De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 02:10 PM

Amazon delivered a toilet to you? My word! The last one I got at Home Depot and had the lot loader help slide it into the SUV, but I brought it home myself.

I have a batch of cardamom cookie batter chilling and will later make cookies to take to the neighbors. And this afternoon I'm making the rest of the large t-shirts I bought for mask making into t-shirt yarn. I'm only planning a couple of trips next week, one to the thrift store for more shirts (hoping for a range of colors again) and to a specialized grocery store for a couple of things I've run low on. I'll drop off masks and a very-belated gift during that run, then back home. My only trips in the last two weeks have been to solitary things like dropping off recycling at the village bin (no one else around and it's outside) or for curbside pickup. I maybe ought to finish my running early in the week, who knows what will happen around inauguration day. Every crackpot in the nation seems to have decided it's time to come out of hiding. (The house next door still has a Trump flag hanging on the wall.)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 06:03 PM

We haven't been beyond a couple of miles from our house for many weeks. We drive about two miles to get in our daily walk on the coast. Just for once, it's quiet round here. We could just walk up the farm lane from the house, but there's mud and smells and bare fields, not very uplifting. I'm fine most of the time with my own company, but Mrs Steve is a social animal, now deprived of visits to friends' houses and her frequent coffee get-togethers with her mates, her exercise and dance classes (a bit of Zoom compensates to a degree, but it's not the same), and, worst of all, her Memory Cafe work with people suffering from dementia. She does a sterling job keeping our five-year-old grandson occupied for hours at a time on FaceTime so that his mum and dad can work from home (sort of!). It's real life, but not as we know it, and we are managing not to get on each other's nerves, quite an achievement!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Jan 21 - 11:19 AM

Dupont:

Just read through the posts since 4 Jan, thankful for this group and the "we are all in this together, separately!" sense. This, almost 2 weeks has been really unpleasant for me. (Ah! the snowplow just went by!) The heater quit. I was exhausted from the trip, emotionally distraught due to what should have been a minor kerfuffle that put me in mind of PTSD never goes away as I dragged myself through about 60 years of my life, starting by the triggering of my last day as a wife On top of that, I finally realized I had a GI disturbance, then on the 6th I went to pieces as R and I watched, on Canadian TV... The major thing for me was the wonderful memory of my dad and little bro and I walking to the the very top of that elegant dome, alone. We experienced the grandeur, and the pain of watching it be desecrated was intense, and surprised me. And I realized that that trip has not been permissible for ordinary folks for a long time - that ordinary folks have lost a sense of ownership of the country, have never experienced that. Etc... My son pointed out that it all changed on 9/11. The terrorists with planes, destroyed more than we realized if it also destroyed the chance to feel connected to the history of the country.


Cold, traumatised in a number of ways, and R seemed uninterested in getting the heater repaired - He only comes home to sleep, and has even missed that in the pressure of work. I ran out of wood and simply could not bring in more; I was so cold all the time, the thought of going into a colder place and not having a warm place to come back into was more than I could bear. R brought in some. I really was not well; To think of leaving the warmish room to even go into the cold hallway turned me into a whimpering blob. Sitting in a conundrum in the den, I could not think, could not make a decision about anything.

Then I remembered the article I wrote years ago on hypothermia, esp in older people. I HAD to do something! Finally, it dawned on my frozen brain that the small hardware store 10 minutes away was no more dangerous than the one in Bancroft - small and good staff. I took one of the broken cube heaters and drove there, took my cards out of wallet in prep and went inside the door and said, "need help!" "No heat! I'm cold!!! need two of these!" A warmish trip in car and I was able to get home and figure up good placement for these precious heaters - where they could function without blowing fuses - TV, bedroom, K. The downstairs bath has one; I though of dragging a chair in there!   

R finally came home the next day with two more - no places left to plug them in! and I got across the concept, FIX the HEATER!!!!! The ordered parts arrived, Dan fixed the furnace, We have heat! We both check each am to make sure we still have heat! It is clear this is not over. When Dan replaced the old relay with the new one, he found nothing wrong with the old one. So, the probability is, there is still a loose wire somewhere.

Still not feeling well but warm! I finally, after several days of barely eating, not knowing what would help, having sunk into a morass of watching programs on Apple TV in the warm TV room, and having trouble with my eyes "burning", felt enough better to try clogging the system. I had hoped to be well enough to go to Beaver on Friday, before the snow. Did not feel better enough. Today? Not quite. Maybe tomorrow.

Good stuff: My #2 son talked with me for two hours, a wonderful conversation about many important things; on my 84th BD, my son told me in a rather offhand manner that I had been a good mother. No greater gift.

The next day, bro phoned and we had a good talk, (NO politics). Then his wife phoned and talked with me - without complaining about my bro. After all these years, they have each/both come to terms with who they are and the life they have together. At 68 and 80, they have peace in their lives. Still working. Another gift.

And I found that I could order my fav bread on line, and it arrived on Friday. Six loaves of soft pumpernickel and 10 loaves of solid as a brick European "deli" pumpernickel. OOPS! I had meant to order a dif one; I thought I might give the loaves to the food bank and do a new order to get my personal fav. But R came home and ate some and declares he loves it! Even reminisced about the first time he had it - 1971 in the Yukon! With pickled herring! From a German co-worker.   

Outside, I see two neighbours shoveling out from yesterday. Our wonderful neighbour cleared our drive after R left yesterday! I am grateful. We want to find a way to thank him. I was hoping for a friendship with his mom - across the street- but this shutdown...

Ontario makes sense, when I finally found a comprehensive explanation; really no dif from what we have been doing. The 8 pm curfew in QC is dreadful for many people. Very bad for mental health not to be able to take a walk after work, unless you have a dog! And the homeless are... homeless! And the police have already behaved badly. R has a letter so he can come home after 8 pm.

I have ensured all plants are well watered, took cuttings off the tomato seedlings and making sure the precious pear tree seedling is in a good spot. A big pot of veg stew would be a good project today.

