Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

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

I opened a package of batting today only to find it was rather triangular in shape, no good at all for the rectangular quilting project I have for the fall. Grrrr! It has been nice weather so I've worked outdoors when I can, but I'm setting myself up for cooler weather. More batting is now on my list to pick up.

I made progress with the eBay listings yesterday; the prepared packages do pile up (large ones on my bench next to the door, where I sit to put on my garden shoes) but once they're listed they eventually sell and head out the door.

Last week I bought several pounds of apples on sale and canned eight pints of applesauce. Another mudcatter (on facebook) suggested making it with just apples and not adding the usual sugar and cinnamon. That way I can use it for baking (substituting for a portion of the oil in some soda bread recipes, for example) and not have the cinnamon flavor when I might not want it. But I can easily sprinkle cinnamon sugar over a bowl of applesauce to give it the usual flavor of applesauce when eating it plain. I moved into this house 15+ years ago and for most of those years I've been canning garden produce. This is a singularly bad year for my favorite crop, tomatoes, so I'm compensating by finding other foods to process.

Other than these activities, I have the usual weekend chores. Preparing several dishes that I can use for lunches this week is typical, but since I recently made and froze a double batch of beans (frozen in wide-mouth 12 oz jars that salsa came in) I'll made a batch of rice and take rice and beans several times during the week.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Sep 17 - 10:12 PM

After necessary errands I visited thrift stores today. I found a couple of things for me (tea mugs and a glass pot with two tea strainers in it - taped together like they were a set, but they aren't. My win, and only $3 for the pot and strainers.) And several things to sell on eBay. And a sewing machine for my daughter (who already has several but has created "stations" for the types of sewing she does, and this would have a place. A Viking workhorse, assuming we can get a cord for it to test it in the next couple of weeks. I can take it back if it doesn't work. The cord will probably cost three times what the machine did, and it will still be a bargain.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Sep 17 - 09:01 PM

Beaver:

YAY! A day when I was able to spend more time doing than resting! Gazebo/pottery display has progressed. Grass edging has progressed and thanks to my lesson in how to advance the string, I actually was able to do it myself- LOTS of grass edging to do! More varathaning done but next section requires a ladder... A good day!

Tomorrow is a day of going here and there...

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Sep 17 - 10:13 PM

Beaver:

OH my! And 51 boxes of books! bit by bit, I hope! I expect R to arrive next week with a bunch of his for the library. I expect the library will fill up truck load by truck load! I will NOT be a party to it. Looking around, I see enough of his books, on shelves in the house, that can go to the library and make space for those of mine still down at the mill.

I hesitate to post, on FB, pics of what we are doing, lest it be noticed by the local municipality. I do not think we have done anything illegal but one never knows. Need to take some up to date pics in any case. Maybe tomorrow before the rains begin again.

Yesterday I managed to varathane part of the back sheds and started spray painting the ugly doors with rainbow colours. The odour forced me to stop and I could not even sit on the swing (too close). Today I was tired and it was too hot to sit on the swing, also too hot for most of what I want to get done outside - and most of what I want to get done is outside! The screen house was cooler as it is totally shaded at present but the wood still smells strongly so I gave up after taking more pots in. Life is fraught with hazard! Sorted through a bag of winter clothes and found spaces for them, while putting some summer clothes in storage bin.

I see enough scrap lumber to make a 3 sections of board walk for the spring water between house and sheds and gazebo. The sections can be stacked out of the way when not needed. I can put them together myself - on a not too hot, non-rainy day! Thurs next is my cataract op so I feel a pressure to do what I can before the dreaded 3 weeks of no bending over and no lifting more than 10 pounds. Seems as though there is almost nothing that does not require bending over!

Flawless weather all week and a few more days! I am trying to use it wisely but the energy level is low. I managed to bleach some white cloths in the sun; worked great so I took them down today and removed the clothes umbrella from my line of sight.

I hoped to get a 3/4 mattress in Madoc - an hour away - but it was sold. Thinking I would be going to Madoc, I phoned a potter friend there and found his wife was picking up supplies so I arranged for her to pick up a few things for me! But now I need to drive down to pick them up. Maybe tomorrow. I did suggest to the nice woman, who had sold the mattress, that she visit the potters who are close walking distance from her home. She will tell them I sent her.

Two 3/4 mattresses near Ottawa on Kijiji so I am hoping at least one will be available when R drives up from Montreal in the truck. Twin bed is too small for two! I did browbeat him into taking time to get a futon for the house in M so we have a guest space. YAY! Love crossing things off the list! Our friend Paul is not arriving until Dec, if at all, but I did not tell R that; I just insisted that this needed to happen and I had finally found one that looked decent - for $60! A large quilt taking up space here will go to Montreal.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Sep 17 - 08:40 AM

Five IKEA bookcases later, we are still married. We still have 51 boxes of books to unpack, however, and their contents to haul upstairs and down. My back and feet ache at the very thought.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Sep 17 - 11:54 PM

I haven't been very good about taking the dogs for walks; we have a dog door in back and a huge yard, so in theory they get lots of fresh air and exercise and things to sniff and dig and such. But they love walks, and this week we've started up walking after work, before I feed them. Good exercise for all of us. It's unusual that it's this cool here (still just t-shirt weather, but it's in the 80s, not the 90s.)

I'd love to see photos of all of the work you're doing around the Beaver homestead, Dorothy.

Shopping at my favorite import store today I noticed the dairy section was bare, as were some other sections of the store. Hurricane Harvey strikes - they "didn't get the truck in" this week. It drives up from Houston, where so much imported food travels through. The olive oil delivery happened before Harvey, so the aisles are filled with cases of 3 litre bottles of various brands; at least I found the main thing I went for.

I'm intentionally using freezer stuff this month, opening the door to look around before I head to the grocery store, in an effort to clear out some before it's time to defrost again. I'm also trying to get back to the frugal program I was following successfully for a few months - until it all went to hell. Hopefully we're back to a couple of no or low-spend months.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Sep 17 - 08:16 PM

Beaver!
Te wonderful screen house is complete - even a nice step so I won't fall "head over teacups"! A doormat in place, some shelves for pottery, directors chairs. It would be kind of neat to paint a pattern on the floor - maybe! more tomorrow.

The modus operandi of my current life is: do a few little things - 15 min to an hour or so, rest for a while until my body feels like doing more. Poultice on ankle today finally dawned on me as a good idea and I arranged it to stay in place while I moved about!

Got my head around finding something to replace the missing spring for swing as no springs are available. Went looking and, at one place, "are you Dorothy?" Conversation with young lad of 31 whom I had not seen since his family were close neighbours - 1999! Tried to figure out how to get more line on the whipper snipper: Dan could not help! Went to Canadian Tire (CT) where I had bought it and no one knew BUT one of my fav staff from Home Hardware(HH) happened to be there and he DID IT! And now I know how. I did cut a little of the grass - more tomorrow.

