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De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion's brother Andrew Date: 30 Jul 21 - 10:50 AM Bonne route, chère sœur! |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 30 Jul 21 - 09:15 AM Today I'm off for Windsor, three hours away by the dreaded Highway 401, for my first weekend away from home since Christmas 2019, and my first trip of any kind since Edmund died. Yes, I feel a bit stressed about it, but ... I've done this before. A long, long time ago, but I think I remember how. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Jul 21 - 11:15 AM I have noticed that also. The appointment lasts longer and covers a range of topics. That said, I have only seen my physician a handful of times in the last dozen years: when I was a new patient, in order to make a referral (to see a rheumatologist), and when to signoff to pronounce me fit for surgery (knee, for example). Most of my visits to that office are for things that aren't a medical mystery, like poison ivy, sinus infection, etc. and the nurse gives the shot or issues the prescription and we're finished. I go to my ob/gyn for my annual physical ("Well woman check") and now I have to play Medicare games if I want to go every year; Medicare approves a physical every two years. In the off year I was told that I should make an appointment with a euphemism like "vaginal dryness" and they can do the same checks. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 28 Jul 21 - 08:13 PM I went to see the doc today. She wanted to hear about how my grumpy intestines are behaving, and the state of my creaky lungs. The subject of how much I sleep and under what circumstances took up a solid chunk of time. Exercise, diet, cooking habits — I swear she had a checklist. But most of all she wanted to know whether I had found anything to do just for fun. I told her about playing tunes, and she allowed as how I was heading in the right direction. Doctors have changed, and for the good. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 28 Jul 21 - 07:05 PM Dupont: Lunch took hold and I washed dishes, made yummie brownies from the recipe (followed correctly this time) that R found in the unsweetened baking choc package! Fairly quick and very good. Too good! Also another batch of hummous and put away the huge pot of rice, etc. So the kitchen is as tidy as it gets. Lots of food prepped for quick meals. The weather has stayed decent and the air quality is Good! So, I opened windows, turned off air cleaners. Will be nice to sleep tonight without the noise. Maybe tomorrow I can do a little yard work, even throw a few pots. Just googled "rye bread pudding"! YEP! There are recipes!I will peruse them later! When I go to Beaver, I put food to take in an insulated box. Frozen food usually stays frozen for the trip but I am glad to have it confirmed that it is ok to re-freeze bread! |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Jul 21 - 06:18 PM The dryer is running and not making any odd noises, so I am assuming that the repair has "taken." The plastic replacement piece is lighter than the original, something to keep in mind over time. I vacuumed inside and removed lint that wasn't easily reached prior to opening the front of the appliance. Two quarts of tomatoes taken care of today; one pint processed and three pints in the freezer. Dorothy, I learned a while back that you can re-freeze bread safely, so if you take it to Beaver you can stash it in the freezer even if it thaws during the trip. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 28 Jul 21 - 03:03 PM Dupont: Hopefully, at this moment, R is at a hearing re his driver's license!! SRS: Great recipe. Any ideas on making heavy rye bread "Pop"! Maybe some herbs or spices? I have decided one type of bread (4 loaves) is merely tolerable! I shall have to experiment! The rest are fine. One slice of it this morning with "the usual" has left a lump in my gut. I bought the battery powered weed eater so I would not have to deal with a cord. My right shoulder hates struggling with a cord! Hates anything I do except pottery! Pottery does not affect it. But I am too tired today, so far. A lovely day and the smoke is negligible. Have watered - and watered and watered. Just one tomato plant in a large pots seems to need at least a gallon a day! A critter picked the largest almost ripe tomato! More than one I think. In the back yard. The actually planted in the ground ones. Also, I put the soil into a banana box, to contain it. I thought it would help with the water but that one needs water more than the one next to it with no box. I wonder if, in addition, the cardboard is toxic. Got back from "driving R" about noon, made chicken with one of the magic jars of Indian sauce, and cooked rice and cauliflower and had a good lunch but still feel lousy. Blaming this on that slice of bread - I hope. Thinking I need choc chip cookies? Trying to tough it out! So bored here that the Weds fliers are a treat even though they go (almost) immediately into the recycling! M&M has a good sale on prepared ribs - but there is NO more room in the freezer! I'll take a few loaves to Beaver when I go - hoping for Monday!!!! Linen Chest had a lovely quilt for only $169- ROTFL!!!!! We have a few, at least as pretty, we bought at thrift shops - $10; someone may have paid a lot more!!! So much for the entertainment