I wonder about getting the windows ALL washed in the spring. By someone else!

A bit of unsweetened choc makes my eyes feel better - honest!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jan 21 - 12:58 PM

Dorothy, you are not alone in descending into a general funk after the assault on the US Capitol. The news reporting reveals more parts of the story, how dangerous it was for individual politicians, bringing the realization that these seditionists meant real harm and will continue to act out their un-justified anger. I suspect a lot of people are calculating the next step they can take to assert their political views safely. Will my home be shot up if I put my Biden/Harris sign out in the yard again?

Even in this southern climate I also had a couple of days when I couldn't seem to get warm, couldn't seem to find any motivation. I have turned my focus back to more sewing and shipping of masks - I want to help my friends and loved ones survive this pandemic, and in the general scheme of things it is still the largest crisis that we must remedy right now. When you think about it, the seditious activity at a time when so many are at home watching television and paying attention means the bad actors will be rounded up all the more quickly as they are identified by viewers. Maybe now that the non-violent drug offenders have a shot at release from the prison industrial complex, the smaller (non-privatized) prison system can make room for the traitors from January 6.

It's mid-January, but I just realized that it is once again the race to see who ends up with the first blooming daffodil. They suddenly appear out there, harbingers of spring, even though we may have weeks of cooler weather until the date says "Spring." It's time to start digging in the garden on warm days.

I'm preparing for a double-header, a no-spend and no-alcohol February. I wasn't paying attention when January started that this is something I've done before as a good to start the new year. I'm weaning myself from some of the snack foods and routine evening drink, switching over to fruit for snacks and decaff tea for the evening beverage.

Plants - you've mentioned your plants - this winter I have started several new plants from cuttings (or more accurately, breakings - limbs that dropped off of things that were then poked into a jar of water on the windowsill). I now have a plant in the window in my sewing room - committing to myself that I'll be in there often enough each week to notice and give it water when needed. It's a durable spider plant, but it still needs some attention. It was rooted in water after removal from the big parent plant. The xmas cactus, pothos, and spider plants that are around the house are typical beginner plants—it's time to shop for some African violets and orchids now that I can easily work on the plant stands in the sunroom. And sometimes these plants end up in the Freecycle list.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Jan 21 - 04:17 PM

Dupont
Just wish to report that I feeling better and even got dressed! And potted a few aloe vera, reducing the pot load to the one largest one and several small pots of smallish ones!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jan 21 - 04:52 PM

I'm glad, Dorothy! I think we all worry about your comings and goings, especially in the winter, and with no heat - oy!

It's interesting how plants can make you feel better, isn't it? My frugal nature means cut flowers infrequent purchases, but the discount gourmet grocery I go to sometimes has boxes of flower arrangements modestly priced when they open their warehouse market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and I can bring home one or two for usually under $5. Considering how happy they make me feel I really should buy them more often. But even just the green leaves of potted plants is a mood boost.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Jan 21 - 11:16 AM

Dupont

Just as well I did not leave yesterday. This morning - no heat. However, R has decided to take it seriously and Dan is working on it. Apparently, he says he can find the problem better when it is quit. I mentioned to R my thoughts, from Connie, re a heat pump and am delighted that he has been thinking it also, to the point of where it would need to be located; I don't mind digging up those plants if it means we will really have heat! Delight is Hope!

So R turned on cube heater in TV room and Came down to put a fire in wood stove and make BF. He recognized my rope is badly frayed. I got dressed - a good first step, knowing Dan would be along shortly. Then worked on cleaning up in the "tomato plant room". They did not grow to the ceiling like last year; I suspect need new soil So I take cuttings. One pepper is still very healthy with two fruit that seem to be willing to just stay home.

No question of leaving today so I am thinking about what needs to be done with plants and how to do it in a fairly tidy fashion. First, a big bag of good soil - from where? A very large plastic... Good project - for when the heat is back! Vacuuming would be a good project also...

Right now, maintaining a level of mental health is paramount. Make stew, try to do a couple sewing projects... DO something! Find phone number for a help line so I can explode to someone who won't be harmed by it. I am still being bombed by ancient painful memories. YEah, I'll find that phone number now.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Jan 21 - 02:26 PM

Dupont

Hannah fixed! Her Dad was my go-to person from 1968 until he died a few years ago, shockingly. Now Hannah has taken over; not quite the same but, in some ways better. From Gardening to what to eat to what to do about R and everything else! We can disagree but she had a great Mom and Dad and has a good husband and 3 adult children... She is a wise person. Two hours and I am ready to face life with renewed energy and a ton of advice.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 19 Jan 21 - 02:08 AM

I made some cheese scones and a chocolate cake the other day and am trying to think of things to do – or maybe what not to do…

I’ve done as much with another lighthouse (here painted but with the wires in a mess up top and here in motion) as I want to do and thought about the time I spent and the money in bits here and there…

I’ve another idea for a different 3d printer project in mind but ought to take a bit of a break (say a week or two) first.

One task I do have that seems relevant to comments a few posts back is that I plan on replacing the syphon in our toilet and have the parts on order from Amazon.

I’m not sure what else except walking the footpath. I’m now walking to its end which, by my reckoning using Google Earth, gives me just over a 1 ½ mile walk there and back. I could make a circular route of about 2 miles by turning right at its end but I’m not sure I fancy the main road bit.

I could also do a longer circle by turning left but the Felbrigg road I’d join is one I swore “never again” on. Mum and I had quite a frightening time walking that way once when we took Misty, our dog, for a walk that way.

I’ve met as many as 4 people on each of the last 3 times I’ve walked the path. It’s still quiet but it’s a change from rarely meeting anyone.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 19 Jan 21 - 03:07 AM

Oh and on reading a few posts back again.

I had many a walk in the dark when I lived in Pydew which is up a hill and sort of in between a few of the towns.