One week to next cataract op so I hope to get some things done before I cannot bend over or lift more than 10 pounds. Maybe tomorrow I can throw some pots???

Read on the swing and enjoyed the peace of the evening until darkness brought me inside. Now to find an airbnb for next Thursday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Sep 17 - 09:40 PM

Beaver:

Energy goes up and down - more down than up currently in spite of lovely "Indian Summer" weather. In the 70s for the next week quite a relief from cool and rainy most of "summer" interspersed with over 80 days! The screen house is almost complete - just a few pieces of molding to go - and I managed to vacuum the sawdust this eve. It is beautiful! Maybe tomorrow I will "move in", well a couple things. Need to find a wire brush - I know I have one! - to clean a cabinet, then paint it with spray paint left over from rainbow. I am quite enjoying the lounge chair on the back deck as the sun sets over the hill (6:30!); I cannot see that from the screen house as it is surrounded by tall shrubs - well shaded! We may decide to make a viewing hole but we hate to disturb more of the habitat as the idea is to be close to the swamp/beaver pond and the critters AND safe from the bugs!

Hoping Dan will be back tomorrow so he can help me put the swing back together - 3-seater with canopy so I can stretch out and read outside. It blew over, repeatedly, in the early summer winds and lost an essential piece. I finally figured out what to do. Then the lounge chair, and the four refurbished director's chairs, can go in the screen house. Should I call it a gazebo? It is not fancy but very solid and nicely built with 4x4s!

Took a few pots to the Art Gallery gift shop today. Now need to find a space to put the few boxes still in the car. I think of setting up a display area in the screen house. As the weather holds - a good time to start sorting through storage bins to see if I can part with some STUFF!

R picked some seed pods off some sort of locust tree in July. I put them in a pot and now have a pot full of 3-4 inch plants! Will re-pot tomorrow. And some other garden work. Only managing 0.1 mile on cycle! Ankle still hurts some. Last week I walked about 3 blocks and had to rest part way. No leg muscles left. MUST try harder. And losing it diet-wise (stupid!), I have gained at least 5#.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Sep 17 - 10:49 AM

Kinda bushed, myself.

Monday is garbage/recycling day in Stratford, so this morning I hauled a dozen large yard-waste bags and two 4-cubic-foot boxes stuffed with packing paper to the curb, plus a great stack of flattened cartons and the actual, you know, garbage. I can now count the 2-cubic-foot boxes of books remaining in the garage, and my heart sank when I did -- the number is 51. Plus two boxes of LPs and about half a dozen 4-cubic-foot china barrels full of fancy crockery.

The first load of new IKEA bookcases is due to arrive tomorrow, and Himself and I intend to assemble and move them into place ourselves.

On Thursday, if we're still married after the bookcase experience, we leave for the FSGW Getaway in West River, Maryland, which is about ten hours of actual driving (not counting breaks) from Stratford. From Ottawa, it was a mere seven or so hours, and could actually be done in one day if absolutely necessary, but a 10-hour drive has to be done over two days, especially when it involves crossing the U.S. border at Buffalo. I will consider our first day a success if we clear the Buffalo suburbs and find a flop before suppertime.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 17 - 10:47 PM

Michelle, those kinds of one-on-one parent/child trips are so precious, and formative. He'll remember that the rest of this life.

I also slow down during the summer; usually the lawn is dormant during the dry and heat, but not this year. The weather was in the high-80s for the last week, not bad (all things considered).

I like cities in measured doses also. The thing about where I live, something my next door neighbor and I were talking about this afternoon as we leaned on our rakes in the very back of his yard, overlooking the creek, was how our neighborhood doesn't feel like a city. Though we're very close to two Interstate highways, this area is a creek bottom and there is an extensive greenbelt running through the area. Our yards have some of those woods and the creek, and it feels like we're out in the county, not in a city of a half-million people. We were talking back there because I had just finished with the loppers, pruning a pathway for myself along the top of the bluff over the creek. He was still dragging downed limbs from the yard out to the curb; I had finally finished moving my stack. We have enough room to let this stuff pile up for a while and still have plenty of space for everything else, but a stack in place for too long is going to become a habitat for mice and snakes, and the dogs won't leave either of them alone. I like the wildlife here, but try to keep most of it out of the yard so the dogs don't hunt them.

Large pile at the curb, tired feet on me. I've entered my foods into My Fitness Pal and though I don't have my fitness tracker right now (waiting for replacement with the next model), I can tell I had quite a workout. No knowing how many steps, but I probably would have hit 100% by mid-afternoon.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 10 Sep 17 - 06:29 PM

I haven't done much around the house this week as it's just been very busy and the house is in ok shape...so it's all good. I took Jeremiah on a surprise Mommy & Me trip yesterday to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. He'd never been in a large city or an aquarium so it was all very exciting and he had a wonderful time, as did I. We walked around the aquarium for maybe 4 hours and then around the Inner Harbor twice...meandering in and out of places that got our attention. My FitBit tells me I walked about 11,000 steps and 11 flights of stairs. I'm a little sore today but I think it's due to the standing still looking into all the various exhibits than the walking.

Today I slept in and have been puttering at my own pace. I cleaned off one shelf of a 7 shelf high bookcase, did some cooking, cleaned off the kitchen table, put things away from yesterday's adventure and am getting ready for a full work week. Clothes are washed and just need to be hung up so I can grab and go in the morning. I have a feeling it's going to be a long week as I am just tired.

I had my port flushed on Friday after not having had it done for 12 weeks....it was a month overdue but thankfully worked just fine. I had basic bloodwork drawn and will have the tumor marker checked next time. My A1C is a little high, not bad but it's been better so I'll tighten that up. My thyroid is all kinds of out of balance...AGAIN....so it's no wonder I am dragging as much as I am lately. I'm hoping my PCP will change the meds without an office visit. I have no idea why my thyroid gets itself so out of balance but it happens periodically. I wonder what it feels like to have full on steam energy? It's been SO long.....I keep chugging along regardless...doing my best!   My family was very concerned when I took on a full time job telling me they didn't think I would be able to handle it.....silly people! ;) I AM tired but love my job!

I think Pete is going to take out 2 of the AC units as it's been nippy lately. I think summer will make a sort comeback but nothing we need the AC for, except maybe the bedroom as I like it cool in there.

Maggie, I could keep you busy with outside projects for a very long time......it soon will be yard work season for me. I don't do much outside during the summer as the heat makes me sick but these cooler days are perfection for me....now to get some energy!

I'm with you Dorothy...the city was a nice place to visit but I like the wide open space and fresh air of the countryside. It's always good to be home.

I hope everybody is well and has a great week!

Michelle

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

Progress today with branches now being moved out to the curb. The biggest ones this evening, tomorrow the rest. I stopped before the mosquitoes came out. I spent most of the day listing things on eBay. I pulled a few items that were listed and bunched them into batches in boxes with others and put them up for low prices. Some things seem to sell in lots better than individually. It cleared some shelf space and other things that are a bit more modern are also listed.

