Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: LilyFestre
Date: 22 May 18 - 05:54 PM

Two more projects completed and more room made available in my sewing room! I completed a queen sized topper and my first real bag of any substance. It's lined with pockets and a durable handle. I like the name of the pattern almost as much as I like the actual bag! It's called the Chubby Charmer...LOL. I love it! Both projects were completed at a weekend retreat that I went to with my Mom. We had a great time with our sewing friends and a night out that was hysterical and will be remembered for a long time.

Then yesterday my mom had surgery. She is doing well but it's been draining. Tonight is the first night I am spending at home, in my own bed, since Friday. There's no place like home!

While decluttering is slow going around here, I was able to go to the retreat without overpacking which was WONDERFUL. So much less to pack, unpack, keep track of, repack for home and unpack once again when I got home. Others made comments about how little I brought as everyone brings SO MUCH (I think we all overestimate just how much we can get done in 72 hours) but it all worked out just fine for me.

Michelle

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 May 18 - 09:21 PM

I called Oncor this evening after work, thinking they'd send someone tomorrow to look at the branch on the line, but the tech was here within 30 minutes. And though he initially was going to write this up to do at a later time during work hours, he evidently changed his mind and came back and told me he'd have a crew over here tonight. In the dark. Cutting limbs from this tree. Ugg. I should have waited till morning.

Speaking of decluttering, this evening I got out the grooming tools to start getting the undercoat off of the dogs. I owned but hadn't previously used the pet shedding blade, but on Poppy it does an amazing job of pulling out that fluffy coat. So far I can't get Zeke (the lab retriever) to stand still for more than a pass or two, but the Furminator works well on him. As it gets hotter they're uncomfortable, so I need to get this off of them now. I'm collecting a lot of the hair in a grocery bag so it doesn't blow all over the yard. Last time I brushed her outside and let the hair blow it looked likes something had been killed and eaten back there. :-/

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 May 18 - 10:21 PM

By my rough count, I've been working on 96 gallons of laundry-- the equivalent of the city trash bin. I have now finished sorting it by color/weight (the darks waited until tonight), and there are 9 loads left to do.

I continue to find strange things.... precious towels used with care, ruined. A sheet I have used and wanted to use as a curtain, ripped. A fleece blanket I don't recognize but I believe is big enough for the twin bed, so I'll wash it. A men's towel they left. Unbelievably weird. :-(

Goal: Make up guest bed with Cameryn on Friday, then use it to stack/sort folded, clean linens as they come out of the dryer.

The Council on Aging help is moving towards scheduling. :-) The security system, scheduled for arrival today, did not arrive. :-( The detective emailed that the prosecutor's office has approved the charges and that they'll be finalized 'after his vacation ends' (May 29). :-(

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 18 - 12:13 AM

The guys finished trimming around 11pm but another crew will be back in the morning to do something more. Why they all couldn't wait till daylight is a head-scratcher.

I met the tree-service crew at the curb and as they started to cut diagonally across that part of the yard I caught their attention and pointed straight to the driveway. "Walk there. Only." And as they headed up the driveway I pointed out that where they had initially planned to walk was the vegetable garden. "Tomatoes. Jalapeños. Potatoes. Calabasas." Someone chuckled. We gardeners are fussy about this kind of thing. Even with a language barrier, the names of the plants indicated the importance of that plot.

I generally understand more Spanish than I can speak, I think this crew might be speaking a Mexican indigenous language, but also understand Spanish. And I find this totally fascinating.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 18 - 12:17 PM

The tree job is finished - as far as the tree service is concerned. I have a large stack of branches to haul to the curb in three weeks when my neighborhood's bulky waste pickup time happens. As they waited at the curb for instructions for the next job I took out bottles of water and they looked at a large cactus I have there - asked about the napolitos. I retrieved several bags and invited them to take what they wanted - the most tender new pads. And we looked at the garden a little. They've headed out to the next job, and hopefully the cactus pads will not be trampled during the day so they can go in the dinner table tonight.

