Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

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~