I saved a handful of branches from the baldcypress to try my hand at making a trellis. The others weren't as straight and aren't as good at lasting for a while.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 17 - 02:36 PM

I use the receiver and large speakers to listen to radio, to music via the CD player, and to listen to the television and DVD player (both attached with cables). I should probably investigate the combination of bluetooth dongles and a smaller receiver that would remove wires and the need for a piece of furniture to hold all of those devices. (I could use the cabinet for something else, after I patch the holes in the back where all of the wires run through. I'm thinking it would move to the craft room.) What is the model of the Boze item you picked up?

Finally got some eBay listings up, and decided to ditch the last of the VHS tapes (people still buy them, but they don't sell like hotcakes). I'll scan eBay for a few as yet unlisted titles and see if any need a shot before they head out the door, but those that have languished in the listings can be unlisted and donated. I didn't buy any of these; they are the stragglers from the process of emptying old media from shelves around the house.

I've whittled down the backyard pile of branches by about 75%, in preparation for next week's bulky waste pickup. I've chipped a bunch (I quit last night when the mosquitoes discovered me still at work) and will finish this afternoon. A few of the thicker limbs that won't go in this chipper *might* get used for a homemade trellis in the back; another declutter regular has made some charming ones in the last few years. I still have to trim branches that are leaning over the roof; I don't want to drag them to the back yard so I waited to do the trimming when they can go straight to the curb.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Sep 17 - 11:35 AM

Oh, Dorothy, I remember that feeling so well -- surely, surely, I will wear nice shoes again some day! And I did, MUCH later than I expected, but then I went and busted the other ankle and it started all over again. And here I am, nearly thirty years down the road, pleased to be wearing sneakers with orthotic insoles rather than surgical boots for crippled people. Sigh.

Yesterday, I unpacked some stemware, the cassoulet pot, and a whole lot of cooking tackle, including the stock pot, the bread pans and the waffle iron. Proper cooking resumes immediately: I'm tired of not having ingredients!

I also sold (for a pittance) our official Baby Boomer kit: the stereo transceiver and all its associated equipment -- speakers, turntable, DVD/CD player and cabinet. In its place, we have a sleek new gadget: a Bose Soundtouch system that not only taps the iTunes library on our computer (wirelessly!), but also accesses the Internet to play radio stations from around the world. Right now, it's on BBC Radio 3, a reliable source of classical music, where I imagine it will stay for much of the time. Himself has found stations specializing in French and Welsh folk music, and it even pulls in the CBC from Toronto, which is no prize compared with BBC 3. Unlike the stereo, the Bose system is rather smaller than a breadbox, requiring only a small occasional table to sit on. Its sound is glorious.

Now, if only I could find someone who wants a VCR and a Hewlett-Packard printer that doesn't like Windows 10 and requires ink cartridges that cost sixty dollars.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Sep 17 - 07:48 PM

BEAVER!!!!
Ah, the smell of clean fresh air and the wonderful trees and hills of central Ontario! Trip back was fraught with a spell of very heavy rain just shy of get-off-the-road but it ended and the sun came out. The clouds were elegant! I made a survey of the grounds: only casualty was the wax beans, while the peas continue to flourish and may yet produce! One large yellow tomato that did not want to let go of the stem so I left it??? Maybe tomorrow. And the strawberries continue to produce but only one there for me!

I may have a surfeit of shoes I may never wear but I am not yet ready to belief that is so. I may be moved to wear a pair of dressy shoes for some incredibly special occasion...

The car is still full but all the food has been put away. The frozen stuff stayed frozen! (About 6 hours in a heavy styrofoam container.) I lighted the wood stove with tiny paper fire as it was 63 in here. I had closed the drapes lest it be too hot. The time has come to leave them open for solar gain! I opened the west ones about 3 but then it clouded over and then rained and then a bit of sun, then it went behind the hill. It was only up to 65, hence the fire.

Tomorrow there will be major finding places for stuff. The pottery... I was hoping the screen house would be done but still needs the screening. I will decide in the morning. A 6 hour trip is enough work for one day.

Any semblance of decent diet went out the window a week or so ago due to being stuck down at the mill with no energy and the foot still bothering me too much to do enough. Things I had hoped to accomplish did not come to pass. I do not do well with waiting (for the car part to arrive). But the car is now in good order; the finances- well it was cheaper than a new car! And it was worth going to the dealer as they really did know how to repair it when no one else did!

Life feels back on track.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Sep 17 - 12:23 AM

That's too bad about the kitchen delay. My big cooking holiday is the US Thanksgiving (late November). There are things in my house I'd like to tear out (my fireplace, for starters), but I'd never do it without a plan and someone there to start work on it immediately.

Puttering this week, around the house, around the yard, and around town. I get enough vacation time now I need to take a fair amount off or I lose the hours, so I took a few days in a week with a holiday. The gas shortage was short-term, but the prices haven't come down again yet, there will be an impact on the state in many ways for a long time to come. I'm always pretty frugal, making several stops any time I drive. Three stops today.

Counting coups: shopping this afternoon I found a couple of very comfortable pairs of shoes in the clearance section at DSW (in the US at least it's a great shoe store). Green (50%) and Purple (70%) discount, plus a couple of coupons. I try not to build up a huge number of shoes; I have two pairs of clogs I never wear any more. They're in the shoe rack next to the side door (instead of in my closet) but I always manage to wear the rest of the shoes on that rack, just not these. So I think those are the ones that will go to Goodwill soon. I found two pair of flat walking shoes, one more sporty, the other business/dressy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Sep 17 - 09:00 AM

The kitchen contractor came to call yesterday. Bad news: he can't start work on our project until late October. Why, you ask?

Ah, now, there's the rub.

It would seem that there are people in Stratford who start ripping out their kitchen equipment before they are quite sure what is to be put in its place. Typically, these people tear at the fabric of their homes until they get a Big Brown Surprise, such as a joist where they had no idea a joist would be, and then stop, having created a mess they cannot get out of. Thus, they find themselves in a terrible pickle, with a great big hole where their kitchen should be.

Our kitchen contractor has two such clients, and he ever so sweetly asked us if we would be terribly, terribly upset if he got them out of their mess before he tackled our house because, after all, we still have a functioning kitchen, inadequate as it is.

Not wishing to start my new life in Stratford as an asshole, I said Well, okay, if that's how it has to be. Sigh.

He promised, honour bright, that our new kitchen will be fully up and running by Christmas. For sure, cross his heart and hope to die.

Resigned to limited capability for at least two months longer than we expected, I shall unpack the wine glasses today. No more making do with kitchen tumblers; I want my Riesling in stemware, dammit!

I can be such a princess.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Sep 17 - 09:49 PM

Mill:

Beaver Haven is MY haven. Really the only of the 3 that is comfortable in every way; wood stove, electricity, hot and cold running water, washing machine and oven that work. Cosy and bright with lovely views. And lots of friends in the area. Home on Thursday!