They missed hitting the clothesline with the huge branch so I'll run the lines back over to the post I disengaged them from. There will be a lot more sun back there for a while, speeding any clothes drying. I'll have to hire a friend to come in and finish trimming some of the trees that were damaged in this work, and take out one entirely. The crew was contracted by the power supplier so they have set rules on how far back to go or how many trees to cut.

My garden has also gotten attention this morning—so far I've planted basil and chard, the rest is going in after lunch.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 May 18 - 03:54 PM

Ohio:

The security system is here but I can't set it up without help. I'm hoping Hardi via fone, plus me, plus stepladder can manage it because I don't trust anyone else to know our system via "helping".

I catalogued another Topic Kit in the LL-- one of the bigger ones. Next time, big groups get divided up!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 May 18 - 05:25 PM

Ohio!!!

Help with house starts next Wednesday at 2! Two hours/week!!! Free!!! ;-)

Wednesdays are also trash day!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 18 - 05:30 PM

It's hot today so I'm spending a few minutes in the garden then cooling indoors. I found my sprinkler that is mounted to go on a metal fencepost and have a post and mallet to put it in place. Next comes setting up the timer for the sprinkler system and determining how hard the water has to run, how long, and how often. Do I want to start dragging furniture around as well? There is a piece that is going to get wet if I don't move it, though I wouldn't mind if it gets wet if it was in an easier spot to use when I want to use it.

Finally, I need to put the 50/50 tarp up on the back patio cover to keep the sun from beating on the back window.

The lawn needs mowing, but I don't have that on my list for today. I will start dragging branches out to the street, though. Tomorrow is trash day and I can fill a trash can with some just to get started on that big project.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 18 - 07:43 PM

I planted a dozen or so of my crops started from seed, and now begins the sprinkler dance. Until I figure out where the best placement is for some I'll leave out for the season (and run on an automated timer), I'll be dragging the oscillating sprinkler up and down the driveway. I place bricks or concrete blocks at the just-right spot so I can place the sprinkler perfectly each time. This year it will involve a bird bath and a concrete block for two positions on the long side of the garden and bricks and a big chunk of limestone beside the house.

If I were to keep close records, it would be less expensive to buy produce at a farmer's market, but I get such a kick out of growing my own vegetables.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 May 18 - 08:29 PM

Beaver:

YAY! Dan comes tomorrow - raised beds for raspberries! Move other kiln to electric outlet and see if it works OR what it needs to get working. It is a brand with which I am very familiar. No word from supplier re the "foreign" kiln. And maybe Dan can do a few other things.

Today was a day of rest - again! But the week's dishes are cleared up! Hoping for energy tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 May 18 - 10:00 AM

Ohio:

Slippery hand-held shower handle, solved-- re-usable latex gloves' thumb and fingers fit just right. Used leftover fingers on slippery backscrubber. BOOM!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 May 18 - 12:55 PM

Ohio:

Another Topic Kit catalogued.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 May 18 - 08:24 PM

Beaver:

Lots of pottery work accomplished!

Hoping Charmion's drapes save - lots!! - on heating and cooling costs! But it sounds as though they were very necessary.

Good neighbours are treasures! So Dan went to the locally owned and operated lumber yard for the cedar for raised beds. He came back asking me not to "get mad". Explained: Lou was there and said, "no charge" and "this is not bribery; she's a good neighbour." And "it's pretty wet down there; could she use some top soil. We sometimes have to leave a truck load behind... No promises..." Dan said that would be really helpful... I have been, rationally, supportive of the gravel pit the company wants to develop: it means jobs for our area of high unemployment and I trust Lou to do it as environmentally as possible. Robin has studied it and concurs. Oh, Lou would also like to buy this property when I am finished with it - so he can continue to have good neighbours! I already gave him the dickens the last time he did a "no charge" so I have decided to be graciously thankful but told Dan I do not want the neighbours to know. They might see it differently. I really like and trust Lou - almost 30 years now. One of my best friends works for the company - partly because I told him I thought they were OK- almost 30 years ago - and he has never looked back! that bit of lumber - chicken feed to Lou. Raspberry beds to me.

