De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Nov 21 - 01:11 PM

I can't post here often, dear Charmion, but let me offer my deepest condolences. I will never forget Edmund and getting licked delicately on the nose! (I still have that picture somewhere)...

-S-

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 06:46 PM

This afternoon I started a New 2021 declutter thread. Add it to your tracer!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 07:55 PM

Yes, Stilly, I have another volume of the Afghanistan book coming, but I don’t know when. I also have to dig through Edmund’s computer for client files. In January, however, my first priority will be Edmund’s final taxes and getting the will through probate.

So. Much. Fun.

Stuff I actually *want* to do? Not so much.

I hope the bathroom project can start this winter, and it would be really nice if the pension people would cough up the Supplementary Death Benefit soon so I can pay for it without cashing out of any tax-sheltered investments.

Wow. I’m such a bourgeoise.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 01:56 PM

The only restaurant I've been in all year is a sandwich franchise - I place the order using my phone and walk in to pick it up and walk back out again. I may go to curbside pickup and have them bring it out after this. The new more spreadable COVID-19 is certainly here, even if they haven't tested for it specifically yet. It's the barn door closed . . .

Charmion, do you have any more editing projects coming up? What is your next Big Thing as far as your freelance work? I need to do a lot of work on my Dad's collection - you said you had some of CET's papers to work on? But that's a sort of inward project that lets you mull more than might be comfortable, so I hope you find something outside your household soon.

In the US we knew it was going to get worse before getting better with the inauguration - but now it looks like Trump is going to punish everyone with a government shutdown. I participate in a community fridge project four miles north of my home, and as cliche as it is, things like boxes of macaroni and cheese keep families fed in a pinch, so boxes will be added along with produce. I'm sure I've discussed this before, it's just that now it becomes so much more important. The local food bank also participates in these fridges by dropping off copious amounts of lentils and split peas - they usually leave a few dozen pound bags in the pantry section of the site. It appears that the time of Spam has arrived - salty enough to complement the peas in soup. I hope to contribute enough food there to keep one small family fed adequately if not elegantly.

Here at the house I'm thinking a project to finish before the end of the year should be the fence beside the garage. Progress reports to follow.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 12:39 PM

I spent Boxing Day morning cleaning up after Christmas dinner, and the afternoon at the BIL's house for another rich dinner, this one featuring ham. Consequently, the house is pleasantly neat and all I want to eat today is toast and tea. Maybe an orange, but that's it.

Ontario has returned to lockdown, so recreational shopping and socializing outside the immediate household are off the agenda until sometime in late January. The churches have closed again, and restaurants that are actually open are doing take-out meals again. People who live alone are allowed to "bubble up" with one other household (for me, the BIL and his family). We're back to where we were in March, except now I'm mostly on my own.

Also, winter is back, with a major dump of snow that the town crews are still struggling to remove from the main streets, let alone suburban areas like this neighbourhood. So the world is very, very quiet.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 11:05 AM

That's nice to finish out the year in your own bed, Jon!

We haven't heard any more from Susan, I fear her contributions are finished unless Greg shares for her. #SomethingWeLostIn2020

Last night I made the holiday Puerto Rican dish I've made over the years for my ex, who is terribly difficult to shop for. Instead I give him consumables, and this batch came out perfect. Just the right amount of cilantro zing at the in when taste testing. He doesn't want it put in dough and fried (the empanadillas are meat pies) because of all of the carbs and oil in that dough. He'll instead warm it and serve it over rice.

There is still stuff to ship and the house is a holiday shambles. I did clear out the sink and am preparing to make a batch of cinnamon rolls to distribute to a couple of neighbors, so it will be messy again before the end of the afternoon.

This getting through the holidays without family around is difficult so one must look for endorphins as they present themselves; it helps that lately we've had sunny clear days and I'm getting out to walk in the afternoon. Next week I'm hoping I can do more work on the fence and bask in that chore's completion. There are some complicated gate-building parts to keep me busy.

I would like to go out of this year with the house at least picked up, but I may not manage to have the holiday lights down yet. I get the impression that people are leaving up lights longer just because they look so cheerful and I'll follow the lead of my neighbors. I may leave the string up over the top of the porch just because they cheer me so much and I can play with the pattern, color, and settings.

Into the kitchen to load the bread machine ingredients. I have it set on "turbo" so it finishes in an hour and "manual" so once the dough is kneaded and ready to go I can take it out and make my rolls. I never bake bread in the machine, I don't like those barrel-shaped loaves.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 24 Dec 20 - 11:33 AM

I've managed to sort out enough of my room to move back in. I enjoyed sleeping in my own bed last night.

--
I'll give another vote for a new thread. I use the "d" link and don't have usability problems with the long thread but my mind prefers this topic split by year.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Dec 20 - 10:11 AM

I agree — time for a new thread.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: mg
Date: 24 Dec 20 - 01:30 AM

brand new

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Dec 20 - 04:58 PM

Charmion, I would think having written and certified communications with the pension people would be of value if you have to press them harder through legal channels.

Mike, I hope your recuperation is just the restoration of energy, not a painful one. It takes a long time to get over major surgery. I think that much anesthesia (very deep, for bone surgery, and because I refused the spinal block) and antibiotics and such take a while to clear the system.

Dorothy, good luck with the pottery sales and the drive tomorrow. Our low overnight is supposed to be 55^o. I'm driving, but only 24 miles a day, two round-trips to feed a friend's cats. One of them is ill and has a complex prescription routine. I'm afraid these are end-times for a sweet kitty, but I'll keep him comfortable while she makes a short trip to visit elderly parents. She spends a lot of time isolating so they can have these visit.

