm being paid handsomely to square away. I would like to declutter myself of about 20 pounds, but that's hard to do when (a) your feet hurt and (b) you're supposed to spend at least six hours of your day at your desk.

Yesterday, the nice man from Tim's Tree Service showed up to assess the six scraggly trees I have selected for removal from our garden. Three of them are Eastern Red Cedars, two are White Cedars, and one is a dogwood with a Manitoba maple sprouting up in the middle of it. All of them started life as cute little ornamentals and grew far too large for their spot on the property. Tim's Tree Service is a busy concern; we won't get a lick of their attention for at least 10 weeks, unless somebody higher up the list cancels.

I posted three photos on Facebook in the hope that somebody out there can identify a mystery plant in our flowerbed. It looks like a member of the mint family, but that doesn't narrow the field much. It's occupying space that I would like to use for culinary herbs, and I don't want to find out too late that it's something I would regret consigning to the composter.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 13 Jun 18 - 09:23 PM

Greetings from the road, where the more I simplify, the more things get complicated. Dealing with an infected toe on the road has been a little challenging, between tracking down urgent cares and doing empsom salt soaks and bandages and crap.

Purchasing a new vehicle has been a perfectly hideous experience. The new-to-me one is now in use, but seems to have a drawback for every benefit, and driving me nuts learning to use it. It moves the seat way back every time I stop, and resets the mirrors to face the ground every time I back up, etc. But it runs and is newer, so let me be grateful for that before I tackle the Rockies.

I seem to carry hot weather, rain, and bugs with me wherever I go, even into the northern plains. Have had more ticks this month than in the rest of my life. Met lots of great people, lots of great landscapes, but merely existing and tracking down the next campground is keeping me busy. Because suddenly EVERYONE in the Midwest reserves a campsite EVERY weekend. I may wind up parked at a casino Saturnday night. Who knows.

Kudos to all who are getting their ducks in a row, I'm just trying not to get bit on my ass by any ducks!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 13 Jun 18 - 09:32 PM

As far as okra, you can try the traditional skillet saute-ing with cornmeal, but I think it's awfully hard to do just right. Better to add it to a ratatouille. Or cook it with stewed tomatoes and drained cooked veggies. Not as slimy as if you try to cook it by itself, I don't know if it's the acid or what.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Jun 18 - 09:42 PM

Patty, walk-in (non-reservable) campsites at state parks don't usually fill up before Thursday afternoons, if you can adjust your travel dates to start your weekends on Thursday mornings.

Sympathies on the car issues! I'm driving a loaner thru late July, and whole I'm grateful my DIL lent it to me.... oy!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 18 - 10:15 PM

Patty, check the owners manual for the programming of those features. You should be able to do a reset, though it may involve turning the key to different ignition positions, pushing buttons, and oddball things. I do that with my vehicles because they seem to come set to unlock all of the doors as soon as the engine is turned off. No thanks, I want to unlock the door myself, or doors, depending on circumstances. (If you don't have the manual, one of the online manual sites should have a free PDF copy to download.) The manual with my Nissan Pathfinder is the size of a modest dictionary and I still occasionally find new things that I didn't realize it can do because I skimmed through to find the essentials first.

Okra is an African vegetable and I find the African recipes offer remedies for the slimy consistency. For example, my Middle Eastern cookbook includes North African countries and describes soaking okra in vinegar to remove that consistency. The way I most often fix it is to moisten it and roll it in a mix of seasoned cornmeal (like the fish fry mixes) then into shallow oil.

We had our first "there's someone at the door" test with Pepper in the mix, and we had a suitably attentive crew who barked at the door and came into my office to bark at me to tell me someone was at the door. A guy trying to convince me to change my Internet service. I told him he needs a license to peddle in the village. The iron and glass security door was never opened so I didn't have to worry about catching dogs by the collars when I opened the solid wood door.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Jun 18 - 03:57 PM

Ohio:

Red flag on lawn crew member Ronnie, who offered odd jobs-- at least on indoor work. When I requested DL or state ID for an indoor job assembling a bookcase, I got this reply:

". If that requires me to give you my driver's license I think you need to find somebody else to put your bookcase together have a good day"

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jun 18 - 09:17 PM

Asking for quotes, checking with the Better Business Bureau if this is a small business, asking for identification, they're all part of the process of doing business.

A co-worker is retiring in a couple of weeks, though tomorrow is his last full day since he's taking time off and will come back on the 29th to sign out. The office clearing process has taken a couple of weeks; last week I was carrying a pot he gave me when I tripped on a raised piece of concrete near the building. Alas, it was a pretty pot. Other items have come my way, packed away in the pack when on campus to avoid further disaster. I've watched the clearing out process of drawers and shelves, the shredding and dusting, and think I have a house where I can go home and practice the same skills. Tomorrow is a reception and I look forward to some old friends coming back for the occasion.

At home on the dog front, Pepper is firm in her understanding of the expectations at meal time. She wiggles and gets in the way but doesn't encroach on the others' food, she gives a robust kiss on the chin when I ask for a kiss (Poppy gives a kiss, Zeke shakes paw, and Pepper also gives a kiss). When I tell them to eat she dives in headfirst. She's also good at waiting for the little bit I keep in my hand for after so no one goes to the slowest eater's bowl. Invisible Fence and table manners mastery in under two weeks - she's a smart girl and we're making progress. More and more she gives the other two dogs welcoming kisses, something our pitbull Cinnamon always did. Some people have said kisses are a sign in insecurity, but I really think in this dog and in the pit, it was the simple joy of greeting loved ones. It's good that the other two old dogs are getting that kind of attention again.

It's Thursday before a regular weekend. I don't have a compressed week this summer so it's just two off. If this evening I put in a load of laundry, do a little puttering here now, I'll have more time to work on my bigger projects on Saturday and Sunday. I do miss the long weekends, despite the four tough long days at the office.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Jun 18 - 08:31 AM

Asking for quotes, checking with the Better Business Bureau if this is a small business, asking for identification, they're all part of the process of doing business. No shit. The new piece is requiring it of $10-20/hour day laborers, including minors. Until Cincinnati began emanating it's opioid epicenter this far (2 hours), it was more than enough to know the parents.

Ohio:

House/garage tasks ydy:
. Unpiled bookcase parts and access to next boxes (to unpack in garage)
. Unpacked box of glassware that had become semipermanent counter presence since gomorrafying arrival April 29
. Ran glassware thru DW
. Numerous items, sorted Weds, distributed from small boxes left at waist height on K table-- a plastic one emptied and soaked clean
. Empty water bottles gathered
. Canned soup stowed
. Four pretty and new pastel seersucker shirts hung up
. Decision made about counter by fridge and placement of appliances, until wiring safely fixed
. Researched Essential Sauce simple recipes to begin making for everyday flavor options.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Jun 18 - 12:44 PM

Montreal:

The chaos of my life - in brief: Kiln not right; moved second kiln up to shed; woke up next am with excruciating pain in back - at waist level; texted neighbour Sue who came with good cheer, a salve, and an anti-inflammation tea - marvellous! A do-nothing day - pain was ok if I stayed in bed in one position! I used a lot of comfrey poultices -However, by Sunday the immediate area itched; too much comfrey is possible! It was almost totally better by then. I continue to sip the tea; I find it helpful and comforting: ginger (chopped), cayenne 1/2t, turmeric 1/2t and 1/2 lemon to qt hot water; more spices to taste.

Finally back to kiln on Friday: The kiln overfired; inattention on my part to a warning signal. Packed the car with salvageable and drove to mill. Four firings and all is well. Rested, read, glazed, rested, fired, and met Geri at resto.   

Tuesday: drove to Montreal with pots. R had "made the house somewhat civilized" but did not vaccuum???? He, and others, are BUSY redoing roof on parental home; major job including a monster vaccuum to take out all old insulation and raccoon poop. On fourth day of that and more than a week so far. Coming home at 9 pm or later. Took the roof off sunroom and put a leaky tarp over it, rained hard, ceiling fell... Some people realize that half baked measures... Not my circus!

I went off to Canadian Tire on Weds and bought a shop vac and did the second floor, staircase, and LR - YES- with mask on. Sat downstairs reading; kept mask on and air cleaner on high waiting for dust to settle.

Thurs: did the rest of downstairs. Took allergy pill. Shopped for food and special stuff for family due to arrive today: Son, DIL, GD and partner and GGD!

Fri am: up early, set out food, thinking I would fetch Ali et al at 10am but decided to go fetch son and DIL at 8+am as I was early enough and awake enough and the traffic report said it would take 22 minutes; it lied but I told them I was coming about the same time I got message that Ali could not!

Driving; no texting but phoned son (blue tooth) to tell him I was on the way. Picked them up w/out problem and brought them "home"; stopped at convenience store for coffee! (no coffee at our house) They did not want food - "too early" They had taken a "red eye".

Ali did not realize she needed a passport for 4 month old Zayda. We were disconsolate as this was a well planned trip so son could visit me, pick up pottery AND get to see Zayda, et al.

Ah! They can come by car with only a birth certificate - Go figure! So they have rented a car and are en route. Troy and Julie are now resting at their airbnb, walking distance to the famous Atwater Market. I have put away uneaten food and hope it will get eaten before stale. So I sit here, having noticed uncaught cobwebs--oh well. The stress of the last couple weeks... Troy and Julie declared the pottery beautiful. Now I can curl up in a ball and be relieved!!! close to tears of relief!

And the plane tickets - Ouch! non-refundable.

Have not seen Troy and J since fall of 2010; They look good. They are wonderful! They saw Taun in NY, in March before he moved into his condo but he was already happy, just from having made the decision to buy it! Both my sons are happy! I am joyous.

R did his laundry and finally brought it home so I folded put it away. Nothing "needs" to be done until T&J phone for a ride, or not.

Maggie's dogs! Such creatures! The friend on Whidbey who took my Aussie posted pics recently of him at the end of life, with one of her dog pack snuggled up to him - "right to the end". "just a dog"???

"Until mankind can extend the circle of his compassion to include all living things, he will never, himself, know peace” -Albert Schweitzer

Charmion: maybe you could check the online Richter's Herb Farm catalog for your mystery herb. If it has a square stem, it is a mint of some sort; if not, not.

Need to do something about the lack of coffee; maybe Julie can help.

Doing pretty well with that special BF; managing to eat mostly veggies and protein. Might eat a muffin... No great desire to do so.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 15 Jun 18 - 02:00 PM

I thought I answered this, maybe on facebook - the flower is all wrong for a mint. There are a few other plants with square stems.

Dorothy, watch your back! And I'm so sorry about the air travel complications and non-refundable tickets. Such a blow. You can get hastened passports, but you need to drive to the large nearby city that handles it and it still takes a day or so and an extra fee (less than losing all of the ticket cost). A friend had to do that earlier this year for travel to Mexico.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 15 Jun 18 - 08:41 PM

Jeremiah and I spent last weekend going through all his clothes both the hanging items and all the drawers in his dresser. We got rid of several bags of clothes and also went through the books in his room (he has many more downstairs). Today I delivered 5 of those bags of little boy clothes to a co-worker who has 2 nephews that will greatly appreciate everything. I love sharing clothes with her as she always brings me a photo of a favorite item and then the boys draw thank you notes...makes my heart happy!

I have started to declutter my car as by this time next week I will have a new to me car! I am excited about that as it's just in time for our upcoming vacation! YAY! It's amazing to me just how much stuff I cart around all the time. Recently I cleaned out my workbag so I could wash it and I think I had enough pens to last me about 3 years. LOL I am forever sticking pens in there so I am sure to have a working pen available for my clients when I'm out and about. Anyway.....my goal is to have the car completely cleaned out by this weekend. I'll be selling my Subaru outright and want it to be as presentable as possible.

Happy Friday Everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jun 18 - 10:42 AM

Bread dough is in the machine kneading, and when that stage is complete I'll put it in a bread pan to rise. Baking bread in order to have the optimum ingredients for our "Welcome Summer" BLTs - a ceremony my daughter and I perform every year once I have enough vine ripe homegrown tomatoes.

Dog Bath Day today also. And I'll water and put out beneficial nematodes because there are way too many dog ticks around and they need to be banished from the yard and from dogs. And me. They hop off dogs when I brush them. Ick.

If I get enough stuff around here out of the way today, I may go attend a tour at my daughter's workplace before we all head back to the house to eat. It's also her dad's mixed birthday/father's day celebration. I hope he can tolerate the mayo and bacon this one time. He's pretty picky about his diet. I have some tilapia in the fridge ready to cook if he prefers that.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Jun 18 - 02:00 PM

Ohio:

Five weeks till Hardi arrives for vacay-- I'm getting ready and can't wait to see him (and see how much stronger I may have gotten).

Yesterday the house alarm did an odd thing. I'll call the provider to inquire.

Five hours sleep last night with murdering-me nightmares, fun. An hour to snack and watch a real (TV) murder (nailed the whole premeditation in the first 5 minutes!), with a power bar (short calories ydy), then 3 more hours lovely, cold sleep.

Planned for today-- fold/stow/wash laundry; start organizing for Weds. substitute cleaner, who will:
. Clean sideboard w flax soap so I can wax and cover it (Horde damage to top);
. Help remove extra kitchen rug to LL (2nd pr of hands to pull out from under sideboard);
. Help remake mattress and re-dress bed (add 4" foam to rotated king camper mattress)
. If time left, help carry in bookcase parts (to assemble next week with Brittney).

Just made first trip out to garage thru rising heat/humidity. Also carried out glass-pack box emptied recently.

Net: camper king linens brought in to wash for use Weds. (washer going now), and my nearly-Horde-emptied pink toolbox for needed screws left in it. And found screwdriver! And safety glasses! Will use toolbox to containerize my cordless drill/driver they kindly left, plus misc hardware awaiting kitchen-table sorting-- one box from last Weds. is holding all the misc hardware the Horde left. Some mine; some they'd acquired.

Before sitting, I added a screw needed for the 4th clothes-hook I'd installed in the BR last week.

Hoping Judy accepts my dinner invite for her last day tdy, at the local garden center that's abruptly closing tmrw so its owners can retire. She needs that job, is older than I, and has been killing her bones to complete the two weeks notice employees were given, in hopes of a nice severance bonus. Hard use of a master gardener!

I don't know how much more I can get done today and still be able to do dinner later-- and I offered to drive or deliver so she can start meds right away. Most days the multiple posts here reflect how I'm surprising myself with being able to tackle more each day; I've only miscalculated once so badly that I needed the good drugs myself! ;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jun 18 - 02:47 PM

Dogs washed, quick trip to the vet to purchase three $24 Rx tick repellent collars (good for three months), now loads of dog bedding going into the laundry on gentle but for maximum washing, extra presoak and rinse. Into the dryer, and then I'm vacuuming the whole front room carpet before I run the steam cleaner over it as well, and vacuum the rest of the house. This morning after washing the dogs I found a tick on me so tiny I had to go get my glasses to be sure that's what it was. Trying to dig in right at the line of my underwire; the spot is red but it didn't actually connect. I need a tick collar also.

The bread is out and cooling on a high place and I've pulled out a little desk organizer for paper and pens that is now out of dog reach on the kitchen counter. I found a second ballpoint pen chewed up, this time she took it outside to demolish it. Dog proofing is something I'm accustomed to because of Zeke (he's a food dog, always) but this new one has different targets.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Jun 18 - 03:50 PM

Ohio:

Laundry continues processing. Called alarm co.-- issue diagnosed and fixed.

Polished off a couple dozen newsprint-quality journals w annotations and categorizations, then filed half of what I'd annotated. Only a few go into Topic Kits already catalogued, YAY! Two thirds of one bankers box to go, all heavier paper and likely to be batch-handled, YAY! And once THAT is done, cataloguing can continue.

Journal categorization is also freeing up both floor space and shelf space, which will facilitate all those Wednesday goals w cleaner.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 16 Jun 18 - 09:21 PM

Speaking of dogs, ours has been to the vet to get updated shots and all requirements for boarding while we are on vacation. :) It's one more thing off the To Do List. We have never gone on a real family vacation.....it's getting closer and we, as a family, are starting to get pretty excited. I had ordered a roof carrier for the car and that came in. Boarding reservations have been made and negotiations are in process for someone to come care for the farm animals while we are away.

I have 3 days off before we actually leave and I am hoping to get something done around here...I feel like I could use a good 2 weeks...but since that isn't in the picture, I'll do what I can when I can.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Jun 18 - 06:34 AM

Ohio:

Journal sorting done! Possible future tweaks, but ready to catalog.

An interesting challenge was the Artists' journal, with articles about so many aspects of life as an artist. I filed some with Class topics (working class, raised poor, etc.), some with world change, some with youth....

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 18 - 11:07 AM

We're not even to the official summer yet and heat fatigue is already settling in. We've had several days over 100^o. Chores I've intended to do outdoors are deferred until either I can't stand it any more and go out, or until we get a little rain and overcast so it's easier to work out there.

Enjoy your vacation, Michelle! Having everything taken care of at home and with pets and livestock lets you relax and enjoy the trip.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 17 Jun 18 - 12:45 PM

Oh Maggie.....I don't know how you stand the heat there.

Yesterday was an annual festival in my hometown and they always have a 2 hour parade. I marched in it for the first 18 years of my life, avoided it like the plague when I lived there as an adult but now we all go because Jeremiah loves the parade. It's ok I suppose...just not my thing. Anyway, we went yesterday and we were there for about 5 hours with the parking, craft fair, visiting old friend (love that part), the actual parade and then getting out of town....it was 92 degrees outside. Ick. Just ICK. I hate the heat. I used to live in Atlanta and the heat there was manageable because I was inside most of the time and EVERYWHERE had AC. However, you often talk about gardening and I just don't know how you stand it. It was the second key factor in us not following Pete's lab to Texas. I suppose you adjust after a time but ugh.....

The fridge has been cleaned out this morning, dishes are done, Jeremiah *helped* make a breakfast in honor of Pete for Father's Day (he actually did a great job!), the car is almost cleaned out and now I'm on to getting things ready for the work week. Laundry is going too, floors are swept......neverending. :) I'm happy to be home and be puttering. I thought we'd go fishing later today but Pete and I are tired and need today to recoup....so we'll go out for milkshakes later (there's a place nearby that makes THE best coffee milkshakes) and plan a full day of picnic and fishing activity for next week. The following week, we are joining a bunch of people to go to the races. I am not a racing fan, I don't understand the fascination of watching cars go around and around and I don't like the noise...however...I haven't not been in a very LONG time (I think I was 8 the last time I went) and the race track bathrooms were super disgusting....you had to squat over a board with a hole in it....I'm SURE things have changed in the last 40 years...LOL....and my entire family wants to go so I'm going to be a sport and give it a try. I'll be taking earplugs and a book for just in case.....anyway...we'll going to roll all that into a Father's Day celebration for Pete. He's such a fantastic Dad to Jeremiah....his patience and sense of humor, not to mention love...well...he's just an amazing Daddy...he just IS!

Happy Father's Day Peoples!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Jun 18 - 04:01 PM

Ohio:

Back to bed for two chilly and weird hours with car nightmares. Weird! But hopefully that will prevent the sked-slipping nap later!

Dinner out w friend Judy later to transition her head out of her garden center schedule. I believe she plans a brief farewell visit before dinner, to bid them farewell as they close up shop today.

My plan is to enjoy fruit at home to make the planned 6-7pm meat/taters supper work for me.

The week's folded laundry is stowed, including king sheets, etc in a bin designated for Wednesday's mattress transition. The current plan is a pieced mattress under the thin but whole king mattress, with its current quilted layers and mattress pad on top. Hardi's side gets an extra (soft) top layer and mine gets a firm extra layer. I'll save an added foam layer to add to my side as needed, later, to compensate for the inevitable foam compression. (I want our innerspring PA bed!!!)

Check/debit register is caught up.

Bedroom loose trash is gathered.

BR portapotti supplies are containerized.

I unscrewed a BR light bulb in a 2-bulb lamp, to reduce heat produced.

A crockpot of rice is cooking.

A trip out to the garage netted a sprinkling of BTI, where unevaporated recent rain has been left for skeeters.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 18 - 04:52 PM

Michelle, you made that whole race experience sound wretched. Better tuck some toilet paper in your pocket while you're at it. If you should chance on a time-warp place, you know it'll be out of TP next to the hole. And yes, you do kind of adapt - last time I was in Seattle for a "heat wave" we were fine (except my mom put us in a guest room in her upstairs with no fans or A/C; we dragged our bedding downstairs and slept in her office/library for the rest of the stay.) Living with it all summer in Texas, though, even Texans get really tired of it.

Adding to the clutter, but in a good way - I finally ordered a dress form mannequin. After reading reviews I shopped Amazon and eBay and found an adjustable dress form to use for photographing and sewing. I think I could even take it off of the base and put the torso in my photo cube for photography of short things or beads. It's a black cloth covered one, so it should display beadwork nicely (should I ever actually get around to doing the beading I am set up for.) My daughter and I texted back and forth about the uses and materials; some of these are extremely flimsy and the reviews at Amazon were scathing. (I borrowed one of my daughter's dress forms for a while, but she uses them all of the time with her costume design work. I couldn't get away with forgetting to return it.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Jun 18 - 11:01 PM

Ohio:

I actually bought one more bookcase and I can't wait til it comes. Judy has agreed to let me practice the Library tour on her so I can confirm the logic of the layout before finalizing it. This afternoon I cobbled up a neat borrowing process lending itself well to reshelving upon the return of items and volunteer help with maintenance.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Jun 18 - 02:37 PM

Ohio:

ALL journals now FILED w the appropriate kits! Shelves VERY full. Can now start to tackle finishing the cataloguing.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 18 - 10:38 PM

I took some cooked zucchini across the street to those neighbors and learned that this kind of squash is something she still cooks (sliced and fried) so next time I'll take a whole one (these are generally larger than what you see in the grocery store - they grow fast and get away from me.) New next door neighbors have apparently moved in so silently, even with their dogs, that I thought they were still working on the house. Perhaps they like fresh vegetables. :)

As I walked out there I noticed the area over where the new sewer line went in is contracting as the weather dries out the soil, so I need to fill it in with more dirt that can be moved from other parts of the yard (piled up while they worked, smoothed imperfectly by the little earth mover.) If I dig up some of the stray Salvia greggi plants coming up along the dig site I'll have some plants to declutter later in the fall to friends and family. There may be heavy weather this week that will expand the soil, and on another front, we will learn how new blue heeler mix Pepper responds to thunder and lightning. Blue heeler mix Poppy doesn't like it and usually spends the night on a rug in my room.

I emptied the DVDs from the top shelf of a heavy pine cabinet and recycled all of the empty egg cartons that were used to elevate the back row. Now I need to figure out what can go on that shelf. It can be large and heavy, this is a very sturdy cabinet (the lower shelf holds almost all of my LPs.) The DVDs look good in the lighter taller cabinet next to the shelves with the electronics and I'm more likely to watch them when I can see them.

The dining room table is almost cleared again; the clothes that were on it are in the closet awaiting the arrival of the dressmaker form, or have been stacked in the sunroom. The next setup on that table will be for sewing.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jun 18 - 08:52 AM

I'll make a trip to Goodwill this week; it's time to empty the basket that's occupying study space that would be better left unoccupied.

I went to Manitoulin Island last weekend to sing in a concert (Fauré Requiem and other formal repertoire), and came home exhausted. Yesterday was a dead loss; I went to the gym in the morning and spent the rest of the day sitting around and trying to stay awake. No editing was done, leaving twice as much to do today.

My hands are changing, and not in good ways. On Friday, I started to put on my wedding band, but it stuck fast above the first knuckle. It fit perfectly last week, but now, not at all. The middle finger of that hand has also developed swollen knuckles, and now both fingers are locked up when I wake in the morning.

That's my fretting hand. Not good news.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Jun 18 - 10:20 AM

Montreal:

Visiting family is exhausting! R and I - plumb wore out. He managed to get to supper last night and after eating fell asleep on the sofa. We opted out of a couple events. They had an airbnb two BR apt near the canal and the Market. Suppers all at their place and cooked by them. GD et al, solved the passport problem by renting a car and driving up so that has been great! It helped greatly for the family to have a car and not need me as taxi! And they will be able to use the tickets at a later date - this happens to many new parents! Zayda will soon have her own passport!

Son and wife loaded pottery into their carry-ons, well wrapped in bubble wrap - all they could fit - 12 plates, 6 bowls and a couple matching small pieces. Great de-clutter for me - both physically and mentally ---YAY!!!! Mission accomplished. GREAT relief! And they are thrilled to pieces! So I am also. A box for other GD can go to NY in the car and be mailed to San Diego. Another YAY!

Now I have sorted the rest to go to various places: things to go to mill today after I deliver folks to airport. Others to go to Beaver. Hoping R will go back with me on Thurs (or Friday?) for a few days. HA! I just realized: if we are only going for a few days, I can wait 'til next week to go to mill - and rest here until we can leave! Smart move. I want to re-glaze and re-fire the pots that were not up to snuff - advice from a pottery tech person!

Last night was an event for Son, his wife, and GD and I as we went through the 3 photo albums I have: that's your great grandfather ... and your great great grandfather... And bits and pieces of commentary on what kind of folks they were... And how sad his grand dad was to die and leave him (son was not yet 3 and has little conscious memory but wife feels it was a blow to him; they were very close).

And Son's disclosure of his DNA results: NO Cherokee - as we have always believed was great great gm. Apparently it is very common for folks to think they do when they do not - family myths. A shocking sort of de-clutter!

And I got to hear about and see (pic) a marvellous wood table my son concocted out of maple cut on their property - neat! I always knew he was artistic. That and the incredibly beautiful pond he constructed in their yard. So like his granddad Parshall. (He is just the age my dad was when he died of cancer; seems incredibly healthy. Hope!)

So, to the airport today and then do some put-off errands and collapse in a sad heap. It has been too short and when shall I see them again! It is a long and expensive trip to/from Whidbey Island. I expect Ali and family will be back; they love Montreal, and Brooklyn is not so far.

Charmion: I hope you enjoyed Manitoulin! I wonder if you have heard the song "Manitoulin" by David Campbell. It often runs through my mind. It is beautiful and so is the Island.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Jun 18 - 01:55 PM

Charmion, ouchies! :-( Kudos though on that Requiem-- the Faure is my favorite to hear and to sing. IMO it's performed too seldom, in favor of heavier, showier vocal extravaganzas. There's a delicacy of tone and stucture in the Faure, gently holding such beautiful melody-- sweet but not saccharine.
.
.
Ohio:

I had to forego an important lunch due to digestive issues, so I used the no-lunch time to remove and baste the 2nd of 2 collars on the 4 seersucker shirts I bought recently, while hearing Congress on CSPAN.

The hearing went on a lunch break, so rather than hear the Trump rally that followed, I loaded the DW and put away the clean glassware I'd unpacked last week (all of which survived the trip and the DW). Nice to see the cabinet shelf categories working out and filling up-- one side is mugs below, with barware above; the other side is everyday plastics, with better glassware above. There's room on both sides for more to be found and unpacked-- the best of the rest for company use.

The cabinets are mounted unusually high and I'm short, so eye level placement for everyday items is more sessentiak than ever. But I live the extra canister height available.

Another category I can unpack when I come across it is china platters and serving bowls, into the lower china cabinet shelves. It's dark under there--needs motion light and mirror. I'm hoping to leave most of the upper, glassed display space for cheery decor amid silver servingware. Horizontal surfaces for decor here elsewhere are in short supply now, and will remain so.

(This is the unpacking stage-- 6 weeks behind schedule-- when I'll rely heavily on my March planning memories and the specific box labeling I did then-- now that daily shocks of Hordedom seem reduced to a manageable level.)

I hope to make the last 2 new shirts wearable when the hearing resumes. Two colors are spring/summery and two more fall-suited. I should put 2 away... but not until more PA shirts are here. It's so rare to find seersucker in my size, I wish I could get more.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Jun 18 - 04:36 PM

Ohio:

Third shirt done (poorly and with mounting tendon pain). Rx: tramadol and gentle, alternate activity using the arm. Result, a two-topic box of LL books opened and sorted to get a quick look at needed shelf space (these were low-priority topics). Other boxes also awaiting shelf assembly were slid over a few inches to estimate furniture placement around the coming corner desk-- awful tight there!

Hm.... no desk space for one smaller darling shelf... will need clever placement! Perhaps under the window now occupied by cardboard office supply items that are headed for a different spot. Was really hoping closer to desk. Have base to raise it, with a horizontal cubby below. ... hm.... what Library topic(s)? Best measure before planning that far!

Also cleared a LR corner where a floor lamp needed to resume its former spot, and took that lamp out of the LL to put it back in its spot. Missing floor pillow found, and stored on display with its twin.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Jun 18 - 08:58 PM

Ohio:

Dinner is staying down, tbtg. Before I took the tramadol (and got goofy), I made sure to thaw some hamburger patties, which I fried up later and sauced with an open can of tomato soup that needed to be used up. First I bloomed chili powder in the pan. When the soup had reduced enough I added frozen peas/carrots and some canned sweet potatoes. I served half over cold rice to cool it, and the rest will get black beans and cheese added to make a second supper tomorrow.

While that all cooked, I finally emptied the Horde's bin of spices-- mine and theirs. I threw out a few icky ones and kept a nice glass jar, after emptying it, to refill later from bulk supplies.

The lower spice shelf is now alphabetized with single-flavor jars, and the shelf above that is alphabetized with spice mixes-- adobe, chili powder, curry powder, 5-spice, etc. This way, it all fits. It's very different from our PA setup-- shoe boxes always overflowing A-M and N-Z spices. With more shoebox of bulk above these. When our 2nd fridge comes, a lot of the bigger bulk packs can go in there, like they do in PA. (Hardi and I have different ethnic cooming capabilities, so between us we have a huge variety of herbs and spices at all times!)

Then I cleared out a drawer in the sideboard, putting all the cordless drill stuff from that back into my pink toolbox. I think those drawers will be a great place to keep some of our overflow herbs and spices, just steps from the cooking zone and active-use spice cabinet.

I repurposed the lidless, heavy plastic Tupperware bin to be a dogwater bin. Takes less floor space because it's a rectangle replacing a big square Tupperware item that does have a lid (AND a lower cabinet to live in).

The toolbox went near its old kitchen spot, but between the wall and an HVAC register. I use that register to cool hot items down for the fridge, and sometimes I want them raised up-- the toolbox will make a handy shelf right there without obstructing the walkway to the back door.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Jun 18 - 12:41 PM

Ohio:

Thinking especially of Hardi today. At 2pm, Senior Helpers' substitute cleaner will help me rebuild our 2nd-honeymoon kingbed, from the plywood base, up.

My AM back-stressing (strength-building) segment was removing intruder-hiding obstacles on his side of the bed; stripping the layers of linens I'd added on top of Horde body fluids and crumbs (for washing later); washing and air-drying the rug under the pee bucket; stowing the million pillows to use later in re-dressing the bed; stowing the pee bucket; untangling wires on his side of the bed so no one trips; assembling clean linens and draw sheet; creating and placing soft barriers to keep his bedside items from falling behind his nightstand cube.... and all that is done.

At 2pm (second wind for spine), I'll help the helper sort the rest of the padding to be stripped; stand the king foam up against my dresser; carry 2 camper foam pieces and sleeping bag in from the garage when we take out the kitchen trash/recycling; put those camper foam pieces on the plywood slabs and add padding to level that layer; add the king foam back on top of that; add overpadding to build height; customize Hardi's side with addl soft padding for his hips; customize my side with addl firm padding for my spine; add a cotton-batting layer joining both sides and mattress pad; add bottom sheet.

Then after a tuna melt supper, with my back's 3rd wind-- and probably tramadol by then if not sooner-- I'll add the pillows, top sheet, and blanket layer.

And fall in, still thinking of him as we count down the weeks till our next honeymoon! (That's when I'll add our freshly dry-cleaned honeymoon comforter.) :-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Jun 18 - 04:28 PM

Ohio:

It worked exactly as laid out except that a 2nd king mattress pad turned up in the layers, which was used to marry the newly added pieces into a solid king layer. Wash is going.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 18 - 06:21 PM

eBay is changing how they do things again - I have been able to give partial refunds using PayPal, and I'll keep that up - eBay wants me to offer free returns (after 30 days, not the 14 that was the status till now) so I can do that. They'll cut the profit out for small operations like mine, so I'll continue to require returns to be paid by the buyer. But I have to go work on all of my listings to put the 30 days in place (or they'll what? Close my listings? They do that kind of thing occasionally).

This afternoon I moved a cabinet from the den to the kitchen dining area. It reduces the amount of light, which I don't like, but it helps organize some of the stuff in the kitchen. I may be able to move things enough that this cabinet goes from in front of the window to over on the windowless side of the room. I had to offload about half of the LPs (that will continue to live there) to lift one end up six inches into the kitchen. Darned "sunken den" mentality of the 70s! The DVDs used to live on the top shelf of that piece, but now it is a mix of large cookbooks and a stack of magazines waiting to be read. Or recycled. It's that 35 tiles with 36 spaces kind of board game.

I'm glad to read that everyone is busy, recycling or decluttering or not.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Jun 18 - 07:06 PM

Ohio:

First tryout with pillows:

It's a lot softer than anticipated. Given that I started the tryout with a sore back, I'm not sure if the pain now is older strain now being felt, or having too much chest pillowing (now adjusted). It's soft enough that I had trouble getting back out of it, so I'll need to learn a new trick to do it without either totally waking up or peeing the bed.

If it's still too soft by July 24, we'll have to replace a layer with a new rug pad. I also don't love how high it is now, because I can't sit on the side of it to get dressed.

Whatever it's future holds, it's done now-- I made my bed so I'll lie in it.

???

But it was great to have Brandi's help, and I suppose if it's too injurious, Brittney will be available to help make another try, like adding a board between the foam layers on my side.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 21 Jun 18 - 09:30 AM

Perhaps a tad TMI, Susan, in some of the more recent posts?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Jun 18 - 11:18 AM

Montreal:

WOW! Took pottery to be re-fired down to the Mill yesterday and a few other items, clearing it from here. Today, Robin loaded boxes of books from the staircase into my car to go to Beaver, to his library! We will be leaving any hour now - with laundry - for a long weekend of fresh air and art galleries. I can now fold up the futon in the cave. Yesterday, I vacuumed a missed area and installed the portable AC for downstairs.

I wait... IF we leave by noon we might be able to do a boat tour of Thousand Islands. OR we could hear a friend's music if we get to the spot, en route, by 6:30.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Jun 18 - 01:14 PM

VN, I just roll how I roll! ;-) (Of course you're free to read or skip my posts.)


Ohio:

A key daily task at this house is ensuring hydration. At this time in my life, I need a steady, low humidity, and we bought a small enough house (and efficient enough HVAC and windows) to do it without a huge cost or carbon footprint. So I get pretty thirsty.

I tried and didn't like several varieties of re-usable chairside water bottles. The best have been re-purposed 1/2 gallon vinegar bottles, which I reluctantly purchase when gallons aren't available. The water here needs a touch of acidity anyway, so they're re-labeled and set by the sink, full, for the chlorination to air out. Then they're distributed in the evening when I walk through to set lights and alarms, and check locks.

Lately I've had trouble finding laundry ammonia in gallons to reduce the plastic purchasing for that department. I was SURE that the accumulating 1/2 gallon jugs couldn't be re-purposed for potable water... surely I'd taste a trace of ammonia?!?

Turns out.... no! Not if it's rinsed first and filled with vinegar for a day or two. Rinsed again, and filled-- great drinking water. And the labels are easily-removed sleeves-- even better.

Only after long re-use are theseveral various jugs recycled-- usually once their cap is lost. But they're also great for freezing stock, once or twice, cap or no.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Jun 18 - 05:34 PM

Ohio:

Cold and rainy day here, so no scootering dog for exercise and mutual mental health. So it was either nap my routine all to hell... or scoot furniture around in the LL to see if it all really fits.

Adjusting my mental map to realize I must shrink all walls to subtract a 3x3' square from the middle of the room.... tight... but... fits.

Hardi will not like it at all, at first. I didn't instantly adjust from a 5000 square foot house for two to three weeks in an 8x12' camper for three (including bunks), either. But once again, I'll remind him that this little house IS small enough to comfortably afford. Bigger than the little camper. Bigger than the later (8x20') camper. Bigger than a singlewide trailer. Big enough to live FROM it, not be holed up 24/7 IN it. (And he gets total say in another room.)

No, this room won't do for him at all-- until the newer and slightly smaller TV is showing a hockey game to go with the popcorn, or until he needs desk space because his sewing project has temporarily filled his room. :-) (And here, we're close to LIVE NHL hockey!)

The puder desk is now facing the center of the room (and door), which feels much safer--I would see an intruder. There will be a smaller corner desk behind it for household management, and it will get a mirror for it so I can see the doorway in it.

I'm now sitting in a little recliner facing the deep closet that will hold that little TV, with my back to the desk area. From here the visible shelves do not loom too close. The outlets are right where I want them. The only HVAC register is not blowing right on me. It's going to work!

That puder desk is on wheels and will have no rug under it-- for a roomier den area, it can be pushed back 12-18"-- and I will run the cords to facilitate that.

But I LIKE that it's not big enough to feel like staying in it all day, in front of a TV!!!

Right outside the door are bath and laundry-- "Never miss a line of a film nor movie again." A storage closet in PA is moving here to sit next to the stackable laundry-- the obvious spot for the bar fridge and hot air popcorn popper.

People LIVE in rooms half this size. We have more rooms and all the outdoors.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Jun 18 - 09:20 PM

Ohio:

About 6 loads of laundry since last night are now folded and some already stowed. My dresser continues to amaze me with its ability to swallow up more and more nice things! What a difference to be able to sit in front of the open drawers, to fit things thoughtfully, with no back strain.

I tried our dear old MudDorm cubes at the foot of the bed for a bench, and unfortunately they just don't work-- too big literally and visually. Too hard and too invisible in the dark. So I raised the feet of the round shower stool GCCOA had replaced for me, and it's perfect. Its PA twin also can go there on Greg's side. The white top shows in the dark, and the round shape makes them look even smaller than they are. Because the tops are slippery plastic, and small, they also won't attract clutter.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 22 Jun 18 - 04:39 PM

Decluttered a monthly donation for a program I never attend any more. I need to go through my email and unsubscribe the sites that I never visit or read their stuff any more. I'm thinking about having an email account just for bills and financial transactions. I have one where all of that takes place, but everything else in the world seems to be subscribed through there as well, and with email accounts, well, they are an embarrassment of riches. I think I have at least six that are in regular use. Also, I keep a notebook of pages from each site I have an account and logon information. It's quite a bulky book, so maybe I should go through there and see what I never use and lose it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 09:30 AM

VN, I've been decluttering email, too-- unsubscribing from PA events and so many orgs and groups because really, my future life in that regard is already in Ohio. I'll hear enough about the PA stuff I really care about, via other means.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 09:40 AM

8 tries w blickifier later:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephcoughlin/2018/06/21/want-to-downsize-in-retirement-problem-one-millennials-dont-want-your-stuff/#360d1162739c

---

Fixed

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 10:05 AM

I was going to get up and work around the office but this glued me to my seat for 23 minutes. Worth. Every. Minute. :)

The day is supposed to be very hot, but the morning is overcast and about 99% humidity. Wretched out there, but I'll wade into it to do some gardening basics. I won't do laundry right now, it won't dry on the line in this humidity; if it clears out later I'll run the whites and hang out the sheets.

My dress form arrived yesterday, has yet to be un-boxed. Once it is I'm sure I'll be totally distracted so I'd best do some of the other stuff that needs doing first.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 07:35 PM

Thanks, elf!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 11:42 PM

The day became every bit oppressively hot as predicted. I took a shower after working in the garden this morning and I need another one so I can sleep tonight. It's the time of year when changing out night shirts and sheets happens more than once a week because I really dislike air conditioning and keep the house as warm as I can stand at night. The thermostat is programmable and I usually set it at about 79^o or 80^o overnight, with the ceiling fan going. Years ago (in a different house) I found that my hips ached and I had to wear socks to bed when the A/C was too low. Now I have the furniture positioned so the ceiling vent doesn't hit me directly. This is the most difficult time of year as far as getting a good night's sleep. I prefer winter when it's cold and I keep the room cool and pile on blankets, but cooling the house with A/C and piling on blankets isn't the same. I want to be acclimated to the outside so I don't keep the indoors too cold.

A neighbor was out walking his three-legged dog Rosie (she chased one too many UPS trucks in her youth) and we spoke in the front yard while my dogs watched out the glass and metal security door. New dog Pepper barked, the other two just looked on. That was okay, Pepper has a job to do and she wasn't crazy, just made her presence known. We will cultivate a friendship with Rosy now that we've met in person with her human Larry. I walk past her yard and she barks, but now we'll walk up the driveway and offer a treat (and my dogs will get a treat as well). The same thing happens at Ozzy's house. After that, acknowledging the progress we've made in three weeks, tonight we tried a mellow everyone sitting on the carpet in the front room. Pepper occasionally growls, she hasn't completely mastered sharing her human, but in that short time she has come a long way.

Most of my progress today was digital as I worked on some computer projects when I came in to cool down. The garden does look better after a combination of using the mattock near the plants and the weed wacker along the beds outer edges. I expect it to be hot again so more digital work tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 02:05 PM

Ohio:

Another Topic Kit catalogued in the LL.

I'm probably going to have to wait a month until Hardi is here to assemble the big bookcase I brought to match the one already here. However, I seriously need to confirm that I have enough shelf space for items on hand. It's just too many planning-type things to hold in my mind-- so I'm going to mock it out.

That 2nd bookcase's back is in the LL-- I brought it in to measure its wall space. I have loads of blue tape on hand. So, right on that back, I'm going to mark off the shelf placements and use sticky notes to lay out the category placements I'm hoping can live there together, by measuring any already-shelved topics I want to move and any boxed items waiting to be shelved. When I have that backing piece laid out, I'll take a picture in case the labels get dislodged in bookcase assembly.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 04:21 PM

Ohio:

WhooHOO!

Finally worked my way through boxes to capture the CORNER DESK dimensions-- that limits all the office corner dimensions that look so tight between the essential bookcases.

But ALL the cubbies and cubes WILL FIT where I first wanted them! And more! I could add more stackables in several areas!

Also the closet half I thought would hold one file cabinet can be made to fit TWO-- taking a big gray, low cabinet out of the crowded center of the room, to be replaced with a much smaller footprint custom printer stand Hardi can whiz up-- for which I have milk crates till then.

WhooHOO!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 04:27 PM

Purged old financial documents from a file and they're burning in the barrel in the back yard (next to a tub of water if extinguishing becomes necessary). I have a cross-cut shredder now, but this was a bunch of pages, the kind of thing I bought the small burning barrel for.

It only took three weeks of not being able to tune into old Columbo episodes to realize that I probably needed to rescan the TVs - an Internet check confirms the relocation of the signal in the end of May. Duh. There are several sets that need attention, including the receiver in my computer.

I was going to drive to Dallas today but find it's too hot and I have things I must do today that have a time limit (due tomorrow). Melting down already in June, not waiting till August for the dog days of summer - this is depressing.

The time has come to start my summer routine of making a large jar of iced tea for the fridge. It involves a couple of sprigs of lemon balm from the yard and nine cents worth (three bags) of green tea ($3/100 at the Big Lots) and I like it just as well as any commercial product out there.

This morning Zeke was intent on getting his breakfast, but I needed to close my eyes for a few minutes because I made the mistake of reading the news on my phone without putting on my glasses. That makes it harder to focus for a while. So I sat leaned back in a rocking chair and Zeke got pushy and wiggly and managed to knock over a 200+ year old tall case clock, knocking off the bonnet and breaking the glass on the face. I rescued the wooden works (dangling by their cords inside the cabinet) and put it back together. I'll have to replace the glass and refit the lead bell inside the works. Nothing like a hungry dog to demolish an expensive family heirloom. Lots of glass cleanup and though I swept and vacuumed I fully expect, in the next two to four weeks, to walk into the room and see a large piece of glass sitting on the floor right in the open, somehow completely missed in the cleaning. Darned clock ran for 10 minutes after all of this.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 05:10 PM

I've started the summer beverage switch too. I have iced tea (either Lipton or a black tea), lemonade, iced coffee, beer, wine, water, milk and Hugs for Jeremiah. Hydration is the name of the game!

Not much news here....still waiting on paperwork for my new car. The fridge has been cleaned out, some larger toys have been cleaned up and are ready to deliver to their new home, games are packed for our vacation, folks to watch the property and feed the pig/birds has been secured, got 2 new work outfits yesterday, dishes are done, lunches are prepped for the next few days, I have chicken marinating for kabobs later this week and just taking a break. I feel a nap coming on. :) I love Sunday afternoons!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 11:02 PM

Laundry is finished, dress form is set up, kitchen cleaned, papers burned, research more or less completed on a couple of projects.

Tomorrow is Monday. Yuck.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 10:55 PM

Ohio:

My July 6 senior helper will help me assemble that big bookcase, yay!

Not much accomplished today-- a cyst on my nose blew up into an urgent doc appt early this AM followed by long nap and pain meds thru Weds. Not ambitious, but general picking up stuff planned for tmrw.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 10:07 AM

We're back in Stratford after a weekend away in Ottawa for a foot race. That is, a 1,200-km trip (there and back) for the privilege of hoofing as fast as possible over 8 km of Lanark County's variable terrain in the hope of doing it at least as fast if not faster than the last time I did it. I must be mad.

Himself, of course, is fine with foot races; he's strong and fit with nothing wrong with his feet. I'm actually quite fit, but not as strong as I used to be and my feet are a mess. Nevertheless, I covered the 8 km (5 miles) in 80 minutes. That's a 16-minute mile; a decent forced-march pace and not at all bad for a member of the Bunion Brigade.

Unfortunately, orthotic insoles are not made for such shenanigans, and I now have a substantial blister under the callus on the side of my left heel. As Churchy La Femme would say, ROWRBASIL!

Then we came home. Six hours of highway, plus road food. Today, I am tired beyond belief and quite unwilling to do anything more adventurous than a trip to Sobey's for minimal groceries.

Himself (who did the 5 miles in 51 minutes) has announced that he wants to break out a flower bed this week. I rather think that he has revised his plan to wait until his quads are feeling a bit more the thing. It's been a while since he ran 6 km and trotted two more.

We're a great pair, we are.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 01:48 PM

(Better tell Dan about the orthotics, Charmion!)

Ohio:

Another LL Topic catalogued. I've discovered the magic of keeping a bag of healthy chips in the adjoining file cabinet drawer. I'm pretty good about keeping water in a safe container nearby, but food rewards for desk work, yeah!

At the doc appt ydy, we found I'd lost a few pounds. This is the longest run since DX on a synthroud dosage, where natural appetite plus natural activity level equals alertness, good sleep, and spontaneous weight loss.

The more clothing I bring here, the more I discover the opportunities created by having duplicates. One year, I mis-ordered twill jeans and ended up with a surplus-- several awful colors, and they weren't quite cut right for my height, leg-shape-wise, either. (I'd use them as last resort in laundry shortages!) They tended not to get worn much, and I assigned one particularly vivid shade of blue to my Ohio closet. Well, the other day, I was wishing I had more walking shorts here, and realized that now I live in a town with a range of services not available in RuralLand-- a dry cleaner within scootering range-- with an alterations service.

BOOM! Vivid blue shorts for summer with a colorful top-- that WORKS!

My original pair of Ohio jeans is about to go the same way-- brown twill bought used; for a long time they were the ONLY trousers I had here. I wore sweat pants mostly. Dear old things, so soft. Now I have more jeans, so-- Oh! more shorts.

And that pair of awful and dowdy-looking heavy-gauze cotton trousers-- navy blue but never did hang right, but as dress shorts? Soon!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 07:14 PM

Ohio:

Today I allocated a little patch of floor/wall space to our music binders. Now that max space has been allocated, we can start the paring-down process. Two of the old MudDorm cubes will fit, stacked, just inside the LL door for our players' binders-- one cube is there now, and the little plastic three-drawer unit that already held singalong books is set on top. If we go out to play somewhere or revive the Celebration Circle here, we can just pull out the relevant drawer and go, and the drawer will prevent the darn things from blowing away like they always did when we played outdoors.

Above that music combo unit, there is space for one small poster-- now that I know the dimensions of these areas, I can go ahead and put up all of the room's art pieces.

Moving that plastic drawer set freed up the space under a window for a low combo of shelves and cubby to go there; two of the four pieces for that is are in the LL now; one is readily accessed in the garage; the topper is in the LR awaiting being emptied and swapped for a bigger shelf I brought. (Senior Helper Brittney can help me swap those tomorrow-- I'll do the heavy lifting with an appliance dolly, and she can help me turn the corners to wheel it in.)

On this low purple shelf topper will perch the two 3/4-middle school-size multicultural role-playing dolls, bookending the Building Alliances topic kit. Below them will be Educational Change books and journals, and maybe the Youth topic kit, if it will fit, too.

In preparation for that, I also adjusted the big, wide bookcase's base to consolidate other boxed items into it, that had been on the floor around the room and in that space under the window.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 09:24 PM

Three plus weeks into introducing the new pooch and they're all relaxing into the New Normal. The oldest dog still gives her a wide berth, but that is slowly changing also.

Tomorrow I ship an eBay box that I wasn't sure would ever sell. I have a couple more like that I need to list or tweak.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Jun 18 - 04:38 PM

Ohio:

The shelves were indeed swapped around as described in my last post. Their books are installed. The dolls look quite chummy bracketing the Building Alliances topic on top of the Youth, Children, and Educational Change topic groupings. This freed up most of a long shelf where other sections below it were too tight-- I can space those out now. (I'll need all that space when I add the Facilitators' Guide binders to each topic!)

Brittney also kindly brought in the two main bookcase pieces we'll need for next week's bookcase assembly-- the tall, heavy side pieces. That leaves just 5-6 short shelves, top, and bottom to be brought in; I can use my scooter to bring them to the front door for Brandi to assemble.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 18 - 12:09 PM

Everything is in slow motion when it's so hot. I have a few plants to transplant in a shady area of the yard and I'll leave the resulting pots in an area where I remember to keep them watered as the plants grow more roots. Come fall they will be nice gifts for friends who are xeriscape gardeners. It's so hot that the front yard, unwatered, is dormant and there are only a few areas that need trimming. Same in the back - I keep an area watered so the dogs have some green turf, the rest can dry out. We're to outdoor shower weather here, that will keep moisture on the lawn near the patio.

A big box moved out of the house yesterday made room for more items to list and pack up for eBay. If you're patient (and tweak the price), just about everything sells.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Jun 18 - 03:58 PM

Ohio:

Catching up on house clutter after a brief illness. Another LL topic catalogued.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 Jun 18 - 04:39 PM

Montreal:

Got to mill, fired pots for 4 days, came out beautifully, took all to Montreal and arranged on open futon, family arrived - Son and wife, GD with partner and GGD (4 months!). Wonderful visit. They had an apartment (airbnb), convenient to the Market and the Canal, and us. They shopped and cooked dinners; we went a few places together; they went their own ways; we rested! "Family is exhausting!" Sadly delivered son and wife to Airport on Tuesday - and collapsed! (GD et al had rented a car and drove up from NYC. Very handy as they were able to go their own ways!) They were very excited to get pottery - finally! emailed pic of it in their K cabinet! A major brain de-clutter!!!!

I cleared the remainder of pottery into boxes, into car and took some to mill to re-fire and some to Beaver to "show room". Took Robin and many boxes of books, and laundry to Beaver on Thursday. Did laundry, visited in the community; R repaired weed-eater, put new electric lawn mower together, installed ext cord for kilns to back deck as planned, read and rested. I cut enough grass to make place look somewhat civil - and renew pain in back - and rested. Went to yard sales and thrift shops - wonderful bookshelf for new house - need lots! and a beautiful, very special, comforter.

Like Charmion, the 5-6 hour trip is tiring! We returned to Montreal on Tuesday - and rested. Now, with the bridge to South Shore reduced to one lane each way OR 60 to 90 minutes - just to get across!- instead of 20-30, I am loathe to go to mill. An alternate route would add about 30 minutes to the 90 minute trip - better than 90 extra but, with long weekend looming, I am thinking of doing nothing until Tuesday! Then I need to return to Beaver as Dan is building bridge across the babbling brook and may have time for a couple more small projects - he says we can have him for a week and a half!

There are things in my car to go to mill so, when I feel it is reasonable to travel, I shall go to mill and offload stuff, pick up a few things re pottery and go to Beaver early on next day. Hope: rest, make pots, check out and repair, if needed, two kilns, fire, glaze, fire. Cut more grass but not so much as to hurt back. Harvest strawberries and lettuce, my major crops this year! Later there will be beets and carrots - between the raspberry canes, zukes and 4 cabbages, unless something eats them.

A trip to library is needed today. Books are building up on stairs again - yes, already! But the 5 pounds I lost are still lost. I will get back on track to lose more when I am back at Beaver. Now for a couple books to get me through this long weekend (Canada Day).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 18 - 06:56 PM

I have a commitment from my daughter to take a computer desk that I don't need any more - she lives in a house with several people and someone there says they can use it. If I hadn't picked up the standing desk I use now I'd still be using that one (the newer desk was part of my struggle to figure out why I was always in pain, before the PMR was diagnosed. Was I sitting too much? Nope.) That one cost a lot less than the new one but is very well designed. There is one caster that keeps falling out of the hole for it so I glued it in place this afternoon. My vehicle is the largest for transporting this, and by the time I'm ready to take it up to her it'll be set.

In the place of this desk now is a small two-door three-shelf cabinet on top of which sits a small television (that's the guest room). Considering the last piece of furniture one of the dogs bashed, I'll put a few books in the bottom to add stabilizing weight. The friends who usually stay in there are mystery readers, so I'll pull some of the stack from my front room and put them there to be perused.

The dressmaker form is working well and I've listed a silk evening dress on eBay after setting it up in front of a white sheet suspended from shelves in the front room. It is much better to have closer to a three-dimensional view than a photograph on a hanger or on the fabric cutting board.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Jun 18 - 01:50 PM

Ohio:

In good news, someone's long-lost car keys turned up from the front yard mud today, hung on my front door by the lawn crew. The keyring has a garage door fob I needed that may work. I'm pretty sure they were left by this house's sellers.

Mostly house declut continues,today, plus routine laundry, etc.

Earlier I stuffed a pit forming again in the poor, abused camper mattress I've used on an off since we got the Ohio house. I can.not.wait. for our real, innerspring set on box springs to be here.

I'm also counting the day's till Hardi's arrival and tweaking the setup for him; in between I'm doing space planning and making lists for what he'll bring with him.

I'll probably catalog the Working with Young Children topic kit today.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 18 - 10:18 AM

If that fob is for your garage door opener then changing out the battery should be a breeze. Otherwise there might be adventures for someone in town if you discover where it goes. ;-) My garage door stays down, I have never had a worry there, but my Nissan SUV is parked there every night, and some mornings when I get ready to leave I realize that all of the windows are down. Not by my hand. I'm not sure that any remote can do that, but I have to wonder.

This morning I went out to dig up the area where I want to plant my cucumbers will go and right now is tall grass. Every year the cicada killer wasps return to nest in the garden and apparently they do so even if the grass is tall. After a while I had a couple dozen buzzing around me (they're to big and dignified to "swarm," but they threaten to bounce off of you) so I retreated. I'll give the soil a couple of hours to dry out (the sprinkler ran this morning) and go out for a few minutes later. I'll eventually get this spot cleared, but give those that didn't actually have their burrows disturbed time to calm down again. A few probably will be plowed over, though. Trying to get photos of them is difficult, they're small and autofocus will get the background, so I tried panning on them in manual focus.

The desk goes tomorrow, so I struggle past it today unless I move it to the sunroom (where it will completely block that traffic.)

More eBay today.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 18 - 02:38 PM

The heat, with relatively high humidity, is wiping me out this week. I'm trying to keep to indoor work: I spent time cleaning the kitchen this morning, and in order to make more progress than just that I decided to clear out the medicine cabinet. I'd lost track of things in there from when the kids still lived here; now I have a bag of things to take over to the disposal bin at the pharmacy next time I pick up a prescription.

Lately it seems like onions don't keep very well in or out of the fridge, so I've been buying them on sale and dicing and freezing them. I finished one this afternoon and will bag it later. This saves me from the disappointment of preparing to cook something and finding there isn't enough of the onion that is usable for whatever the dish is. I'm going to do a small batch of canned tomatoes later, and save a few for a caprese salad this evening.

I'm still debating how much of the eBay activity I want to do, curious if it could actually be a separate modest source of income. Getting the dress form makes it a lot easier to sell clothes and there are some excellent thrift stores in my area with garments I know I can sell for minimum two to three times what I pay for it, and some things much more. But it is work.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Jun 18 - 03:01 PM

Ohio:

The garage door I have includes that it will reprogram any compatible remote, so I'm passing up the temptation to ride up and down the street messing with some neighbor's head. But I need a fob style for my scooter because the Horde took the spare visor-clupped remote. I actually tried to use the visor-clipped one I'd brought as a fob, but it's too touchy-- going in and put of my pocket opens the door up to the neighborhood scavengers.

A day off on decluttering today in favor of a ride to the blueberry patch and attending a rally.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 30 Jun 18 - 07:08 PM

We had plans to go to the races and fireworks tonight but the high temperatures made us all change our minds about wanting to go. There will be other races and there will be more fireworks.

On that note, it IS hot out today and we've been doing what we want, when we want to....taking our cues from how we're feeling.

The boys did some work outside while I went to market early in the day. We had a nice cold lunch and then we all promptly fell asleep in the coolness of the house. The lights have been out all day (on purpose, curtains closed, fans are on and one window unit AC. The house temperature is absolutely wonderful and we are thankful for that!

Our very first family vacation is approaching quickly and I think I made a good decision.....We have 3 days off before we leave and it is my intention to spend one of those days really cleaning the house, one day for errands and one day for packing. I am looking forward to a fun, restful vacation and a clean house upon return so I can hit the ground running for work. The only thing that will need to happen when we get back is laundry and that's not a big deal. All my work clothes are staying home...LOL...I am NOT taking them on vacation!   ;) Anyway..I like the idea of leaving it clean. :)

Today I am puttering here and there. It's been a very long week for me, the bad definitely outweighing the good but I suppose we'll have this from time to time. I needed today to just be....in whatever form that may be. One thing I will share is that I have a spot on my arm that has to be removed. The dermatologist isn't sure if it is cancerous or not but since it's suspicious looking, she will be removing it after vacation. She was going to remove it on Thursday but when she asked if I was going to be swimming in the next two weeks, I had to tell her that I was going to be vacationing on a lake...so yes, swimming, boating and fishing are going to be happening daily! She said that she is confident that it is not melanoma so at least that's good. Still, I'm not looking forward to having a chunk taken out of my arm.

Anyway....my table is clear and clean, the counters are clear and clean, dishes are done, the toilet has been scrubbed, floors are in reasonable shape, the table by my chair is just about all cleared off. I've got a spot where I've started collecting things that we want to take on our trip as well as the checklist so I can mark it off as I go.

I got a new car this week and I love that it's empty. I'm planning on keeping it that way as much as possible. :)

That's all for now. I hope everyone is able to have a cool spot to relax in with these high temperatures.

Have a great week everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 18 - 07:24 PM

It seems that the company operating the Rx collection bin at my nearby Walgreen empties it about every two weeks, but it fills within about four days. So I'll try again later. Not all pharmacies have these collection points, and not all Walgreens.

It has been four weeks since Ms. Pepper came to stay here, and what a difference a month makes. They're all pretty mellow, and my next door neighbor says she has relaxed and figured out the treat at the fence routine. At first she was a little nervous when he tossed the dog biscuit, but has worked it out and joined the game as happily as the other two. She's glad to meet anyone who comes to the house and takes the lead of the others - any friend of mine is a friend of hers. She is growing back hair on her tummy after being spayed two months ago, and her coat looks excellent now that she's not confined to a concrete and chain-link environment. She still has this odd habit with water - I don't remember seeing water dishes in the kennels, so I think they got a drink any time they were let out. She still gets these really long drinks any time she follows me into the bathroom or kitchen. I am hoping this habit relaxes, it is disconcerting just how much water she drinks when she drinks it.

Back to listing sales items for the evening. When I shipped that large box this week I cleared out a lot of space for more of these items (I pack them up so they're ready once they sell).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 18 - 12:27 PM

Michelle, I missed your last post as I was writing. That vacation sounds lovely, and I'm glad the spot will be removed after. Good for keeping an eye on it; I have a couple I probably need checked (I had lots of moles removed when I was younger, for fear they could grow to be problems). And it's a great plan to clean the house before, because often the best part of the vacation is returning home.

Yesterday I pulled a couple of non-starters out of the things listed on eBay, and I have a trip to Goodwill today to drop off those and a few more. Someone can use them, but even a nominal charge is too much when the shipping adds to the price.

The computer desk will go to my daughter today after a friend comes by to help me load it into the SUV. Like Michelle, I like to keep it pretty empty so I can do this kind of moving without having to unpack it. There are a couple of boxes in the back back that will ride for a few hours in the middle back seat (the back back seat is always left folded down so it's a cargo area.) There may be other terms, but I grew up in a large family with a station wagon with a third, rear-facing seat that my brother and I had to ride in. That was the back back. (We've come a long way since those days - if I ever have to use mine for people they're lovely forward-facing seats and have their own AC controls and a couple of car power plugs for people with devices. Everyone has devices they want to plug in these days.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Jul 18 - 02:11 PM

Ohio:

Ah yes, car storage. Friend Judy's van got clogged with items when the garden center where she'd worked closed up shop-- and her apartment is about the size of your average assisted living studio. So since I'd just cleared some space when helper Btittney brought in a small bookcase-- which had been stored in the only little-used corner of my garage-- I gave Judy's stuff temp space there to stack a few bins while she declutters a closet.

Thus Newbie-dog was able to ride along in style when we traipsed about yesterday.

I can't wait to stock our new van with the standard items it will carry-- ministry gear, activist gear, accessibility gear, and dog gear. This one has cleats to fasten in the gear, and I have two standing zip cases, a big duffel, and Newbie's crate to containerize it all.

Another LL Topic Kit got catalogued today-- 'Working with Young Children.' Handily, a one-page turned up among the articles, which belongs in a guide I'm writing for a program I developed in 1990, which may be revived next fall. That went with items for the same guide, that I am came across the other day, into a handy metal standing file on a shelf awaiting items from those bankers boxes of archives that I brought. It has just enough dividers for each role in the program's leadership, and metal sides where I can put sticky notes with notes to self as inspiration strikes. Acme, that's another place where several of your kindly-shared binders will be used--each role will need a binder.

I reorganized my LL cataloguing worksheet to separate out the topics yet to be catalogued, and I added a boilerplate section of items to copy into each topic as I get to it. Another organizing thing I recently did was create a standardized sample entry for the journals going in, so I copied that into the boilerplate as well. I still can't say I love cataloguing, but it feels so good when I stop! ;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 01 Jul 18 - 03:10 PM

Today has been busy. Lots of prepping fresh fruits and veggies for the week for snacking and nights when I'm just dog tired after work and don't want to do anything, much less cook.

I spent a few hours in our bedroom/closet going through clothes that I have had for years...some of them over 20 years...and am getting rid of them. I do NOT need all that stuff and I'm tired of it hogging up all the space! I bagged up 14 garbage bags (tall kitchen size).....2 for my mom, 2 that are one size smaller than I currently wear and so far, there are 10 bags that are going to be donated. I'd say I am about a third of the way through of just MY clothes. Pete is almost as bad as I am...we hate to throw things out but I am loving the new open space....so buh bye to too many clothes!!!!!!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 18 - 10:39 PM

I wish this time of year, in addition to the heat, didn't also involve so many ants. Every time I go out to the garden, take something to the trash, drag sprinklers, whatever, it involves picking up a few ants that I find on me for a while after that. They are like their own little prickly heat generators.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Jul 18 - 01:56 PM

Ohio:

I've just been asked to help with a new project--researching Dayton ppl killed by police since 2000.