Hoping tomorrow will be productive in the studio! And the yard!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 May 18 - 09:06 PM

Next week we enter the triple digits temperature-wise, so I must have everything planted and well-mulched by then. We have a long weekend in the U.S. (Monday is the observed Memorial Day) and I'm off tomorrow for a mix of gardening and business appointments. This evening I took a syringe and a mix of 50/50 Bt and water and injected it into stems on the squash, hoping to kill off any squash vine borers that might try to get inside and established; they turn the stem to mush so one day you have a healthy plant and the next it is a heap of wilted leaves beyond help. I planted seeds for both zucchini and yellow squash, but it looks like only the zucchini came up.

I tried spraying vinegar on the Bermuda grass, but it barely puts a dent in it. The thing that kills it is boiling water so I'll plan a routine of pouring water along the lines of grass, keeping the heat well away from the plants I want.

After last weekend's big haul to Goodwill's donation drop-off station I'm inspired to find more to take over this weekend. I will report once I figure out what the contents of that haul might be.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 May 18 - 09:10 AM

Ohio:

Friday 5/25

FABULOUS and long decision-making chat last night with partner Hardi!!! Up late after that and long aftn nap, so I did the dishes. Then hungry so 2nd supper. Then slept hard without audiobook til 5, finished audiobook and up at 6. Downloaded new audiobook and tweaked lamp setup in LL-- suddenly the Library's mine again. Time to add rug if not too nastified.

Goals today-- an hour w Camryn and setting up motion sensors plus keypad for new security system. There are significant tech challenges the provider's customer service peeps will have to work hard to help us resolve.

For Cameryn-- help make up guest bed; quals on weeding; eject house accumulation of cardboard boxes to garage; turn off 2 circuit breakers; if lawn svc whacks patio weeds before C arrives, then maybe lasagna the weeds with cardboard (or book for short stint tmrw if timing necessitates).

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 May 18 - 11:35 AM

Dishes have crept into the kitchen sink and papers piled up in my office and kitchen table—these are both a result of the invitation of open horizontal surfaces to set things down. It's near the end of the month so a combination of shredding and filing will resolve the paper problem, and though I typically use the dishwasher only to dry sink-washed dishes, I'll load it and run it tonight.

This week's stack of branches and chunks of the limb await our neighborhood's bulky waste pickup in early June. The village doesn't like us piling up stuff earlier than the weekend before pickup.

Susan, I'm rethinking my security setup after the mystery of The dogs that didn't bark in the day. :) They didn't show their faces while a stranger to them walked up the driveway and into the garage, pushed the button to shut the door then quickly stepped out under the moving door. While he was talking to me on the phone.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 May 18 - 11:53 AM

Acme, YES.

First components just installed with a variety of foam tape I'm not impressed with. The keypad in particular needs a whole package of it. Hardi will need to screw that to the wall.

Weeds whacked. Cameryn will run into strike 2 of the 3-strike program if he stands me up.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 May 18 - 05:27 PM

Ohio:

Big day in Hintonville-- car traded in for new (gently used) boondockable, scooter/bike/dog-totin' minivan in PA and rudimenrary setup of house alarm completed in Ohio. In time to meet for dinner Tuesday night, along his route to visit his Chicago-area mom. We sleep now!

~s~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 May 18 - 10:07 PM

Beaver:

First Raspberry bed is built and filled with soil!! Tomorrow I do planting of one set of 10. May plant carrots in the interstices. First Farmers Market tomorrow; hoping for cabbage plants and whatever else suits my fancy. Then plant and pot-- or pot and plant - pots can be drying while I plant.