I got rather lost walking a path parents called Bogey Lane which runs to Mochdre a couple of times before working it out and I guess the Bodysgallen route from Llandudno has a dark spot you could go wrong on…

But to me, anyway, you get to sense what is alongside you and (as with me and bod on the dark spot) can feel what is underfoot like ruts to guide you.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Jan 21 - 04:41 AM

Wrong thread, Dick?

---

(Post in question was moved here, giving a revival to that helpful thread)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: The Sandman
Date: 19 Jan 21 - 08:07 AM

NO, Correct thread it is about health and fitness during the pandemic.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jan 21 - 12:28 PM

Dick, this is an ongoing declutter conversation, it isn't really where we need to posts whole articles about COVID. I moved it over to the "New News on the COVID-19 Pandemic" thread where more people will see it. But thanks for thinking of us!

It did offer information about ventilation that I also heard last week on a radio news program, and in particular, the program said that if there are two of you in a car, sit in opposite corners and have the windows opposite you open. So the driver in the front seat would have the passenger window open some, and the passenger in as far back a seat as possible on the other side of the car would have the driver's side window open. This creates a sort of "wall of air" between the two of you as air travels in the front and out the rear window.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jan 21 - 01:01 PM

I was planning a brief foray to a local thrift store today, after not going on Monday because of the holiday (more shoppers possibly out and about). Then yesterday afternoon those plans lurched to a stop - I got a text from the County with an appointment for my first vaccine shot on Wednesday afternoon. It will continue to be face masks and physical distancing for a long time to come, but I'll wait and make my next shopping trip after I get the first dose. These do take time to take effect and a couple of weeks after second dose seals it, we hope.

A lovely letter from a friend arrived today, and has triggered an idea for the next blog post to do with these face masks. And yesterday I was hunting for something on YouTube and on the right side of the screen it offered up videos that might interest me - and one had to do with making small quilt blocks to build out for larger items, assembled from small pieces, the smaller ones referred to as "crumbs." FROM SCRAPS TO BLOCKS This video will give you the crumb trail (pun intended) to see the videos of various things she teaches. I put a few more masks in the mail today, along with an eBay package. For being retired and stuck at home (I used to have a robust volunteer schedule, prior to knee surgery and then COVID-19) I am keeping busy.

Jon, I love your description of your walk and your photos and maps. And your rationale for avoiding certain roads is common sense, and something I keep in mind here also. I walked the dogs yesterday and ended up avoiding the park because there was a woman walking but had her dog off leash - and the tangle if that dog raced up wasn't worth the bother. I turned around and walked back down the hill and paused to talk to neighbors I haven't seen in ages who were out walking their little old deaf dog (who still has a perfectly good bark when he spotted my dogs.) It is lovely to talk to people that way, all the more precious when we can't see people safely very often. From there we walked down to the woods across the road from my house and the dogs got a good session of sniffing in. We said hello to another family passing by on the road as we exited the woods. Speaking to six people in one day - nice!

Dorothy, I hope you get your heat pump. They are a good investment and if you decide to sell that wonderful old house a pump means less money given back to the new buyers for a new system. (I have two, actually, so you may decide to build up a system based on zones.)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jan 21 - 11:19 AM

We're just over 40 minutes away from the swearing in of Joe Biden. He has a lot of work to do and his first 100 days (an arbitrary thing that started with FDR in 1933). This last week I've been adjusting my diet, stepping down from some of the carbs and sugar, and while I wasn't doing a no-spend or no-alcohol January, I am going to do a no-alcohol 100 days. It's time for a major cleanse after the self-medicated evenings of the Trump administration. Mild dosage, certainly, but still, there to take the edge off of those awful days. Come April 30 I'll assess the progress.

I have a bright pink crochet cap I wore four years ago to march at the county courthouse downtown. Now with the pandemic there isn't a celebratory march planned, but there are probably a lot of people wearing pink today in honor of the event. I did see one woman in the attending audience wearing a dark pink knit hat that may well be an homage to all of this.

On the home front, yesterday I put the dog-proof (resistant!) couch cover in the wash because one of the dogs peed overnight. Not sure which, but it was one of the two big ones. It of course seeped through onto the upholstery so I got out the steam cleaner and figured out how to put on the upholstery attachment and gave the area a once over. The next step, after that dries, is to spray it with the enzyme "pet odor remover" product that works on this. And there will be no more dogs on the sofa, and no more couch cover. I'm thinking of getting a couple of those small dog chair things and I'll use the fabric from the now-clean cover to make small covers for those dog things.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Jan 21 - 04:00 PM

Dupont:

I have recovered from whatever was ailing me for those couple weeks, or more. Today, I realized I had scared Robin. In the midst of being tortured by the QC bureaucracy, he needs all the support I can give him. Far too complex to elucidate but if it ever ends, you shall hear the grand hurrah! And if does not end soon, I fear for his health.

I might need to participate in a Zoom meeting on Friday; I managed to download zoom but could make no sense of any instructions. They seem to assume some obscure knowledge - I have none! SO, I made a request to the group meant to support anglophones in QC - PLEASE! And this am, a charming and delightful young man with a very clear voice, emailed me and connected me and we had a marvellous conversation - from the Irish in Canada, to politics, the needs of young people and books, history.... I have zoomed! and it was wonderful. The hardest part was entering the incredibly "secure" PW. I need to engrave it on my left hand!

Interesting here to read about walks and darkness... I don't think I ever feared the dark, and love it. Lights are onerous to me. It was a dreadful shock to move here and find a streetlight outside the BR window and the need for heavy drapes. The other side of this is my love of watching the light arrive in the am! Which R does not like! Oh well, I wait until we need to be up - between 8 and 9 am, then open the south drape for Hibbie (hibiscus). Then the west one opens then R gets up. At Beaver, I have my way! NO artificial LIGHTS ANYWHERE! Apparently this human need for lighting is also detrimental to all the wildlings.