While working on that this AM, I received a call from Det. Wilson that Tyler had been arrested in Dayton and was on the way to Xenia (parole violation plus our guitar theft). He just called again to ask if I'd paid Tyler with guitars, for "installing a new garage door" (for which job, Wilson was told, Tyler has witnesses). I laughed my ass off, described that Sears had installed the opener on the door that came with the house-- and reminded Wilson how this pastor's wife generally is assessed as pretty credible, and how willing I would be to laugh my ass off in court-- and then shared that I have a clear and specific memory of showing Tyler the guitars as part of the house tour when he moved in-- "you can play these". Not "you can sell these."

LOL. Fool must be high now.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jul 18 - 08:09 AM

Ohio:

And before Detective Wilson called, there were the Sprint "return equipment" mailers inside my front storm door, which explained the cabling I'd found on my return. Somehow, Tyler had re-upped the house's sellers three accounts, and naturally Sprint wanted the bills paid or equipment returned.

So I wrote to Sprint right away, mentioning my prior report to cabletheft.com; I also contacted the seller to let him know his name had been fraudulently used.

I included two messages for Tyler via Wilson, the first time he called yesterday-- I'd love the return of anything of ours Tyler might still have, and Sprint woukd like theirs as well plus payment of their bill! ;-)

It is sad that Tyler needs all this intervention, but everyone I've spoken to who has loved him since he was very little has said that he needs the hard consequence and structure of more jail time. We certainly hope he takes full advantage of treatment available.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jul 18 - 09:13 AM

Dog to the vet this morning; I finally realized she may have a bladder infection, with all of the water she's drinking. Getting in during a short week is difficult. All appointments are taken so I'll head over and wait to be seen as a Walk-In. Those are long appointments so I'll take a book to read (not just read on the phone).

Everything is more difficult to plan and to carry out when it's this hot; the heat we had during June is typical of August, yet we're just starting in on the July hot days. Hard to say if this will break the record of the 1980 Texas heat wave (42 days over 100^o) but it will be a contender. The electric bill will certainly declutter the wallet considerably.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jul 18 - 09:22 PM

It was 103^o here today, and has been like this all week, but it appears a respite is coming our way - if you consider 95 - 98^o a respite. You can feel the difference.

After the trip to the vet it has been a day of small tasks performed so that there hasn't been much need to go outside, though this evening I stepped out to run the sprinkler in the back yard to keep a green zone for the dogs. I'll set up the washer to run overnight and first thing in the morning will hang the laundry - it'll be plenty warm to dry everything but not in the heat stroke category yet.

I did some cooking today because I was completely out of black beans. I usually bottle them in old LiteHouse salad dressing (~ 12 oz) jars and freeze them for later use in all sorts of dishes. This spring a friend brought a wonderful black bean cold salad over to lunch that we ended up spooning on top of fish tacos, and now I can't imagine the tacos being complete without that mix. As I wait for my friend to send the recipe I'll freeze most of the beans and keep some out for salad.

Going through our first noisy Fourth of July with a new dog. The racket will start any time now and continue for a few days.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 09:40 AM

Ohio:

I decluttered my fast mega-project of researching 53 police-involved deaths by running the whole list through the most comprehensive database I'd rediscovered, and the next stint will be to run them again thru an obit DB-- my assignment is to find the story, find family members living in the area, and choose among those found for the most appropriate to contact-- close enough to know and potentially contact the immediate family but not so close that a contact from the outreach org would cause them harm. (FB is a resource at that step.) I'm not making the contacts, but it's an honor to have been invited to do the research piece. The stories are so sad. (The outreach org offers outstanding support from other grieving families.)

I shifted to this approach instead of name by name, start to finish on each, because my old notebook was groaning so badly that it slowed down the work too much. (And that made for too much unhealthy desk-sitting time.) With the DB clues entered in my document, I can use the fone for some steps, with feet up, and to find the stories that weren't in the DB.

Hardi and I had another good talk the other night about vacay activities and priorities (and cargo planning), so I have my tasks well laid out for the next few weeks in prep for his arrival. I need to plan a safe doggie space in the garage so she can hang out while I work in there with garage door open for light and air. I think I have a spare tether-cable out there, that I can hook up for her.

Today is house-chores day, in short shifts between desk time shifts. The dishwasher is already running. One added task is to go thru Hardi's closet to check on what he already has here (vs what to bring). Tonight, I'll scooter with Newbie to get groceries after it cools off (and before neighborhood firecrackers start). In between, putting 1008 sq feet of clutter away. :-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 11:35 AM

There must have been a facial tissue tucked away somewhere in the laundry; this morning the work clothes went into the dryer and the sheets and other items on the line; when the line-dry linens come in they'll do a quick turn on air in the dryer to catch any paper fibers.

Today is mostly about vacuuming, putting stuff away (clearing out the fridge, and around the house clearing as many horizontal surfaces as possible) and eBay. This is going to be my Holiday from Clutter. It seems to me there was a movie that used to play around this time of year, Cheaper By the Dozen, about an efficiency expert, and probably summer-time drama with his sons and daughters. Or the Jimmy Stewart movie with Maureen O'Hara as his wife, and they went to a cottage at the beach for the summer. Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. As I recall, their houses were never cluttered. Seven Year Itch, now that's a summertime movie, but I only remember the state of her freezer in that one. This has nothing to do with anything, but a little holiday stream of consciousness. I'm reading a book (sent by Jeri as Secret Santa) in which women in historic times in Portsmouth, NH, worked really hard at whatever they did. So as I hang my laundry on this July day and contemplate knocking lint off later in the dryer, I know I have it so much easier than a couple of hundred years, or even just many decades, ago.

There is some chicken defrosting to cook on the charcoal grill (I haven't filled the LP tank yet), some tomatoes in the fridge to can (that's the 'clear the fridge' activity), and lots of boxes to prepare for eBay. The can where I empty my vacuum cleaner tank is ready, and I plan by this evening to kick back and watch a movie and keep the dogs in the house so they won't worry about the racket.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 12:42 PM

Ohio:

Second DW load going-- pots/pans.

Clean laundry stowed.

Recyclables washed and stowed.

Second big DB found for NIF's from 1st DB.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 04:38 PM

Ohio:

Unpacked a milk crate of books, did more LL space planning, put away some LR stuff, set out new wastebasket...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 04:53 PM

Himself is now barrowing away the spoil from our new garden bed, where he toiled in the heat for nearly a week.

Perth County has some of the best farmland in Canada, but our little hunk of it is ... mmm ... not so much. About eight inches below the surface, Himself hit a layer of yellow clay that was close to brick-like in its ability to resist the shovel, and only a mattock (Cdn$39.95 at Canadian Tire) would even pierce it. The weather was unspeakably hot and sultry the whole time, with highs around 35C, and each shift of digging resulted in Himself drenched with sweat and covered with yellow clay -- net result: mud. So yesterday's laundry was six loads, of which less than one came from me.

As well as the mattock, this project also required the purchase of a pair of no-kidding work boots (Cdn$159.99) and about ten bags of compost and sheep manure (Cdn$65 and change). Fortunately, we were able to borrow a wheelbarrow from Neil-across-the-street, thus avoiding a significant layout of capital, but now I must visit Canadian Tire again to negotiate the purchase of a sprinkler. We had one in Ottawa, but it disappeared in the move -- pêrhaps never made it onto the truck.

The grass looks awful after having had a couple of cubic metres of yellow clay piled on it for a week, so I'll go the full Monty and buy a pound or so of grass seed while I'm at it.

On the plus side, the air conditioner is working again. Gawd, what a relief.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 06:04 PM

Charmion,

Rather that trying to dig into the clay, build some raised beds over the area (even a few inches is going to help) and fill it in with topsoil, compost, humate, whatever they sell over at the big box store that DOESN'T say "Scotts" or "MiracleGro." Avoid those products and go with making your own healthy topsoil mix and plant in there.

The fridge was full of small bowls with small tomatoes, and today I converted them into cooked tomatoes. Two pints are canned (yeah, I know, a lot of hot water for that little, but I want to be able to say I canned something this year!) I also put some cooked ones in plastic containers and froze them. I used some of yesterdays black beans and made a small batch of black bean and corn salad. It's sitting in the fridge now and smells wonderful. Tomorrow I'll make more of those fish tacos it's so good with.

Next - vacuuming and picking up.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 06:48 PM

Charmion, you don't even need to build frames for raised beds-- lasagna gardening.

Ohio:

Two DW loads actually put away, and the last two big handwashing items are soaking.

The potting-bench end of the long kitchen table is now clean and restored to vinyl tablecloth prettiness-- I was given some surprise succulents when Judy's garden center closed, and it took quite a messy dig to shoehorn them into the terra cotta dish garden with its other inmates. I'm down to one box of miscellaneous cluttering that table, now.

Btw I decided to forego our fabulous PA kitchen island. If I liked bar stools... it would be perfect, and it being a tad narrower than the table, it would ease one of the two kitchen traffic paths. But after several months wrestling with how to add a hinged tabletop to side of the island, I decided I love that table too much to give it up. And the space under it swallows up even more stuff than the island would have. So Hardi gains a garage storage piece, with a food grade top for prepping outdoor-cooking goodies-- we'll need its storage space out there.

I got into the habit of sitting at that long table not only for food prep, but for at least one meal out of four each day-- like the LR eating space, it overlooks a pretty front yard view,,and I like varying the view. And from there, at brekky or bedtime snack, it's a few quick steps to call Newbie in (out of barking mode).

I'll miss the island-- I'd planned it for so long. But I ljust love that table, and it will seat 8-10 people-- which actually happens nowadays, since we're finally near family. (It's also a fabulous buffet space!)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 08:57 PM

Today has been most enjoyable. I slept in, puttered at will, spent a few hours sitting on the front porch watching all the chickens, guinea hens, turkeys, cats, dog, etc. while a soft rain fell and the thunder rolled in the distance with Pete sitting right beside me. It was wonderful to just enjoy our setting. Normal chores are done for the day as well as multiple lists for our upcoming vacation. Whew. I hope I don't forget anything but if I do, I'm sure we will live! Plans were confirmed for one of the days out and a swimming hole found....most necessary for all of us! Laundry is just about all done, the dishwasher is running and all breathing critters are parked in front of a fan (and the AC is running)...it's sticky hot and the fans are wonderful. My mom recently surprised me with a new fan that works somewhat differently.....it's got great air flow but is also quiet....love it!

The animals have all had their flea and trick preventatives, vet papers are in order for boarding the animals too.

Stay cool people. ;)

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 09:04 PM

Ohio:

Guest-room bedful of lingering linens stowed, during evening news. They went to so many destinations that I've logged enough walking today to sleep well. It's so nice to see how quickly this little house can return to ORDER! Like a miracle, every time-- never gets old.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 18 - 10:07 PM

Tonight I set up the little round barbecue in the driveway and cooked a chunk of marinated tilapia for tacos tomorrow, and I grilled three chicken breasts, eating the small one for dinner tonight and the other two are to go in other dishes or on salads. Since the fridge has only a couple of ripe to eat tomatoes now there is room for this. I ended up with a puny five containers of tomatoes, but preservation is the name of the game. That's several meals in the future. The tomatoes usually make a fall comeback and I'll be able to either can ripe tomatoes or make something with green tomatoes before the year is out.

A friend retired last week, and I see on his Instagram that he is quickly turning his attention back to his painting after many years of neglect. We both post lots of garden and food photos, but his paintings are lovely, and remind me that I need to get back to the sewing and beading and embroidery I used to do a lot of.

Dorothy, are you doing more of your potting, or are you still moving things around from town to the mill to Beaver, and is the bridge still a mess? As time draws near to time to move out of the old house and into the new (old) house, you must have a checklist as long as your arm of things to tend to. I hope your plans are taking shape.

There is a blue heeler curled at my feet under my desk right now. We made eye contact when she arrived and she glanced toward the window as we both heard explosions of fire works. I think she'll be fine, but will stay close.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 18 - 12:59 PM

Barbecue stowed away, and cooked fish and fowl are in the fridge for meals this week. I'll refill the LP tank on Friday as I swing past a couple of other businesses in the area. The little grill is starting to fall apart, with the cover for the bottom hole (regulating air flow) dropping off in my hand just now. The LP grill is still putting something in the air, vs the charcoal grill, but is probably more efficient overall.

I spoke with my mail carrier; she would take advantage of the water if I leave a bucket of ice with bottled water in it, so I'll start doing that as long as it is so hot. The next few days are in the 90s, much more tolerable.

This morning I puttered around the bed, bath, and dressing rooms, cleared out stuff that can't be used, donated, or sold on eBay. Reviews can be written when the product was a disappointment, so others avoid the purchase, that's the best I can do. I also swept and dusted, and the next thing is to pull out a couple of bins with clothes and see if they go to eBay or Goodwill. That will clear off the lovely cedar chest at the foot of my bed. One of the bins is full of clothes, next to the dressmaker form, ready for their closeups.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jul 18 - 01:41 PM

Ohio:

By dinnertime tomorrow I should have BOTH of the missing bookcases in the LL!!!

Frabjously yours...

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jul 18 - 09:34 AM

We had a short cloudburst yesterday that broke the heatwave in Perth County, at least for today. What a relief.

The new garden bed is now in commission, with tarragon, parsley and lavender planted in it. At the same time, we filled in a large shallow hole Himself left in the lawn when he scraped up the clay spoil and re-seeded the entire scruffy area with grass. Yet another trip to Canadian Tire, this time for hose attachments and a lawn sprinkler, and this morning I actually watered the flipping lawn for the first time.

The first cherry tomatoes should be ready by Saturday. Including the cost of the pots in which they are growing, those will be the most expensive tomatoes ever cultivated in this neck of the woods.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Jul 18 - 11:36 AM

Packing for vacation today....taking everything we need for a week. This begs 2 questions from me.

1. When did we NEED all this STUFF? I remember when packing a change of clothes, shampoo and a toothbrush was plenty. Now we have a car full.

2. If I am taking what we NEED for a week as a family, what the heck is all this leftover stuff in my house????   

Ugh.

Everyone here is stressed today. I don't know if I'd ever plan this kind of vacation again. Hopefully we will have a fantastic time and this painful packing will be long forgotten.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Jul 18 - 12:04 PM

Ohio:

Bookcase #1 (from the bookstore) is now safely reposing in the garage, ready for a little reassembly/reinforcement. Of course it needs more than anticipated but it is HERE.

Bookcase #2's structural parts are all now IN THE HOUSE for 1:30 Brandi arrival. Using the scooter to bring in the 3 structural shelves, kick plate, and hardware worked a treat!

My plan is to show her all of the above for her decision on an order of attack, for which I'll be her helper. It's still my hope to get both bookcases in place in the LL by suppertime.

While waiting for Judy's van to arrive for pickup of #1, I spied a dresser in very rough shape, set out on a neighbor's curb. Figuring it's unlikely to be wanted once the rain further attrits it, I nabbed 2 drawers to slide under my own dresser which is up on risers. Hardi will probably build me a custom drawer later to match my dresser, but these curb finds are bound to look/work better than the cardboard boxes now in use!

>S<

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Jul 18 - 03:54 PM

Ohio:

Brandi is a strapping lass and SUCH a great work-partner. Shelf 1 and 2 will both need some future attention but are in place awaiting the insertion of their middle (loose) shelves. Both cases and their shelves have been cleaned.

Shelf 1 was reinforced in the garage and delivered to the front door via scooter, which was highly entertaining.... we tried several configurations... it ended up on the seat, behind me, as I stood to bring it around on the sidewalk, with Brandi steadying it while I focused on NOT tipping the whole thing over. She thought it was a little crazy until I explained that I often stand while running at top speed, to relieve my aching knees! But it made what would have been a miserable carry into an entertaining and fun adventure! :-)

|S|

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jul 18 - 04:11 PM

Michelle, once you're out of the driveway you'll probably think of something you've forgotten, but you can live without it or buy a replacement along the way. The main thing - Have Fun!

I remember as a kid I always packed a small suitcase or pack with books I wanted to read in the car, a notepad (was I going to write a journal? letters? a novel? I just knew I needed paper), and because I had siblings, I think we brought along decks of cards or small games to play in the car or at campgrounds. The parents took care of everything else, and if they made occasional stops at hardware stores along the way, no big deal. Just so you have your camera - I'm sure you'll get lots of good photos.

Today I've been working eBay listings, adding more items so that I have at least 20. It's July - and believe it or not - time to start putting up anything that is considered "back to school." When my kids were small and outgrowing clothes more rapidly than wearing them out I used to pack them up as entire outfits and sell them - pants and shirts, skirts and blouses, jumpers and blouses, etc. Now I put up things like small crockpots that area great for making overnight oatmeal for the kids. I mostly aim more at the grown-up market now with clothes, and I have lots of estate items leftover from family members that can be home office or school use.

I have another box of stuff to drop off at Goodwill tomorrow when I make the rounds for several errands. It's a luxury to not have to drive anywhere today.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Jul 18 - 06:02 PM

Actually, the very first to be packed was the games...card and dice games, a few board games and outside games too...then I packed up the misc. stuff that I have been listing all week and all the non-perishable food has been packed up too. Toiletries and meds are all set to go as well. We made a menu so that list has been helpful as well. Pete has been tending to all the outside things that needed to be done as well as showing the neighbors what to do and when as they will be stopping by multiple times a day. Jeremiah's clothes are packed but Pete and I haven't packed anything yet in the clothing line yet but that won't take long. Shorts, t-shirts, tanks and swimsuits...all systems GO!

I'm sure it will be fine too...just a bit overwhelming for me at times.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Jul 18 - 09:45 PM

Ohio:

Shelf #2 is now stocked with all but two of the Topic Kits planned for it-- they're too heavy/high for me to move. Hardi will when he gets here.

This cleared a LOT of floor space around my desk. My recliner does fit in front of it as planeed.

The cubbies about to be replaced by Shelf #1 have had about 1/3 of their space cleared into a tower for music stuff elsewhere in the room. Tomorrow I'll finish reinforcing the shelf and move the rest into it, from the cubbies.

Then next week the cubbies move deskwards, now that the fluttery boxes of books went into Shelf #2. But first I need 2 pieces of plywood cut to marry them onto the base Hardi had built for my PA office corner, because I'm pretty sure the pine closet shelves I need to measure are too short.

)S(

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Jul 18 - 01:36 PM

Ohio:

I did find one pine shelf. The cubbies are now sitting on the base Hardi built waiting for another board and helper Brittney to help boost up the very heavy topper, but I can start using the cubbies NOW. The first thing to go in was our wedding picture and my pencil cup.

°S°

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jul 18 - 02:45 PM

Decluttering a house via the post office is certainly a slow method, piecemeal, but it does end up with a little money in the bank. And if no one else is paying you for your time, you're free to watch TV or listen to audio books as you work to slowly push things out the door. Yesterday, and continuing this weekend, I'm listing items that were in the way in the sunroom. And things that were stacked on the dining room table. But there are things all around this house that, if one reads the articles, one knows the kids aren't going to want when I'm gone and I'm not using now. So I slowly clear out stuff, and one day perhaps I'll find a smaller place (as long as it has a good garden plot).

The growing number of self-storage units around this town corresponds to the growing number in most communities. Is selling my stuff contributing to what others put in storage? Perhaps. But it isn't contributing to new manufacture using precious resources, and it is keeping the post office in business. And I'm determined to not use self storage again unless it is simply a pivot point in a move from point A to point B, not a long-running clutter container.

Keeping things in play, moving them to other households, into the hands of collectors, artists, practitioners, teachers, whoever can use these items, that's what is going on here. When Katlaughing was active here she also used to talk about beading and other art work. I still have those supplies, they haven't been sold yet. Hopefully they'll go out the door as finished pieces, not as a large lot of unused crafting beads and findings.

It's a hot summer day, though cooler than many we've had recently. I just returned from a run to fill the LP tank, pick up a bunch of fresh produce (some of it will be frozen this afternoon), and to drop off a bunch of VHS tapes that no one is interested in on eBay but that will entertain households that still have the old tape players and can afford a dollar a movie. There were some good ones in there, but I have them on DVD now or can stream them via NetFlix. And now those boxes are available for shipping something else sold on eBay.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Jul 18 - 09:36 PM

Beaver:
Good chuckle, Maggie! Checklist!! My plan is to get as much as possible to the mill in advance, let R move furniture to the house, then move things from mill as needed. I will think about it in November.

The bridge is a mess for a few more weeks. I went to mill the long way around this last trip; to mill on Weds, then to Beaver.. Dumped stuff, picked up stuff and arrived back in time for super storm on Thursday! Plants had all survived!

Resting? The house was SO hot!! On 30th we spent most of day in relative cool of the shade at R’s parental home where I read while R plumbed in the cool basement.

Then on 1st we went on a 3 hour journey – which took 6 and a half hours. But my car has AC!!! Our destination was just as hot as the city but somehow it seems cooler in the country – trees! I read in the fairly comfy house while R looked at damage from intruders. The driveway is a mile long and there is no electric so an alarm is out of question. The damage was not as bad as we feared. We arrived back to city at midnight. On the way up: couple yard sales at which R bought very useful items: beautiful doors for the reno on parents house! And a tool storage unit which he actually organized on Monday so I no longer have to trip over stuff in the K!!! Big YAY!

I am finding trips exhausting and the future will have to contain fewer. Two – three days recouping after each! Also, my efforts to de-clutter grass with wonderful mower and weed eater aggravates the pain in back but if I so some each day… It does look better. I continue to drink the anti-inflammation tea.

I am intrigued that 80F in this house is not as bad as 75F in the city house???? Did a load on laundry today and some grass de-clutter. Weeding is on-going, in small chunks!

Charmion, I, too, would have suggested raised beds. So much easier on the back. I can sit on the edges of mine and don’t have to bend over so far to weed.

Something ate the cabbage plants but everything else is OK. I do think something is harvesting strawberries; covered them with screening.

Still down that 5 pounds and perhaps one more.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jul 18 - 10:53 PM

Dorothy, I haven't stepped on the scale in ages. I know the Prednisone is hammering me, though I'm still tapering and am down to 2mg a day this month. My rheumatologist and I have discussed the exit strategy for September, and we hope I'll be off if it then and all of my attention to calories and calcium will finally result in no more shrinkage (height) but weight loss (30+ pounds).

I picked up some wonderful produce today at my discount grocery, and plan to can (process) both beets and carrots tomorrow. I've been freezing fresh blueberries that I'll use with the good yogurt I bought there (vanilla yogurt with frozen blueberries stirred in is like blueberry sorbet). I steamed a big batch of carrots tonight that had gotten a little old; they're okay for adding to the dog kibble for moisture and fiber, and they love cooked veggies.

I mentioned Katlaughing earlier because I was had been looking at some photos put up by her daughter and her grandson on Facebook. He's growing so big, and she was so very proud of him. We were all his "Mudcat aunties," and I'm glad to stay in touch through Facebook. He's still artistic, and still musical. And I suspect he's big enough now to look out for himself, something we worried about when he was smaller and artistically inclined. He also still has the wonderful dogs wandering through his room, a connection we regularly share - the dog photos and humor.

As with a few days ago, I have a blue heeler on the rug at my feet, under my desk. She isn't a lap dog; that's an uncomfortable maneuver when attempted, but she loves to step up to give kisses and to stay close-by. She has hairless spots at the bone ends where she sits that make me think she spent a lot of time on concrete or in an enclosure. Was a month or two in a shelter enough for that? She has the choice here of carpet, dog beds, or tile, so I assume she chooses to sleep on the small throw rug at my feet for proximity.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Jul 18 - 08:04 AM

Acme, Newbie is apparently a good amount of heeler plus boxer, currently about 45 pounds. Her 'lap' time (only when invited) is hind parts between my knees on the recliner's leg rest, shoulders across my thighs, with sleepy head reachable by my hands. It helps that it's an electric lift recliner-- once she's up I can tip us back with a remote, so she's not slipping off/clawing up/wiggly. About an hour, before bedtime, warms me up as the house chills rapidly to the overnite temp of 66°! It's quite interesting to hold her that way when she's dreaming. Not twitchy dreams of running-- fear dreams, probably processing old homeless trauma.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Jul 18 - 01:31 PM

Ohio:

I re-thought and completed the office corner configuration this afternoon after the failed first attempt yesterday. While trying unsuccessfully to sleep a bit later, at wakies this AM, I envisioned various possible schemes-- even one using both of the pretty cubby bases Hardi had made for me in PA, but the one I went with uses one base.

The first iteration had 3 cubby towers side by side, making a 36" wide x 30" tall set of 9 cubbies, on top of a 9" base. Too tall and probably 1/2" too wide. Topper too heavy to place by myself, and logistics for planks needed too complicated.

The next idea I envisioned was putting the cubbies on their sides as often used, with a base below plus a base on top covered with a plank as a bohemian top shelf-- without the heavy but pretty topper. The topper is also divided into cubbies. I thought about other uses in other rooms. ... NO. WANT IN OFFICE.

So I laid two towers on their sides, on a base. The first workspace inch I gained was immediately apparent-- this is very close to the typing desk. The base and first cubby are 13" deep to the wall because of an outlet behind it with a flat plug, to a height of 21". The next cubby on the stack goes to the wall-- 12". The topper goes to the wall and is only 9" deep-- plus its bottom section is open (not cubbied), and gives a lovely display area for photos and pretty encil cup.

So in total, the now-reunified stack is 6.5" inches narrower than the first attempt, due to laying the cubbies on their sides. It also gives quite a bit more elbow room for the desk's occupant, because the lower height and multiple 'steps' back in depth as it rises create both visual and actual space.

Also I was able to lift the topper to this height by myself (barely!).

The previous attempt yielded nine cubbies all in one bank of cubbies, to the left of the workstation. This one is only 6 plus topper. The other three are vertical, on what will be the left side of the corner desk which will now fit loosely behind the workstation-- for bills due and bills paid.

All these cubbies won't be furnished with their decor and files until Brittney swabs them clean on Wednesday-- the PA filth was never removed, in the haste of unloading around Tyler's mess.

=S=

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Jul 18 - 06:46 PM

Ohio:

Cataloguing continues bit today I whizzed up brochure copy for a map of the stacks. Also this brief summary of Topic areas now included:

LIBERATION LIBRARY TOPICS IN FIVE BOOKSHELVES AND A TOWER
As of July 7, 2018, shelves have been added and reorganized into these general sections, each comprising a number of Topic Kits:

1. Leadership Development, Classism, Colonialism
2. Heritages
3. Life
4. Adultism and Alliance
5. US Racism, White Supremacy, Black Liberation
6. Music (music continued in Living Room and elsewhere)

>S<

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 08 Jul 18 - 07:25 PM

Beaver:
Another load of laundry- flannel sheet set from a yard sale that stink of fabric softener or toxic detergent. Still smell after washing so I will leave them on the line for a few days - until rain threatens or the sun rids them of the vile odour.

Fly-in Breakfast at the airport today. Wonderful annual event. About 50 planes fly in from around Ontario and then out again. Neighbour was glad I told her about it as "the planes were coming with a vengeance..." On deck was a local internet provider; they will come out this week to see if they can help. It would run about $60 for unlimited; the "stick" is costing 70 to 90/month for next to nothing. The catch is that this is only for one venue; I would still need to use the stick for other two. It would cost more but I would be able to do more. The jury is still out.

Finally have energy back but it is too warm for outdoor work, even in studio, and back is still hurting. Tomorrow...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jul 18 - 10:26 PM

After several days off in a row I've managed to push the eBay listings up to where I like them to be, taken stuff to Goodwill, cleared out the fridge, and restocked fresh produce. I put four quarts of fresh blueberries into the freezer on a tray and are now like blue marbles for one of my favorite desserts - vanilla yogurt with frozen blueberries stirred in. It's almost like a sorbet that way, not very sweet, but just enough, and a great source of calcium.

Today was also cooking for the week and preparing veggies for the dogs. I had some broccoli for me that turned out to have aphids - they can't be washed out, but the dogs won't care. They already had some cooked carrots, so they're set. I have a couple of dishes, my crustless quiche, and some soup from things that needed to be used from the freezer. If I don't cook ahead I'm apt to pick up something on the way home that has more calories and sodium than is healthy, that's just the nature of fast food.

Kicking back with a cup of chamomile tea, marveling at the fact that North Texas seems to be a cool spot in the nation this weekend. I think we topped out at 92, while LA was burning up, as high as 117. Oy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Jul 18 - 10:31 AM

Beaver:

Inspired by Maggie's rush of energy - but I have none! Love the frozen blueberries in yogurt idea.

Another load of laundry this am, off the bed this time. Drying in lovely breeze. The polluted ones are still on the line also.

Pain in back reached high point last night and after a mini panic, I managed to get a comfrey compress on it; immediate relief! Wanted to use weed eater this am while it was still cool, but it self destructed in first two seconds. Trip to hardware later. Looking around for another chore I could manage, I am resigned to resting a while. I need to find a schedule that coordinates energy with the heat/cool of the day. Each day being different...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Jul 18 - 07:30 PM

Ohio:

It's ridiculous how much I love office supplies. Since I didn't know I'd need all my cash for a plumber, I splurged on a 12-pack of colorful magazine files to keep those handfuls of wobbly, newsprint journals from flopping around and getting torn. Got a great price though. They arrived just before the plumber arrived, and fortunately the plumbing bill wasn't too bad. Ten minutes to put them together and 20 more to fill them up-- and I just LOVE having them! They make great bookends to divide topics that have to share a shelf, too.

[S]

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jul 18 - 09:11 PM

I have a couple of chores that I can do piecemeal - trimming around the edge of the garden, and experimenting with a hand vac and grabbing up some of the worst of the garden pests. It works but imperfectly, but it is an inexpensive device and it is an experiment. If I have to drag the long electric cord from storage each time they'll never get done, so I figured out that if I set up the cord in the garage, it's long enough to drag the working end out to the garden. Open the door, trim the grass around the chard, etc., and put it away again. Out of sight, out of possible rain or hit by the sprinkler. Sprinkler more than weather, though that may be reversed this week.

Yesterday I made the mistake of drinking ice tea with dinner and the combo of caffeine and bursitis kept me from getting to sleep easily. I feel an early night coming on this evening, and if I'm lucky I'll listen to rain on the roof as storms drift through the area. The only tea is chamomile.

It takes people a little while to discover things listed on eBay; there are a few watchers (I wonder if eBay has a service where you can send those folks a note saying "this isn't an auction, the price isn't changing, go ahead and buy it before someone else beats you to it!") The eBay listings aren't so representative of energy as they are of heat avoidance.

Susan, I also have a long-running relationship with office supplies. Over the years we had them as school supplies for the kids, and now that they're long out of school, I regularly encounter caches of materials that if I think I won't use them any time soon, I usually donate to Goodwill. I sell some things online if they're old and collectible (yes, there are office supplies in that category). I find myself thinking "if someone is doing the stage set for a 1980s television program, and they want current items, these would work, so they're listed accordingly. I don't know that any of these things have wound up on stage or screen, but who knows? Someone collects them.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Jul 18 - 10:29 PM

Acme, our PA office supply store buys out similar stores going out of business. I won't say they're both antiques as we might think of them, but I have two VERY nice (and heavy!!!) 3-hole punches that are definitely not what you'd find now at Staples. (One almost looks steampunk.) The new ones all punch too close to the edge of the page. And rip in the binder, right away.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Jul 18 - 10:06 AM

Long-running relationship with office supplies -- hahahaha! I have a single-hole punch, a table-type paper-cutter and a pair of huge shears, all inherited from my long-dead father. I regret having disposed of his typewriter some years ago -- reluctantly, and only because years had passed since I could find any replacement ribbons -- because now typewriters are collectors' items and the Internet has made it possible to find the one weirdo in North America who has begun producing typewriter ribbons again ... !

Yes. I, too, have a long-running relationship with office supplies. It's definitely a thing.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Jul 18 - 11:06 AM

One of my most treasured Christmas gifts: a LAMINATOR! OMG I'd always wanted one and there it was!!! Mine-- not the parish's. I use it all the time.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 18 - 09:36 PM

My father was a retired librarian (and folk singer and ethno-musicologist) who wouldn't be comfortable at home in his retirement without many of the accouterments of a typical library office, so I inherited his paper cutter, some of his filing cabinets and materials, and because he was the first audio-visual resource librarian at his college, many of his machines and tape editing materials. And where his collection falls short, it seems interesting stuff is turning up these days at thrift stores. I picked up a robust three-hold punch that I use often, and other things are part of my office setup in the sunroom where my eBay processing takes place. Postal scales, for example. Good rulers. I'll stop here before I catalog it all.

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

Lol, if I had a flat space open for it I'd have to have a paper cutter here. I feel deprived but honestly there is no place either to store one or use one, even hung on a wall. I pray they have one at the senior center!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jul 18 - 09:14 AM

Ohio:

The night's sleep was divided by a very long, productive waking time where I created a backup access to my research work in case emergency precludes finishing it, topped off with a nifty 1-pager of search sources in the order I use them. And a save on a database with info missed from the project owner's initial assignment to me-- more cases to add to the project.

The 1-pager will make batch research efficient but comprehensive, and serve as a pastable template to start each case's research, with links to each DB I use right there in the page. Since I use various computers, no more need to save a folder of bookmarks everywhere I go!

Today-- cleaner attacks office in LL and laundry machines.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jul 18 - 01:58 PM

Ohio (cleaner day):

All recycling gathered. LL dog bed laundry running after I removed dog corner goum from the washer from ydy's wash of plumbing leak nasty towels. Lamp in LL swapped in for floor fluorescent light. Did a round of research before notebook froze for its next restart. Turned printer sideways, for less crowded spacing to get to desk.

LL should be nice after clng-- lots of floor space already cleared. Messy rug in there leaving temporarily too-- needs to be cut into 4 mats.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jul 18 - 04:16 PM

Ohio:

Brittney broke the agency's "no ladders/stools" protocol to reach down the two HEAVY US Indigenous and Latinx/La Raza boxes for me!!! Those last two Topic Kits are now shelved!!! Whew!

While she cleaned floor and cubbies in the LL, I annotated the remaining journals that had turned up in a LR shelf-swap a few weeks ago-- so those are now shelved too, in their magazine files.

We also ran a straying extension cord behind two bookcases, so the whole floor is now clear and clean. Newbie's dog bedding is just coming out of the dryer. We are open for business!

÷S÷

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Jul 18 - 09:09 AM

It's a beautiful day in Perth County, so I went for a three-mile walk this morning instead of lounging around reading the paper. It's near the peak of tourist season and Stratford is looking wonderful: gardens bursting with colour, shops groaning with delectable stuff to buy, even the ducks, geese and swans generating large quantities of cuteness on every hand. Truly, it's a Magic Kingdom when it tries -- and in tourist season, it's all hands to the pumps.

Himself set off to bail court this morning in his lawyerly grey suit livened up with a mauve shirt and a purple tie, all topped off with a white Panama hat with a scarlet band perched on his crown of silver curls. If he's not Stratford's most sharp-dressed man, I'd like to know who is.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 18 - 10:34 AM

What a lovely image - I can see himself in that suit, hat, and hair out walking past the ducks, geese and swans. :) Sounds like something out of Colette (I'm thinking of technicolor like MGM's Gigi with the gentlemen in the park).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Jul 18 - 11:32 AM

Ohio:

Finished research project-- one document left to email, from another computer I'll visit this afternoon.

It was researching for family of 53 persons in the Dayton area who died during an interaction with police. The databases I used turned up more cases to include in the project, but I'm taking a break first.

When I "finish", I'll summarize what types of interactions were involved. Several who died were bystanders mowed down in police chases, so I'll be looking at neighborhood characteristics-- what types lead police to exercise obviously inadequate safety precautions.

It was really sad to see so many without obituaries. I did find grave records for most of those, but the photos of their markers show no family names or inscriptions. :-( The circumstances of the deaths are sad, but this part.... people shouldn't be disposable like that.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Jul 18 - 08:25 PM

Beaver:
Thoughts arising: I, too, regret the demise of my Dad's ancient Royal typewriter after too many moves! And office supplies - all of the fore-mentioned. Postal scales are used for weighing clay: one pound = mug, etc... As for the very long electrical cords: I just leave it out there so I can pick up where I left off (the joy of being in the boonies) but roll it up when leaving for extended times and hand it on a large hook outside the tool shed. Anything to conserve my bits of energy.

Tourists: Life in cottage country one of the main routes to Algonquin Park. It sometimes feel as though it would be better to stay home until Labour Day! Getting through the 3 blocks of downtown Bancroft... City folks would laugh!

Kilns: yesterday's attempt at bisque firing resulted in not quite as high as I wanted but they look fit to glaze! A good look at "new kiln" elicits a need to put it in the car and take it to Toronto for help!

Bridge over brook is in process. It will have slight arch - enough to look interesting but not so much as to make it hard for me to navigate, with a hand rail on west side - which I shall surely need. Stained grey, it will be almost invisible. I shall need to cut the "weeds"; most people would refer to weeds but they are food for bees, etc and we have actually seen a couple monarchs here lately! So I shall make a path to the bridge but leave most uncut. The front looks nice with short grass around raised beds. Also considering energy- mine! So, still need paths to library and back sheds, outhouse and decks.

But, most of all, need a kiln that functions! Tomorrow...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Jul 18 - 01:29 AM

Ohio:

God help me: I just turned my LL recliner to face outward towards the bookcases and door, and suddenly I've got the full view of this Liberation Library monster I've been creating, really for the first time. It needs more magazine files. Any idiot could see that.

So of course I just ordered another 12-pack because they're cheaper per unit that way than a 6-pack now and another one next week.

I had 3 lightweight plastic ones that are brittle and breaking, that I'll retire into my personal files space, and four very heavy plastic but ugly ones, ditto. And several Topic Kits where a few loose journals are better corralled, with books or videos to fill out the magazine file snugly. They stand with more stability when they're full.

It won't be long before I have to order the much wider (matching cardboard) magazine files to contain each Kit's books and films. I know I'm moving in that direction.... God help me!

+S+

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 Jul 18 - 11:06 AM

Beaver:

Talking with staff at the pottery supply yesterday renewed my guts; I opened the control panels on each recalcitrant kiln this am and ordered parts - to replace elements and connectors on one and help for kiln sitter on other. Conferred on reason two elements not working on kiln2 and sent pics of corroded connections. Awaiting further info.

Yay for me! And yay for Thomas support! I feel so much better. About that bit of life anyway! All this before BF! 11am already! And dreadfully hot - must be the humidity as it is allegedly only 23C, about 75F. Already up to 71 inside but does not seem so hot as it is not humid - yet! Not doing much outside today.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Jul 18 - 12:19 PM

Go DP!!! (Girl power!)

Ohio:

Awaiting lawn crew for special instructions, so have to stay home. :-( Bummed: urgent and very brief errand downtown.

Very full chix crockpot going.

LL photo shoot prep and LL ofc hsehold mgmt progress:

Furniture/dogbed/etc. tweaked for easy bookcase access.

Misc bills (due and paid) moved to designated LL ofc cubbies.

Other misc LL 'to-sort' stacks and boxes assigned cubbies. Two project cubbies plus one personal health mgmt cubby assigned and filled.

Stray workstation cords/cables re-run, in prep for tying cables. (Not yet-- photo shoot will require moving desk slightly.)

Art planning in LL. Chair doze listening for mowers-- none.

SURJ mentor updated.

Several OFUA files saved off email.

LL trash cans lined and locations settled.
.


Kitchen cleared of groceris to stow; reusable bags assigned to scooter and car, and stowed for next shoppings.

? ?
\ /
/ \
\ /
..S..

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jul 18 - 10:54 AM

Decluttering AT&T of the profit that comes from my having a cell phone account with them. My son is my guinea pig, in that he switched to TING last summer, and I researched it, then asked him again how he likes it. I've ordered their SIM card and will cut my phone bill by about $40 a month. This works because the last phone I bought, while it came with the usual AT&T bloatware, was purchased over Amazon and was unlocked. If I had a standard AT&T issue phone I'd have to go through several steps to unlock it first.

The kitchen table is cleared off. The counters are on their way to being cleared. I have a bag of stuff to take to recycling bins, and I brought home a box from work to use to package an eBay item. Once that is prepared for listing, there will be a little bit of clear space in the sunroom.

I'm debating about participation in that "passing books along" thread, but it might not be economically rational, since I'd be paying to send extra books to people who requested them and probably not getting very many books back in return. There are many places locally I can take the books I don't want and sell or donate them. I'll save that site for special books.

Good luck with the kiln repairs, Dorothy. Today I'm in the process of keeping my computer's HP printer in service by replacing the toner cartridge - it seems the HP-branded cartridges are now "clearance priced" ($206 down from $270) but I always spend about $60 for a knockoff. That electronic store isn't carrying those now, so I'm researching knockoff cartridges online. Why should I stop using my perfectly good old printer because they want to sell new printers?

It's a hot week coming up. Any hose dragging or running the trimmer needs to happen today before the worst of it hits (it's never cool here in the summer, but sometimes it is less hot, if you can understand that distinction.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Jul 18 - 07:48 PM

Beaver:

RE heat: I DO get the distinction. For me anything over 75 is TOO HOT!

Neighbour stopped in for visit on Fri and is coming tomorrow with some sort of device to determine how the electric is or is not flowing in Kiln2! I am prepared - mentally - to work on Kiln1 when parts arrive!

Today I went to yard sales, farm market, visit with long time but rarely seen friends, and an interment at a local cemetery of friend long not seen. Best part was seeing her wonderful ex who was such a joy when they were neighbours; He has not aged a day in 20 years! He just does not have as much energy - must be at least 90! What a role model!

Yard sale: 4 very nice bed pillows! One garden canopy for $20! And a Michael Dumas Owl print. Since I cannot find the fabric for the poles I have, this seemed a real de-clutter. I hope to put it up over the kiln area on back deck for shade. Maybe early tomorrow morning.

Strangely, today it did not seem super hot anywhere until I got out of the car at home and -WHEW! In spite of breeze all day, I melted; put a wet wash cloth on my head and read. About 6 pm went out and did some weeding. Worried about lack of rain but tiny beets and carrots seem to be fine. Lots of animal depredation - woodchuck? rabbits? It was on today's agenda to build covers for beds but the heat defeated that. I have a plan but will have to wait for Monday to get supplies. EARLY!

Cooler now but the bugs are vicious and I don't want to bring any more inside!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 14 Jul 18 - 08:54 PM

We are home from vacation.....we had such a wonderful time!

My car is decluttered of almost all vacation items (which have been put away and second load of laundry is in the washer).

My mom joined us for a few days which was particularly nice! She left some items behind...some intentional, some not so much...and those will stay in the car until tomorrow.

I did NOT bring home another coffee mug....I wanted to....but did not. I collect tack pins so I have 2 more to add to my travelling hat and 2 magnets...and one t-shirt for Jeremiah. I am all proud of myself as we visited several souvenir shops on one of our days being out and about....I love tacky vacation stuff...it's just FUN (none of it is necessary I know...LOL) but I didn't bring home anything more than the 2 pins and 2 magnets as a remembrance of our trip. I took lots of photos, all of which can be seen on Facebook if anyone has any interest.

I'm glad to be home and tomorrow I will be even more happy as all my fur babies will be home too.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jul 18 - 10:42 PM

I enjoyed seeing the photos on facebook, Michelle! It looked like a good length of time to be gone, so you weren't tired of the travel (well, maybe the last few miles home?) Vacations are refreshing, and they help you see your world through new eyes for a little while when you get home.

Today was mostly online work and filing, despite the slightly cooler temperatures and a few things that need doing outside. The rest of the week is supposed to be awful.

Truth be told, I have to do the kind of office work Susan has been doing, but the focus is to organize my father's music collection. Getting rid of extra stuff that won't contribute to the project has been part of my eBay activity - things I've listed include vintage equipment and materials I won't need. But I'm not to the actual sorting yet.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 18 - 10:30 AM

Early morning chores are the only way to at least stay even with the yard work in hot weather; I didn't get ahead by taking the trimmer out on that cord plugged into the garage (there is more that still needs doing), but I cleared out tall grass and weeds that were threatening to encroach on the chard and basil, so I'll continue to have a crop. And the windshield washer fluid is filled (though I think there is a leak in the lines and that's on my list of things to check next trip to the service department.)

eBay continues to have watchers but no recent sales to those folks. It goes in cycles, so perhaps after the first of the month there will be some movement. During nice weather, unless it's super hot like down here, there are many pleasanter things to be doing than playing on the computer.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Jul 18 - 01:27 PM

Ohio:

Wanting to go from 2 hours of weekly cleaning to 3 to facilitate unpacking-mess help, it turns out that to keep my same schedule and cleaner, the only option for now is to go to 4 hours, not 3, because the agency schedules everyone for 2 hour slots plus 1/2 hour travel.

The Area Agency on Aging happily authorized that at no cost to us!

To keep that trash-day schedule and cleaner; Brittney's 2nd slot for me means adding a second day. Here's how I hope it will shake put (I used to manage a clng svc):

Tuesday: (me)
Prep bath, make grocery list, choose garage project

Wednesday: (Brittney, prep for Thursday)
Trash gathered and out
Dust/cln woodwork of fingermarks - rotate 1 rm moving stuff and/or bed change help
Bathroom incl wall, woodwork
Garage - carry unpacked stuff in to dust and place on K table
(I go get groceries)


Thurs (Brittney, prep for company)
Recycling 3 bags (K, LL), bring back trash can
Vacuum - rotate 1 rm moving stuff or help bring in larger garage items
Kitchen incl put away groceries if requested
Patio trash
(I do errands/wash & replace dog linens)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Jul 18 - 09:21 PM

Beaver:

In the cool of last eve, I managed to place screening over the gardens! The critters have been well fed! Today was too hot for anything but Larry came and checked out kiln2 (in the shade!) I have better info to ask about tomorrow. Tonight I started moving the old wood pile to make room for this year's wood. This will take a while! I judge at least a full bush cord to be moved. Some weeding done and some watering by the 3/4 bucketful! Hoping for a bit of rain tomorrow. Otherwise, I kept cool by reading most of day.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 16 Jul 18 - 09:31 AM

Decluttering my work computer by moving a backup copy of projects I worked on (mostly just to have a record of the photos I took) via a portable hard drive. Once it finishes loading into the home computer I'll take it back for the rest of the data. I do this every so often. I also need to move around the various home videos I've converted to AVI and then to VOB and mp4. Digital heavy lifting.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Jul 18 - 11:10 PM

Ohio:

My big whup today was taking a chair out of the guest room closet and putting two huge (stacked) bins IN the closet. I also put away the clean laundry in the two laundry hampers that had languished on the guest room floor.

Since the whole room is a mere 9×9 feet with a bed and a big recliner in it, I'd gotten used to zero walk space in there. It feels and looks quite spacious now-- but more importantly, it's finally clear enough for a good vacuuming job. This is the room Tyler had trashed the worst, and it will finally get its turn for a good cleaning, Wednesday!!!

+S+

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Jul 18 - 09:03 AM

Beaver:

Wonderful storm yesterday! Watered the gardens!! Bit cooler today and predicted more so for the next few. Continue to get many small things done in short spurts. They add up!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Jul 18 - 05:32 PM

Ohio:

My 12-pack of magazine files just arrived and have been put into use-- sure enough, I only have two left! :-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jul 18 - 10:01 PM

Ported the number from AT&T and lost WiFi calling in the process; apparently only T-Mobile branded phones can use that feature. I don't use it often, but I'll set up Skype or something like that to take the place.

Right now it's so hot that everything is done slowly and deliberately. Today it hit 107, Saturday is supposed to hit 109. I'm carrying a parasol-like umbrella around with me and that helps. Going to work early avoids some of the hot travel but it puts us outside travelling home during the worst heat of the day. Ugg. Keeping an eye on the garden and making sure the dogs have plenty of water (they can come in and out through the dog door, which I purchased a couple of years ago for use during really hot weather - the dogs insist it needs to stay in place year-round.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Jul 18 - 10:49 PM

Ohio:

My cleaning plan worked beautifully and prepared the way to unpack two items to adorn my big, wide dresser-- a prayer shawl from my 2012 surgical complications which has our bedroom's colors in it, and a big treasure chest Hardi gave me years ago.

÷S÷

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jul 18 - 11:00 PM

Susan, it's beginning to sound like you found another Winchester House in Ohio.

Paperwork after the phone work. And general hanging out. There are two dogs asleep on the cool tile floor in my office, and I'll bet money that the third is in her favorite spot on the tile in the hall nearby. There's not much else to do when the outside temperature is still over 100.

A portable high-capacity hard drive arrived so I can do some backup work that needs doing.

I need to go pick stuff in the garden in the morning before it gets too warm. Most of my garden work needs to happen now, because the next week is still super hot out there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jul 18 - 11:30 AM

The same storm system that watered Dorothy's garden hit us in Stratford, in three squall lines spaced over the afternoon and evening on Monday. It was GREAT! Knocked back the stifling humidity, and we've had lovely cool evenings this week.

My elder brother and his wife are visiting us this week, taking in the local sights (such as they are) and the Stratford Festival, which is (of course) all about The Theatah and Culture with a capital C. I'm having a hard time keeping my tidying impulses under control as they strew newspapers and novels around the sitting room and leave damp towels where damp towels should never be left.

I might be on the brink of curmudgeon-dom. God forbid.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Jul 18 - 04:40 PM

Beaver:
Managed to put up canopy on back deck on Tues, so I have shade to work on kiln. Took about two hours and was a lot of exercise! Now I need to screw the legs down. Then, Change kiln elements and check it out.

Weds was a day of talking with a couple friends on phone to sort out life-things, unclutter the brain, sort wheat from chaff. And reading mindless novels helps too!

Today:
Fetched the Michael Dumas racoon print from out on Baptiste Lake, read newspaper and flyers; Checked with a few people re internet service; found out it is not so great yet! Realized it was a busy Thurs and went shopping before it got worse on Friday. Bought a rain barrel on sale for north downspout; have one - not installed - for south one; Thinking another one for east would be good; the eavestroughs for east are in the shed if Dan has time to install them. This would make easy watering for each of the raised beds! Might get more done in the cool of the evening. Beautiful breezy day!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jul 18 - 08:22 PM

Scuttling from one spot of shade to another, parasol in hand to stay a little cooler; right now there is very little movement as we go one hot day to the next. We broke at record today at 108^o. A bowl of potato chips, a glass of wine is dinner. Not much alcohol because of the dehydrating effect.

My washer has a delay setting so it ran during the early hours, and I wish I'd had time to hang the clothes on the line because they would dry quickly, but they went into the box of hot air in my laundry room. At least it was still early.

Dorothy, once you're out of the house you're selling and moved into the house you're buying, will you have a special name for that venue, or will it simply be another house in town?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Jul 18 - 03:26 PM

Ohio:

The 22 cases to research were done ydy, and I'm taking a break before diving into either older cases (which are harder and more frustrating), a small group of unidentified victims (I lack the connections for now for the necessary nonversations), or other cities' longer lists (awaiting a faster loaner laptop).

But giving that project my after-brekky time each day has formed a great new habit-- morning time is now firmly desktime. So bill-paying which has been chaotically unpredictable was the natural activity today, this first day without cases to research.

I'll use desktime for financial time, and cataloguing time, but not every day during vacay-- Hardi arrives Monday or Tuesday for FUN-time. I have to be here mid-day for the cleaner Wednesdays and Thursdays, so I'll finish off the unfinished cataloguing then!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Jul 18 - 05:05 PM

PS "nonversation" is not a typo.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 18 - 07:41 PM

The second part of setting up the phone with the new phone company is to adjust the APN (access point name) settings to the new company. The phone and text worked, but not the Internet. Now it's up and running. Whew!

I'm looking at stacks of paperwork needing attention this weekend, and anything outdoors that needs attention I'll go out very early to take care of. Tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest of this streak.

Two eBay items sold this week. They're small, but it all adds up. The best of the two sales was three aqua colored Luminarc 500ml glasses that I bought for .89 each. The box went for $23 plus priority shipping. And when I compared Priority services, I was able to use the Zone A box and save $2 out of the shipping she paid. So - I sold about $3 of glasses for $25. But they're collectible, it's not like she was hit with a high price, I was lucky to spot and grab them at Goodwill, and my sale came in a little under what some of the others were selling per-piece. This doesn't happen often, but it's what I aim for.

Now to feed dogs then get to the paperwork.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 18 - 03:13 PM

Of course it's probably the hottest day of the summer, but it was time to start picking grapes on the vines in the tree across the road from my house. I spent about 90 minutes out there, drank a couple of quart tankards of water, and came back with about 15 pounds of grapes to run through the steam juicer (in progress) for making grape jelly.

I keep a stash of a rarely-used items in a corner behind the Hoosier kitchen/kitchen queen in the far end of my kitchen, and when it's time for the juicing I pull a stool out of there that is the perfect height to support the gallon jar I decant the hot juice into. I hunted around the house for my other juicing season device, an oscillating fan on a stand that keeps the kitchen comfortable. I think this time I'll see if it will also fit behind the kitchen queen. (This fan was a garage sale find for $3, and I had to do a little repair, but it's a champ at this task.)

At work I found a good archival box in the recycling bin and also a large Container Store bag. I brought them home, not sure what the box will be used for yet, but the goal with the Container Store bag is to fill it soon and take it to the Goodwill. I usually take things in bags, but was out of the large ones.

Must go check on the juice.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Jul 18 - 06:54 PM

Ohio:

The after-brekey desktime habit tried loudly to call me, but I'm determined not to resume cataloguing until Wednesday and Thursday during cleaner-time-- and the only other thing waitin in there is sorting some small boxes of misx stuff.... Nope! Call again tomorrow! :-)

~s~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Jul 18 - 08:04 PM

Beaver:
Still working up to repairing the kiln! I think I have gathered the necessary tools but still need the energy at a time of day that it is in the shade!

Very little accomplished here this week. At the moment, I am giving serious consideration to de-cluttering my head of a great deal of hair - back to very short. I used to do it myself all the time. -? I think it was the pain in shoulder that stopped me. Maybe tonight.... ???? It won't matter if I get half way through and need to finish tomorrow.

Dan finished the bridge today. It looks great! my wallet? not so great! I almost called it off but really wanted it. Now I wonder why and what use I will get of it. Hope R appreciates it. It is built to last! No pic going on FB as I am not sure it is legal. No one can see it from the road; Have to be out back to get a view!

No name yet for new house. Maybe when we are actually able to move in.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 18 - 11:16 PM

Illegal bridge building! Dorothy! What will you be up to next?

I had my first okra from the garden this evening, rolled in fishfry and fried in shallow oil. Mmmm! I sprayed soap on the plants last week and it got rid of a major part of the aphid problem so the flowers are blooming and producing finally; there's one plant that needs more attention. And I think the garden is too wet, the eggplant are suffering from it so I'm going to relocate the sprinkler heads. I already reduced the frequency on watering from every two days to three.

There are five quarts of grape juice tucked away in the door of the fridge, and maybe next weekend I'll start the jelly making. I have a lot left from last summer so I may take up a friend's suggestion and sell some of it on eBay (there is a "cottage law" here so you can sell foods prepared in a home kitchen, as long as they meet certain categories.) Market it as the year of 2017 jelly (since the 2018 crop isn't officially in yet).

I didn't mention earlier that there is a problem with both ants and ticks, so after picking I went straight to the back yard and used my patio shower, undressing and showering back there, then putting all of the clothes into the washer. They'll wash overnight when there is less power demand. Any bugs will die in the laundry.

The fan is tucked behind the kitchen queen with the stool and a few other items. The kitchen is clean - the juicing process takes a lot of large pots.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 18 - 10:57 AM

This morning I decided I was tired of looking at the small plastic dog house and a large plastic covered cat litter pan beside the garage, so they're both down at the curb. Trash day is tomorrow, but I predict these will be gone before noon. If not, I'll tuck them into the SUV and take them to Goodwill before the trash pickup.

I'm on my way to accumulating items for that Container Store shopping bag. I'd love to make a run this afternoon and drop it off while I'm working on a couple of other things.

Cooking this morning, to get a jump on meals for the week. And darn, but I had to toss a couple of pounds of chicken that thawed on the counter but were left out hours longer by mistake. No point in risking cooking it now. I have another one in the freezer and I'll be more careful defrosting this time. I have bread and milk that need using, so bread pudding is on the menu, and squash and eggplant that need cooking, so my squash casserole and breaded fried eggplant for Parmesan. The patties freeze beautifully and I can assemble Parmesan later, but I also assemble a few in Pyrex single-serving containers and freeze those.

Laundry is ready to hang on the line. I need to use what energy I have now, because when it hits 109^o again this afternoon, I'll stick to the shadows and barely move.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 22 Jul 18 - 03:04 PM

Not much to post here. This was the first week back to work after our vacation. I'm happy to say that it went much smoother than anticipated.

I went to yoga this week. It's the first time in a long time and I felt it for 2 days after....it was a good kind of pain though....it let's me know I was working some dormant muscles.

On the declutter front, the kitchen microwave has been tossed. It's needed to go for some time. I have a new to me microwave in storage in the mudroom. It will have to be wiped down but should work beautifully. It belonged to my grandparents. It belonged to my grandparents and was given to me when the house was sold.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Jul 18 - 03:47 PM

Ohio:

Thoroughly enjoyed taking a weekend off from decluttering and research. During my break a volunteer came forward to help with the last batch.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 18 - 09:56 PM

Dog house and litter box are gone, as anticipated. Two bags of trash at the curb - I rarely have more than one, and that only every couple of weeks, but I cleaned out the fridge and emptied paper shredders and such. Didn't make it to Goodwill; in fact I did very little that involved going out. I did cook this evening because I had garden produce I wanted to use; the eggplants are now breaded and fried and in both the freezer and in a pan baked and ready for the week. I made individual portions for the freezer. I also cooked up three of the zucchini and yellow squash in a casserole I usually make. I really hate it when I wait too long and end up tossing the garden produce. Tomorrow I'll seed and slice jalapenos to freeze, though as small as they are, sometimes I simply wash them and freeze them whole and seed and slice them later when I need them.

It's day to day here to see if the garden survives this heat. Some of my potted plants I have no idea about - if they're too hot or too wet trying to keep them alive.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jul 18 - 09:18 AM

I have finally recovered from a week of house guests. They're nice people -- in fact, family! -- but I'm more than a bit of an introvert and home is the only place where I can indulge that part of my personality, so any intrusion in that space, however welcome, is kinda disturbing. The weekend was largely about reading, interspersed with grocery shopping and cooking, while Perth County enjoyed some welcome rain.

Today I return to normal programming, with a gym workout and several loads of laundry, plus work on the Afghanistan book. I have almost reached the end of the main text, with only the Epilogue to go before I hit the appendices, which are mostly lists of jargon and abbreviations. I am eager to finish this project, as it reminds me too vividly of the tension that pervaded the operational headquarters where I worked throughout Canada's involvement in the Afghan insurgency. Sometimes I regret having read so much about the United States in Viet Nam; I rather resent the "same shit, different day" feeling I had while our task forces were deployed in Afghanistan, and I am having all over again as I work on this book.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 23 Jul 18 - 10:06 AM

Charmion, the worst case of Groundhog Day, that SSDD stuff has been going on here for the last year and a half. It makes hunkering down at home with the news off all the more important for good mental health. Especially living in a border state where it is ground zero for a lot of this nonsense.

This weekend I found some discounted steaks at the grocery store and they're all Seal-a-Mealed into the freezer for a dozen or so meals. It's the only way I can afford to buy beef, but ironically, the "aged" beef is at its most tender, as a friend who used to work in a butcher shop once told me.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Jul 18 - 01:04 PM

Beaver:
re bridge: My belief is that there was a bridge there already so we merely replaced it; it should be "grandfathered in". It is s lovely bridge and does not impede any critters or water flow. Maybe a beaver will come visit!

re family visits: Did I mention that our take on that last wonderful visit was, "Family is exhausting!" dil agreed! But we parted with love.

I finally started the kiln this am. Put in first element (of 4) was a lat more difficult than I expected and it was about 4 inches too long so I will have to try again. Also requested wiring diagram as a couple wires had disconnected and I need to be sure of where they go. "Harder" may be because the kiln is on a dollie and, hence, higher anad harder to bend over to bottom. Next ones will be easier... I took a welcome break due to sudden rain. HIGH humidity requires frequent short breaks inside, even when it is not precipitating.

Dan stopped by for his hard earned payment and we discussed rain barrels; he checked out supplies and went off with promise of "next few days!" That will pretty well deplete the bank account for this month!

I cut some of my hair today and now it is stick out in all directions! I'll do more later.

Otherwise, I have not done a great deal. Nothing is pressing but a number of things would be nice to get done... I am definitely feeling the on-coming fall! The need to get new firewood is a pressure, before it is all sold, so moving the remainder of last year's is necessary; needs cool dry weather!!!!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Jul 18 - 06:38 PM

Ohio:

I've been enjoying our little house so thoroughly that I got myself all worried that I hadn't left room for Hardi as I enjoyed making all the spaces work for me. Silly! He arrives tomorrow, and all I've needed to prep is moving a couple of items over an inch or two and viola! Room for two!

I think I may have had someone's hidden mental loop running, about being happy having to pinch someone else's happiness. Nope! Room for two happinesses!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Jul 18 - 07:18 PM

Beaver:
fourth element did not fit; at this point, I realized brain was not functioning well enough to deal with connecting which wire to which wire. Neighbour Larry stopped by and we loaded both kilns into car - tight fit!

Today - hot!, and exhausted, managed to purchase netting for all raised beds and cut the 14x45 foot piece into five strips about 10x 14 and placed it but without the corner posts - they will come later! Also picked up a wheel for the one dollie - one that turns. Got home and realized I meant to buy two! what brain? Tomorrow...

De-cluttered the freezer of one rhubarb pie to take to pot luck at Horticultural society pot luck. Ate a tasty burger, cheese, lettuce and two small brownies. Came home to finish preparing to leave at 6 am for Toronto to get kilns repaired.

Now, prepare food for trip and go to bed, perhaps to sleep! Alarm is set.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jul 18 - 10:14 PM

No matter how much water you drink when it is this hot, it seems it isn't enough. I'm pretty sure the reason I'm so tired and cranky now is that I've been under-hydrated for a few days and it caught up with me this evening.

I have a buyer on eBay who I think is trying to pull a switcheroo on a recent purchase. I sent a set of 3 lovely glasses (found at the thrift store, but they were perfect and I almost kept them myself) and she wrote telling me they're so scratched and water stained that she can't use them. I posted excellent photos so told her to send a photo of her one glass and my three all together. I sell as-is and only do returns if the wrong item is sent, so technically don't have to do a thing, though eBay is trying to force all sellers to pay return postage if someone wants to return for a full refund. That costs me a lot and if she is trying to switch out glasses, she's also stealing. I'll report her - eBay can look at all of the messages exchanged. In the last one I suggested she is trying to pull a fast one, to see if she backs down. Either that or goes off half-cocked and they kick her out.

Tons of paper has built up around here lately and it's time to create a few file folders before I lose track of something important.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Jul 18 - 09:11 AM

Ohio:

Hardi arrived ydy aftn. Today: we'll put up remaining window and door sensors for the alarm system, put up blackout fabric, and bring in dining table.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jul 18 - 09:54 PM

The paper is still here, there's actually more now. And I slept most of the day. I think I caught a bug, it isn't just dehydration.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jul 18 - 10:34 AM

This declutterer will be removing some favorite foods from the diet for a while - the conclusion of a few days of not feeling good is IBS. I've made an appointment to get checked out and confirm, but with horrible stress at work and an unfortunate choice of rich foods, I think I've strained the gut's goodwill. Rice, oatmeal, modest amounts of milk (I need some calcium) and a selection of fruits and vegetables. Better lay off the really cheesy eggplant Parmesan I made for lunches this week. Into the freezer it goes.