Art show opening this aft for dear Arne Roosman; he tells me he needs more of "those pills" to keep his fingers from getting stiff! "Those pills" (Ortho Minerals) are ordered!!!! His new show is amazing! All his work is amazing!!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 May 18 - 09:55 AM

The forecast is even more dire this morning - temperatures upwards of 107^o by the end of May - so I must finish mulching in all of my tender garden plants. Since there are so many new limbs down in the back yard I'll use some of those (running through a small electric chipper). I like the lighter hardwood mulch because it makes it easier to see where the small plants are in the garden when I'm hand watering. Once they grow it's not an issue, but for the rest of the garden I use a very dark mulch that I pick up free from the city (it's also coarser). The urgency of this task means it must come first, then the others fall in as time allows (or as I come in to cool down for a few minutes at a time).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 May 18 - 03:30 PM

Ohio:

It was gratifying to learn, when I got up this morning, that the security system chirps as soon as you cross a motion sensor. That should give pause to anyone intruding! It also chirps out your exit interval after you arm the system, with a warning flurry of chirps just before it would sound the alarm.

Slept about 6 hours last night, and surprised it wasn't longer but the early morning light, right in my eye, was too bright. Nice not to over-listen to house/squirrel noises when dropping off to sleep.

I'm removing the security system yard sign because: "Would you be concerned that your alarm system could be compromised easily by a relatively unskilled burglar with a device that costs less than three hundred dollars? Even more to the point: would you want to advertise to thieves that you had a system that could be easily defeated?

"Remember that every time you put one of those stickers on your doors or windows, or a sign in your front yard that tells an intruder what kind of alarm system you have installed, it also tells them that it can potentially be circumvented.

"When you are buying an alarm system to protect your family, your home, and your assets, you need to be aware of fundamental security vulnerabilities, because inherent in the term “security system” is the concept of SECURITY."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcwebertobias/2015/01/29/this-popular-wireless-alarm-system-can-be-hacked-with-a-magnet-and-scotch-tape/


The last of the light-colored wash is in the dryer-- the weather has not saturated the ground in the last week so I'm pushing the drain lines. Since I don't use TP....

The last of the cozy fleeces is in the wash-- I'm sitting now under a CLEAN one still warm from the dryer. There are several of which there are duplicates-- Horde dirt or PA dirt, it's all going down the drain without me needing to know which are which, at least for fleece.

Next up (probably not starting today) are 5-8 loads of darks, all Horde dirt.

Some items' stains have not come out, so after these Horde loads are all done I'll evaluate whether we need to replace any via Goodwill.

The kitchen is gradually getting close to Normal Mode.

To stop that bright morning light from sneaking around the edge of the nearest bedside curtain, I've now inserted a push-pin in just the right place. And reconfigured the bedside array of lamp/charger cords back to Normal Mode.

I'm looking forward to next week-- rendezvous with Hardi for Tuesday evening supper upstate, then the free housecleaner starting Wednesday. And I think I found a new handyman for the heavy lifting, to recruit on Friday.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 May 18 - 04:12 PM

Earlier today a friend came over to help me move a couple of pieces of outdoor furniture, and now I'm working on the patio cover. It has reached the tipping point this spring, when the sun coming into the back windows is no longer a benefit to keeping the house a comfortable temperature. My 50/50 tarp is going up to shade the western side of the patio, and before I started that I replaced a 2x4 plank that had come off of the top edge of the patio cover. I'm having to rearrange the heavy duty cup hooks that the tarp grommets slip over holding the tarp in place.

I took the clotheslines down when the tree trimmers were here and it has been several years since I replaced those lines so I'll pick up a new length of it and restring those. And get new pins also. I need to mow back there before I hang laundry, and before that I have to replace the fuel line in my gas trimmer. So many repair and maintenance projects this weekend.