I am certain the house in Montreal could be considered unfit and as R is using it as a storeroom... Bleeech! Here, there is no water to the K and it has to be carried about 100 steps. I also collect rain water for washing, watering and distilling. There is heat. And the pottery studio - but my ankle still sore from Friday so nothing more has been done.

Today was warm enough and I had energy enough to some exploring/sorting in the storage area, finding stuff that needs to wait here until there is space at Beaver - or it gets sorted into keep and dispose. Gave Karen ( who works in the building and cares for the sun room) a jacket that I have outgrown. I LIKED that jacket; it has a good home. Packages are ready to mail to family members in USA but I am still not up to crossing the border to mail them in NYS where it is notably cheaper, and simpler.

Found the bathing suits! Oh well! They are going to Beaver to be put in a findable spot. They were still in suitcase I used when we went to San Diego five years ago! There really was not enough summer to warm the lakes near Beaver; maybe next year!

Ready to pack the car tomorrow after car repair. and leave early on Thursday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 11:41 PM

Congratulations on the restraint and the renewed vows, Michelle. It sounds like the headgear will be perfect!

Dorothy, those various homes of yours - an embarrassment of riches sometimes, eh? Where will you spend the coldest part of the year? Back in Montreal? Or is the house at Beaver ready to be lived in year round?

I didn't accomplish much more than what I listed this morning. A very lazy day that included a couple of naps. I am set up for eBay tomorrow, all day if need be, to get all of this stuff listed. Oh - I did figure out what the scale was doing - it was set to "Center, U.S." - who knows why. Finally found the right screen in the app and fixed it. Smart devices - a help, until they're not. I helped my neighbor set up her Amazon Fire HD Kindle a couple of weeks ago - I was going to turn of "Alexa" (my automatic instinct), but it turns out she likes it, her son uses some of those devices at his house and she enjoys the machine banter.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 10:55 PM

Mill:
Still here and wishing I were home at Beaver. Hope to get that car repair done in time to get home on Thurs so I can read the newspaper for the sight impaired on Fri. And be home! See what Dan has done! Hope the screen house is done so I get some use of it before cold weather sets in with a vengeance.

A trip into Montreal on Tuesday of last week, triggered the idea that maybe a Toyota dealer could help with the shifter problem. So I stopped at one on way back to Mill, made an appointment and took it in on Weds. They fixed the turn signal that two mechanics told me needed new parts - someone had done something wrong. They found the cable to shifter was "crushed" New one is on order - about $1000 but this is far better than a new vehicle. Waiting for part is what has caused me to be longer at the Mill; I had planned to leave last Thursday.

After making a few pots on Fri, I have not had the energy to trim them. Or to do much else. The use of kickwheel caused ankle to be unhappy and it is still not back to happy. I have gotten some small tasks accomplished: AC out of LR and back into storage area; repotted the Norfolk Island Pine into a 15" pot in hopes it will stop falling over. It is lovely but much too large for Beaver; it is a shame that I only get to see it here. The friend who has been watering the few plants left in sunroom cleaned the sunroom!!! Wow! So I was inspired to improve things a bit more.

The house in Montreal has gotten to much worse of a mess in my absence that I only stopped in long enough to pick up distiller and antihistamines. It is merely a storage unit. R has been spending 3 or more weeks cleaning out a 6 room flat and wood working shop that was a morass and some of that found its way to the house which is now a worse morass than usual.

I just wanna go home.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 09:37 PM

Eighteen more quarts of tomato sauce canned today, grocery shopping completed, lunches packed for tomorrow, laundry done, game time at my Mom's house and how does this fit into the decluttering thread you might wonder? I turned down a bunch of items Mom is getting rid of with the exception of a life jacket for kayaking and a hat that once belonged to my Nana. I'm not sure what it's called but it's not really a hat...it's more of a very interesting (and pretty) headband. It's a soft blue with netting and tiny white flowers.

Pete and I have plans of renewing our wedding vows and this matches my dress (yep....already have my dress). I think wearing something that belonged to my Nana would make that day all the more special.

So anyway....I left most of the items behind....which means less clutter coming into the house.

In other news, we have booked a cabin for a vacation next year. A real vacation! We haven't ever had a family vacation (Pete is very much a homebody) so I am WAY excited and even MORE excited because it was HIS idea! :)

I'm off to bed. It's back to work for me in the morning.

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 11:14 AM

Cleared out a bunch of Martha Stewart Living back issues from the magazine stand in the master bath. I stopped subscribing a couple of years ago, but have discovered that Amazon Prime lets me read the current issue free. I need to figure out how to print the screen occasionally, but this will work. There are other magazines I read and share and want more access to their web sites, so The New Yorker will stay a subscription (though I struggle every year to find a way to push the cost of that one down.)

I have a lot of seasonal items to list on eBay; for every time I mention needing to get started listing, I rearrange or cull things that don't belong in there, but haven't listed anything new, so the time has come. I did a lot of virtual decluttering (moving the contents of folders and one whole account) out of Photobucket, where I used to host blog photos and eBay photos before eBay made it free and easy to load them. Now I need to find a place to park those and fix some old blog posts and photograph and list eBay items. Going back and forth between a couple of tasks can sometimes keep me going longer.

The fitness tracker I bought last spring sprung a moisture leak and I haven't used it since late July. They will send me a new one when the next model comes out, sometime this fall. In the meantime to appease me they offered to send free a "smart" scale. I finally set it up this morning, and it talks to the house WiFi to get the weather. So I can see my weight, my BMI, and what the day holds as far as weather (though the report this morning must have been for Finland, no way those low temps represent Texas in September.)

Finally, I am heartbroken to learn that Nancy Zieman of Sewing With Nancy, a steadfast PBS citizen for decades, is dying of metastatic osteosarcoma or breast cancer. She didn't say which one, but she has been treated for both. Yesterday I put more leaves in my dining room table and pulled out a small comforter/quilting project I have been meaning to work on and spread it out. She taught so many people how to sew, and how to make art. This one's for you, Nancy.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 17 - 09:14 PM

I used the last of the fresh juice from this year's grapes across the road. One last batch of jelly - a couple of weeks ago I put the rest in the freezer for another time. I didn't buy tomatoes to make sauce or can, but I have gotten lucky at my favorite discount grocery - they have a mix - foods near their shelf dates, and overstock items stores discontinue. I found a bunch of organic Muir Glen fire roasted diced tomatoes for less than half price from the neighborhood grocery stores. I agree - it's a wonderful part of summer to be able to put up your home-grown vegetables. Out of pure stubbornness I did a couple of tiny batches when I had a few extra tomatoes from the yard - you'll laugh - I have five half-pint jars of homegrown diced tomatoes. Just to have SOMETHING to show for the garden so far.