Other than that, life moves on. One more eBay sale and eBay itself has been given the case of the mysterious glasses to sort out.

The piles of paper are almost alive, they're so carefully stacked in so many places, representing various projects in different stages. #1 on my list of things to do.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 27 Jul 18 - 08:49 AM

Beaver:

Trip to Toronto was worth while, But not glitch-free. Michael old me there would be no charge for the ancient (their brand) kiln BUT I would need to get a new plug. One: when he used the "you've been a customer for 40 years..." I lamented: "And I have done the SAME stuff for 40 years!"

The other one, he would keep and ship it to me at no charge. I was reeling! I figured it was because they did not want to hear from me any more as I had emailed and phoned for two weeks trying to get a handle on what to do.

So, as they finished up in the back, I looked around the show room and decided to buy 3 unique, and expensive, commercial glazes, knowing I would have to make different pots to show them off. I felt better that I had bought something AND that I had a new idea.

However, stopping at CT on the way home (Uxbridge), they had no plug; i was out of stock/on order,said the helpful clerk. AT Home Hardware, they asserted that they thought it against the law to sell just the plug; I needed the whole (dryer) cable, they said. But that would mean opening the control box and installing a new cable and I REALLY did not want to do that. CT and HH in Bancroft looked hard on their computers; no such item.

I was ready to go back to Toronto in despair. But while falling asleep after my long day, I wondered if it could be hard wired into the receptacle. I'll ask Larry.

Up at the crack of dawn, way too early to phone anyone, I threw the wood that was on pallets off the end of the deck up to the deck and stacked most of another face cord - until body complained. Did two loads of laundry and hung them, texted Larry. Had BF break by 7:15, and made posts for one bed. Went to Larry at 10:30 and he said that could be done, he would come over when he had time. (He works from home.)

Did many little things - It is amazing how many little things make up our lives! A couple hours visiting (here) with a newish, 40ish friend about the state of his life as he goes through separation... Good visit.

Larry came about 4pm and we did the deed - I held the panel steady while HE worked. I was stunned by all new wires and connectors, a totally new kiln sitter piece and new switches! Only the bricks and stainless steel coat are old but they are in fine shape! So glad I bought those glazes so I feel like I contributed a pittance.

Anyway, it was done and Larry says the worst that can happen would be if it blew a fuse. ?? The tech guy did say it had to be the same configuration but it is now the same as the other kiln. Today I will email Michael, informing him that it is not possible to purchase just a plug. (The guy in Uxbridge was wrong; I phoned and someone went and looked at the display and the place where he had thought there was a plug was for something totally different!)

So I need to inform and apologize to the local folks. If we have a dry period, I shall plug it in and see what happens. Right now it is misty enough not to see the west hill and very, very wet. Great storm last night; just as Larry was finishing, the weather informed and we quickly cleared up tools,etc. It hit at 5 pm and lasted about two hours, off and on. lots of rain and noise. Dan installed the first rain barrel yesterday so we have water!! I hear noises up the road so it may have washed out part of the hill again!

I removed the lovely moss from where the rain barrel stand was going and put it on one ramp to bridge. Took the clothes off the line just before Larry arrived! But forgot to cover the unstacked wood so now I have to wait for it to dry before I can finish. Needs to be done before I order more wood! And this non-rainy, cool morning would have been a great time to finish. Bed is re-made, clothes put away, dishes washed, BF eaten. Maybe I will make pots - experiment with something new. Maybe.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Jul 18 - 01:45 PM

Ohio:

US Indigenous and Latinx/La Raza Topic Kits catalogued; started Weds. with cleaner Brittney helping, and finished editing/posting today.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jul 18 - 10:58 PM

Today I looked through files at work and decided it was time to toss some really old ones and bring a few home, so now there's even more paper here to sort and file. I suspect our work location will be designated for another use soon and we'll be moved to new office space, so might as well get rid of excess baggage now.

The story line in my current audiobook has stepped up and all hell as broken loose (as we knew it would) - and I can't work on the computer and listen to it at the same time because writing and listening to a story don't work. I'll have to save it for when I'm cooking or filing or some such thing over the weekend. Most of my listening is twice a day during my daily commute but when it gets near the end I often finish it off in the house.

The garden is really scorched after the last few weeks, and the squash have all just about died off so I'll move the posts the sprinkler heads are fastened to and maybe stop drowning the eggplant.

Nothing much more to report. The weekend awaits.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jul 18 - 10:23 PM

I finished an audiobook while sorting and filing papers in my office at home and stopped by the library to pick up a handful more to rip and add to my phone. They don't take up space (and I have a large SD card in my phone).

The garden got some attention as I moved around the sprinklers that are on fence stakes. The squash and corn are now finished so I moved the watering so that hopefully I'll get some sweet potatoes in the fall; they've survived the heat but haven't thrived. I expect a lot more growth from them after August.

No trips to Goodwill lately, dropoff or shopping, but I'll continue to add to the laundry room's donation bin and once the weather cools I'll be energized to do more.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 18 - 10:35 AM

This morning when I entered my office I realized that after yesterday's sorting and filing, what remained on the desk were papers needing attention, so today I will finish that paperwork. I was going to walk the dogs this morning, it seemed cool out, but five minutes on the patio when I fed the dogs and I was dripping sweat from the high humidity. Nix the walk.

We're almost to August, and June was so hot that by the time Summer officially arrived we were already fatigued with the idea of summer. July has been a record-breaker; here's hoping August is atypical and gives us a moist break from the heat. It has happened in the past. Perhaps the humidity is the start of something.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 29 Jul 18 - 06:50 PM

We, as a family, spent all day yesterday cleaning in the kitchen. The old microwave is gone, an old vacuum cleaner that we no longer use is gone, old shoes are bagged and ready for goodwill, some expired things have been disposed of, all appliances moved and cleaned behind, the fridge got cleaned out....doesn't look like much on paper but it's made a HUGE difference. Surfaces were cleared, old magazines and such were tossed, the ledge over my sink was cleared and polished, cabinet doors were wiped down....I found a new cleaner too that I like the smell of for kitchen counters and appliance wipe downs. It's one of the Method cleaners found at Target, Honey Crisp is the name of it I believe. It does a great job but the smell is pleasant and not all chemicals. I know I can do the make it myself cleaners but they smell so strong of vinegar or depending what mix I've made, ammonia.

What do you all use?

I had been using Windex, Lysol All Purpose Cleaner and had picked up a spray bottle of Clorox Clean Up but I can't stand the smell of it. I like Comet Spray for in the bathroom.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 29 Jul 18 - 07:08 PM

Beaver:

Cleaned out most of the tool shed and moved many items out to back shed. Prepared some clay for throwing and did organizing in the studio. The last of the old firewood is stacked and covered. Now I can order new wood for this winter. Harvested more comfrey and sage, drying in house. Started re-organizing some BR areas. No energy left for today.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 18 - 09:52 PM

Michelle, I have a few basic products under the sink. Formula 409 is good for the stove, counters, lots of other things around the house. I use Spic'N Span for the floor (I get one of the citrus smells - we realized many years ago that every time my husband used the pine scented stuff to clean the floors, his job on the weekend, I was laid low with a sinus headache. For the bathroom I buy products at the local Dollar General Store, their toilet bowl rinse.

I haven't had to use a spray on the shower tile for several years, since I started keeping an extra towel on the rack to wipe down the tiles right after I finish my shower. The soap scum never accumulates. To wash the tub, I buy whatever cheap shampoo is around (Suave usually) and I use a Scotchbrite type scrubber and a big dollop of shampoo and give the tub a bubbly scrub. The theory being that what you're washing off the tub is soap and what washed off of you, so why not simply use shampoo to clear it out? Nothing with bleach or ammonia involved.

Because there is some limestone in the water here I used to give things a soak in Limeaway, but for several years now I get the same effect with white vinegar.

When I do laundry I use one of the Arm and Hammer liquid detergents, usually a mix of scented and unscented so the smell isn't very strong, and with every load of laundry I put a tablespoon of baking soda in with the detergent.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: pattyClink
Date: 30 Jul 18 - 12:07 AM

Greetings from the road, where one learns to be grateful not to be in the path of the forest fires, yikes what people are going through.

For cleaning products my best discovery has been "Fabuloso", it's a concentrated mild cleaner sold in the dollar stores, comes in a couple scents including apple. No sudsing, rinsing, no residue, excellent for wiping down walls, appliances, counters, glass, etc., even easy on the hands, learned about it from some pro cleaners.   They also like to use the trick of folding a cloth into 4ths, using each side til grubby, fling in a 'used' pile, get a fresh one. Then launder them all. Faster and better than wringing things out in an increasingly filthy bucket. I like to use microfiber cloths, but I wish they didn't need separate laundering from regular fabrics to stay effective.

And yes, washing out the bathroom sink with a detergent or shampoo, and a scrubby sponge, works as well and no nasty chemicals or sprays or 'etching' of surface. And the towel/shower kept my shower stall pristine til trade-in time, which was great.   

As far as the clutter, well, it's embarrassing how much crap I am carrying around, which i discovered when I had to move into the new RV coach. Took 5 hours in the blazing sun to move stuff over, and many things still not 're-homed'. Will be scratching my head and culling some things in the next few days.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jul 18 - 11:36 PM

I've added another specialist to the doctors on my contacts list - this one for knees, and my right knee now has had an injection of a white fluid that replaces some of the missing fluid from the joint. Arthritis. Cycling through this the first time, the shot is the least of the process, its a few hours later when the local anesthetic wears off that the knee feels like it has been adjusted with a baseball bat. That was yesterday, today it is already feeling much better. Anyway, I didn't get anything done but take a nap when I got home then went to bed early.

Today I'm puttering pretty much as usual. This evening I picked okra like I'll do every day this week as I prepare to make some pickled okra. This is what the pantry shelves are for, storing garden produce. Next it'll be time to make jelly. I'm not as fond of pickled okra as my daughter and my next door neighbor are, and they are so absolutely thrilled when I give it to them so mostly this is for a gift.

Looking forward to August.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Aug 18 - 11:15 PM

Hunting around the front room for some boxes of greeting cards this morning I encountered some forgotten audiobooks on cassettes that are now in the Goodwill bin. I haven't looked at those shelves for a long time - something to add to this weekend's to-do list.

Last night I pulled a tub of frozen bananas to make a batch of banana bread muffins to take to work. I've made a point to steadily draw down the contents to make room for crops - nothing much so far this summer (though I did freeze some assembled eggplant Parmesan a couple of weeks ago). I'm hoping for more eggplant and okra this fall. I used to take food to work all of the time but our office is shrinking as staff retire or find other jobs. I must turn to the neighbors now for food gift giving. :)

Nothing is resolved as far as my crack-pot eBay buyer. I made an offer of a discount but she hasn't answered. Not sure what she's waiting for but she took a notch out of my perfect feedback score so I'm not feeling particularly accommodating - the damage is done. With the score creeping back up about .1 for each feedback post, it's going to take 26 sales with posted feedback to get back to 100%, or after six months I think it might drop out of the score. Her remark is as nuts as the whole experience, so perhaps someone checking up and reading it will come to the same conclusion.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 10:28 AM

I have not made any jam yet this summer, and I'm beginning to wonder if I will. We hardly seem to eat it any more; the jam I made in 2016 is still in the pantry -- my favourite kinds, too: peach and sour cherry. If it remains untouched by November, I'll give it to the church for the Christmas bazaar.

My in-laws are fond of marmalade and chutney, so I'll go on making those for Christmas presents. We're all too old for any but consumable gifts.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 07:58 PM

BEAVER:

I avoid any scented product of any sort as most scents are made with neurotoxins which, of course, affect our brains. The worst being dryer sheets; I cannot go outside if the neighbours(city) are using dryer sheets.

Last year, we bought a number of jars of wonderful jellies, locally and organically produced. Not wanting to run out of favs, we will be using them for a few more years! We just do not think to use them.

New wood is arriving faster than I can stack it. My foot and shoulder are aching and it is hot, so I do about 15 minutes once of twice day. I have to keep it covered but will catch up on the stacking on cool mornings and late evenings. Soaked feet today in hot water with comfrey and Epsom salt.

Made some pots using recycled clay. The work of getting in into shape - wedging air bubbles out - is also hard on shoulders so I am taking a break from that also.

R arriving today for long weekend so I suspect we will be doing yard sales, Gemboree, music, art gallery, and other things. Made a pan of brownies and have a stuffed chicken in oven. Successfully confining most of heat to K with a fan over the stove, exhausting out the window. Actually working quite well.

He could do some wood but better he work on his library; he has so little time and the wood can wait.

Super pleased that I was able to do quite a bit of wood for a while this eve.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Aug 18 - 06:26 PM

Ohio

On vacation from decluttering, unpacking, research, and house-arranging!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Aug 18 - 11:25 PM

Last weekend I made headway in the paper filing and shredding, this week it will be a combination of filling out other papers, renewing a couple of memberships, and some cooking.

Time to make pickled okra, mustang grape jelly, and make time to prepare some meals for lunch at work next week. More listings for eBay need to go up, and when I do that I'll decide about some clothes in a bin that probably need to go to Goodwill.

Every time I make a pass through the house looking at the accumulation here I realize that while I like a lot of it, my kids won't be interested. So I need to continue to thin it out. I don't want this holding me back if I decide to move one day, and I don't want my kids burdened by all of this in the future. Keeping the pieces that hold the best stories and that are most useful is the goal. #ReformedPackrat

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Aug 18 - 10:57 AM

I should also say that since a niece is moving into a new house and would like to have some family heirlooms, my sister is stepping up and sending some to her via her father (our brother) - depending on how much he can fit in his pickup truck. I have things from the other side of the family, so many things that my children don't need all of them so I'll select something that mails well and gift it - it has a story, and that's really what this is about. She can look at (in the first instance of something I plan to send) or use this platter and know that her great great grandmother purchased it in the 1870s and it was a very large set because it was a very large family. I need to tell her about her great great grandmother.

Unfortunately, the china set was semi-vitreous, meaning it absorbed water so I think they stopped using it as the crazed surfaces discolored. This type of china is better for making subway wall tiles. I sold and donated most of the set but kept a few lovely non-crazed pieces as family mementos. I think the platters went through a different batch than the plates and bowls at the factory and came out in better shape.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Aug 18 - 01:15 PM

The kitchen table is clear but the peninsula countertop is occupied with several ongoing projects. The pickled okra is labeled and stored in the pantry and today I'll roast the eggplant and make a big batch of babaghanouj. This is the food preservation portion of the summer garden season and having space to work on is essential.

My plants in the sunroom have been neglected; watered only and now need some TLC. The orchids got a soak in the fertilizer mix they require and I'll do some trimming and potting of sprouts. There are a couple of deceased African violets that need removal. I've never quite got the hang of them, some last a long time and are robust, others just shrivel and dry up even with watering. I am probably underwatering or the light isn't right.

I have a couple of parcels I've been meaning to ship and have started setting out the items and packing materials to get that taken care of. More laundry for the clothesline today - it's still hot (though we're looking at a few days with a chance of rain later in the week).

The bin of clothes from a closet shelf has been sorted - most of the shorts and tank tops went into the Goodwill bin but there are long pants that sell well on eBay. Levi's in particular, though selling clothes is work: photographing them carefully and measuring everything that can possibly be measured. They're packed to calculate shipping costs but not closed up because inevitably someone will send a question for one last measurement.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Aug 18 - 12:49 PM

I picked okra on Saturday morning in preparation to make pickled okra, but neglected to pick on Sunday. As I walked out the door this morning huge okra were waving at me from the plants and I knew waiting till this evening would be too long. I picked a pound or so and some were quite large but I *think* still usable because they are so fresh. I gave the box to my nextdoor neighbor - many of them are absolutely perfect and she has cooked okra all her life so will know if she can use the half-dozen or so incredible hulks in the box. Now I'll start saving up for next weekend and make another batch of pickled okra.

Gardeners know that every year one or two crops do so much better than everything else; this year it's peppers and okra with a pretty good batch of squash (now finished off by vine borers). You make the most of the things that do best. What I learned from making a batch of pickled okra a couple of years ago is that you have to wait quite a while with this recipe to get the best pickle. There's no opening this two or three weeks later. Maybe by xmas these will be at the right degree of pickled and absorbed the pepper and garlic to be perfect.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Aug 18 - 02:50 PM

Ohio:

The travel schedule has been roughed out, taking into account many factors-- one is a plumbing job replacing cleanout and drains, which will go right thru my bulb garden, so I need to be here to remove and replant those.

PA:
Aug 16 - Sept. 9
Dec. 15 - Jan. 1

Other than that, Ohio. We hope to meet up halfway for Thanksgiving at a place we both like and often stay at.

Going back to PA Aug. 16 are a number of empty boxes and bagged packing materials.

The trailer comes back with me in September to deliver a PA piece of furniture to my son in N. Ohio; then I'll use it to pick up mulch for all beds. It may or may not go back in December.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Aug 18 - 10:17 AM

It's still very hot here, the main activities are to keep the garden alive, the house as comfortable as possible without running up a huge electric bill, and staying hydrated. All other chores have depreciated in urgency. If we get rain as predicted sometime in the next few days I predict a small flurry of activity to catch up with the growing shopping list.

That's about it for now.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Aug 18 - 10:24 PM

Ohio:

Kitchen order was restored this evening by putting two enormous plastic "refill" bins under the long kitchen table. One holds items traditionally stored in a PA laundry room cabinet: paper goods. The other holds items traditionally stored in a metal PA kitchen bin: bulk sizes of grains, starches, and GF pasta.

The clean Horde-wash formerly occupying these bins in the guest room closet went to the out of reach master BR closet top shelf. That freed up the large lower half of that closet, so Hardi can convert the guest room into his sewing room.

Taking the refill starches out of the kitchen pantry freed up plenty of room for GF soups I use as complete meals, which have been on sale at a fantastic price.

Hardi also built me two little countertop shelves for canisters-- I like the clear hard-plastic jars peanuts and canned grapefruit come in, to hold hot and cold cereals, potato flakes, and GF flour. Since the upper cabinets are mounted up a bit high, there's room to stack these in two layers.

Tomorrow we put up three wall shelves and two sets of coat hooks.

Brittney was not able to clean today due to arriving with a freshly sprained ankle. We made her sit for her shift, foot up, after Hardi wrapped and iced it. She said she could not afford to skip the shift to go straight to urgent care, so she spent her time tossing Newbie's ball, and promised to do her next shift seated on her client's walker (and go to urgent care right after that). No way can I let someone hurt herself here by working thru an injury, but at least she got paid by the agency for her time here.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Aug 18 - 09:16 AM

What is GF? I haven't deciphered that one.

Little spits of rain here at the house but some damaging winds in surrounding areas. Our turn may come, rain is in the forecast through the weekend.

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

Gluten Free

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Aug 18 - 12:34 PM

Duh. Something I've been doing for months now.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Aug 18 - 09:48 PM

Ohio:

Hardi did in fact put up three wall shelves and a set of coat hooks in the hallway, and another longer set of hooks for bath towels in the bathroom.

The shelves are all mounted fairly high and will hold decor; they look oddly placed now until pictures bracket them to the sides and below, but now I'll be able to clear a lot of garage space when I get back, putting up art and decor.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Aug 18 - 10:15 PM

I like some of the things Martha Stewart Living has done with simple hardware like coat hooks mounted on nicely finished boards. You can visit the site and search without a membership or subscription.

I will retire as of August 31. I'm going to go do something else, another job, but won't share any details here because of a couple of stalkers who follow Mudcat (but have been banned as members). Today I sent the letter and I have to say it feels wonderful! Talk about decluttering! I work for a group of people who have no management skills and who squandered the human resource of over 100 people in my place of employment. They deserve whatever prosecution awaits them.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Aug 18 - 07:33 AM

Beaver:

Waiting hopefully for a message from neighbour Larry re why the kiln is not getting enough electric. We thought it was all set to go yesterday. He helped me get the lid back on and, after mixing glazes that had been sitting, waxing pot bottoms, cleaning shelves and re-doing the protective "kiln wash" on each, glazing pots, loading kiln... I turned it on with great hope. It did not reach heat or even show any colour - red/orange, pale yellow... Turned it off and talked to a couple potters and R re what to do. R's multi-meter is missing a piece so ..... I emailed Larry about 8 pm, not expecting any response 'til am. Took a hot bath to ease aching bod. Saidie gave me name of an "expensive" electrician. Aren't they all? I'll wait for Larry to pronounce. HE can check fuses. I need to trim pots of a couple days ago and put handles on the mugs so the next load will be ready when this is sorted.

As I am firing outdoors, it has to be done in the few days of no rain expected! As in, the next 3 days. Missed a musical event last night of a friend visiting home from NWT (Northwest Territories). Sink is filling with dishes and a load of laundry awaits but ...

Acme: congratulations on making a big change!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Aug 18 - 11:56 AM

Acme, congratulations!

Yes, the hooks we added are on boards matching the nearby decor scheme.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Aug 18 - 05:47 PM

Beaver:
Yep! was a fuse and now kiln is yellow hot. I hope it will soon be finished this firing.

But everything else still needs to be done! One of those - it should rain and get it over with days... Tomorrow morning will dawn and things will get done. One tray of pots in kiln room drying. And I went to lumber yard and got plywood to renew a couple stacking tables for work space. Tomorrow, I will take the sheets out of the car. maybe get around to gluing them on top of the old tops and maybe even paint them with exterior paint so they look tidy and are easy to clean.

Maybe even find the energy to for dishes and laundry and trimming and handles... Now, to read another book.

I guess I will not feel right until the kiln is cool and the pots OK!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 18 - 10:25 AM

Washing dog beds today then running the carpet steamer over a couple of rugs. My oldest dog is a bit incontinent when she's asleep. Good thing most of the house has tile floors. There is a dog door to come and go as they need, but it's helping that I'm now walking out into the back yard at my bedtime and of course they all follow and take care of business, and if I wake up during the night I again call them out into the yard briefly. Also, I'd started feeding her a senior dog food a few weeks ago and in case that's a culprit I've put her back on the normal adult food she actually prefers because it's smaller bites. There are medications for this, but I'll give her another week or so to see if this is enough or she needs a vet appointment. The senior food seems to be great for Zeke, he's allergic to wheat and chicken fat and even the grain-free foods can keep him scratching, but this one seems to be a good balance.

Dog bedding isn't the only laundry I'm doing, I also have to wash lots of old towels I've had on the floor in front of that dog door. We had at least five inches of rain yesterday (after that point the stock tank was full and not registering the rest of the rainfall). Not a day for trying to line dry anything, but at least it isn't temperatures in the stratosphere, it's in the modest high-80s. The air conditioning will get a break today.

The garden is going to be too soggy to work in for several days, but when I get a chance I can clear out weeds and plant my fall crops. It's indoor work today, and though I thinned many office contents about six years ago when our library was "reorganized" (disorganized is actually what happened) I still have many years worth of work to hold onto that I am bringing home to sort and file. I brought a large tote bag of them in on Friday. Examples of my work and process are sometimes handy when interviewing for freelance or regular jobs and need to be kept together and soon sorted and thinned. Some stuff needs to travel the other direction as well - an old computer will be disassembled and parts I can't use put in the e-waste recycle bin since it's a more secure way to get rid of some of this (I keep the old hard drives - I need to run a huge nail through several and turn them into an elaborate doorstop).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Aug 18 - 11:19 PM

Ohio:

Hardi is really making this place his own. Today he added cleats to the linen closet for more shelves, and rehung kitchen curtains I'd washed after the Horde had soiled them.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 18 - 11:27 PM

The kitchen is in much better shape after a day spent both cooking and clearing out. Moving the everything off the counter, like the bowl for the kitchen scraps, and scrubbing the wall and counter behind it, that kind if clearing out of spaces that aren't seen often. Running the little countertop dish drainer through the dishwasher, scrubbing sinks, stovetop, and more. I'm set for lunches with a batch of beans and rice to go with it, a container filled with pan fried potatoes and another with baked sweet potato. Foods that are soluable fiber, calcium rich, good the for various things I'm keeping track of in my diet.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 Aug 18 - 12:59 PM

Beaver:

Firing success! Now drying pots for bisque firing. Hoping to produce another load to be bisqued before leaving for Quebec next Weds or Thurs. Dishes washed, laundry done, for now. HOT today (for me). Reasonably cool in house so short stints in studio might happen; I have the energy as long as the heat does not zap it. Car to garage this am precluded stacking wood in the cool time; it will keep! Car is happy with oil change! I am happy that the thunking was only a muffler strap.

The kiln working well has de-cluttered my stress level; it was very high! OH!!! ... I just looked across the room and see pots to go in bisque which I had forgotten about--here they go!

Mag's dog maintenance definitely keeps me dog-less! But I got to pet a couple Newfies!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 18 - 10:48 PM

There was a clickbait article making the rounds on Facebook today stating that people who talk to their animals are healthier/smarter/less likely to have Alzheimers - something like that (I'm not going to go look it up). My responding question is - why would someone have a pet and NOT talk to it?

Yes, there is maintenance, but there is such great pleasure and companionship with them. No one is more excited to see you return home than your dogs, every day. And I love that saying "I want to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am."

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Aug 18 - 09:17 AM

I'm afraid that I'm precisely the kind of person my cats think I am -- a soft touch who doesn't care if certain fur persons stroll across the dining table.

My editorial project is almost finished; the author has the last 60 pages for review, and the client (the colonel in Ottawa who's paying the bills) is bracing his superiors for the inevitable backlash from the targets of the author's (well-deserved) criticism. I spent Friday afternoon and yesterday morning drafting the guts of a briefing note -- me! writing a briefing note five years after quitting the gummint! -- for the colonel's one-on-one with the Army Commander this week. I was gratified to realize that I still have my rhetorical chops, even if I don't write anything these days that's more challenging than a post on the Mudcat.

The house is relatively tidy but not at all clean, so this hiatus from editorial slogging must be dedicated to the mop, the scrubber and the vacuum cleaner. It's truly astounding how much cat hair is embedded in the carpets, and how quickly the chest of drawers becomes blanketed with dust. And it would be so nice to be able to walk across the kitchen floor without feeling tacky spots under the soles of my shoes. There's also laundry. But then, there's always laundry; who do I think I'm kidding?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Aug 18 - 09:38 AM

Ohio:

We depart for PA in a few days. I hurt a knee, so I'm straightening up pre-Brittney, on Tramadol. Hardi is wire-brushing five shabby lawn chairs in prep for white Rustoleum.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Aug 18 - 08:25 PM

Ohio:

Neighbors: "Look!!!-- They got new lawn chairs! What took them so long to get rid of that eyesore!"

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Aug 18 - 10:26 PM

Bringing home more stuff from the office, stacking up books I need to skim through and decide if they need a closer reading (topics that relate to my interests in web sites, marketing, etc.) Our office will soon be dismantled since there are only four people working in a space that once housed 15. We know they'll toss most of the stuff in there, so tech reference books are coming home.

All of the Back to School stuff is going full-tilt on in print ads, on TV, and on campus - our semester starts next Wednesday and the K-12 kids start back on Monday. The last 10 days of the month will be difficult driving, but then I'll be out of that rat race. I'm looking forward to that!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Aug 18 - 05:44 AM

Ohio:

Departure prep is in full swing despite last minute insanity via cleaners' agency office and same-day insanity over a haircut. I am not leaving without my effing haircut-- there are PA ministry events planned days after my return and I have a custom cut no one bUT Sammy knows how to do. Need to track her down today and get cut AND PIX.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 16 Aug 18 - 05:07 PM

Beaver:

I had dogs up until July 2009 when I gave up the last two to new, and very good, homes to come home to Canada. There is too much travel in our lives, and walking a dog in Montreal - phooey! Now I talk to the red squirrel who seems to live under the back porch and the frogs who hop out of my way as I walk across the "lawn". Mowing the lawn is less interesting than sitting here watching a butterfly and various bees enjoying the red clover patches. The once tiny mock orange is beyond the 3 foot mark and I can hope for many critters enjoying it in bloom next spring!

Pottery problems abound; I hope this too will pass. I am plumb wore out after a few hours working on that part of life all morning, into the afternoon. Need a sunny day to do one load of laundry before going to Quebec on Weds. Trip to Toronto on Monday to pick up the other kiln and some supplies. Resting is essential. The house in fairly good order. Another hot day but enough rain recently not to have to water.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Aug 18 - 10:55 AM

Ohio to PA transition--

Got haircut, cell contact with haircut designer Sammy, and pix during/after cut/style.

Now cooking urethritis and out of BP meds awaiting emergency 5-day supply (mail order late). That will make for a fun 5 hour drive to get the rest of the way home from the overnight motel! No portapotty on board-- new van so not set up yet for boondocking. I slept two hours last night punctuated by peeing every 20 minutes.

Surprising news pouring this AM in of diocesan and parish assistance to family who'd lost farmette in Redding fire (FEMA condemned), and simultaneous very bad news about a dear diocesan friend whose fam had not shared her terminal Dx until deciding to let her go yesterday. So we're full up on post-vacay already, which doesn't actually end until Sunday AM, grateful and worried and grief-stricken.

Hope that BP Rx gets out of the bottleneck soon! :-|

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Aug 18 - 03:09 PM

Last week I gave the kitchen a thorough going-over, but during the week the rest of the house has had dogs in charge during the day so I need to sweep and vacuum. Friends are coming for lunch on Sunday and we'll celebrate the news of one of them getting a new job (also leaving the same library). The rest of them haven't been told yet, so I'm going to have a special bit of dessert there to help celebrate. I haven't figured out what's for lunch yet, though.

Making jelly starting tonight, and I need to buy some more jelly jars. I'm running low, though I have enough for a couple of batches. I have 10 jars of pickled okra and may be going for a few more over the weekend. They're small batches of 4 or 5 pints at a time because I'm picking a few every day and after 5 or 6 days they're still good and I use them before they start to deteriorate (like what you see in the grocery store.) Maybe some fried okra as part of our lunch.

This is a time of year I actually enjoy on campus; it's when the new students and their families are arriving to help them move in and find their classroom buildings, etc. There is a look on their faces - and asking them the question "can I help you find something?" is always met with relief. Sometimes they're almost on top of what they were searching for, other times it's just easier to walk them to the new place than to describe it. To be a new student here approaching the world of education, this is still good. It's the being employed here part that is temporarily problematic. They'll eventually clear out the bad managers and it will get back to something approximating normal. We all wish our students well and want them to succeed. Classes start next Wednesday, then hold onto your hats (and get here extra early to hold onto your parking spaces!)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Aug 18 - 01:14 PM

Looking forward to updating stuff around here. The current computer is eight years old and works, but at some point it will need to be replaced. In the meantime I've spoken with the IT guys at work and researched cloud storage for a full backup (redundant since I have an external hard drive for the same thing).

I've brought home some of my books that I used as resources and now I need space here on the bookshelves. There are things I read and wrote about in graduate school that I won't be working on any more, and others I plan to continue with, so some will be sold at the local half-price bookstore and those that cross over from the former interest to the current interest will be reshelved.

I seem to have had bad luck with the last couple of audio books selected to listen to, but it may be that I'm more distracted by current events in my life and am not as easily drawn into them. One was not well written and the next one has what I consider an unsympathetic narrator, and that one may be remedied by waiting a while to read the rest of it.

I'm finishing ripping a few more audiobooks to load into the phone and will make one of those meandering errand-running trips through town, dropping off audiobooks at the library, a beginning stack of books at the bookstore (though I'll run a few titles through Amazon first to see if they're selling there - I've sold there in the past.) There are a few items in the Goodwill donation bin, and I'm going to thin my closet of some of the things I've been wearing for work at the current job. Even if I get a new job I'll want to update some, so this thinning of work clothes will help with the transition to retiree. And shoes - I have a few dress shoes to keep but some of the "office attire" shoes that I don't tend to wear often will go. They weren't the best choice and I wore them only occasionally to justify keeping them.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Aug 18 - 12:08 PM

Last week I clicked on a page someone linked on Facebook - it was an interesting article that I realized was a derivative - a barely paraphrased version of an article put out by National Geographic. I posted a remark saying I thought they should do a better job of writing their own articles, and after that I suddenly found myself "subscribed" to this clickbait site. So I unsubscribed, told them what I thought of them, and now I've gone back to running Ghostery on my browsers. I used to have it and I think it didn't update after a while, and now it wants you to logon so it can share your preferences across browsers. So it's up and running. In the past I found it annoying because it slowed how pages loaded, but the speed of downloads is way faster - quadrupled in speed over the years - I think I can live with a micro-second delay. Virtual decluttering.

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

Acme, gave you tried LibriVox?

PA:

OK, I arrived PA Friday 8/17 afternoon to furniture changes, filth, and disorder with crazy BP just starting to come down w emergency meds we'd gotten on the road. The planned work for this compressed 3 weeks now includes restoration of beauty and order (BO) for the ground floor. It's clear Hardi was doing a lot of clng while I was gone, but this house is this house and he respected my process so much that not one item I'd dropped in the May load-up had been moved, so how do you clean around that? And guy cleaning, not girl cleaning. Ew. Also his DR space got a little pack-ratted, which will need helpful attention to get another big piece of furniture out to deliver to Ohio son and DIL.

I looked into but don't qualify for senior svcs here. :-( But I have a line on paid help here finally! It's a dude but I suspect he's just the right one.

So I'll need to clean up a bit of my own May stuff and swipe other areas as seen that are in my reach and within my scope. No problem-- following my own Mudgather rules will keep me moving (and not subsiding back into PA Chair Life).

The rest of the house mission for these 3 weeks is to purge and pack PA archives to fit no more than 5 bankers boxes; pack any other ground floor miscellaneana I encounter that I know where to store in Xenia; prep for my next return. The goal is to spend a few hours on that daily while leaving time for relationship activities, and of course support the start of the parochial fall season.

Yesterday-- ordered the other meds that are running short; prepped music for memorializing our dear friend at the service last night; cleared up items unloaded from car and blocking my access to Dog World; assessed water resources and made grocery list. Quick check of good clothes here-- few. Enjoyed movie and lunch together after his AM office check and urgent call on the just-released hospital patient-- clergy vacay returns are seldom peaceful but this dear lady survived, yay!

Today: I made progress on LR BO and got its second recliner emptied for daily knee relief. Spotted items to modify leg pillow upstairs layer tonight. Several items went into waiting Goodwill bag. Others to waiting recycle bins. Started new trash bin.

Yet to do today-- dishes (DW busted), and sanitized water reservoir-- it got slimy inside due to increased K lighting in my absence.

First thing tomorrow-- laundry. Too little here now to let it go. Also have to go see seamstress for a possible copying of my Fabulous Coat, which is looking worn. She can also take in a new shirt I bought and I can copy her alterations on the 3 identical shirts in Ohio.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Aug 18 - 08:58 PM

PA

Hardi was able to squeeze another year's use out of my old tablet as a Bluetooth radio/emailer/Kindle! Slow and low on storage but will YouTube.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitn ess - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Aug 18 - 05:11 AM

PA:

Assessed upstairs packing space-- all boxes moved when Hardi removed a room-sized rug, but I had labeled those boxes with contents and next-steps "note to self" instrux, so all I need is for them to be brought downstairs. A card table for sorting/purging was freed up ydy when I disassembled my old arranging table/autoharp stand to pass on to our nephew-- HS frosh genius has started a garage band and this stand is actually a very nice folding keyboard stand.

While I was touring this area upstairs I VERY happily found a lamp I had forgotten was up there-- it's a floor lamp with a super heavy but small base andwo aimable can lights; the pole can also carry added clamp lamps. Great light for my little scaled-down pider corner here andgreat grow light for Ohio later. This greatGoodwill find was pennies and I couod not beleive then that I scored it. This puder corner is so dark ar noght that I have been folding down the screen a bit eachtime I need light on the keys to find Ctrl-V! That gets old quick!

A very nice emaciated cat turned up on our return, begging on the porch. Does not seem to know how to hunt. We don't want any more cats right now, but I found that the Humane Society next county over will take her for just $10, so we'll feed her up a few days and then drop her off on our way to some day-off fun. She was someone's pet-- very docile to handle. Gray-toned tortie. Suspect she is either preggers or in heat, so I'm glad to nab her before she spwans and hides with the kittens.

Yesterday I scrubbed off the goum that forms on the back of my Correlle plates here unless washed in a particular way-- an ongoing "catching up" project necessitated by the pace of ministry life and all the packoing I had been focused on leading up to May. We originally had several sets of four of each piece (those boxed sets), and the color match the Ohio kitchen so I set a few aside to take there--my Goodwill everyday mismatches there are chipping past sanitary use and ready to become garden decor. By the time the teenagers had moved out, we'd accumulated 3 or 4 sets of four, and when Hardi is here alone he sure doesn't use 12 plates! Since the DW is kaput here I prefer to wash them in the Ohio DW with water that doesn't cause this buildup and discoloration.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Aug 18 - 10:11 AM

We're getting ready to go to Pinewoods Camp in Massachussets, which means kit lists, car cleaning and maintenance, en-route motel reservations (whatever's cheapest in Syracuse NY), and packing. Himself has a fine sleeping bag but I don't, so a trip to Canadian Tire is on the agenda.

It's depressing when I realize that I hardly play any more. Stratford lacks a come-all-ye session spot, and I left the guitar ensemble behind in Ottawa, so I have zero incentive to practise or learn new tunes. The event at Pinewoods is the Traditional Music and Dance (TradMaD) Camp, and for the first time in forever I am going to a music event with no performance-ready repertoire. I've even let the nails on my left hand go unclipped for weeks! Gah.

The decluttering continues, but now I have to shift my focus to good stuff that I would like to keep but shouldn't, starting with printed music (i.e., dots). I'm one of the last members of the family who reads music, and the only music-reader in the family who likes and performs Irish and Scots traditional repertoire, of which I have lots. For some time, I have been looking for the right recipient of my battered but sound full-sized copy of The Songs of the Hebrides (four volumes), and I finally met her -- a classically trained harpist from Nova Scotia who plays and sings Scots Gaelic songs. She actually *wants* the collection, and even offered to pay for shipping it (no small sum). Tomorrow, it goes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Aug 18 - 04:53 PM

Charmion, sympathies. It felt very strange today to disassemble my arranging and playing desk.

PA:

Two hours total chair napping.
Set up a card table for sorting/purging.
Made and set out cat mash since she'd et so little hard kibble.
Set up clean Brita w fresh water.
Recycled excess empty plastic jugs.
Correspondence re Ohio antiracism work/hookups.
Started laundry which resulted in great bra find.
Remembered to take AM meds and eat lunch.
Coordinated unexpected road work out front w state crew to include long needed fill of shoulder for mail delivery.
Started supper in crockpot.
Correspondence with BIL re band sound equipment.
Used multiple chairs between much house-walking; knee so much better tdy due to taking AM anti-inflammatories!
Consolidated items to be sorted and set them under sorting table for work tmrw.
Got streaming radio going and TV off by 2pm.
Updated grocery list.
Paid wifi bill.
Paid Chase.
Sorted vacay mail and recycled most.

End of workday.
Ice cream w hubby.
May fold laundry over an evening film and then it's Benadryl bedtime-- no decent sleep since last Wednesday night.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Aug 18 - 10:41 PM

The line into the hot water tank (electric) is making a rattle. At first I thought something was going on inside the fridge, but the rattle from the tank is radiating through the waterline into the fridge. As I walked into the hall I heard a louder noise and realized the culprit - the water line - may be even more expensive to fix than the fridge or the hot water tank. Who knows, but it sounds like the line may have an obstruction (lime around here). Must bring in a plumber to make that call.

The front yard is finally mowed this evening before dark so trimming comes tomorrow, and I'll mow some of the back yard if there's time.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Aug 18 - 10:38 AM

It took an hour of running back and forth and stopping to read the instructions link again on the computer, but I finally got the problem solved without a plumber. That rarely happens, so is cause to celebrate! It was a combination of too-high pressure from the city (so my gate valve at the curb is now about 1/3 turned to lower the pressure) and an "air hammer." Years ago I lived in an apartment with radiators so had an idea that air in the lines was part of the problem.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Aug 18 - 02:08 PM

Congrats, Acme!

PA:

How come it feels like I did zero but two boxes are packed? It's a dent in the LR misc box but was interrupted by ministry concerns. The packing tape and other packing materials were found and gathered to the packing area. Also I finally got some sleep so I remembered to label these first boxes' contents-- that was really impt in Ohio!

Three wearable items, discovered upstrs, before I came down are now in the wear-now dept.

I re-made a pillow for a van backrest pillow.

I found where the abandoned and emaciated stray cat is lurking and examined her mouth-' toothless as I'd anticipated. Working on a placement.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Aug 18 - 10:08 AM

PA:

Last night we explored new tablets in advance of a planned Christmas gift, and picked up an external CD/DVD reader/burner (replacing one that Tyler stole), and a 2nd Bluetooth speaker. I have been benefiting from letting NPR move thru the house with me, which has reduced my chair/TV time. Hardi's been using his tablet to waft jazz through the church during that early Sunday hour+ before services; now he can take that further with a speaker, when he walks through the whole campus waking up the heat and unlocking doors.

Today I get to explore the upright freezer to see what he got while I was gone (and probably reorganize it somewhat), to fetch a few items to thaw for the rest of the week.

"Project" (dumped-cat name) has a new front ramp feed/water station that will make me get out for fresh air and sunshine every packing day. One poss placement involved an email application that will take a week or so to process. Hardi and I are agreed on the other less savory options, should I not find a placement.

The boxes I'm here to sort have been found. Last night I polished off a box over the late-night news. This AM, Hardi brought down two more.

The sorting area is in full swing as an after-breakfast thing. Today's box was a mix of circa-1994/2000 archival material, which I reduced to about a 6" stack of paper to keep, from Red Cross and ministry work product. It also held a range of journal entries and cards during what had been a lot of blending-family, teenager, and marriage angst. Hard, intense, and ultimately successful years... but not fun to sort.

This is now the start of the hard stage of moving-- dealing with the STUFF of two 24-year careers, and personal records, and downsizing it into small quarters. It's complicated by still not knowing the "deadline" for getting it done. There are several factors to settle that are not within my control at all, so it feels pretty nerve-wracking-- A, the retirement date and B, the time of year for the final move; weather here is definitely a big factor. C, the landlord's next plans for the property (whether the landlord is selling or continuing rentals-- and whether renting after our departure to the ppl who'd squatted on the yard and barn, and wanted the house-- all of which will determine the condition we leave it in. D (depending on decisions around C), whether we can leave some things here in storage or will have to get it ALL in one trip. E, whether Pods are in this region yet, vs truck rental and trailer trips.

Oy!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Aug 18 - 05:36 PM

PA:

The cat placement unexpectedly came thru today. She goes tomorrow or as soon thereafter as I can catch her.

I see now why it seems like I'm not doing as much packing-wise as my body insists I did-- I'm counting only the packed bulk, and not the larger bulk I'm letting go of. Plus we're not letting the recycling, Goodwill, and parish thrift shop stuff linger and build up, so I don't see that, as we chip away at it. (Some furniture already went into the parish yard sale I missed, too.)

I'm also misdirecting myself-- setting the finished bags and boxes out of sight to keep our LR sane? So I don't see it when I take breaks, either. Uck! I'd rather depart for ice cream! It is great though to have a living room long enough to have 1/3 of it for a "moving department."

Poor Hardi, having to tote boxes down to me from upstrs, and then also, once sorted, out to trash/donation or front porch staging-- before and after a full day's work. Still, it's his stuff too, and I'm sure it beats doing it all simultaneously like most folks move!

(Poor Newbie, too-- she thinks were leaving TODAY and possibly not taking her along.)

Regardless, one small box of aquatics packed, and next steps for it included in labeling. One giant box of recycling for mankind. ;-)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 18 - 11:40 PM

I met a friend who retired a number of years ago who said that another benefit of retiring from the university is free use of several gyms and pools in the area, including the excellent facility on campus. I rarely went over there when I worked here because at the end of the day I am ready to head home, but now that I'm paying attention to the low-impact nature of some exercise, I'll make a point of joining friends when they go to the gym or the pool. I need to declutter another 25 pounds more or less.

More pickled okra bottled and processed tonight, and the kitchen is ready for more cooking tomorrow (jelly). I didn't get home early enough to day to take on that project (several batches).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Aug 18 - 05:35 AM

Bought a very good sonic electric toothbrush (in Lidl). Can't find the charger for it. It's here somewhere, I know…

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Aug 18 - 08:27 AM

PA:

Unable to go back to sleep after a tweaked knee, I made an early morning foto "inventory" of upstrs boxes remaining to purge/pack. I enlarged them to be able to read the instrux I'd left myself on them.

This will help facilitate communication on what I need brought down/when, and lets me plan DOWNSTAIRS for boxes that are UPSTAIRS-- my knees just can no longer do these particular stairs more then once a day. For today, all I needed from up there was a folding tray table I'd used in the gardening room, which Hardi has now kindly brought down to increase my work surface downstairs.

In addition to these boxes, there are two gray storage bins to explore (and mostly donate/purge contents). Those will be emptied for use in open-trailer hauling, the same way I've used trash bins to keep cargo dry in the past.

We're about to hit the wknd svcs sked, which may mean work on this pauses till Monday; but paid help moving them to the main floor has been discussed. Hardi is now open about his own, aging abilities; for a long time I was the only chronically-creaky one! ;-)

I have one small, half-full cube box already downstairs, for work today, that fits well with work completed and left pending ydy. We can just enjoy each other over the ministry-sked days, and I can resume messy sorting on Monday... hoping for a movie tonight.

Now if I can just catch that cat... she appears to have survived a suddenly-cold overnight (extra food eaten last night that I'd set into an insulated box). Today, she graduates to straight tunafish. I see now what her eating sked is, and by mid afternoon an especially smelly bowl should attract her to the van, which I'll park nearby and where I can pop her into Newbie's crate. I'll first remove Newbie's cushion. (We can hose out any cat germs she may leave.)

Wish me good hunting!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Aug 18 - 10:41 AM

PS, I added a few new categories I'd discerned, to the post-it array marking out the sorting area work surfaces, and nabbed a few items from each of ydy's piles to better fit the discerned categories. I'm also lvg myself stickies w instrux on more items this time-- so I can dread UNPACKING, less!

~S~

Subject: Surrendering Project Cat
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Aug 18 - 02:33 PM

PA:

Of course, Project came right to me as soon as I opened the door, speaking to me and rubbing on me. I had not even warmed the tuna I'd dished up earlier, nor taken it with me as o first loaded my stuff and opened the waiting van and crate. No, she said to pick her right up, so I reached down to rub her neck and scruffed her as soon as she arched into it, and into the very warm crate she happily settled after a leisurely abd totally relaxed stroll down the ramp. She tensed a bit as we got closer to the vehicle so I simply re-touched her scruff and in she went. She'll enjoy being warm for the first time in days as I make a stop to see my seamstress, and then she'll be welcomed at the no-kill shelter for regular feeding and evaluation.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Aug 18 - 06:37 AM

PA:

Project's receiving org wasn't open ydy at the time agreed so she spent a palatial night in the van, in Newbie's crate with amenities and tunafish added. She'll go to their parent org locay this AM.

I've been sleeping so poorly here all week. Last night I benadryl/tramadol slept a mere 6 hours, but it was one unbroken sleep with dreaming periods at least. Not even up once to pee.

Today our travels to place Project will take us near a long-deferred Funmeister destination, and the weather forecast is perfect for it-- Farmland. This is probably the only day to finally go there..... The smaller scooter is already loaded and can be charged onboard. A stool for areas best seen that way is here, and is set to go dnstrs.

It's also in the environs of a store that will probably have GF oats, which I didn't think to bring from the bulk supply in Ohio. I need my oats, and there is no substitute.

The upstrs bin turned out to contain just a few cassette tapes and has no lid. It accompanied a superb and heavy med-large box with an ingenious folding-in top that gives added structural support. Sized like a tall egg box. With cutouts added for carrying, it will be re-used often for van cargo. I can use it here to slide things down the steep stairs, like I used to move heavy boxes-- going down backwards one step at a time, with the box in front, slid.

The Ohio packlist is begun. It's great to have a van again to carry items best not open to weather, but I'm still packing all boxes lined with plastic in case van space gets tight with large items. I always re-use those trash bags two or three more times before recycling them.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Aug 18 - 09:28 AM

Archiving 20+ years of photographic work at work. Clearing out the computer - this involves portable hard drives going back and forth so I have a copy of all of the work. There is not weight, but a lot of heft. Thank goodness for USB drives.

Six working days to go.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Aug 18 - 06:57 PM

Another bag of things brought from the office; I'll use one of the cups that is regularly in the cupboard over the office sink, I brought home my "English Majors Get Lit" mug. My office sweater is now home after nearly 20 years of hanging on the back of my office chair (brought home every so often to launder) - I'll pack an extra long-sleeved shirt for work each day next week. Home now are some of the knickknacks given me by co-workers who brought back trinkets on their vacations abroad; they've always lived at the office so I'll have to find room here. A charger I don't use there often (for Android) and repositioned the Type-C charger I use for my smartphone. Etc. I won't itemize the list, but there isn't much there now. I carry a nice sized rucksack back and forth that I can put any papers I'm reading, my pocketbook, and my lunch bag into so when I walk I can swing my arms (for the fitness tracker). That will contain what I need next week.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Aug 18 - 07:59 PM

Go Acme! (Jealous!)

PA:

Project Cat received well. Great day off wander away from news, packing, and parochial matters. Beautiful weather for Farmland tour. Lots of shared laughter. Saw my old PT at a NYS grocery and swapped news. Started garage workshop layout planning. Planned our Thanksgiving rendezvous.

•S•

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 18 - 11:12 AM

There are books I accumulated during graduate school that I never read, and others that reading once was enough, so I've started a box. I'll offer first choice to academic friends who still work with these, and then the books go either on Amazon or to my local half price bookstore. I'll keep a list of the discards just in case I decide to go looking for one on my shelves in the future (that will save me the work when it isn't there). The dust on the shelves is making itself felt this morning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Aug 18 - 08:16 AM

PA:

My paid help for tmrw fell thru but I did such a great job of labeling those upstairs archives-- and such a great job of space allocation/design in the LL-- that I'm motivated to slide a big box down tomorrow AM. I hope to complete all those boxes in the coming week, taking the biggest boxes first.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 26 Aug 18 - 01:52 PM

Not terribly much has been happening here in regards to decluttering or even fitness...it's been a very busy month with tending to the garden at home, getting Jeremiah ready for back to school, field trips, etc. It is also the month, for me, where we are getting ready for an audit at work so there have been some very long days. I'm not complaining....really, I'm not...I love my job and the people I work with...but long days do take a toll on how much energy is left at the end of the day or even the week....to tend to extra, above and beyond things at home.

Yesterday, Pete, Jeremiah and I took a much needed break from it all and took a trip to Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium! We had a GREAT time! Today we are in recovery mode....resting up for the week ahead. Jeremiah is currently napping, Pete and I are relaxing/reading/hanging out together until about 4:00pm when we both will start preparing for the week ahead.

I did clean out the fridge earlier today, so I guess that counts for something! Also, the laundry is going.

Maggie....I hope you enjoy your last week at work and plan something special to celebrate! If I lived closer, I'd come help you celebrate! Love you bunches and I am excited to hear how you move forward into this new part of your life! I imagine your dogs are going to be most happy to have you home more! Congratulations!

Love to all,

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Aug 18 - 07:52 PM

PA:

OK, week 1 of this intense 3 weeks here was prioritizing, setting up, and making packlist-- all in close consultation with Hardi and interspersed with time just to be together.

Week 2, boxes, thru 8/31, working independently

Week 3, clear a path and porch-stage big items, thru 9/7, together

Loading van and trailer 9/8, 9/9-- Hardi with helpers

9/10 depart to deliver family item to son/DIL in Ohio.

9/11 Arrive at Ohio house, probably quite late

9/12 Senior Helper Brittney resumes 2pm (latest poss arrival for me). She can help unload personal essentials

9/12 Possible Ronnie help unloading trailer cargo into garage if I can't find Isaiah (age 12). WTH,it's all weatherproof stuff that can also wait for Brittney's 9/13 visit if need be.

9/13 Brittney. Sleeeeeeep.


There are many fun couple's things planned thruout, and TCM is cooperating as well-- lots of Film Noir programmed on the DVR for hand-holding time around all the edges. I'm treating each M-Th as a 9-3 day shift, and no midnight packing!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Aug 18 - 12:32 AM

Thanks, Michelle! The feeling is mutual! We have a triple play coming up; my daughter turns 30 this week, I turn something considerably older next week, and of course there is the retirement in between, so we're considering our options. It could be here, it could be an event out.

There is no upcoming instance of looking around for something to do, rather it's a matter of figuring out what things I want to finally finish and what order I want to start on the projects that have waited for a while. Some of you who are on Instagram have possibly seen photos I've liked or shared by a friend from high school who lives in Hawaii now. She is a talented seamstress and finds amazing patterned and printed fabrics to make tote bags, clutches, and other small utilitarian projects. I think she sells mostly at a local market. I have a friend here who has been making costume jewelry for a number of years and who attends various craft fairs. She is always looking for someone to share the cost of a table or booth, so I am thinking that kind of hobby could become another opportunity. Several years ago I bought some tapestry and straps for handles to make bags, but never got to it. I used some upholstery samples and made padded cases for my and my next door neighbor's Amazon Fire tablets (versus spending $30 or $40 for a case). They're simple, just slide it in and out, but I enjoyed designing and making it.

I have a couple of job nibbles that came in earlier this month (both out of the blue, and both entirely do-able), so I'm looking forward to the next stage of my work and craft life. And yes, my dogs will love having me here more. For starters, we'll be out walking regularly mornings or evenings.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Aug 18 - 08:04 AM

Sounds good, Acme.

PA:

Slid down the biggest box-worth of upstrs boxes after a quick upstrs review; less to purge than hoped but upstrs review revealed work product categories to expedite sorting into the long-planned banker's boxes. So today is the day to get those, after bedtime meds wear off.

Two items for Ohio arrived via USPS, and went straight into the first 'unpack me' box after I'd labeled them.

So the day:

. early part of the day is laundry, dishes, water, and chair naps
. followed by lunch, session, quick shower, walmart, more laundry
. Italian sausage supper via wknd-made crockpot warming now
. More laundry (out of soap til aftn shopping) and folding during evening DVR movie

As I archive work product, I'm trying to follow models of stuff my mentors gifted to me when they retired-- organizing it sensibly now so I can start recruiting younger folks into leadership to carry each thing forward. To that end, I'm also mulling the options for stewardship of my digital corpus, which I may be ready to execute before departure. There's a good and affordable techie here that knows my systems, who can consolidate it all into portability.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Aug 18 - 09:23 PM

PA:

HUGE progress with two worst boxes DONE and banker's boxes bought to just repackage the rest without further sorting. That repackaging can happen upstairs and banker's boxes with handles can easily be carried down and staged to the ramp.

That means there is definitely time to start not one but three problem areas:
. Music books in weight room
. Bookshelves in DR
. Book re-purge in Sailboats room

What shifted was this-- only now can I know what I might do with my work product, so it's all boxed for reference to that opportunity.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 27 Aug 18 - 09:31 PM

Mill:
Came down from Beaver last Tuesday and going back early tomorrow. Divested myself of several boxes of pottery at the wonderful CVAA Event and to a shop down here. Augmented wallet a nice bit - almost as much as I spent on supplies in the last couple months. Great hobby! I realized long ago that I would not get rich! I will also pay a bill of $200 by trading pottery next week. So I really have "earned as much as spent! Just!

The weekend was exhausting as well as great fun so not much else accomplished but I did manage to empty a couple boxes of R's acquisitions: two lots for thrift shops and a small bit of keepers.

Met a local municipal councilor who will take the Giant hog weed/wild parsnip problem to council regarding improved public info. A friend suffered burns on her face from weed wacking the field here. Mind - I had given her a comprehensive brochure but it failed to tell people DO NOT WEED WACK! Four weeks to recover! This wonderful guy, and wife, is actually an organic farmer; he also bought a large bowl, then his sister came along and bought a very different large bowl. Made my day! The conversation as much as the sales.

Also had words with local MP regarding the lack of public information re the dangerous weeds.

I suppose Charmion is already at Pine Woods. I hope she meets my friends from PA who are probably there - musicians and dancers!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Aug 18 - 10:36 PM

That giant hog weed sounds awful. How common is it to see now?

A huge project is off of my desk today. I finished reading and ranking a bunch of papers and met two other judges today to select two scholarship winners (for their oral presentation and the paper combined) and two runners up whose papers were excellent and all four will be published in an annual journal of the program's papers. I gathered together all of our sets of papers and score sheets and the memo with instructions and we clearly ranked those top four. I handed it all in a week ahead of the deadline and everyone is happy.

I'm rounding up the last few retirement papers, and found some I need to mail tomorrow so they're in place after Sept. 1. On Saturday I need to take the SUV over to have the oil changed and the annual inspection and since the shop is five blocks from here I'll walk home and wait for it. Being housebound I need to force myself to deal with this recent buildup of paper.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Aug 18 - 10:47 AM

PA:

Tuesday 8/28

Sorted upstrs boxes (upstrs) into banker's boxes I'd carried up last night and this greatly increased the stash going to the next parish rummage sale plus a bunch of evangelism videos that can be converted to dvd. I'm not getting enough DEEP sleep but every box I open is better organized than anticipated, with less in it than I remembered.

Planned today:
. Laundry chores on pain meds
. Other chores involving house/porch walking
. Empty big bin in the laundry room to empty for conversion to clothes packing when I go
. Consolidate archives into banker's boxes and carry those out to staging area

We didn't plan our evening yet but definitely need one before tackling more.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Aug 18 - 12:30 PM

PA:

1 tramadol with Tylenol on board, may take 2nd tramadol. More pain free walking will greatly fix one of the 3 knee issues keeping me sitting way too long.

Packing corner cleared, banker's boxes left open for a last few items and clearly labeled as to contents, destinations, instructions.

The big bin from the laundry room is in LR now. 90°+ day forecast here, so LR handling w AC is necessary. Another thing I can do in here today is move old paid bills into the "To Shred" box, which will free up the plastic portable file box now that bills are paperless.

Hardi kindly did a big lift while I napped earlier, putting a 60-lb up cube of water up where I can reach it. Two gallons are drawn, for bringing in on my next trip out there. It'll be odd drawing more, now that the gray bin's lid is no longer under it to catch spills or set gallons aside once drawn.

Newbie is very confused about why I'm in her chair and she's in mine, but my knee is temporarily happy... or that might be the tramadol kicking in! In any event, that chronic knee issue does best if I rotate all sitting among 3-6 chairs. A lunch foray will tell me if I need to take more.

Re pain mgmt, my philosophy and practice is Function Over Feelings-- if the pain is on top of me instead of me on top of IT-- and I'm not moving enough to maintain strength-- that's when to use a few to reboot back to moving. I regularly offer my docs to refer me to a pain clinic for alternative management, but they approve of my FOF approach.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Aug 18 - 01:42 PM

PA:

2nd tramadol not needed TBTG.

Most of laundry is now awaiting folding.

The gray bin emptied, and a beloved shirt and driving shorts were hiding in there-- falling-apart fabrics, but the shirt will do for remaining Sat. svcs time here, and the twill driving shorts will drive to Ohio in a few weeks. They're OMG loose, lightweight, pocketed, and with an elastic, no-slip-down waistband. Fits me 20 lbs either way. They look really awful ON, but they feel so good to drive in!

I may feel a chair nap w NPR coming on. I drank enough water to keep it short, or being on standby for a plumbing call may preclude this nap. But I have clothes to slip on quick from that bin! :-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Aug 18 - 09:30 PM

I was out to lunch today with friends from work, and it seems sometimes one lunch just isn't enough because some people can't make it. This was "the" lunch, but I think on Thursday a few others will head over to the same place with me.

The list of things that need to be done soon is growing, so despite having the time at home for a while, it will be filled with activity. A lot is catch-up, but a lot more is initiating the projects I've planned for a long time.

Three more days.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Aug 18 - 08:54 AM

Go Acme! I hope our own retirement planning bears fruit soon-- I'm so jealous I should go to confession! ;-)

PA:

Seven recordings of our Saturday Night Service turned up last week, and I'm negotiating the cost of converting those cassette tapes to CD.

The last upstrs box is now dnstrs-- video to send for conversion from vhs to dvd, a box of contacts to quote in the book, and annotated Sat. service music planners-- all quickly repackaged. Once they're done I'm taking today as a Sleep Day, which means not much more sorting till evening.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Aug 18 - 12:04 PM

PA:

One chair nap and administrivia-- photographing boxes packed thus far to facilitate communication with team, posted in my FB transition-planning group page.

Those depict Van Cargo; (some) weather-resistant Trailer Cargo; and December Cargo. I also made a sketch for the Ohio laundry area storage; this image woke me up from my nap. The sketch is to facilitate further measurement/planning in Ohio, so Hardi can cut down the PA cabinet. This great plywood box is ceiling height, almost a yard wide, and 30" deep. Helper Adrian custom-built this for us, and it disassembles. Add a facing and doors made from MDF closet doors original to the house... paint doors with white enamel to match the stackable washer/dryer there... and it will swallow up all those seldom-used kitchen items, as well as paper goods and a small bar fridge!

The key this time has been not how many boxes-- but how organized are their contents.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Aug 18 - 07:12 PM

The way to deal with passive/aggressive management is to go around them, so after waiting nearly three weeks for them to announce my retirement to the rest of the library staff, I wrote my own announcement and sent it out this evening. This means that there is only tomorrow for people to stop by because I check out on Friday.

I've brought home just about everything I can see that I brought in over the years, and there are the usual office gifts from people who traveled (magnets, stickers, bobble-head things); I will keep my phone charger cord in my pack so I don't forget it on the last day. I have deleted everything from my computer, emptied the remote storage site I had use of while a university employee, and am ready to get papers signed so I can check out. Turn in the keys and the long distance phone code and I'm out of there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Aug 18 - 07:56 PM

Acme, I hope you have a camera. I know it may not seem this way now, but later you will want to see again what you saw from your windows every day, and on your walks.

I'm sorry you were not able to do early farewells. Now, however, you can be a powerful magnet to invite work friends OUT of the environment for lunches or coffees. Even the occasional postcard will encourage them more than you can know! :-)

There are folks there who looked to you as a mentor and role model. With some of them, you know you played that role. Others would surprise you. ;-)

There are also folks there who will be having deep grief at what they can only grasp as a sudden departure. I hope there's enough listening resource among them to absorb it, and I wish you all the listening you need in your own transition afterwards. One day at a time.

All the best from one who's been there,

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Aug 18 - 09:41 PM

Thanks, Susan - there are few I'm really sad to be leaving behind. They can't or aren't ready to retire yet, and we were a support group. Getting past the stress is necessary, but holding friends close is also.

Not getting much accomplished this evening, and probably won't tomorrow, and I'm not trying. Just coasting along until this is all over.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 18 - 08:59 PM

Still moving some computer files at work, but I think the last batch will have finished by now. I sign off for the last time tomorrow afternoon, but will retain that email account as a retiree. Nothing has been done much around the house except feeding the occupants. Come Saturday it's a whole new world. This is the biggest declutter I've ever managed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 Aug 18 - 02:51 AM

Acme, it's looked pretty remarkable from here. When the dust settles, I hope uyou'll leave some tips on HOW you did it. I've been reading the "what" of it, but I'm sure you've used some tips I could use.

I have 5 or 6 hard/flash drives to make portable. I'm afraid to get the quote from the techie here but know I can't do it myself. Is there a national chain that does this?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 18 - 12:21 AM

The goal at the university was to remove any personal files from the computer and they had a checklist. I made sure I not only deleted things but that I logged off of anything I'd been signed onto. When I logged out of Chrome on that computer it closed out everything, but I suppose if I wanted one last step I could change the passwords.