I have a dish to make in the next couple of days as a holiday gift, but one ingredient, sliced pimentos, is sometimes difficult to find (not just to find a store that sells them, but to find where they shelve them in the store. Near the olives seems a no-brainer, but they don't always.) I've ordered a copious supply on Amazon and now I don't have to go into a couple of grocery stores and prowl the aisles. I will try one trip late tonight and see if I can get in when it's sparsely occupied to find larger more commonplace ingredients.

It's about time to start a new thread - or I can change the title on this and let it run. It used to be we started new threads because it took so long for devices to download the whole thread. Using the small d helps, and (knock wood) the connection seems to be pretty good these days. Are there preferences? Same one with a new name, or a brand new thread?

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 Dec 20 - 10:26 PM

Dupont:

With strong hope of leaving for Beaver in the morning. Everything ready but the food - which is most everything in the frig!

No more wood has come up to deck due to snowing, and snow and low energy. Watched a couple very good Oprah interviews yesterday, a nice break from checking posts on FB, for which I have about reached my limit. Too many friends with nothing to say so scrolling for naught. I may take some - a bunch!- off my lists so I only see them if they happen to pop up.   Email problem is cleared up, thanks to Apple and Whidbey Telecom. Still cannot get phone to talk to computer. Did a screen shot today and messaged it to son asking for help! None yet.

Sour cream sounds a good idea. I shall put it on the list. Did not make it to produce store so we will have to live with what we have. Not taking any chili with me. Fav bakery along the way is not offering any of our favs so we may only stop and say hello! They close for Jan but I think we may survive on what is in freezer. The apricot cake was good and could work with other fruits.

Broke diet badly today - cookies for first time in many months. Hope trip to the country will help my state of mind and, hence, diet.

Pottery is selling at Carriage House so I am encouraged to make more when energy arises. Also phone rang at 9 am today - my phone never rings! The woman who bought a bunch early in the fall called to wish me happy holiday; she will email me about what she might like in the future!

Hoping tomorrow's predicted "snow flurries" are negligible!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Dec 20 - 08:17 PM

Still here, still recovering far more slowly than I like. Almost all the snow melted today, with more coming tonight of course.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Dec 20 - 12:59 PM

The Christmas boxes are bound away to the opposite corners of the province by UPS. Fingers crossed that nothing breaks.

I'm fed up with the Pension Bureau and have written them a stern letter that will probably do no good. While it's unlikely they will fail to cough up all I'm entitled to *eventually*, I am sick and damnably tired of not knowing what in blazes they're doing. In particular, not one peep has been uttered on the subject of Edmund's Supplementary Death Benefit, which is a very large chunk of change to be floating around in limbo. The telephone is no help, since the staff are working remotely and apparently connected to their offices by string and tin cans.

Back in the day, no one expected to telephone the Pension Bureau; everything was done in writing by postal mail. Methinks it's time to return to that standard. Life's too short to spend any more of it on hold.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Dec 20 - 11:23 AM

We had wispy clouds around the horizon and a few extending into the upper sky, so I wasn't able to find the stars. Plus, I think I'm getting to the point where the cataracts are affecting that. I'm overdue an eye exam - damn COVID-19! - and may get news that it is time to act soon to do the replacement surgery.

As I continue my dusting expedition through each room of the house I now have to bite the bullet and dust the office. Take Sudafed first, wear a dust mask because it does stir up stuff, and dive in. In this instance I'll move out some of the things that are sitting on the floor (dog beds, under-chair plastic mat, boxes, etc.) The rows of books and many things sitting on shelves pose a challenge.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Dec 20 - 06:20 PM

My old Domestic sewing machine sold on eBay overnight and this morning I found a message from the buyer - "Is this easy to learn? I've never sewed in my life." Oh, my! I told him/her that this was a good machine to learn on because it didn't have all of the fancy stuff of modern computerized machines but with cams it can do a few fancy stitches and it does the basics of straight and zigzag. I sent information about sewing videos on YouTube and recommended a source I like for some of the patterns I use, and tucked in a little care package of an extra needle and a couple of spare bobbins and some scraps of fabric for testing stitches. I hope they enjoy the new hobby!

One box of a mix of gifts and everyday stuff also went out today, and another needs to be mailed tomorrow, when I'll also hand deliver some of the smoked salmon to my daughter (we'll "meet in the middle" somewhere). I met my ex at the UPS store salmon dropped of today for her father. This is one of our holiday traditions - smoking and sharing salmon.

I also ran a couple of other errands. The clerk at Joann's fabrics today had a very poor-fitting mask (I asked her to pull it over her nose please, but it kept slipping). I pulled a bagged petite-sized mask out of my pack, where I carry a couple of sizes these days, and gave her the mask with washing and wearing instructions - she was quite pleased! A mask that doesn't need continual adjustment will work the way it's supposed to.

Now to see if I can observe the great conjunction of the gaseous planets at sunset. Heading to the top of the hill.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Dec 20 - 02:48 PM

Now that I cook only for me, I find that I quite like my food considerably pepperier than Edmund would abide, and I have taken to asking for hot sauce when I have huevos rancheros at the diner. Chili was also on Edmund's list of shunned foods, which was short but non-negotiable. So chili is back on the menu.

Sour cream is what you need for your overpowering chili, Dorothy. Yogurt is okay, but doesn't quite hit the right note. In my not at all humble opinion ...

