Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

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!