It was a long day today, lots of visits with friends and I'll miss them. I stopped by another retiree's gathering at a local restaurant, there were three of us who left today.

I'm going back to Stilly River Sage soon.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 18 - 09:36 AM

I'll probably start a new thread with the new year because this one has run pretty long, but it can handle September through December before we're to that point.

It's a Saturday of a three-day weekend here in the US, so it pretty much feels just like that. I woke early, and facing Saturday, have a usual set of things to do, but all of a sudden I have more time for those things. I have no retirement strategy, though I have things I want to start now. This morning is when I would usually change the sheets, but I pulled up the mattress cover also; might as well start some fall cleaning even though it's still about 100^o out there every day this week. The dogs were fed and since the state of the patio has bugged me for a while I pulled out a stiff straw broom to un-felt the concrete - I call it that because dog hair laid down over time on top of grass and grit thrown off by the line trimmer becomes a durable mat that must be knocked loose and peeled off.

I have a couple of job nibbles and others more I plan to pursue. I also need to volunteer at my old library in order to work on organizing the photo collection I donated, and we need to figure out the best way to do it. One-stop ID might involve a process of identifying and photocopying to write on the paper who and what are in the image, creating a paper record, but also scanning it so it is available for use more easily. Those images will only be a resource if there is information attached to them.

And I'm Stilly River Sage again.

SRS

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Sep 18 - 07:08 PM

Beaver:
Lovely to have Stilly River Sage back! What an incredible de-cluttering you have accomplished!

Had an opportunity to talk with friend yesterday who has worked 53 years at the local newspaper - started when he was 17 and took over ownership when his dad retired. He recently sold the newspaper part and kept the printing company and office supplies shop - He wants his son to have a life! I would love for him to do an oral history. He probably knows more about the last 53 years of this community than anyone.

Apparently the hogweed and/or wild parsnip, both vicious invasive weeds, are common around here. I wanted to try to provide enough information that more people are not burned by them. Spent five hours on the phone Thursday trying to get a better poster - one with a one liner heading that average folks would see and take notice! Finally got a good one and had my friend print it up -11x17! Spent part of today getting people (at the Farm market) to take them to other areas, blanketed Maynooth and started on Bancroft. Ran out of energy and flaked out for the afternoon. Tuesday...

But I did manage, after nap, to maneuver the firewood tarp into a really good position so it will be easier to handle through the winter, she says hopefully! I am very pleased as I doubted I could do it and did not want to knock over any of the already stacked wood. Two days of rain predicted then I will resume stacking.

Dan said he was coming on Monday but I suspect he means Tuesday - after Labour Day. R did not make it up for this long weekend - moving a 60 foot long machine. Maybe Canadian Thanksgiving? - next month. I am staying right here. Fall is lovely!! Then, in October before ground freezes, the process of moving plants from the Montreal house to ???? somewhere. Then the moving in November to new house. Although with the sale of Montreal house having fallen through - so much for "ironclad" contract... R does not tell me he is concerned... HE is working on it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 18 - 11:54 PM

Laundry done, three more jars of pickled okra and a couple of pounds of it in the freezer. I've cleared off about half of my kitchen table and about as much of my peninsula counter next to the sink.

I took a nap. I found some covers to CDs and put the CDs into them. I dusted some shelves. Nothing vital but it clears up some stuff that was sitting out and I want the house clean enough so I can do more entertaining and not worry about dust and dog hair.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 18 - 10:28 AM

The last of the CDs was tucked away into the shelf this morning and it looks great, disks in order and free of dust. I've turned my attention to the kitchen to clean up after last night's processing of pickled okra (I have almost a case of jars now). Today will be really hot, as will tomorrow, but we're supposed to have a series of days with a good chance of rain. Finally I'll have the time to work in the yard when the soil is perfect to work in after the rain. Invariably it rains on the weekend and I have to go to work during the week. I will work my way around the foundation, clearing out weeds and weed-tree saplings and transplant a few things. I also need to put in a new concrete path where the sewer line went through.

Someone on my Freecycle list offered up some bags of used jeans for crafts so I've written back and said I'll take them. We'll have to see if I'm the first to ask and if I can find the house. I'm planning to do some craft work with denim and if I don't have to buy the first batch I can do my testing and see how it works.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Sep 18 - 02:21 PM

Congratulations Maggie!!! <3

I hope you fill your days with whatever makes you most happy! You certainly deserve it!

XOXOXOOXOXOXLoveYouBunches!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Sep 18 - 02:28 PM

My focus today has been the living room. The floor has been mopped, most surfaces have been dusted and Jeremiah is currently in the process of moving his bookcase and pile of never ending STUFF (think backpack, jackets, school papers, random crayons, cars, etc) into his own room. That leaves one set of drawers that he has in the living room.....it's nice having that additional space.

I have a few piles of papers and books to go through of my own yet. We have been saving for a new living room (couch, recliners, possibly a sectional, lights and tables.....so I'm having some fun imagining exactly what and how I'd like the living room to be. Some painting may be in order too.....I'm really liking a harvest wheat color or a soft butter yellow. Currently, the walls are more of a pumpkin color. I think it would be nice to lighten it up. Additionally, we have saved enough to add a large picture window overlooking the field and mountains in the background...that too will add more light to this room. Little by little...we'll get there!

I also have 3 racks of magazines I am hoping to go through and will likely take them to the waiting room at my office (name and address removed) as people are always taking the magazines (which is perfectly fine with us)....so I'm sure they will go to good use.

Hoping to go fishing later today.

Have a great weekend & Labor Day to those in the US!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Sep 18 - 05:46 PM

SRS, what's your planned drift-time duration before your financial and social goals make paychecks necessary?

PA:

I decluttered the Saturday Night Service reprtoire of a pile of players' binders last night; two of our elderly members can no longer play, and a member of that congregation has taken up uke. Like I had done, more than 20 years ago, she wants to learn/practice with hymns and gospel songs.

So I offered her a set of ours, with Hardi's endorsement, and removed anything personal from the pockets. So glad to see the instrument craze take over someone else like that, as mine wanes for now.

It was, I'll admit, gratifying to hear her exclaim about the heavy load represented by all but two of our binders (yet to find). Oh, you didn't realize what this ministry takes!?!?

This evening I did exploratory surgery in one of the two problem areas I'm need of that before I depart in 8 days-- and boxed up more empty binders with tabs to re-use, after filling Shred and Recycle boxes of paper with their contents.

I found four different stashes of past tax returns, which I left for Hardi's review. And I found a few pages neatly filling in an era between two doctors in my health records-- which went into the nearly-full box waiting for little bits just like that.

I estimated the number of liquor store boxes needed to complete my work in that area. Tomorrow, Hardi and I will do similar exploratory surgery in the 2nd problem area.

It's time to start loading boxes into the van. The weather forecast looks good for that.

An Ohio neighbor wrote to ask if she can give our number to the relative about to house-sit for her planned vacay, who will keep an eye on our well-secured little house. We've had zero alerts from the alarm system, the plant-sitter, or either neighbor. I can't wait to get back to my accessible house. If only I could priest-nap Hardi! One week yet to have fun.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 18 - 11:00 PM

I have 30 days away from work or volunteering in an educational environment for my retirement to stay official. There is work to be done in the future on the photo collection I donated, and I'll be a volunteer there (to be able to go into the back area in Special Collections). I'll start looking for jobs to apply for any day now, but I have a few weeks of down time before I push harder.

I've spent most of the afternoon and evening pacing myself as I work through an online Defensive Driving course. I've completed five of the eight sections. B-O-R-I-N-G. But saves me about 10% on my auto insurance, and it lasts for three years.

Tomorrow is a holiday, part of a three day weekend, and it still just feels like a weekend. I predict that on Tuesday the joy of being retired will begin to sink in. My retired neighbors have kidded me about every day being Saturday now that I'm retired. I still have appointments on my calendar so I can't just drift from one day to the next, but I'll have so much free time compared to before it will be a luxury.

News came this morning of a fellow from the university who died suddenly last night. That makes three in two weeks, younger than me. One had long term cancer she didn't tell anyone about, but not the others as far as I can tell. I feel like I'm escaping with my life.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Sep 18 - 11:19 AM

SRS, brilliant arrangement. If you can afford to, you might want to drift for that whole 30. You've just left an abusive situation and may need more gardening time.

PA: December's return from Ohio will be my last, we've decided, at least to this house-- we'll always have friends here. Exactly what that will look like remains to be seen, but my farewells are underway and I'll complete them over Christmas.

The rest is in the Lord's hands.

Today, packing two shelves for December shipping, then a visit with my adopted brother next county over.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Sep 18 - 11:23 AM

I have returned from Pinewoods.

It was very, very hot in Massachussets, far hotter than I expected, and in fact just as hot as Stratford can be when it tries. I sweated buckets every damnable day, and continued sweating long after sunset, thus attracting a wide range of biting insects. Fortunately, the dress code at TradMaD is such that copious sweating is a problem only to the extent that it causes one's skin to stick to the varnish of the instrument one happens to be playing, and nobody cares if one scratches.

I learned to play the lap dulcimer, so my time was well spent. Himself had a whale of a time, up till the small hours every night and singing himself hoarse. All in all, it was a good holiday.

After two days in our lovely air-conditioned car and two days back in our lovely air-conditioned house, I am still scratching my bug bites and the remains of my heat rash.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I will turn 64, an age I frankly never expected to attain so I have no plans; I rather think I will keep on keeping on. I might vacuum-clean the sitting room carpet, which is beginning to look like a fur-bearing animal.

SRS, congratulations on quitting your irritating office job -- I doubt very much that you have actually retired from gainful employment. When I don't have a paying gig in hand, I like to tell people that I am gainfully unemployed.

Speaking of paying gigs, I finished the Afghanistan book and shipped off the marked-up proof and its PDF files to the publisher. God, but I'm glad that's over -- tho' we were, and are, very grateful for the money. Now I have to ship the bulk scanner off to Ottawa; it's taking up space that should be available for my guitar case.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Sep 18 - 12:26 PM

Charmion, you are two days older than me - early happy birthday! What you describe of your trip sounds like a well-managed vacation, even if it was very hot. Our weather is usually like that this time of year, something one would expect for North Texas, and even though we're accustomed to it we still don't like it. Today it's a gentle rain, preparing the gardens for my assault later this week.

I just heard the garbage truck pass by the house; I didn't check to see if they'd be working today (Labor Day) so I didn't put anything at the curb. I'll have plenty for them on Thursday when they make their next pass. I have cleared the kitchen table and next must tackle the dining room table (where many of my sewing projects will be laid out.) Some papers are filed, others need to be shredded, and those will go in the trash. I don't think I have anything eligible for the burning barrel so far, they've gotten pretty good at taking our important account numbers off of paperwork from the university.

Next week is our quarterly bulky waste pickup so one project in the back yard this week is to cut up the small limbs I plan to run through the chipper and haul the rest to the curb. You may remember the episode with limbs on the electric lines; I hauled the big chunks of tree out to the curb in June for that bulky waste pickup, but waited on the rest. Now is the time to process that and clear the fenceline of a large dry pile of branches.

So far retirement doesn't look different from weekends, it's just that I'll now have a lot more weekend and no week. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 18 - 12:28 AM

Today I went by a house on the west side of town and picked up three large bags of jeans and denim scraps (Frecycle). The first batch has gone through the wash and dry cycle and I'll organize them to see what I have. Lots of jeans legs, and that's fine, because I'm wanting to make quilting squares, for starters. This is an experiment to do with eBay and some of my own crafting interest.

I finished a Defensive Driving course online (deadly dull but it's finished) and now to renew my auto insurance. This gives me a 10% discount each year for three years.

Now comes the fun of retirement - it's a work night but I don't have to go to work tomorrow!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Sep 18 - 08:56 AM

Ya know, Stilly, your house will never be free of clutter if you insist on making stuff out of other stuff. Just sayin'.

Defensive driving is a really good idea, and I wish Canadian insurance companies would give a break to those who not only do the course, but also do the deed. After four days of travel at breakneck speeds on the superhighways of Ontario and New York State, I am here to tell you that defensiveness is not the majority approach to the task of driving on those routes.

Five and a half years have elapsed since I quit my last office job, and the time has flown. There's always lots to do, and when I run out of housework, errands and things to read, there's always music practice, cooking and making the cat happy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 18 - 11:38 AM

Charmion, I'm not planning to keep these things, I'm experimenting with hand craft projects that can be sold on eBay or at craft fairs. Martha Stewart had denim crafts as a topic in her magazine Living years ago that I've been meaning to follow up on. There are a lot of programs I'm interested in catching up on (many streaming via NetFlix) but I'm never good at sitting still to watch TV. I can place a set on the table opposite where I'm working and watch and do handcrafts at the same time.

It's a weekday with all of the neighborhood comings and goings and I'm here to see how the dogs handle all of the activity. My new blue heeler Pepper seems to be on top of everything. :) As soon as it cools off a bit we'll resume walks in the morning.

The yard is a jungle. Time to tackle some of that.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Sep 18 - 11:39 AM

Happy birthday!

PA:

Chair dozed about 40 minutes after a lovely planning conversation with DH. It's a big day, and we hope to do a round of errands later this afternoon. (Not sure if I can tear myself away from Kavanaugh hearings which are already fiery hot!)

The last section of the DR I wanted to sort for this trip is done.

I now have 6-8 closed boxes to load, and 6-8 open boxes/bins labeled for whether they go to house or garage. Between that, farewells to friends leaving the area and laundry/dishes, I am done with this trip's projects and now turn to trip prep-- adding the odd thing or two I pass to the appropriate box, closing boxes, and planning van/trailer packing layout. And at the 11th hour, a hastily-requested consult for a fellow antiracism chapter leader-- his request was only accepted because he's willing to drive to the town where the cheap tarps I need are, for the 2-piece monster hutch I'm driving over to my Ohio DIL & son "on the way" home.

One change in van layout is that I'm lvg the small scooter here, for use in December, and taking just the ramp for Ohio use with the big scooter there. I will probably also leave the portapotty I use when camping in a van, but I have a workshop date to check first; it may live in the van til my December return, when I'll want it here.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 04 Sep 18 - 02:32 PM

Beaver:

I am not doing much but looking at the pile of paper added to the pile for fire starters, I have done something!

Dan finished doors on the back-back shed and put new tops on 3 stackable tables; my job is to paint the lot as well as the sheds. I shall go out shortly and do as much as I can before I run out of steam. It is hot, humid and overcast. Am I looking for an excuse not to do this today??

Lengthy consult with Dan re ladder to sleeping loft. To start on Thursday, then I shall have a place for visitors - able to climb ladders! He will devise a way to hinge it so it can raise up to the ceiling when not in use. AND I can keep my Mexican rug - which I love - on the only wall space availble for it!

Posted a few more posters re the poisonous plants today, then Purolater arrived with a batch of the glossy 4 page brochures and a note that Kate is trying to get a poster made according to the parameters I suggested. I shall try to find her email address and send her the ones I have PLUS the admonition:Do NOT weed wack or mow! This is how my friend got it all over her face - after reading the glossy...

I feel more energized by this result of my 5 hour phone marathon. Computer off, work clothes on - Let's have at it ...

THERE! used up the paint and need to go off for a new gallon and some books from the library. Ordered a book from local shop this am: The Psychopath Inside by Fallon (tom, I think.) Very edifying!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Sep 18 - 08:04 AM

PA: Cleanup day in the AC LR, and a farewell visitor due. Hoping it's cool enough for the back porch for that, because it's farewell to the porch, too. For 24+ years this house has been home. Longest place I ever lived. For 20+ years that porch has been a key place (took awhile to give up on the larger front porch). Big day.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Sep 18 - 10:05 AM

PA

Hardi retires Jan. 1, 2019.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 05 Sep 18 - 02:15 PM

I just bought two american girl dolls in thrift shop for ten each. Been googling but not finding what they might be worth. Both are 1920s or so. One has tag and called olivia. Other no ta g o name. Goal is to start selling on ebay.. Any suggestions?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 18 - 07:10 PM

It's difficult to buy things on spec and hope to sell them later. eBay search on "American Girl doll Olivia".

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 18 - 09:54 PM

Hardi is probably feeling lighter already from having named the date and having a target to work toward. I know that was the case here. Congratulations to both of you, it is a team effort.

I am washing the third load of denim while the second is in the dryer, and there's one more full washer load (and it's a large washer). There are two pair of children's jeans that are in good shape that can go on eBay, but everything else is a source of denim fabric for crafts.

This business of being retired is obviously quite new, but I'm noticing a couple of things right off the bat: during the day the grocery store is quiet and uncrowded and the people who are shopping are mostly retirees and women with small children. I remember the days when I was home with small children and visiting the grocery stores midday during the week; now I'm on the other end of that.

This is a temporary period of working around home and the neighborhood; depending on my next job I may be back in an office and doing a normal 9 - 5 job. Or part time. Or telecommuting. . .

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 05:32 AM

Thanks, SRS, it's only a little bit like that. For clergy-folk, and their families, it gets heavier in many ways before it gets lighter. We had hoped to get word to people a full week earlier so we could team up to absorb the range of reactions and responses; an unavoidable delay occurred. So our next steps in that will be different. His colleagues also got the word, and will be helpful in shouldering that load.

I love the vagueness of your next professional steps at the end of your post. That sounds like relaxed openness to the range of opportunities I am sure you will have to choose from!


PA:

The week's delay in parochial notifications also chopped a week out of communications with our landlord about exact house departure, but everything else has sorted itself out so elegantly that I'll have to have faith that the house matters will somehow resolve without face meetings. I think I'll see that more clearly from Ohio than I can right now.

The weather forecast looks cooperative for finishing loading up without rain. Tmrw I close the last few boxes and we pick up tarps to wrap Dave's hutch.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 09:49 AM

It took four full loads in a high-capacity machine to wash all of that denim and material. As I unpacked the bags I was finding an archaeological arrangement of a project that was clearly huge and possibly never completed. It makes me see the amount of work that will go into what I was planning.

There are pairs of full but worn-out large size men's jeans and several ripped or partially dismantled pairs - at least a dozen of those. And there are easily a couple dozen more pairs that have been taken down to just the leg panels from waist to hem, separated from the seams, waist, and zipper. There are dozens of the lower legs of pants cut off to make shorts and there are dozens of scraps of various sizes and lots of pockets and a few bits and pieces of seams and zippers, though most of that is gone. The amount of lint in the dryer was even heavier than washing dog beds.

There are a couple of pieces of denim-colored cotton yardage, probably broadcloth, that is printed on one side. Possibly the beginnings of a project in which the person who spent so much time over this 75 pounds of denim realized that store-bought denim or look-alike fabric isn't as robust as actual jeans denim. Or maybe it was meant to be a backing of a denim project.

So much work went into the preparation of this fabric to this state and my receiving it so randomly as part of an offer on a freecycle group seems remarkable—I feel more like I inherited something, not just some cloth to work with.

I'm tempted to contact the woman who offered it and ask what is the story behind it, though if it is something from an estate, that may be a painful topic. But I'll print out the email and name and perhaps in the future contact her to ask about it. To have done so much work—was something or were several somethings created and this is what is left over? Or did the original idea never see a draft or completed version?

In having this view of the work already completed I'm going to have to get a few boxes and arrange this hoard by size and according to how it was processed rather than dig through the stack looking for a certain size and shape. It makes sense to make the quilting squares out of the smallest scraps first and work up from there, see how the larger pieces can be used before cutting them small.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 04:15 PM

PA:

So much coordinating, details/schmetails!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Sep 18 - 05:54 PM

I did some decluttering at work today. People have a habit of dropping things off that they no longer can use, especially baby items. While I am thankful to get many of them to share with expectant clients, I am tired of all the gear cluttering up my cubby! The only remaining item is a brand new can of powdered formula.....feels good to get it all out and to people who can use the items.

I have also rearranged my schedule so that I have more time at home in the afternoons with Jeremiah.....I like this SO much better! We have time to get chores done, play a bit and I have the time and energy to make a decent meal. Tonight I made 2 meals so I won't have to cook again this week. I have a chicken roasting in the oven along with some baby carrots with a touch of brown sugar. In the crockpot, I have a new recipe simmering away....chicken and dumplings. That won't be ready until about 9:00pm. Depending on what time Pete gets home, that may be our dinner. Jeremiah will be in bed by then but he will be most happy with the roasted chicken, carrots and corn on the cob.

I also cleaned out my car. I had purchased some fall/Halloween items this weekend and they finally found their new homes. :) Some for here and some for at work.

I added one more bag of clothes to go to Sally's...I'm determined to be rid of the clothes that no longer serve a purpose (too big, too small, don't like, outdated, never will wear again, etc). It's slow going but not bad for working 50+ hours a week and taking care of normal chores.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Sep 18 - 10:48 AM

When I went back to work the kids' dad changed his schedule so they didn't have to go to daycare for an hour or two after school. They loved that and it helped the budget. It also meant that after the divorce they saw him every day after school and it wasn't like they only saw him every other weekend and on Wednesday evenings.

The largest flat pieces of denim completely fill one of those large plastic storage bins with the flat top that is two flaps that interlock. Now to find a box for the other pairs of unprocessed jeans.

Into the garden this morning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Sep 18 - 10:06 PM

Another heavy rain today and flash flood warnings. This morning I started pulling up small trees sprouting in the garden but the lawn didn't get mowed (too wet) so it still looks pretty awful. After more rain tomorrow it's supposed to dry out. I dug up some daffodils to take to a friend—I thought I was going to dig, at any rate, but turns out they's spread over the concrete from the edge of the garden so I lifted and bagged them for a short trip to another yard.

It's easy to drift when I don't have to be at the office for eight hours a day plus a commute. I have a bullet list, but I'm going to have to make more notes and probably put a list on the fridge also.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 18 - 11:01 AM

Pete and repeat - more rain this morning, locally it's heavy enough that I'm hearing people outside of flood zones getting water in the house because it can't drain out of the yard fast enough. I'll be keeping an eye on the creek. This should be the end of it today.

A combination of copy editing and eBay stuff today, I think.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Sep 18 - 01:46 PM

PA:

I hate these transit scrambles. It looks like keeping the hutch for son/DIL as dry in transit as possible puts me lvg a day later. While that also adds PA time I can use, it relies on my using a lot more caffeine than I like for the drive, because I really must arrive by 2pm Weds. It uses up slop time I might have spent napping on the road, AND time to stretch my legs which will blow up like balloons.

But I did find a stash of 'new' music for road tunes. Perhaps more useful, it allows one more really long, deep sleep before driving....

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 18 - 09:55 PM

Rain rain rain. I was able to run a few short errands and not get too soggy, keeping them in one neighborhood. Good thing about the city library system is that you can return materials to any branch and they're back on time. My vehicle tags are due this month and I always go to a local hispanic grocery to get them (instead of online or via mail). And there's a library across the street. My 2019 sticker is now in place and my DVDs aren't overdue.

This year I dropped AAA roadside assistance and will use comparable assistance from my insurance company. I changed phone companies. Over the next year I'll investigate the quality of the anti-virus provided free by my cable company (apparently it's Norton Antivirus, but you have to decline all of the offers they pack in). I pay for Kaspersky now, and Malwarebytes. I'll keep Malwarebytes and go with the cable offering. All of these changes were a lot to deploy while I was preparing to retire, but these few changes will result in substantial savings. And I suppose I could have done them before, if I'd thought about it.

I have two jobs announcements to respond to and a couple of other offers to consider so soon I think my future work week will be three days on and four off, helping me help keep track of what day it is.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Sep 18 - 06:12 AM

PA:

Last night I was able to sort out the Band players' songbooks at church, with annotations in the players' books I'd used (where most of the corrections would be for future photo-copying). That set is set aside to leave for the several folks committed to continuing the Saturday Night Service. The spouse of a former member got the former member's set, to practice thru, with her new uke.

It's so cool to see new-instrument-fevered Saturday Nighters start down the road we know so well, wanting to start out as players on hymns. A committee looks about to form, to plan all the changes around that service.

Ydy, we got the hutch loaded and wrapped to stay reasonably dry over the next 48 hpurs or so till I pull out. In between rain showers, we'll load up the boxes and other cargo.

Off to church for more farewells and to hear Hardi preach this first Sunday after folks have gotten their notification letters. I've missed hearing his Sunday preaching!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Sep 18 - 03:37 PM

Beaver:

Mowed some of yard in the dry spell and making progress on the wood stacking. Painted the back shed on two sides, including the new doors (there were none); took most of the new gallon! Looks SO much better. Second coat on the 3 tables. Now, to find something to cover at-risk plants as we have a frost warning for tonight! Also have put heater back in studio.

Mowing the grass was wonderful as I could walk around this am without getting soaked! Off-loaded pottery into the screen house, quick while the ground is dryish!; did not try to unpack it. One more non-rainy day to work on the wood stacking if body permits. Might be able to finish tomorrow and cover it with BIG tarp.

Interior in fair shape.

Well, that was yesterday. Today I have been mostly resting and reading. Guess enough is enough! On this last clear day - til when - I did not do any wood but will go out and cover what is stacked for tomorrow bodes rain. Did not actually have frost last night but is was very cold. A fire in stove this am and probably this evening as it is to be a cold night and very cool tomorrow!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Sep 18 - 06:41 PM

PA:

I actually used to be able to LIKE moving. Not anymore.

Aftn: Loading and cooperating in the rain. After 3 sleepless wknd svcs for both of us-- shocked peeps for him and farewells for me. But we napped in between and have crockpot going. Van now loaded except for day of departure items like puder/meds/dog.

Tmrw we hope to dodge the rain long enough to add a rain resistant bin and some rolled up hog panels to the trailer and cover that hutch with one last layer of cushioning, wind-resistant tarp, and tie up the load. Tmrw night I'll pack the meds and puder bags, and clean up the kitchen.

Tonight we dry off, fold laundry, watch movies and snuggle, dreaming out loud of retirement.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Sep 18 - 09:40 PM

Interesting story from my nextdoor neighbor: he was in the hospital for a kidney stone last week and this week he'll go in and they'll do a laser treatment. He said they also did bloodwork and told him his thyroid was off and he'd have to take medicine the rest of his life. He went to his doctor and had them run a panel and it shows up perfectly, so no medicine. He was smart to do that; who knows what was going on at the time he was in the hospital.

I used a coupon for a free Lean Cuisine gluten-free meal this week and I fixed it this evening. Very tasty! Something I could fix myself and freeze. I may experiment with that this week.

This evening I was able to get the mower into the front yard and mow without bogging down in wet grass. I need to trim and do a lot of other work, but this helps with the worst of the problems. It's our week for bulky waste so I'll be trimming a few large limbs off of trees in front and leaving them at the curb tomorrow.

Tonight is the first "regular" Sunday night (after the holiday last week) that gives me the wonderful sensation of what retirement can be - I don't have to stop what I'm doing to make lunches, do laundry, and do the other things to get ready to go to work. Instead, I'm doing some research for the contract work I mentioned and will finish it up tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Sep 18 - 07:06 AM

PA:

Torrential rains trying to delay our trailer loading but since I couldn't sleep I solved that. The hog panels will have to be loaded, curved. But all that part of the job can be done ON THE FRONT PORCH, while it rains. Then if it does bend just right it can be tied there, thrown on tmrw AM and away I go in the dry weather.

Errands and cleanup today so I come back in December to a well-prepped personal environment.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 18 - 04:45 PM

I mowed but it's still too soggy to do much digging work. I have some limbs to take down also, but again, working under that tree right now would mean the soil is squishy. I'll wait till tomorrow to start taking out a mattock and a couple of limb saws to start that work. Since mowing is possible I may pull out the mower and attack the lawn in the back.

A box went into the mail today along with a large priority envelope for an eBay sale. There are lots of now-empty boxes around here from bringing things home from work and my best move is to flatten them for future use. I've rearranged some of the binders in my office, separating accounts for purchases or paying bills from logon information to online accounts and keeping track of freelance work.

The east coast sounds like it's going to take a hard hit. Any of you in that path, stay safe!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Sep 18 - 09:10 PM

PA:

I decided one Ag panel will suffice and it is ready to load. Last box closed and loaded. Puder packed. Tmrw AM I pack meds and dog, and hit it.

This three weeks has been crammed with three months' living. Getting home in Ohio will be very surreal.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 18 - 09:15 PM

Two unrelated chores accomplished: boxes flattened and a handful of dried okra pods (with the year they were harvested marked on the side in Sharpie) delivered next door (they have friends with a small a farm who don't like the variety of okra they're growing right now but notice the ones in my yard are much taller and tender even when they're a little on the large size). Delivering the pods wasn't difficult, finding the plastic bin where I'd stored them took a little while. When you nest boxes of things sometimes you lose track of stuff.

I also made a trip to my favorite thrift store for a light yellow t-shirt. I am going to take a number of my former work knit shirts and turn them into a lap quilt, and was missing a yellow shirt I seem to have discarded. I was visualizing that color as part of the pattern so I spent $1.96 to replace it with one that looks well worn. Perfect. I also found a lovely elbow-length boat-neck yellow knit top that fits beautifully and a pair of bluejeans to replace the ones I'm wearing today for the last time. These need to go into the jean project pile because they're way worn and have seen only garden work for ages now.

A swath of the back yard got mowed, a section at the back of the lot. I worked until a very large mosquito tried to land on me, so I ceded the yard to the insects and will finish the job tomorrow morning. Tonight I dropped mosquito dunks into the bird baths and soon I need to clear out the rain gutters on the greenhouse. It's overcast and the temperatures are in the mid-80s this week, an improvement on most of the summer, but I await that crisp blue sky day that tells me fall is here.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 18 - 09:57 AM

Damn. I woke to rainfall again this morning, though the forecast showed only a slight chance for the rest of the week. No dog walk, no lawn mowing, no trimming limbs that should be put out at the curb for bulky waste pickup this week.

I have stuff to do indoors but am feeling the cabin fever of not being able to dig in and clear out some of the weedier or more overgrown areas around the yard. One section of the yard made a regular appearance inside the house though—there was a trail of ants across the wall above the kitchen sink. I'd think by now the crevices must be so full of diatomaceous earth that they wouldn't be coming through, but they found a crack below the window sill.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Sep 18 - 10:27 AM

Stilly, are you getting some of the storm that's heading for the Carolina coast? Your area sounds suddenly much wetter than you expect at this time of year.

In Stratford, it is grey, glum and cool. I am not decluttering or clearing out the house today, or even cleaning it; I just don't feel like it right now. And I have decided that that's okay.

I am doing something about fitness, however.

Himself gave me a Fitbit for my birthday, and for a week I have religiously logged my 10,000 steps per day and minded my diet. As a reward, I have shed two kilos and am currently enjoying a high degree of intestinal cooperation -- those of you with IBS or diverticulosis will know whereof I speak.

On Saturday, we took a trip to Kitchener (our closest Big City) to visit the Running Room, our destination of choice when in the market for sneakers, and each purchased new trotting footwear. My right foot is now 1.5 cm wider than my left foot, thanks to a pronating ankle and a growing bunion, so I was very grateful to discover that New Balance makes suitable sneakers that are not neon pink or hospital white. Trotting is now considerably more comfortable than it has been lately. Eight kilometres (five-ish miles) seems to be a do-able daily dose -- at least for now. There's a sore spot on the lateral aspect of my right foot, indicating a wrenched joint -- result of putting my foot in a hole in the parking lot of the Red Roof Inn in Utica -- and if it doesn't get better soon I will have to reduce the number of impacts it takes in a day.

I'm beginning to think of Advil as a dietary supplement.

It is now ten-thirty o'clock in the morning, so I shall quit typing and go to the gym. Go, me.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Sep 18 - 10:35 AM

PA:

Trailer ready to go. Confirming last arrival details, which will influence actual departure hour--u and then off we go.

Sun coming out for a cheery drive!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 18 - 01:48 PM

The rain in Texas is not directly related to the Carolina's coastal weather, though all weather is eventually related if you look at the global picture. :)

Safe driving, Susan! Safe walking, Charmion!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Sep 18 - 01:33 AM

Transit:

Arrived safe at Ohio son/DIL after multiple highway-shoulder stops to fix and finally remove tarps. One tarp strap, fortunately, lost its battle with the axle it wrapped itself around at 80mph.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Sep 18 - 05:40 PM

Beaver:
3 heavy weather days/NO energy days seem to be ending with SUN, high humidity and HOT - all in about an hour. I managed to get my Mexican rug back on the wall just now after thinking about it for 3 days. The ladder is not easy but possible for me to put down and then up, which I needed to do to get the rug up.

The ladder, like Mary Poppins is practically perfect in every way! It is beautiful cedar, finished to a smooth finish and varathaned with satin finish. When down it does not impede the doorway between LR and K and when up it is totally out of the way and beautiful! AND I can navigate it - up and down with no problem! I am SO happy to have this job done - and beautiful. There is room for an oldish trunk of fabrics and the beautiful old straight back chair "for Larry", with carpet so he does not have to de-boot. (This is not a de-boot type house!) The trap door is renovated to look better and hinged to open with ease. One more wonderful Dan job! When it dries outside - maybe tomorrow!he will paint the outhouse and finish high places on the shed that I could not easily reach. That may be it for this season - unless R has him work on the library. I need to save some money before spending more!

Now to plan a way to advertise and get people to beat a path to the door and, hopefully, buy some pottery! Possibly re-instate Keto diet... Have not gained back to lost 5 nor lost any more.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Sep 18 - 08:10 PM

Home!!!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Sep 18 - 12:59 AM

Dorothy, you must be making plans to move to the new house soon? Please tell us what we can expect as you prepare to move stuff from the Montreal house to the new house?

Susan, lucky you survive anything wrapping itself on the axle. Ugg. Are you away from the stormy weather, and is the house in PA going to get some heavy weather from hurricane Florence?

My knee is in good shape after a treatment six weeks ago and follow-up visit today to check on it. There are a variety of things possible in the future arthritis-wise, but this was the easiest so far and it is working. I also stopped by my GP office. There are a number of shots that become available as you get older, and I'm making a point to get them. The pneumonia shot is next, once they get another batch in the office (they ran out this morning and I stopped by in the afternoon. Good thing I could at least get the flu shot.) I'll be able to work on the garden, as long as I don't go too crazy with the spade fork, and may do myself a favor to switch sides as I do the digging work.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 13 Sep 18 - 02:33 AM

I thought montreal house fell through

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 18 - 07:57 AM

SRS, yeah! Smh.

The PA house is pretty far north so it's unlikely to get too much Florence, but it depends on the front's track.

Now that Hardi's retirement plans are official, the Ohio house feels very different. Unexpectedly homey. I thought I'd already made that internal transition. Apparently there are deeper layers. All it needs is Hardi here.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Sep 18 - 10:32 AM

Maybe it's time for an update on Dorothy's houses, but the last I read was that they wouldn't be able to move to the new house till November because the sale on the Montreal house had a time factor involved of being finalized then. I hope so!

I canned applesauce last night, clearing out space in the fridge that was full of apples. I peeled them because in my research on fiber it seems that while the pulp is considered soluble fiber, the skin is harder on the gut as insoluble fiber. Whatever the case, this applesauce is a light bright color, not the darker look it usually has when I puree the pulp and skin all together after steaming.

Finally a morning without overnight rain and the possibility to mow the lawn before I shower and head out for the afternoon.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 18 - 02:05 PM

OH:

The cleaner not an ideal match... but twice as many boxes, etc. were unloaded than hoped. That means 1.5 boxes/day unpacking is about right. The time it took to label them was SO WORTH the extra minute per box as I packed.

Unlike most of their helpers, the agency confirmed that Amber can't make grocery runs for me. I wonder if she has a record involving money. I feel shitty for being judgey--- but after Tyler...

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Sep 18 - 09:08 PM

OH:

I'm almost caught up on sleep and getting household fud back on track. Grocery list made for tmrw.

Some of tdy's time went towards resolving a fone issue. Also I got most of one plastic bin unpacked. It included one of Newbie's beds, and I placed that over what the last cleaner had said was a dog-ruined section of white carpet. WRONG! It needs only a minimum of Febreze!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Sep 18 - 10:05 PM

I've tackled the garden starting along the driveway side of the house, toting a couple of wheelbarrow loads of weeds back to the compost so far and trimming a few shrubs. Now I need to keep making progress and weed around the house before it dries out too much to work easily. I also lopped down all of the large wild sunflowers and the dead corn stalks to get them out of the way. When the garden hasn't grown up much in the spring the sunflowers look cheerful out there, but when they get really big they make a mess and crowd lots of stuff. I didn't get branches at the curb this week for bulky waste pickup so instead I'll put them out in modest amounts as trash every week, cut up and stacked into a tall Rubbermaid trash can.

Subject: Pennsyltucky PY
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 11:35 AM

OH:

My copy of Greg's retirement announcement was in the overflowing mailbox I purged yesterday. I keep looking at it to be sure it's really going to happen!

Life in Tioga County moves much more slowly than here, near Dayton. I've chafed at the pace here because my long experience has been that change happens in TC at the rate human beings actually can change. So I prefer that pace.

But it occurred to me yesterday that the intensity of the 3 weeks it took to do all I did during my three weeks back "In the County" was just about at that faster Dayton pace. And that as I integrate back into Dayton-pace, perhaps I'll find it less.... maddening. Perhaps more patient with it. Perhaps more effective, in it. It is two very different cultures for sure. I can love both.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 12:29 PM

Beaver:

House situation is unfathomable. I do not mention it to R much anymore. The sale of Montreal house fell through but R is still looking for a purchaser. He thinks he will pull it all together "at the last minute". I am happy here and really do not much care anymore. That hot spell all but did me in. I was SO happy when it ended - "Oh, I am not at death's door!" So I threw some pots. They are waiting to be trimmed but the heat and humidity have hit again today. I picked up more books at the library and have plenty of food. The house is closed up and still cool enough. Studio is 79F! All the essentials are under control. I am not going to try doing laundry 'cause I ain't goin' out there - to hang it! Did a few little things inside this am, did library, farm market and picked up fenugreek, hot curry powder and cashew pieces at Harvest Moon. May do a few more little indoor things as energy and inspiration arise.

Speaking of inspiration: I got the cashews packaged and stood looking around - "For inspiration" I told the staff. Then along comes Iny with a bag of - "looks like curry - YEAH!" "Hot curry" she said. So I went and packaged a good amount of that and then remembered Fenugreek. Then I no longer felt as though I had forgotten anything!

Now for veggies with hot curry seasoning! Lunchtime in central Ontario.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 05:51 PM

OH:

I spent the day recovering from the driving by walking back and forth thru the house, doing small tasks and taking one or two items at a time out of open boxes to carry to their planned destination. I now have two small boxes emptie, and my clean and folded vacation laundry put away. Putting things where they belong and re-discovering my innate orderliness has helped in every transition, but I look forward to just BEING here-- without transitions-- starting in January!!!

Groceries are off the list for today. Too hot to scooter and too brain-fuzzy to drive. Theresxactuslly lots of food here, including frozen blueberries I'd left myself!

Later-- items unloaded ydy and dumped on LR floor dispersed: Crate acoustic and minivox amps went aganst a LR wall for winter acoustic picking; Greg's picnic mass kit went to a LR wall by the front door; a box to open and then split its contents between LL and SEwing Room put in SR (LL floor space filled pending unpacking of several banker's boxes into shelves). Left in the LR to address is one large box of misc items to disperse thru the house, and then repurpose the box for Greg's clergy library items sitting in open boxes in the van.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 06:41 PM

OH:

Chix crockpot was a great supper, with enough left in the bowl to supplement a can of chicken enchilada soup. The rest of the first batch is cooling for the freezer, while a second bag of frozen chix is in the stock created. It will be crocking away til morning, and I'll be putting a lot of it in the freezer, to draw from as needed.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 10:47 PM

This morning my daughter joined me to tour an exhibit ending soon at our local modern art museum, and then we went out for lunch. I can't afford to eat out as much as I have the last couple of weeks, but today we were able to take advantage of Free Friday at the museum. I'm still discovering how different traffic is during the day, that period from 9 to 3 when people are at work and kids are in school. I plan to return to work one of these days, but for now, I'll enjoy this easy shopping and driving time. I'm driving to an organic gardening event tomorrow and expect to be working with the folks there on a contract basis (from home in the future).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 04:17 AM

Next weekend our village is having a mass front-garden sale. Anyone who wants to participate can submit their address to the organiser and it's put on a printed map. These maps are handed out for a small fee (given to a charity) to visiting customers (they come from villages all around) and on the day, from 10.30am until 3pm buyers wander round examining the goods on offer and purchasing them.

We're going to take part. We've done it before in our last village. It's so easy not to have to load up the car and drive off to a car-boot sale.
If it rains, we can open our garage door (garage is empty) and sell from there.

Husband is rooting around in the loft, bringing down chairs, coffee tables, a carpet shampooer, tons of Crimbo decorations, and we're also selling some garden furniture (but not my famous bench!)

I'm looking out ornaments, small mirrors, clothes (we have a portable clothes rack on which to display them) kitchen equipment, linen (table mats, tablecloths, old-but-still-nice curtains etc etc)

It's such an excellent opportunity to clear out the house. Our bungalow is tiny and we can't have clutter.
Also, I love nattering to all the visitors. I might make some cup-cakes/scones to sell with tea or coffee.
It will be like a very enjoyable party, with a bit of money at the end!
I'll pop some of our takings in the charity fund afterwards.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: KarenH
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 06:40 AM

My problem is how to take books to donate to Oxfam (charity bookshop) without getting tempted to buy more while there to bring home. Really trying to do better than one in, one out, but not very successfully.

Also, one really does need more than one guitar.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 11:22 AM

The Eliza-Senoufou's village-wide yard sale sounds like the annual Great Glebe Garage Sale in Ottawa, which attracts punters from miles around and always seemed to coincide with the day we took the cats to the Glebe Pet Hospital for their annual jabs.

The last time this happened, I and two yowling cats found ourselves in hot competition for the last parking space within spitting distance of Bank Street between the Rideau Canal and the Queensway. In sheer desperation, I beat out two minivans for a wedge of asphalt between a delivery van and a pick-up truck full of fifth-hand (at least) furniture. In retrospect, the mob of bargain-hunters picking over the leavings of prosperous middle-class Canadian life did not make a pretty picture -- but at least the bits and bobs were headed a new life with new people, and not the dump.

Our current abode has rather less storage space than the place we had in Ottawa, where the entire cellar was given over to shelving, plastic bins, Himself's barrack boxes, and the wine.

We still have the wine (well, not the *same* wine, but at least the same clay-pipe storage arrangement), but not nearly so much shelving, so I have to exercise far more discipline with respect to stowing stuff.

Yesterday, I went out to Canadian Tire, that great Horn of Plenty, and purchased a Kitchen-Aid standing mixer, the first such item I have ever owned -- or, indeed, used. (After more than fifty years of cooking, I have taken up sourdough baking, and the recipes I have assume the use of a power mixer.) Before I could embark on this errand, I had to find out precisely how wide and how tall the appliance is, and identify a storage spot for it. Fortunately, it fits on the pantry shelf; half an inch taller, and I would have been (reluctantly) taking it back.

Incidentally, I got a screaming deal; the mixer I bought is baby-blue, a discontinued colour, which brought the price down by Cdn$250.00. The red one cost Cdn$549.00. Riddle me that.

When my parents were young, people made their own bread to save money. As I drove away from Canadian Tire with my $300 bargain, I rationalized like crazy, thinking, "Well, I could be a golf fanatic, blowing the family fortune on membership in the Stratford Country Club!" (As if.) At least we eat the bread.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 04:13 PM

OH:

Lazy and pampered day fighting off a cold. The only productive effort today was a mini-request arising out of the summer's research project, which I was able to knock out into a zip file in less than an hour.

Also I happened across uneaten vacay food still quite edible.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 04:47 PM

OH:

Breaking news, young Isaiah has just joined Team Ridgebury in the capacity of pre-hormonal second pair of hands. He stopped by one day last July and offered lawn help, which we didn't need, so I snagged his number and opened communications with his attentive mom.

Just when I despair of any help, another nice youngster with hungry pockets knocks on my door. He starts Wednesday, arriving w his mom, to unhook the trailer and hang one Ag panel to keep Newbie from climbing out to eat cats.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 08:36 PM

Beaver:

Yesterday was predicted as HOT so I stayed inside and read. Checked out the weather about 6 pm and found it very fine; I could have trimmed pots. So, today I went off to do things and all but collapsed. Did not stay at event but came home in A/C car and was happy it was cooler in house. Put a wet wash cloth on my head and aimed the air cleaner fan at myself. Tolerable about 7 pm and I was outside long enough to pick the few yummie raspberries and a handful of wax beans and water the cherry trees and the plants in the studio. Oh! The beans are still in my pocket!!

Looking at the west hill after the mist lifted this am, I saw signs of fall and while driving saw a few turning red trees. A beautiful red, yellow and green Maple was the best.

Another do almost nothing day and tomorrow predicted worse. But I ate reasonably and am well recovered. I actually feel as though I am about to die when I am out in that sort of heat. Looked at a couple herb books for heat sensitivity aids... Nada.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Sep 18 - 09:07 PM

I did a lot of driving today to attend an event that included organic gardening vendors. I participated at a booth, answering questions and selling a few books. I'm looking forward to working more with these folks in the future, but via telecommuting.

The first two weeks of September were packed full of appointments, the next two weeks are wide open and I have plenty of things to keep me busy. Let's see if I can follow through with my intentions to be efficient yield any results. And find another job.

Those neighborhood garage sales are nice - every so often we end up with a pent up supply of things for sale (not sold during a period of hot or wet weather) and everyone ends up holding their garage sales on the same weekend. They're impromptu, not organized, block-wide sales, but still wonderful when they happen.

Charmion, when I moved into this house I had a lot of contractor work done and I paid for materials at every opportunity with one particular credit card to earn points (from my credit union, so they play nicer than some of the big bank cards). When the work was finished I had enough points to order a Kitchenaid stand mixer - they never seem to really go on sale. I have over the years acquired a couple of the attachments. The one I use most often is the grinder, for every time I need ground beef.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Sep 18 - 09:43 AM

Most mornings these days start out humid and the grass weighed down with dew. Here's hoping our 40% chance of rain misses us and things dry out enough to make work comfortable and the lawn mowable.

It has occurred to me that as a retiring person I can now visit garage sales early and easily. I must be careful about that!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Sep 18 - 02:02 PM

OH:

In Xenia, it's "eat when you're hungry; sleep when you're tired". Except for keeping my brain on dayshift by getting up at a fairly consistent time, that's Ohio time. And the sleep is ON-- I yawned off the last hour before a midnight bedtime last night, slept 9 hours, and awoke after brekky and a 2 hour chair sleep. I don't need to know WHY, and that's how retirement can be like vacation. That's one reas on I'm healthier here-- I rest so deeply.

I hope it's like that for Greg. Vacation has been, most years-- that's why clergy get 4 weeks, because the first week is spent restlessly unhooking to GET to that place; the 2nd is spent resting that way; the 3rd is having vacational fun; the 4th is travel/dread/dreaming of retirement and making stress-relief plans you'll never keep.

I MIGHT unpack a box or two in the LL that I'm tripping over.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Sep 18 - 03:01 PM

OH:

Completed spelunking the six banker's boxes that had been labeled for LL. Good thing I didn't wait because id already forgotten some details, so I added more labeling to a few. Moved two to their destination lower shelves pending further work, perhaps after the new lower shelves are built... "Last box" packed was emptied of most of its miscellany, most of which flowed twds various pre-designated house destinations.

One box not spelunked, I left for another time-- it got overwhelming so I stopped.

The LL floor is no longer a tripping hazard, and I could accept a LL visit that's been pending if it goes "live"-- function is now generally restored.

One box contains a number of books etc for LL shelves. The "New Arrivals" box here is overflowing again, which means cataloguing must resume before that box can be addressed. Yuck. Don't love cataloguing... but it would fill out odd, unfilled helper hours! It's not so bad when a second pair of hands brings me a few at a time, and shelves them as I get them entered. I can certainly move to do all those tasks, but not having to keeps my computer focus, uninterruptedly-- with the music going I can stay in "the zone" and it goes quickly-- and almost pleasantly!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Sep 18 - 10:56 PM

I took a whack at the tall grass in the vegetable garden today and cleared a few square yards of garden space before it got too hot out there. I'll resume the work tomorrow, hopefully the dew won't be so intense since it has been a few days since our last heavy rain.

Indoors, I've slowly sifted through old blog posts and deleted dated stuff and pages I don't intend to continue posting to. I'm looking at themes, and figuring out how to put up stuff that doesn't actually link from the blog page. Stuff I think I'll have to try to put up via FTP once I figure out where they'll let me put it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Sep 18 - 09:17 AM

Perth County is presenting us with the same stonking heat that Dorothy sweated through last week. I just hide out in our lovely (if grubby) air-conditioned house, no apologies. The world would not be improved by me coming out in a heat rash.

Stilly, what do you use your big stand mixer for? You write a fair bit about pickling, but I can't remember you discussing baking. Are you one of those people who brings boxes of cookies to the office, and fills up the freezer with cake?

I am crap at cake and pastry, probably because I so rarely make either. Bread is my thing, and I flatter myself that I can do pretty well anything I want to with yeast. But most modern cake recipes look to me like a chemistry experiment followed by a craft challenge: first, get the thing to rise properly, and then spend ages arranging ganache and butter-cream constructions to make it look like a building by I.M. Pei. (The Great British Bake-Off has a lot to answer for.)

I'm sporting a bunch of new bruises and ugly scrapes on my elbow and hand, the result of an ankle failure that dumped me on my own doorstep the other day. I put my foot down wrong and that was enough. It's embarrassing for me (not to speak of painful) and scares the be-Jesus out of Himself, whose mind immediately conjures up the worst-case scenario -- Oh, God, she's having a stroke! But no, it's just what happens when one's undercarriage should be subject to a product-recall notice from God. It'll be fun at the gym today, where everybody will have something to say about my Technicolour shins. Thank God, they won't see my butt.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Sep 18 - 10:03 AM

OH:

I was just notified that I'll be back on Brittney's schedule starting tomorrow at 9am. Upside, she knows the house and most routines. Downside, boundary issues and not a great cleaner. But county care mgr is making a routine visit Weds. She can probably steer Brittney towards the better way.

Another interesting wrinkle is that since I need 3 hours help but they only have 2 or 4 hour slots (so they're giving me 4), that early start time sounds like she'll be making me oatmeal and tea while I wake up enough to be cogent, and she can start in the back of the house until I'm awake enough to convey the week's priorities.

She also knows the service dog well and can move boxes and stuff. Now I just need to redirect her stream of "How Broke I Am." I fought for blue collar folks most of my life. Now I'm the CLIENT. I'll encourage her to spend break time in the Liberation Library!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 18 - 11:15 AM

Ouch on that tumble, Charmion! I still have a tender place on my thigh from falling on campus in early June (it left a mark).

This morning I went out before the waste disposal truck came through and hauled a couple of more things to the curb. Pepper's chewed up $6 pool is no more, and I filled it with the chopped up woody limbs from two large dried out native sunflowers. There was a large dog food bag with regular house trash, and then a large Rubbermaid bin with more cut up and aligned sunflower parts (align them and you fit more than stuffing any which way). I'll pick up another wading pool for Pepper next time I'm past a Dollar General Store. I'll be putting various more trimmed bush parts into that Rubbermaid bin for several weeks and dragging it to the curb twice a week.

The stand mixer gets used mostly for the grinding attachment. I buy beef chuck or other pot roast-type cuts and freeze them in 1-pound pieces. When I'm making tacos or want to season something with hamburger I let it thaw (ideally) part way then it's very easy to cut into pieces and run through the grinder. I make carrot salad, I have made other things that involved grinding but I can't remember what right now. In the bowl part I tend to use it for times when I'm cooking for a crowd; mashed potatoes or to break up boiled sweet potatoes to add other ingredients before putting it in a casserole with little marshmallows on top. I make banana or pumpkin or zucchini bread in batches so I mix it there. I most often use the paddle, sometimes the whisk.

Years ago I was given a large durable bread machine (made by Wellbilt, branded to various companies) that I use on the manual setting for bread and rolls. I let it do the kneading and first rise then it's finished and I take out the dough to shape and let rise again before baking. Bread, rolls, pizza dough, etc. Every so often I find one for a song at a garage sale or thrift store and have picked them up almost brand-new for the kids.

My ex had one with the aluminum bowl cracked, and asked if I'd keep my eyes open for another bowl. I found a barely-used machine for $20 - it was as good as new and the bowl was great but the machine was missing the gasket and the paddle. Next time I was at his house I realized he used his gasket and paddle with the new machine and it's bowl and discarded his very old machine. I've tended to do that kind of repair myself lately, marrying parts from new and old to come up with one completely working device. My small Westblend grinder was that way - the switch on the old body had broken and I had to operate with a twist tie and a toothpick. I found a new body with a top that was missing the blade, but my top and blade fit on the new body.

The neighborhood excitement is over - Pepper has been busy listening to noises from next door as the local lumber company came to retrieve the unused planks from the patio decking and new roof project. They will get a credit for the unused wood, but the process of using the little hydraulic loader to put it back on the truck, and the unloading and reloading of the loader - so much for Pepper to keep an eye on! When I realized what she was excited about I opened the front door so she could watch them through the glass of the security door. She takes her job very seriously; when she was adopted she had no idea at first all of the things that would keep her busy around here! (I'll see about replacing her wading pool later today.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Sep 18 - 01:02 PM

Beaver:
Phone calls: Grandson is 21 tomorrow so I phoned him Sunday eve and he appreciated it due to busy week forthcoming. Short (15 min) due to: my concern about his minutes and my inability to discriminate his voice patterns. His Dad (#2 son) (an hour+) is easier to understand; needs counselor/therapist and cannot find info on one that performed miracle a few years ago; call to my bro to find one I worked with about 15 years ago; he could not spell her name but gave me # of someone who could. Called that # this am and sent the spelling to son- OH! she was the one he could not remember! I knew she was good! Hope she is still available to work another miracle. # 1 son phoned, by request, and told me not to worry about mystery email requesting $4000 or else! but change password on whatever had the one the email revealed. Trying to figure out what that might be. Reminded him of nephew's BD and told him of bro's concern. (that's OK; Troy will phone him just to talk...) Only 40 min as T was tired from have done two two hour gigs on Whidbey. Sometimes it would be nice to be there!

In addition, I managed to clear a good portion of BR floor and am thinking of how to better store some stuff. OR, if I am not sewing, do I need a 4 drwer bin full of sewing stuffs? As my energy level sinks, I prefer to make pots when I have any energy.

Today is not as dreadfully hot and humid. A soft breeze! There is still wood to be stacked but it is all covered and there won't be snow for a couple more weeks, at least. When it really cools, I can do that.

Ankle is still iffy at times. So I am VERY careful of each step! Sometimes I think I am being silly but, with C's mis-step, I guess not!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Sep 18 - 11:03 AM

OH:

In prep for tmrw's mtg w care mgr Daejanna, I'm taking notes as the boundary issues arise w Brittney and using a format from Clinical Pastoral Care processes to "verbatim" what is said and how it feels as the client. That said, the help that is necessary now is SO APPRECIATED.

Last night while working on something else, I came across my notes from another astounding failure of basic boundaries with another cleaner with the same agency. Adding their other cleaners' boundary confusions to these two instances, I now can see that it's not my great-attention clergy-spouse/peer counselor eyes 'causing' these issues-- it's an agency training issue, which I'd bet Daejanna will spot all by herself at tmrw's mtg.

A lot has been accomplished since 9! Finishing touches on stuff packed in PA and unloaded here.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Sep 18 - 01:13 PM

OH:

Let me tell you, when your age requires that you accept help, it will make sense that I shared about that aspect of decluttering. ;-)

After a host of helps including one errand, we spelunked the clng supplies tower, and re-arranged it for my convenience, since taking out the bar fridge had opened up a whole shelf. In the process we found a TREASURE: the missing framed Renoir print from the bathroom I thought Tyler had taken, and misc stolen items, toys, and a framed LL item squirreled under/in that tower. Dust bunnies were vacuumed and there was a re-vac of LR after Newbie chewed up a wool dryer ball. And suddenly, time was done.

Zero time wasted. Ended with my asking "what could be better next time?" ("Nothing")

We can open next week with what I appreciated, such as boundary focus-- after oatmeal/tea wakies.

There were still kitchen and 3 bedroom cleaning areas (and whole house dusting) that weren't done due to time-- I can actually fill 4 hours with errands included, in this tiny, organized house.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 18 - 01:44 PM

My next door neighbor was having difficulty pulling some tough grass rhizomes from through the slats in the stockade fence between our yards, and I knew it was because of a long plank I had leaned against my side. The grass tangled everything as it grew, so this morning I attacked that area with the electric weed wacker. I then worked a few feet down the driveway past that area and have called it quits for now; time to cool down. Humidity is high and the temperatures didn't drop this week after all.

A couple of more eBay things have sold, so that's an obvious cool-down activity for a couple of hours. I need to start making lists of the things I want to do rather than just bounce around, that's not very efficient. Just because I'm home every day for a while doesn't mean I'm finishing all sorts of stuff that needs doing.

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

Good intentions . . . instead of listing eBay stuff I sorted out my wallet, and it was past time to do this with several duplicate and expired cards. I compared cards with accounts online and in particular made sure the card from the Rx plan was the correct account even though they changed the company name since this was issued. From there I turned to filing and shredding and my office is looking a little better around the computer, though the other working space is piled high with papers still.

I took another pass at the grass in the driveway after clearing the area beside the garage. It's still quite disheveled out there with tall grass on either side, but the driveway cracks have now been hit with the string trimmer and swept clear.

Paperwork and videos this evening.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Sep 18 - 08:57 AM

SRS, wallets/purses, yep! Just ydy I was remarking to friend Judy that I'd downsized the purse but not the number of items in it, as I dug for lip balm and came up instead with another potion (Rx) I'd given up on ever finding. Later when I got home, I dumped put all the contents, and of course the lip balm my DIL had given me just days before was right in there, hiding in a fold of lining fabric.
.

OH:

I'm working towards getting a TV cabinet out of the sewing room and into the library. Judy invited me to a garden tour hours away but near my BIL/SIL, later this week, and so the sound system (now in the LL closet where the TV stand will go) will go to nephew John if weather for the trip is right. He has a garage band and we don't plan on using more than amps, so he can blast his neighborhood on 4 channels.

Books for the retired clergyman's book shelf will go into better (stackable) boxes this week for stacking near the now-out-of-the-way the SR window; his loose framed items went to the garage with the rest of the framed art stock; loose photos were added to a few others already on my dresser.

So I hope to get that TV stand moved with Brittney next week. We may not get all his shelves placed in January, but the large student desk his great-grand-dad built can go right in there.

I also bagged up a filthy dog blanket for disposal, after repurposing an old cotton thermal blanket for Newbie's corner, last night.

So the OH purge of now-duplicate/obsolete items is on, in anticipation of The Big Move in January (or two of those with the 2nd in March, TBD).

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Sep 18 - 10:03 AM

With the equinox around the corner, it's time to get ready for the first frost, which means bringing in the house plants. I think I shall have to give up my collection of orchids, as this house just doesn't have the right light conditions for them. The Christmas cactus (now almost 20 years old) will do all right in the north-facing study, but the orchids need a more intense light to get up the energy to bloom. I'll miss them ...

Himself spent most of the afternoon yesterday out on the deck with the fly of our large tent, which he was repairing with tubes of goop that stinks of acetone. I remember when that tent was brand new -- surely, only yesterday? But now its seams are perished from sun and age -- sorta like some humans I know. Anno Domini rules, I guess.

I guess I must be a ferocious neatnik by Mudcat standards, because my handbag gets cleared of excess stuff every day. Strange, but true!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 18 - 11:41 AM

Ages ago in a magazine or broadcast I learned a helpful trick for changing out the handbag from current to the next one. They had a nice-sized basket for just this task, and I keep one dedicated to handbag swapping in the dressing room. Unload everything out of your handbag into the basket and remove anything that doesn't need to be transferred. Then load the basket contents into the next bag. I always have to look for the little interior pockets and non-fastening slits for things like my little tags for the grocery store, etc.

I have neglected the houseplants in the north window of my sunroom; everything probably needs a shot of houseplant fertilizer in the next couple of waterings to perk them up. And I need to rearrange the furniture because right now they're difficult to reach, which doesn't support well-ordered watering and maintenance.

It looks like paperwork gets attention to start with today.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Sep 18 - 02:15 PM

SRS, I use another trick--bags within bag. Everything in the outer bag is first containerized by category. I'd been on the road-- with enough chaos at each end-- that things were out of their little kits.

OH:
Mtg w county care manager Daejanna went well, esp w her ready agreement that the boundary failures I'd described were big no-no's. She will suggest staff dev at the agency and, if I request it, will move me to the other agency they contract with. I expressed that issues notwithstanding, I'm just so grateful for the help.

We discussed that if Greg is able to take on the vacuuming and trash, I might go to 2 hours in February. She plans another visit in January to meet Greg and assess services again, but there was no mention of possible fees.

Overall she affirmed that I'm coping well with a protracted and crazy-making transition and raising good issues.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Sep 18 - 03:53 PM

OH:

Strike one for Isaiah-- when I texted his mom that I was home in case my fone crapped out (we'd planned they'd txt b4 coming over for his 1st work day), she replied that he'd been sent home sick from school, and couldn't come. I had of course prepped many things for him, including gathering tools so I could do garage 101 with him NEXT time, not today.... :-( So I replied: "It would have been helpful to know this b4 I made a dozen plans based on him coming today, but I am sure you were focusing on him and I hope he feels better soon. Sunday?" She must be at work-- no reply yet-- but Showing Up/Strikes is always the 1st conversation. Learned THAT the hard way!

Another way I prepped was a recent insight learned the hard way-- I'd pre-opened the cabinet doors to Plastic Bag and Plastic Cup storage, cuz accessing those seems universal and ppl can never understand my verbal direx.

I had gone out front to start pulling up the drip hose where Dean's Plumbing will dig next week for a new sewer line, from my scooter. Did that, then stowed tools and gave Newbie a refresher on Scooter Commands 101 plus a new one-- Left Up = run on the cool parkway grass, not the 200° asphalt, and Come Right as we approach a parked car or other barrier. For long, shadeless stretches, she rode.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Sep 18 - 07:46 PM

Beaver:

Phone/Hannah: wants solid white bowls; will email preferred sizes and shapes. Cooler weather enabled me to get started yesterday and this am, then realized I was using speckled clay instead of plain white. Re-organized clay in studio and will start again with pure white but can still use the speckled ones. Cannot tell which is which until after they are glaze fired so there will be a bunch of bowls in white - with and without specks! Surely there will be a few she likes! She would like them before CA Thanksgiving so this is a rush job for me, and a reason to get moving - now that the weather is cooperating. Feels good!

R has managed to infest Montreal house with bed bugs; Ask me if I am furious! That is a anti-de-cluttering issue; drag enough junk into the house... I will not go to Montreal until I am assured they are history. If I need to go (for Hannah), I will do Airbnb. Yep, clutter the credit card, but it beats the alternative.

Went to Thrift Shop this am to see if I could find appropriate furniture for better storage. Nada.

Have not needed the wonderful rain barrels Dan installed but the one near the studio is a great spot to prewash hands of clay or soil! I also use it with sieve lined with cloth to collect safe water for studio use. Saves on distilling. Also use it to get a bucket of water for the precious cherry trees in pots that I am hoping to plant at the "new house".

R still talks as though this will be happening. I am still concerned about moving plants from Montreal house before freeze up. This is surely the last thing on his mind as he struggles to beat winter with myriad tasks.