On the up-side, the plants are still going strong and there is a possibility of getting a fall crop. I don't see fruit set right now, but it's cooling off enough that it should start soon if it's going to. I still have a lot of last year's green tomato relish, so this year if there are tomatoes at time of the first frost I'll let them slowly ripen and use them that way.

It's time to get back to other indoor tasks like digitizing the content on remaining VHS tapes that I want to keep. It's a job done when you're at the computer anyway to monitor the real-time progress of the tapes. I take the old tapes to work and we have an e-waste bin for them. And in November I can get rid of some of the old hard drives around here, the university has a contract for the secure disposal of hard drives that are collected at an annual event.

Michelle, I had a long night of sleep like that last weekend - something stung me on the forehead (you may have seen it on facebook). I took Benedryl when I realized it might get to be quite a large reaction and ended up sleeping from about 7pm to 8am. Talk about well rested!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Sep 17 - 05:34 PM

I've been checking in and glad to see that you are still ok Maggie. I can't imagine the outflux of people and just how much that changes life in the outer communities.

Around here, the gas in PA has gone up some but more noticeably in NY state where for the last few months has been a good solid .25 to .30 cheaper than in PA. When I left work on Friday, it was just about the same as at the PA state line.

Pete and I spent time last night and today and put up 18 quarts of wax beans. Today we purchased 2 boxes of Roma tomatoes as our blighted out and will be making sauce tomorrow. I miss the time we have normally spent putting things up, it seems there just aren't enough hours in the day this summer.

I am so very thankful for the three day weekend....ok...for me, it's 3 1/2 as I got all my work done early this week. It's been a marathon for about 3 weeks now......so yep...I'm savoring this long weekend of nothing but family time! I'm thinking about repainting the living room....I think I'd like to go from the harvest orange color to a buttery soft yellow. It's been orange for almost 20 years now as it is a color Pete can see well and likes but I'm tired of it. Oh the possibilities!

But then there's sleep...glorious SLEEP! LOL I guess I'll go where my energy guides me. On Thursday night I slept from 7:00pm until about 5:00am....unheard of. I felt like a brand new person on Friday! So....maybe I'll paint and maybe I won't but it is fun to humor the idea for a bit!

Hope everyone is well.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 17 - 10:32 AM

Artificial fuel shortage aside, this part of Texas is going to be participating in the Hurricane Harvey recovery effort on many levels. We will watch and take our opportunities to assist as they arise. Right now the goal is to be self-sufficient and not draw on resources needed more urgently in the SE region. The magnitude reveals itself in everyday things - it's the first of the month, time to pay bills, but down there - how? And the mail. Soaked beyond recognition or washed away. A limited number of running vehicles are available (and a note to the wise - be very careful in examining the history of any used Texas vehicle you buy - anything that has been through a flood is going to have major problems even if it is "fixed up.")

I'm taking a few days off and have a long list of stuff to accomplish. I'm also taking a leaf from Katlaughing and participating in one of those monthly challenges that has come along. She wrote books during November; this month I'm doing the "Sober September," taking alcohol out of my diet completely* for the cost, health, and weight loss benefits. I went to a faculty gathering yesterday after work (a "First Friday" thing in the early evening, a chance to schmooze) and took two bottles of Topo Chico with me to begin the challenge.

The dogs need walking now that weather is cooling a bit, and the garden needs tackling. I need to dig deep in a front bed to remove the roots of vines that keep appearing. I'll help my neighbor manage her new Kindle tablet, and we are doing regular exercises with smart phones. Her son convinced her to trade in the flip phone and she hasn't completely figured out how some of it works. I take my phone over and we take turns calling each other so she can practice different features of the phone. (She's about 80 now, so her willingness to learn this new phone is an excellent sign.) I have lots of housekeeping and craft stuff to do in the house. I need to work on my back patio, make it more presentable and replace the missing beam on the patio cover.

*If any food in the freezer has wine, it's still going to be part of this month's diet. And if a dish being prepared absolutely calls for wine, I have some frozen in pint canning jars and can spoon out enough for flavor and not compromise my intent not to drink glasses of alcoholic beverages this month.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 09:42 PM

As far as I can tell, every gas station between here and my office is out of gas. I should have filled up this morning. Topped it off, to be more accurate, but it is projected we have about five days before gas gets out to the stations again (until after the Labor Day holiday), so conserving what each of us has is going to be the name of the game for a while. And the prices are going way up.

Looks like a quiet weekend around the house, keeping the fuel in the SUV for essential travel. Good thing I have a lot to do around here.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 17 - 10:53 PM

Texas is a hot mess, no need to spell that out. Up here we were spared the storm - we were teased with lots of small, hard downpours from the fringe of the hurricane for a couple of days and then it retreated, and now Louisiana is getting the brunt of Harvey.

Gas prices are going to go up for a while, and I imagine the thrift store climate is going to change drastically. Sometimes people donate stuff that isn't needed and I suspect it ends up in the thrift stores if the rescue groups can't use it. It's better to donate cash to reputable charities at this point. Food is probably also going to be more expensive because so much of what we shop for comes through the port in Houston. My freezer is packed full, so I'll make a point to draw it down for a while.

I'm taking a few days off to work around the house, finish up some things on my list of projects I wanted to complete this summer, and my daughter and I will celebrate our birthdays (they are a week apart) with a lunch somewhere and maybe an activity.

Everything is incredibly unsettled right now. Being resourceful and flexible are important. The worst of the damage is several hours' drive south of here, but as people move out of the affected area, I will plan to find someplace to volunteer. I start tutoring in October, but that is one evening a week. This is twelve years to the day since Katrina hit. One of my dogs is was a big pup adopted from a local shelter on a "half-price" sale so they could make room to bring the Katrina rescue animals in. The same thing will happen again this fall.

So much to consider.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 Aug 17 - 09:10 PM

Mill:

Came down on Weds, stopped by Farmers Market and stocked up on good veggies. Did a glaze firing with what was left over from last time. ook the car for oil change and look-see. Nothing major EXCEPT the gear shift- it has been hard to get into reverse for months. Even the mechanic had trouble. They tell me nothing can be done - not even something expensive? I feel as though I am hearing for a new car! UGH! It is discomforting to wonder if I will get into a spot that I cannot back out of! R has no trouble at all!

The weekend of the Chateauguay Valley Antiques Association EVENT! Went on Thurs and claimed a lovely spot under trees. Weekend of hearing music from the nearby tent, where people sat on hay bales or brought their own. Antique everything -cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, trucks, people... Best weekend of the year - and NO rain! Sold enough pots to have 3 boxes left over when Geri and I packed up on Sun! More are put aside to take to a shop in Ontario and tomorrow I will stop at a shop on the way to Montreal and let Mary choose.

Then I will leave some here, on the shelves in the studio - a sampling. The rest - arrange a show space at Beaver. NO more shows - too much work. I am totaled today. Oops. Spent the eve on internet instead of assessing glaze materials to see what is needed. I am gearing down but not quitting. Plan to do open house sort of thing at both Mill and Beaver in October or November - before snow.