The Christmas boxes -- one bound for Ottawa and the other for Windsor -- are packed and ready for UPS. God alone knows when they will arrive, or how much the shipping will cost, but one does what one can.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Dec 20 - 11:55 AM

Dupont,

I asked R early this am if we were going to Beaver on Weds and got a clear affirmative! This last week I have been in a mood; suffering Beaver deprivation because I did not go on 9th. I must remember this and do what I need to do in the new year. But, if I had not stayed, he would not have done anything about the furnace and I would have come back Saturday to no heat, he having worked and stayed in the city, not even thought about the furnace, and the poor plants. I am annoyed.

The chili: one large container in freezer. One qt I have eaten with rice and veggies - and survived. The remaining two will get the addition of rice and another large can of stewed tomatoes. I had to make a trip to the store for the tomatoes and other items. Building myself up to go do the two stores takes mental/emotional energy ao when I arrived at the produce store at the usual time -half hour before closing - and it was closed - it threw me for a loop. I managed the grocery store with its usual half dozen customers and enough helpful staff to find things.

Mainly, a nod to Christmas, I wanted a turkey. There were no choices - what you see is what there is so I bought one that said "cook while frozen". I decided to cook it yesterday, according to the chart attached. What a mess! I put it in last year's "disposable" pan, more than the requested "3 inches deep" and then on a large cookie sheet. After the stipulated time, I removed it from the oven - the skin crisp, and the rest falling apart.

OK, so I separated it into dark in one container, white in a large bowl as I was stymied/stunned! The deeper pan was set to overflow in spite of have removed quite a bit as I saw "the waters rising"! There was some on the cookie sheet as well. Two cleaning jobs! However, even though not being able to stuff it was a disappointment and it certainly was not suitable for the ritual of "carving the turkey", it was cleared away in short order and the juice saved for soup. This was both annoying and rewarding, I guess. I still need a trip to produce store for veggies to take with us as the store in Bancroft is too crowded - and by the time we get there, there might not be much left!

This morning, after giving R porridge for BF, I sorted out the turkey and rice and cooked veggies AND moved a frig shelf to make it more efficient. Been wanting to do that for awhile - an energy thing - mine! All the planned overs are neatly arranged and stacked in glass containers - and the pot of turkey juice is on the stove waiting to be made into soup - during my next energy burst.

#2 son phoned Sat and we had one of the best phone calls in recent years. I gave him custody of the family photo albums about 5 years ago, by default because when I asked for them back, he was not finished with them. Apparently, he has moved all to his computer. Could he send me that pic of his GF? Sure! He uses it as his screensaver! My Dad on his Harley 1929! (was in the H-D newsletter that year!) I want to send it to someone and cannot find it on my computer. He sent me a bunch of pics, couple of some stranger, a few of my mother - NO thank you!, a couple others, but no father. Taun was still in utero when my dad died. I have written a short piece about my father and sent it to the "boys" a few weeks ago, incomplete as I keep thinking of more - like his motorcycle days. Will send it to grands also. This son is the family archivist, even uses Ancestry. He informs there is a "sibling facetime call each month two sons and their half sister and adopted sister; I feel a bit jealous but glad he is connected. One (half) sister was awol for about 30 years; they re-connected with delight about 15 years ago, via his efforts. She and her family are in France. At least two of her four kids have Cherokee names. I met her and she reminds me so much of her mom who, unfortunately for her, married my ex.

Now, resting after K efforts, wood fire burbling - so glad we have it! I need to prepare for snow removal - about 3 inches - front and back. MAYBE bring more wood from yard to deck.

Even with half rice, the chile is barely tolerable! I may be eating it for the next five years. with yogurt. So soup and something with chili still need attention.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Dec 20 - 09:51 AM

I just paid MasterCard and decluttered my chequing account of a substantial sum that did not really belong to me anyway.

Today, I shall extract the goose from the freezer and pack the box that's going to Ottawa. I have a sturdy wine carton with heavy corrugated dividers, and if I wrap each item (except the fruitcake, which should survive Armageddon) in bubblepack, and sift styrofoam peanuts in and around everything until it's quite snug, it ought to arrive safely. I have mailed marmalade to Afghanistan, dammit -- I can do this!

Foggy and wet in Stratford. My money's on a green Christmas.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Dec 20 - 01:08 PM

The puppy is banned to the yard (dog door cover is over the flap) for the time being. Overnight she tore up more of the rubber mat in the dog bed in the kennel. I picked up the rubber all over the nicely swept floor and tossed it and sprayed the thing AGAIN with the "Yuck" stuff that is supposed to discourage them from chewing.

I've been slow to get my boxes shipped and I'm still not ready, but hopefully I can get some of this stuff packed and ship this evening by dropping off at Office Depot via UPS or FedEx, which aren't experiencing the same delays as the hobbled USPS (DeJoy needs to go straight to jail when he stops being Trump's head postal administrator.)

Last night I again sewed up a storm and think I have most of what I want to add to some of these packages on that front. There are still a couple of items, though, that may have to go in an express envelope.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Dec 20 - 01:50 AM

It took a lot of soap and scrubbing to get the smell of salmon and brine (heavily flavored by soy sauce) off of my hands. I put the fish (brought by my ex cut and ready to go) into brine this afternoon, and now it's out and rinsed and drying a bit in the fridge to give it a good surface for the smoke to combine with tomorrow. Now to bed. The smell would have been an annoyance.