Oops, that was yesterday! Today I managed to throw 4 more bowls; it only takes 45 minutes and a great deal of shoulder effort so I quit while still OK. Trimmed those that were ready, from yesterday. Will have to go out later as I turned on the heater and may need to cover them to keep from drying too much.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 18 - 11:03 PM

I envy you your cooler weather, Dorothy! I spent 30 minutes trimming some limbs in the front yard before heading out to a yoga class and had to change shirts before I left. (I had gone over at 6, only to learn that it started at 7; I live so nearby that I decided to use the intervening minutes for something here at the house, hence the pruning.) And that BB problem (as a friend of mine in NY City refers to it) is a nightmare. Definitely something to get out of the house ASAP.

I use Dropbox a lot, and when I was working at the library it allowed me access to files I also use at home, but now they don't need to be in that cloud file, so I'm going through and sorting files and moving or deleting those no longer needed. Virtual declutter.

I brought a bag of potato chips into my office just now and the dog on the rug under my computer desk has figured out that I sometimes drop chips. They aren't bouncing twice!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Sep 18 - 08:13 AM

OH:

Ive been here just a week.

In the coming week, I hope to get accurate measurements of the garage, gate, and its atached yardspace for Greg's draft of space planning for mutual discussion and planning of next steps. We're thinking adjoining shed for more storage. And label the garage corners to facilitate communications: "Please put that in the LL corner."

(NOT rearrange the garage! (Again) But start thinking about what needs to go to make way for the Big Move.)

I'm sure I'll continue other work in the house as well, but the cooler days here will need to be spent sorting archives out there, and clearing up the space they occupy. So another jobbie out there will be figuring out the best way to keep Newbie contained but with me, with the big garage door open for light and air.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Sep 18 - 09:43 AM

The first batch of chutney went down-range yesterday and the house is still full of fruit. Consequently, we have fruit flies. Bah.

Today is Needle Day, when I visit the allergist in Kitchener for my four-weekly dose of miracle anti-asthma drug. That will take about two hours, leaving me with not quite enough time for both the second batch of chutney and a trip to the gym. Chutney wins, not least because my feet hurt today but also because the plums and pears I bought on Tuesday will be mush by Saturday.

I must also invest some effort in housework, especially to reduce the amount of visible cat hair in the sitting-room carpet. One of Himself's legal colleagues is coming to dinner on Saturday with his wife, so the place needs a bit of a buff-up. I hate it when a drift of cat hair wafts across the white ceramic tile by the front door just when a guest walks in; I would prefer the passage of at least an hour before the full implications of my laissez-faire attitude to floor maintenance become obvious.

The equinox is upon us and Perth County feels positively autumnal, with a forecast high of 22C and rain. Last week at this time the sun was blazing and the thermometer peaked at 32C. Next week, who knows? Sleet? Anything's possible.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 20 Sep 18 - 04:26 PM

please think about bedbugs now before you get them..oops too late.. read up on how expensive they are to eradicate. read up on possible home remedies. if you have a ton of money, are fairly calm emotionally, don't travel, have the ability to wash and dry almost everything in your house if the infestation is bad..then don't bother. But people literally have nervous breakdowns over this. Especially people with limited resources. Only have items that are worth deinfesting..if you wouldn't bother, I would question keeping it..and travel is a whole other issue. I am very afraid, because I take public transportation, of bringing something to someone else's home. I steam my luggage after trips. I do not bring luggage into a bedroom but keep in in a cement basement. I bring as little as possible. I want bedbug proof luggage but don't know how to get it really. Honest..you do not want them.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Sep 18 - 04:39 PM

OH, where dreams motivate the housework:

There are a bunch of things I need a 2nd pair of hands to do, but I figured out some cool furniture swaps for when that help is here-- long story, but I always wanted wicker and couldn't afford even the Walmart knockoff, much less the real thing. Here, we found a few nice, authentic pieces in good shape at Goodwill, and therefore I started watching for wicker.

Now, I could furnish a whole yard. And we do have one to furnish.

I know wicker won't maintain well outdoors, but I'm OK with using it till we're too old to live here, taking care of it, and storing it off season, sensibly. So I have a loveseat, telephone table, and windowbox-shaped planter box, with a tin lining to catch water, presently in the LR. There's also a wide coffee table that used to be against the wall for decor, but is now looking for other space to take up. They've made nice INDOOR cottage furniture here for 4 long and lovely years. Looking at them will always remind me of that... and of sneaking the loveseat home to our own house... loaded on the van's bike rack... via the back driveway, while the first housemate moved OUT the front driveway, loudly, in a relapsed-alcoholic huff. Too funny-- she never saw us drop that loveseat in the garage, and scoot out for ice cream!

So. The loveseat stays in the LR til Greg swaps it for a nice chair after January. The telephone table is now a LR lampstand (and will be replaced in January with an antique table Greg's ancestor made). The planter box has been in the LR picture window adjoining a dining card table, to hold napkins, forks, calendar, etc. The coffee table is now looking for another space to take up.

The telephone table and planter box will fit under the kitchen windows for houseplants! The planter box can have its understructure open to the front, with ample space underneath for my pink toolbox. I do have potted plants in PA to nest into it, and a ceramic planter there for the telephone table.

There's more wicker in the garage-- a large oval mirror, a second smaller coffee table, and another small item; also there's a chair out front centering a display of white iron lawn chairs. Two of the smaller items are in an armoire in the garage, and I can store the coffee table on top-- till we give it all a fresh coat of spray paint, and furnish the lawn in the spring.

All that wicker (except the two plant stands I'll move into the K soon) will furnish what is now just grass and heat pump/AC unit, about 14' x 30' of lawn behind the bedrooms, partiallly screened by a privacy fence. The exterior wall behind the bedrooms has a great roof overhang-- items under it are usually kept naturally dry due to the storm patterns here. That's the longterm wicker destination for use, pulled from the dry space out and around a large and deep coldwater wading pool (or hot/cold tub if we win the lottery).

The white against the green grass will be cool and airy!

So that's the place for enjoying sunshine with friends-- I'm sun allergic so I'll circulate from under a shade canopy or three, and two beach umbrellas, all of which we have already.

A cute addition will be the white 5-panel folding screen Greg repaired; I can hang plants on it and it can be aimed to screen a changing-room/portapotty corner of the fence. When we win the lottery, we'll cut a door through the middle bedroom which is near the loo, and put in an endless pool. I may have to get tiki torches for this backyard paradise for now.

The rest of the landscaping out there will be container flowers around the wicker, and rain gutter planters hung on the privacy fence. Greg already has plans for an AC screen, upon which to hang plants too.

I'd like to extend the privacy fence to meet up with the adjoining garage, and put a proper gate in that-- right now there's about 16' of removable ag panel there, that swings open for the lawn crew. Two fence posts ought to do it, and we do have a post hole digger.

Can't wait to bring my PA plants HOME, here. First step = move that planter box! I did pull it away from the wall, to make room to sit at the lunch table in front of the large LR window-- the card table of 4 years yielded to our bigger, round pedestal table with the May furniture load. I wanted my neighborhood-watching spot back, overlooking my garden! Sitting there it's just like dining next to the window in our camper, and so it always feels ike vacation there!;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Sep 18 - 05:13 PM

PS planter box moved.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Sep 18 - 05:47 PM

It's still warm here, but I muscled through it to get a few more things tended to in the yard. I took down a couple of large limbs from the front vitex and hauled them to the other side of the driveway where I'll lop off limbs and stuff them in the trash can that gets picked up again on Monday. There's no point in dragging them to the back yard in order to save them for dragging back to the front later.

I mowed back yard finally this afternoon. And the oddest thing, the yard is layered with small black caterpillars. Yuck. I used the watering can to pour BT in a hefty dose over my vegetable garden to head them off but they're crawling all over the turf in the back yard as well. I can put some BT in a sprayer and knock off more later; I'm in to cool down right now.

Next door they're finally building the fence, about 3' beyond (for me) the current one because the one there was was built too far over my property line. When the new owner first proposed the fence he asked if I wanted them to take down the existing one (because there would be an un-reachable strip between), but it was almost a year ago and I hadn't thought about retiring and he was taking bids so I didn't know who would get the job. The prospect of babysitting the dogs and carefully dislodging my heavy-duty wire for the Invisible Fence was more than I wanted to deal with, so I told them not to worry, I'd dismantle it myself when I had time. But today I learned my friend and neighbor George got the job to build the fence and they're starting it right now, and he offered to dismantle the old one. Since I am home now while they're working I'll take him up on the offer, and before he starts I'll take a pliers out and pull the staples and move the transmitter wire. It will be nice to have the larger yard and the fence in place is one less thing I would have to do in the future if/when I ever sell.

We're due thunderstorms over the next 48 hours and after yard work the last couple of days I will enjoy a break, getting back to weeding and thinning when the soil is softened again. When I spoke with the nextdoor neighbor today I told him my aim for the front yard was to be park-like, but had overshot that and ended up with a jungle. I'm working on thinning it all this fall.

Last week I dug up some dusky yellow irises and took over to a friend, and today I dug a few daffodils that Mudcat's Janey asked about; I'll be shipping these soon so she can put them in this fall and have flowers next spring.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Sep 18 - 09:17 PM

OH:

I dragged the big heavy box of Rector's Library books into the sewing room by tipping it into a large hamper and towing it with a rope. Next is to tow it out of the path of the TV cabinet I'll need to move out of here.

Everything is like that here, now-- moving A to move B before tacking C. But as I told care mgr Daejanna ydy-- I'm so glad I get help ONE day a week. The rest of the week, I'm not sitting on my hands!

Slow and easy does it.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Sep 18 - 10:56 PM

Beaver:

The BB problem is in R's court. I am not touching it.

Today was an off day. No pottery got done except turning to dry, covering to keep from drying too much. Turning heat up, then down...

As I was preparing to leave for an event, and trying to finish computer, something C said triggered the memory that tomorrow may bring 70 to 80 km winds! I rushed outside and struggled, successfully, to remove the canopy from the swing, remembering someone telling me that a wind last year made mince meat of his!

On my way, I remembered the canopy! Maybe I can get it down in the am. Raining now - all the way there and back - two hours in the rain and dark! But safely home and glad I went, even though I understood only about 50%; being environmentally poisoned decluttered my brain of the ability to discriminate sounds. Sometimes I cannot help but be frustrated by everyone speaking "a foreign language".

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Sep 18 - 12:52 AM

This evening I watched PBS mysteries as I prepared 3 quarts of okra to pickle (packed into 6 pint jars). I needed a bit more for the sixth jar so went out to the garden and harvested some that were small but would have been picked by morning. That's the wonderful thing about having the garden—so much is available without a trip to the store. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff myself, though that's probably because this is the first year I've made a lot of it. In the past I tried it and it hadn't pickled for long enough, and then I ended up giving away most of the jars. It improves with age in the jar. I have more than a case and a half now; freezing it means most of it goes to waste because there isn't much I use it for except frying it. I give most of the freezer portion to my daughter. I love fried okra and a friend recently sent me a recipe for roasted that I need to try.

My WiFi access died today and this evening I figured out the problem was the router, and I haven't been able to revive it or restart it. The wired connections work, but there are probably 3 wifi devices for every wired one in the house. Amazon will deliver a new one tomorrow, saving me a drive to the electronics store I use for this kind of thing. Much of my shopping has been in the next town east because it's where I worked for 20+ years, and the electronics store is one of the best in the county, but it is a bit of a drive.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Sep 18 - 12:51 PM

OH:

I'm so looking fwd to the day I can stop saying whethe I'm in OH or PA!

Off to a slow (AC cold) start while waiting for local female politicians to drop off yard signs, when I will go out w scooter to do more prep for sewer line dig/install/reshape bed scheduled for Tuesday.

Four heavy (for me) cases moved:
. Picnic mass kit to underneath LR dinette
. Three sound system pieces moved to front door area for loading tmrw

. Also Goodwill bag, in mid-fill, moved behind dinette chair and 2 extension cords picked up
. Soon to be obsolete mix/match dishes boxed for Goodwill

That leaves the LL closet open now for a TV stand and peripherals. Last night I started moving the stand out of its spot for a Tuesday move w/Brittney (or sooner).

Tmrw AM the sound system goes to nephew. BIL apprised and jealous to receive.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Sep 18 - 02:56 PM

Shredding and filing and finally putting account information (printed from the sign-up pages or screen captures) in the proper notebooks. Generating a lot of paper for the recycle bin and have run many pages through the straight-cut shredder in my office. (This is one I got for $4 at Goodwill, it has an "auto" setting that my previous one, same make, didn't have, but I sold my previous one for $25 on eBay. Go figure.)

I've returned to regular scooping in the back yard and observing the yard wildlife. A newly excavated tarantula hole appeared overnight but I also found a dead tarantula (adolescent size) about five feet away. It may be unrelated or may be a smaller male who didn't survive the most recent dating encounter. The fence is going in slowly next door and I'm giddy at the thought of having the new fence and finally seeing the real size of my yard (there's another part of the fence that needs relocating, down near the creek). I'm going to replace the fence on the other side of the yard soon so they're all the same age and condition. The last fence was put up in 2005, so something put in now will be sufficient for whenever I get to the point that I might want to sell the house. Not something I foresee now, but something to keep in mind.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Sep 18 - 09:50 PM

Amazing how many devices hook up to the WiFi now. I liked the online and smart phone app of the Asus best of any I've used, but a router that dies nine months after I buy it is one that isn't being replace with the same make or model.

I'm tired of tech stuff; I think I'll go read a book made of paper.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Sep 18 - 10:16 PM

SRS, on the upside of tech-- my original model of primitive Kindle works and despite it being neither smart nor touch screen, adf6yer three years of smartphone I still know how to work it!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Sep 18 - 11:00 AM

Overnight I estimate we had at least six inches of rain, and it's still drizzling out there. There goes any weekend work outside. Thunderstorms were forecast, but usually they hit and run, with 1/4 to 1/2 inch of rain and muggy the next day. But this - the street was a river, though the creek doesn't seem to have overflowed. I'll take a look when I go out to pick okra (which doesn't really like this much water and slows down a bit production-wise in wet weather).

It's just as well, this weather. I have family coming for a visit, possibly late next week (as part of a road trip) so that gives me a motivation to lean more heavily on the housecleaning activities.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 Sep 18 - 07:42 PM

Beaver:

Just updated weather and there is a frost warning! The outdoor temp is dropping like a rock and indoors--- there will be a fire in the stove tonight!

Gorgeous Indian Summer Day! I found a useful small bookcase at a yard sale but need to paint it so I managed to triage the needful items - for tomorrow. Threw and trimmed pots. Would have liked to have done more but energy quit. Tomorrow.

I would have gotten more done but my middle finger/left curled up at 11 am and refused to uncurl. Cannot pot without that finger operative to I phoned my 92 year old friend in PA and had a great catch up. She had just come in with a bunch of Phlox so I immediately knew she is still mobile! My only friend of almost 60 years!! Not having moved in about 70 years, she has a few left, some of the next generation ( now in their 70s), and the one after that! There is a great deal to be said for not moving. I am not sure about her clutter!

This bookcase will fill a real need so tomorrow I can de-clutter another piece of the BR. Painted to match the wall, it will blend right in. I need two more pieces of furniture in specific sizes so I am checking the Thrift Warehouse every few days. Nesting in for winter!

We also had torrential downpours yesterday and winds. The electric went off for about 90 minutes mid day.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Sep 18 - 08:52 PM

OH:

Day off decluts except for gathering movers' info for fam to ponder.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 23 Sep 18 - 03:58 AM

Had a great day yesterday selling all our stuff in front of our house.
Lots of very nice visitors and also some early dealers, who always descend long before the stated time and cruise around the village buying up all the best stuff to sell at the regular car-boots on Saturday afternoons.

We don't mind dealers, as they pay just the same as ordinary folk.

We sold our huge garden rocking chair, and all four Ikea Poang chairs.

Nearly all the mountain of Crimbo decs went (I'd colour co-ordinated them into individual carrier bags) and lots of earthenware tubs and pots for people to plant indoor hyacinth bulbs.

We made £55, which doesn't sound much, but the main motivation for taking part was to shift clutter.

(And I absolutely adored nattering to all the people - villagers, visitors from other villages, holiday-makers staying in the holiday barn up the road and even our lovely neighbours showed up! I was quite hoarse by the end of the day.)
Weather was chilly but dry and not too much wind.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Sep 18 - 10:44 AM

We had a dinner party last night with too much wine (i.e., somewhat less than I used to be able to put away without hardly noticing), so today I am hanging around while my aging metabolism deals with the aftereffects. The dinner was great, if I do say so myself, with delicious food (All My Own Work) and plenty of conversation so sparkling I could barely get a word in edgewise.

Among the good things about a dinner party is the fact that bourgeois pride forces me to clean the damned house before the company comes. So the sitting room carpet looks like Bokhara again, rather than something run up from the pelts of small animals.

On this first day of autumn, the weather is excellent: clear sky, not hot, gentle breeze.

Two days ago, another line squall off Lake Huron blasted through town, and I thought we had experienced some Truly Dramatic Weather. Um, not so much. At about the same time in Ottawa, where we lived until a year ago, a similar weather system generated not one but two tornadoes that walloped several suburban neighbourhoods before crossing the river to Quebec and doing something similar to the city of Gatineau. On Facebook, I learned that The Brothers and their wives were assessing the damage in gingerly fashion, pleased to find their own roofs and windows intact but lacking electrical power or any clear idea when it would be restored; today, they are still in the dark both ways. One of the tornadoes plowed into an Ottawa Hydro power station in the south end, and the photos I saw on the Ottawa Citizen website looked like the aftermath of a bombing.

I admire Senoufou's ability to dispose of Xmas decorations. We have quite a few that I will eventually smash "accidentally" as they are both tatty and worn, and loaded with sentimental memories. When The Brothers visit us during the festive season, there is always a session of "Where is the [insert name of old family doohickey] that we always [insert traditional disposition thereof]?" Himself, as the fourth of five children in an immigrant family, has no such baggage, so he energetically creates his own, coming home a week before Christmas with boxes of new baubles and a sheepish grin. By the time Epiphany rolls around, I am ready to toss the lot into the fireplace with a blazing torch.

Speaking of fireplaces, I noted with interest the burn barrel in Stilly's garden, which I saw in a photo she posted on Facebook. I would *love* a burn barrel, but Stratford by-laws forbid trash burning in residential areas within town limits. It would almost be worth moving to the country (plow your own snow, lousy Internet service) for the privilege of incineration.

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

The yard is sodden so it will mostly be indoor activities today, though I will prune some of the small branches off of the larger limbs I took down this week and fill the large trash can with them. Laundry, but no line drying in this humidity. I'm finishing a letter of interest for a job that sounds interesting and in the background I have to rip a couple of audio books on CD into the computer so I can load them into the phone for listening while I work. And clearing up stuff sitting around the house in preparation for company arriving one of these days.

For several months now I've fussed about the messed up numbers on my office Vizio TV; when the local channels 5.1 and 5.2 were updated and relaunched, they showed up identically as 5.1 and 5.2, but if I tried keying in the number I first hit a blue screen, then when I do the up channel click I got the channel I wanted. On my kitchen TV it's an entirely different set of numbers now; these digital channels don't really match the old analog system. Anyway, I finally turned the little office TV around, got the model number (this was my son's in college and the manual is long gone) and found the manual online. There I learned how to factory reset and scan so that the correct numbered channels show up on the first try. It may be a small thing in the scheme of the world, but as a chronic user of the "last" button it's a lot easier to flip between two favorite channels to see what's on.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 23 Sep 18 - 12:51 PM

Ah Charmion, I think that's what we call an incinerator. At Tesco supermarket this morning they had a mountain of them to buy. A bit like a metal dustbin with a conical lid for the chimney.

We'd love one for our garden, to burn fallen leaves and domestic refuse.
BUT we have about 800 litres of kerosene for our oil central heating sitting in a tank in the back garden. This large oil tank 'vents' kerosene fumes. No incinerator for us, sadly!

Our loft (attic) is almost empty now. Just two suitcases with gifts in for my husband's family when he goes to Africa next summer for a visit, the small plastic Crimbo tree and ONE set of decs (I chose the turquoise and silver baubles and the tiny silver fairy)

I can almost feel our bungalow breathing a sigh of relief!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Sep 18 - 02:34 PM

Sen, a burn barrel here is usually a 55 gallon drum, open at the top. Industrial and agricultural products here come in these with a spring-locking lid that's usually long gone before the barrel is sold for $5-25, lidless. WITH lid-- airtight and water-tight-- people have also used these to dispose of-- yes!-- dead bodies.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Senoufou
Date: 23 Sep 18 - 02:47 PM

Good gracious wysiwyg! A body?? Don't give my husband ideas, he'll be thinking of the Life Insurance.
Our incinerators are about three feet tall and made of galvanised iron.
They're only about the size of a large waste paper bin.

Many of our neighbours have no central heating at all and no oil tank either. They have wood-burning stoves and cart branches and trunks of trees about with their tractors for cutting up over the summer and stocking away in their massive woodsheds for the winter.
They and their ancestors have inhabited the Norfolk countryside for centuries, and have always lived like this. They would hate heating in their bedrooms and bathrooms.
But every one of them has huge amounts of clutter and are verging on being hoarders.
They never throw anything away.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Sep 18 - 05:49 PM

The body-in-the-barrel is a well-established trope in modern police procedurals. And that kind of barrel, with an open flame, is what one saw for years in rural and sometimes not-so-rural areas. My bucket of water wasn't in view in the photo of my covered bin, but I always have a couple of tools handy (the water and a prod or tongs) to keep track of it should I need to extinguish it. I don't burn during dry or windy weather. It is stored in the greenhouse to avoid rust when not in use.

Charmion's dinner party sounds delightful, and what I find after a rush of cleaning before company comes is that I get to enjoy the totally clean house after they all leave.

It's still drizzling here. I'm about finished with that letter and will send it electronically this evening. Not everything goes via email; I have a box of daffodil bulbs to send to Janie tomorrow and a box of jelly for a friend in NY City. And I really do need to get more of these eBay items listed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Sep 18 - 09:45 AM

The body-in-the-barrel story is such a well-established trope because it happens in real life.

The culturally approved way to hide an inconvenient corpse in these parts is the family-size freezer; for disposal, it's a nice, big garbage bin from Canadian Tire. (Have I mentioned Canadian Tire lately? Hardly a week goes by without a visit.) Then you take a boat trip into the middle of Lake Ontario, and Bob's your parent's favourite sibling.

Chilly and damp in Stratford, true fall weather, with a distinct tang of pig poop in the air. Ah, country life.

Himself has toddled off to bail court to earn a crust, and I am bound for the gym. The kitchen still looks like a bombed-out bordello from yesterday, when I did zero tidying or washing-up, and I Do Not Care.

I'm gathering my energies for a cleaning assault on the refrigerator, in which a zucchini recently declined into desuetude and thereby tripped my personal grunge sensor. Tomorrow is soon enough for that, however. Or maybe Wednesday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Sep 18 - 10:12 AM

OH:

I decluttered one body today.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 18 - 11:47 AM

Charmion, neighbors two doors up the street are the divorced and remaining family of a man who after the divorce and in a different house had a young girlfriend who had a friend of hers move in with them. Turns out the girls may have been lovers and this irked the guy, who killed his girlfriend and packed her into a trunk that was on his back porch. I don't know many more details than that, except that he'll stay in prison the rest of his life.

Two parcels ready to go this morning, not eBay related for once. There is a backlog of things needing photography, description, and packing to go on eBay, and I did some clearing of the table where I do that work. Two days out from record-breaking rain the yard is still fairly inhospitable, but I did pull weeds out of the asparagus bed this morning after walking over to that side of the house to talk to the guys putting in a new fence next door. I'll be working on a new connecting piece from my yard once they finish.

The guest room is ready for company later this week, now the rest of the house needs some tidying.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Sep 18 - 12:08 PM

Beaver:

The "new " bookcase now matches the walls, pale yellow, and blends in. Looks SO much better but not yet full of stuff as I want it to look decent even then, so choosing its contents requires thought. I have considered a curtain on it if all else fails.

The dryer weather is helping to de-clutter the bowls of moisture so they can be fired, hopefully at the very beg of October so they are ready by end of that week. Looking for a ride for them to Montreal so I don't have to drive.... Hope...

Now to get some mugs made. Seeking energy! The day is young...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Sep 18 - 10:44 PM

OH:

I am REALLY liking the structure provided by the schedule the cleaning agency finally has me on. Tuesdays Brittney? Monday cooking!!! I canlt wait to disciver how he rest of the week sorts itself out now that these pieces are in place. After 24 years of chaos, this works.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 18 - 11:57 PM

My daughter is looking for some sea shells for a costume design project. Now if I could just find the ones that are in a basket around here somewhere. . . I found several other sources of shells around the house but not the size and type she asked for. If I don't find them by the time she needs them I know they'll turn up in plain sight shortly afterwards.

We're still seeing cloudy humid weather here but eventually there will be a few clear autumn days. The fence is progressing next door.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Sep 18 - 08:56 AM

OH:

The sound system we passed along to our nephew was a big hit. In a matter of minutes it went from "there's no room in the garage for 3 boxes!" (SIL) to BIL (musician) cleaning out garage to make THEIR garage the home of the garage band. The garage was looking very roomy by the time Judy and I arrived to drop it off! ;-)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Sep 18 - 10:28 AM

It sounds like you provided both inspiration and motivation to get that other garage cleared out. I worked on mine many months ago and my aim is to keep it free of clutter. That's much easier than trying to clear it out after years of buildup.

Dog walk this morning, finally, before breakfast. There's no standing around much because the mosquitoes are wretched after all of the rain (I need to make the rounds again with my mosquito dunks). We stopped by next door to say hello to the fence contractor friend, and I looked at the planks being used - they are wide western red cedar slats that will last a long time. I'll use the same thing to replace the front facing part of my fence in my yard to tie it together.

Indoors, I'm clearing out a backlog of items that need to be mailed out. Two more parcels can probably go out tomorrow. I'll be meeting my daughter for lunch so I have a list going of the various other stops to make while I'm out there. My goal is to spend less on gas after having to commute for the last six years (telecommuting is so much easier on the mileage!)

We're almost into cooking weather; right now it's cooler out but very humid so I'm having to push the house air conditioning a little cooler than I prefer to dry the air. Soon that won't be necessary. I'm going to make a pot of lentil soup this evening to enjoy for the rest of the week.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Sep 18 - 01:40 PM

Corrected version of previous post submitted as power died.

SRS, it sounded to me like nephew lost the battle to play in a different garage-- good end run by his dad.
.

OH:

Helpful passerby Glenn showed Brittney and I how to un-ratchet the clothing bin from the trailer, which now awaits me in the LR. We also unloaded a set of plastic drawers for a side table switch I'm working on, and reloaded the dog crate that rode in Judy's van Saturday (I ferried it via scooter). Also ferried Greg's two milk crates to the front door, for which there is now sewing room space. Scooter ferrying is MUCH more fun than furniture dollies!

Brittney lifted banker's boxes in the garage to get them all in one place while I setup a sorting station out there, and she tended the recycle box that resulted from me sorting into four category-boxes and emptying one 1st-wave banker's box. All boxes to be sorted are now by the sorting table-- I made a mistake and had her stack them in the scooter path, but I can go around the table to drive that in/out.

Four boxes left to rough-sort-- perfect to finish out there before meeting Greg in October. Looks like 2 program-boxes will result plus 3rd already out there, for further sorting out there if warm, or in LL if too chilly. Creating a binderized draft program guide = good indoor post-move project.

The TV stand is now in the LL closet, and the giant Rector's Library box is now stowed our of the way in the SR, with room for those milk crates I ferried.

Brittney's going to the store for me for rice, after she washes the big frying pan-- my back is done.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Sep 18 - 06:11 PM

OH:

After some major lifting (mine) throughout the day, the TV stand is now tucked into the LL closet, with a folding rocker tucked in beside it that may be replaced by Greg's other favorite camping chair-- his zero-grav recliner.

The chairside cube from the Sewing Room has been emptied of its recorded music and added to a musicians' books tower in the LL, where a pile of unpacked Saturday night service players' binders were taking up floor space. A folding chair is tucked beside the tower and adjoining shelf. Binders are stowed and room for Greg's to arrive in October.

The chairside SR cube was replaced by a low set of plastic drawers from PA, to hold my toiletries basket and fone charger. (This will stay there until Greg takes over that room.)

The big gray plastic bin finally came off the trailer today-- my rest of summer clothes, all perfectly dry as hoped. Summer's are long here, and I look forward to having a few pieces different from the few clothes I've kept here and worn to rags. Time to purge as I put them away.

That bin will play a big role in the January move; a 2nd small indoors-only scooter in PA will probably fit in there, disassembled, on the hitch-mounted platform behind the van.

I began negotiations with the PA landlord family yesterday regarding leaving the house unoccupied for 60-90 days before we complete moving out. Greg and I are agreed that we will most probably need to do that in March-- not January. So lists have been made about essentials to throw into the van Jan. 1 to get his resting period underway ASAP. When he wakes up he can organize His Garage, into which bis weights and woodshop will go along with all the last of the PA stuff for slow and gentle incorporation into the house.

How we're moving-- Pods as such are not readily available in our PA market, but U-Pack is. For about the same cost as a rented Penske truck, they bring you a 'pup' trailer to fill up-- those shorter trailers you see being pulled by semi's in twos or threes-- 28' available space and you only pay for space actually used. (You install a supplied bulkhead behind your stuff. The driver fills the leftover space with commercial freight.) We will carry fragile items in the van, the lawn tractor and snowblower on the trailer, and let them drive the pup trailer. That gives us a cushy overnight stop along what is now a very tiresome route.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Sep 18 - 07:02 PM

Two job applications filed this week so far. Two lunch dates made with friends and family (one date got changed because the business is closed for repairs to the AC system after so much rain over the weekend). Poked my head around the corner to see the progress on the fence; I predict that by Friday the new posts will be stable enough (fence pipes in concrete) that they'll start on this last side. Too bad it's stretching so far down toward the creek, I've enjoyed an expansive view of the greenbelt.

The sun is finally coming out and this evening I'll take my soapy spray out and hit the bugs on the vegetables. I'll add some spinosad to the soap and perhaps kill a few stink bugs.

I have realized that if I try to leave reading till the end of the day then I don't do it; I'm tired and I opt to go to sleep. So I need to pick a time earlier and make that a habit. I bought a couple of new books for the Amazon Fire tablet (the Kindle app) and I'll start with those.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Sep 18 - 03:25 PM

OH, garage:

The rice/chix livery stew is warming for an early supper.

I just spent another very productive garage hour-plus: another banker's box DONE (and recycle box filled).

I also slightly rearranged garage obstacles to improve scooter parking/charging, and redid the scooter's snap-hook hanging system for ferrying bagged groceries on its back. Found two empty cloth store bags out here to hang on it, and now it's all ready for the next trip-- hardware, tomorrow maybe.

I found another "fun" job for Brittney in here next week-- vacuuming 2 area rugs out here and then hanging them on an adjoining fence to rinse themselves in the rain (or air). The following week, she can lay them in the garage work zone for my bare feets.

I see some areas in here I can consolidate/straighten up on my next box-sorting day.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Sep 18 - 06:37 PM

Beaver:
Emails to friends seeking therapist for son needing to move toward divorce. Really nice response from one who now has a LIFE having left behind the albatross. I take delight in her new life. Hope son can soon have the same.

It is taking energy.

I threw about 20 mugs a couple days ago; still not dry enough to trim and place handles! RAIN!

Little by little, still sorting things here, finding better spots for things. Would like it to be a bit better when/if R comes for Thanksgiving. It is mostly pretty good but needs finer tuning. Realized I have been missing out on a storage unit - the vanagon that has not moved in two years! A better place to triage the stuff to go to "new house" than my car which is now full of that stuff! Maybe tomorrow if it is clear. The battery is dead so R would have to get it working, register it and phone insurance before moving it! I was tired of paying uselessly for those latter!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Sep 18 - 06:54 PM

A pot of lentil soup is now in containers in the fridge and the house smells wonderful. I steamed some broccoli and took a look in the produce bins in the fridge where there is some I need to use soon (and the dogs will get lucky tonight).

I disturbed dust in the front room where a large trunk holds some damask lengths that I'll unfold and see if any are as long as what my sister needs for her dining room table. I'm also thinking something from that trunk might be useful to my niece who, with her husband, bought a large house last summer and they're getting set up to stay there for a while as they start their family.

Added more to the Goodwill donation bin, clearing the dining table to measure the fabric and to cut up the stack of jeans from Freecycle. It also turns out that my ex is working on an art project and was looking for some of the rivets that are on jeans, so I'll give him the leftover seams so he can pick those out. I'm really curious about that art project!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Sep 18 - 07:18 PM

Beaver:

Lentil soup sounds like a great idea!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Sep 18 - 02:54 PM

I waded into my son's closet and pulled out one of two stacking bins and redistributed the contents. Some to bookshelves, some to the other bin in the closet, some to the trash, and some to the donation bin. I'll pack up a few items and send them to him soon via a relative who will be visiting during a bucket-list road trip.

The bin is now washed out and ready for more craft cloth. I don't expect it to be holding this for long, I need to move forward with the projects this fabric is intended for. But I needed a way to contain a stash of materials as I work with them.

It will be no surprise to anyone that I'm listening to a full day of testimony in the Senate hearings to do with Kavanaugh and Dr. Blasey Ford. I think this will open the floodgates as far as sexual assault victims telling their stories, because the difference between the Anita Hill and the Christine Ford testimony is that Hill was battered and abused by the hearing itself; even though the GOP is hosting this meeting also, they realized they couldn't behave like they did in 1991. Victims may be able to begin the talking cure if they've kept it bottled up. I have radios on around the house so I can do this work and not miss a word.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Sep 18 - 06:06 PM

OH:

The plumbing crew replaced the sewer line, and presented me with a lsndscaping-worthy boulder and interestinhlt-shaped concrete slab, delivered by Bobcat bucket to locations of my choice. I also was able to pick 4 daffodil bulbs out of the dirt as they excavated. Rain broke out so tmrw they finish the backfill and the restoration of the bulb bed.

I got half a banker's box emptied between photo shots for Greg.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Sep 18 - 07:39 PM

A box of family antique table linens is ready to go via visiting family to another family member. The table is cleared, temporarily, so I could roll them out to compare patterns (linen damask table cloths).

It has been lovely weather all day so the dogs will get a walk, now that the hearings are over and the rehash is underway.

I have to do some editing tonight, so any other hobby stuff will happen only if I finish the paper I need to copy edit.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Sep 18 - 08:03 AM

OH:

The plumbers will return today to finish backfilling the sewer line trench. I was able to nab several daffodil bulbs to toss in as they fill.

They also carefully deconstructed a partly planted peony. It started life here as an end-of-season rescue from the garden center's discard list. It's never bloomed, though it did attempt to bud this year; it's still in a large pot I had nestled, for safekeeping, into what had been planned as a rock garden whose time I missed due to the Tyler stuff. I'll have the plumbers save me a wheelbarrow full of soil, which I'll amend next week for transplanting the baby peony into its much larger (rock-garden-free) bed.

So I hope to be decluttered of a couple of yards of soil by dinnertime, and to enjoy the crew's help to put some heavy retaining blocks back around the bulb bed (which will declutter my driveway). They built shovel time into the bid and have been delightful to work with.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Sep 18 - 09:48 AM

I am tired today and therefore have decided to do not much of anything at all. I may take a little stroll downtown, should the spirit move me, but otherwise may spend the day pootering around.

Antique table linen is a bit of a challenge, and I envy Stilly her extended family where she can find new custodians for her own stash. I have at least four Irish linen damask tablecloths, ranging in size from modest to very large indeed, and when I am dead they will probably become trash. They all belonged to my grandmother, who was married in 1907, and I'm pretty sure she made the largest one -- embellished with drawn work and white-on-white embroidery -- for her trousseau, with assistance from her mother and sister. I once tried to iron it myself with a steam iron on a normal ironing board, achieving dismal results, so every time it is used means explaining the concept of "linen tablecloth" to a confused counter clerk at the cleaners', and a laundry bill of unpredictable size.

Meanwhile, the linen gets trotted out once or twice a year to blasé acceptance from my family and wondering remarks from in-laws and other guests. I believe the younger generation considers it "retro", along with the (real) silver cutlery that does NOT go in the dishwasher.

A big box of heirloom linens went to the church variety sale this spring, and I wondered (idly) where it went. Then one day I was in the big antiques market that operates in an old warehouse on the edge of town, and the centrepiece of one stall was a display of my granny's embroidered linen guest towels. God knows who would buy it; when was the last time you saw a linen guest towel in actual use?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Sep 18 - 11:23 AM

I need to give a lot of these things to my daughter who uses all sorts of fabrics in costumes she makes. There is a novelty factor of having old Irish linen dish cloths that someone took the time to mend/darn at some point. They were very frugal back in the day.

I have running to do today, a nice departure from several days at home. I need to schedule myself enough outside activity so I keep track of days of the week, etc. Once I land another job this will cease to be an issue.

This morning is a bit slow-moving, I was up late finishing some copyediting (deadlines are best when they're not looming). Today or next week I'll meet with the editor, and I'm looking for several more essays for this journal issue.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: KarenH
Date: 28 Sep 18 - 11:54 AM

Cleaned out all the 'screen wipes', which, sadly, never come in dry-up proof packages and are therefore mostly useless when you have taken opened the pack and used one. Thinking of returning to spit and polish.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Sep 18 - 12:14 PM

Karen, I use single-pack lens wipes and occasionally one has dried out due to packaging failure-- they work fine if moistened with tap water.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Sep 18 - 03:42 PM

I use the tail of my shirt. Am I a slut, or what?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 Sep 18 - 06:27 PM

Beaver:
Screen wipes? I am neurotic about only using the appropriate spray and special cloth, carefully kept in original plastic bag.

Peony? Forgive me for my neurosis about peonies! I understand they need LOTS of nutrients in their new hole as they hate to be moved and intend to stay in same place for YEARS. Of course, this neurosis has to do with the one I rescued in 1989. Walking around newly purchased property, I found a unique leaf, about 6 inches high, in the tall grass of the long untended yard. "Hmmm, that looks like a peony!" It took about 3 years of careful nurturing before it thanked me with a lovely bloom. In the ten years of my tenure, it grew into a large enough and strong enough plant to survive. When I visited the old homestead last month, I was delighted to see it still holding its own and treasured by the newest owner. I take such pleasure from this!

My self- appointed pottery goal has been met and pots are now drying. I hope to have them ready for Hannah in time to get them to Montreal before Thanksgiving, even if I must drive them there myself. (I have a notice on the local "FB rideshare" in case anyone is going that way for Thanksgiving. This would greatly de-clutter my life! Shipping pottery is both expensive and iffy.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Sep 18 - 10:57 PM

I had a list for all of the things I needed to do today and actually got to all of them. I picked up two political signs for my yard (it is at an intersection so I can put them facing two directions) and three small bumper stickers (I ended up giving away one sign and two stickers, I'll go back for more next week). I dropped off shells for my daughter (got a kiss!) and from there met friends for lunch and we went to an event on campus celebrating the completion of a new science building (over the top of the parking lot that we all used for a couple of decades.) And I did some shopping on the way home.

Tomorrow there is some cooking that needs doing and I'll be ready for whenever family finally arrives. It's better to have stuff ready and keep the prep quick, reheating or adding something new to the existing items. My freezer is full so I need to stop shopping for some of these things, but it's irresistible to buy two large roasting hens frozen for $5 (today's bargain). I have to saute some of my eggplants and have them ready for my favorite pork, tomato, onion and eggplant casserole. I'll cook them ahead and freeze - the dish bakes for a long time so adding the frozen quarters when there is an hour left in the baking works well.

Today I wore the new pair of sneakers all day and my feet survived - I try to buy the kinds of shoes that don't require much breaking in because ever since the bunion surgery I am careful about the shoes I buy. My closet has more shoes than usual, so it may be time again to send Goodwill the ones I never wear. And I have another new pair I haven't started wearing yet (they're more for this season than summer, when I bought them.) One bonus stop this afternoon at Goodwill, where I found two items that can go in my sunroom eBay stash and I HAVE to start listing more of these things. I have a $5 birthday coupon at that shoe store with no minimum purchase so I'll swing buy and purchase a pair of socks. You can never have too many socks.

It was lovely last night, when I woke up and was uncomfortable and realized that I was cold - I pulled the second light blanket over me and it felt wonderful! There is such a difference between sleeping in a room that is air conditioned and sleeping in a room that is cool because it is cool outside. I'll put away the light summer blanket that's over my thermal blanket and use one of the slightly heavier ones that has been stored in the closet for the last five or six months. (Once it gets really cold I'll use the quilt over the thermal blanket, and if it gets effing-cold then I get out the down comforter.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 29 Sep 18 - 08:42 PM

Beaver:

Amazing the difference doing a bunch of small things can make. I did not feel as though I was making great progress but a lot of areas look better. It was not a good day for outdoors, sporadic showers precluded that. I picked up some nice veggies at the Farm market and socialized there and elsewhere, arriving home to cook a nice lunch. The cabbage needed a chain saw to cut it up so I took off enough for a meal and enough more to make it fit in a large saucepan and cooked the lot for tomorrow and tomorrow... Must remember to grow my own next year!

Heavy frost likely tonight. Fire in stove and is not making the house hot, just keeping it comfortable, which is what I prefer but a sign of the plummeting outdoor temp.

R phoned last night to tell me he could get here "tomorrow". "But the long weekend is next week." "Oh, is it?" So, hopefully he will arrive next week. He is seriously ready for a break.

Maybe tomorrow I can move the stuff from my car into the van - for storage! The mugs I threw the other day are still drying - slowly! So I brought them into the house, near the wood stove, in hopes of getting them dry so I can fire. (In this few minutes the heat went from ok to HOT! I closed the stove down!! WHEW!) That should help the drying.

Now, if Someone would just let me know they are driving to Quebec later this week. I am at the point of accepting that Hannah might not get her bowls by Thanksgiving; I do not feel like driving 10 hours this week!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Sep 18 - 11:44 PM

We had another heavy rainstorm mid-afternoon (I do live in North Texas, not the tropics, but you wouldn't know it by this weather) so it's more indoors activity. I crossed four of five cooking chores off of today's list. A big one for tomorrow will come after I clean up the kitchen in the morning.

Dog beds and rugs have been washed, there's one last bed to find something to counter-balance it in the washer; I think the dog bed in the hall outside my bedroom will be the one (that's where Pepper settles in in the morning, waiting for me to leave my room).

Three books arrived today from Bat Goddess, Lawrence Block novels with a burglar as protagonist (I think). He is prolific, and I've read three of his series characters, but not this one.

Tomorrow is the 30th day after I retired, so at this point I can work part time in any school or .edu setting without a penalty on my retirement. Full time I would have to wait a full year, but I don't think I want to work in a school full-time. Several people have suggested that substitute teaching is a good option, and I'll look into it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Sep 18 - 01:25 AM

I took the hard drive out of my old HP desktop. I bought it in 2005 so it is very slow, but it had Win7 in it before I retired it. And my current machine isn't that much newer, purchased in 2000, but with lots of upgrades (so many that not another thing can be crammed inside it).

Too bad HP stopped making most of their desktops. I custom ordered machines in the past. Next one will probably be a Dell and I'll customize it myself.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Sep 18 - 11:38 AM

There is a growing stack of items for family in the Northwest that will be transported to them by a visiting relative, whenever they arrive. It dawned on me that this is my best bet to save on postage for some time to come, so I'm digging out things that can go to them and I may even include xmas gifts.

Lovely fall day out - finally! Branch trimming, mowing, weeding ahead.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Sep 18 - 01:25 PM

OH:

Funny how, now that it suddenly feels like real Fall weather, I suddenly want to garden. I have a lot of decluts to do out there, but I should take note that Fall gardening really should be where I focus most of my future efforts, and research/plan accordingly.

One declut is the several daffodil bulbs I salvaged. Master Gardener Judy affirms my plan to chill them, and then force them in January (when Greg takes up residence here).

I took a closer look at the potted peony they so carefully deconstructed, which i mentioned had started life here as an end-of-season rescue from the garden center's discard pile. Its in a 6" pot with no bottom, inside an 18" diameter shrub pot with drainage and intact bottom, which was filled with well-amended soil. With another gardening friend's brainstorming, I found another disability-friendly solution for wintering that until its bed is ready-- in the garage, but inside an old plastic bin I was about to recycle, full of mulch, and set in the warm corner of the garage after the nights get a little colder. (Judy concurs, and reminds me to water that monthly.)

Coming next week to audition for Head Gardener (the skilled member of the young crew) is Brandon, who is Judy's best helper. We'll develop rapport while he helps unload a few heavy items from the trailer, neatens up yard waste, and loads the year's deadwood into the trailer for me to take to the city's free-mulch dump. The following week he'll move a small bush to the spot now collecting the deadwood, start reshaping beds, and relocate some iris bulbs that didn't do well. (Half the bulb bed was excavated and needs to settle before planting, but half remains as it was.)

I'll cover the wheelbarrow-load of soil, which is now in a low concrete-mixing trough. I'll amend that in the spring for fall bulb planting in the reshaped bulb bed. In the fall, Brandon can plant the baby peony into its much larger bed.

Judy is interested in a little patch to mini-garden. I want white hydrangeas. Perhaps she'd like to plant around those.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Sep 18 - 07:27 PM

I put off gardening and it got hot again this afternoon. Maybe I'll get some done in the morning. I finished the last of the weekend cooking I planned and have some prepared foods ready for the freezer for future meals.

I'll take a look at the recycle bins down at city hall and see if I can cram in the trash-bag full that I've accumulated. I also have the hard drive-free old HP computer that I think I'll take by Goodwill. It was a great one, but it is more than a dozen years old. Someone might buy it and put in a new motherboard and get all of the drivers for the drives and devices. This is a good time to donate it because it was stored in the guest room.

Family visit will probably happen next weekend. The house is looking pretty good now but can look better. Hopefully my next few days will be productive in that direction.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Oct 18 - 11:54 AM

OH:

I'm contemplating a seed order for air conditioned summer sowing, for outdoor fall plantings, heavy on weed-suppressing ground covers.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Oct 18 - 12:56 PM

I was too late arriving at Goodwill so will take it over today. And will keep an eye on the new fence that is slowly going in - I'm going to have to modify the chain link fence to remove a portion of it or there will be a 2' swath of weeds between the new wooden fence where there never was one before. It used to be just my chain link (also called "cyclone" fence) that divided the yards, but again, it was too close in on my side of the property line. I'll put in a new post up against the new wood one and rework the end of the chain and take out the upper posts.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Oct 18 - 05:02 PM

I took a closer look at the fenceline and the part I'm going to have to do. I'll have to start that right a way to be ready when they finish, or there will be a gap out there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Oct 18 - 07:13 PM

Beaver:

Load of laundry done today; still drying some in the house as the sun did not last long enough!

Kiln is loaded ready to turn on at 7 pm - for the "off peak" rate. With any luck - weather dependent - I shall be able to glaze tomorrow and fire tomorrow night. Still no transport to Montreal. R can take it back with him after Thanksgiving but that means Hannah will not have it for T dinner. I emailed her a warning. She has two BIG piles of my bowls already! Just not plain white!

Brought in some sage and some comfrey for drying.

Made a comment at the public meeting re proposed, and prob will pass, aggregate quarry, yesterday. After three years, some are still complaining that they do not have enough info; I believe they would only be satisfied if the info said what they want it to say --no quarry.They also complain about not having their say: letters to editor? phone calls to Township, to County?? to the company involved? What do they want really? Oh, yeah, their way!

We went to the info eve last year; we were the last to leave; I suspect the info providers were as worn out as I was. I just sat while my resident geologist/scientist (R) asked every possible question at each info station; he declares it will not affect us and we are very close. I am sorry people insist on continuing to be upset. Neighbour Larry finally commented to the effect that two years after it starts, no one will even notice it is there.

My comments began with the hope that we would respect each others differences but I am feeling rather fed-up with all the whining. Determined not to say so! I will refrain from another letter to editor as I do believe it unnecessary. The research has been done by numerous agencies. The country is ready to approve or the mtng would not have been held. This is not a foreign company but local residents of the second and third generation, a highly respected local company, an asset to the community for 69 years or more.

Pottery firing. Brain thinking...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Oct 18 - 12:11 AM

OH:

I set up a new personal schedule to coordinate a better structure around Brittney's weekly assistance; today was packed with small chores I could easily do on my own that pave the way for her work tomorrow. In the other days of the week I mapped put health and self care times. I've been needing this structure for so long!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Oct 18 - 11:07 AM

Big push today in the yard. Being retired doesn't mean the lawn mows itself. There's a list of things to do later on when I make the run over to Goodwill, and a separate list for tomorrow when I have a couple of appointments. These days I wish I could pay for services with produce (I take garden goodies to my hairdresser when stuff is in season).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Oct 18 - 05:36 PM

I had a LOT of company out in front along the street today because the next door neighbor has two guys building a new fence, three guys trimming his trees, and electricians and plumbers coming and going inside the house. So instead of joining the racket I worked on the opposite side of the yard by the driveway where a cactus has gotten large and is in the way when I mow. At one time I had a landscaping plan over there that would include some agave, yucca, a couple of desert willows and a pathway of rocks. I couldn't keep the Bermuda grass out of everything so I gave up and ended up later pulling all of it and putting in the vegetable garden. Everything was gone except the cactus at the bottom of the slope.

I've intended to take it out for a while anyway. I toted three wheelbarrows full of pads to the property behind my back fence (also my property, but too close to the creek to place a fence) and another three or four across the road into the woods where they will look lovely if they take root over there. There are a few already taking root in the back, the ones today will probably have time to take hold before we have such heavy rain again that that area floods.

That cactus has been there for 16 years so is about 18" at the base. I don't have a saw long enough to take the whole thing off at ground level so I sawed off slabs of the main trunk and will finish it another day. I also trimmed the vitex limbs stacked nearby that I'm meaning to compress and put in the trash for pickup on Thursday. I still have to take the loppers and do more cutting on those. In all, though, it was a couple of hours well-spent and will make it much easier to mow out there. I think the next-door tree guys will finish today so I'll mow tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Oct 18 - 07:18 PM

OH:

Slept very poorly, so I had a short nap after Brittney arrived. Then we re-constructed the foam camping mattresses that have been rotaing as well as trying to scoot off the foot end of the bed, and changed the sheets plus several pillowcases.

I made a new leg pillow case, and the linens went to the wash.

I moved the old analog TV to the TV stand (ouch but it was over her lifting limit). She unpacked the new cable box, but more co-ax is needed to see if the digital-to-analog converter will work (or if Greg has to bring me our smaller TV during our late-October weekend). The DVD player is now re-connected through that converter and is working-- TBTG Tyler hadnt taken that.

Picking up more election signs plus a garden outing w Judy were followed by an overdue movie review of the first film dated by person of color. I can post that at FB for her shortly-- scene by scene synopsis plus keywords/discussion Q's-- much more detail than IMDb, and geared for a discussion facilitator.

I just gave the bed a quick test, and it's wonderful. We'll have to hitch it back into position weekly, but we did put non-slip pads between the two foam layers-- which may at least help it stop separating sideways.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Oct 18 - 09:06 PM

OH:

Brittney folded one hamper full of clean laundry and I have put that laundry away. A second large hamper-batch is now folded for putting away tomorrow. A third batch for further attention tmrw is in the washer-- the soiled bedding from the bed change.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Oct 18 - 09:28 PM

I spent a few hours on Sunday afternoon going through my fabric and reorganizing. I have an upcoming quilting retreat this fall and another scheduled for the spring. I think my goal for the winter will be to separate out all the fabric I know I won't use (much of it was given to me) and take it to the spring retreat where I can sell it or share with someone else. I'm not even close to being done reorganizing that room but it did make a dent.

On the fitness front, I'm trying something new. There is a LiveStrong program that offers 12 weeks of personal training, 2 hours at a shot, twice a week. I will go for the interview and initial screening (6 minute walk to check heart rate, measurements, weight, flexibility and current strength limits) on Thursday. It's offered to cancer survivors at no cost and includes child care too....I hope I can follow through with this, I think it holds a lot of potential for several good things. :)

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Oct 18 - 09:30 PM

I've added more stuff to the stack that goes to family in the Pacific Northwest via visiting family here as part of a long road trip. A pickup is involved, so I can send quite a bit back. This will be my focus for the next couple of days when I'm working in the house. Declutter via palming it off on the kids and siblings. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Oct 18 - 03:22 PM

OH:

Now that the small but very heavy TV in the Liberation Library has been moved onto the TV stand , the closet section it had occupied can be cleaned out. I've been storing much-loved sets of curtains in there, pending house decor decisions, because they coordinate with the paint in that room but could also have been used elsewhere. Now that decor xhoices have been made, its time to pass them into the Goodwill stream, mostly. I'll save a few scraps for the textile swatch memory book I'm making. And I'll save a set for the two garage windows-- no reason it can't be pretty out there!

I'm hoping the two file cabinets I measured will fit in the former TV space, but I know for sure that one will; I can move that one by myself and have a lot more room in the Liberation Library for visitors. The other one in the garage will only come in if it will fit (to hold office supplies).

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Oct 18 - 10:35 AM

Good move, Michelle! I've just joined the "Silver Sneaker" organization or program or whatever it is that my university is a part of. It gives you access to facilities and programs for free once you're retired - and it might be for anyone over 50? I haven't used it yet, I just signed up yesterday.

The next bin full of small branches is at the curb along with the large dog food bag that every two or three weeks I use to put trash in. I shredded more file contents since I found several folders with rebate and purchase information from computers more than a dozen years ago and long gone. I need to mow the lawn this morning but first I had to have the trash ready since they'll be here any time. I'll finish drinking my morning cuppa tea before I mow. It will be much easier without that cactus obstacle that always had tall grass growing out from under it where the mower couldn't reach. There's still one branch to cut up and I'll do that in time for Monday's trash pickup.

Dog towels (the ones that get laid on the floor in front of the dog door on wet days) are in for a long heavy duty wash this morning. There will be more things like that happening today and tomorrow as I prepare for guests who will spend a few days.

I have to finish paying the bills and for the first time in ages I paid a couple of things by check. That's as rare as hen's teeth. If I renew AARP online it costs $20 more than if I pay by check. I think because the online offer includes a "free gift."

Time to mow and then consider putting up a fence panel in front. They seem to have finished all but putting up gates on the new fence next door.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Oct 18 - 11:01 AM

I forgot to mention that I finally completed a daffodil and iris transplant project this fall. I had photos of a two-color daffodil that mudcatter Janie liked and asked for a few bulbs, and at a local friends house we were comparing garden photos last spring and she asked about the dusky yellow little irises that are all over my yard. I never thought anything about them, but she doesn't have any that color, so last month I pulled up a large clump (that had actually started colonizing a portion of a concrete walk, making them very easy to dislodge) and delivered them to her house during an evening event there.

I still have a few corms and bulbs and seeds around here for if people ask me for samples, but this year's requests were all fulfilled.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Oct 18 - 11:55 AM

SRS, are you mulching with shredded paper?

A friend is doing that with her lasagna gardening. She doesn't shred though-- uses a small chipper she bought herself.

No big work planned here today (sick/resting), but my decor eye just spotted a GREAT place for a storage item Greg built which I had thought he would have to give away.

The LR, open-concept to kitchen, is approximately square. One wall is mostly a picture window, in front of which is a round dinette table with 2 chairs-- the table expands to oval for 4-6, with a leaf stored right in the table.

The chairs and loveseat are arranged in a semicircle facing the window, for a "conversation pit". Tiny side tables preclude the need for a central coffee table, but there's a wicker one easily grabbed.

This leaves 4 corners for storage furniture.
Clockwise (to the left of the dinette), one corner has had a tower for radio and books, and a floor lamp behind it that washes the light, up.

To the right of the dinette is the front door. That corner has a sideboard, as a landing pad and low divider to the open-concept kitchen. (Also can be sat on, and also can be Germination Station.)

The 3rd corner, diagonal to the book/radio tower, has a loveseat dbl recliner with floor lamp behind, for reading. Behind the recliner has been a go-corner-- items on their way back to PA. I also keep folding chairs back there, and I have a small, country-cute, low mini-toybox to go there after Greg repairs its lid. I store doggie dust sheets in it.

It's the 4th corner, diagonally across from the front door corner, where I suddenly saw that jelly cabinet Greg had built for church office storage. At present, the wicker loveseat is there, diagonally, as part of the conversation pit.... which is a tad back of the ideal conversation placement. But moved FORWARD, it (or another recliner) will make just enough space for that much-loved piece!

Continuing clockwise around the room is the corner I first described-- with the radio/book tower? As seen from the rooms entry point, the tall jelly cabinet and radio/book tower appear at the far end of the room, balancing each other. I see the sculpture on top of the jelly cupboard already.

These two pieces-- the backlit towers-- will "frame" the two faux windows on the back wall. Catters who came to our MudGathers will recall these from the old MudDorm.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Oct 18 - 01:38 PM

Corrected post to replace ppst just previous.

OH:

Look ma, it's a planning day!

BEDROOM CLOSET PLAN

A persistent functional challenge has been raising our bed to its PA height for underbed storage. When it's raised, I can't sit on the side of the bed to take meds or get dressed, and I've loved being able to dress in my BR for the first time in 20+ years!

So I rethought how to do that differently while still maintaining sufficient traffic clearance for both of us, to the closet which is on my side of the bed.

A simultaneous challenge has been gun safe placement, in the same room best suited to secure (and access) the contents.

The solution to both challenges began to take shape one night while I sat on the side of the bed, appreciating the handsome curtains we prefer instead of ceiling-height sliding closet doors. There's a jog in the wall beside the closet.... the closet's built-in center divider is set well back IN the closet for hooks.... *what if we brought the curtain rod forward about 12 inches!*

I was going to give up half of my closet, and swap sides with Greg, to put the gun safe into my side! NOOOOO!!!

With the new plan, we each retain our existing BR closets which, as desired, can be further modified w add in-closet plywood/hook storage.

What I did to make this plan:
. Relocated the planned gun safe locay to the center of the closet opening, with its back inside the present closet-- up against the built-in closet divider;
. Relocated bedside commode to sit on;
. Relocated laundry hamper beside commode;
. Included my PA step to get into bed on my side, which I'll tuck just under the edge of the bed frame;
. We'll add our respective plastic drawers-- my present PA bathroom rolling tower, on my side, will tuck behind the curtain without blocking access to clothes. Greg's similar black DR-storage drawers can go in on his side, but he may prefer a different configuration; he also has a low, black shelf in his PA closet. Mine will hold bedtime meds and toiletries.

Anticipated costs almost nil-- a 2nd wood dowel curtain rod and brackets for the closet valance, which were planned anyway, and 2 Command hooks for the side of the gun safe, to anchor curtain-swagbacks he'll sew from fabric on hand. Perhaps wall hooks above the drawer units and/or over the gun safe; perhaps storage baskets or other high storage on top of the gun safe, up to the ceiling.

Thank you Uncle Bob!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Oct 18 - 01:52 PM

The water bill arrived today and was huge - at least 3x normal. I figured out where - the sewer line work last November resulted in a couple of breaks in the water line, and one of them has failed. There was a dead plant standing in water right at that spot. The friend who did the sewer work owes me a concrete path repair still so I'll see if he can come over this weekend and do both.

The front yard is mowed and I'll take the trimmer out later. It's cool-down time for a while first. I took a look at the fence work - it has stopped right now and they need to replace the piece facing the street and where there is a gate. This is my cue to plan my couple of sections of fence on that side.

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

OH:

Evening newscasts via Bluetooth has proved a reliable and productive habit to keep-- a million things straightened, stowed, prepped, planned-- out of just the genuine instinct for order. Keeps the small house organized and functional, just like policing the camper each night before bed always did.

It just makes the next day go so much better and, with no TV to encourage hypnotized stillness, I find myself just spontaneously waking thru chores that, in themselves, would be a screaming bore. BUT, by putting the main focus on the radio, it's a snap. And LOTS of walking. So daytime walking is fun and self care. Evening is for order.

Probably the bulk of it tonight was putting away the rest of the clean laundry and sheets in various targeted destinations. The two most visible results- the king sheet supply was overgrown, so I transferred a yummy, soft top sheet to the Draw Sheet bin. I turned its worn out, fitted mate into a finally-big-enough doggie dust sheet, for the wicker loveseat that Newbie usually paws to bareness. (An existing twin flat sheet I covered will go back to Goodwill-land, next time I change her bed.) It will be nice to see that slopppy loveseat finally looking neat, functional, and softly blue, in the morning.

Only after stowing all those sheets and other laundry can I now start to plan the space allocation for the catch-all linen closet, and get the needed lumber to add several new shelves, on the cleats Greg put in for me during vacay. Brittney and I may start on that, Tuesday, if funds permit.

I have a pretty good handle on how much linen will come from PA, to include in space allocation.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 18 - 11:38 AM

The weekend will offer the interesting mix of plumbing repairs concurrent with house guests. I have a roaster chicken thawing now and I'll bake it this evening so I have something ready to use for meals tomorrow in case I don't have full use of water for a while. I'm also going to make a batch of bread pudding (great for breakfast) and bake a couple of sweet potatoes (also a very nice breakfast).

I've piled up a number of items in the Goodwill bin, so a run is in order. I handed over the HP computer cabinet (sans hard drive) earlier in the week, and at that time I picked up a couple of items in the electronics section of the store and have two weeks to determine if they work or not. The radio doesn't but I have to find the right bulb for the lamp to see if it works.

My postal carrier came by just now and as we visited for a minute she realized that one of the plants I'd trimmed and added to a pile is the "moon plant" or sacred datura, something she has wanted to grow herself (and admired my plant when it was at a majestic peak with dozens of flowers in boom at a time). I grabbed a sandwich bag and scissors (those suckers are sharp!) and trimmed a few of the seed heads for her. The rest of the plant will go into a trash bag and to the curb. I don't put it in the compost because I don't want any sprouting back there where the dogs might eat it. I think Cinnamon got into seedlings one time and was acting a little odd until it wore off. (Mostly it caused her nausea.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Oct 18 - 11:41 AM

Datura grows here as an annual. I think I'll plant some next spring; it looks so uninhibited.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 18 - 12:05 PM

It's an annual here also, seeding itself easily. There are people who grow a similar-looking and botanically-related Brugmansia (Richard Bridge in the UK, for one) who keep it in pots and over-winter in a greenhouse. I sent him some of the seeds from my datura but he wasn't successful growing them in his soil and climate.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Oct 18 - 01:27 PM

OH:

For the potted peony's wintering-over bin, I picked up the first bag of there to pack it into the bin-- a 1$ bag of compost to empty into the bottom. I'll top off with mulch, and when Ms. Peony comes out in the spring, I'll have compost and mulch all set to mix with the leftover clay soil.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Oct 18 - 03:05 PM

Most of my garden albums at FB are public-- here's the potted peony thread.

Potted Peony Facebook thread

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 18 - 08:26 PM

The peony was the telling clue in last night's Pie in the Sky mystery. ;-) Fussy plants.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Oct 18 - 10:39 PM

Speaking of plants and 'river Sage' I have encountered many remarkable scented Sage. They come in apple, lemon, pineapple, cinnamon and more. It has sparked an interest in the science of common scents and flavor. How they evolved into being has got to be a story worth telling. To me they are more vivid than scented geraniums.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Oct 18 - 10:55 AM

Humid as can be here today and the front yard is downright soggy. Houseguest paused the night in the Atlanta area, there are a couple of stops to make on the way, but arrival is either very late tonight or sometime tomorrow. In time for the front yard mud event.

I've worked out where I'll put the fence post to complete the work of joining the neighbor's new fence to my own after the new one was offset by a couple of feet to match the actual property line. I have a spare fencepost to use (dug up after moving the fence on the other side of the house when the new garage was built.)