The gas barbecue grill is up and running (though I need to trim grass in the cracks around the brick part of the patio) and I'm thawing a chicken to grill to use for meals this weekend. Hard work today but it means the yard will be ready for the holiday.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 May 18 - 08:38 PM

Ohio:

The guestroom bed is now guest ready. A month to undo two months of damage-- it's still not vacuumed, but it's ours again. This will be a good option for a soft July landing to start Hardi's vacay, if I'm not able to resolve the king bed mattress issue by then-- which will require opening up the camper (and he may have to help me do that).

Until then, it makes a really nice jazz radio listening room!

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 18 - 09:43 AM

The last cup hook is in place to keep the shade tarp spread out to filter afternoon sunshine and this morning the string trimmer will extend the patio space by getting rid of the weeds coming up through cracks between bricks. I need to sweep (lots of matted dog hair from over the winter) and it's set. I saved the chicken to grill today after the bricks are clear (so I can keep the grill way far away from the hanging tarp.)

Yesterday I harvested this year's garlic, cutting off the long flower stems and leaving them in a bucket outside for now (they last a long time and are lovely in the house but I need to shake off any bugs); there is a large plastic tub with all of the garlic bulbs on their hard-neck stems. The elephant garlic I grow is actually a leek and it has corms that I leave a few in the ground for next year and save the rest for people who ask about planting their own garlic. The plant stems drip pure garlic juice and the house smells incredibly strong right now. Now that the garlic is out I'll put in cucumbers and more, once I decide what that might be.

New clothesline is going up today and the sheets will go up as the first line-dried laundry of the season. I don't generally hang work clothes out there because it is almost impossible to iron out creases and clothes as stiff as planks don't look so good at the office. The kids hated it when I line-dried towels, though giving them a little air fluff in the dryer helps. When it is air conditioning season I prefer line drying to running a box of hot air in the air conditioned house to dry my laundry.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 May 18 - 09:54 AM

Acme, towels dry well stretched flat across the foot of a bed in an AC bedroom. Bras dry well hung from doorknobs. Panties too (crotch shaped over doorknob). My HVAC dries anything hung in the doorway of an AC (or heated) room. I also use an over-door towel rack (with bars, not hooks) to dry other delicates.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 18 - 10:14 AM

I like the fresh air on the clothes, that's why I use the line. I have a curtain rod on the wall above the doorway into the laundry room with a bunch of plastic hangers on it so I can hang things up directly out of the dryer or if it needs to hang dry it can also go there. The kind of delicate clothing that must drip dry or lay flat to dry aren't put on the clothesline.

In for a cool-down and a drink of Gatorade. Moving pots (with no plants right now), dumping old potting soil into wheelbarrow to use to cover over the contents of two five-gallon compost buckets that reside next to the side door. These will be tipped into the big bin in back followed by a bucket of dog droppings over it to repel the dogs and nocturnal visitors to the yard.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 May 18 - 03:14 PM

Ohio:

Another Topic Kit catalogued, BOOM.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 May 18 - 10:04 PM

Ohio:

Dark-colored Horde wash is underway with continued tweaks to the Guest Room.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 18 - 11:10 PM

What a hot day today. I accomplished a fair amount but had to keep going back into the house to cool down and drink water or Gatorade. This evening I strung the new clotheslines and hung the first batch of bedding. At dusk I brought it in and ran it through air on the dryer because a couple of things were a little moist on the edges.

Tomorrow promises to be much the same.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 May 18 - 09:42 AM

Radio silence for the day, I think as far as social media. I get tired of so many individuals telling me how I should observe Memorial Day. My father, a veteran of WWII (Army, in Burma) died on Veteran's Day. My mother, a WWII veteran (WAC, in Japan) died on Memorial Day. Both of them gone about 20 years now. That pretty well covers it for me.

Time to go mow before it gets too hot out there.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 May 18 - 10:33 AM

(((Acme)))

Ohio:

In the LL, the boxes of VHS----> DVD conversions have been emptied and placed in their Topic Kits. The pillage now precludes sourcing copyright matters, and a statement to that effect can be added to the cases later. For a few, the purchased VHS remains with the copied DVD to demonstrate how items had been acquired/copied as new technology came along.