The heat is staying fixed, so far. we each check each am! The heat pump could become reality in my lifetime. 60% fuel savings does cause R to think hard! But nothing is going to happen around here until the travesty with the govt ends, hopefully without us both disintegrating. Ten years is far too long. So, I am not thinking of going to Beaver until we can go together to recover. It will be a major de-clutter when it comes to pass, but only if there is justice.

Silly me, watched the internet for busy-ness of the two stores - WOW, the chart was way low! So I dashed out to the car- Oops 6 inches of frozen snow covered it And it was precipitating something akin to sleet, the sort of night I would have said NO WAY! But I was in gear and managed to clear the windshield - forget the rest. Yes it is illegal but it definitely was not going anywhere. Bought a ton of groceries in the empty stores. And got back in time to put it all away before Terry Joe Banjo's LR concert!

Today, I de-cluttered my US account with a subscription to Atlantic M. Digital and by mail. I can read the dig but R wanted to be able to hold it. Now, if I could figure out e-transfer so I can donate to the two concerts this week.

Need a tough snow shovel to clear some of the back deck and recover the sizable quantity of potting soil from down under! worked on that yesterday but the store phone recording was only in French with no helps... Here I go!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Jan 21 - 09:51 PM

Dupont

Two shovels collected but it was bitter cold out there and I had to declutter the car roof and wait for the windshield to defrost. When I got to the store - the little hardware - I tried some more clearing and a nice man came and helped! By the time I got home, it was too cold and too dark to work. Shovels are inside the back door, with the ash bucket, for tomorrow! Am I really going to drag 3cf of frozen soil into the house? Yep, if I can, I shall! But let it sit for a while - at least 24 hours - before I touch it! The heat is still working!!!

Did not watch the news today but will get the precis tonight.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jan 21 - 08:50 PM

First Pfizer vaccine received, the next one in February, and they say "don't call us, we'll call you." I'm not aware of any side effects, save a slightly tender arm at the injection point. And I have the precious card.

In early January I worked on a design for a specialized fabric print (via Joann's) and the samples came today. The fabric is more coarse than I like and there is a muddiness between the colors that I need to work on to create contrast. But I'm on the way to creating a pattern I can use for a couple of specialized purposes. A brighter fabric for the pattern to be printed on might also help. This is my ongoing face mask project.

The house - oy. We've had a couple of days of rain so there is mud tracked through the house. And this week I realized one of the dogs had an accident overnight on the dog-resistant cover and it seeped into the couch upholstery. The cover went into the laundry and the upholstery attachment came out and I finally figured out the setup. It has dried so next I'll spray on some enzyme for treating "pet stains." And no more dogs on the sofa. This morning I walked into the den to find a huge stick lying on the floor, that most likely the blue heeler dragged in from the yard. That is back out the door, but what she does is chew them to pieces and I find all of the chips and splinters around the house.

I kept things quiet today, in case there was any after effect of the vaccine, but it seems to be fine. Tomorrow I'll get out a little. The new mask regulations on federal property and interstate travel won't effect me (wear the mask if I drive on the Interstate highway?) but I hope there are some teeth allowing enforcement of the regulation.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Jan 21 - 10:02 PM

Dupont:

Snow shovel left where it was as we got up to snow/sleet/ some sort of cold, wet precipitation which has not yet stopped. So much for clearing the car yesterday! Might go up to zeroC tomorrow so maybe I will get the soil in. I am ready to redo tomato plantings, with egg shells, once the soil defrosts!

Cooked pork roast w veggies, small stuffed chicken and an acorn squash - all to get them done. Never expected R to get home and 10pm. I doubt I shall see him tonight. Chicken is yummy.

Hope the bridge is safe if R does come home.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jan 21 - 10:41 AM

As long as I'm reading about Dorothy's slick frozen snow-covered porches I won't complain much about the gooey mud of a Texas winter. I think my garden mattock is still propped beside the door, it needs to go in the garage for a while. No snow shovels here, except the small backpack version I've had since the 1970s.

By last night I realized was more tired than usual and after placing an online order that managed to mangle my addresses, using the post office box for the delivery and home as billing (so will it even go through?) I decided to stop while I was ahead. I signed up for the CDC app for tracking COVID vaccine recipients and reported that I was tired and sluggish with the appropriate radio buttons. No fever.

And the dishes that met me in the sink this morning were testament to my tiredness; I'm surprised I managed to generate so many! I had cleared out some fridge leftovers, made stock with the chicken carcass, pan fried some potatoes to go with the last of the chicken for dinner, finished baking the last batch of some cardamom cookies, and all of the stuff was piled high. Now the dishwasher is full.

Now to tackle the pile of papers on my computer desk.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Jan 21 - 01:01 PM

I have been laid up all week with a pain in the arse. Literally.

Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice: under no circumstances allow your digestive tract to get old even if the rest of you does. The distal end of mine is currently in rebellion, bleeding and throbbing and generally wretched. I actually went to the doctor, quite an accomplishment under the provincial lockdown order. The cream she prescribed, cleverly compounded just for me, turned out to be too soft to be shoved past the sphincter to arrive in the area where the pain lives. So I sallied forth again, much against my will, to buy some old-fashioned over-the-counter suppositories. Dipped in the cleverly compounded cream, they seem to be doing the job, but not nearly fast enough.

Now that I can actually sit, I read about Dorothy's snow-removal and home-heating issues and decided that my existence is relatively blessed. A tractor from Nix Snow-Removal woke me up this morning at some ungodly hour as the nice young fella behind the wheel scraped my driveway clean, and a little later another lad arrived with a shovel and cleared the path to my door and the porch. Luxury. Also, the furnace is performing very nicely.

Stratford is covered with another blanket of picturesque-as-all-hell snow, but the weather is still not particularly cold, at least not by my -- and Dorothy's -- standards. So getting around can be a bit awkward, but not functionally miserable. To while away the hours until we are allowed to poke our noses out again, I purchased a year's subscription to the television streaming service that brings HBO content to Canada. TV is definitely better than it used to be, if you know where to look.