This evening I finally swept an annoying amount of dog hair and detritus from the yard and had a mound of stuff about the size of a basketball when I finished the worst rooms. Most of it was hair and leaves. Maybe I should do like some of the grocery stores and put a strong fan blowing at the dog door entrance to blow some of the crap off of their coats after they've been out wrestling in the yard.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 12:09 PM

There are a couple of large roundabouts or traffic circles in Fort Worth, and a couple of months ago as I approached the largest of them I realized I hadn't been there for a while, so took my time entering it, only to have one driver lean on his horn as he took offense at my lane of entry. I was curious so later on my return I took the same roundabout from the other side and looked over my entry point, and realized that guy was in the wrong place when he decided to exit and crossed four lanes at once. He was the one who needed honking at, but since he was in the roundabout with the right-of-way, it was harder to tell.

There are two small ones installed within the last five years along a route I took home from work (that were like Charmion described, the awkward intersections of more than two streets), and I found that after I drove through them once my brain kind of settled down at the approach and it wasn't a challenge. But you need to drive them occasionally to keep that skill. The intersection that might do well with one but with so much traffic it would still be ugly is Seventh Street at University Drive where there are six streets entering one intersection. I go through it sometimes with my daughter when I pick her up to go to lunch and as I approach the intersection on the way back I've asked her to just point the direction because it's like an optical illusion right there, figuring out where to point the vehicle as you exit that intersection to not end up in oncoming traffic.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 08:05 AM

Roundabouts are becoming more common in Canada, but too many Canadian drivers behave as if they have never seen one before. On my monthly trip to the allergist, I take a county road that eventually becomes a major arterial street in the city of Waterloo, which -- from the sudden proliferation of roundabouts -- evidently employed a planner who had studied in Europe. The locals take each one as a venture into the lions' den, either delicately tip-toeing in or bashing through as if waving a large weapon, which I guess they are.

Stratford, where I live, has several awkward intersections that could do with a roundabout. The early Victorian surveyors who laid out the original townsite liked to reconcile their grids with the free-form landscape by adding "gores", or angled lot and concession lines, that inevitably led to the development of angled roads and oddly shaped city blocks. One such gore ends up at the intersection of two major arterials, creating a goose-foot crossroads where I have to crank my neck around to the left like an owl to avoid being T-boned by a truck heading for London. A roundabout there would be a blessing, but Stratford town council would have to expropriate one end of a small strip mall to make room for it; most unlikely.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 07:39 AM

Oh lefts are the easy ones (took me a while to realise we drive different sides of the road there)…

I never took my test but have driven a few thousand miles (all on L plates and mostly sharing driving with mum) and suppose a lot is what you get used to?

Some people hate rural lanes but having lived up a hill in N Wales for a number of years, reversing a little way up or down a 1 in 4 hill to let someone else pass isn’t a problem to me. On the other hand, trying to negotiate busy city traffic could be a nightmare to me. Norwich isn’t that bad (although I tried to avoid the centre routes) but when I had a brief time in Sheffield with a brother, I never really figured how he managed one roundabout of several lanes of swift moving traffic.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 08:38 PM

This afternoon I decided to try to follow a strict COVID-19 protocol and only pickup at curbside all of my purchases today. That is exhausting! Getting into the tiny spaces allotted is the first challenge. In one instance as I sat waiting to turn into a space a woman zipped into it from another direction. When I circled the lot and moved into the space opposite her big white Jeep my mouth was moving as I told her what I thought and I'm sure she figured out that she'd been out of line. (The parking lot scene in Fried Green Tomatoes comes to mind.) My pattern of driving partly had to do with making right turns into businesses because some of those lefts at that time a day are brutal.

I did manage four stops. My next shopping trip will be in the wee hours to a 24-hour grocery in hopes the building is empty.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 07:47 PM

Mum and dad are vegetarian. I’m not but I am finicky with meat and rarely miss it. I used to get a bit of turkey for myself for Christmas but I haven’t bothered for the past 3 or so years.

I think a nut roast is pretty standard vegetarian fare.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 07:23 PM

Are you all vegetarian in your family? That looks like a thing I could feed to my veggie nephew.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 05:18 PM

A nut roast is the thing I failed to make today. I will be doing this one again. Perhaps you call the nut loaves.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 04:12 PM

Just what is a “nut roast”, Jon Freeman?

Tomorrow I shall bottle the cherry liqueur that I put up in July, and make the Christmas pudding. Also hard sauce, which will exhaust the household strategic reserve of butter.

The tumble dryer has taken to emitting loud yelps when I turn it on, leading me to suspect a worn belt or bearing, so tomorrow morning is committed to attending on the appliance repair guy. I hope it’s the same technician who replaced the thermostat on the beer fridge in 2019 and failed to diagnose a starting-up problem with that same dryer in 2018. I think we have a rapport.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 11:01 PM

The 3d printer and FreeCad has been taking up more of my time than it should. I’d not used a CAD program before and found FreeCad baffling to look at so I very basic got a tutorial book from Amazon. I’ve only got through the first two chapters but I felt I’d read enough to have a go at trying to design something. This lighthouse was the result. I’ve made it in sections (eg. this one to take a MES bulb holder which I found together with a LED bulb amongst my bits and pieces) that push together.

I don’t expect to ever good at CAD but I can already at least amuse myself a little with it and it can be added to my tools that I muddle my way through with when I’ve an idea for something to do. I already have ideas in my head for another lighthouse which would have tapered structure and a light that sweeps round… but I’ve got to do other things – I had intended to cook the Christmas nut roast today...