value of the fliers! Lunch is starting to hit the spot. See what I can get done today! |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Jul 21 - 11:33 AM Finding the energy for motivation is the name of the game this time of year, Jon. Lying in bed this morning, looking for a reason to get up and move around in the hot air outside (the house is okay now) - I made a list of three things to do. If I manage that, I'll be ahead. As it is, this weighing myself every day thing is a reminder that in this heat if you don't drink enough water on one day the next you're going to show up as weighing more because you tend to store water. So one of my goals for the day is to remember to drink enough water. Funny thing this morning - I didn't close my bedroom door when I was moving in and out of the room doing chores, and all three dogs came rattling into the bathroom to say hello. And all three poked their noses into the open closet door as they passed by—they still check to see if we have any beds set up in there all of these months after the freeze campout. I'm doing a lunch here with friends in a week so I have a deadline as far as clearing up the house to an acceptable level for Company to come over. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 28 Jul 21 - 07:27 AM Well there has been more rain and I’ve been trying to make a bit more sense of the home LAN for me. Wi-fi wise, I’ve long used 2 access points with the same sets (2.4 and 5ghz, for main network and guest network) of SSIDs. This (and I don’t want to get into meshes) has worked quite well for me with my mobile devices as they will pick the best option and change as needed. But a couple of other things have wound up on and stuck on a weak signal. That and I thought the other things perhaps should have their own SSIDs anyway. I’ve split things off so they have that and use names unique to the AP I’ve set them for. I’ve also made an attempt at identifying things on Wifi and on the LAN to try to help with the situation where I find myself stumbling on something (eg. via a station list on an AP) and wondering what the hell it is and whether it should be there. I’m not sure it’s 100% and some already existed but assuming the device has been accessed on my PC (or at least pinged), for nearly everything, from an IP address, I can from an IP address, eg. From a mac address, eg:
And be able to say (in these cases), yes it’s the laser printer in the study… More tech waffle (and at times my confusion with it) from me over with… I picked a lone ripe tomato from an outdoor plant the other day. With few other fruit on the plant and no others even turning red, what it was doing there is a bit of a mystery but, hey, I’ve had my first tomato of the season. There are some fruit forming in the greenhouse but it’s not looking like a good crop this year. I’ve had a couple of cucumbers from the greenhouse though and I’ve seen that in the other one, I’ve got some of the small aubergines growing. I’ve still to motivate myself for other things like the shed re-organisation. Maybe that and one other will get put off till next year. I don’t know… But at least I’m still keeping on top of the more routine things. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 27 Jul 21 - 05:43 PM Dorothy, I have had the same thing happen after using the weed eater. It's heavy enough and vibrates enough (it's electric with a cord I'm dragging behind me) that my hands are a bit wobbly for a few minutes. I think it's the nature of the work with a heavy tool. I'm glad you've come to terms with the bread delivery. I love bread pudding - 2 cups torn up "day old" (how about week-old from the fridge or from the freezer?) 1 quart milk, heated but not boiling (microwave to almost scalding), 4 tablespoons butter, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar (I use brown sugar for the flavor), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons vanilla (more than the recipe calls for, but I love vanilla). Beat the eggs with a fork, add salt, sugar, vanilla, and set aside. Put the bread pieces in the baking casserole dish with the butter, then pour the hot milk over and let the bread soak it and the butter melt. Once it's cool enough that it won't cook the eggs, mix in the egg mixture. From there I always add some kind of fruit, either raisins or cut up dates. However much you like, but at least a 1/2 cup of dried fruit. Bake in 350o oven for about an hour. This is from memory, I make it frequently. If you want to really make that pudding pop, then make a raspberry melba sauce to spoon over the top. The juice from yesterday's grapes is all refrigerated and will go in the freezer today, though I'll leave some out for jelly. I still have tomatoes that need processing (most blanching and diced then into the freezer) so I'm not ready to start cooking jelly yet. The alternate day fasting usually works out with three days of fasting each week (if you are really strict, it alternates 3 then 4 then 3.) If I were doing it that strictly then today would be a fasting day, but it was the only day this week for lunch with my daughter, so it's counting as a regular day and tomorrow is a fasting day. Gotta be flexible for good reasons! We shared a seafood cob salad - in which even half of the salad is huge. Lots of calcium and protein in that one. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 27 Jul 21 - 01:23 PM Dupont -still! Bread: finished one loaf! Now all is in freezer except one loaf I will use myself. R is not keep on most of it! A couple suggestions of bread pudding; I thought it might be better than the bland stuff but R says not. This is all German rye/pumpernickel! I like all of it, some more than others but that was the nature of the exercise - to find out which I liked best and which R might like as well as the soft pumpernickel. He will eat the odd slice of something else. So I will be eating a lot of good bread. My 2nd son pointed out that he orders 6 dozen bagels from Montreal; he slices and freezes them and makes them last about 6 months! He saw no reason to be excited about a year's worth of bread! May be hereditary? Made more humous yesterday; That, R loves! So I have another pot of chick peas cooking. (oops, forgot to get more lemons!) So, this am, I spent almost two hours driving R and then picked up stuffs at two stores and came home. Started distiller, had a bite to eat, hoping for rain to clear the air. Windows still closed, smoke still in the air, house is warmer than I like although it is lovely cool outside... Now go fetch bedding and do a laundry. If it rains, I will open a couple windows, may cool off pottery room enough to do some work; just got an order for some mugs. Would be good to throw a whole bunch - or as many as I have energy to do! Tried using the newer weed eater a few days ago. I lasted until the battery quit - about 15 minutes! When I sat to rest up (while it recharged), I picked up a mug and my hand was shaking so I near spilled some. I need someone else to do this yard work. Sprinkling out! Do laundry and consider pottery situation. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 27 Jul 21 - 09:45 AM The choir I sing with is in crisis. The conductor quit without warning, informing the members at the same time as the executive committee so there was no opportunity for negotiation. He had a grandiose and probably unachievable plan for the next season, and did not accept critique from the executive, despite the black-and-white terms of his contract. On the whole, however, I think we're better off without him. But I so don't need this right now. We had an executive meeting last evening to discuss the choir's current grim financial situation. I'll be in a Zoom meeting with my investment broker at 10 this morning, and at 11 in a Google Meets convo with the choir exec about next steps. I'm tired, having been nudged out of bed by the cat at 0545 hr. On top of all that, I've quit caffeine in the hope of reducing anxiety; I'm on Day 3 and drooping. The house is dusty, but I cleaned the toilets and vacuumed the library rug. So I'm not a total slug. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 26 Jul 21 - 10:28 PM The bearing kit arrived today, but I was mowing the front lawn (very hot out, but dry, and my front yard has enough shade to make it tolerable with a couple of breaks). I then spent an hour picking 2 buckets of grapes. I've juiced one of them, the next is about to start. Maybe tomorrow afternoon I'll fix the dryer. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 26 Jul 21 - 11:19 AM Yup. When picking wild grapes I always wear a pair of vinyl kitchen gloves (the same ones I was wearing in public in early COVID) and when I finished picking yesterday the fingers were full of sweat because it was a hot day for spending 45 minutes picking. I have a quart juice jar out of the freezer, from 2019, before they trashed the woods with their "clean up." No grapes last year, so I made jelly from the 2019 freezer stash. I need to update that stash so I'll pick some more and use some for jelly now and some for the freezer. I also have strawberry juice in there, so more jelly. Since any kind of sugar is good to fertilize the garden I'll add the expired juice to a bucket of water and compost tea and pour it around the tomatoes (no point wasting it by pouring down the drain.) Two parcels are due to arrive today, one will have my dryer bearing kit, so I can put that back together. Drying on the line is always fun, and my next door neighbor's wind chimes (some with really low tones) make hanging laundry a surreal experience, but the towels do come out like sandpaper and the t-shirt I'm wearing today could stand unaided. Five pounds down since starting the alternate day fasting. I tried it unsuccessfully some months ago but couldn't stay on it when the thyroid was working against me. Now it feels much more like past applications, more willpower to see it through. With the difficulties gone that contributed to weight gain, with the knee replacement working and energy and fitness restored through metabolic tweaks, maybe this time it will stick. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Donuel Date: 25 Jul 21 - 06:43 PM https://www.wideopeneats.com/mustang-grapes/ |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Jul 21 - 06:33 PM I distracted myself from mowing this morning by walking across the street to check on the status of the mustang grapes. Ripe, perfect right now, and lots of them. I filled a bucket and got a gallon of juice from it. I alerted my new next door neighbor (took him 3 years to move in, but they're finally there) because he is the one who I first saw picking these grapes years ago. He lived a few miles from here but used to drive over to visit his sister who lives six doors up. I asked him back then what he was doing, and then looked into using the juice and started making jelly. So today I invited him over to see how a steam juicer works, because he has been making the juice the old-fashioned way of heating all of the grapes and then straining and straining and straining to get to a relatively clear juice. I learned about the juicer prior to starting to make jelly, and it's one of the things that has kept me making jelly - it's so much faster and easier. I showed him how the juice is siphoned from the collection pan with nothing needing straining, and offered to let him borrow it when he decides to next make jelly. We will never ever discuss politics, but I can win them over with the offer of fresh garden tomatoes and borrowing the steam juicer. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Jul 21 - 10:18 AM Jon, there are a number of tomato varieties that have done well this year but "Super Fantastic" is an indeterminate variety that is producing both large fruits and large volume. This year I also picked up a couple of other varieties, one is a rounder and pinkish one that I probably wouldn't grow again, and the other is, I think, Celebrity. I need to dig around under the huge hedge of plants to find the tags I poked in the soil at planting time. Some day I'll get smart and draw a map. I had a problem with the spraying equipment yesterday, the 1.5 gallon one needs cleaning (I'd left some foliar feeding stuff to finish spraying and forgot so it sat in there a while); when I poured the remnants of the old mix into a pint-sized spray bottle I've been using the bottle revealed a big crack down the side, and the last little 1 quart pump sprayer sprayer just wasn't pressurizing. It looks like I need to refurbish or replace the sprayers. I have a second large one in the greenhouse so can switch to that for the bigger jobs. I should probably see how many bottles are around here (saved to use in the garden) and recycle most of them. It feels like time to purge stuff in general around here (harking back to looking at the photos of estate sales - the amount of stuff that people "collect" is disturbing. And I know I have the start of several similar collections.) |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 25 Jul 21 - 05:00 AM Re the tomato, SRS, I've never got on with the beefsteak types which I assume your large one is. I'm not sure why but my attempts have disappointed both in yields and taste. A salad variety such as Ailsa Craig is my favourite for a sandwich from the few (when I read your posts, I realise how small my attempts are - I've got space for 12 plants in the greenhouses and split between salad and plum) plants we grow. Another poster on MC prefers Sungold which is a sweet cherry type. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 25 Jul 21 - 03:55 AM It's an interesting idea, SRS but I don't own any jigsaw puzzles. Dad is the only one who does (and, Sandra, with the space to do one). I think he's got around 30-40, all of which get assembled once in a while. I've been out of doing online jigsaws for a while but may return to it and mum does them daily. The site we have preferred is TheJigsawPuzzles.com. Mum particularly enjoys their mystery ones where you don't get a preview picture but find out what the picture is as you put the pieces together. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 25 Jul 21 - 01:34 AM It would be a fun non-Secret Santa kind of activity to share puzzles amongst ourselves. If one I'm working on turns out to have all of the pieces when I finish it I would be happy to send it on to another puzzler (the last one is gone, but would have been a nice one to share, even missing 5 pieces. Live and learn.) So far on the new one I have a few pieces interlocked, I'm mostly sorting edge pieces from the rest and finding colors that go with the various birds and the birdhouse in the painting. I don't mind the postage, if we can pass these around amongst ourselves. Think about it - Mudcat friends working puzzles that came from another Mudcat household. It warms my heart to consider it! Meanwhile, today I ate one of my humongous tomatoes in two meals. I had a BLT for lunch and again for dinner. The tomato was literally larger than the slices of bread. This week I made the recipe for a loaf of bread but divided it into two pans, so two sandwiches from this loaf is like a regular sandwich from a full-sized loaf. Who knows what My Fitness Pal will make of today's meals. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 24 Jul 21 - 10:03 PM For those who like jigsaws & don't always have space to put out a puzzle (me! I live in a 1 bedroom apartment with only one table which currently has my sewing machine & other stuff on it) on-line jigsaws are wonderful. You can also Create your own online custom jigsaw puzzles and share them with friends and family or your website visitors! Just enter the web address of your images's location (e.g., from Facebook, Imgur, Flickr, your own website URL, or other location). No uploading. No registration. No hassles! One of the collections I downsized over the past few years was my jigsaw collection, the last of them went last year. I started collecting in the 70s, with new ones as well as 2 from my grandmother's collection. Many came from charity shops, & the collection went to charity shops. I kept Nan's 2 puzzles (1950s painting) & my 