There had been careful separation of who funded what in this collection, to credit donors more accurately, but with all that happened I'll have to just insert a general note in all, regardless of source. I'll handle future acquisitions differently, as they come in!

The card table blocking easy access has been folded up for pending LR use as the dinette, until Hardi can swap in the round table during vacation.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 28 May 18 - 04:07 PM

Beaver:

Second raspberry bed complete and full of soil! There was exactly enough soil left over from last year's beds! And now a clear space where there was a mound!

Started out having a very good day and threw four plates before lunch time. That may have taken an hour but I did other things - like confer with Dan about next projects when he is available. I will plant the remaining raspberries when it is cooler. I would never survive Texas!

This is the first year that I am having fierce mosquitoes And black flies. I have had worse but I was younger then! Life is handled differently. I threw a few small pieces after lunch, while waving off mosquitoes, and gave out. Time for a hot bath and a rest. Hope! The mosquitoes have come indoors!

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 May 18 - 05:38 PM

Ohio:

The "last" load of Horde wash is going.

There were some more-'lightly-soiled' items I had to use anyway, which will just get washed in a normal rotation of changing out chair covers, towels, etc. THEN I hope the cigarette and perfume smells will be gone... except I'll need help from Hardi to rip out a room and hallway of befouled carpeting and padding. Sigh...

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 May 18 - 10:00 PM

It's funny how I think I'll be doing one thing during the day, only to find myself finally addressing some other thing that has been on my mind for a while. After mowing the back yard I sat on the patio cooling off and looking at the bricks I put down years ago to extend the hard surface from the concrete patio. The dogs have dug beside the bricks creating a hazard, and I recently found a bunch of the same size/style of bricks and dumped them at the back of the yard. I watered the area for a while then dug up soil and placed several square feet-worth of bricks. The extension still isn't a square, it's kind of "L" shaped, but it gives me a couple more square feet of walking and rolling my barbecue grill-space.

Then I mowed the front yard. I moved slowly to not overheat, and as it gets hotter the lawn is going to slow down and hopefully not need much attention during the height of summer. The vegetable garden is a different story and I will finish setting up sprinklers and hoses this week.

I'll plan to dry at least one load of laundry a week on the clothesline in the back yard. The new line looks good and I found a bag of new unused clothespins. The spares usually turn up after I buy a new batch. :-/

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 May 18 - 11:12 PM

Ohio:

That last load is now in the dryer. These were four big, heavy, cotton drapes; two panels per wash load but dried one panel at a time-- it's a 3/4 size stacking washer and dryer and wrinkles are not wanted!

According to the detergent bottle, which is empty now, Hordewash plus mine was 39 loads.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 29 May 18 - 09:26 AM

Yesterday's fitness tracker report says I almost doubled the daily steps that are my goal, and it says I slept for 9 hours overnight. I remember getting into bed but I must have been asleep before my head hit the pillow, and I feel like I could sleep for another nine hours.

I got a lot done yesterday. I'm out of Tylenol.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 May 18 - 10:46 AM

Ohio:

So.... the senior services housecleaner starts early tomorrow afternoon... and they don't bring their own equipment... and I'm dying to get the most trashed areas started in a weekly rotation until actual 'normal' cleaning can begin... bathroom, and deep-vacuuming carpeted traffic areas... and I'm on my way shortly for dinner w Hardi with an ear infection... when I realize... that... the length of black hose I've been seeing by the washer is NOT from the extraneous vac pieces the house's seller had left in 2014... no... it's the HOSE from the GOOD vac, cut off (!!!) .... by THE HORDE.

Who also used up/stole my numerous rolls of duct tape (in colors)! And the cleaner's arrival already meant skipping a restaurant breakfast with my honey at the ONE face visit we'll have during this... 3 month separation! Cuz we old and need our sleep!