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 01:50 PM

I'll go look for it - and I revived that thread a few minutes ago because I figure there must be interesting cooking going on about now. :)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 01:35 PM

I posted the fruitcake recipe in the What Are We Eating thread, Stilly.

It seems nobody has eaten anything interesting since the beginning of the month.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 01:11 PM

I would freeze the chili in small containers and next time you make a batch don't add the pepper at all, add some of the frozen and see if the seasoning needs adjusted for everything except the pepper. It would be a shame to waste the food if simply thinning the amount of heat later will work.

I bought 8 quarts of strawberries on Monday, and got the flat for $3. The berries were near the end of their time and it took a while to pick up fairly good quarts. I had to process them that evening and threw out at least a pint of them as I cleaned and took off the leaves. But for $3, it's worth it and now they're all frozen and bagged for smoothies and such.

We're into cold weather now and people are burning wood in fireplaces so it smells nice, but it isn't enough to tempt me to unpack this worthless fireplace and build a blaze. I got rid of the glass doors and packed it with insulation, that's a better way to keep the house warm. But in the past I've had various wood burning stoves and fireplaces with heatilators that kept the place toasty. This house originally had one, but it burned and rusted through over time.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 12:44 PM

Dupont:

Not making it back to Beaver until we can lave together for Christmas and, hopefully New Year, break. I meant to go on 9th but the heat was off. It went off again yesterday. and was on this morning! I suggested a furnace repair person and R countered with, Dan knows... But Dan is not here and it is not functioning correctly. Now being blamed on the new thermostat - very ordinary - that R finally installed the first time it came back on. Und so weiter!

AT minus 16 Celsius I was not prepared to bring in more - needed - wood. When I said that, R offered and did! It is SO much easier for him! Even with the heat ON, the wood stove adds an extra warmth when I am sitting with computer or book. And R always comments on it when he gets home after a 8-12 hour work day - sometimes outside but never in a warm building. Genteel living it is not - with warming/drying wood stacked on the nice hearth all around the lovely little stove, behind the very nice antique fender! And time to clean the floor again! The two "bowser" stuffies add character of their own at each end of the hearth - where dogs love to be.

Something someone wrote yesterday reminded me of something... have to go back and re-read! The point being that I get reminders and ideas from you guys! Almost two hours on phone with apple help and some times with whidbey telecom tech support seems to have sorted out my email problems, that have been annoying since July. My APD and other brain fogs make these phone calls a trial and tribulation that I avoid until I can't take it anymore. The last straw was an email that looked suspicious and said 3 emails could not be sent. It was a phishing. So, I felt justified, and since then Whidbey has sent me two emails with lists of things they consider spam so I have to sort through those and figure out the instructions. Most of them were not or... maybe I will take a closer look.

I have deleted some senders recently. I don't mind ones asking for donations - which they will not get - if they also provide interesting info. With my limited income, if I feel I can donate it is to groups I know near Beaver (Bancroft), a small community where I can see the real needs of real people.

The huge pot of chili I made on Monday is so hot I cannot eat it and R certainly cannot! Is it possible that chili powder gets hotter! I thought I put in the right amount but it tastes like twice.. I had not put in all the beans so added some of the HOT to the remaining beans - even that is hot but tolerable - for me. What do do with 5 qts of super hot chili is ...??? ... add a whole lot of cooked rice... or potatoes... make more beans and then have ten qts of hot chili. I shall try some of each. Later today when I hope to be more awake. I already filled a 7 cup glass container and froze it. Manana... "my father said that I should learn to make a chili pot, but then I burnt the house down, the chili was too hot! Manana......"

The plants are watered, dishes under control -- floor needs a sweep and a load of laundry might be useful. Maybe a nap, too.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 11:05 AM

A batch of Snickerdoodle cookies is in the tins for distribution, and when I went to bed last night the kitchen was a two-sink pileup. That carnage was dealt with while morning tea was in the works, and now to do something productive with that clean space. I must mail two boxes today, they've been sitting here forever waiting to be finished and shipped. And they aren't even xmas stuff.

Yesterday I finished drafting a holiday letter and must finish the layout (adding a few photos) and print and mail. No trip to the printers this year, it will be black ink on printer paper but I'll provide a link to a file where the photos can be seen in color. My nod to the corona virus this year. And the folded sheets will be tucked into cards of various sizes left over from past years because I'm also not going out to shop for cards.

The dog hair around the floors is at a crisis level, though I set up the vacuum yesterday and got some of it in the den. They have dragged in branches, apparently, because part of the problem is a lot of dried leaves in the mix.

The shopping that does need doing is two-fold; the ingredients for smoked salmon brine, and the ingredients for a Puerto Rican meat pie (empanadillas) that I'll make this year for my ex. We took a year off from the PR cooking last year but since it is one of the few things that I can do here and hand off and know will be consumed happily, it's back on the menu. (The problem 2 and 3 years ago was too many cooks working on a rice dish that resulted in burning to the bottom of my enamel pot. We all declared it was time for a break so we got Chinese and Italian takeout last year.) I noticed that Instacart is delivering from the Fiesta store, so I may take advantage of that delivery offer and save a trip into a store that doesn't seem to do anything about maskless crowds.

I don't have plans for anything like fruitcake, but I like a good fruitcake. Charmion, can your recipe be transcribed for Mudcat distribution? (Or scanned and sent via Facebook Messenger?)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Dec 20 - 02:03 PM

Your water sounds like mine. I use white vinegar regularly to clean out my glass electric kettle and have to use distilled water in the iron. And a glug of vinegar in the dishwasher to keep the glasses from clouding up.