When the lockdown is lifted, I shall declutter the basement of the four bookcases that are now surplus to requirements and buy myself some plant-nursery trays with grow lights. When that was Edmund's television sanctum, there was no room down there, or anywhere else in the house, to set up the six-foot folding table and make a mess with potting soil. I shall start a parsley grow-op, and maybe branch out (see what I did there?) into cilantro.

But for now, I'm content to be able to sit long enough to do the New York Times crossword puzzle. The Friday one is usually a pleasantly twisty challenge.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jan 21 - 09:35 PM

I drove to the town east of here where I worked for so many years, and in the process stopped at one store and went by the homes of a couple of friends and handed out masks. My former co-worker, also retired, is a full-time artist now and had made a lovely hand-painted bookmark in anticipation of my eventually getting over there. He was one person who I saw right before the election and gave a mask; since then he wears it all of the time and was thrilled when I said I'd bring him a more (and in the light blue that he finds such a good color for him). :) I had an array for "just in case" and when I stopped to see the next friend he was at his son's home and the wife and son were there, so I pulled out a handful to fit various sizes. We did all of our talking outside. At the store I watched an employee walking around talking to someone else and his mask was bobbing up and down on his beard; I walked past and told him his mask didn't fit and handed him one of mine and showed him had to adjust it. He was thrilled and the maskless man he'd been talking to just watched us. It really is too bad that Trump had to turn the coronavirus into a political bogeyman. So many people out there willing to spread it.

Charmion, I wish you well. I have a couple of friends who've had to remedy something similar surgically.

My den floor is a wretched muddy mess right now. Once the weather dries out I have a huge mop and scrub job ahead of me, just like last winter. I can't seem to keep enough mats on the floor in front of the door (they slide around) to pick it up off the dogs' feet. The sofa in the den has been treated with the enzyme and is ready to be put to rights, with the flat chairs laid on top again to keep dogs off. They only get one chance to have an accident then they're not allowed on it at all.

I've gained a couple of new tech jobs this week, so will be doing some online training over the weekend to be up to speed for Zoom management and using a new-to-me web management system. Online skills are in high demand these days.

Stay safe, everyone!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 Jan 21 - 09:53 PM

Dupont:

Tears of relief - both of us - as the situation with the Ministry is finally resolved - Almost ten years of increasing stress. Agreement was reached this afternoon in a several hours long Zoom - 7 of them vs 4 of "our team". And a ten minute break for R when his stress level burst out in tears - they got the message, and by mid aft came to a resolution. R said it was kind of like a poker game; he could maybe have have held out for more but he needed it over and is content. Elated that is is over. As am I. We will be in recovery for some time. But, as I mentioned, a major declutter. Now his business life can move on! And maybe even some honey-do jobs!

I did shovel a path - sort of - through frozen snow to the soil but it is frozen to the deck - of course! I think purchasing a new bale is the better part of valour! Manana! I shall have to clear the car again. Or maybe Sunday if R sleeps in and stays home. He/we enjoyed the roast pork and trimmings.

My gut problem seems to have, mostly, resolved itself - with lots of Pau d'Arco. I am relieved to find my malaise was not old age but a "real" problem. Careful what I ingest but a very small quantity of choc helps; a little more hurts! Salads help a lot. But I can go upstairs without each step feeling like an ordeal.

I have hopes that life can now settle into a more peaceful existence. The ultimate de-clutter!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 05:49 AM

This end you can buy sachets of Fybogel, A natural plant extract (ispaghula, aka psyllium husk) that you mix with water and drink quickly. It isn't a laxative but it softens *things* up nicely by adding bulky fibre (without your having to eat extra tons of worthy wholemeal stuff) so making it much easier to *go.* After a week or so you begin to lose that horrid apprehension that precedes the inevitable *visit* (trying to be as euphemistic as possible in this ever so polite thread...)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 07:22 AM

Ah, Steve, I see that you, too, have experience with this malady. I have invested in the largest available box of the doctor’s preferred potion, of which I now swallow 17 grams per day mixed into whatever I’m drinking that isn’t alcoholic. Not sure why it wouldn’t work just as well if stirred into a fine Cabernet Sauvignon, but that’s what the label says.

Dorothy, congratulations on the armistice with the gummint. Over some 25 years of life with a criminal defence lawyer, I learned that official disapproval and/or suspicion ranks right up there with life-threatening disease as a source of stress. I hope you and R will soon feel the benefit of being out from under the cloud.

It snowed again last night and today’s forecast calls for a high of -5 degrees Celsius — cold enough to keep the fresh snow from disintegrating into foot-clogging slush, but not cold enough to clemm the bones. The pain in my nether regions has receded somewhat, so I’ll take a walk today if the sun comes out.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 11:20 AM

If we're at confession time, I take the capsule version of the psyllium every day. It's essential. This was recommended by the gastroenterologist who administered my last couple of colonoscopies. Doucosate sodium is an additional boost, something the nurse at the hospital where I had my first child told me about. Not a laxative, but a stool softener. (My husband quipped, after our daughter was born, that "now I know what it means when someone says they'll "rip you a new one.") Probably way too much information.

Another rainy muddy day, but one on which the rooted xmas cactus on my kitchen windowsill was crying out to be put in a pot. Now I have one less growing thing on that sill. I have quite a few of these pretty cacti I need to give away now because I can never bring myself to toss out trimmings or broken-off pieces if I can root them instead.

Time to set up the accordion folder for the 2021 bills and receipts. There is a growing pile on the table beside the office closet where that thing lives. The contents of the folder for 2020 go into a large manila envelope and in a few years I'll give the contents a cursory glance then put them in the burning barrel.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: JennieG
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 07:24 PM

The time has come. The pantry has to be cleaned out and, in the process, de-cluttered.