Glad to see that Mag is OK so far, and prepared! Charmion is slowly digging herself out! Nice to hear from Michelle - wow! a new freezer - may well save on the electric bill!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Aug 17 - 09:23 AM

I have been reading about Hurricane Harvey in the Globe & Mail and the New York Times, thinking about Maggie and grateful that weather problems in the parts of Canada where I have lived most of my life tend to be manageable with a shovel and the patience to wait for spring.

Here in Perth County, the weather is beautiful, the landscape is bountiful, and living is easy. I have eaten fresh corn on the cob every Saturday (after farmers' market) since we got here, and the fruit bowl is brimming with peaches just coming ripe. The other day, we had our first dinner guests, a local lawyer and her son, and managed to put on a decent feed despite the limitations of the kitchen and the fact that two thirds of our cooking equipment and all our stemware are still in boxes in the garage. The cats are happy, alternating between long lap sits and flinging themselves around the house with a fine, free, careless rapture.

We have four bookcases coming from IKEA (due in two weeks), but we will need more. We left five ceiling-height bookcases behind at the house we sold, fearing that they would fall apart if moved again, so after the move we had less than half the shelf space we had in Ottawa. Five 90-cm bookcases, each with seven shelves, adds up to a shortfall of almost 32 metres of shelving! That's a lot of books that we can't unpack for way too long.

But we have now installed the basement shelving, a task that involved moving many, many, unfinished pine shelves and posts out of the garage and down the basement stairs, where Himself spent at least two days with a crescent wrench in his hand. Yesterday, I worked myself to a frazzle hauling their contents out of the garage and down to the basement, asking myself with each container, "Exactly why do we still have this?" The exception was the large collection of CDs, which I packed into specially designed plastic boxes -- 13 of them -- after ripping their contents to our iTunes library. If I parted with those, it's entirely possible that Himself would divorce me.

Then I spent all of Sunday evening rounding up three weeks' accumulation of recyclables, ending up with ten huge bags of recyclable paper (almost all of it packing material), and our two city-approved recycling boxes brimming with bottles, cans, milk cartons, and those clamshell things too many foods come in these days. That done, it was time for the actual trash, which came to three huge bags. Stratford has a pay-as-you-waste trash system, and I'm already out of bag tags.

So I can now see large stretches of garage wall and almost half the garage floor.

Sur avec la guerre, as they don't say in France.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Aug 17 - 12:13 PM

Michelle, if you HAD moved down here I'd have been one of your first visitors from Texas! And if you do ever change your mind, consider this a stopping point on the way there.

San Antonio and Austin are getting really wet right now. And that storm is about four counties south of us - a 90 minute drive. Waves of heavy rain are passing over the house this morning (another one just started as I opened this thread.) Austin and San Antonio have a 100% chance of rain, San Antonio showing they have about 1 inch of rain so far today. Rockport, Texas, where it landed has had 2.7 inches so far today, with severe thunderstorms predicted this afternoon.

On Friday I was able to clear the grass out of all of the driveway cracks and trim along the curb at the street, but the lawn is still tall and getting taller, I haven't had a chance to mow. In weeks. My neighbors are retirees and have more of the week to choose from for mowing. I refuse to pay someone to mow my yard - I need the exercise, but if I haven't had a chance in the next couple of days I could have the guy who mows next door take a pass through my front yard as well.

Keeping all of the devices charged. If the creek rises to the house I'll load up the dogs and essentials and head up the hill to a friend's house. *Note to self - remember the dog food.*

I did two more batches of jelly yesterday. I just about ran out of jelly jars. That doesn't happen often. I need to send out notes to friends to return empty jars if they still have them.

Adverse times help you see your own resources and resourcefulness, but there is difficult, and then there is impossible. A friend in Houston has plans to put garden tools in her attic so she and her mother can punch a hole out to get on the roof if necessary. I'm lucky to be as far north as I am - we are likely to see flooding in this area, but hopefully this storm will begin to dissipate soon. I filled up the SUV gas tank on Friday, I'll make sure the back seat has the dog liner in place in case we need to depart. And if water starts to rise in the yard (it's a long yard - we'll see it coming) I'll move the furniture from the den up a few inches to the rest of the house. Fingers crossed I don't need to use the flood insurance.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 27 Aug 17 - 11:19 AM

Hooray for a day at home! :)

First and foremost, I'm glad to see from you Maggie. Hoping you will fare well in the storms....we are watching from here. I don't think I told you but Pete's lab has moved and are now currently located in Austen. We were given the opportunity to move along with the lab but opted to stay put. At this moment in time, we are most thankful for NOT being in Texas!

I am spending the day getting ready for our work week and Jeremiah's first week back to school.

Keep us posted Maggie.

Much love to everybody!

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Aug 17 - 09:40 AM

Several cases of canning jars are running through the dishwasher now. It begins . . .

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 17 - 09:42 PM

Thanks! It's looking like a very wet weekend, at the very least. And this slow moving storm is going to dig a trench through the Southeast for the next week, they say. Our area has already had about 3x the "normal" rainfall this month and the creek was very high yesterday after a heavy downpour added an inch to the next door rain gauge. If we get another heavy rain it will push the water over the bridge and into the yards because of the saturated soil. And this was happening without a hurricane to the south.

I've cleared out and sorted stuff in my pantry shelves - canning jars get mixed up during the year, emptied, washed, then stuffed into an available box. And after a while you have half pints and pints mixed together and quart jars stuck in amongst the commercially canned goods. I only broke one jar this evening when I sorted it out (a plastic water bottle tipped over and pushed an empty pint off of the shelf. But the bottle of water is old and probably needs to be tossed anyway.)

Jelly this weekend.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Aug 17 - 05:55 PM

Stay safe, Acme.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Aug 17 - 10:46 AM

Today is spent as a vacation day, anchored by a pet to the vet appointment this afternoon. There's lots of other running to do to declutter the "to do" list that sits on my kitchen counter. I should re-write it for the new year and put it back on the fridge. I did manage to work through a number of the chores, big and small, when it was there in plain sight.

There is mowing, canning, eBaying, sewing. . . all meant to remove, consolidate, repair, restore, create, stuff around here. A hurricane blowing through the region adds a little drama to anything done today and tomorrow, but hopefully it's just rainfall here, not high winds. The soil locally is totally saturated from almost triple our normal August rainfall, so that rain from the edge could possibly cause local flooding. Something I will keep my eye on since I live on a creek. My system isn't perfect, but I have a bin with my most important records, and would load the dogs, the papers, the computer electronics that can quickly be loaded, and head up the hill.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Aug 17 - 12:57 PM

I can see the bedroom floor. Hallelujah!

But the six 4-cu boxes of office stuff that were cluttering the bedroom have merely migrated to the library, where they will continue to be clutter until I get my writing desk back from rehab, and convert the computer to wireless operations so I can move the computer desk out of the bedroom. Roll on that day; I hate the piercing little blue lights that blink all night from the CPU and the modem/router.