Tea is my drink of choice, but I had to cut back because even there the caffeine was a problem. Two smallish cups in the morning and anything else is decaff.

Do you still have the bottom to your bacon box? I could send you my lid and you'd have the whole set. :)

I'm looking at a wall of unfinished projects here and it's getting me down on this gray almost-winter afternoon. I have to select something and finish it and maybe I'll be able to move forward.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Dec 20 - 12:09 PM

As usual, you're right, Stilly. No, I don't want to fry the OS, little as I like Windows. And I just realized that I should check it for stuff Edmund was doing for Innocence Canada; if I find any, I can put it on a data key and send it to Toronto in the box of papers and notebooks from the filing cabinet.

Also, condolences on the death of your Tupperware bacon box. I used mine for cheese, until the lid split at the corner.

I have slowly come to realize that one source of my constant edginess is caffeine, and espresso in particular. Consequently, I shall move Edmund's prized Rancilio Silvia espresso maker to the Glory Hole, once I have finished soaking the reservoir in vinegar to decalcify it. (Stratford water is liquid limestone.) I'll try drinking tea instead; see how that goes.

It's snowing lightly and the sky is the colour of cold tallow. A good day to spend in the house, folding laundry, footling around, and avoiding humanity.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Dec 20 - 09:44 PM

Are you wanting to fry the operating system as well? Is there only one drive in the computer? It's rather typical these days to leave the operating system and the programs on the C: drive and keep the data on the D: or other letter-named drive. In which case, formatting D: would leave you with an otherwise functional computer.

A favorite old Tupperware container committed suicide this evening when I opened the freezer and it slid off of the shelf and landed on the corner of it's flat self and shattered. It was originally sold as a container that could hold ~ two pound packages of bacon; I've used it for all sorts of stuff, everything EXCEPT bacon over the last 30+ years. I will miss it, and I'll go see if the Container Store has something along similar lines. I liked it for saving things like enchiladas that were baked in a foil-lined pan and then I could put the foil-wrapped contents into the Tupperware and freeze them for later. It was good for cookies, for various other small things that there weren't a lot of. RIP, faithful old Tupperware. Most of the rest of it has been replaced and given away (except the nesting three color bowls with lids).

I repaired the strap of a shoulder pack (it's a tear-shaped single-strap pack) in which the padding inside the strap had slowly slid down, wadding at the bottom. I pushed and tugged and massaged the padding back up to the top of the strap them used the sewing machine with the walking foot to zig zag a couple of rows of stitches across that. Works like a dream and the bag is going to feel better to carry around.

This evening I'm finishing a holiday letter and some work to do with the eBay listings of some masks. The algorithm involved in searching there doesn't let my distinct sale name turn up, it only confirms it is the correct sale if someone can find it. Search engines work after a site has been crawled and indexed, and I don't know how long that is taking these days.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Dec 20 - 11:56 AM

I'm still decluttering the filing cabinet and the computer.

Today, it was old health insurance claims Edmund made years ago when he needed physiotherapy for back pain. The classified waste bin is full again, and I just cleaned out the fireplace.

I have yet to open his computer with intent to do anything with the contents. Maybe I'll let it sit and marinate in the study closet until whatever's on there is completely overcome by events, and then just type Format C.

Does that still work?

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Dec 20 - 05:38 PM

Today's decluttering has been of the virtual sort, deciding if I'm going to keep a subscription to Flickr when it doesn't really sort well and I rarely use it any more. Once you start wading around in photos and videos they kind of have you - but they also exist in many other places, and several of them are free.

Last night I got out a few items and some garland and decorated the mantle with lights and holiday stuff, and hung up a basket with lights where it usually goes, and a wreath on the door. The mantle is enough, I think, to achieve an indoor holiday spirit; anything else would be overkill. Especially with dogs, two of whom manage to chew up a lot of stuff.

I awoke to thunderstorms this morning and the day has remained heavily overcast. Our long and lovely autumn may finally have come to an end (last week was kind of a revival after the prior week being cloudy). It was W*Y*S*I*W*Y*G who in past de-clutter year threads wrote about the right kind of light for this time of year with short days - that does make a difference in how it feels.

Time to make the snickerdoodles and spritz. I'll be giving them to people still, it'll just be a handoff and not giving covered plates to people who are here visiting in the house. The good xmas movies haven't been playing much yet, just the low-budget Hallmark type on the channels equivalent to the old UHF spectrum. I guess I'll have to dig out a few DVDs and crank up the player. I found notes to myself last year about finishing my holiday letter and sending it late but I never did, so I really must finish one this year and send it before people forget I even inhabited this planet. And perhaps catching up with people is the best gift I can give this year.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Dec 20 - 10:47 PM

Dupont:

YAY! Dan came out this eve, in the rain but not the freezing rain that was predicted! R now knows what is needed, and can purchase on Monday. Only 2 out of 5 elements were working and the pump that was being nasty is now working just fine. He will have to drain the system to do the installation. For now, the rads are getting warm!

If we had to redo the electric in this house... we would have to sell the house to pay for it! There may be some modifications in our future but minimal- and quietly. When we talk about "maybe we could"... "the taxes would go up!" So... Eventually, the deck will get new decking but no roof.

Pecking away at the woodpile and watching it diminish. We are delighted that a manual wood-splitter R dragged in from somewhere, actually works! I cannot but he can split the too large pieces, of which there are quite a lot.