Nearly two weeks ago we - Himself, Bianca the Elderly Cat, and I - were peacefully minding our own business one evening when we heard a really loud bang. We couldn't find a cause inside the house, and despite some lightning flashing in the distance we decided it was too far away for the noise to have been thunder. So we shrugged our shoulders nd continued on with life.

Forward to last Sunday night.

Having taken the last of the olives from the opened jar in the fridge I reached into the pantry for a new jar, and taking it to the bench I noticed drips on the floor. "Oh dear", thought I, "jar must be cracked", so the olives were decanted and the jar checked - no cracks. Looked more closely in the pantry......

.....and realised that the bang heard several nights earlier was the lid of a ring pull can of apricot halves letting go. I had forgotten it was there and it must have fermented, pressure had built up in the tin, and now the wall and shelf need to be cleaned; in fact the whole pantry could do with a good re-organisation. It has been a very busy week so we haven't had a chance to get to it before now.

Sigh.......

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 07:35 PM

We don't really get rats. But we have had a rat for a couple of weeks. Outside only, thankfully. I bought a live-capture rat trap. Tonight, after two weeks, I caught a rat. I'm not going to tell you its fate. I suppose there may be more...

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 08:07 PM

Where one rat turns up, more are inevitable. Good luck with the trap.

My lady, plump tomcat Watson slaughtered another mouse last night, with plenty of howling and thumping in the small hours. Thank God, so far no rats have invaded the house, but this street is only a few hundred metres from farmland, so they’re out there.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 11:01 PM

I have a very deep 10-gallon bucket that the live trap is dropped into. I use a live trap for rats because it catches toads and lizards as often as rats, and I want them to survive. Not the rats.

I stopped putting out bird seed to stop attracting rats, though they also will turn up in the garden when crops are ripening. I caught several rats last year but none this year, though something has continued to take bites out of some of the low-hanging vegetables.

Jennie, that sounds like a classic pantry failure. When I worked on my Dad's estate there were cans stored under a table of shelves that had been there so long they were in various stages of rust, ooze, and swelling. The only thing that saved the shelves was that they were papered.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 11:27 PM

Watson is a *lazy*, plump tomcat. But you knew that.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 11:40 AM

We’ve had several problems with rats over the years here but we have been clear for a while now. Our most recent rodent problem was with mice but I think the chap who came and filled in possible entrance holes before Christmas was successful in his efforts.

I put the curtains, which I stumbled upon in a shed while looking for something else, up in the kitchen yesterday. The room had been without any for over a year. I remember the old pair were worn out and ordering the ones I found but I can’t remember the reason why I didn’t fit them at the time. They will have to come down again for ironing – a task I’ll leave to someone else but they will do as they are for now.

I’ve also tried to look at something waiting to be done for an even longer time. When Wales had a great run in the Euro 2016 football, I bought mum a red dragon weather vane. She did asked a few people who did other jobs here to fit it but the fitting never happened. I’ll never get it up on the side of the wall as was planned but I’m toying with putting it on the green shed. The problem is that it’s got quite a heavy iron bracket which I assume is that made so solidly for a reason and I’m unsure of the fixing points on the shed. If I get it wrong, I think it would be down in a good wind, taking part of a shed panel with it… Anyway, idea deferred for another and rather finer day.

In the meanwhile, I’ve now started playing with another printer idea. I’m not at all sure I’ll manage this one but it gives me a project to think about. The aim is to make something loosely based on the Mamod TE1a traction engine model. I aim to have it remote control, working with a transmitter I bought when I was trying to fly small helis.

Oh, and on Covid. My parents are due to receive their first vaccination tomorrow.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 12:49 PM

Last night when I went to bed I decided to think about what my next large project should be, but I fell asleep before I reached any conclusions. Maybe that's a better thing to think about over breakfast. :-)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 01:30 PM

I like it SRS. Sometimes I wake up actually going through the steps I might take to do something.

Some might say they leave their subconscious mind to something...

I dunno but there's that crossword your stuck on. You leave it and come back to it a few hours later you (sometimes) find an answer you were missing staring you in the face.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 03:12 PM

That's what power naps are for - when I was in graduate school I finally realized that when the extreme fatigue washed over me, if I set the timer for 15-20 minutes and took a short nap, I'd wake having essentially untangled whatever it was I was trying to work out. It serves me well, especially if I'm learning something new. Pause, take that nap, then continue.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 03:25 PM

Dupont:

Day one of de-compressing was fairly successful; Driving 2 hours south, past the "mill" to look at a house the R's cousin Doug had found on line, for his family. I drove cautiously, as the wind blew wildly and the snow blew madly across the roads from the prairie-like cornfields. Doug had not managed to get hold of the realtor but we had looked at it on line and WOW! We arrived to find 5 vehicles in the drive and a woman who had just bought it, she said. Just as well we did not get to go in!

R had not been down to the area in months and was glad to see familiar places, remember all the good Valley music we enjoyed down there, and good people we have met and not seen for ages; and to stop at the mill and assess the roof collapse - not as bad as he feared; it will wait to spring, of course. I had hoped for take out at the thai resto but closed. So drove back along the river roads, enjoying the snow sculptures.

Saw only one house for sale and R did a pic of the sign - COLD out there! Completed trip home through one of the most historic areas along the St. Lawrence. A series of wows! Did R good. Today, at home, there are periodic bursts of "It's over!!!!"

Over 4 hours driving took a toll on me but I did it and that means I can drive to Beaver soon. I drove because it was less stressful for me than R driving, and R could field phone calls. It was a good break. Then I fed us and rested. Good to have all that cooked food in frig, ready to dish out.

R is moving toward getting real things done. I am trying not to be pushy about the many little things - "new" K sink - stainless instead of the weird composite one that is uncleanable, and a counter. But, more importantly, for him, is that he can now plan to start winding up the business and we can maybe get to go visit family and other parts of Canada in a year or so.