Yeah I'm mad! Yeah it's going on the insurance claim! Because it's too late for Hardi to throw the spare shop vac into the van-- he's already on the road. But he's planning to grab duct tape at a fuel stop for me, TBTG! Perhaps while the cleaner de-shits the loo I can fix the vac hose, splicing with a paper towel roll... because there's less than 2" of hose left on the vac to reattach the rest of it. You know-- the hose that sends the dirt from the beater bar on the floor up into the vacuum cleaner's bag? The suction.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 29 May 18 - 11:45 AM

Is there a Goodwill or Salvation Army in your area? I always see a few vacuums in stock when I visit my stores. Maybe a working vac, or at least one with the same size hose so you can marry the two to have one working machine?

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 May 18 - 03:45 PM

The Ohio upright vac duplicates a better one in PA, where there are also 2 shop vacs. And I have a featherlight here. So I'm not willing to invest in anything but duct tape because the good PA vac (and/or the small wet/dry shop vac) can arrive in July.

Thanks though.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 May 18 - 10:11 PM

I realized this evening the the hall ceiling on one end, on one side, is slumping. I'm going to have to push it back into place and use drywall screws to re-attach it. Something for the weekend, I think. Good thing the light fixture is there to hold it up.

I intended to do a few things around here this evening, but I've run out of steam. There is a film I've been meaning to watch, that might be enough.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 30 May 18 - 08:00 AM

Now that most of the plants are up and blooming, it's time to start work on the garden.

On Sunday, Himself took a pruning saw to the wildly overgrown forsythia, cutting the whole thing down to knee level; I doubt that it had received any attention in this century, and most of the lower branches were dry and leafless. That done, my eye started roving over the Hungarian lilac beside the garage (two stories tall and half leafless), the Manitoba maple sprouting into the middle of a dogwood, and the profusion of nameless shrubbery masking the gas meter. I think I can deal with the shrubbery myself, but the five ratty-looking cedars and our four enormous maple trees are a different matter.

The cedars probably started out as ornamental shrubs but, after 20 years of neglect, they block too much sunlight from the garden and the house, and they just look overgrown, underfed and thirsty. The maples are beautiful, but two of them overhang our neighbour's house, making him nervous. "Don't you think they're a bit ... um, you know, big?" he asked the other day. We get major wind storms here, so I think he might have a point; if a big limb came down on his humble bungalow, it would be a big mess for him and an expensive liability for us. Also, whenever I look out the bathroom window, I note the scatter of leaves and twigs on his roof and wonder if his attic has been invaded yet by the resident squirrels. I often seen them scampering along his eavestrough.

So an arborist is booked for a house call next week. His website has lots of photos of him up in trees even bigger than ours, so he should be capable of easing the worries next door.

Speaking of the neighbour, he's planting lettuces in his garden -- right next to the cedar hedge that covers the entrance to what must be a major rabbit warren, judging from the bunny traffic across our deck last winter. If ol' Brad gets more than one salad for his efforts, I'll be very surprised.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 May 18 - 04:18 PM

Cleaner Brittany tackled the bathroom, gathered up all the trash, helped inventory supplies and equipment, and shared a few stories from the trenches about the local meth community-- the paranoid stuff that follows the high is from what it's currently laced with and yes, I should be concerned about retaliation. (She's protecting her four young sons from her family's recovering meth head.)

And no she does not get the alarm info or a key.

The Dirt Devil has been made functional again with duct tape to reattach the broken/cut hose and mortite to eliminate air leaking where it seats into the base. This will make it NOT work for attachments, but will return it to use on floors, after I get new bags.

The lightweight Bissell is missing one of its two filters. :-( So no vacuuming today. But she'll help me put the bookshelf together and move the pink double-recliner back where it goes.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Charmion
Date: 30 May 18 - 05:55 PM

My experience of burglar alarms and similar security measures is that the fewer people have a key and the password, the better. I like that old maxim about secrets: three can keep one if two of them are dead. Besides, Brittany the cleaner may be a saint, but the verdict is still out on that; until she's proven herself utterly trustworthy, you want to be on the ground when she's in the house.