A couple days ago, I went on line - Canadian Tire - because there was a sale of those glass storage containers and I needed a couple more large ones. I ordered 4 - more than a couple- and, since, found another tucked away. And ordered some extra lids for a dif size, the only ones available. Sometimes the glass part is at a thrift shop without lid so... And looking at what else was available on sale, chose a small kitchen Aid chopper/ puree thingy. Used it today to chop the ginger for my anti-inflammation tea. Wonderful! MAybe next time I will puree it.

I ordered "pick up at store" (10 minutes away), An hour later, email that it was ready to pick up at "Locker". Phoned to see where that was and was assured that if I parked and phoned, they would bring it to my car. But when I got there, on way from un-busy produce store to un-busy grocery, CT was also un-busy so I went in and announced "I need help!" and immediately got shown to the area, a few feet from entrance and a staff put in my security code and handed me packages!

Frig is full again. Heat is perking, wood is moving inward and a load of R's incredibly dirty clothes are now in the dryer - clean! Dishes can wait 'til am. Now, I shall waken R from his 3 hour nap and hope he will eat something and go to bed.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Dec 20 - 03:33 PM

The stand mixer is a couple of years old, and until now I have used it only for bread dough. But fruitcake requires creaming a whole pound of butter into a full cup of Demerara sugar, and then adding to it eight eggs, and then the flour and FOUR POUNDS of fruit, plus nuts. Done right, it becomes a large bowlful of the stiffest batter in my culinary repertoire. So Edmund used to do most of the mixing on fruitcake day.

I bought the mixer at Canadian Tire (my favourite emporium), where it was marked down to half price because KitchenAid had discontinued the colour. Whaaat? I didn’t care; nothing with baby blue.

I’m getting a grip on the dust. Kathleen is upstairs mucking out the bathroom as I type, and I have scrubbed down the sitting room furniture. It’s easy to tell where the cats perch and lounge — pussy pawprints on the silver chest and the tea table by the sitting room window, and a thick drift of black cat hair in an old wicker armchair.

I don’t know what Watson thinks he’s doing on top of the silver chest, which lives on the sideboard; I often find him sitting there, very much on the qui vive, gazing fixedly at the top of the neighbouring china cabinet. At first, I thought he was observing a spider at work, but no. Maybe that’s where the household ghost hangs out.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Dec 20 - 12:26 PM

I saw your stand mixer on Facebook. Is that new, or just new to use for the fruitcake job? It's a very pretty color!

I struggled with a particularly complicated eBay listing last night that failed to launch and was saved as a draft. I researched the complications of the process and went to bed and slept on it - that seems to have helped. I'll try again today.

The daylight shows a lot of dust still around here, mostly doghair on the floors. I am still working my way through the house dusting upper levels of shelves, walls, and furniture (the disposable mask helps a lot!) but the floors - ugg.

This year everything holiday-related is more complicated. Shopping then shipping via a post office that is still short hundreds or thousands of automated sorting machines, or figuring out how to ship via commercial companies. The in-person part is a strange distant dance. Doing my in-person shopping on weekdays early or very late to avoid other people and not on weekends when more people are in stores and fewer of them are following the masking rules. Waiting for the other shoe to drop as far as the election, immunizations, COVID-19 testing, and the other underlying regular life activities we would usually be doing.

No stacking of firewood for me here, but I will be hauling old wood fence panels this weekend. Next week is when the village public works guy drives around looking to see what all we've piled at the curb and decides what kind of truck to send around to pick it up. I have some branches also.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Dec 20 - 09:08 AM

It's raining in Stratford. Bleah.

The String Sisters are coming over at ten o'clock to play tunes, and Serena the Fiddle wants to make a video recording. Mary Anne the Guitar is suffering terrible qualms of nerves over Serena's insistence that she have the sets memorized, and again it is my job to urge that we let perfection sneak up on us in its own time. I guess this is the good part of being a generation older; I say relax, and they do.

I spent too much time yesterday hauling rugs around, having decided that I would rather have the big green Bokhara upstairs in the library (big things go in big spaces). That meant hauling the smaller red Bokhara and the old Turkmen that Edmund brought home from Afghanistan back down to the sitting room. I worked up quite a sweat, and most of my upper body muscles have comments today.

And I made a batch of fruitcake. I'm cooking again.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Dec 20 - 10:12 AM

I was out the door at dawn to shop at Lowes while it was relatively empty (and it was). I had a printout in my pocket for a 4' wide 6' tall silver gate panel listed on the web site (that I was going to have to paint black), but instead found a 3'5" wide by 5' tall black painted gate panel that will work just as well. It didn't look like the gate had a sales barcode so I took a photo of the price above that bay on that aisle. When I got to the register the SKU wasn't coming up but one similar in her register that was $45 higher. I got this one for the price in my photo - they had three of them, so I could have bought two and made the double gate I want, and I still may, but I now need to look at the hardware involved. It's time to check into YouTube fence and gate videos.

This run was just before the rain started. We could use a good soak, and it's supposed to clear tomorrow. Today I'll paint on the wood preservative on the stack of pickets (on the garage floor) and be ready to put them up tomorrow. And tie in the new part of fence where the gate will go. I'm looking forward to the day when the dogs can get a look at the driveway and that side of the house as far as my barking at strangers security system. That's one of the reasons I have dogs (aside from their company, of course - and now that it's a rainy day they all smell like wet dogs and I've had the big towel out to dry them off once already).