We picked up a large plastic garbage can for ashes and compost together - on the deck so I do not have to brave frozen snow, dangerous steps and the long walk to the compost spot. There will be no above freezing weather for at least 2 weeks. We tried to get some soil but there was only Miracle grow and I am not paying for additives! I'll try the local store tomorrow, maybe do a screen shot of what I want so I can show it when I go in.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 03:36 PM

MiracleGro is a bad idea in general - all salts, it messes up plants. Good to pass by it. Some day you'll have to find a forum where you can describe what the court case was and why it dragged on for so long. Whatever it was, I'm glad it's over!

I was given a loaf of olive/onion bread on Friday and have been enjoying it a slice or two at a time. Today for lunch I warmed a bowl of my crustless quiche and toasted a slice of that bread. It's very moist, so after toasting (that really only warmed it up but didn't crisp it up) I piled on shredded sharp cheddar cheese and put it in the toaster oven to toast some more. Very nice together for that meal. It's a drizzly overcast day so hot spice tea is also a treat today.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 10:50 AM

Dupont:

What a relief today to be able to hug R good by after our two days of "It's over!" He celebrated his freedom from the "sword" by spending most of yesterday doing some sort of dreadful clean up work in the basement. (I do not go down there.) I call it dreadful; he is elated! After a nice bath and clean clothes in the am, he came back up covered with dust/dirt... Happy! "Now, I can plan!" I had to insist those clothes go directly into laundry. And that he wash again - I changed bed, did laundry. Clean bed! And a good night's sleep.

At Bf this am we talked about how to improve the Kitchen - the dead dishwasher? - could he take it out and replace with drawers... He ate and ate yesterday and had the first "good event" in months, this am. The weight has lifted, life can improve, things can get done...

But no date yet to go to Beaver. Cousin Doug is still house hunting and sent us 3 new ideas - Only one did I consider feasible and we may go look at it with him later this week. When others dwell in difficulties, R dwells in possibilities. Now that the weight is lifted, everything looks better - on our third consecutive day of SUN!

OH! it WAS sunny! MAybe some cobweb and dust de-cluttering today.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 01:44 PM

I read this morning that approximately 10 days out from the first vaccine it becomes approximately 90% effective, and two weeks after the second dose it reaches the 95% effectiveness. I am still planning to shop during stores' quietest times, but it means that my sense of dread will diminish.

Yesterday I conducted an oatmeal cooking experiment. I usually set up the small 75-watt 1-quart crock pot overnight and by morning it's perfect. I forgot to set it up, and the rice cooker was still out, so I followed my 1:2 recipe (oats to water) plus salt and chopped dates. (The cooker recipe book has you measuring with their plastic cup for oats and a regular cup for water.) It came out very good, but there was a 30 minute wait. The best part of this is little to no crust on the bottom of the pot, as always happens when it cooks on the stove. The crock pot method ends up with a small crusty ring around the very top edge of the oats. The crockpot means it's ready when I want to eat, but if I need to cook it in another manner, I'll use the rice cooker instead of a stovetop method.

I had a cactus rooting on the windowsill that was put in a pot over the weekend, and now I need to attend to the pothos plant on top of my Hoosier Kitchen near the back window. It has very long vines with few leaves, and I'll cut off some of them and root them. The plant itself needs to be repotted. Spring may still be a distance off for planting in the yard, but I can tend to some of the house plants until then.

Dorothy, I envy you having a basement, even as disreputable as you make yours sound at the moment. Most of the houses here are put up on concrete slabs, that then shift and crack. I'm near a creek so the water table might be an issue, but one I'd be willing to tackle.

Charmion, I hope you're feeling better. I hope Michelle and Pete are continuing their progress, Dorothy and R continue to rebound after the legal issue that weighed them down was lifted, and that Alice is on the mend. Jon has told us he's well enough to move back into his own room (that is wonderful, back in your own space!) and I recently rearranged my bedroom furniture back to their old positions before the knee replacement meant I needed a clear path for the walker. Donuel always has a few projects underway - I hope they're working out well. It's almost spring in a new year with an effective vaccine starting to make the rounds - here's hoping 2021 is a truly excellent year for all!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 02:06 PM

Unrelated to above - years ago when I moved into this house I found stuff left in the attic. One of the things I saved was a vintage wooden yard stick - do you remember how stores used to have them printed with their name and slogans and hand them out, kind of like Home Depot and Lowes hand out paint sticks now? This was an old one from when J.C. Penny had fabric and such and I discovered it hidden in my office closet this weekend, so took a small nail and hung it on the wall in my sewing room near a doorway so it blends in along the door lines. I have a few other things here like that I need to put up since they're not actually being used. Clutter as art. :)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 06:42 PM

Dupont,

A great deal of art might be viewed as clutter, and clutter as art! I am sure I have a couple old yard sticks - in a long round container also containing some nifty posters. R noted yesterday that we really have not moved in yet. Any art on the walls is whatever has surfaced so far and been placed on left over nails from prev owner. Maybe we can now begin to regain stuff from the city and the mill and re-home - or dispose of it. If cousin Doug buys a home, R could easily help him furnish it with a surfeit of nice old bureaus and desks.

Spring is approaching and a potter friend somewhere in Texas spoke today of having tomato plants ready to put out in 8 weeks! Here it would be closer to 16 weeks! So,I just keep nurturing my tomato cuttings! It was lovely and sunny for most of the day but bitter cold.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 08:57 AM

Over the weekend (what's a weekend these days?), I sorted the contents of he Glory Hole and extracted a whole whack of cooking equipment I can't see myself ever using again.

Edmund's collection of silicone doohickeys for poaching eggs, a clay-baker big enough for a small turkey, two (Count 'em! -- Two!) fish kettles, two baguette molds, and smaller rubble galore ... At present, I have no idea what to do with it all, and the accumulation covers the top of a six-foot table.

I guess it can stay there for a while -- in fact, it has to, as the provincial lockdown has no forecast end date yet.