I'll cut up the last batch of branches off of a trimmed limb and put it with the trash for tomorrow. Yesterday I cut out two lantana plants that had been in one bed that were taking over too much and they're crammed into the bin to go to the curb. I knew they would grow too large, and thought if I kept them trimmed way back it wouldn't be too bad, but I didn't. I found several plantings of various small red lilies (spider lilies, schoolhouse lilies, etc.) under one of the plants. Nice surprise!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Oct 18 - 01:24 PM

OH:

In the process of explaining a storage solution to Greg, I figured we have over 125 running board feet of shelving here, mounted at over-door height and all accessible via reacher/grabbber.

Does anyone here use a pole to get clothes off high clothes rods? I know where to GET them--are they hard to use?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Oct 18 - 06:41 PM

The plumbing job is underway, with what seems to be the usual hiccough along the way. The line is old 3/4" flexible copper tubing, in rather battered shape, not readily adjusting to a patch of straight copper. It's Saturday and the hardware stores aren't open 24 hours.

Fingers crossed. Otherwise, I'll have to call a plumber and see what magic they can work.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Oct 18 - 10:15 PM

The standard materials available to my friend via the hardware stores in the area weren't sufficient, and my house guest is on the road, due to arrive in another hour or two. The on-call plumber has been called and I'm waiting for a response from the tech to let me know he's on the way. The hole is dug, the pipe cleared and cleaned and the latest patch is still there in place to be removed and replaced with something that comes from a regular plumber's bag of tricks. The service charge is $40 higher than normal business hours and the repair is on top of that. Hopefully we're not looking at a complicated repair.

I have pans and buckets of water here until the line is restored. There's nothing like camping out in your own house.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Oct 18 - 11:15 PM

Oh no!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Oct 18 - 03:36 PM

The opportunity for the high-priced "24-hour" plumbers came and went. I called last night and the switchboard arranged to have the tech call first, then they would come out. When the tech called he hemmed and hawed and said that if he couldn't fix it the job would cost me twice because he'd have to come out again in the morning with the more experienced plumber who doesn't work the nights. So they aren't really a 24-hour plumber if the guy won't come out. I called back this morning and cancelled the Sunday morning service call - it costs a lot more to do it on the weekend and we'd decided to live with buckets of water for the time being and then went over to my ex's house so visiting house guest could take a shower. The opportunity to charge the high price evaporated when it got closer to the regular priced service being available.

We're negotiating the coming and going of family heirlooms now. Things went to a niece back east and there is still a sewing machine and table in the pickup for my daughter, sent by my sister. And I will in turn send things to my sister and son via this same pickup truck returning to their neck of the woods soon. Meanwhile, work was done in a New England state that involved the purchase of several tools and items that came in boxes with lots of Styrofoam. It apparently costs the moon to discard some of this up there so it was stuffed into five large trash bags and has been in the back of a pickup. This trash has now visited 17 states, with five more in view (because there is room in the truck and because it can go in regular trash at no extra charge in a rural western county), though we think I can borrow the ex's water bill and get into the trash and recycle facility of the next town over and discard it there. Convoluted but interesting. Especially since driving a pickup truck with a camper shell through far West Texas means you can be pulled over - "probable cause" for transporting undocumented aliens or drugs. It happened to me a while back. So - get the bagged stuff out of the truck, it looks less suspicious.

Fingers crossed it doesn't rain overnight or tomorrow morning, even though the garden could use it. The plumbing leak is under a downspout.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Oct 18 - 01:19 PM

OMG! Stilly, if you can't haul stuff in a legally licensed, safely driven vehicle in your state without expecting to be pulled over and searched, there's something dreadfully wrong in your state.

But you know that, and I know you know that. I'm just exercising my self-arrogated right to squeak in indignation.

I'm tired today, my head aches, and my eyes are watering and itchy, which probably means that autumnal allergens are filling the air. I went to bed last night with ambitions related to floor-washing and laundry, but the floors will have to wait. Laundry takes precedence, and those trips up and down the stairs will eat up any extra energy I might generate today.

Tomorrow is another day; I shall rise to fight again.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Oct 18 - 04:01 PM

Its time for my eye drops when I only see Clearing Out the Horse.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Oct 18 - 04:29 PM

Don, I'd keep the horse!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Oct 18 - 10:42 AM

OH:

Brittney is here and the standing written task page has been reviewed-- and she missed a biggie already (cln bowls put away IN REACH--redirected). Missed notations for 3 wks svc now entered in folder. She sez she can't clean w vinegar. ????

1 lg trash bag and 1 sm bag packed for Goodwill-- she will take. Net: 2-3 small cotton rag rugs saved for dog corner pee pads. Two milk crates freed up. Yellow curtains and coord items, pink roses twin sheets, blue floral Sailboats bedspread-- bye bye, gone.

Request for PA optometrist records found, addressed, and added to mailbox.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Oct 18 - 12:09 AM

Out of town visitor at the house has kept me occupied this week, but sticking with the decluttering category, several boxes of items from here are leaving with him; one more (a mantle clock) would be going also if for some odd reason the pendulum hadn't gone missing from it. I suspect my ex; he didn't like this clock - it made a ticking noise. New Flash - clocks often do that. I'll have to hunt around and wonder where he must have put it a couple of decades ago when the clock was still in use.

The boxes that are leaving were open on the dining table for a while as I added items as I came across them. They're taped closed and packed in the pickup ready to head out, and my dining room table looks almost usable again.

We had more heavy rain this week. This anomalous amount of rainfall is really getting tiresome. The plumbing work was accomplished on Monday before it started, and since the hole was dug, the pipe revealed, and everything was ready to work on, the low end of the appraisal was charged. Now if there was only an easy remedy for the allergies that are starting up again. Mildew or mold, perhaps? I picked up some of the Costco Flonase knockoff this week (I have previously bought it at Sam's Club, but I toured Costco with a member and am comparing services.) I don't shop at any of those warehouse stores very often any more, but the considerable savings at their gas pump might be an incentive.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Oct 18 - 09:35 AM

I have waved goodbye to the departing relative and several packed boxes, all headed west when the sun will be in the east, and hopefully arriving at the next stop before the sun is in drivers' eyes. One needs a strategy for how to drive through the Texas Sierra Blanca checkpoint when driving a pickup truck with a canopy. I'm sure there will be no delay as they pass through, but having things positioned so an investigation is easy is always prudent.

Anticipating this visit I brought in several boxes and didn't break down others because I wasn't sure what I'd need this week, but now I can tidy the sun room and flatten and store the corrugated clutter. Last spring I inherited a dozen large boxes that are almost completely filled with the dissolvable cornstarch packing peanuts, and I've drawn down three so far. I have a roaster oven to list on eBay (just in time for Thanksgiving!) and another one will be handy for that. They're stored out of the way in the garage and represent a tidy savings toward my eBay shipping costs.

Today is our first nice-feeling fall day. It has been cooling here finally, but was still packed with summery humidity—until now. I did a little weeding in the garden yesterday afternoon, but this really feels like good yard work weather. And it's time to get out another blanket, leave a couple of sweaters handy, and more than that, it's finally time to start cooking again!

A second cuppa tea and the dogs have gone back to sleep now that the early morning departure is over. They enjoyed having company here, especially an extra human who likes to talk to dogs.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Oct 18 - 01:11 PM

I've found something else I should have sent in the boxes. Oh, well. In the house I need to work on the shelves in the closet to make room for printer paper (I have a lot of it, bought in bulk for savings), and I need to start working on the fence now that I'm not entertaining a houseguest.

It's beginning to feel like stew or pot roast weather.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Oct 18 - 04:58 PM

OH:

Spent some more time today on further space planning-- "my" kitchen is about to become a two-cooks kitchen.

Went outside after, apparently not in time to catch yesterday's young helpers. Scootered Newbie through likely blocks, looking for them, and nope-- but found other possible prospects at the park's hoops court.

While awaiting the two from yesterday, I used the scooter to ferry a heavy (wet over-filled) planter-basket-- a repurpose bike basket I'll use as a window box-- and the potted peony; these went around the corner lot and into the garage. This leaves just the REALLY farm bell to unload, with a hand truck, after I pull the trailer around to the garage side of the lot.

Then I nipped some weed vines off the fence the boys were to extend higher. I got one eyelet screw in before driver battery died-- fresh one charging for 3 more to hang the fence panel. I could almost install the fence myself tmrw-- Tuesday latest w/Brittney if not, or if no help tmrw. I texted one boy's dad to ask abt tmrw.

Very nippy here today but with warm sun between the breezes.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 11 Oct 18 - 07:49 PM

Charmion,

   "But you know that, and I know you know that. I'm just exercising my self-arrogated right to squeak in indignation."

LOLOLOLOLOL I LOVE IT!!!

Some decluttering of our bedroom has happened in the last week, more clothes to Sally's and clothes that I wear are actually on a hanger where they belong!   Today I cleared the top off a table that has been gathering "I'll Look at it Later Mail" which has been needing my attention for about a month. I spent some more time in my sewing room and did quite a bit of rearranging....it's starting to look pretty darn good in there! :)

I cleaned out my car today so I have room to take all my gear to the upcoming quilting retreat. :) I'm happy about that.

I've started the LIVESTRONG Program and was surprised to find out what my baselines were. I chest pressed 150 pounds and a leg press of 260. Not bad considering I have a desk job and haven't been very active lately. I also went to yoga this week, lots of down dogs and long plank holds...my shoulders and biceps are crabby with me two days later.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Oct 18 - 10:40 PM

Mill:

Came down from Beaver last Friday to spend some time with R as he did not have time for the trip. We managed to meet at the Cafe on Friday eve - great music!, have a nice BF on Sat and embark on a DAY! He needed to help someone de-clutter her life - and clutter his! I sat in truck and read. We visited with friend from West Coast for a couple hours, sitting at a table in the Market. We may have helped him de-clutter a bit by explaining that as executor he is not compelled to physically clear the house! Then we visited with Hannah and Rafael as she/they admired the totally white bowls I had produced at her behest, and good conversation also! She bought 5 and now wants me to make grey. Oy vey! She has a 40 year collection of "dorothy bowls" so it is interesting when she pulls out a pile and relates them to my potting history.

Back to the mill for the night and a nice BF, then to Geri's to install a light fixture in her K. It took 5 hours! Geri and I chatted as R focused; we could see his brain working as he solved the problems of missing pieces. The light in the K, after about 30 years of not enough, was monumental! She told me later that she spent the evening cleaning the K of dirt she had not been able to see! R referred to it as "a fun day". I took him to supper at a new Thai restaurant - lovely place, terrific meal, I hope it survives in this small Quebec town.

Monday, we went into the city and worked on the house there, clearing some stuff. R is working hard at trying to make it look better, more sale-able. He still seems to have faith that all will work out. We dug up a carload of plants from the back yard and most of them are planted, at least for the winter, here at the mill. My mill shovel is missing so I did that with a bent trowel. I feel happy that this has been accomplished as I did not want to lose ALL the plants.

Tomorrow I shall purchase yet another shovel and finish planting the last few. I also will make a stab at digging up the small giant hogweed or wild parsnip plants which are suddenly abundant here. If I had not had those posters made up, I would not have recognized these vicious little beasts.

I had meant to go back to Beaver on Weds but a friend from PA emailed that she is coming down the St Lawrence this weekend in a small sailboat sans mast, motoring at 7-9 knots. I spent the last two days exploring to find a place where I could get on board and visit for a few hours as we go along the canal/river/St Lawrence Seaway. After a frustrating day in Valleyfield, where almost no one seemed to speak English, I have messaged a sailing friend who lives near by for HELP!

After assessing the available wardrobe, I used the thrift shop in Valleyfield to add another pair of slacks and a very warm jacket so I don't freeze on the water. The weekend will be quite cool. The clothes are airing out near the heater to get rid of the stench of detergent/fabric softener - toxins the people seem to insist on using.

Aside from frustration of language barrier, I added a wonderful map of Valleyfield to the map collection, and a far better knowledge of the geography of that water-logged town: two rivers, myriad islands,and two canals - the "old" and the "new" Beauharnois Canals, and another one "over there". I have been, idly, wondering what all that water was about! It is rather nice to have a clue, thanks to a man who pulled out a map and showed it all to me! And gave me the map! We endured each others inadequate language skills. He was the closest to a tourist info that I could find; I think it was a taxi dispatch office.

I drove around the town for almost 2 hours, thinking that surely somewhere around all these parks and water there must be an info kiosk. I finally stopped at an insurance office - it had parking!!! The nice women - one spoke English - looked on line and gave me a phone number, said it was at the city hall but I had already been by that a couple times and there was NO parking within (my) walking distance. So I stopped for much needed food, and phoned - French only. Time to go home!

A last ditch effort: explored a road that went along the river. I'll bet some of the houses along there have docks; I was tempted, but too tired, to knock on a door and ask. Maybe if my French were up to it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Oct 18 - 11:07 AM

I figure that since the family visit started with the water off, anything after that would be much better, and it was. Laundry today, and a trip to Home Depot to begin the fence process. It may rain this weekend so if I can at least get the corner post in it will have time to set up until the next clear day.

The retirement paperwork is finished, now to figure out where my next job will be. I find that when I'm home every day I'm not as efficient on those days as if they're the weekend and I know I have only that time to do certain tasks. Getting the hang of this retirement business requires learning discipline - it doesn't come naturally.

I dropped off donations at the thrift store yesterday but discovered they wouldn't accept returns from another store in the system. That has never been the case before, but apparently a new computer system is being put in to connect the stores. I live near the corporate office so I'll call, but I really don't want to drive clear over to that other store, it was on one of my more distant trips last week (and I have 2 weeks to take these electronic items back if they don't work.) This is the eBay portion of my day. And something I need to do is list a bunch more stuff, especially seasonal items.

For those of you in the US, you might want to check out the USPS site and look at their "Informed Delivery" option. They're promoting it right there at the top of the page and there is a link on the top right side. Since mail is automated scanned in the sorting process they decided to make the images available to recipients. I had to set up a second account for the house, my regular account is tied to my PO box. It doesn't really matter for the house unless I'm away, but now it is set up. The PO box one is helpful because I don't go there everyday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Oct 18 - 03:36 PM

OH:

SRS, yes on structure, which some call 'discipline'. I set up a new personal sked that has already borne fruit-- a new volunteer opportunity that could equally well have applied to paycheck work. I knew when I was OPEN-- instead of organizing around THEIR sked.


Today is supposed to be Fun/Explore day (to stay in step w Greg's longtime day-off rhythm).

There being no friend fun available tdy, I set up an Arepas-tasting jaunt for tmrw aft, and leaf peeping for next wk. Then I started a pork/chix livers crockpot, and gave some free consultation time to SURJ NEO.

Next I suited up to catch potential after-school helpers; I towed 16' of ag panel around the corner and into the garage with my scooter, and hand-moved it into the patio. (It was in the driveway. The entry to the patio is blocked by landscape supply items the plumbers had moved).

The ag panel, in all its still-S-curved glory, is now in the patio awaiting hoisting and installation. I need to drill for one more eyelet screw first, and stretch the panel full length, then hoist it with nylon strapping I spotted in the garage, and clip it to the eyelets at each end plus-- across the bottom-- to the existing panel. Tmrw probably- I already dropped it on my foot twice for today. :-(

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 Oct 18 - 09:03 AM

Mill

R is busy in the city, doing his usual work plus trying to make the house more saleable: one of the original doors stripped and looking pretty good; well, much better; they were never meant to be unpainted but they are wonderfully interesting doors. It will be in the LR so prospective buyers can see. He may get to changing them out so they can do the second one then put both in place rather than the icky one there now. Two doors because it was a duplex and now it is not, though it could be redone...

Plan last night was to work like a fiend "tidying up" as two prospects coming today and another tomorrow. So I stayed here, waiting to hear how my friend is making out coming down the river. Thanks to a local sailing friend (it would have greatly d-cluttered my life if I had asked him first!) we have two good possible stops about 15 minutes away.

While waiting, I have a list of chores: bought a new shovel and can finish the planting; bought ingredients - vinegar, epsom salt and dish soap - to mix in effort to kill the sprouting Giant Hogweed/Wild Parsnip , if it chooses not to rain today, collect materials (from studio) for new glaze - a black that I can mix with the white to make a grey for Hannah. Take materials to Beaver as having some here and some there is a great clutter!

Chilly day but not very windy, so far. Heavy wind from the west (prevailing) might make docking on the east shore iffy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Oct 18 - 12:51 PM

Thunderstorms again today and for much of the week ahead. This is the soggiest year I remember in a long time. I waded into the garden to pick okra that I didn't get yesterday either. It slows growing in the rain but doesn't stop.

I have to work on some spots of the ceiling that have been affected by the shifting foundation, but I'll wait till a friend can come help. My fence project starting with the new post is on hold, I had hoped to dig the hole today but it would fill with water and be difficult to work with (though some methods of putting in fence posts involve filling the hole with water, letting it sink in, then adding the dry concrete around the post, and the moisture is pulled back into the concrete.)

eBay it is, then.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 13 Oct 18 - 06:22 PM

Today I swapped things out in my kitchen and dining room so that the fall decorations are in order...it looks so pretty!

Jeremiah bagged up a large garbage bag with toys he no longer plays with and a few more pieces of clothes from my closet....so that's good.

My body has recovered from this week's yoga...woo baby.....I was SORE. I'm going again next week....as someone once told me (Thank you Hardi) Damn it....I CAN do this!   

I can and I will. I am persistent if nothing else.

Little by little.

Step by step.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 18 - 12:27 PM

I'm looking at the Silver Sneaker's program but don't really find weight lifting and such very interesting, so I'll search for low-impact exercise, yoga, etc. I have a request out to a friend who is already using the program and I hope to join her in some of her workouts to see what she likes.

Today I have been carefully cleaning up a lovely roaster oven picked up at Goodwill. I don't know how the previous owner was using it but you're not supposed to cook in anything but the removable pan. I have the interior portion and the removal pan soaking with vinegar right now to remove limestone scale. Maybe someone used it like a double boiler? I'll have it listed this afternoon after it's photographed, described, packed, and ready to go out the door.

I have some scholarly journals that I haven't read in years, no one will want them, and they're all available online now, so they'll make a trip to the recycle bin this afternoon. This clears out more space for things that are sitting out in the office. And I finally put my computer on a stand actually meant for computers (it has wheels that lock) so I can move my home-made wooden box out of here. I forget why I first made it - possibly for an early computer? - but for many years it served as a box for step exercise while I watched television. It may return to that, or it may go out to the garage for a while.

Next week I'll be on campus for an event so I'll take a printer toner cartridge and a bunch of electronic waste and batteries to the recycle bin (that I used to oversee and report if it needed emptying). I still haven't found a good place to recycle a bunch of hard drives. One of these days I'll unload a dozen or so of those.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Oct 18 - 07:29 PM

The garage boxes are too small for the roaster oven, but I have several other very large boxes flattened behind a cabinet and I'll check those out tonight. The roaster has a few scratches and a couple of spots where the paint has pulled off, but in all it's beautiful and in great barely-used condition. The external scratches usually are from how it was stored, not how it was used. (That's why I got the same thing in a stainless finish, not painted.)

The journals have been deposited in the recycle bin, along the latest batch of plastic and glass. I actually pulled a handful of newspapers out of the city recycle bin that I can use here at the house and in the garden because I don't get a newspaper any more. I used to sometimes pick them up on campus from a "Newspapers in Education" stand, but I'm rarely on campus these days.

It turned clear briefly. My next door neighbor mowed this afternoon and I should have also, but by the time I was ready to go out, it began to look like rain any minute. It takes a couple of hours to do the whole lawn, so maybe in a day or two. And I still need to dig the hole for the fence post.

Now to more indoor work.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Oct 18 - 10:52 PM

SRS, a gardening friend of mine brings home all manner of folks' discarded paper, which she runs thru her small landscaping shredder for mulch.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 18 - 03:35 PM

Portions of this area are subject to as much as six additional inches of rain during this current event of rain coming through the region over the next two days. I just tipped the dog tank that had two inches from the last two days. I took the mattock out to the back yard to sketch a small drain trench to move water from standing next to the chimney - it seeps in under it in really heavy rains.

Printer paper has been organized and moved to the lower bookshelf. The paper with packaging that identifies it as bright white or card stock, etc, is in place also and that was sorted. Legal is all in one stack. And there is a mix of standard-sized paper that came out of various packages over the years that will be used without regard to weight or brightness unless I'm working on a special project.

The second work area is piled high and needs tackling next. There are projects, dated materials, and library books in that tangle of stuff, so I have to get to it.

I think I got all of the journals but now I can look for other books that can be taken to the used bookstore or listed at Amazon. I'm determined to clear more shelf space of things I never use.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Oct 18 - 04:55 PM

Mill:

Hanging out here to see if my sailboat friends want a ride from wherever they decide to stop back to their vehicle in NYS. I told them I could give them a ride to the border - will not cross it but I can get them to a point where they can easily take a bus.

An afternoon on the St. Lawrence on a 22 foot boat is a great way to de-clutter every speck of energy. Saturday's wonderful boat ride started out with me wondering if I was about to de-clutter my life totally. After a few minutes, I realized the boat was not going to turn over and dump us into the very cold water! I questioned the lack of life jackets and was handed one which I clutched to me for the next several hours. Actually, it was only about 3-4 hours from pick up until we found a dock where I could get off - just as the sun set (7pm)! We were elated to find this spot, at a park/boat launch site, with a nice outhouse with composting toilet! The water was much less wavy once we were off the river and in the (new) Beauharnois Canal - big enough for ships.

Although I had phoned R at 6 to ask him to start down - about an hour from the city - it took him more than an hour to get organized with a functional vehicle. After a couple of "where are you exactly" phone calls, he finally found us just before 9pm. What to me what an obvious traffic signal, was to him " a light". (at the beginning of the very long draw bridge.) What was obvious to me was not at all so to him.

We went to the mill for the night and he drove me to my car in the am after a good BF. I hung on to life until about 3 - tea with Geri and a visit to a new art show - then succumbed to a long nap and then bed with book until almost 10. Better today.

Incredibly interesting to see the area from the river - "Ah, that's what that darn bridge looks like!" The one which often clutters a trip by being up for an ship, adding 30 minutes or more to a trip of 40 minutes. And looking at the "other side" of the areas I had traveled by car a couple days earlier. I was greatly wishing I could have gone further - to see the other side of Ile St. Bernard and the canal along the Mohawk reserve. I hope I can do that next summer. (mini "bucket list"?) Is is "clutter" to add on things that one would like to do?

I cluttered my life by offering them a ride as I am ready to go back to Beaver and they have 'til Weds to motor on down the river. Cold as it is - hit freezing last night - I would think they would want to be off the water sooner.

R continues to de-clutter the house; I am staying out of the way. Real estate agent wants to bring prospective buyers but was finally convinced it needed to look better first.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Oct 18 - 06:44 PM

Sorry, corrected post.

OH:

After a fabulously creative and productive morning (writing for my new volunteer gig), a frustrating afternoon... chasing required retirement paperwork! It twists and turns through various mazes of understaffed and poorly-articulated channels.... for important stuff!!! Today it involved details required for rearranging post-January healthcare plans, once a better deal suddenly revealed itself. Party A needs form 4444 but wants form 3333 from B before B can have what it wants from A. And repeat in reverse.

So-- Gawwgggghhhh! Retirement ain't for sissies! I never knew 'growing old together' would put so much administrivia in OUR laps! What a great partnership dance we did though to cut thru the crap. I guess that's what I decluttered today-- crap.

Our new personal motto is, "We WILL f|}•ing get this DONE!"
 
Tonight my new personal schedule calls for picking up all around the house, loading the dishwasher, loading the washing machine, and general prep for Brittney tmrw (9am-1pm), and Head Gardener Brandon about 5:30.

I hope to declutter my brain--soon!-- blasting some good Girl Power music. This Calls for Loud.

My boss on the volunteer gig just surprise-called-- we'd not met-- and she's a blast! (Talk about Girl Power!) My first draft on the first piece -- passed with flying colors. Whoo-hoo!!! It sets the format and slant for the next, more-complicated pieces.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 18 - 07:56 PM

There was apparently a lightning strike at the Dallas AT&T service facility for cell phone and Internet, knocking out both the main power supply and the backup power supply. If there are people you can't reach, or if some of your service isn't working, that may be why - it has affected nodes around the country. My neighbor called and since she can see my WiFi signal from her laptop I gave her the password. As long as she's on this side of her house and I move the wire shelves out from under the router in the pantry. I think I should probably move the router to the other side of the wall and up higher. It involves a couple of holes in walls, but is doable.

Time to get out a blanket to add to the bed for tonight, and I've set one of the heat pump units to heat though the other is still set to cool if it warms up again. The trouble with Texas is that EVERY YEAR we go from hot to cold with very little autumn-like brisk lovely weather in between. The same thing has happened again this year.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Oct 18 - 10:46 AM

Another classic example of Texas weather - over the weekend it was warm and humid. Now it's cold and rainy. There are only ever a handful of autumn-like days here. The Hudsons Bay blanket over the top of the bed was perfect.

This morning I pulled a number of eBay items from the stash of stuff on the table in the sunroom and stacked them in the kitchen. They'll get an examination, careful dusting or cleaning if needed, then back to the sunroom one at a time for photos and packing for shipping. I do have to go out briefly on this rainy day, but most of it will be spent working on this stuff.

I see that Secret Santa is starting up again. If anyone wants a nice mood-lifter, that's a good place to start!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Oct 18 - 06:40 PM

OH:

"Head Gardener" Brandon just came, dealt w immediate needs, eyeballed the rest, and suggested I tack today's pay onto one Fall Cleanup check (next visit). And he's even more fabulous than promised!

Net: farm bell now in garage. Dog fence now 6', clipped (Brandon), and zipped (me). Now I can give back the trailer and return with a garageable car!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Oct 18 - 12:14 PM

Training this afternoon to volunteer on the campaign for a candidate in a senatorial election. More rain today so I'll continue to work indoors until it's time to head out.

Still clearing paper off of the second work space in my office—I have made progress and the stack is smaller.

I've just realized there is an event on campus that I was going to go to, but I got distracted. I don't know if there's time to get there now. And I probably have to get dressed up. Bugger. I do have things I want to drop off in their e-waste bin, but that can wait.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Oct 18 - 09:12 PM

OH:

Busy day with a few decluts. The plastic 2-drawer unit from Liberation Library electronic supply is now empty and added on top of a similar BR unit, for Greg to use Jan.-March until his dresser arrives. The ottoman that was parked, unused, in the Sewing Room which is not needed for the LR til March's furniture delivery... is now in LL to serve as a side table until replaced by a March side table. Oy! (Keep all THAT straight!)

A few items were found thereby to put away, about half of which were stowed. One was a lightweight chairside android charger, now installed at a LR recliner lacking one til now. A better cord is coming in January, freeing up this one then for kitchen or garage.

After Chinese birthday dinner with Judy, I stopped for a brief visit and happily received two cloth bags full of wonderful cards. She gains an empty bin where she has stored them all nice and clean-- and I gain farewell/moved, blank, thank you, and sympathy cards perfectly timed for using up as we retire. It will be interesting also getting to know her better through seeing what she liked enough to purchase and then keep after she downsized-- and I can sure use the whole stash.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Oct 18 - 10:54 AM

I'm working around the house to fix a few things today. First finished task - took the cover off of the ceiling heater fan in the master bathroom and cleaned the fan shaft so it turns freely. It was lagging the last couple of times I tried it and that doesn't effectively move the heat from the coil down into the room. It's not my favorite heat source anyway, but I put it on a timer switch when I first moved in to keep it from being left on (as happened a few times early on and when realtors came through the house before I bought it.)

Rain rain rain. They're releasing water from some local lakes. My stream is a year-round tributary into the main river in this watershed (the Clear Fork of the Trinity River) so I'm up on a bluff, but the Clear Fork, like most major branches, is dammed a dozen miles from here. https://waterdatafortexas.org/reservoirs/statewide

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Oct 18 - 02:56 PM

OH:

I woke up at 3am sick with a renewed bladder infection, so I spent some time while waiting for the doc to answer my MyChart message with a different Rx, sorting thru the completely not organized card stash to find sympathy card options for a friend whose son just died. After I went back to bed and got up 3 hours later, I chose from among the options, got it written, and got it into the mailbox before pickup. A city mailbox I can open in my jammies without leaving the house-- YES, thank you!

Then I decided to rough-sort the stash. Matching envelopes to cards as I went, it turned out that the vast majority are expensive, beautiful BLANK cards with nature theme fronts for every season-- most of them GARDEN images. With thick, creamy envelopes. Only one envelope in the lot was stuck shut-- they'd been stored with care.

I bagged up all the kinds of cards-- a gallon ziploc of Thank You cards, about half of which are high quality and a few suitable for Greg's use. Two gallon-sized bags of blank note cards. One bag of postcards, some from Ohio tourist spots we will probably visit. A bag of fold/seal notes to use with or without envelopes. Some loose notepaper. Two bags of envelopes without cards, in all sizes. A bag of mixed Season's Greetings. A bag of mixed occasion cards, about half of which are Thinking of You. A bag of chech/cash enclosure cards for kids and mail carriers. A bag of Address Changes.

I'm betting more than half of these disappear as retirement communications. I only wish my handwriting weren't so age-affected that it's so hard to read. I go slow, but the letters tangle up. Guess I'll focus on warm brevity!

In the colors and delicacy of the artwork, you can definitely see the eye and heart of the Master Gardener who gave us these. I'm looking forward to further sorting the envelopes by size, and the blank cards by season. And filing the mixed-occasion ones. And getting stamps to suit.

I'll take a bunch to PA when I go back in December for Last Weeks-- special messages to individuals we've known so long. Then I expect to use a lot of Thank You's in January, here. I can start on the Address Change batch anytime-- and then drop them at the right time.

There's a very nice piece of furniture coming in March, to hold all the overflow in boxes, for a gracious "morning room" habit over tea.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 18 Oct 18 - 05:43 PM

What started as a good year just fizzled away. Some things I’d planned are now on hold until next year and I’ll probably just do the outdoor maintanence bits than need doing, eg. dissconect micro irrigation tap timers and call it a day at that for this year.

Once again, it’s felt like a string of things going wrong and, while I tried to put a brave face on it, the cat getting knocked down was probably the last straw. I went from trying to encouraging a stray to finding a new friend and little ray of sunshine to loosing it in a relatively short time scale but it seems just “par for the course”. Also, my back flared up on the first day of some trivial (ICT) course I went on to see if I could still do something and hasn’t really died down since which has lead to numerous sleepless nights as well as lack of willingness to try some types of mobility.

I’ve been playing with Java hacking instead for the last couple of weeks. First was for a logging meter, eg. this and now I’m dabbling with a SANE (scanning made easy – mostly on Linux and sort of like TWAIN on Windows for scanners) library.

So far, I can scan/preview, set most of the options SANE reports a driver has and allow the creation of “presets”. Timewasting really in one sense as it’s never going anywhere but something to doing another sense.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Oct 18 - 06:13 PM

I am always scribbling notes to myself and they pile up around the computer desk. I've cleared one side of the desk, not by shifting to the other side but by going through the stuff and dealing with it. But these notes - I'll enter some of them into a binder I have nearby, but a few are computer related things that are best here by the machine. For now I'm using a little magnetized file box and stuck it under the desk. Let's see how long that works before I forget I put it there.

The TV is on in the background and last hour was a CSI mystery set in a hoarders house (Season 11, episode 5). You take inspiration to clear out wherever you find it!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 18 Oct 18 - 06:23 PM

I'd not be without a notepad on the left side of my desk now. Scribblings like anagrams for crosswords sometimes, the odd message if I (rarely, usuallly leave to another to pick up) on the phone and various other things that mean something to me at the time. Left side as I'm a leftie who can use a mouse or phone with his right.

Maybe cluttering rather than decluttering but I got a pack of 10 spiral pads not so long back. Still, Pip and Peter took two each and a visiting brother wanted one.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Oct 18 - 11:02 PM

Beaver:

Ah, the joy of being home! Peace and quiet are the very best de-clutter!

I de-cluttered by letting friends take my car to fetch their truck. YAY! I sorted stuff at the house in Montreal, having picked them up after their terrifying night at a marina while 80km winds roared over them, knocking a couple containers - the ocean going sort- off their piles. Gave them a tour of Montreal and we visited 'til we were exhausted - about 8 pm! (Picked them up one day and let them take the car the next.)

This morning I packed up some stuff and brought it with me just to get it out of the house. R spent the whole day working on cleaning and packing his vast assortment of STUFF. I hope I never see any of it again. I hope he is learning something from this - about the costs of too much clutter.

I drove here and have sorted and stored most of what I brought - after the 5 hour drive. Also after getting the wood fire going! and having a good supper. And putting the heating pad in the bed to warm it before I get in! Now I shall do just that!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Oct 18 - 07:20 PM

I went to two training sessions for volunteering this week, one a short-term political group, the other a longer-term local research center. This is me finding ways to get out into the community and have good human interactions. The thing about retiring, even if it is from a toxic workplace is that the management is what was toxic, my co-workers were great and I miss them. Retirement means building a new family and access to those old co-worker friends.

I can't believe how much rain we've had here in North Texas over the last six weeks or more. It's like living in a rain forest instead of a prairie. When it does dry out I have a lot of work to do out in the yard. I need to set up a work space in my garage to do some things that normally would happen on the patio or at the side door.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Oct 18 - 09:23 PM

OH:

Finally done sorting through cards-- there were large envelopes to match with folded notepaper for writing longer remembrances to parishioners and others in the county where 24/25ths of our married life have been.

No other big decluts today-- sleeping a lot w antibiotics.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Oct 18 - 11:11 AM

Finishing ripping some CDs to the computer to be loaded into the phone - audio books from the library. More often now these things are available for download but with the digital rights management (DRM) software to limit the listening to two weeks, which is more than a footrace with some longer books. Easier to make a copy that I listen to more leisurely. I don't keep them, they take up space.

I've finally added a few things to my NetFlix queue, and last night watched a couple. That new cooking program, Salt Fat Acid Heat is what lured me back to watch (the first episode so far) and look around for more programs. I go in spurts with my viewing there. I've also returned a couple of disks of programs that don't stream and can only be shared via multi-episode DVD. I also watched The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—the movie is okay but the book is so much better.

It looks like the overcast may linger but the rain has cleared for a few days. Time to scramble and make the most of access to the lawn, giving it a day or two to dry out. (Right now the mower would press ruts into the lawn.)

I stacked eBay items on the kitchen counter to give each an exam and dust or clean, but now the counter is rather crowded. The dining table is much clearer and it's time to spread out fabric for cutting out patterns and deciding where I'm going to use the sewing machine, the crowded craft room or the soon-to-be-needed-for-holidays table in the dining area.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Oct 18 - 08:06 PM

Beaver:

Busy two - beautiful- days getting ready for winter. Further inspired by possible flurries tonight! 3X laundry, including 4 throw rugs! Stacking wood near house for that occasion when the woodpile is inundated with snow when I arrive; gives me a few days to clear the deck - literally! Indoor piles are only good for two days. Found a small two drawer cabinet at thrift shop today which helped to reorganize some more of BR.

Packed a box of pottery for friends, to pay bill for his work on stained glass piece in BR wall. (Agreed upon trade deal!) Putting everything into sheds that need to be there. Will put winter tires in car tomorrow and phone Monday for appointment. My car is wonderful but does not like even half an inch of snow.

Looking for possible home in BR being developed by mama weasel who crossed the LR the other day, from bath to BR. I don't mind her being here but must weasel-proof fabrics, foods, etc! I cannot mind her being here as there is no way to keep her out! In spite of Dan's best efforts.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 18 - 12:32 AM

No weasel problems here, not with three dogs, the newest one in particular.

It was a research afternoon, and an evening dance concert put on by the studio where I've been active. Comparing notes it seems most of us have some kind of injuries or arthritis and many are over 50 -- definitely time to work out a low-impact dance program.

I reheated a piece of baked salmon for a late late dinner and the dogs happily gathered around. They know the drill: I eat the fish, I divide up the skin and give it to them, then they all share in licking the plate. Everyone's happy!

More paperwork and I will do some political volunteering tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 18 - 12:02 PM

Morning exercise on this sunny day involved throwing dog toys for the two that retrieve, offering the opportunity to race around in the muddy turf. I walked out to the area where I want to do some garden work next but the ground is still too spongy. Might as well let the dogs run, they don't care.

Of course the sinuses have decided to be tender now that the weather is looking bright and autumn-like. Antihistamine taken, decongestant coming soon.

The fat lizard that was on my kitchen window screen for days has waddled away, stuffed with the moths I saw her catching (I conveniently left the light on over the sink so they were attracted to her location). Tiny little toads hopping around out there, and though the ground is squishy the world smells well-rinsed from the rain. And if you wonder, here is an explanation of some of the fall smells.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Oct 18 - 12:10 PM

OH:

Silly me! I wasn't done with the cards! Not until I grabbed the only porta-storage container that might fit them, and had too much! And realized that I hadn't planned a Goodwill batch out of them! Yep, for a day or so, I was hoarding them.
.

Kept:
. One large milkcrate-ful of cards. All but a slim ziploc of mixed-occasion items are directly related to moving, or blank notes.
. Put away in bill-paying cubby: 1 thick handful of #10 envelopes

Goodwill, in ziplocs:
. One full bag of mixed envelopes;
. 1/2 bag of mixed Season's Greetings;
. 1/2 bag of mixed occasions.

The milk crate I'm keeping moves to the household mgmt corner of the LL, to start now on notes I'll mail later once I get labels. I'll take the whole crate to PA in December to write notes as farewells and thanksgivings occur, and mail as we depart. (Greg will write some there too.)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Oct 18 - 12:31 AM

A quiet day of contemplation here. I learned that a close friend has a metastatic form of lung cancer and will probably go in for surgery next week and radiation for a long time to come. That causes one to sit back on their heels a bit.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Oct 18 - 08:17 AM

SRS, yes... indeed.

OH:

After 24+ years of helping to host leaf-peepers, today I get to be one myself. I even get to ride with a dear friend who prefers to do the driving, so it's all scenery for me. Next week I get to drI've so she can peep.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Oct 18 - 09:40 AM

It's garbage day in our leafy suburb, prime time for minor decluttering.

Among the many things I enjoy about city life in 21st-century Canada, municipal garbage pickup stands high in my esteem, right up there with potable tap water. I have plenty of friends and relations who live in rural areas that lack such services, so I understand what a privilege it is to haul the bags and boxes to the curb and expect it all to disappear before lunchtime, leaving only the blue plastic recycling bins asprawl on the grass.

The house feels lighter with its waste-paper baskets empty and the stack of newspapers gone from the corner of the hearthstone.

We took a trip to the States last week, which meant seven days of eating in diners, restaurants and the cafeteria at the Methodist Retreat Centre, home of the FSGW Getaway. I don't know what it is in commercially prepared food, but the inevitable result of one of these jaunts is five to ten pounds of weight gained through sheer bloat. Home food is salted, so it's not just sodium content. Stepping on the scale on Thursday gave me a real shock -- and almost all the extra poundage is already gone.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Oct 18 - 10:59 AM

Sodium really is a culprit in restaurant food. I can go days or weeks watching healthy levels as I enter meals into the food diary in My Fitness Pal (I use the free version and in particular use it to keep track of my daily intake of calcium and sodium) but once I add a fast food sandwich or commercially prepared dish, the sodium levels soar.

I have trash at the curb this morning and agree, that fresh water, electricity, trash pickup, and having a washer and dryer really make a civilization civilized. :) I've gone through spells of having to use the commercial laundromat and find it very efficient and a time to read while I wait for machines. I fold everything I take out of the dryer so it's ready to put away when I arrive home. But being able to walk into the smallest room in the house and put a load of laundry in to wash - that is luxury. I've lived places where we didn't have trash pickup; in those days I was recycling things at a center on campus and we had a burn barrel, and a neighbor who had a pig farm would stop by for the kitchen scraps, so there wasn't much to go into the "trash" per se. If someone was going to the dump they'd stop at neighbors and ask if they had anything to go. Social welfare on a different scale. (When I hired a 30-yard dumpster to work on clearing out my dad's estate every so often someone would knock and politely ask if they could add an old commode or some broken screen doors to the bin, and that was fine with me.)

The latest batch of muddy towels (line them up inside the dog door at the back of the house) has gone through the laundry. Even with those down to catch the worst I have a lot of mopping to do to clear the tracks off of the tile. In many ways life would be easier without that dog door, but the dogs would sure miss it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Oct 18 - 11:58 AM

Beaver:

Our township does not have garbage pick up. Across the street they do; their taxes are higher; I am so glad I do not live across the street!

Interesting, Charmion, about the meals away from home. I am concerned that R eats out when I am not there, and has for many years. He is, happily, cooking some meals at home while de-cluttering the house in hopes of making it more saleable. He CAN do it and is even enjoying it - both clearing out the house and ...the frig!

One might wonder why I am not there, helping. It is NOT my clutter; I cannot sort it. I would want to sweep it ALL into a dumpster! 9 years ago, I put a stack of newspapers out of the parents mold filled house into the recycling bin. R and bro went to the house and came back in fits of - "You threw away...!!!!!" They had taken them back out.

Well, just think of his sense of accomplishment! And, just maybe, it will help keep the new house from being filled. That, and the fact that I promise him I will simply leave; I will not put up with living like this again.

This little house does not look like "Home Beautiful" But it is reasonably tidy and will be more so when I remove the things I am putting aside for "the new house". Energy permitting, I will store some of it in the VW van - which still has not moved in ... is it 3 years now?

Meanwhile, I lay awake most of the night, after 3 am, and re-thought the BR so, energy permitting, I will follow through on the new ideas, maybe even today. Re-thought some other things also. Went out this am with a large clear plastic "chip and dip" and transformed it into a garden of mosses and succulents. Looks nice! To take to the horticultural society tonight, along with the posters on Giant Hogweed and Wild Parsnip.

Delivered box of pottery to Jane this am. YAY! a box full gone! A debt paid. And a brain de-cluttered of the weight.

Really hoping for the energy to throw 20 or more mugs, transforming a bunch of clay into potentially useful items. The temp in in the 40s and the weather is heavy; I will have to be inspired to push the weight of the atmosphere away so I can work. The studio is warm enough.

I have yet to find a site that tells me how to deal with weather sensitivity. That day on the River set me up beautifully - all those negative ions! I once had an ionizer...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Oct 18 - 01:59 PM

I backslid some yesterday - at Goodwill I spotted a tall rectangular solidly built wood table for $20 that I could just fit in the SUV. Now it is given a polish once-over and is standing in my kitchen and everything on all sides around it are openable - fridge, cupboards, dishwasher, oven. It could be a middle-of-the-room staging area (the room is too small for anything but a very small island and the counter already has a peninsula). Or I could put it somewhere else in the house, it's a great size for working at and standing or sitting on a tall barstool.

Lovely weather finally. I have many outside tasks to perform this afternoon.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Oct 18 - 05:37 PM

It was an efficient afternoon and the weather was perfect t-shirt weather. I weeded the bed with the sweet potatoes, pulling mostly Bermuda grass out. I'm not ready to start poking around to find potatoes yet, I have a few I bought recently and they actually store pretty well in the ground as long as you know where they were planted. The vines will sprout if they're on the ground and give you lots of clusters of potatoes, so getting rid of weeds now makes it easier later to figure out where the vines are after the first frost kills them all.

I use two five-gallon paint buckets with lids to start composting kitchen waste; once one of those things is full the contents are awfully gooshy and I can pour them into the middle of the big compost heap in the back. I then cover it with a lot of weeds and pick up dog droppings around the yard to scatter on top. And my organic gardening guru recommends dog-dropping tea - a bucket of water and poo, soak for a little bit, then pour it over the compost and that repels the dogs. Zeke walked up and took a smell of the bucket and wrinkled his nose and made a funny noise as he backed away. Perfect.

I cut some more slabs off of the cactus stump; it's still good sized but next time I may use big mattock or an axe and take it down to ground level.

The next door fence work is almost finished, and the guy doing the job said today that they lost 12 days of work due to rain this month. That's huge for Texas. And it's supposed to rain again tomorrow, but so far it looks like only a one-day event. I'm going to begin my extension to link the two this weekend. We talked about my options and I think it'll go smoothly because they left it easy for me to tie mine into theirs.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Oct 18 - 10:29 PM

OH:

Head Gardener Brandon sank my potted peony into a tub of insulating compost and mulch today, now that night temperatures are hitting 30. I'll water it and then cover it with wool blanketing in the garage's warm corner. He also loaded a few travel items for a short trip I'm taking tmrw.

And we tried to hook up the old analog TV or my notebook computer to the new cable box, but all the connectors were wrong. I'll pick up a small flat-screen during my trip, which I had hoped to avoid, but all the cabling is now in place and we had some good laughs getting that far. He works fast and smart, collaboratively.

Friday I'll get home in time for him to move a small Euonymus rom the patio to the front of the house, and a parrot cage as a garden feature to sit over the ground the shrub is coming out of. He's a real treat to work with.

Senior Helpers sent me a new helper today without advance notice. I loved her-- she way outdid Brittney-- but I still called a procedural foul on the agency. They'd promised not to do that. The cleaner arrives when I'm barely awske. I'm tired of training new people, and the county agency that contracts with them has a second agency to try if this one won't make her permanent. We made a bunch of arepas today.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Oct 18 - 12:01 PM

Getting the hang of retirement, until a part-time job kicks in (at least - still looking): yesterday was gorgeous so I worked in the yard. The forecast was for rain today so I'm doing other stuff; volunteering at a political "pop up" headquarters this afternoon, then yoga this evening. Hopefully it's just a gentle rain; the weather radar wasn't a technicolor array, just green with little patches of yellow throughout.

Working here tomorrow, then going out with friends on Friday.

I'm kind of liking that new tall table in the kitchen.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Oct 18 - 09:53 PM

Three hours spent on a volunteer phone bank for my candidate. Hard work, actually. You really have to be on your toes.

Parcel finally in the mail to WYSIWYG. Won't take up much space; it came up in an earlier thread. I didn't even open it - just forwarded it, so I hope it's the right parcel. :)

Watching the World Series - and wondering if Rumpelstiltskin is on the field - so many large beards. Beards are definitely a Thing these days. I remember a couple of decades ago when the Series was in San Francisco (the year of the earthquake?), there was one player with a big beard and it was remarked upon a lot. Now clean-shaven is in the minority. There are quite a few with the stubble look that I think is maintained by a standard clipper setting. /back on topic

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Oct 18 - 03:24 AM

SRS-- mystifuckified and intrigued! Trust I'm not high enough in Ohio for a Wasserman surprise! ;-)

Vacay Date:

Last one of THESE drives I'll have to make! Swapping van with srmipermanent trailer for coupe with kayak and cargo. Nice timing-- bush-moving Brandon can unload the kayak tmrw when I zoom back in time for his available 4pm Friday slot.

I forgot to ask him to offload the scooter ramp from the van Tuesday night. Oh well. Later tdy I get to play Tourist Leaf-Peeper again with Greg.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Oct 18 - 12:12 PM

Once again from the office window my gaze overlooks a cloudy, sodden world. My phone map app finally seems to have figured out that I'm not driving to the workplace any more - it simply informs me that there is "light traffic in your area." But I'm not headed anywhere this drippy morning. There's plenty indoors to keep me busy.

The large box I got out for an eBay shipment is way too large, so I'll explore the possibility of cobbling two smaller boxes together or buying one closer to the right size. Since I have been able to recycle boxes or use the free USPS priority boxes it's rare that I have to search for the right size to purchase. Except for the rain sometimes ruining the boxes I can always look in the village recycle bin (and I still might - I'm waiting on a small vial of white enamel paint to touchup the item I'm working on now; later in the week when I go out to pick up the order I'll swing by the bins.)

To keep myself productive today I'll stagger the indoor chores, eBay boxes and paperwork. To have a bit less distraction I've put the cover over the dog door; Ms Blue Heeler was real yippy this morning. Maybe the cool weather energizes her. There's a muddy trail of footprints that needs mopping up.

I combat the gloom of gray days by giving the house a heartbeat—running the dishwasher, the washer, the dryer to do the various cleaning tasks in sequence. The sound of the radio or television might be sufficient but there are times when I'm trying to concentrate and those are distractions.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Oct 18 - 01:46 PM

Beaver:

Something seems to have de-cluttered my energy; I did my volunteer work of reading the newspaper on line for the sight impaired and left the building squinting. Something in the air... 2 hours later am in recovery and trying to re-boot!

Also trying to get tires changed for winter and "my guy" is BUSY! I will feel better when that is done. Love my car but it will not drive on any snow at all without snow tires. So I am feeling crippled, in a sense. NO, it has not snowed yet but there was a cover the other morning that would have precluded any trip out had it not melted.

Pottery thrown two days ago is over-dry so having to re-moisten AND push for energy to trim. Would love to throw more...

That "new" table sounds like a good idea, Maggie! Of course, it is always a temptation to clutter such a space! As R "disappeared" our K table! Such a good place to lay out piles of papers...

I am feeling good about improvements in clearing BR; not so much getting rid of but organizing better and even did a couple small projects to lighten the load. Stuffed the remains of 3 mohair sweaters under the same cabinet where I found the fringe from my mexican rug/wall hanging after the critters de-fringed it! If the want cosy...! Have a plan for the pieces of sweater I salvaged.

Under the heading of things not to de-clutter: when I left PA for the west coast I doubted the need for changing of tires and left the spare rims(and tires) with a friend for his son. I actually could have used snow tires on Whidbey! And it is cheaper/faster to have them changed if they are on rims! Now the car is 15 years old... Wonder if I could find some second hand... Pete keeps asking, "are they on rims?" Could have had it done by now if the were. And I would not be feeling kind of unable to keep on until this important task is complete.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Oct 18 - 07:00 PM

I moved all the sitting room furniture around today, working up quite a sweat while I tried to achieve good reading light on all the comfy chairs and clear passage to the door. Himself is accustomed to such upheavals after 20 years, so he took himself off to the library and left me to it.

It's better now, and the sofa doesn't skid any more. I win.

I also made a jeezly great cassoulet today, for a dinner party on Saturday, and did the laundry.

I don't think I so much as poked my nose out the door.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Oct 18 - 11:21 PM

I've been moving a couple of chairs and experimenting with lamps for a reading space myself; sometimes I sit on the sofa, but often times I sit on a rocker with a rocking footstool that is behind the sofa and next to a small table with a lamp. But the tablet doesn't need a lamp, so then I use a different light source to avoid glare. There's a science to getting that all perfect.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Oct 18 - 11:35 AM

There's a new small stack of papers for the burn barrel, once the yard dries out enough that exposure to the lawn won't cause my small barrel to start rusting. I worked on one file drawer so far, removing things I no longer need from work but at the same time creating a couple of succinct files of my personnel documents in case anyone at the university finally gets around to suing the woman in charge of my old department. She has it coming.

Clearing the files has of course meant that things on the desk can now be filed and I can see patches of wood again, though several ongoing tasks are stacked there awaiting my attention. A new freelance job came in yesterday that will join the files on top.

Oh, wait, I see some journal storage boxes on the floor with folders in them - possibly things to go into the file cabinet. But there are four file drawers here (and two more in the closet) to work with. I brought home things from work that I simply didn't want to leave behind, but that may not need to be retained.

I just dove into the bottom drawer of the first cabinet I've been weeding from and found a collection of article ideas that I still would like to pursue. Time to brush those off and update the research. These look wonderful - a gift to my future (now present) self!

I have a list of workmen I need to bring in and the electrician is moving to the top of the list. I've fixed the ceiling heater (the fan post needed lubrication) and replaced bulbs in a fixture over the sink, but now I need someone to replace the doorbell (it has needed replacing for ages) and to work on a plug on the back porch that is connected through the bathroom ground fault switches (odd). When the porch plug gets wet (the box needs replacing with a waterproof cover) it pops the breaker that also controls the breaker wall plugs in both bathrooms. I have to repoint brick on the house, starting back near that outdoor plug, because I think it is water splashing in with each rain event. A friend did some repointing recently and shared the instruction videos. It's slow but relatively easy work. With each task that needs doing here, I have to back up a couple of steps to figure out WHY those tasks need doing. :-/

Oh - I made the call to the guy who painted new reflective house numbers on the curb at a friend's house. They are simple black and white and really pop off the curb. In the conversation with the painter (who has to wait till it dries out more and I'm on the waiting list) he sent me a link to his business Facebook page with the fancy colors and school and community logos he does for people, but I want the black and white and nothing else. I told him he can add a photo of my curb to his collection - it seems that adding a photo of the most basic black and white job never occurred to him.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Oct 18 - 03:55 PM

OH:

In 1.5 hours, Brandon and I:

. Brought in, hooked up, troubleshot TV/cable-- need free cable svc call.
. Recovered password off notebook to restore Google acct-- I need to enter it into password doc
. Installed spring-activated door catch on people door to garage from patio. This did not resolve problem, so--
. Adjusted strike plate with clever use of Mortite where there is zero wood for 2nd screw
. Repaired suddenly awful garage door closer mechanism, with 2 pairs of eyes to spot issue and one clever set of fingers to reattach hardware that had popped off
. Planned garage space for kayak to unload on a dry day "soon"
. Planned exact spot for Euonymus he's moving
. Stowed 3 full bags of deadwood he'd picked up ydy-- 2 in trash barrel and one next week to go in barrel
. Eyeballed garden tools and soil amendment items on hand
. Established where household tools, tape, mortite, and garden tools live
. Brought in stealables, meds, and washables from Cruiser
. Cleared a back seat for Newbie
. Set up timesheet memo in my fone for a rolling tab
. Dried the wet gloves he'd left here ydy out in the rain
. Set Judy's vacuum clnr by her bins
. Entertained Newbie.

I ended up with both garage doors functioning normally without specoal fixes to teach senior helpers, and doors I can enter from either direction without having to remember if it's locked from the other side. YAY for grocery mgmt via Bowman driveway parking-- instead of slippery clay to traverse getting between house and Ridgebury driveway. Also no more having to step off curb for street parking. Front parking is now restored to visitor use!

With one more week of sorting files in the garage, I can park in the garage. Only need to move wheelbarrow and pillow bag to fit kayak plus car. Yay!

BRANDON, OTOH, has fall yard work to complete! :-) ??

A "senior helper" can finish Cruiser unloading Tuesday.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 18 - 09:53 PM

Today I bit the bullet and joined Costco. Family members have bragged about it for years, though they haven't taken the trouble to learn of comparable low-cost grocery locations like those I use. My various stores save a lot of money over your standard large one-stop name-brand carry-every-brand-size-and-flavor grocery store (Albertson's, Kroger, Tom Thumb, Publix, etc.). I used to belong to Sam's Club, but stopped paying the annual fee when I didn't go there often (after the kids went away to college). I occasionally go to Sam's Club after printing their day pass (with a 5% upcharge) for a few bulk products like my allergy medicine and fiber capsules; these are things that Costco also carries. The thing that makes a difference, that I think makes the annual fee break even, is the price of their gasoline. I filled up at the store today and saved 50 cents a gallon. I always record my purchase and today versus a few days ago was that much cheaper. We haven't had a sudden radical price drop of gas in this region.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 Oct 18 - 08:25 AM

Beaver:

This morning the long impending precipitation showed up - about 4 inches of snow (will post a pic on FB). Now I feel better. This weather sensitive syndrome has plagued me all my life. "If only it would rain and get it over with!" This snow was a surprise - beautiful! but it will soon melt away. Happiness is having finally gotten the snow tires on (Friday!).

And the three potted cherry trees are safely under a blanket of leaves that Larry brought me on Friday. They really need to be protected until spring when, hopefully, they can be planted - at the "new house"? or ???

Robin has been working like a fiend clearing the Montreal house of the ... that I have been complaining about for ?? years. About 10 people are waiting to see the house. Two have seen it and made offers! But no idea what the offers are. He continues to cook himself decent meals. YAY!

So, Maggie has found enough to do to keep her busy in retirement!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Oct 18 - 11:54 AM

I've always have a lot to keep me busy, but what I need to do is motivate myself to work on a schedule so I get it done more quickly than I have so far. For some things, like paperwork, I can schedule it at times when there are radio programs I routinely listen to. This morning I listened to my gardening guru and now an NPR program about economics is on, so I'm doing more filing, shredding, etc.

Dorothy, I'm pleased to read that R. is motivated to clear out the house and get it sold. You'll both be so much happier once that's out of the way and not cluttering the mental radar. When will you start moving things into the new house?

This morning I came across a bunch of documents to do with when I bought and first moved into this house; papers I no longer need because accounts have changed, etc. They're going in the burn barrel. And as part of the file clear-out comes more book clear-out. I have back copies of journals where I was published and they really need to go into the book shelves, so to make room books I read once and enjoyed but have no plan to read again are going in the stack to head to the used bookstore.

Another set of papers that I need to deal with are those small scribbled notes on backs of envelopes, post-it notes, etc. They build up under the computer monitor, on the kitchen counter, on the second desk. The contact information I needed, the new password, etc. needs to be transcribed to a larger durable notebook and the scraps of paper go into the shredded. Quite a few of those are now history in the cross-cut shredder.

Last night I finished emptying the library magazine holder and am now using it for draft versions of documents I've designed. There have been times in the interview process when interviewers ask to see samples of documents in progress, so these are trotted out. Those drafts are usually large and bulky (from the printer and not trimmed, etc.) so the holder is a great place to corral them. I see another box on the floor next to where that was, and it's full of stuffed manila envelopes. I predict more burning-barrel fodder.

My radio program will end in a few minutes, so it's time to turn my attention to mowing the front lawn and preparing the area where I will pour concrete to fix my front path. And dig the hole for the fence post.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Oct 18 - 01:07 PM

Yesterday, Stratford got a southern version of the weather system that dumped four inches of snow on Dorothy; it rained and grizzled all day, with a snell wind blowing the whole time and the still air temperature hovering just above freezing. My barometric ankles hurt like the dickens when I got up and never improved until quite late in the afternoon. Most unpleasant.

I made a large apple pie and a batch of brown rice pilaf with mushrooms for our little dinner party, so, with that and the remains of the cassoulet, we now have a fridge full of delicious ready-use food.

Like Maggie, I'm pleased to read that Dorothy is seeing progress toward selling the house. Nothing concentrates the mind of a pack-rat like the reality of having to move excess stuff -- or pay a moving crew to do it, in cold, hard cash.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Oct 18 - 10:37 AM

Purging files and shredding old documents continued, resulting in more space on the floor (two emptied boxes removed) and desktops (work in progress, because as I work on files things are temporarily added to the desktop).

Food preservation activity has slowed since the garden isn't producing much now. I'm going to pick a bunch of the hot peppers and slice and freeze them (though often times I simply freeze them whole and seed them later when they've thawed; they're like oblong green and red marbles when frozen). I started cutting down the non-producing okra stalks and I think the rest will probably come out this week, giving me access to the sweet potatoes in the bed beneath. There are some green tomatoes out there, but those plants have struggled this year with the rain and an infestation of stink bugs. I'm going to be putting out beneficial nematodes heavily in that bed to try to kill the soil-stage of the beetle life cycle.

Today begins a seasonal battery exchange: my dogs are due their monthly heartworm treatment, so at the same time I'm going to take their collars with the Invisible Fence devices and check and change those batteries if needed. And next weekend, when the time changes (Standard Time) I have a batch of fresh 9V batteries to replace all of the smoke detector batteries (they are wired + battery). That's five of them in bedrooms and a hall; I gave up on having a smoke detector anywhere near the kitchen, though I could put one up in the sun room. I may even add a sticker to each battery noting when it was replaced.

It's a great day to walk the dogs so while their collars are off (I have to wait a few minutes after removing the old batteries to put the fresh batteries in) we'll take a spin around the block. There's a pecan tree I keep any eye on this time of year for the nuts it drops on the street. I asked them if I could pick them up in his yard and he said yes. Most of the ones harvested in the neighborhood are shelled as dog treats. Back when they were young they used to gobble them up shell and all, but now they get whole unsalted peanuts for a treat and the pecans are less often and always shelled.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Oct 18 - 06:27 PM

OH:

Couldnt sleep so up at 5:30 three hoyrs early.

Got my debit account caught up and grocery list made. Lots to restock-- bladder infection plus weekend trip = empty pantry and food storage bags. Went to USPS first to mail Greg an item he'd left in the car I picked up, but they opened late so had a delay there. Then I had an unusually peaceful and helpful Walmart trip with a rare, fully-charged scooter. Fridge items came in and chix was started in the crockpot. Still need pork and beef for the usual rotation, but enough!!!

Noticed again that the recent repair of the garage patio door is FABULOUS.

Aftn, short but deep chair nap. Then lengthy combat w cable company:

Good news/bad news on cable TV here. Good news: we keep NBCSN within the rate already quoted, despite its mistaken inclusion by the salesperson I'd spoken to for the promotional deal, who they say mysteriously "canceled" the tv service the 17th (no wonder Brandon couldn't get signal!) Bad news: she never said they had 2 set top box options (live or dvr), and dvr is extra. Of course we want dvr, and I tried hard for discounted billing... but no cigar.... so the total rate goes from the $84 she'd quoted into $90's. Other news-- I'm FINALLY now set up for online bill paying when desired. UCK!!!! Five-department clusterf*ck!

Brandon was due "after 6" for kayak stowing, so I suited up to prep and spent a lovely hour or two ferrying groceries from the car to the front step via scooter, using my very sore left shoulder/arm as little as possible. I used the scooter to push the trash/recycle bins, to permit more kayak-maneuvering space around the car. Cleaned trash/recycling out of car. Moved dead brush around the camper for more space.

Then I spent the crisp and beautiful dusk-falling time, scoping out future plantings, with multiple short videos from several angles to share ideas with Judy.

Also replanted a windblown election sign and planted two more (senior svcs ballot issue). I got cold and went in to warm up and charge the fone-- so of course that's when Brandon showed up.

It's been fun driving everywhere with a pretty kayak on top, but the kayak is now finally unloaded into the garage. I described the method and coached the initial steps. Then....

Brandon: "How.... do we carry it?"
Me: "Um.... I see one strap to grab but none for the bow.... hmm..." So he swivels it a leetle bit towards himself and catches it-- before it finishes rotating stern to ground in the prescribed method-- hugs it to his chest at the balance point-- and walks it into its waiting spot in the garage. Took longer to type it than to do it. My jaw is still in the driveway.

No more cold rain dripping onto my shoulder (and the passenger seat) when I drive, from the tarp straps that pass over my head. Yeah, Columbus' rainy rush hour Friday was pretty wet. Done!

Senior helper to complete cargo unloading tmrw. I'll probably use the scooter to save her back-- it's supposed to be another pretty fall day. There ain't been many, so I'll take it!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 29 Oct 18 - 06:35 PM

Beaver:

Happy to have energy today: trimmed pots that I threw a few days ago and threw a bunch more. I love throwing pots, not so much the trimming and not at all the aching shoulder and back. Reminds of Leonard Cohen, "I ache in places where I used to play." Rather dif "play" than he had in mind. But I enjoy it so much.   

The snow is still melting and the air was moist with flurries. I finally brought in four sticks of wood but a bunch of snow fell in my shoe and I said, "tomorrow!" I'm ok for another couple days. Sun (????) predicted for tomorrow!!! Working on the pain in back and shoulder resulting from today's efforts.

Ho, ho, ho! I am having nothing to do with R's de-cluttering. Not my monkey... If he pulls this off, the move could start in mid november. I am torn between wanting some input and wanting to just stay out of the way. I can only hope this has taught him... I once worked in a senior's centre and posted "You can teach an old dog anything it is willing to learn."