More Billy bookcases have been ordered from IKEA, but they will not arrive until 12 September. Until then, I must endure the continued presence of the many, many boxes of books that are still stacked up in the garage.

Himself went a little mad yesterday when he booked tickets for the Stratford Festival's hit production of "The School for Scandal". He clicked the "buy" button thinking that the rather high price was for both tickets, but no! -- it was the price per each! For a matinée! The final sum, including taxes, is by far the most we have ever spent on an evening at the theatre, even on Broadway, so those seats had better be the best in the house. I expect to be in the Royal Box, at least.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 20 Aug 17 - 09:04 PM

Oh! Yes! Freezers! Our outside freezer is on it's last legs so we cleaned out a corner of the kitchen which was stacked with God only knows what and why it was there...it was kind of a catch all space and now there sits a lovely new freezer, one that I'd like to add is all organized! The freezer that is part of the fridge is yet to be decluttered and organized but we are slowly using up what is in there and then it is my hope to have 2 weeks worth of meat and veggies in there to just grab and go during our busy week....no more digging and especially no more digging in the freezer outside in the dark, rain or cold...YAY!

:) Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Aug 17 - 09:03 PM

Beaver:
Love to hear the progress at Charmion's! The room colours do sound horrific! It is amazing in it not the way we must arrange to do this so we can do that so we can... I am so glad to have Dan working away on things. I would like to be able to get house in order in my lifetime.

Maggie: screen house 10x10 is out behind the sheds on the edge of the beaver pond - for listening to pond sounds and hopes of seeing a bit of wildlife - beyond frogs! Also can be a summer guest house. And R's library 10x10 is up the hill a bit, about 50 feet from the house, in front of our wonderful outhouse. R has MANY books and this will have floor to ceiling and wall to wall shelves other than the glass door and the beautiful stained glass window, and the antique sewing machine which I was threatening to sell because I need storage space in the BR! we have not added anything to our little - pale yellow inside and out - house. We have done things in such a manner that we do not need permits. So, the studio is close to but separate from the house and now has its own walkway to its own deck which worked very well last week as I moved pots up and down on a baker's rack - to the kiln, back on the rack to the glazing area/deck and then back to the kiln, then packed into boxes, or, because not all fired, some still on rack.

So, I can walk out the back door on to an enlarged deck but mostly full of firewood - that was not used last winter due to broken ankle but will be there for this winter. The tool room/shed is attached to the house but only accessible from the deck. There is a walkway from that deck along the entry side of the studio to the newer 10x16 deck where the kiln garage is located against the end of the studio. A fair weather proposition, I can glaze out there as well. From that deck, it is about 30 feet to the back sheds, now well organized for storage and possible work space for larger tools. Backing up against the back-back shed is the screen house, hopefully to be completed this week, which I am very much looking forward to so I can sit in comfort outdoors, for a bit longer! It will have a lounge chair and swing chair hanging from the ceiling,a small storage cabinet, ... a solid roof with one translucent panel. I will, when energy appears, build a narrow board walk from the deck to the screen house so we can get there, and the sheds, without wet feet; there is often a few inches of water on the ground!

Unfortunately, on Friday I was bereft of energy and most non-essential activity has ceased. I am heading back to Keto diet but had only one small meal on F,S and 3 very small ones today. After a frantic call to Connie/health consultant on Friday, I am trying to only eat what the pendulum allows, and very little of that, sticking to only eating in one 12 hour period and not the other. And ignoring the hunger pangs.

During this, I did go on a great garden tour on Saturday to 5 wonderful local organic gardens, mainly veggies. Sharing ideas and comments with about a dozen terrific people helped my mental health. Having to accept help getting back up a hill did not, but it was the better part of valour.

I hoped today would be a potting day but NO energy and only a bit of decluttering/organizing happened in tiny spurts as the energy arose - and then disappeared. Maybe tomorrow?



Today, I picked the mature wax beans, about a quart. Will take them with me to Quebec this week. I shall be glad when they are done and I can pull them. I planted too closely and there are carrots growing in the under-story! The lettuce, not having been picked during this malaise, has bolted and I shall just let some of it go to seed. The zukes have not done much but, the beauty of a garden tour, others have had similar garden troubles this year.

The dahlia just started to bloom! And the pepper and tomato plants are looking happier but there is little time left for them unless we have a late frost.

Well, that is my treatise. I see I have repeated myself but too tired to edit. I am off to Quebec on Weds.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 20 Aug 17 - 08:54 PM

Recently I have been involved in helping someone move and I have joined a local declutter group which is kind of fun with weekly challenges. With my current schedule, I don't have much time to devote to big chunks of time to declutter but I am slowly moving forward and seeing progress. My group is motivating but more so, the moving adventure....seeing purging actively happening and beautiful spaces occurring. I decided to start in our bedroom as it seems to be the most neglected...after all, we just sleep there...we don't use our bedroom for any other reason. Most recently I hauled out three 55 gallon sized bags of clothing. Buh bye. My closet is looking better...still a long way to go.

I did do some decluttering in the bathroom too but mostly it was organizing, changing up the shower curtain/rod with new curtains and towels. It makes it feel brand new. I'm hoping for a new floor in there by Christmas.

My Love to All,

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Aug 17 - 02:14 PM

Some extra stuff is coming out of the freezers. I put in grains, pasta, various things that might grow weevils if they were simply put into a cupboard, so they get a good long freeze. Those can go on the shelf now. I'm also pulling out a ham hock, a bunch of chopped onions and peppers and tomatoes, a pound of beef to grind, and am going to make a double-size batch of beans to jar and freeze to take for lunches. I'll make a batch of rice this evening and keep it ready so the padded lunch bag can hold a 12-ounce jar of frozen beans, a container of rice, some fruit, and maybe some nuts for lunch and to tide me over for snacks.

Laundry is underway, including some area rugs. The big trash bin is lined with a bag to receive dust and dog hair out of the Shark vacuum for the trash tomorrow, and the kitchen table will be cleared so I can take time to sit down to eat breakfast, not just stand at the kitchen counter. The school year is ready to start, and it's more than students who have to prepare for it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Aug 17 - 10:53 AM

This morning I modified that case - the handle was bulky, I took it off and added a piece of nylon webbing to hold the case closed. And though fall isn't here yet, as mentioned above, the new semester is, which is just about the same thing. It's good to be sewing.

My yard is ankle deep after a week of heavy rains. Time to get a workout with the mower.

I think we'll have no more rain till after Monday's solar eclipse - hopefully we won't have clouds either. Anyone else planning to step outside and see at least the partial eclipse? Are any of our readership in the path of the full eclipse?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Aug 17 - 01:13 AM

Sounds like time to start painting. Our bedrooms are in shades of blue, picked by each occupant and painted by us ourselves when we moved in in 2002. It felt liberating to paint our rooms.

