Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just agreed: insulate roof next year.

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

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

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

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

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

We have a list ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good thing I am retired!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wow, Charmian, you must like wine!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope all is well with everyone!

Michelle

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

Montreal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Michelle,

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

Dorothy,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

rags

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

rags

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

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

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

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

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

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

Montreal:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Montreal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On with the show. This is it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Montreal

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

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

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

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

Oh, Dorothy! How awful!

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

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

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

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

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

Oy, veh.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Linn

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

Montreal ---INDEFINiTELY! Phooey.

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

Now to find someone to empty the mailbox.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Montreal:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dorothy, how are you faring?

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

Montreal:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good job!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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