If he does not, --- we will not go there! I am happy here in our warm little house.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Oct 18 - 08:10 PM

DP, but is the house he's clearing the one with bedbugs? What's your plan to keep them from traveling?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 30 Oct 18 - 12:47 AM

forgot about or never knew about the bedbugs. My advice to everyone is only have as much stuff as you can handle, emotionally, physically, financially, if you get bedbugs. i would google steam cleaning bedbugs and get the most powerful steamer you can afford.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Oct 18 - 11:15 AM

I had to buckle my virtual office chair seatbelt yesterday and finish filling out paperwork to do with retirement benefits. The process of retiring seems to be one of gathering as many revenue streams as possible, and one of them needed some adjustment (updated address) so when it kicks in it won't be misdirected due to an obsolete post office box. I have another set of similar paperwork to fill out and dispatch today. I set a goal to finish all of this by the end of the month.

This morning I cut up some red onions to freeze on a tray and later bag for convenience in cooking. I'd forgotten how very strong those things are! I wasn't wearing gloves so now the onion smell is wafting up from my keyboard. There is a large sweet potato baking in the convection oven to use for several meals, and I have a couple more waiting to be baked soon, but then I should be to the point of harvesting a few of my own garden potatoes soon—and they're usually giants. I'm having to be careful how much I make ahead now because I've resumed the alternate-day fasting (today is a 500 calorie day) and food gets old before I get to it if I get too far ahead of myself. Motivation comes from recent weight gain and the consequences for my arthritic knee (it hurts more).

Yard work this afternoon ahead of the predicted rain tomorrow. Lately it isn't just that there is rain in the forecast and I might get some, now it seems to be there is rain in the forecast and one must prepare for a deluge. I know, however, that my deluge is ice and snow for many of the rest of you (this is apparently a robust front covering much of the middle of the North American continent), so batten down the hatches, all!

As to the bed bugs, fingers crossed none of us ever have to go there. A friend had to bag up everything he owned that wasn't affected by them then get a new bed and have exterminators in and use the steam, etc. It took several months before he could unpack.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Oct 18 - 01:48 PM

OH:

With Senior Helper Deb:
. Un-needed cable TV parts returned for refund
. Cruiser unloading finished (scooter for heavy bags), and items set at doorways of destination rooms
. Cruiser seating areas restored; hatch shelf restored; car tools and pillows gathered into hatch
. Household clutter left from trip and illness cleared up
. Trash out to curb including 2 bags of yard waste I hope they'll take
. Kayak accessories placed in closed bin and set with kayak
. Misc items from cargo put away
. LR table covered with everyday vinyl tablecloth
. 2/3 of crockpotted chix bagged for freezer
. Flat crockpot stowed
. December travel sked set
. Local source found for masarepa in 5lb bags
. Canister for 5lb bags identified
. Bathroom cleaned and kitchen counters cleaned

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Oct 18 - 04:46 PM

OH:

Thanks to having help earlier today, the decluttering has continued on my own, with reference to routine, planned Tuesday work-- though I sure didn't FEEL like doing more!

A set of store bags I use when I shop via scooter has been reassembled and hung on the back door. Also the bag of glove compartment stuff plus car trash after last week's trip and car-swap has been sorted out, and is also hung on the back door.

Last week's laundry and yesterday's laundry are now put away.

The kitchen table is shaping up for grazing and hosting. The apple basket is now the apples/powerbars/raisins basket. A citrus basket holds clementines and lemons in a flat, airy configuration to prevent mold, and limes are coming soon. A tray holds root veg where there's not too much light. The banana hanger our PA neighbor Blair made is now in routine use. And there's still space all the way around the table to pull up a chair and use the table.

I now have all items on hand for fruit fly traps, if they start up again.

A great byproduct of Deb helping me declutter this AM is that she now has a great sense of where things are kept.

~S~

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

One of my older portable external hard drives has a cable with a break in the rubberized casing, but ordering a replacement took research. It turns out that inch-long 5/8th inch thick lumpy device on the cable is a ferrite bead, meant to reduce noise as far as data transmission. Not absolutely necessary, but helpful. The replacement will be a bit longer than the current one, but if this one had been longer the break might not have happened. Better to spend $5 to replace the cable than $80 to replace the hard drive. (Much of this research starts with Wikipedia.)

More important paperwork completed yesterday; too bad it was the last of the nice weather for a couple of days. I gave myself until the end of the month to finish all of the retirement research and paperwork. Cross that off the to-do list.

I have a shopping list to work from today as I run errands with a route that takes me past places where I have soon-expiring coupons. One for the hardware store - I don't have anything on my list right now from there, but I'm sure I will find something useful and save that $5. Seeds or a plant maybe. $20 at my favorite shoe store (I can always buy socks), and $30 at Macy's, a forgotten gift card. Switching to Costco for some of my shopping means I'll have to work out my routes to include a trip past one of their locations when I need gas.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 04:53 PM

Beaver:

BEDBUGS! R washed everything that was washable and dried in high heat. Put the bed legs in qt. yogurt containers with diatomaceous earth, Made a tent over the bed and heated it to a very high heat, carefully! No more bedbugs in the last month!!! Determination!

The BR looks decent the Victorian parlor looks great - if he replaced the rag on the floor with a half decent carpet. "Wow, that's a beautiful sofa!" I had not seen it for the junk! Right! in 8 years!

The rest, I have not seen but he has been working like a fiend. Guess he needs to be pressed to the wire.

I made a trip: "To the dump, to the dump, to the dump, dump, dump!" Thinking of youse guys and chuckling as I sang. Got rid of a bunch of dumpage, picked up two pumpkins and put them in the woods for the critters. The dump is a friendly place. That's where I obtained the nice lamp by which I read in bed. There were 3; I took the other two to a thrift shop.

Managed to get the license plate off the car - with Larry's help and went to Service ON for replacements - the front one had disappeared - sometime in last couple years but I never noticed; someone else did. I asked a police officer about it and he told me I really did need one in front also (not in Quebec). The nice clerk suggested I update to new stickers for 2020 - saves a trip back! Both plates are now firmly affixed!

Printer refused to behave yesterday; after an hour on the phone with Epson, "JUST send me another one!" So they are. I went to the Library today and Shirley managed to print out my ballot for WA state. The derelict printer agreed to scan it and it is safely emailed to Island County. This also required a phone consult with my shocked DiL - you are calling in the middle of the day - at her work! She agreed it was important that I needed to know more of the WHOs. She is so proud of me for making the effort! Likewise!

With this success, I then tried to book an airbnb for next week. This was also successful - after a great deal of pain and a complaint, last week, to airbnb: "This is the only device I have; I have used it and only it to book before. How come you cannot recognize it!!!" Oh, that was in furious caps. Now they want me to tell them things. I SHALL! That's three times they have screwed me up.

Yesterday's printer escapade had me feeling unfit to live in the 21st century.

Moved a couple more things to the "storage van", making room for a plastic container for stuff I have been having trouble storing.

Never made it the 20 feet to the studio today. Everything is covered that needs to be; tomorrow... It was pouring most of the day. Time for supper and a book.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 08:35 PM

DP-- whew!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Nov 18 - 12:15 PM

Agreed - good to see the lovely sofa after being buried, Dorothy! We don't see the dump here, but a friend out in West Texas used to talk about treasures they'd find regularly.

One of my xmas cactus plants has dropped a branch so I'm reviving the wilted pads and will start new plants in pots soon. Outside half of the okra has been cut down, but the other plants are still flowering. I hear a mower running and though it is very wet after all of the rain yesterday that isn't a bad idea. I'll never get to it otherwise, at this rate of rain we've had.

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

OH:

The new daily routine is working well now. Example: As planned for Thu. AM-- TOC ofc, Session, Scooter, Eve long shower (not hair), Xtra sleep meds @bedtime

As adjusted for circumstances: AM load walker and let Newbie pee in garage (pouring rain); home ofc (not TOC ofc) planning Q's for Sunday interview of Sabrina; Aftn session, shower/hair for eve mtg; Eve SURJ mtg w walker and dog; sleep/pain meds @bedtime.

Instead of TV, and/or sleepiness leading to an unwanted nap, I'm halfway thru the planned day, on task and extra decluts have continued:

I plugged in the big full spectrum light in the LR for these 3-5 days' rainy skies. Raincoat found and it fits. Walker was loaded while Newbie played in the garage. Garage door from the patio left open for dog pee later, until I leave thru garage for 6:30pm mtg in Dayton.

Before lvg garage, I finished filling (and then closed) the next all-FPH box from the sorting project, for ferrying into the house with help on Tuesday. It includes a sub-box for the next level of sorting indoors, which had folders already set up for many of the next-sort categories.

I started a questions doc for Sunday's interview with a review of open Q's from email, and stuff I just wonder about that may be too sensitive to share with me, for fishing into areas she CAN share with me.

Docs needed for Sunday were saved into the interviewee's folder on my notebook. Def taking notebook and mouse plus voice recorders.

Old faithful voice recorders and outlet cord were found. One is charging/recording, to determine storage capacity. Next I need to be sure I have their weird data cable-- pretty sure I do-- and/or be sure my new tablet can record.

The pool bag I've been prepping, in anticipation of resuming aquatics, now includes my lake suit, shampoo/body wash, and hairbrush. To add, travel towel(s). Items I wish I had are in PA.

Found voice recorder data cord. CD of copied jpgs made and labeled from previous project for interviewee.

Misc items stowed in the right places. Three dog bed covers set up with waiting old blankets as mattresses.

Bag for carrying Sunday interview tools dentified and another bag stuffed w laundered travel items to stow in car.

Folding bowl for workshops found.

Recorder on outlet is recording now, almost 2 hours. I'll let it go to determine capacity and then delete the file and get 2nd 1 gig player testing similarly.

Yesterday's clean and folded laundry was put away.

TBTG for full spectrum lights! Planning to stop on my way to the evening mtg at CVS drive-thru for an Rx; if it's not raining too hard then, I'll stop in for a flu shot.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Nov 18 - 05:48 PM

I was going to mow but then I started looking for something in the files and ended up sorting and pulling out more I didn't need—I now have 7" deep of papers to dispose of. There's still time to mow a patch in the back yard under where I'll set up the burn barrel. The ground is soggy after yesterday's rain so it's not a big deal that I didn't mow the entire yard today.

As I free up file folders I find other uses for them, usually when things were lumped together and would be much easier to find with separate headings.

This is my 500 calorie day today so I'm drinking herbal tea during the day to distract myself from not eating very much.

(I thinned out about 3" of non-identifiable papers to drop into the recycle bin, the rest went to the burning barrel.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 09:45 AM

At bedtime last night there was still a substantial amount of charred but not-completely-burned paper in the burn barrel, so I left it to finish smoldering overnight. The heat from the contents kept condensation from landing on the barrel, that has now been emptied of brick and ashes and stowed away in the greenhouse. The passive disposal is a time-saver when considering a thousand or more sheets going 3 or 4 at a time through the regular or the cross-cut shredder - the pieces would fill a large trash bag instead of being a modest amount of ash to pour onto the compost pile.

A minor strategy that seems to work is to have at least one to-do list chore that needs doing and go ahead and to do each day. I've been looking at the larger (typical sized) water lines to replace the small ones that came with the faucet in the kitchen sink. I need to clear the cupboard contents and put these new ones on so the volume from the faucet is back to usual. I replaced the faucet a couple of years ago and used the existing lines, but the larger ones will work.

Thanksgiving is on the horizon so I'll keep my eyes open for a frozen turkey and start clearing a space in the big freezer to store it until needed. I have some whole cranberries in the freezer that have been there for a long time that I need to steam juice so I can make my own cran-apple juice (mixing with commercial frozen apple juice). I have a recipe for cranberry and gran marnier sauce that I need to make again and can a few jars and have them ready. And as cooler weather approaches I need more potatoes to make a batch of the stew for chicken pot pie.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 12:39 PM

OH:

Today is supposed to be a fun/explore day per sked, but there are 2 of those planned for the weekend and it's too cold to go scootering. I may spend some time whipping thru the banker's boxes in the garage, so I can resume parking in there-- last night's rainy arrival really sucked! Good day to test whether Bluetooth will reach from the house charger into the garage!

Later.... VERY productive hour in the garage! Finds in the "unpurged" box I'd dreaded:
. Red Cross items
. Dist 97 publications in folders, with key to folder numbers
. My leader's resume
. Greg's priesthood ordination booklet

The Bluetooth did not reach, so will take tablet out for another hour. I REALLY want to park in there, and boxes can be moved Tuesday. Two to go I think. I COULD be parking in there TONIGHT.

~S~

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

OH:

Cold front settling in. Too cold for bare fingers!

Got one more box emptied. If my back would permit, I'd try to park in there tonight.... so messaged Brandon re help moving these very heavy boxes to allow parking in garage. One is a large box full of recycling paper. Don't need him to bring them in, just to stack them READY to come in, so the garage center can be cleared. (So frustrating!)

Lids matched to boxes and boxes relabeled or old labels removed.

One box yet to purge/sort, and tmrw's 54° forecast should cover it. I do have a Plan B to be able to park inside tomorrow night.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 04:19 PM

Hose lines await another day. I started the final mow of the season and decided it was time to tackle the lantana thicket, an island of shrubs in the back yard lawn near the fence. It took an hour to lop out all of the branches and carry them over to the branch pile, then used a bucket to collect the small stobs projecting from root level. It'll be a tripping hazard for a while but it's all low enough that I can run the mower over the top of it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 04:50 PM

OH:

No Brandon till next week, so I went out there once more to see how far I could get using smart lifting techniques, plus the scooter. (I learned so much in PT!)

Space is tight, but the car is in, and the garage door remote is now in it and no longer on my scooter. I can still get the scooter out.

There's still one full box left to purge/sort, but it, and the open boxes to finish filling, are now in/on a large rolling cart normally used for other things, which can be wheeled over to the folding worktable's new temporary location-- for which I'd have to back the car out. All the filled boxes are near the door for Senior Helper Debbie to carry into the LL Tuesday; perhaps she'll wish to load them into the car to be driven around the corner.

It's not actually any tighter or more unpleasant than it was with DIL's car. It's just a little too tight. We'll see if that can be relieved, next week, but I'm ready for meds now.

I'm so angry at Tyler for stealing that 2nd remote. It's a real pain not to have it for scootering, because once I get the service dog hooked up it's awkward and painful to manually operate the door button, and it's best to hook her up with the door closed. And I'm hoping for quite a few more warm-enough scootering days before winter!!!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 05:53 PM

OH:

I think my favorite thing I did with the scooter for today was pushing the trash bin back up to the house after trash collection ydy. Scooters are specifically designed to push doors open at stores, schools, gummint bldgs, etc, so I use it that way. (It's always fun at a store when well-intentioned people are urgently hurrying to open a door and then I open it with the scooter before they can get there).... but I wasn't sure the scooter wouldn't just knock the bin over, causing a shoulder strain to right it-- it's not heavy but it is bulky and tall. Nope! Up the driveway it went! You can even steer things by how you angle the scooter. I will definitely do that again!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 03:53 PM

Found the video I wanted for quick set concrete (pour dry into hole around post, then pour 1 gallon of water on top). There are so many other products being peddled out there even with search terms indicating you really do want concrete. Oy. My final set of search terms on YouTube were "no-mix concrete fence post -foam." It brings up the video I was looking for. (Uses Quikrete - something I also should have searched on.)

I'll be helping a friend unload her UHaul truck later this afternoon. She's part of the diaspora who left when the current management arrived at my recent workplace; she's moving back to town after working for several years at the coast (headed for a new job at a different institution.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 06:19 PM

OH:

Garage slightly adjusted for better car fit.

My interviewee scheduled for tmrw canceled, due to family meducal emergency.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 10:55 AM

UHaul unloaded, and today she has one thing to drop off (a large wooden sofa frame) at a refinisher, then drop off the UHaul and we'll run errands. After that another friend will take over and deliver her to the airport. Repeat again in a few weeks.

I'm probably going to get clobbered by another high bill soon; the residue of the water leak period will show up this month. To balance that out, the power bill goes down for a while because the outside temperature doesn't require use of heat or air conditioning. It's time for the seasonal shifts like taking down the shade tarp on the back patio cover (tucked away in the greenhouse for the winter), take up the cushions on the wrought iron sofa frame (store those in the garage), and finish the final mowing of the yard as most of the grasses go dormant with the shorter daylight and cooler temperatures. I'm partway through mowing the back. I need to take the sharpened mattock out and chop out the roots of the lantana I cut down to keep it from coming back.

I have the bagged concrete for my fencepost job for this week. We had another heavy thunderstorm come through the area last night but the ten-day forecast gives me some time for the work.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 03:57 PM

Beaver:

I used to have to rest on each sixth day; now I seem to be able to get things done about every sixth day! It took from Tuesday to Saturday to recoup enough to trim the pots I threw on Tues. I still have some to do but not today. So, this is what it means for me to be 81.

Today is gloriously sunny and I am doing and resting, trying to get dryish day things done before the rain re-commences. Two loads of laundry! Still need to re-make the bed... Oh, yeah, and decant sand into a manageable container for the forthcoming icy season; the back deck can get VERY nasty.

My adventure was driving to an obscure area about 20 minutes away. It was obscure due to the numbering system and all dirt roads that did not look as though they went anywhere. I finally stopped at an inhabited house and a lovely young woman took me to the correct place- 100 feet away! I picked up 4 baby agave plants and brought them home to repot. Three are in lovely china pots that will suit the 3 baby af. violets. I have the pots and soil in the house so can do the potting with next "surge" of energy. Need to research the needs of these new residents.

I do appreciate little reminders/suggestions I find here: onions in the freezer would never have occurred to me and would be very helpful
when I do not feel like doing much of anything - most of the time. I now make sure to have frozen veggies on hand for when I do not feel like cutting up anything. I also do extra when I have energy - 3 or 4 meals at once.

Found mouse damage today in a drawer I thought was mouse proof. Did some unacceptable damage to special fabrics. But not in the other drawers?

Time change and the sun will soon be setting behind the hill. Time for one more chore.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 08:43 PM

DP, I hear you on that activity and energy thing. I'm feeling that slider button moving in the direction you described so well. I'm constantly having to scale back. :-(

OH:

Although the personal sked called for today to be a day of indolence, I did:
. Load and run DW a day early
. Fill weekly meds sorter
. Unpack Greg's stuff from the recent car/cargo swap incl Sat night svc music and his summer duds
. Unpack masarepa flour into a waiting canister, from ydy's trip for it to the large Hispanic market that is the sole grocery for a very diverse and friendly neighborhood
. Make arepas for supper
. Scooter Newbie for exercise and sun, and to spot other neighborhood Dem yard signs-- found one so far
. Chair nap.

Tmrw I'll focus on getting some doctor's appts made before we switch over from decent bennies to lesser bennies, and straighten up for Tuesday's cleaning. Last week's assisted decluttering has held up pretty well, so there are areas to clean that have been let go for awhile. Then tmrw night there's a pizza party for the candidates. I'm hoping to watch returns w Greg via fone Tuesday evening, and hockey with him via fone Wednesday evening.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 03:46 PM

OH:

The weekly routine is holding shape well whole leaving time and energy to add/adjust. Without the wknds being completely upside down structurally from our Sat. Svc., this is actually doable.

Per Sked: Mon. AM Quick shower, TOC office, Crockpot, Session, Scooter or Ride/Errands, PM Pick Up House, Dishes, Laundry

Per actual circumstance: Mon. AM Quick shower, TOC office, Tuna Prep, Session, Bvrcrk Thank the Candidates 5pm, PM Pick Up House, Dishes, Laundry

Shower and brekky were done despite sleeping in a bit. Got off to TOC shortly thereafter to deliver dog bed and start blog entry re Policing. Thete was a doc here to fwd first which i did.

Productive 2 hours at TOC ofc incl lvg agreed-on dog bed. Newbie had several short opportunities to relax in the closed office to await my return while I fetched tea, etc. I got not one but two entries done and sent the link off for comment.

From there I dropped off a duplicate vacuum clnr we no longer need, to Judy. Now the back seat can be reconfigured tmrw w Sr. Helpet Debbie for dog plus walker. Then I got a msg re a voter needing a ride tmrw, who had no phone to call her so I found her address and stopped by to make a plan, and got back just in time for 2pm fone session and late lunch.

Counted quarters for an event this eve that will include good and inexpensive GF pizza, served by local candidates. Comes w salad bar, so should be plenty left for the freezer.

Have magnets here to make a VOTEMOBILE car sign for tmrw. May be running voters from two local campuses, and am also on call to Dem HQ 1-6pm tmrw.

Tonight it's an easy straighten-up job to prep for Deb tmrw. She'll make arepas and help reconfigure the car, plus clean.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 04:52 PM

I'm so ready for the election to be over. I'm bailing out so much email every day (and they're from my party and my candidate, but really! Enough already!) I voted on the first day of early voting.

Heading out to the post office, the library, and the used bookstore, and I'll take the dogs for a walk before their dinner this evening, though they've already had a good run with retrieving their bumpers in the back yard. It's streamlined now, two bumpers for two dogs, no more having to catch one by the collar to throw for the other to take turns.

This morning I have cleared the work space in the sunroom as I prepare to list more eBay items.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 05:46 PM

In anticipation of the Weekend From Hell, featuring two choir performances preceded by the dress rehearsal, and the Remembrance Day parade, I am trying to be a Good Sport and not too bitterly resentful of the two meetings I am committed to attend tomorrow. At least we aren't having an election. Stilly, you have my sympathy.

Remembrance Day is next Sunday, so the public space is full of soppy advertising with photo montages of Great War soldiers, red poppies and flag-waving children, all accompanied by solemn music and slogans about freedom and sacrifice. I am a veteran, the daughter and grand-daughter of veterans, and I FUCKING LOATHE IT. If I were Queen of the World, we would go back to the way they did it in 1920: everybody stop dead for two minutes of silence at 11:00 a.m. in the middle of our ordinary work day, and then carry on. It creeps me out when the crowd claps as the Old Sweats (including me) march by; the Cenotaph is no place for applause. My mood is like Good Friday, and the crowd is acting as if we're the Santa Claus parade. Bloody hell.

Our cross-cut shredder died last week, so we now have a "burn bag" in the study. Back in the day, every military filing cabinet had a large brown paper bag in the bottom drawer into which one put one's classified waste, and periodically somebody came around with a wheelie bin and carted it all off to the incinerator. Our current abode has a fireplace, so I feel no need to go out and buy a new shredder; we need tinder, so the bank statements, pharmacy receipts and pages of solicitor-client notes can go up in smoke.

And the corner of the study where the shredder used to live is exactly the right size for my guitar case. I win.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 11:32 PM

Periodically I find cross-cut shredders at the thrift store, and I sell them on eBay for several times over what I paid for them. They still come out costing less than the new ones. I went through a trade-out of my shredders this year, so that now in this office there is a straight shredder with a sensor so I don't have to switch it on and off, and there is an automatic cross-cut shredder in the kitchen (where I typically open the mail and shred things with information that doesn't need to go in the recycle bin). I sold my other two shredders. These two aren't new, but they're clean and work just fine. (I just noticed that the price tag was still on the straight-cut shredder in here; it cost $8.99 at Goodwill.)

There's a two-part program on tonight about the Facebook Dilemma. I do wish Zuckerberg had been paying more attention to world events much earlier. "Warning signs as Facebook grew." Yeah.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 02:13 PM

Beaver:

I have a marvellous t-shirt: four largish animals, from the woods, playing instruments "In Tune With Nature" I guess part of being "in tune..." is recognizing and accepting diminishing energies. That cord of wood still not stacked: Does it matter if it stays there, covered, until the snow leaves again? Being so well organized, I just discovered I am missing one ingredient for the glaze I was going to make. Does it matter if I put the rest in the bucket and add that one after I get back to the mill where I have LOTS? I remember looking at it, so why oh why did I leave it behind!

But just maybe I could do some mending instead of sitting like a lump and reading yet another book.

R is still cleaning up the house. How I wish he had done all this 8 years ago! How I wish I could let go of what could have happened and just be positive about what is. This could be a valuable de-clutter! He is happy with what he is accomplishing and I must stop whining. Too soon to say for sure but there appears to be light at the end of this tunnel; we can only hope it is not a freight train coming through. Or is he just a cock-eyed optimist? At least he is on speaking terms with the realtor and looking at home insurance...

Just as I was going to comment that shredded paper is much better for starting the fire, Charmion adds the bit about her guitar! However, a small shredder would prob do the job these days and still leave room? Mind, I have enough paper starter to last all winter and more comes in weekly. Just throw bunches into the already started fire, but a fireplace is different.

I am organized to measure glaze and waiting for the day to improve/get a bit warmer, maybe even stop raining for a bit? OR so heavily for a bit? This is the warmest day for a week (45F)- Phooey.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 02:25 PM

Some weeks ago I was at the used book store and they had lots of volumes to do with denim crafts and projects. Not a one in view yesterday. I should have grabbed one when I had the chance.

I saw a great mid-century style sewing table at Goodwill today, it was a large work surface when folded out, but opening it gave a gush of stale cigarette smoke. Nope. Not gonna live with that stink. There is a folding smaller sewing table in my garage that was delivered here recently; it was my mother's, and though she has been gone for 20 years, and quit smoking 10 years before that, it still has the smell of stale smoke and will need to be completely cleaned to try to neutralize it. My brother remarked recently that any time he left Mom's house after he'd moved away to college he always had to shower and wash his clothes (so did I) - he wondered if we always stank like smoke to our classmates and co-workers before we moved out?

Handed a few VHS tapes over to the Goodwill donation folks this morning and found a mint-condition Food Saver storage jar. I don't use them to store food, I use them to seal smaller jars that are put inside with their lids loosely in place. A seal within a seal for dry foods. I was just telling a friend about that, so this may be her housewarming gift.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 10:14 PM

I have two monitors on my desktop and the smaller older one has been acting up. Today it wouldn't start at all, except briefly. I swapped out cables, that didn't help, so I swapped out the monitor for a small spare one that usually stays in the other room for guests (to use with laptops). It worked. I found a replacement that is a couple of inches bigger than the dead one but the same manufacture as my large monitor (HP) and was both cheap ($103) and deliverable today (Amazon Prime, of course). It helped to look at their list of "Top 100" devices they sell, that's why this one is there, I'm sure. It has great reviews. I use two monitors because the design work is easier with the dual monitor setup.

I've managed to clear out more around the office and the new stack of styrofoam will head out go out in the trash later this week. I need to give the front yard one more mow before it's dormant for winter. I mowed the back yard today and need to do the trimming (after I put a new gas line in the gas trimmer) to polish it off. And of course, that fence job awaits. I got a nice workout this afternoon wrestling the mower around the back.

Finally, a note about the time change: I've managed to ignore what the time on the clock says and simply go to bed when I'm tired, and that means I'm getting to bed an hour earlier in Standard Time. I'm definitely not in a going-to-the-office schedule any more, but I don't want to sleep the day away.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 08:23 AM

Alas, Stilly, you and your brother did indeed stink of cigarettes when you lived with your Mum. If even a table still carries the odour, just imagine what was in your clothes.

On the other hand, smokers were in the majority back then, so most of your friends and acquaintances were the same.

When people talk glibly about how they wish they could turn back time and go back to how it was when they were young, I always want to yell, "No way!" The ever-present evidence of wide-spread tobacco addiction -- yuck!

Of all the nasty substances I had to clear away and clean up in my hospital days, the only one I truly loathed and resented was ashtray contents.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 10:37 AM

There were power struggles in my youth to do with cigarettes: I refused to wash the ashtrays (the worst stink in the world are wet ashes). And if Mom walked into one of our bedrooms with a cigarette in her hand it didn't work to ask her not to smoke in our rooms. She would answer "it's my house." She wore large opaque blinders as far as smoking all of her life. When emergency surgery was required to replace arteries from her abdomen to her legs "because her toes were tingling" she never said why. It wasn't until years later I discovered a description of Buerger's Disease that I realized how total her blindness was to this thing that we all hated. She never admitted that smoking was the cause or what the disease was. She quit smoking then but never said why, and still defended it the rest of her life. She was a really smart creative woman, but that addiction robbed her of what friends and family wanted for her, a healthy long life. And when I'm at a new doctor's office and if they ask if I smoke or ever smoked, I answer that I never smoked but I lived with a heavy smoker for 19 years.

On a different note, I see that Flickr, the photo storage and sharing site that used to belong to Yahoo but now belongs to SmugMug, will limit the number of free photos in storage to 1000. I'm sure I have more than that, so much decide which photo site I want to use and pay for. I have storage at Microsoft's OneDrive, but it doesn't share as nicely as Flickr does.

Liquid diet today, leading up to the evening "prep" for tomorrow's colonoscopy. I will be so glad to put this behind me (pardon that pun!)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 06:54 PM

OH:

The agency that sends the cleaner crossed a red line here Tuesday and will be replaced by the second of the two agencies the local senior services folks contracts with. It will take awhile to get onto their schedule and it's not going to affect my decluttering here because there's only one banker's box to purge and then there's a pause until I come back with Greg in January.

A box of miscellaneana has formed in the LL and is slated to move elsewhere for sorting/purging. There's also a cable company box in there (the wrong set-top box they'd sent), to call FedEx to pick up. I want my limited walkspace back.

Today I put the blank note cards I was given to good use. I'd organized a post-election gathering at the local blue bubble cafe, and took some with me for participants to sign for the local candidates. It was great to be equipped to turn that idea into action!

Tdy I decluttered the yard of election signs, all of which I will re-use.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 07:15 PM

Beaver:

I wonder if an ozonator would remove the smell of smoke. It works for mold and other stuff.

As a small child, I emptied ash trays for my grandma; hated it but did it. Would do anything to please that set of grandparents, I guess. But married a person of colour and my granddad, and uncle, disowned my father, bro and me... Did not see my cousins again for 50 years. Now one, of the two who had "found me", has un-friended me because of political differences. That kind of de-clutter I did not need.

Wind and rain most of day; full dark by 5:30. I almost got to work in the studio but... De-cluttered more of the LR and BR, brought in wood - as much as would fit - during a non-raining spell! At least I am still getting up at the old time. Went to town council meeting; visited with friends; gave S a wooden bowl I found for her at a thrift shop; she had wanted one. Now she wants a book on depression; picked one off my shelf that she can comprehend.

Call from friend who stayed at one of R's lofts last week: she had bites. She slept on the sofa. Sofa needs the treatment. Friends who stayed there last month did not use sofa, did not get bitten.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 07:55 PM

Is this the sofa you thought was nice looking? Perhaps time to rethink that furnishing choice.

This evening I dug the hole and put the steel post in for the corner of my adjusted fenceline. It is quick-setting concrete and I went out about 30 minutes later and poured some gravel in the hole. I made the footing pretty deep, it'll be covered with about six inches of dirt. The new fence is something that can begin over the weekend. Since the existing fence is going to come down I will scavenge some of the fence post bands and brackets to use on the post I put up today (taking them from the center vs the top or bottom rail of the existing panels). Eventually I'll be digging up the existing steel fence posts and use a sledgehammer to knock off the concrete footer; I did that with some that were removed to extend the driveway and put in the garage, and put them in other places. The one I placed tonight had a very small concrete footer so I left it there and put in new concrete around it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 06:44 PM

Ozonators remove smoke on surfaces; things that absorb smoke, not so much. After our Dec. 2000 house fire we learned about this. A commercial fire-recovery ozonator is huge, and creates its own temporary odors.

The new cleaning service starts Tuesday. In the fone intake, I emphasized sending a regular cleaner once we discover the best match. We'll see. I'm going to video some training modules to save my voice/mind!

Off tmrw to a wknd workshop so cya Monday!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 01:29 PM

Yesterday went well and all is fine. It's a nice day today and I can eat what I want again, and tomorrow friends are coming over for lunch and I think we'll build personal pizzas on middle eastern flat bread (an Iraqi bread that is like a big version of naan), have salad, and an apple cobbler. It's cooking and baking weather now, so we're all looking forward to this one.

I the fence post put up on Wednesday is now ready to use. Today is cool and lovely and I'm going to head over to the hardware store to get the 2x4s I need for the cross-members and start scavenging from the fence supports already in place on the old fence. When my brother was here visiting he shared a fence tip with me - stack the cedar planks and apply the wood preservative to the sides, top, and bottom, then lay them out to paint it on each face before I nail them into place, then I can be sure everything is fully treated. (Home Depot and Lowe's are competitors and are equally close to me - Lowe's announced they will be closing stores so I think I'll take my business there to help keep this store open.) I pick up wood in a couple of trips because it will have to go on a tarp in the SUV with the seats down to fit them in. I do miss my old pickup.

Last night I cleared about 2' of shelf space in my office; some computer books so old they'll go straight in the recycle bin. Back copies of university publications I kept for research are going as well. I had a box full of cassette tapes that have duplicate copies of LPs from my father's estate, and I need to start making digital copies of various of his personal recordings (Song Circle, etc.) and reduce the number of cassette tapes, though many of them need to be kept as original source material and the digital copy will be for research use. I kept copies of his LPs back when I was going to have to send them to various siblings but I got all but one box back. This was for reference as far as where he learned his songs. I don't need copies of the LPs I have in my possession.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 05:07 PM

I was going to start work on the fence after picking up my pressure treated 2x4s, but the weather forecast tells me there is a freeze warning. About-face and head to the garden with clippers and boxes to harvest whatever is still growing out there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 11:04 PM

Somewhere in Ontario!

At an airbnb in a field two miles from a charming village - where I spent the late afternoon, having soup and tea, because I could not get the door open with the code. A police officer finally helped me; he thought I couldn't find it but he did manage to get the door to open. Life is fraught with hazard! Eventually, the husband came home and found - big oops!- they thought I was coming tomorrow. I had at least 3 reminders from airbnb; I wonder if the hosts had any?

The idea was: eye appointment in P-boro, an hour and a half drive, a meeting tomorrow in Orangeville, another 2-3 hours west. Cut my driving. and gas usage. Added a bit more driving by detouring to pick up some stuff I could not get elsewhere which also aided a stop at a great grocery store where I could get special stuff. All a good plan other than the door glitch.

The major de-clutter is not having to go back to the eye doctor! My eyes are healthy and vision is 20/20, she says. And I can see at night!! So I do not have to worry about getting home before dark - as I surely will not tomorrow.

It snowed lightly all day without making much effect; roads were only wet. The mild weather (hovering at freezing but not below) meant an easier get away - no worries about plants and other freezables.

The sofa that prob has/d bugs is naught to do with me, or the house; it is in a dif building, thankfully.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 18 - 01:01 AM

The air smells like a freeze though we're not there at this moment; perhaps by dawn. It's a mix of cold air and wood burning fireplaces. I don't have a working fireplace at this point, so the smell is tantalizing but not something I can contribute to. I picked a few pounds of green tomatoes and hot peppers today, and one eggplant. I won't bother to try digging sweet potatoes right away, they're protected underground from this kind of frost.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 18 - 11:25 PM

Friends came over for lunch and we each assembled our own pizzas on quarters of large tandoori bread (an Iraqi flat bread) that I pulled out of the freezer. Sauces included Alfredo, a fabulous jar of pesto, and an organic tomato sauce. Cheese was provolone, and there were peppers, mushrooms, onions, sausage, chicken, and herbs and spices to add. This worked well since one of the friends is vegetarian and didn't have to worry about picking ingredients off of his share. Each quarter of the pizza/bread was baked and the crust was delightfully crisp and easy to cut into two slices. Apple cobbler for dessert.

Tomorrow I start scavenging hardware off of the existing fence that will soon be disassembled. I have the cross-members and after putting them up will calculate the number of cedar fence pickets. I'd like to have this finished by Thanksgiving (the entire job, including taking down the old fence).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 12:30 PM

I have the socket and ratchet set out, this removal of fence hardware takes the 7/16th or 11mm size. I'll be using a hand saw (only six 2x4s to shorten), and the drill to pre-drill the holes for the fence hardware screws (the size of small bolts). I'll go into the back yard next door to take a look at how they spaced the fence brackets on the corner posts or if there was an extra piece needed.

It is now winter in North Texas. We had a week of fall weather and that's all we ever get. The benefit to my schedule now is that I won't be at work 20 miles away during the warmest parts of the day when yard work is pleasant. I'll lay out a tarp in the garage to put the wood preservative on the fence slats without worrying about wind or weather. Good thing I cleaned out the garage last year and have plenty of floor space to do this work. A friend left a plastic tarp with me that she was going to recycle or trash; I'll lay it out for this job and then decide to reuse or trash it later.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 06:50 PM

Today I cleaned out more of my closet coming up with a large kitchen trash bag full of things to go to either Goodwill or Sally's.   Jeremiah found a few things as well.

I'm not sure this counts as decluttering but I went to a craft fair yesterday and came home without making any purchases. I used to love craft fairs but anymore, unless something is really screaming my name, I walk on by. There was one woman there selling mittens that she makes out of old sweaters and lines with polar fleece which I happen to LOVE but at this point in my life, I have several pairs and really...no REALLY do NOT need any more! I did stop to ooh and ahh over them and held a few but I didn't purchase anything.

The women who I am close (proximity and otherwise) to at work and I did some rearranging at work. It's funny how it happened....one of the girls got a large metal desktop organizer which prompted her to do some rearranging and the conversation over the top of our cubicles turned into how much we wanted some extra filing cabinets either for each of our spaces or larger ones to put at our end of the office. We also all agreed that we wanted another 5 drawer filing cabinet in the main office where all client information is kept under dual lock and key as currently we each have one drawer to ourselves....each being full to the max making it difficult to retrieve and return our daily client files. We have a great maintenance guy and we talked with him about what we wanted. He told us he had some things in storage and if we would be able to condense one of the large 5 shelved cabinets in the main office, he'd bring us another 5 drawer filing cabinet. I imagine you've never seen a group of women empty, sort, toss and condense office items into a different space in such a short time. Our new 5 drawer cabinet arrived but then our maintenance man brought a 3 drawer and a 2 drawer for us to keep at our end of the building (no client files, only Department of Health and Office of Mental Health paperwork that we use on a daily basis) so we don't have to run to the office all the time. We collectively decided that since there are 5 of us, we'd each get a drawer to do whatever we want with. We are all very excited and some serious decluttering is happening in our cubbies....and the thing is, we're all having fun with it. Nesting at the office is most interesting! :) Also, given the change from Halloween to Thanksgiving, we are all changing up our personal decorations as well.

Today I decluttered my car of the Whattachairs that have been kept in the car all season for soccer and assorted family events. I like when my car is basically empty. :)

We decluttered 1/3 of our chicken flock as well recently and have a freezer full of free range chicken for the winter. :) It's a great feeling knowing what our food consists of.

On the health front, the LiveStrong Program has been delayed a bit so I don't have much to report on that front. I have, however, found a new endocrinologist and am having incredible success with my glucose levels since he instituted some insulin changes. I also have a FreeStyle Libre which is a sensor that I can wear for 10 days that allows me to check my blood sugars with a scanner...no more pricking my fingers. This means I check much more frequently and am able to really see how certain foods and activities affect my glucose levels. New thyroid medications are on board too. I am hopeful that I will be having much more energy and feeling better soon.

That's all for now. Hope everyone is well.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 09:19 PM

That's a great overview of work and home, Michelle! I'm glad to see that your healthcare maintenance is moving the direction you want. I joined the "Silver Sneakers" program when I retired but am not sure how to get going - I have an account but no card. I guess I just have to go to one of the gyms involved and ask them. I'd rather do productive work around the house and yard to burn the calories, but I suppose a monitored program run by professionals would be a good addition to my routine.

This afternoon I took apart portions of the existing fence; I realized as I started that each bracket has to be slid up over the top so I took off the top ones instead of the middle ones. However, now that I have these I think I can take out the screw that holds them in place on the post and force three of them around a post that already has brackets and a fence in place. The screw is to stabilize it after such a maneuver. That's the theory I'm working on; I'll try it out tomorrow, and if it works, fine. Otherwise, I'll take out an existing fence post and move it and work from there. I could hire someone to do this and pay for all of the stuff, but I have it here already in that the old materials would just go to waste. And I'm stubborn - I can do this myself.

P.S. I don't have cable, I watch over-the-air with antennas. In the last couple of years some of the channels have shifted frequency for whatever reason, though they were in theory still the same channels (5.1 and 5.2 most recently, and a while ago channel 27.1 and 27.2 changed.) My television gave them new locations without removing the old locations on my preferences; I had to remember what the new numbers for the old channels were. A couple of weeks go I decided to research this and managed to set my office TV to the factory settings and rescan the channels. Perfect, everything where it belongs. Today I found the way to reset the kitchen wall TV and did the same thing. Life is easier when you can just punch in the numbers on the remote and it goes there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 09:50 AM

SRS, I also use home tasks for part of my fitness. What a structured workout could add for you is balancing muscle groups and flexibility that those home based things tend to miss. For every muscle we use in one direction, there are other opposing muscles that also need their turn. Very hard to describe, but say one set of muscles pushes, another set pulls. Or picture someone who does a lot of lifting but doesn't work on flexibility-- they'd have a hard time hanging from monkey bars.

I'm sort of desperately awaiting my card, so I can oppose water in all directions. One balance I need I know I need is more core work to balance my walking muscles.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Nov 18 - 10:15 AM

I got a Fitbit for my birthday. Among the many things it tracks is the number of occasions per day when I climb the stairs. Stair-climbing is apparently a major contributor to cardiac fitness among sedentary people, so I do it frequently -- at least 10 times per day.

I believe that Fitbit has it wrong, however; going up (as most of us know by now) is actually the easy part. The big trick is coming down gracefully and safely, without teetering, toppling, skidding or otherwise losing one's footing and, consequently, doing a head-first dive or a bottom-first bumpy slide to the bottom. For me, the hindrance is arthritis in the knees, ankles and feet that stiffens the joints of my personal undercarriage. The first descent of the day is always a crap-shoot: will the ankles flex today, or not?

The housework task that generates the most fitness benefit for me is vacuum cleaning. It combines weight-lifting with upper-body and core flexion and several interesting balance challenges, of which the first is moving the vacuum cleaner from the bedroom closet down the stairs to the sitting room rug without bashing the plaster.

Fun times in retirement. What larks, eh?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Nov 18 - 05:18 PM

OH:

I started today with the new home services agency. OMG they are totally professional! The assigned "care partner" was great. We got acquainted over arepa-making; she made eight (six of which are frozen now), and she can now make them independently.

Today was mostly orientation. A few basic tasks got done, and a lot of basic concepts were communicated and understood-- where stuff is kept, what's important and what can slide. Plans for succeeding weeks were made pending agency confirmation that she'll be permanently assigned.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 09:37 AM

Beaver:

Safely home at 7 pm on Saturday after my two day adventure. The house was 50F - not too bad. There were still small coals in the stove but I needed to boost them - de-cluttering some of the summer's collection of paper.

Mostly I was gratified that my energy level was still good. As though the trip had energized me. The cool night - it took that long for the house to feel warm - was OK. I would have liked another blanket but they are upstairs and opening the trap door would be a major heat de-clutter! The heating pad sufficed.

Even more gratified to find good energy on Sunday and not having to drag myself to do things. Remembered, for the first time in months, to take the spirulina. So, I have been getting things done - and taking it daily!And getting up earlier and getting things done.

De-cluttered the studio of most of one type clay - threw, trimmed and tehy are drying - and cleaned up tools, wheel, et al so it will be ready to switch back to the other clay. Did a bisque firing at the low peak time.

Today started out at 17F! Brry day to unload the kiln and take stuff to the studio for glazing - all of 20 feet but mind the ice! Sand is by the back door. But it is sunny!!! And I find it easier to go out into the cold knowing I can get back into a warm place. There will be good solar gain in the studio today.

R is still working on the house and people are still waiting to view it. "You don't want to be here" he told me so I am staying here until I get the word.

I have lost another couple pounds. I am now doing well on the Keto, finding creative ways to enjoy eating the veggies. No longer eating choc or craving muffins... I started bouncing (only) on the mini trampoline - 100 bounces only but it has an effect. Bringing in the wood is my best exercise and I feel myself getting stronger. It will be hard not being here to do that if we actually move into the new house. I know I lose that effect in the summer. My ankle seems almost 100% now and the bouncing does not cause a problem nor does driving for hours! (I drove about 8 hours on the weekend.)

Hoping the carrots are not frozen into the ground. This week is mostly all below freezing with highs of 30-32F. Tonight to 5F! About 3 inches of snow cover.

MY computer has become so slow it is painful. Looking for a glaze recipe last night, I found lots of duplication and wonder if a good de-clutter would help. It would be tedious!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 10:03 AM

The snow is down in Stratford. Time to dig out my winter boots, and put away almost everything else I might put on my feet.

Crap.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 10:09 AM

This region will probably break annual records for rainfall; the good thing about now having freezing nights is that the grass isn't covered with dew when I take the dogs out the last thing. They can go on their own (dog door) but this trip out (with a treat in hand to assure 100% compliance) is to get the oldest dog out one last time. During the summer she was drinking so much water she was having incontinence problems overnight when she was sound asleep (she's also deaf, so noises don't wake her). She was sleeping on the tile floor at that time. That trip out works, and good thing, because I put the dog cover on the sofa last night (it is waterproof, but I don't want to test it with more than the occasional wet feet after a romp outside). They get to sleep on the furniture in the winter. Pepper was beside herself with joy at this development!

I rearranged things in my office and put the Amazon Fire stick on the television that is now recessed on a shelf by itself. Clearing old computer books from a different shelf meant I could move music books over there and this TV is now on it's own; it was standing on top of the record player part of my sound system, but I'm needing access to that again.

Another thing about bookshelves is that often things are stacked horizontally on top of the books. Some piles of those papers have been moved to my second desktop and I'm going through a few sheets at a time every time I walk past it. Slow but steady and most of the paper had logical and more orderly places to live, or into the recycle bin.

In the kitchen I just bagged a gallon of frozen hot peppers and the house smells herbal now as a whole bunch of basil dries on counters. This was brought in before that first hard frost. I have more things to cut up and freeze, and there is a box of tomatoes that are going to ripen slowly.

Charmion, your new community appears to be in the headlines now - HAL 9000 (Douglas Rain) was living and acting in your midst. He did a lifetime of good work, but it's nice to have a really iconic piece to hang it all on.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 02:08 PM

OH:

Great fone visit w Greg last night. Soon we'll be back in team formation.

It was so much fun seeing how the lawn svc deals w leaves that the city sucks off the curbs. They even got up on the roof to blow leaves off, and I learned a neat ladder-setting trick. I've never been here to see this in past years.

Last night was the first time I can remember, thinking ahead about what I'd be doing for myself the next day with a "planning check." Til last night I was only looking at each day, each day. Sometimes not till noon after early AM commitments were fulfilled. Stuff w others was in my mental map, and calendar reminders, but not my personal stuff. That's pretty f&cked up! ;-)

This must be part of the sexist conditioning that leaves women serving everyone else and exhausting ourselves. I used to do all that re-prioritizing in my head, and leave myself off the priority list most of the time. I've had to learn life skills our family didn't cover; for me it always seemed easy to re-map every day all day, around others' needs. I don't think I can or wish to live that way from now on. I'll use my mind for other things!

So after having looked ahead last night, today I spent some time looking over the next few days to see what I'll need to flex, and this is what I found may work, which cued me to prep today for what will need to happen later as the rest of this week unfolds into next week:

Today: Garage, Patio, Scooter, No Dinner Out bcuz dinner out tmrw instead; garage/patio will be retrieving last wkshp items from car and seeing if it's warm enough to scooter out for milk and cash. If not, drive. Evening, ctd hse pickups, long shower, and set a bucket soaking.

Thu. AM TOC ofc, prepping for key Fri mtg, session, movie and poss supper w Judy, no extra sleep meds @bedtime bcuz mtg Friday.

Fri. No sleeping in; early shower/hair; 1pm Dayton mtg w Rep. Strahorn for the week's Explore/Fun (lv Newbie); bedtime Xtra meds.

Sat. Sleep in, Chore, Fun (take Newbie); chase down pool passes.
.

Without having done this, I'd have let a friend run me over with her steamroller, earlier, over plans we'd made-- she's been home sick too long but had really hit the ground running today, and had some timing ideas for our plans that I had to interrupt rather strongly.

Also because I'd done that thinking, I got to the store earlier than I might have, and actually got a scooter after a bit of a wait.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 11:19 AM

I cleared out a bunch of garden debris piled on the driveway ahead of last week's first frost. I have basil drying in the kitchen and was able to compress the wilted and drying leaves into a smaller area this morning. I have to pull the hoses and sprinklers out of the garden area then I'll run the mower over the top and level everything except the sweet potato vines so I know where to dig for those potatoes.

Thanksgiving is a week away. So far I've purchased a bag of Russet potatoes for the mashed potatoes, I have cranberries to make sauce, and I picked up flour for making crusts and rolls. Turkeys are on sale around town and I think I'll pick up a fresh one early next week, probably on my way home from a job interview (!).

We find that roasted root vegetables are much more satisfying than stuffing, so I'll find a variety to throw in that mix.

I spent time yesterday out in the cold re-attaching the MDF underside of the soffit in one area near the back door yesterday; the job isn't complete but I've made progress. The nails that were used to fasten it up pulled out and it's difficult to find the beams it was attached to. I've completed one plank and need to stud-finder to figure out how to re-attach the second section (it's sagging, not off, or I could see it all).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 16 Nov 18 - 09:07 PM

Due to the snow storm, I had today off. I have a great supervisor who appreciates how far I drive to work and she didn't want me on the road any more than I wanted myself on the roads! I slept in today, quite late for me actually as the night before was chaos. I had worked all day, picked up Jeremiah, got him ready for his first Cub Scout Award Ceremony, drove home only to find the power was out. Normally, Pete and I are just fine with this kind of situation as we have the wood stove to keep things somewhat warm but Jeremiah is thin and gets cold much more quickly than we do so I drove back into town and we stayed overnight at my mom's house. It was a much appreciated warm spot for the night but I rarely sleep well the first night away from home and that evening was no exception....so today, I was making up for lost sleep I think!

I spent time cleaning in the kitchen, cooked a ham in the crockpot to go with scalloped potatoes. I also had a previously roasted chicken in the fridge so I picked all the meat off the bones and set the meat aside to make chicken potpie (that will happen tomorrow). I boiled down the bones and made homemade chicken noodle soup (and grilled cheese) for dinner.
I also spent some time playing my ukulele today. I've been asked to play at a local holiday event so a little practice was in order. :)

I currently have 5 bags set to go to Goodwill tomorrow. YAY.

Maggie, I've been thinking about Thanksgiving as well. We will be spending the actual day with family but we are providing the turkey (among other things). We raised our own turkeys this year and are excited about that! :) I will also be making the cranberry sauce and a corn bake. My mom always makes her traditional German stuffing so she'll take care of that. She also makes the most incredible mashed potatoes...they are my favorite! Because she has very arthritic hands, I will be helping her peel all the potatoes for both the stuffing and the potatoes. It's funny....I can make the mashed potatoes the very same way that she does but hers always taste better....a mother's love I suppose! We used to make a huge dinner but these last few years, we are more about keeping it simple so no one spends ALL day in the kitchen either cooking or doing dishes. I'm sure we'll play some games afterwards....I'm looking forward to it!

I get more days off for Thanksgiving than for Christmas (Christmas is so hard for so many so our agency is closed only for Christmas Day and New Year's Day...no extra days). I'm looking forward to some extra time off next week. :) I have many plans......if I can some of them done, I will be most happy!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Nov 18 - 10:26 PM

I picked up a drill and impact driver set today to do the fence work. It was past time to get a big girl drill. The part of the fence I'm going to be working on will have pickets fastened with screws, not nails, and no way I'm doing it by hand. I was able to transport 30 cedar pickets (that smelled wonderful!) on a tarp in the SUV, along with vegetables and a few other things for Thanksgiving. Multi-tasking here!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 18 - 11:20 AM

Today is the day for painting clothes and gardening shoes as I tackle the fence at the front corner of the back yard and then move to the front yard vegetable garden (on the other side of the house) to dig around in last year's crops. I'll share sweet potatoes with the neighbor on that side if I have any, she's a regular recipient of my garden surplus. Neighbors on both sides get my attention today.

I picked up most of my list of perishables for next week; the weekend before Thanksgiving is like the night before Thanksgiving, a zoo in the parking lots and stores. Any more shopping can wait till midday Monday or Tuesday.

I continue to add items to my donation bin in the laundry room, and I'll probably drop the contents off on one of my trips out early next week. It's time to think about holiday decorations; I don't use as many as I once did, but this year, since I have a new dog who loves to take random objects (towels, rugs, plastic cups, etc.) through the dog door into the yard, I must consider what goes on the hearth in her reach or I'll end up with a back yard full of nutcracker soldiers. I'm not giving them up, I'll reassign them to higher posts. Promotions for all! :-)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 18 - 08:10 PM

All sides, tops, bottoms and faces of my fence pickets have been treated with the clear wood preservative for one panel on the corner I'm working on and laid out on a tarp drying.

The brackets are in place with the bottom cross member attached. Since the plank is 8' but the expanse is only about 7', the end was cut off and I'll use it to measure against the other two cross-members. The "good" side will go toward my yard on one side and toward the street facing the street. I have a couple of extra pickets for putting up across the intersections to conceal "seams."

I quit when the mosquitoes came out.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 09:54 AM

Beaver:
De-cluttering is mainly snow removal! About a foot came down - all Thurs night and all of Friday. Cleared path to wood pile and studio Friday eve and from car to road - about 20 feet - on Sat morning so I could get out. Then again when I got home - the snow plow had left a fair ridge; I could drive through it when soft but thought it the better part of valour to clear it before it froze. Sat was just above freezing but it went to about 17F last night.

So snow removal is added to the exercise regime. More cold = more wood being used and, hence carried in. This is unusual snow for this early; does not bode well! But Fri and Sat are predicted as high as 39F ---Slush, Tush, Mush!!!

No word from R! I am beginning to wish for a sign that I can go to Quebec WITH the house plants - directly to the new house. On a day that is above freezing. I am getting anxious to get on with the new life in a new community. However, I still have pottery to finish and I am cosy here.

Two boxes of pots packed to go to Quebec.

Oh. yeah! Snowing again!

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

OH:

All systems here cooking and supporting a surprise request for immediate turnaround on Big Bucks fundraising copy for one of the organizations I volunteer for which is lobbying for policing changes state by state-- assembling copy I'd already mostly written into a powerful "ask" aimed at deep pockets. With a 24 hour turnaround. I'm on break awaiting a key quote to drop in but will def finish by mid-evening.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 06:08 PM

First draft submitted. Of course I'd like it better with a week to improve it... but that's what my blog is for!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 08:47 PM

Draft of letter to editor submitted to the related organization. My ankles are like basketballs now

Did I mention that my pool pass came through ydy-- had hoped to start today, but have bag loaded for tmrw aftn.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 10:39 PM

Today turned quite cold, but I got out to put up one more cross-member for the fence and two more brackets removed from the existing fence, staggered along the length of it so it doesn't fall down before I get the new part up (though there is one section held in place with a wire as of today.) Those brackets will support some of the new cross-members (why buy new ones when all of the old ones are coming down soon?) My treated fence pickets are stacked and ready to go. Once I get going on putting up the pickets I'll be taking down a couple of more brackets to move across the last short span. It's probably 20 feet of fence but it's taking some planning to get it done.

My second office desktop is looking much better now, the fridge has been cleared some in preparation for Thursday, and I've cleared kitchen counter space. The dining table is still occupied by sewing and eBay projects, they'll need to be relocated. I was thinking about getting out one of the solid damask linen family table cloths but one of the friends who is coming for Thanksgiving is notorious for spilling. Decisions, decisions!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Nov 18 - 10:19 AM

Get out the linen, Stilly. If the dribbly friend doesn't do the job, somebody else will; when wine, gravy and cranberry sauce are on the table, the virginity of the tablecloth is measurable in minutes.

Thank goodness, we left Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror a month ago, so our digestions have time to recover before the Yuletide onslaught of goodies. Himself and I worked the church bazaar on Saturday, spending several hours in the presence of literally heaps of home baking. Oddly, I felt exactly zero interest in any of it; all I wanted was a cup of flipping tea! Even Anglican tea, typically strong enough to strip paint or the enamel off your teeth.

I can never get over the insatiable appetite of my dear neighbours for Santa-themed kitsch as the days shorten and the streets fill with snow. Much of it can best be described as butt-ugly, but that seems to be a feature, not a bug.

We have three weeks of Advent to get through before Himself starts nagging me about wreaths and ribbons. We will be on our own for Christmas dinner this year, so I hope to dodge the task of fitting a tree into the sitting room.

Is it too early for Bah, Humbug?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Nov 18 - 11:18 AM

SRS, I agree. Use the damask and treat w rainguard or the like. Have club soda on hand. Then enjoy your guests. Set a place for me if there's room-- Greg and I are apart for this one. Set one for Tamir Rice, too-- Txgiving's his death anniversary this year.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Nov 18 - 01:28 PM

OH:

Just finished clarifying how I can and cannot be reached, and what skills I'm making avail to the org I did the longer assignment for ydy. Clearly I passed some kind of test ydy, because now they want to give me not a full in-basket, but a planeload of additional projects..... I learned long ago how/when to say no.... this requires saying "maybe."

I do have a move to get busy on!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Nov 18 - 03:26 PM

Fastest annual physical EVER when your ob/gyn has two c-sections awaiting later in the morning. We're okay, usually we are able to talk longer, but the important questions were asked and answered. That gave me time to weave around town to various businesses and do my shopping before the rush after work or the day before Thanksgiving.

In the last two days I've learned about three different murders in my circle of acquaintances. Senseless, brutal, and heart-breaking. One was a professor I used to see at literature conferences and talk with via email discussion lists. Her husband was also killed. The third, not actually known to me, but closer to home, was the murder of a young man trying to protect his wife, a grocery store clerk at closing time. The robbers included a young woman who was a former employee. Not surprisingly, there were "bad vibes," as I was told by a clerk at the next nearest grocery in the chain. It closed earlier this year. Ironically, or well timed, a local radio interview program spent an hour today talking with Barry Glassner, who revised his 20-year-old book The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things. None of these people probably feared what happened to them as the most likely cause of injury or death.

Off that oddball soapbox.

To the dentist for my six-month cleaning, then back to the fence, hopefully to get more done before the mosquitoes come out. Because even now that the days are generally cold, if they warm up, the mosquitoes appear.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Nov 18 - 07:41 PM

:-0 !

OH:

Got signed up for Medicare Part B to take effect w Greg's 1/1/19 retirement-- whew!

Resumed aquatic PT today with 20 min assessment of all musculoskeletal systems and found which have been waking me up at night and need balancing or strengthening. New water resistant MP3 case worked. Just the right length of time/amount of force to start-- wanted more but am not too sore now for Monday evening's routine prep for tmrw's cleaner.

Which-- aaaaarrrggghhhh- I was just told will be Yet Another New One. YANO. I'm going to name each one Yano. Pronounced "Yeah.... no."

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Nov 18 - 12:21 PM

OH:

Today's Yano is a masters OT student, home for break, who won't be back. She's helping finish and refine the goof-proof customized chore list for this house, which future cleaners can use instead of my brain. It includes GF recipes and service dog vocab, as well as a brief review of my medical history and ortho situation.

Last week skipped a bunch of stuff were doing today.

~S~

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

The first side of the new fence is ready to assemble tomorrow, all cross-members are in place, and I can probably get the the second side as well (all three cross-members and the pickets). I'll have the full day for the project. The last panel of the fence will be changed soon but the one that is in place now is sufficient for the time being.

The first full week after the first weekend in December is our neighborhood's quarterly bulky waste pickup so I'll be moving the old fence that I take down out to the curb as it comes down. They don't want you to load things there until the weekend ahead, but tough. It's going as it comes down. I'll probably use a Sawzall and cut the panels into 3 or 4 pieces and take it out that way. No need to take all of the pickets off of the old cross pieces. Burying the Invisible Fence wire or tacking it onto the bottom of the new fence is a decision I'll make once the old fence is out of the way.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 12:29 PM

From Ohio, PA holiday planning (managing the holidays and moving).

Menu: turkey, scalloped cheesy spinach potatoes, roasted sweet tater cubes w honey, stovetop stuffing for Greg and cheesy arepas for me; cheesy corn and crunch casserole; green bean, bacon, mushroom, onion casserole; cherry tomatoes; fresh fruit; pies.

And glucose meter. ;-)


My thinking is that since we're apart for Txgiving, our last Christmas in the farmhouse should be
1, a big deal with items that can be
2, made in advance w
3, double ovens,
4, to prevent packing burnout.

Most recipes are oven rather than stove top, and I have some GF adaptations and simplification tricks up my sleeve as well.

I'm thinking quantities to carry over for our Dec. 27 anniversary and the following days.

I've asked Greg to do his signature made-in-advance turkey job, and the scalloped potatoes. Also a roast or two to eat down on freezer items; and/or maybe a big batch of italian sausage too.

The idea is: not much cooking in that last week before our fast departure, and cooked but frozen leftovers to take, if any.

Since romaine is now presumed contaminated, veggies are casserole style. We can always add cherry tomatoes.

I plan on doing the bulk of the cleanup; I'll need that standing time. As each glass pan is washed and dried, into an open packing box! (Ditto dinner plates, which will give way to paper at the end.)

I also plan on doing the shopping.

My thought is that rather than see this as his "orders" (his default setting), he might look forward to this plan for a boatload of comfort food from his loving wife, as we are apart Thursday. (I've sent him each recipe for pix and mouth-watering.)

Of course pies and cheesecake are always welcome! (He loves to bake.)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 09:26 PM

I'm sitting in my office chair with a bag of rice (the kind in a jersey bag you heat to put on aching muscles) between me and the chair back to soothe my aching ribs and back after a full day of fence work. But I finished! There is still a 9 foot expanse of old fence in place, but I'll replace it next month. For now, the new corner takes in the section that was left out when the neighbor built his new fence on the property line. My dogs won't get out and nothing will get in. I took down the first segment of the old fence just to get started, and already realized I need to go out with pliers to pull out staples holding my Invisible Fence wire on the base of the old fence. (See my Facebook or Instagram accounts, I posted a few photos this evening.) Tempting as it is to start hauling this to the curb now, I'll wait till December.

Lots of work tomorrow, six of us getting together. We don't eat till dinner time, so I'll brine the bird in the morning and be ready to bake it in mid-afternoon. There are lots of vegetables this year. Some roasted, others (like sweet potatoes) fixed with spice and marshmallows. Mashed potatoes. The usual.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 11:33 PM

Good job, SRS!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 07:19 PM

OH:

I hardly ate yesterday, feeling like I might be coming down with or-- better-- fighting off the tummy bug Judy recently had. I did get out for 10pm groceries last night and a new cheap aquatic earbud with ear hanger, most of which I left in the car til morning. Not hungry at all overnight, and slept 5 solid before pain awoke me, still not hungry.

Downloaded audiobooks-- several I had missed while waiting for another, and a piece of the Mabinogion (Welsh) by a favorite reader. I'm almost done with the Arsene Lupin book I'm in,

Later I hauled in more of the groceries, chairnapped, watched a movie with Greg via fone on our respective tablets, and hoped for 5pm turkey with Judy after going back to bed for 2 hours. Checked temp but no fever at 4 (anti-inflammatories mask it).

Woke w still no appetite so I begged off on our Bob Evans plans.

Warmed up w more tablet muder, and rechecked temp. It's official now-- I am registering a fever.

Chicken soup was calling me, so my Thanksgiving meal was 1/2 can of chicken & rice soup, with added oats and a small skinless chicken thigh. I hope for no dire digestive consequences. The second half of the can is in a covered bowl in the fridge. I bought a LOT of soups last night.

Looking back, I can see that yesterday morning's weird wakies were related-- felt drugged . Very weird.