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 09:56 PM

Instead of cutting shrubs I attacked more dust to finish dusting the den. It involved wearing a mask, using the Shark vacuum, the hand vac, and two different microfiber dusters. There were lots of trips out into the yard to shake off the dusters and this unloaded a lot of the buildup.

The ceiling fan was loaded and I went over the trim on the wood paneling as well as furniture surfaces and odd places I could reach with the duster that has an extension handle. The most time-consuming part was the built-in triple bookcase with all sorts of collectibles on display.

A number of those are going to come down and others will be rearranged. It's tempting to take them all down and put books in there again, but there isn't really a better place for the collectibles to live and be available to look at and they are great conversation pieces. Antique toys, cameras, Indian baskets and carvings, some Asian toys and art, and antique stuff from my great aunt's house, like scales, wooden sock darning eggs, eye glasses, all sorts of odd little household things. There is a similar shelf of relics and rock samples in my bedroom that will need careful attention.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Dec 20 - 12:37 PM

In many places the building codes dictate that once you touch an electrical project you have to bring everything up to code. When I moved in there and remodeled the old garage and put in new plugs we had to upgrade the circuit breaker box and raise the weatherhead (the pipe that the power lines runs to on the house from the pole in back). This work could extend to evenly-spaced plugs on separate circuits for rooms or zones in the house. $$$

Cold weather on the way, so this afternoon I'll try to finish my lumberjack work in the area behind the fence, removing the invasive shrubs and making room for the native species in the undergrowth. Limbs will be dragged to the curb for bulky waste pickup next week. There should be at least one nice weather dog walk this afternoon.

Tis the season of lots of work to do in preparation for the holiday even though it will be spent alone for some of us. Parcels and letters are our way of reaching out.

Time to take some recycling to the village collection point, and supposedly they're recycling cooking oil. I have a pint jar with some that I'll take along and see how they collect it. (Leftover from frying fish--though I think this was set up for larger amounts after people fry turkeys.) Personally I can't think of a more wasteful cooking method than deep oil frying. My oil is from shallow cooking in a skillet and that's bad enough.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 10:29 PM

Dupont:

Surge protectors is what I am using but could not remember what to call them. Very useful. We have several.

And, Charmion, I am aware of the dangers of diddly squat ext cords which is why I added that I am using heavy duty ones - big fat orange or yellow ones bought to do big outdoor jobs. So, the larger heater is on one that is plugged into the hall of the addition; 50 feet long!

The entire second floor and the outlet in the LR are, we discovered on one circuit. R turned it back on when he got home about midnight. In the meantime, I had warmed up the BR and used another heavy cord for the little heater and TV in that room. Now they are back in the outlets in the room and only the heater in the BR is on the ext. My reaction is "We need to work on the electric!" But R thinks it is just the way old houses are and we will live with it. How I wish for my brother, the electrician!

Of course, the heating system is another ball of wax. He probably does not have the knowledge to fix it and Dan (office manager) might but is sick - really sick. Cause unknown but not Covid. So, I am to live with: the cellar is heated so the pipes won't freeze, the BR is OK, the TV room can get warmish - until the outdoors gets colder! And the heat from the hall of the addition, adjacent to den, with an open doorway, is helping the little Jotul keep the Den warm. Oh, and the cube heater in the bathroom keeps that warm - since the wall heater there does not work.

And I am beginning to fear we are back to square one - in a lovely house that is not going to be repaired in my lifetime. I would love to go to Beaver and just stay there until things are sorted but fear for the plants. What are they worth??? I am about to check out the cost of a new furnace; maybe I can afford it.

The cake was decent. R likes it but I would like a little more flavour and put a bit of maple syrup on it. A big pot of yummy stew will keep us going for a few days. It snowed about 4 inches today but tomorrow I shall need to replenish the larder. The roads will be clear and the temp about 1C, better than the minus 6C today; I did not bring in much wood. But enough! And I keep feeding the fire. and looking at pottery youtubes, and FB.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 10:50 AM

Heh. ;-) That's why the discussion of surge protectors. Much safer with high load appliances. They turn themselves off instead of bursting into flame or melting.

Our spread-out family this year is figuring out how to fill the xmas wish list for the kid who is accustomed to visiting every winter and receiving a batch of home-made smoked salmon to munch on during his 2-week visit. We're going to send him a new smoker and chips and the recipe and instructions and have his aunt point him at good places to buy fresh or frozen salmon so he can do it himself. He's a motivated learner on this one. (His aunt had a fancy computerized smoker she apparently gave away - we use the low tech aluminum box in it's old cardboard box with an element in the bottom and a pan for the chips.) He's seen me do this often enough it will be easy enough to figure out. Now would his sister use one also? She lives nearby and gets fish from us regularly.

Thinking out loud in this year of COVID.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 07:48 AM

Jesus Christ on a bicycle, extension cords are dangerous! Especially in an old building with iffy wiring, and even more especially with high-load appliances such as anything with a heating element! Youse all are gonna burn down the house!

Okay, rant off.

But ... !

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness: House, job, life 2019 - 2020
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 09 Dec 20 - 07:36 AM

I bought a bad extension cable a few weeks ago. It had 2 USB ports as well as the plug sockets and seemed just the job until I tried to charge one of my vape mods (the bit with the battery in) up with it and it stopped working. I then checked the voltage on the USB ports and found they were 8.6V rather than the USB standard 5V.

I think I’ll try to test any other USB charger I get before use in future. Maybe others should too if they don’t do already?   USB testers are easy enough to find and probably cheaper than repairing/replacing a damaged device.,