Meanwhile, it's snowing again. Yesterday, for the first time since we moved here, the scheduled pick-up of stuff for recycling did not happen, and blue boxes are sitting forlornly in snowbanks along the street. I will improve the shining hour with a load of laundry.

What larks, eh?

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 06:36 PM

Charmion, I think I'd be tempted to try using some of those gadgets to see if they could have a place in the kitchen cupboards. I have a clay baker that fits a chicken (I've found them at estate sales or thrift stores the size to cook small turkeys, but I sold them on eBay). Chicken cooked with carrots, potatoes, and onions in that Romertopf is tender and falling off the bones when it comes out of the oven. A baguette mold? Definitely something to give a try!

By the time you are able to donate them you might have decided some bear a second glance.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 09:16 AM

I have two other clay-bakers, Stilly: one small enough for a single meal for two, and the other the right size for a fairly large chicken or a rice-based dish for six. The biggest one was Edmund's idea; he came home with it one day with that look in his eye that always meant that he had come up with another Iron Chef challenge. I think I have used it twice in ten years.

As for the baguette moulds, I was never the fancy-bread baker of the family; that was Edmund's obsession. I thought one of my sisters-in-law would like them -- she fell in love with yeast baking during the first lockdown -- but her oven is one of those bisexual microwave-convection things and it's exactly one inch too narrow to accommodate them.

I am having second thoughts about one of the fish kettles, but only one; if you're not running a restaurant or feeding a family of twelve, you don't need two. Again, the second one came home with Edmund, who had attended a silent auction without me (my role being the frequent reiteration of No).

Today I am again putting up with digestive distress, fortunately minor discomfort of a familiar kind. It's distracting and definitely takes the shine off the day, so I'm drinking peppermint tea, eating bland high-fibre foods in small quantities, and doing my best to think positively.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 09:55 AM

Clay bakers are by far the ideal way to nake the most tender chicken in the world. With so many you could dedicate one to beef and one to chicken.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 11:46 AM

I concur about chicken and clay bakers. I have recipes for other things, but mine is used pretty much just for chicken. And I can understand Charmion's kitchen gadget surplus issue - my dad had a lot more kitchen stuff than he ever could use and it was divided out between four of us, resulting in well-stocked kitchens for all.

I'm awaiting my order of a new pair of Gingher knife edge dressmaker shears. After knocking my original pair off of the table they now have a notch knocked into both halves that awkwardly snag when I get to within an inch of the point. The guy who sharpens stuff will be at my local craft store on the first Friday of the month so in a week and a half I'll take the old pair in for sharpening and I hope that takes care of it. This is how we end up with more than one of many things around the house, I can get a new pair in two days from Amazon and don't have to wait 10 days to keep doing my sewing projects.

Jennie, how is the pantry work coming along? I imagine you'll find all sorts of stuff you forgot about in there. I'm sure I have lost track of many items stored in the small closet I converted into a pantry several years ago.

I'm reminded by Charmion's remarks to keep eating my oatmeal for breakfast, for digestive and cholesterol-reducing benefits. The kidney beans I'll be cooking this afternoon have the same benefits.

I'm feeling out-of-sorts about all of the stuff sitting around today; I think the sunshine is reminding me that spring is nearby and spring cleaning is a thing I need to do. Today I should start with a run over to the village recycle bins; there are a lot of cardboard boxes that have reproduced like bunnies lately and need flattening and deposit in the bins. And the den floor - such a mass of muddy dog prints. One more day of drying in the yard and I think I can successfully mop without more being tracked in. And once the turf starts growing then there's a lot less mud available for tracking.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: JennieG
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 03:27 PM

Not really coming along at all, Maggie......it's been a bit warm for spending time in a small room sorting stuff (it is a walk-in pantry, but it's not huge). We have been promised some milder weather over the next few days, so the cleanout is looking promising.

Meanwhile, I finished a quilt top last week and am extremely and very thrilled with it. Now working on a pieced back.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 06:26 PM

I've seen some amazing quilts, they are the tapestries of our day.

Light sconces above each painting is one way to decorate but I found another way to illuminate wall art from 10 to 30 feet away by putting a light behind a crystal ball (12 inches or more) that acts like a lens and can focus a beam on large or small works. Works with lasar projectors too. Putting a small crystal ball (6 inches) in a gold fish bowl filled with water makes an unusual conversation piece.
Other unusual effects can be done with mirrors and sunlight that can project a reflected image on picture windows (old movie technology).

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 11:13 PM

On January 16 I posted a link to a YouTube video about scraps (or "crumbs") of fabric and I've generated a large bin-full as I work on masks. I'll need to learn about how to assemble crazy quilts from blocks made from those scraps.

I ran a few small errands and more envelopes of 3D face masks went into the mail. I have things that need doing and have been put off, but these mailings are a nice start.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jan 21 - 11:19 AM

I donate to a few good causes (especially since the election of 2016) and they send me mail at my post office box. And often those solicitations include mailing labels. I get so many I shred stacks of them every so often. I do also mail things from my house (non bills, generally) and am close to out of my little roll of labels, so have decided to change my mailing address for one of the most prolific mailing-label-senders. That should take care of the need for more labels. They are going to mail them somewhere, I might as well direct them to where they'll be useful.

I was reading an article from a UK newspaper that talked about "Do One Thing" to help the planet, and it confirms that I'm already doing a lot, compared to the author. She uses a lot of disposable products: cosmetic wipes - who wears cosmetics? Wash your face with a rough washcloth for the removal of dead skin and anything else. Disposable sanitary pads - nope - the surgeon ended all of that abruptly years ago. Tea bags - I buy it loose and use strainers or tea balls - Deodorant - nope, it isn't good for you I haven't used it since high school. I'm sure there are still many things I could do to be more environmentally friendly, I'll have to give that some consideration.

Plastic. If I could either find fewer products in plastic or find better ways to reuse what comes through the house, that would be good. Melt it into ingots and use them to build walls around the garden?