Yeah, I know. I'm a suspicious old biddy. My house hasn't been robbed in 30 years, so I guess it's working.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 May 18 - 06:59 PM

Charmion, because she is sent by the county's Council on Aging, I'm required to be present while she works-- she'll never get the key and yes of course we're limiting access to the security system and info about it.

They do background checks and random drop- ins on people they send out like this. Probably drug testing, too.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 18 - 11:50 PM

I tried to tackle a problem in the front hall ceiling where the sheet rock is slouching on one side. I can't for the life of me figure out how they installed these panels, except that it looks like they nailed them on only one side. I can't find any studs on the other to reattach it. I did drive some sheetrock screws on the side that is up at the right level (to reinforce it) and this weekend I'll climb into the attic to see what's up. It'll be effing hot up there.

So many things to do around here, and now with the hot weather coming on, it is necessary to choose the best time for chores and pace myself. Choose my battles, figure out when I need someone to come in to help. The ceiling may be one of those times.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 May 18 - 06:58 AM

Acme, so you know you can bridge to the existing framing to get some wood where you want to screw into it, right? If you drill a big fat pair of holes where you want the wood, the light coming through should help place it along that axis.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 May 18 - 09:20 AM

I may use one of those supports that you can put up for ceiling fans - to brace across the space, as a quick start and go from there. But yes, it's a matter of pulling the insulation out of the recessed area and determining where the cross-members are. And then I'll have to address all of the screw heads in view on that ceiling (but better screw heads than no ceiling!)

The most annoying part of trying to find studs is that damned popcorn on the ceiling. I hate that stuff and the stud finder doesn't move smoothly across it.

Day one of a summer of alternate day fasting (those days are actually 500 calories per day). I have a goal in mind, and this kind of fasting is much easier to do in warm weather. It worked well before (before Prednisone). Info here (my preferred method is about 35 minutes into the program).

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 May 18 - 03:38 PM

Ohio:

Off-topically speaking, I have an update to share: arrest warrants for Tyler are out now. One for the stolen instruments-- and one for violating his parole agreement.

I also learned that they're adding more time onto his period of required supervision-- which was already thru October 2020, and probably more will be added when the property charge is adjudicated.

I've shared quite a bit of info with both agencies on how they may find him.

~S~

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 May 18 - 10:08 PM

I imagine that with the detritus left behind by The Hoard you have a lot of clues, Miss Marple!

When I arrived home this afternoon I could tell there was some food item that had spoiled in the kitchen, but I couldn't find it. A potato? An onion? No. I have rinsed dishes from the sink and loaded the dishwasher, emptied the bowl of kitchen veggie waste, etc and it seems less. But I still don't know exactly what it was. This is a consequence of the hot weather, the house in general is warm enough that things can spoil quickly.

I'm shifting my volunteer activities for the summer soon. I didn't get to work the compressed 4 on/3 off work week I requested (we currently have management who delight in saying "no" just for the pleasure of it.) I still plan to volunteer, I'll just use occasional vacation days to do it. This area is definitely into summer now, even though it's three weeks away by the calendar. I'll be volunteering in city parks.

I described the ceiling situation to co-workers before a meeting started today - it's possible to tell this as a funny story. I hope to have a satisfactory conclusion to the story next week.

Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 May 18 - 10:38 PM

Acme, yes, I've restored enough order that I'm no longer caught off guard daily by bad-news discoveries-- all I find nowadays are CLEWS left by a "Hordemaster" who desperately wanted to get caught.

BTW it's Horde, not Hoard, in honor of Tyler's immature bragging of his "glorious" pagan warrior identity-- the squatters who promptly squatted on HIM and despoiled what might have been his castle for a time.

~Marple