Is there a nude furniture store in your new town? They will have furniture made of real wood, not press-board or MDF, and you can paint or finish them yourselves. That's what I have in my office. Shelves that are proportioned right and are sturdy enough that even after 15 years of books there are no sagging shelves (like will happen with Ikea shelves after a while).

I finished one sewing project tonight, made of fabric remnants and a nylon grip/handle from an old pack (I think). The resulting item is a sleeve for a Amazon Fire tablet for my next door neighbor. When her house was recently on the market (for all of a week) someone who went through stole her Kindle that was in a bookshelf in the living room. Her son sent a new Fire HD, and it needs a case because it is kind of slick. I bought the same tablet on Prime Day and had already made a case for myself (and one for a friend with a smaller Kindle who wanted something more streamlined for when she was travelling). All three of these are made from an upholstery swatch. As small as these projects are, it's nice on occasion to sit down and make something useful.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Aug 17 - 08:56 PM

The floors are finished. Hallelujah! Silence reigns.

Glendon Road is just too far from groceries, the gym and the hardware store for shopping on foot. Downtown is full of chi-chi restaurants, gourmet food shops, art galleries and emporia selling tourist traps and high-end clothing for ladies and gents, but if you want a three-pound bag of oranges, a dozen perfectly ordinary eggs and box of All-Bran, you have to go to the huge shopping centre on the edge of town, where Staples and Canadian Tire are also to be found. And of course, Stratford has no allergist (he's in Kitchener), no Volkswagen dealer and no Apple Store. So today, we bought a second car, primarily for Edmund's use -- certainly, to his taste. It's a Kia Soul, a boxy Korean runabout with a fire-engine red paint job. I hadn't intended to increase our carbon footprint by a whole extra car with this move, but if we have only one I will basically never get to the gym. So as of next Wednesday, we will be a two-car family again.

So I have to get busy on unpacking the books so we can put those two cars in the damn' garage, where the 2-cubic-foot boxes are stacked chest high. But before I can do that, we need bookcases to put them in. And before the bookcases go into the library, its briefcase-brown and putty-grey walls need a serious paint job. I can't remember the last time I saw a house with such dire bedrooms. Edmund's office is a Pepto-Bismol pink as of now, with a greyish mauve in the closet, and the guest room is gun-metal grey. I ask you, who does that? A grey bedroom? I'd cut my throat by February if I had to spend the winter in a grey bedroom.

But every painter in Stratford is working flat out right now. I must join the queue.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Aug 17 - 11:04 AM

The semester starts next week, plans are laid for getting to work way early, before the traffic jam of students trying to park in faculty lots to be close to their classrooms. Must have lunch materials ready, and breakfast set to eat then run out the door. Leave before light, pass by the school zones of public schools before they start blinking, and consequently the work day ends in the middle of the afternoon. Time left for gardening, canning, other activities (because it is still summer, even though the school year typically serves as the beginning of fall).

I have a lot of stuff in my freezer that I need to start using. Or learn how to use. I'm not eating wheat these days, but I have alternative flours and grains I've picked up at my favorite discount grocery and brought home to the freezer. Time to learn to bake with these alternative grain, corn, rice, potato, and bean blends.

Time to make more jelly. I have some of this year's juice in the freezer, some is already made into jelly, and some is awaiting processing in the fridge. Sugar and canning lids are on my shopping list.

Time also do to some sewing projects. . . . in other words, there is indoor stuff to do and it is finally beginning to look like time to do it.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Aug 17 - 09:46 AM

The next visitor to the house after housies cleared out said, despite my not having cleared up before she came: "It doesn't look all cluttered any more."

Yaaaayyyy!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 02:19 PM

Housie did pay billed overage costs, yay!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 09:07 AM

Flooring is almost finished, and it looks great. Today, the last ten feet of hallway and two small closets get floored, and all the quarter-round will be installed upstairs. Basement was done last week.

The cats are now in residence, and Watson is settling in well. Isobel is still skittish and tense, spending much of her time under the bed or the sofa. Their baskets and feeding station are in the basement until the stampage of workboots and pneumatic hammers is over, and right now they are locked down in their bunker until the flooring crew finishes for the day.

All cooking is a darned nuisance while we adjust to less than half the work surface we are accustomed to. Laundry takes place in what I have decided to call the "laundry hole", a corner of the basement that has been closed off from the main hanging-out area. Drip-dry clothes have to do their dripping and drying in the second-best bathroom or on a folding rack in the bedroom; the laundry hole is just barely big enough for the washer and dryer, and a crappy old shelving unit where all the cleaning materials are currently stowed.

Repairs on some of our battered old furniture are well under way, as the Mennonite communities around Stratford are full of people who build and fix furniture, so the skills are fairly thick on the ground around here. The time to get all this done is now, while everything is all of a chaotic doo-dah; once a bookcase or a desk goes into service, all loaded with stationery and pens and books and work-related doohickeys, it takes a major system failure to get it out of commission again.

The next thing to do is buy some new IKEA bookcases, not the easiest project as the nearest IKEA store is in Vaughan, some 90 minutes away on the 401. Kitchener has an order centre, but even that is a substantial expedition; the round trip is about 75 km. The IKEA bookcases we brought with us are comparatively new, but some of them required major re-assembly. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate chipboard construction? Give me honest wood every time.

Himself just went downtown to visit the Legal Aid office in search of information about getting on the Perth County panel and earning some dosh. Apparently, despite its bucolic charms, Perth County has plenty of the problems associated with despair and isolation; right now, crystal meth is a Big Thing.

Bell Canada's internet service is DSL only, which sucks if you're accustomed to fibre-optic broadband, so I'm on the hunt for something better. I also have to book an appointment with the allergy doc in Kitchener for my magic needle. Consequently, I have to find a quiet spot (hah!) in which to get on the phone and stay there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Aug 17 - 08:29 AM

It's safer that way, Don. There comes a time for all of us when we need to call professionals for taking out trees or for getting up on the roof. Good luck with the project!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Donuel
Date: 15 Aug 17 - 09:04 PM

Well the time has arrived. Without kid help I will call on professional tree and debris removal crews for the back yard.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Aug 17 - 08:29 PM

This evening I helped my next door neighbor set up her new Kindle Fire, sent by her son after her older Kindle disappeared from the house during the week it was being shown by Realtors. I think the cartoon probably appeared in The New Yorker that showed a huge bank of empty book shelves and at the bottom in the corner one slim Kindle tablet. She's moving to a retirement apartment to be nearer her son and his family; I have enjoyed being her neighbor for the last 15 years. She'll have to rely on her son to set up the computer and wifi from now on. (Her computer wasn't connecting yesterday, and I couldn't get my phone to connect to her Internet, but the wifi was working - turns out Charter's call center folks figured out she didn't plug in the cables correctly from the modem to the router last time she tried resetting it. I should have figured that one out.)

I have a lot to do, but I think this evening I'll kick back and do nothing. May even go to bed early and read.