It was during my pregnancy and young motherhood that I learned to do what you can, WHILE you can, when things start to get icky or overwhelming-- not to wait to "feel better." I'm SO GLAD I did that grocery run last night, and got so much stuff. Cuz now I just want to sleep.

The pork roast/chicken thigh crockpot I'd started when I brought in the vittles is done, and the meat in now out into plastic, with the crock of juice and the meats cooling in front of the countertop fan.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 12:29 AM

The dishwasher is crammed full and running, everything else was hand washed. Food is put away. Guests headed home with various parcels of food, and my daughter has a new roaster oven that she was happy to learn is hers. The friends at her house do a party for friends every year the day after Thanksgiving and she said the stove's oven is prime real estate, so they will probably use this tomorrow. This was the Nesco that I found for $15 at Goodwill - I have one almost the same that was about $70 new. One way to declutter!

That tall rectangular table that I found a few weeks ago and left in my kitchen was handy, a great place to stand and work. They agreed that things were more crowded, but it was in use much of the time we were preparing the meal.

Tomorrow is "Black Friday" and I'm not planning to go anywhere. Traffic police limit access to the busiest shopping areas, parking lots are zoos and only if you find a space as far away from the store as possible you might have a chance of finding it again and being able to drive away easily. A better strategy is to work on things around the house that need doing and shop during the week when everyone else is at work. The sales aren't worth the hazard of fender benders.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 07:13 AM

Beaver:

Going to minus 4F tonight! That is nippy! I added wood to the stove a couple times during the night last night, preferable to waking up cold. Means bringing in more wood - and de-cluttering the wood pile...

I had hoped to go to Quebec tomorrow with all the plants, directly to the new house BUT it will be below freezing tomorrow (not good for taking plants outdoors!) AND R still has not reached out to the owner to make arrangements. We were supposed to pay a month's rent on the 15th... It is complicated - by R & I not having the same priorities. BUT, since one of our fav groups of musicians is playing tomorrow night - their last performance as they change their priorities - I will go down anyway and stay until the next break in the snow falls. I will take Geri an agave wrapped in bubble wrap.

R says the Montreal house is fit now; he has been working on it for about a month and it is now ready for showing. There will be an open house on Sunday - and no snow predicted! Hopefully it will be sold to one of the anxious lookers. There have been 10, maybe more?, waiting to see it. An open house may bring out more. Hope...eternal!

Better news is that R et al have sold a property that has been trouble for years; much agony over getting it sorted out with various levels of government. So this is a big hurrah. A big de-clutter of R's overworked brain.

My wonderful "new" kiln quit yesterday, throwing a total monkey wrench into that planning. Larry came over this morning and showed me how to check fuses with a meter since it seems to be impossible to determine their condition by sight. Also how to open the fuse box for the "kiln room". The last pair of new fuses lasted 14 firings - firings are one of the few things I manage to record carefully. So, new fuses at the ready and new knowledge.

But the pots cannot come out until tomorrow; I will not get to see the new glazes and do one more firing (or two) accordingly until I return. I am trying to do a bunch according to friend Hannah's requests and have them for a family showing (hers). The family complained that they were not invited in October! I hope early next month will suffice.

I am wondering how much we will be moved by Christmas. While I tend to the "Bah humbug" attitude, there is a certain cheerfulness to the season which I am willing to accept - without all the trappings. I am certainly looking forward to moving the accumulated stuff from here to there. Oops! I just remembered that which I put in the van for storage! In this instance the snow is a great clutter as I will not be able to easily get to the mill carrying stuff (why I am not taking pots there to fire) so must wait until I can take it directly to the house. I hope for someone to plow the driveway there!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 02:36 PM

I don't have stuff stored in my SUV (no van, but sometimes the space would be handy) but I did leave the seats on the passenger side tucked down in cargo-hauling mode. Next week I'll be picking up more pieces (cross-members and pickets) to replace the last 9 feet of fence at the front of the house on the side where the neighbor put up the new fence. If I need to transport someone they can ride behind the driver's seat or in the middle seat in the second row.

There are still a few splinters I picked up this week, despite wearing gloves, that are slowly appearing and getting removed. I expect a few more as I move the old fence sections to the curb. Today is lovely, a high of 70, so I'll take a couple of hours this afternoon to start that work. I also need to mow down the rest of the garden—there wasn't much of a sweet potato crop to speak of so I can mow down the remaining vines that are sprinkled through tall grass and tomato plant remnants. Time to plant the regular potatoes.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 07:56 PM

My family was just too worn out to do Thanksgiving yesterday so we decided to have our Thanksgiving meal today. Yesterday was spent doing minimal cooking, lots of lollygagging, playing, napping, making music and basically doing whatever we felt like. Turns out that was exactly what we all needed!
This year, we raised our own turkeys, potatoes and squash for our Thanksgiving. We also had a corn casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, my Mom's traditional German stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes, walnut crusted pumpkin pie and apple pie. Everything was wonderful....best of all was the company we shared. :)

An extra bonus? My blood sugars stayed in range the entire time! I am using a Freestyle Libre sensor these days which makes it so very easy to check blood sugar levels. I change the sensor every 10 days (soon to be 14 days) and can use a reader to scan my levels every 15 seconds if I want. I prefer this to sticking my fingertips 5 times a day and would recommend it to anyone!

I have several days off which makes this the longest holiday break I will get all year (although I do take 10+ consecutive days off during the summer). So far, I am enjoying it immensely. We will prepare the house for Christmas decorating (which means a good cleaning/scrub down) before actually doing any decorating. All Christmas gear will be brought down from the shed too as hunting season is about to be upon us....we try to limit outside time during deer season). In addition, I'm headed for a mammogram which I HATE but know is important to do. It's not painful for me but kicks up some cancer dust...ick.

I imagine I will be doing some cleaning in my sewing room over break as I rarely have the time or energy to do that.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody.
(Great job on the fence Maggie!!)

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 10:13 AM

Everything is prepared to start taking down the fence, after pulling staples yesterday so the Invisible Fence wire is free of the planks. There was one post with a rather complicated number of wood pieces attached because it was where a jog in the fence was held together. That was unscrewed where possible and pry-barred where not and now the pieces are either in the stack of long planks or in the trash for smaller abutting pieces. If I'm smart at the end of all of this I'll borrow one of those heavy magnets on a pole and go over the area to round up nails and staples shed in the process. And I should wear my work boots, not sneakers.

It's nice to have cleared surfaces after the holiday meal. Packed up craft projects are crying out to me from their various storage places. "Liberate us! Let us spread out on that dining table!" There is a TV with a Bluray player attached (that streams NetFlix) next to the dining table, in place to serve as the background to sewing and more. I found a double-stack plastic lazy Susan to load up with small sewing supplies that can be transported between my craft room and my dining room table. Small slots for thread and bobbins, and all of those little things that need a place to live so they don't get lost. Snipping scissors, seam ripper, tailor's chalk, bodkin, etc. I've gone through a series of trials of ways to keep those items in view yet prevent their falling off the table or getting behind things. Silverware trays also work.

Thanks for keeping an eye on the Keith thread, Susan. It has been updated. Alas, Mudcat has been decluttered on long-time member.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 03:10 PM

Four of nine panels that need to come down now are cut up and stacked ready to be hauled to the curb for bulky waste. I'll wait till after payday to buy the next cross-members and pickets for the final panel that needs to be changed out, and that one will also head down to the curb. I came in for a little cool-down and a bit of chocolate as a reward.

There's no graceful way to do this when I had to take out so many of the brackets to reuse them in the new part of the fence. Another part of the old fence I'm going to reuse are the hefty cedar boards that were hammered along the bottom of the fence to keep the bottom from rotting. A couple of them can be reused in short stretches of my new fence, but most of them will go out front and be used to hold up one side of the raised beds where those planks are about completely rotted. Reuse, reduce, recycle! I'm able to pry them off the bottom of the panels before I cut them up to take them down (and I can carry a panel by myself when it's in 3 or 4 sections).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 01:07 PM

I got all of it but a small section where I need to do more work and add a picket to keep there from being a gap across a space where a concrete wall was put up for flood control. It extended to the old fence and included a drainage hole. I suppose I could put a piece of hardware cloth over that, but nothing in my yard is small enough to fit through that 3" hole.

The new fence is a bright light cedar color so not only is the yard looking larger, that bright fence gives it an entirely different look. A friend recommended using a "farm jack" to take out the old posts. Here's a YouTube video of one in use. He offered to help and has a farm jack, so I may do that one of these days, maybe after the next soaking rain to loosen the soil some. I think this will add up to a morning of yanking out concrete-footed fence posts and I'll take him out to lunch.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 11:47 AM

I tossed a 5' section of the bottom boards that I'm planning to reuse over the fence and on the other side I screwed it into place at the base of the new part of my corner fence. This deals with the gap between the bottom of the wood fence and the ground (I built my fence extension so the top was level with the rest of the fence along that line).

Turkey stock is made and today I'm going to be busy in the kitchen, making a turkey pot pie stew then freezing the extra stock, and beginning to bake holiday breads (banana nut now, and some pumpkin and sweet potato later on).

There were quite a few small pieces of wood that broke or fell off of the fence as I took it apart, and they're all in the trash at the curb today since they don't take up much space. There are a lot of nails in those things so I don't want them in the yard where the dogs or people can tangle with them.

Time to dig through the closet to see if I have enough working strings of lights to put up on the juniper at the corner of the yard. Today is clear and sunny but cool, the next couple of days will be as warm as in the 70s, so I'll find the lights and prepare to put them up. I don't usually turn them on till Dec. 1, but it's a great idea to put them up on a warm day versus a really cold day. :) The nice thing about retirement is that I don't have to do it in the dark after work or on a cold weekend day.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 02:15 PM

OH:

As I plan out the next few weeks, which are prep to return for the final weeks at the parish, I'm thinking how to be sure to hold my space/schedule when a 2nd person is added here 24/7. It went well during vacay and I'm looking forward to building on thar base.

It's a struggle for me to keep my own wellbeing central, and this is a great time to fall in love all over again-- without the constant demand to put 300+ other people first which defines ministry. Greg's skills in that department outshine mine (he had much longer practice). I think I have a better shot now at keeping my own balance in this simpler house surrounded by actual fun things to do.

So one thing I did was adding into my personal schedule those evening things that I've been doing, and looking forward to doing as a couple. It will help keep my rhythm focused outside the house.

We never dated when we met-- instead we worked together in each other's spheres of leadership. It was only after the kids moved out 4 years later that we started date nights and for a long time we both sucked at date planning! Neither of us are spontaneous Funmeisters, but eventually we learned how to find fun and of course how to make our own fun. This area we're retiring to is LOADED with cheap date options. So I plugged in time for those, and we won't just end up couch-potatoing.

It's structure, not rules. It allows for a lot of flexing.

I'm also getting set for these next 2 last week's of agency help before I go. It may change considerably in 2019, and so I'm thinking ahead on using the time and help well, including closing the house for a month and loading the car.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 11:23 PM

Montreal:

R did an incredible job of de-cluttering the house! Such a great job there is very little essential stuff in the K! But the open house was Sunday and now he is finding and returning some essentials - so I can cook meals! The house looks SO nice.

I cannot help being annoyed that I lived in a mess for 8 years. My ultimatum is that I will not abide excess stuff coming into the new house; I will go to Beaver. Period. End of story. I cannot live like that again. Powerless, and my need for an uncluttered house totally disregarded. He admitted, today, to being a hoarder.

Six couples viewed it and another viewing on Weds; waiting with almost bated breath for an offer. I have recovered from the drive and the busy weekend and now we are in for a couple snow days. I can probably drive back to Beaver on Thursday or Saturday.

I rather envy SRS the fence project! Such a terrific sense of accomplishment. And the 70F weather!!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 09:34 AM

Dorothy, what are the early warning signs that will be your line not to cross? For example, my "oops I've backslid" has been laundry: I know all my habits are out of rational living when all my dirty laundry hampers are full and overflowing into walkspace. Hubby know if he sees that happening that it's time to talk; by now I self-monitor.

So since hoarding is a slippery slope, how will you know your lin has been crossed?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 01:51 PM

There are really schlocky "Hallmark-style" movies that come on a few channels every year between Thanksgiving and xmas, and there are channels that play the old holiday classics, and I always go for the latter. I made a batch of turkey pot pie filling last night and then made a 2.5x batch of banana nut bread (baked it in seven small loaf pans) while watching The Bishop's Wife (the Cary Grant version) and Hans Christian Anderson. Not exactly a holiday film, but I'd forgotten how totally delightful it is. Not particularly autobiographical, but lots of good songs and wonderful dancing.

I can happily eat that turkey pie with broken up gluten free crackers on top. Yes, there is a little flour in the sauce to make the gravy, but it doesn't add up to very much per serving. My family was so relieved when I made regular yeast rolls for Thanksgiving they gobbled them up - they're tired of my gluten free experiments (though these crackers I used are very good and I've eaten these over the years without the gluten-free incentive at work.)

Fitness rarely gets mentioned here these days, but I have to start walking more. I have a number of gym options to look into and I'll ask around (again) and see who in my circle of local friends goes - I'd like to have the company if possible, with a chance to visit. This morning I spent a few minutes walking the length of the back yard - it's good sized and a few circuits adds up to the distance I used to walk from the parking lot at work. At least that was far enough to show up on the fitness tracker, as did this morning's experiment. While I was at it the two younger dogs convinced me they needed to fetch their bumpers for a while. They love that game and now we've figured it out so they don't compete with each other.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 05:46 PM

I was going to make wall paper out of 60 years of famous front pages of newspapers, like MAN LANDS ON MOON ect.

Its another thing I'm not going to do. Maybe they would look good on an old van or coffee tables. naw
Anyone want them?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 06:41 PM

Sell them on eBay. Offer them on Freecycle.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 07:51 PM

Au contraire, SRS, I mentioned my return to aquatics in my  19 Nov 18 - 07:41 PM post.

I've upped that restart to an hour of pool work 3x/week and hope to continue that in PA for the month I'll be there (negotiating pool passes). The new Y here will open a week or two after my return, 2 blocks away.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 12:06 PM

Ah, yes. And Dorothy is always moving and lifting stuff as she works on her houses. I haven't mentioned it much (though there was a good workout on the fence last Saturday).

As is usually the case when a resource sits in view for a while, I've been thinking about these fence pickets stacked against the garage. They will go to the trash in two weeks - or? I looked through Pinterest and found a number of useful applications if I got around to them. The most practical is to build raised beds in the garden with the slats as the sides. Then there are the rustic shelves . . . wheels will turn until I get tired of looking at these or take them to the trash.*

*This is how hoarding can happen.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 02:52 PM

(* Just my thought)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 04:32 PM

OH:

Greg had added some shelf supports per my request and today I let Lowe's cut what I'd normally have saber-sawed. I added the new shelves in my reachest, hoping yesterday's tall Yano come back next week to complete the closet re-organization.

As I always do when I reorganize, I set aside a small Goodwill-bag of mismatched/no longer needed items.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Nov 18 - 09:23 PM

Every year I put holiday lights up in a couple of places in the front of the house; the juniper at the corner near the driveway is now complete and lit with a dusk-to-dawn plug, and in the process I identified a string that probably needs to go in the trash. I need to weed out the non-LED lights, some of them are pretty old. I'll put another set up on the front porch tomorrow. I'm doing this now because it's warm out - too often in the past I waited until the weather was cold and suffered through the process. Next door has their lights up also, so our end out the block is making an early holiday statement. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Nov 18 - 05:56 PM

I have given up pretending that I will walk enough around town to make a dent in my fitness needs, so now I just glumly go to the gym and rack up five miles' worth of treadmill time, five days per week. Now that winter is here and getting around on foot is less safe than I like, it's by far the best way to get the job done. I just feel kinda silly, driving to the gym and then walking on a treadmill for an hour and a half.

I also work out with weights twice a week. I am particularly pleased with my squat skills, and the gym has plenty of push-me-pull-you equipment, but arthritis in my hands limits what I can do with free weights. Stratford has lots of aging gym rats, so I don't feel weird or out of place; at mid-morning, when I go, everybody has grey hair but me and the staff.

On the household front, I find I've become a bit fierce about not accumulating stuff we won't use. I just gave Himself a hard time for visiting our local kitchen-porn shop in search of a little metal ring doohickey for making crumpets at home -- as if the bakeries don't have to make a living! I'm pretty sure we should not be eating crumpets on a regular basis anyway. But I also remember the messy chaos that ensued when I tried to make pita bread at home, despite the fact that Lebanese bakeries were to be found all over the place, each offering professionally perfect pita for a couple of bucks.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Nov 18 - 08:38 PM

Charmion, I will join you at the gym in spirit - I think taking the phone with earbuds and an audio book to the treadmill will augment yard work and dog walking. I've tried to catch a friend's eye online about going together to the gym she frequents, but I haven't heard back so far. Even if we went only a couple of times a month it would be a chance to catch up and then run errands over there (near campus).

Also agree about the bread or crumpets. I make very good bread and rolls, and I know how to make tortillas and flatbread, but there is a Middle Eastern bakery near campus where I can get pita or tandoori bread warm out of the ovens and up the street near my house is a tortilla bakery with them still hot when you pick them up. Last time I had friends over for lunch with cut a large tandoori bread into quarters and everyone assembled their own pizzas. Once baked, they cut in half again and became a perfect personal serving and the crust was so crispy. I've made pizza crust all my life, but that is just so easy and is excellent quality flatbread.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Nov 18 - 11:16 AM

Ah, yes; I remember gym time before audiobooks, and it was boring. Things are better now.

I have three new history books to work through, beginning with "White Trash: The Untold 400-Year History of Class in America". I'm well into it now, and I have to confess I'm not learning anything new; exposure to the US Army in Germany gave me a chance to see the American class system in action, and it wasn't pretty.

I like pita pizza, too. In fact, I like it so much I have to be careful not to think about it too often!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Dec 18 - 10:37 AM

Tyler is on the loose again.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Dec 18 - 11:45 AM

You have your locks in place and no possessions of his remain in the house, hopefully he'll have a kernel of sense and stay away. Will the dog bark at him?

Lovely rain overnight cleared out today leaving blue skies and it smells wonderful. I have running around to do, and have been here long enough I know the routes that avoid the traffic headed toward the area malls.

Virginia Tam doesn't drop in these days, but I've been watching progress on a house remodel she has going on and it's finally advancing. I'm hoping Dorothy will Facebook a photo or three of the new house and yard once she's to that point.

After I finish my current cuppa tea I'm going to take some photos for eBay sales, things that go best this time of year, before heading out to run a few errands. I dropped a bunch of stuff at the village recycle bin and have cleared space in the sunroom for the eBay work. There's even room (at least for a few minutes) to sit on the bench next to the door.

I need to head to the gym to start a routine there. I suppose I ought to have a bag of dance clothes packed and ready to use. Yoga pants and a t-shirt.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Dec 18 - 12:14 PM

SRS, the house will be empty for a month. Alarms and neighbors set. Will also set police patrols. One tweak needed-- ask emerg contact Judy to send Brandon if needed. Brandon can board up windows if one is broken-- it's the garage that's most vulnerable that way. (The house windows are break-proof.)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 01 Dec 18 - 07:42 PM

OH:

Departure setup is tweaked. Also since mail can only be held for 30 days, I've arranged with our supersweet neighbor Jessica to grab mail if we're delayed past the 30 days.

I spent some very relaxing time today going back thru the FB album where I photo-inventoried the artwork for the house, with measurements. Among the best things I ever did.

I had to let all that go in May when I came home to the nightmare, and I've been feeling SO GUILTY-- doing that was part of why I was here! I have only unpacked a very few boxes of art/decor.

So I looked thru the album for a winter scene I thought would go well with the holiday decor I'd just finished putting up. As I went, my brain got excited about where each item should go, so I put those notes into the album. And as I went, I had a GREAT and totally simple idea that solves another problem worrying me!

So now I'm excited to have a great and easy project to do with my honey! My goal had been to complete wall decor before we jam in more furniture blocking wall access. And that will still be possible, because more furniture isn't coming till March!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Dec 18 - 03:02 AM

I finished a late night getting things listed on eBay for holiday sales. There's plenty more work to do, things to list, but making the big push and organizing myself (eBay keeps changing screens, rules, etc. so returning is always a bit of a shock).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Dec 18 - 06:13 AM

OH:

Departure week has landed a bit differently this time. Hard to describe, but must have to do with my more orhanized/busier schedule. Three full days and a morning, for the best day/time of travel. It's also different in that I have a set deadline I can't flex-- Greg's retirement dinner. There is one flex day if something precludes departure Weds. by noon. Later than that would involve rush hours so wearing that early Thursday would be safer.

Btw, why don't dogs or cats ever have insomnia?

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Dec 18 - 12:04 PM

Heading out to several appointments and meetings later this week, and soon I'm heading to the gym to get started there. Meanwhile, I have a week until bulky waste to decide if there is a use for any of these fence pickets.

The fridge contents have been drawn down after the holiday and the compost bins beside the driveway door are filling so need transport to the back of the backyard heap. It's also time to finish mowing down the garden and think about putting in a few raised beds with the extra fence boards.

I printed out a "12 days of xmas cleaning" sheet that LilyFestre put up on Facebook. In order for that plan to be effective I need to start around Dec. 12, and then wrap up the last day or two of it after the actual event. Except I'm not sure when we'll get together because the most distant child works through the holidays and will fly down sometime around New Year's Day or later. At least I'll be ready by the 23rd and try to maintain some order until our family cooking and gift-giving.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Dec 18 - 06:42 PM

OH:

Tall Yano Dasia has been assigned until her school sked changes and I'm excited that she's returning tmrw, because a small amp we want to leave for the parish is up higher than I can safely reach, here.

It's also the first time I've been able to look forward to help loading the car. I've HAD limited help, but never knew far enough in advance to plan ahead. I usually find myself scrambling in departure day, plus having several heavy, last-minute bags to load alone. This time, I've done all the parts I can do on my own, today-- and am prepped for her to help with the rest. This time, I will actually be able to walk out the back door with JUST one purse. Even the dog will load herself, due to the number of small changes I've been making here.

So I hope to hit the road before noon Wednesday. I'll load Newbie and purse, drive from the garage to the front door, set the locks and alarm, and painlessly GO.

Since I'm fighting off a bug, I've packed an outfit for that retirement dinner in case necessary stops delay me, AND have arranged with a friend to fetch me-- from a PA motel I'm sure I can get to-- if I'm too sick/medicated to drive.

I also picked out a different motel instead of our usual, with a pool to stretch out in after the crampy drive. I'll skip that entirely in favor of getting to PA by Thursday afternoon if I can safely, but with so many variables in play, I built in more options than usual.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Dec 18 - 07:30 PM

Our current weather front (dry and cold) is lingering, inspiring preparation this afternoon of a batch of turkey soup with the stock and some of the leftover bird (from the freezer). That turkey and rice soup is wonderful.

eBay listings are moving forward, and for now each item listed leads with an image adorned with a wrapping-style bow included in the shot. If they don't sell in the next few weeks the sales will be revised to remove the holiday gift suggestion. There were extra boxes and packing material in here that are now back in the garage so I can move around and arrange the prepared sale items. I photograph, describe (use an html editor instead of a Word document), and pack items before listing them, so all I have to do is print the label and hand them over to my mail carrier or at the post office once they're purchased.

When I put up the outdoor lights this year I found some new boxed holiday lights that I'd forgotten I purchased last year. I just realized I probably bought them to replace the string that used to run up and down the lines of macrame on a basket I use every year. The old string of lights died last year. I have a bunch of stuff to take to the e-waste recycle bin next time I'm on campus, including old holiday lights, a dead monitor, and a printer cartridge. I'll look like a bag lady toting all of that into the library, but that bin is still the easiest place to deposit this stuff if I don't want to send it to the dump.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 07:35 AM

OH:

I've mislaid my credit card pouch, as I discovered at wakies when I reached for it, to add my Visa gas card to my fone case. My license is already safely in my fone case, but my Visa is still in the pouch. I'm betting it's under the bed where its color makes it invisible, but I can do cash for gas if need be. It is definitely in the house. Dasia will be able to look under that area where I'm sure it was left. Nothing else in there is urgent. (The AAA card number is in my fone and I have the Visa number in a safe place.)

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 10:56 AM

Major declutter this morning, of the visual sort: I did the one-two task of mopping and scrub-brushing along the dog footprint path across my living room from the dog door to the front room. The porcelain tile is imprinted with a pattern that collects tracked in soil so after going over the spot with the sponge mop I have to scour it with the stiff scrub brush. I waited until we were clear of the cycle of several very rainy weeks; no point in having to repeat it daily or weekly. I didn't do the entire room, just that set of tiles across the room, as a start to holiday cleaning. I will mop the entire floor (have to move furniture first to do the job properly) and the rug under the dining table is like a huge unwashed dog bed. Yeah. I vacuum and it gives off dog dust; I'll use the steam cleaner on it before guests are here for the holidays, but I should really consider getting rid of it. The thing is, the antique table sits on a bunch of little metal castors and rocks when in use if it isn't on the rug. I should probably take off all of those castors to solve that problem, but there are times when they're handy. They're meant for the occasional use, to move for cleaning, not for transporting the table all over the place.

Years ago when we moved to North Texas our moving truck was at the curb and the distance of 100 feet or more seemed a challenge to the casual labor hired to unload (and cherry pick boxes they must have set aside and didn't deliver - note to self - never actually say what is in boxes if it is valuable). I had a toddler on my hands and couldn't adequately supervise but every so often I'd see some piece of antique furniture being pushed up the concrete on it's castors. "Pick it up and carry it, those wheels aren't meant for concrete!" They must have thought I was a real bitch, but they were lazy bums. In the end lots of furniture was damaged a few steps from the front door by those galoots. The moving company had some furniture restorers come fix things and they confirmed my view - those wheels aren't meant for travel, they're on there so the (most likely) woman of the house could shift furniture while sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, etc. That was the design.

rant off/ (I still get pissed about that move, and how unresponsive the company was about it.)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 01:09 PM

OH:

Card pouch found. House organized for a soft landing on our return. Car so loaded that I might leave at 4am if I can't sleep. Garage ready to park the van inside. Heading out in a bit for gas and oil.

Dasia is a miracle.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 04:41 PM

Have a safely interesting and healthy drive, S.

Small yard tasks accomplished today: though the soil in the front is like un-worked clay (or whatever Dorothy would call the state of the stuff that has to be kneaded before it's usable), I used a small mattock and dug up several bucket's full of the misplaced soil (from last year's sewer work) and dumped it into the most recent excavation area next to the faucet after the water leak repair. There is a lot more to do but that one spot particularly bugged me. I had dead plants out there that never go into the backyard compost (datura and dogs don't mix) so I cut the dry limbs into a grocery bag for the trash. And while I was at it I cut down the now-dead asparagus in the corner. That can go to the compost. And the thing on my list that I forgot last month, two large spineless prickly pear cactus segments are going to my hairdresser tomorrow. Good thing cactus keeps. It was sitting on the side of the driveway catching dry leaves as they drift through the yard.

Is everyone else snowed in at this point? I'm not asking to gloat - I enjoy occasional snow and get it rarely.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 05:19 PM

Thx, SRS.

OH, no snow and PA snow melted, I believe.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 06:30 PM

Perth County, Ontario, has endured two weeks of rain that washed away the snow and filled the air with mold again (*sneeze*). Today we had bright sunshine and deceptive warmth, but the forecast calls for snow.

Himself was gazing out at the dead leaves lying on our exposed lawn and mused that maybe he should get busy and rake them up. "Why?" said I, "do you lack boring work?" I suggested that he sit down and read until the feeling went away. It did not take long.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Dec 18 - 08:19 AM

Beaver:

Montreal also had that rain and there was very little snow when I left this morning. Bancroft, however...!! The house was 38F. Outdoor temp -10C at 5 pm today. A foot or more of snow on the deck that I was not up to moving so I could get to the studio - which was 58F! as the house is now, at 9 pm. Guess I need to put more logs in the stove. The plants in the bathroom are happy and some are back to their regular spots. I suspect those in the studio will be desperately thirsty.

SRS: that fence project seems like major exercise - stretching and bending, and more!

My exercise in Montreal consisted mainly of going up and down the stairs many times a day - unaccustomed! But the new house has stairs so it is good to know I can do it. I spent 3 hours walking around a mall yesterday. When I finally found a blouse I almost liked, it was so poorly made, I just quit. Realized that in 3 hours I could make one out of good fabric in a style I like - if I can just find the pattern!

The trip to mall was mainly something to do rather than sit in the house reading or watching TV. It was too wet to go outside much.   

So goals for this week: choose some fabrics from my collection and pack up machine and necessary sewing stuffs, try to find box of patterns, failing that -take the blouse I fancy to Montreal and try the pattern books again. The "new" K table there is suitable for cutting. I have no such space here.

Here, I have a few pots to make and firings to do. And a decision to make re taking clay to mill, or not.   

I left R much good cooked food in frig and some nice cheeses. Planning to go back, with plants next Weds or Thurs when the weather is only just below freezing. I will box them and warm car before putting them in, then take them to the mill and put heat on in sunroom for them. This musical house business sure makes life complicated. I hope it is soon over. The "new" house will enable us to stop using the mill as an overnight, a nice de-clutter! I will continue to use the studio down there but it is only about 45 minutes away rather than 90.

As for knowing when the hoarding is starting to take over: when there is ANYTHING entering that does not have a designated spot! No boxes taking root in Kitchen, no bags of books that cannot be immediately shelved, no tools in the K or any place other than the tool room/cellar/garage... NO excuses. I literally cannot cope with it and I believe R has finally heard me. The "new" house is much too lovely to be treated like that.

As for pics: I'll work on it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Dec 18 - 10:06 AM

I have house rules for keeping down clutter. Here they are:

1. No stacks of books on the floor. If we don't have shelf space for it, we can't keep it.

2. One filing cabinet. If a document cannot find a place in the four-drawer legal-size filing cabinet in the study, dispose of it appropriately (burn, shred or recycle), or dispose of old papers until it does.

3. Acquire no household item, whether it is furniture, clothing, china, glassware, tools, or cooking equipment, that increases the contents of the house. Anything that comes in the door must be something we have an immediate use for and space to store.

4. Dispose of all unwanted items quickly: to the church bazaar (annual, for good stuff), or the Goodwill, if serviceable; or to the trash if not. Harden the heart and make it go away.

5. Don't have "collections" -- stuff accumulated just because it's an example of a certain kind of stuff. The house is a home, not a museum.

These are iron rules that give rise to angst and argument, but on the whole even Himself the merry shopper accepts that we have to live by them. We both have enough experience with packrat friends and relatives to know that the slippery slope to household chaos begins with stepping over or around that thing we can't quite deal with right now and somehow never get around to.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Dec 18 - 11:15 AM

"The house is not a museum" is the mantra I've used for years as I research and sell things on eBay. I let the experience with the item be educational but rarely do I decide I need to keep it after the research. The one recent exception to not bringing in new furniture is that tall table in the kitchen. It landed there and seems to be a perfect fit and it gets used daily, mostly as a staging area for projects.

I've avoided stairs for a while since my knee was pronounced arthritic, but this just isn't going to fly. There are too many things I want to do that the knee will just have to accommodate. The next visit to the knee guy is next week and I will initiate the three shot sequence to see if I can't resume more of my activities, including dance. The single steroid shot isn't up to the task.

I have running around to do today but find that some businesses might be closed due to the Bush 41 funeral and national day of mourning.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Dec 18 - 06:26 PM

Beaver:

LOVE your list, Charmion! I shall share it with R. However, he seems to strongly believe in having his home be a museum. The problem from the time we moved to the M house has been: no room for real furniture because of the butter churn, coal stove, water pump - now topped by a colourful parrot, antique sewing machine cabinet without machine...... All in the not very large LR. Still! My useful antique desk has been moved to another building to make room! I am promised space for it in "new" house.

Today has been a recovery day: car to mechanic; will return tomorrow for muffler; visit with friends, attempts to de-clutter deck of ice and snow, managed to get into studio and water plants, picked two tomatoes and a small pepper!, only managed to extricate two chunks of wood from under tarp which is frozen to deck. Tomorrow: buckets of hot water will be necessary! The temp only got up to 0C/32F. Did a load of laundry, drying in house- humidity! Did banking on line and cleared emails. Still need to find calendar and enter important info.

Thinking of son on 59th b-day - on Whidbey with his daughters and 3 grands visiting for his, and his wife's on 10th! Maybe I will phone.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Dec 18 - 08:57 PM

For for knowing when the hoarding is starting to take over: when there is ANYTHING entering that does not have a designated spot!

Yay! You know where your line is!!!
.

PA:

NEVER DOING THIS DRIVE ALONE AGAIN.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 02:04 AM

Staggering around with a sinus headache today, but this evening I finished another eBay listing. A pretty leather handbag that I just never use any more.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 09:52 AM

Those sinus afflictions are very debilitating, aren't they, Stilly? When I'm hit with one, I feel as if I have taken leave of the top twenty percent of my IQ and the best part of my personality.

Susan, I know what you mean about those long drives. The last time I did the Ottawa-Stratford haul -- all day on the autoroute, doing top speed in the circus parade of 18-wheelers -- I came home safe but exhausted, rattled, and determined never to do it on my own again. It was the effort of keeping my attention focussed all day, not missing the slightest thing for fear of my life, with no one to talk to, hand me peppermints, and take the lid off the water bottle.

On the fitness front, I have been using my new fat-detecting FitBit scale for two weeks now, and in that time I have apparently lost exactly one pound but knocked two points off my body-fat percentage. I'm not sure I believe it, but any motivation will do as long as it keeps me going forward.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 06:56 PM

Beaver:

Crisis of frozen tarp on wood pile is solved by dear Michael stopping by and applying brute force to the ice. My right arm would have quit, or been very painful and useless, had I used it that way. Now I can access wood and have filled the indoor spots for now. Will be careful to place tarp in such a way that this does not happen again! I was hoping for a thaw but not going to happen; going as low as minus 22C at night soon. It was already minus 10C at 4:15 as the sun had sunk behind the hill. BUT, we did have sun All day!!!

Other than that, I have accomplished very little as the wood problem caused me to feel old and useless and rather discouraged. Tomorrow will be better. We do need to get propane heat into this house before next winter. Major de-clutter of work, but also wallet!!

No word on progress in Montreal.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 04:59 AM

Charmion! You DO understand!!! Right down to the peppermints!!!

PA:

My body swears it's still in PA but the upside of that is that it's insisting delightfully that I keep my routine and schedule! That is HUGE.

AFAIK MMario is attending the Retirement Shindig (his term) tonight, and possibly staying over with us. It's been years, but the Ohio house is 20 minutes from a RenFaire.... so maybe now that our weekends will be our own....

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 11:00 AM

A Mudcat Secret Santa story: Years ago MMario was who I was sending to, and my children collaborated with me on a gift, a homemade lap comforter and they decided the back side of it should be corduroy, with the top side flannel. I think they decided the much-washed corduroy is as soft as flannel. So we went with it, and since he does all of those fairs, it was supposed to travel. I wonder if it has worked out that way?

We've had rain for several days now, and the house is generally chilly. Time to distribute the lap comforters around to various seating and work areas. [done]

Sinuses still revolting at the weather change. Time for the neti pot.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 11:33 AM

SRS, I'll try to remember to inquire. I can easily do it quite casually from an update on flannel travel towels and Greg's flannel liturgical stole. Because.... flannel is yummy anywhere!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 12:50 PM

From Remembrance Day to Easter, I live in flannel shirts from LL Bean, and flannel-lined jeans. I often wonder what my mother would say if she could see me now, as my wardrobe looks very like what my brothers wore when we were children. Flannel keeps my fragile skin from going completely nuts in the sere cold of winter.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 10:03 PM

Several more boxes ready and listed on eBay, and a batch of holiday cookies stored in a decorative can. There will be more, after I buy a new bottle of vanilla. I managed to save the spritz by adding almond to the mix, but the vanilla seems to have lost potency (it was a brand I've never seen before) and I tossed the rest.

It's a moist cold day and the insulating curtains are drawn for now. They really do help. The sun room doesn't have them, but the north side of the house does, and that's where they're most needed. Towels on the floor again in front of the dog door to slow the spread of mud.

I've listed things today that would be good gifts. Tomorrow, other stuff, mostly because it's now in the way of my work space.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Dec 18 - 11:37 AM

I have decided that today I need to (once again) clear off the second workspace in my office. And possibly rearrange some of the books I leave there. Instead of pulling out a notebook I use almost daily from a shelf with some things in front of it, give it it's own place in the clear. But not blocking other stuff.

Rain is over, weather is warming. Hurrah!

I hope the party went well, Susan.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Dec 18 - 02:27 PM

Beaver:

Snowed a couple inches yesterday but light and easy to remove. Afternoon sun seemed to loosen some of the frozen snow and I was able to clear a good amount of the tarp to get to the next row of wood. this makes me feel less concerned as I brought in a good amount of wood. Today I cleared a bit more ice on walkway to make trip to studio less challenging.

Two potted tomato plants are doing better in the bow window of the studio than they did all summer outside! They are being well watered and fertilized.

R has delayed house purchase to mid January. Conundrum: stay here and keep plants watered; or go back and forth again? Renew books due in Montreal on 18th? Hope R can come here for a few days at Christmas? He needs to be showing house...

Material goods are not the only clutter in our lives! failing to do things in a timely manner, having far too many things to do may be more serious clutter. I have been looking forward to being settled in the "new" house and was hoping to have the plants into their new home before hard winter. Not being able to do so feels like a major clutter; need to change mindset. Hans Selye said, It is not the stress that hurts us; it is how we handle it/respond to it.

OK: I am tired of driving back and forth (that makes three of us!)so I shall stay here. It is less complicated and more energy efficient. And when there is an above freezing day (14th) I may be able to de-clutter the back deck so I can get pottery safely to the kiln room and, hence, de-clutter the studio.

Threw four large bowls this morning in hopes of one for Joanne/pies; I do have a serious problem about not producing as promised. Hope one will be perfect! My first really good day since arrival. It took a toll on shoulder so resting and hoping to go out later to throw promised mugs for Mary. Ah! but she will not get them until January! Oh well. She can sell them in the new year.

R has agreed (today) to try to get here for Christmas as I told him I don't want to make another trip before then; I want to be here for the community Christmas Dinner (24th) to see "Everybody". And a potluck with special folks on 22nd. He just left a voice mail that he made it up a hill in the Laurentians - the scariest hill - in winter - that I have ever experienced; I refuse to go there ever again, in winter! Now, to hear that he made it down safely!!

In the meantime, he is still trying to sell the house in M. And misting the wee orchid I left there for TLC. He will have to bring it here when he comes - our pet orchid! Talk about clutter! I suggested he think of it as a baby raccoon. At least it doesn't climb the bookshelves! Maybe some day it will bloom for us!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Dec 18 - 07:01 PM

Makes me tired just reading all of that, Dorothy!

I started carrying limbs from last summer's tree trimming out to the curb. I missed the last bulky waste, I don't remember why (probably weather). They won't pick it up tomorrow but they'll note that there is stuff to be picked up, so I can drag more limbs out tomorrow. Today I started on the small stuff, tomorrow I'll take the bow saw out and cut the too-long pieces into the appropriate size they want at the curb.

I'll also take out some of the old fence pieces, but in the process I'll cut some to the right size and set them at the side of the garden where the existing planks supporting the raised bed are about rotted, and they can go to the curb. Looks like tomorrow will be busy out-of-doors.

A couple of more of my eBay parcels are listed, and my fitness tracker actually noticed a dog walk today. Meals were gluten-free and gut healthy, and the dogs were pleased to have broccoli on top of their dog food. It was a productive and healthy day. When I do the walking activity with my hands full (like carrying branches, or holding the dog leashes) I have started wrapping the tracker around my ankle far enough down my sock so it stays put. That picks up the movement that the device is meant to get when I swing my arms walking.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Dec 18 - 07:45 PM

SRS, it was delightful! I was not able to collect that information though-- sorry.

link

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 09 Dec 18 - 09:12 PM

I am retiring..not by choice..they are closing my office..on the 31st. planning a trip to france and spain, pyranees...in march. plan to live in flannel and fake crocs. I am missing my passport. I shall not distress over it. I will calmly tomorrow fill out paperwork to get a replacement. and probably pay one hundred fifty dollars. but i have resolved not to beat myself up over it. i know exactly where it should be..in this hanging clear pocket thing. not there. looked in all pockets, purses etc. i have promised fifty dollars to charity if i find it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Dec 18 - 09:32 PM

Retiring is a complex process, as I am learning. Good luck, Mary, and I hope the passport turns up soon.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: mg
Date: 10 Dec 18 - 01:23 AM

found the passport through a miracle and will give 50 to a friend's orphanage contact in Guatemala. had given up. mentioned to a lady who works at mcdonalds i had lost it..she said didn't you have it when you went to ireland. i said yes..she said didn't you have a clear plastic pouch..i said no..pouch is silk...but i remembered i did. i went home, took all junk off coat hooks..moved rack and there it was on floor. couldn't believe it. well, guess some little girls in guatamala will get some new sandals for christmas...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Dec 18 - 01:46 AM

Win/win!

I dragged the rest of the limbs from the back yard out to the curb and trimmed some shrubs as well to add to the pile. There are also a few big chunks from the fence I took down. My neighbor came home from the hospital where her husband spent a few days and was hurrying to get her bushes pruned for the pickup so I helped and we added hers to my stack because it was closer and saves the truck an extra stop. She'd had a pot roast in the oven all day and offered dinner - another win/win. (Husband is back home feeling much better after kidney stone complications.)

I see the knee doctor tomorrow, probably start getting the series of three shots that provide more buffer between the bones in the joint. All of those years of climbing mountains for work and pleasure are catching up to me.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Dec 18 - 10:39 AM

My life has come to a grinding halt because I have come down with bronchitis. Again.

It's not too bad right now, but we're only at Day Two. By tonight or tomorrow morning, I will know whether I will recover quickly, like a normal person, or suffer through Christmas with the asthmatic's long-lasting version of a lung affliction.

I sang in a performance of Handel's "Messiah" on Saturday night, and the alto to my left hacked through the whole thing; at times, I thought she would derail the soprano soloist. I should have been more worried about myself; the soprano soloist could not have been derailed by a bomb on the tracks, and here I am with another fucking dose of fucking bronchitis!

Two batches of fruitcake are baked, soused with brandy, and wrapped for travel and storage. Only the most minimal Christmas shopping has been done, however: books for The Brothers.

The house is comparatively neat, and Himself washed the kitchen floor the other day. (Hurrah!) I will consider myself a net contributor to the greater good today if I manage to get the laundry done and change the bed. Leaving the house is out of the question; the cough is so disgustingly raucous that even the politest person in Creation could not pretend to ignore it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Dec 18 - 11:04 AM

Beaver:

Wonderful find, Mary! Great donation! It is worthwhile to talk with folks so they can tell you what you did - that you have forgotten! Your future looks interesting. I am reminded this am of the book Guests of My Life by Elizabeth Watson (circa 1970?). She starts by telling us that the things we are most worried about are often not the things that happen: Her 20ish daughter/best friend was planning a trip to Europe - big worry! She was killed in an automobile collision as she drove the family home from a wedding. Wonderful book!

Also realized this am that I cannot fight my body; it needs rest when it needs it. It works when it can do so. So the pots thrown on Sunday are ready to trim but the body is not ready to do that. I will go wrap them better and wait for body to feel like doing the job. OR the mind? (body/mind togetherness)

Meanwhile, I am getting small things done and enduring the heavy weather. The "mainly sunny" prediction for today has not yet occurred. Happily only a couple cm of snow have dumped. And the woodpile is accessible, the house is warm and my aching shoulder is below whimpering level. Have re-lost a couple pounds. No news from Montreal, except that R did make it back down that dreadful hill.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 12 Dec 18 - 06:05 PM

PA:

I've been looking around to see what needs to happen next in the purging and packing, and I've come to the surprising conclusion that there's not actually much I need to do before the planned March removal, as far as my own stuff. 

There are things I *could* pack, but knowing the disorder that will create, I've decided just to focus on people here while we can, and avoid disorder at what is always a hard time of year for me (see Jane's fmi). Disorder in March will not trigger me.

So, instead I have a good plan now for my "packing time" here this month. One more round on my closets, and TBTG it's clothing on them, and not clutter. Each will be a self-contained, hour-long event resulting in a bag to load for Goodwill. 

Other than that, it's mostly visual: touring thru areas not yet purged just to LOOK and list items to keep, and think about where they will go in Ohio.

That particularly includes areas Greg is likely to totally purge in March, which he has not been able to start on while working. In those areas, I want to see (now) if there are items that I'd want to keep instead of trash, and separate those out now to streamline the March process. We'd need to look at those areas together, which will have many benefits. If we just look at one room at a time, together, that will help so much with Ohio space planning!

I've gotten so much more done, on my own, in the last several years, than I had realized. And now, we're down to the stuff we need to do together-- not for his muscles, but to share the decisions. Most of that needs him to be NOT WORKING-- so, March, after a good rest!

I get to just enjoy the last holiday season in this house! And have fun dates with my honey.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Dec 18 - 08:04 PM

I have used eBay for years and I get so annoyed when they make changes to listings without my permission. I have a higher-dollar item listed and twice now they've changed it to "best offer," but my price is in the mid-range when compared to the sold listings. I am not interested in a low-ball offer, like I got this evening. So twice I've gone in to revise my listing back to "buy it now" and nothing else.

I'm starting using Michelle's 12 days of cleaning this evening (the list was under a box in the kitchen so I'm starting a day later than I planned). The first room is to dust the entire master bedroom, vacuum, wash the drapes and linens, etc. Doable.

One gift box shipped this evening so my son can make xmas cookies with his girlfriend in time for the holidays. He won't be here until probably closer to or after New Year's this year. I think they'll enjoy the process of using the cookie press, coloring the dough, adding color or sprinkles, etc. The cookie press is actually for her but I don't have her address so he'll deliver it for me. This was his suggestion when we were talking about the other cookie press I sent to a Mudcatter who lost hers in the Butte County fires (Camp Fire) this fall. The girlfriend apparently cooks and bakes (and last year he gave her a Kitchenaid stand mixer - so he is paying attention to her cooking interests.)

Using up stuff from the fridge and freezer tonight, a batch of lasagna with layers of eggplant. I don't have lasagna and I'm still avoiding gluten in general so I'm going to make it with dry pasta layers, using layers of spaghetti instead of the wide noodles. In theory it will all come out good once it's baked and look more like spaghetti.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Dec 18 - 09:58 PM

Salmon is still smoking out on the porch and I'm back from an afternoon of volunteering at a local toy program that serves the entire county. I used to do this kind of volunteering years ago and now that I'm retired, I can return to it. There's a growing list of things that need to be finished sooner rather than later, and many of them contribute to the cluttering activity that's pretty continually in the background.

Last night I dug out a piece of the clear thick flexible plastic that gets used (in my house) as a table covering (the table cloth might be on top or underneath, depending on the activity) and cut it to fit the tall table in the kitchen. And that is where we working on cutting up the salmon and making the brine. I found a couple of other useful items in the cupboard where the plastic was stored and I probably need to find a new place to keep them if I want to find them again.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Dec 18 - 09:48 AM

I really, really want a smoker that's long enough to take a salmon. I'm never sure what food is my absolute favourite, but smoked salmon is always near the top of the short list.

The bronchitis is now in its fifth day and doing very well, thank you -- me, not so much. I saw the doctor on Thursday and obtained the antibiotic prescription that will keep me out of the hospital, but the bronchial constriction has not let up. I cough with a nasty stridor that I fear can be heard out in the street, and I haven't had a decent night's sleep since Monday.

Driving is out of the question. The cough is convulsive and uncontrollable, and as serious an impairment as a skinful of whisky. Besides, where could I go in this condition?

So I'm bored, as well as sick and exhausted. It sucks to be me right now.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Dec 18 - 04:19 PM

I had a rough cold last year at this time, something to avoid repeating for all of the reasons you describe. I had to take the recliner away from the Labrador retriever and put fresh blankets over it an sleep there myself for a couple of nights.

More volunteering today then lunch with my daughter. The salmon I took with me was some I purchased earlier in the week before the smoking project came along. I ate some, but she got most of it because I'm kind of over the smokey smell right now. My smoker is a tall aluminum box box on a square base with three wire racks. A whole salmon wouldn't fit in it whole, it is filleted then cut into segments and brined then dried and finally put on the oiled smoker racks.

Time to finish the annual letter and mail it so it arrives before the holiday. Last night I edited out a bunch of it because I started it in November before Thanksgiving and stuff has changed. Usually less is more, and I'll add a couple of photos of the dogs or the kids. :)

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Dec 18 - 12:19 AM

Worst job of clearing out any room? Climbing up on the step ladder and dusting the ceiling fan. That's a special weird kind of dust up there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 16 Dec 18 - 09:39 AM

Beaver:

For starters: The dust! Oh yeah! If I have to declutter dust, esp that sort, I must wear a mask or I will get the symptoms of a serious cold/flu, whatever. Now, I am beginning to get a message that my chronic cough is related not only to dust and toxins such as plastics, petroleum products, cleaning materials and fragrances of most sorts, it also seems to be connected to what I eat. A few eves ago, I had such a coughing fit while talking on phone that I had to hang up, twice. I was choking and gagging. The worst in recent memory.

Remembering a time 60 years ago when I kept a vial of honey in my pocket for alleviating coughing, I tried a tiny bit of honey. I have not been coughing much since then; 1/8 teaspoon or even a bit in my water/ACV drink seems to soothe the throat which I was finally suspecting as the cause - that "tickle". Wary of using too much as sugar is not in my diet at all, except what occurs naturally in foods or the 10 gm 85% choc that I allow myself - 1/d!

I went up to the "hotel" Friday eve for the Christmas Carol sing along and, after a few minutes, I had to put on my mask - then I stopped coughing.

I resisted buying two more plants at the grocery friday! Convinced myself that the two red Kalanchoe will soon bloom. I am having such success with dividing (AF) and rooting cuttings (geranium and spider) that there is no room here for more. They are for the "new" house which is seeming almost a mirage but hope is not gone.

Yesterday I managed to clear the bulk of the ice from the walkway - about 2 hours, in two sessions with long rest time in between. Then I put safe melter on the half inch remaining. Will check it this am and add more if necessary. Sanded the rest so I can now safely - if careful - negotiate that route.

Decluttered myself of 3 panels of 40's vintage drapes; took off the metal thingys and opened the pleats to make it possible to hang on a inch dowel to hide open shelving at Community Trust. Ready to deliver on Tuesday; will also purchase the dowel and some sort of way to affix it. Maybe another volunteer can install it. Having 3 separate panels will assist in accessing the materials on the shelves.

This means that the "thaw" (just above freezing for two days!) enabled me to feel like going to the back shed through a foot of snow - still! But I failed to take the shovel and could only get the door open enough for me and the fabrics to sidle out. Found 3 more pieces of fabric to bring to house: a summer dress length for when I finally find a suitable pattern. A search through half a dozen, or more, large bins did not turn up the box of patterns. They may be in the morass at the mill. That requires a warm, dry day in the future. I am becoming quite determined, with the help of pep talk from a friend and the hours wasted looking for suitable ready made. At least I have NO inclination to even Look at new fabrics!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Dec 18 - 09:14 PM

Of course! My nose has been particularly runny and stuffy today. And part of the "deep cleaning" involves taking down curtains to wash, which is another way to stir up dust that has built up over a long time. In two of the rooms there were floor-to-ceiling two-panel curtains made from yardage picked up and hemmed all around with a top tube to run a thick dowel through. And two other rooms have extra-long beautiful plush thick beach towels, bought on sale at Penny's years ago. When paired they make great curtains for kids rooms. In this case, I moved one set into my office after I realized there was a peeping tom out there (several years ago and the dogs chased him off, but he knocked over the nearby bird bath as he skulked.) The towel curtains cover the mini-blinds and block the view inside completely.

Smoked salmon has been packaged in ~ 12 oz vacuum sealed packages and some was left here and some packed in a simple ziplock bag to eat now. My ex likes this in particular because we can adjust the amount of salt in the brine, and this batch came out perfect. The kids love this stuff and it's a regular request on their xmas lists. I suppose it would be a good move to teach each of them how to make it and let them get their own smokers. My smoker needs a new heating element, and I found one online for $17. I'll be back in business soon, maybe in time for my son's visit. That is a major role these days, sharing recipes they like from childhood. This one has some technical elements they need to see happen. My Dad always had a smoker, so this is a family tradition.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Dec 18 - 08:05 PM

Another headachy day - the dust of cleaning this last few days really clobbered me. The last batch of curtains is in the wash and was taken down very carefully.

With all of this extra laundry and heavy-duty stuff going through, I realized the dryer was taking a long time so went out to the vent and cleared out a buildup of soggy lint. It's drying much faster now.

I'm getting a shot in one knee for arthritis, and this last one left quite a colorful bruise, but at least I'm back in motion for all of the holiday activities ahead. I've put off mowing the front yard for way too long, but tomorrow I'll take a rake to scoop all of the oak leaves in the gutter up onto the lawn and I'll mulch it into the turf. This kind of activity is easier when the knee is back in working condition. (I was hoping a rainstorm would wash away the leaves, but so far, no such luck.)

I need to start going to the gym. I think once I get myself in the door it'll be easier, but in my past experience gyms are boring places. I'll pick a good book and take my earphones and at least do the treadmill.

P.S. http://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-pens-gel-ballpoint-rollerball-felt-fountain.html

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 07:39 AM

Yes, Stilly, the gym is boring. Audiobooks make it tolerable. Long, complicated ones. Churchill's biography of the Duke of Marlborough got me through at least a hundred miles' worth of treadmill.

The bronchitis is beginning to recede, but I'm not sleeping properly yet, or eating much. I have lost seven pounds since I got sick last Tuesday. Not that I want them back, but ...

We are not entertaining this Christmas, so I flatly refuse to do any decorating beyond maybe a wreath on the front door. Neighbourhood standards be blowed.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 11:43 AM

In fact, I feel so much better that I learned how to reprogram the remote control for the garage door opener. Like a totally 21st-century person, I climbed up a stepladder and photographed the machine with my phone, then took the serial number from the photograph and Googled for a user manual. Bingo!

Following the instructions thus acquired, I then climbed the ladder again and did the business in 10 seconds (push one button, push another button, look for a little red light to flash). Then I put the ladder away.

Mind you, all this was made possible through an off-hand question to the guy behind the counter at the dry cleaners' yesterday, who also repairs cellphones (small town). It took only a little more than a year for me to realize that a guy who fixes cellphones might be sufficiently gadget-oriented to give me a hint.

I feel kinda silly, but then I remind myself that I never even considered buying a garage door opener until 2013, when (a) we had some money to spare for about the very first time in our lives, and (b) I had fallen once too often on the icy driveway while heaving open the door by hand, and begun to worry about breaking a hip.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 12:19 PM

When visiting my ex spouse's house people are treated to the demonstration of how the heavy steel garage door finally lifts with a machine opener, not a strong back. I nearly killed myself a couple of times opening that thing when I lived there. He put that opener in early this year.

This morning I tackled one of the jobs that goes a long time before being addressed, but I am trying to do some deep cleaning this month. I took down the vinyl shower curtain in the master bath, loosely rolled the top portion and left the soap-begrimed lower part spread on the bottom of the tub, then ran in hot water and added chlorine bleach. The entire curtain was actually submerged in the water, but I wanted to be sure the lower end got the full treatment. The rubber mat also spent a little time in there. Later today the counters and the floor and the sink and loo will all get a good scrub. As will the hall bathroom. The rest of the tub walls are fine because every time I get out of the shower I use a towel to wipe down the tiles. My gift to myself when it comes to this kind of cleaning.

My holiday letter is almost finished and I sure wish I could find all of those boxes of various holiday cards. I organized them so well last year I can't find them now. We all know what will happen. As soon as I buy a new box or send the letter on fancy paper, they will turn up.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 12:21 PM

Ceiling fans aren't as bad as the dust bunnies that catch onto a textured ceiling as the cold air return drags the dirty air across it. Anyway an angled Swiffer on a pole does the fan blades just dandy.


PA:

It's extraordinary how much better I'm sleeping since I took decluttering and packing off my to-do list!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 09:04 PM

Beaver:

That ice removal decluttered two days worth of energy. Hoping tomorrow will be an improvement! Did not even bring in wood today so tomorrow am it will not be optional!

I did manage to get R to renew the books from the Montreal library which I brought with me thinking to be back there before they were due. He just happened to be in a library when I phoned - his escape when bro becomes trop!

Cough is mostly gone. I have a better handle on causes - eating, breathing...!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 09:58 PM

This afternoon I finished scanning a second of two cookie recipe books I have that came with my various cookie presses. The PDF files have been sent to the kids, the next generation of cookie makers. They also have cookie presses in their possession.

In preparation for cleaning the kitchen tomorrow the oven is running it's self-cleaning cycle all evening, and tonight I'm working on a deep cleaning of the laundry room. As small as it is, it needs a fair amount of attention. And then there are the cupboards and shelves. Several plastic things that were saved because "they might be useful" are now in the recycle bin. One owner's manual needs to be looked up (a reciprocating saw found at Goodwill operates, but does it operate correctly?) And I suppose all of the various dust rags and such stashed in there should be inventoried and extra ones discarded.

I need to remember to put Eucerin lotion on my hands and wear vinyl gloves; all of this cleaning and the cold weather add up to the winter nicks and dings and cracked callouses near my thumbnails.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 11:43 AM

The house still smells smokey from last night's oven cleaning, and there wasn't that much in there to turn to ash. Yesterday I brought in the heating element from my smoker to measure it and order a new one; I doubt that contributed to the smell but have put it out in the garage again on general principles.

Several small rugs are in the dryer right now as I prepare for today's cleaning of halls and entry ways. I have a fair number of halls here, actually, two T-shaped sets of halls, and the pantry shelf sits in one, so in theory I should probably organize that. Who knows what I'll discover that was long considered lost. :-)

Tomorrow is bathrooms.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 03:54 PM

Beaver:

Kiln loaded and cooking!

Wood brought in. Well, half of it. Now I'll go do the other half, while the sun still shines - sort of. At least it is above freezing - for another hour or so?

Load of laundry done and mostly dry - in house. A nice set of flannel sheets from thrift shopping yesterday; must wash out the stinky detergent/fabric softener before I can tolerate them. May there, please, come a time when people refuse to buy toxic cleaning materials!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 05:50 PM

PA:

Another delightfully decadent day NOT decluttering!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 10:09 PM

There's enough dust in the house and pollen in the air that I'm feeling it more this evening. I think time to get out the neti pot along with the Sudafed.

The annual letter is ready to mail, though when I had it printed she didn't quite understand my request and it ended up on card stock and not a simple lighter matte finish paper. I picked up some larger envelopes and will fold each in half and mail like cards instead of folding smaller and putting in cards. Maybe I should insert the card inside the letter! (I did finally find them.)

Today I went over to the large gym that is nearest me that participates in the Silver Sneakers program. The personal trainer who does the new customer intake wasn't there today so I'll stop in again tomorrow or Friday.

Now, I have a cup of hot decaff spice tea, a book, and three dogs who would like to cuddle. Time to head to the sofa and enjoy some good company.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 09:35 AM

I made it back to the gym yesterday, and I'm going again today. Yay me.

Over eight days of bronchitis, I lost a hair over seven pounds. I dearly don't want them back, but this is no way to run a reducing plan. I hardly stirred hand or foot the whole time, so I wonder where the energy went; was it all burned up by the leukocytes labouring away to kill off the infection? That's a lot of calories.

One brother's Christmas parcel has been mailed, and I have purchased a Canada Post pre-paid shipping box for the other, which will go out this afternoon, God willing. Himself has accepted the responsibility of acquiring and wrapping Christmas prezzies for his siblings (for the first time since we got married), so I'm off the hook for that. Christmas dinner is planned, though Himself keeps moving the goalposts: "Could we have maybe some gravlax for a forspeise?" (If we have gravlax, that means I made gravlax. There is no gravlax in the freezer. The gravlax proposal is a non-starter.) Besides, I can eat only so much, and there's already both a duck and a Christmas pud on the menu.

I'm still coughing, but no longer with the ugly stridor of "status asthmaticus". So the drugs are working, and all I have to do (the worst five words in the English language) is hork up the rest of the gunk out of my poor, suffering lungs. Onward and upward.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 10:35 AM

Maybe it's because I got up a little earlier than I have recently and the sun is as bright as can be, but I've gone through some of the stuff in my sunroom and reassigned it to the Goodwill bin. Occasionally I picked up items to sell on eBay that I didn't really know enough about, and it turns out they were total non-starters. So they're gone. Cut my losses and move on.

Baking today in earnest. I started some last week but those have been given away and consumed by visitors. And if I'm going to do any more shopping I need to do it now so I don't get stuck in crowded stores and long lines (though that is less daunting than it used to be, because my time is my own if I have to wait.)

I dashed out to the curb this morning with several tied-together grocery bags filled with stuff for the trash. Some of it came out of the laundry room after that clean up, things that are worn out and not reusable and I've held onto for "just in case" for too long.

I have some electronic waste stuff and an old printer cartridge that I can drop off in the e-waste bin on campus tomorrow when I meet a friend for lunch. I'll put it in the car before I forget about it.

The new element arrived for the smoker and I'll let the day warm up a little before I spend time poking around in the bottom of the smoker getting it to plug into the power slot. Is the old element e-waste? Hmmm.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 05:55 PM

PA:

Another delightfully decadent day NOT decluttering!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 06:54 PM

Two batches of cookies done, and this year is the BIG SPRITZ EXPERIMENT. I have two recipes and one of them the kids prefer but I don't remember which. So I'm making both and they can tell me which is which and I'll write as much ON the recipe itself. One is in a book that came with my cookie press, the other is on a card in my small wooden childhood recipe box.

Annual holiday letters are almost all ready to go to the post office. I have a few extras and I'm sure I missed someone so I'll go back through the list. After the post office I'll swing by Goodwill and donate the bin contents.

I made a couple of small videos with the camera set on a tripod and the dogs in the yard to avoid interruptions; those videos were intended to offer tips like how to cream the butter and sugar before adding the dry ingredients. I missed adding the leavening to one batch so when I discovered it I pulled the dough out of the can and mixed in a proportionate amount of leavening. They aren't my best batch ever. Also, I tried some butter-flavored Crisco and I don't like that as well as using butter. It costs about the same, so in future I'll stick with butter. The videos will be edited and added to the family YouTube channel for my son and daughter as cookie making tips.

My smoker is restored to good working order and the old element is in the e-waste bag. I'm not sure they can do anything with it, but who knows? Most electrical things (except light bulbs) that get discarded these days go in that bin.

When I head out in a few minutes I'll look around to see if I need to retrieve anything that blew around the yard in the high winds today. We've been under a wind advisory all day.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Dec 18 - 09:49 PM

Most of the shopping and planning is finished for next week, and now I need to finish cleaning around the house. Today was nice, lunch with friends then wandering through a Halal grocery store looking at tea and olive oil and flat bread. The woman who makes the bread had a huge batch of dough going today, but she can only make a few at a time in the barrel oven, so probably had a long day today. I brought several bags and they're in the freezer for next week.

Cleaning and some sewing this weekend. Gift wrapping, baking, laundry. My plate is full.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Dec 18 - 02:52 PM

I think I somehow pulled muscles last night or this morning. I've done this many times before, and the trouble is, for a while it mimics the onset of a stomach virus. Having been out shopping and such this week I suppose I could have come in contact with someone with a bug. Not a good time of year for this, whichever it happens to be.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Dec 18 - 10:23 PM

Nope. It is a stomach virus. Eating dinner was a mistake. Hopefully this clears up in 24-48 hours.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Dec 18 - 01:33 PM

I got a jump on the new year and started a new De-Clutter thread for 2019 here.