2 oldest puzzles. Nan's puzzles are on offer to my cousin along with the family stuff & will be collected after our current lockdown ends. Delta covid runs riot here & we don't know when lockdown will ends as yesterday thousands of "freedom" demonstrators crowded into Sydney CBD. One of the others might end up in a museum as it's a very rare WW2 puzzle, created for the home market after the Battle of Midway. WW2 jigsaws are a collectors item, but this cheap puzzle in a contemporary chocolate box without a picture was probably made in thousands. My other old one is also a collector's item, it was made in 1952 to celebrate the Coronation. Earlier this year I also gave away my collection of Japanese dolls & ornaments to a friend who collects them. She took them away in 10 shopping bags & that cleared out an entire 6 foot bookcase!(ps. stuff that was on the floor filled the space.) |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 24 Jul 21 - 04:27 PM It's Thorpe Market Church Only 10 minutes drive from here but a nasty main road walk either way I might approach it. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Jul 21 - 03:32 PM Dorothy, you could dice a few slices and bake them slowly to make croutons for salads. Stored in a ziplock bag they'll keep for a while. Some of those could be pulverized for bread crumbs. Bread pudding is always good for dessert or breakfast here. Those are ways I use "extra" or older bread. Jon, that custom puzzle place looks interesting! You were really picking on anyone who was going to do that church puzzle with all of that grass! My newest one is spread out, pieces right side up, corners located, and I'm starting on one conspicuous structure in the puzzle to work around. There are lots of the same colored flowers all over, so it may be fewer pieces but it will still make me work. It's funny, I picked all of the pieces apart (after the family worked it they put it back in the box in completed chunks) and stirred it around, when I found a few that fit I'm thinking "did I mix this up well enough?" I find a few minutes of bending over the table, then moving to the other side to repeat, is a nice change of pace from whatever I've been doing. I have to be careful because if I stand still for too long Cookie curls up right beside my foot, just because. She is at times a tripping hazard. BLT for a late lunch today. I'm going to blanch and dice and freeze a few more tomatoes that aren't in good enough condition to be canned. Then it's out into the yard with the electric trimmer to tackle the front lawn. Next week will be considerably hotter, so I'd best do it now. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 24 Jul 21 - 01:48 PM Dupont BREAD: I did manage to freeze it all! Kept four loaves out to remind me - sitting on top of the chest freezer. Then a friend called this am to stop by and give R a ride to town!! They love this bread--- and I FORGOT to ask them if they could take some!! The last few will actually fit in but I want to be reminded and consider possible uses: french toast? ... The thin slices would not do that. What was I thinking? I was not!!! Just wanted to get a variety and the options were 10 of some, 6 of others, 4 of one. Five different sorts! One box was so heavy I had to roll it end over end to get it into the house! I will be working my way though bread for a year or more! R will use the soft pumpernickel for sandwiches and maybe the Monastery Rye and Black Forest Rye... That leaves 20 loaves of thin-sliced ... I need a stroke of creativity! And all this in a household where I keep all the bread in the freezer because we use so little! Made yummy hummous yesterday. Mixed the less sweet rhubarb with the too sweet this am and it worked fine. The good news is that, this am, R moved LOTS of books to his library in the cellar which enabled me to get to the Christmas bin and put stuff back in it and R found a space in a closet for it. This clears the area over the back stairs - covered with plywood and a carpet because it was a frightening hole to walk past - ... Now he can fill it with books again??? We can now look at the books on the shelves on one side, and not look at a dreadful clutter as we go to the washroom. I even thought to remove "Christmas" from the entry and replace it with a nice Af Violet in a nifty pot, and a copper angel, under the Manatee "Welcome" sign. The south facing glass front door gives plenty of light, even with a white drape to keep the heat out. He managed all this before friends arrived - but not the bathroom sink which he was going to get at... Or the weeds he was going to cut... I watered the back tomato bed with the hose and picked enough wax beans for a meal! Even with all the rain we had, the tomatoes were wilty looking. Those plants are producing nicely - only 3 ripe but a bunch coming along. The ones in pots need almost a gallon a day, each! This does not bode well for me leaving. Need to google for a LARGE plastic trough for all of them so R can fill it and leave it for 3 days. Too hot today - for me. Maybe I will go find a way to eat a slice of bread |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 24 Jul 21 - 12:31 PM 40 loaves of bread is an incredible amount! I’ll usually get 3 medium loafs in the freezer space here. I took a photo of a jigsaw yesterday just to show it had been completed. I did a bit of the top when he was getting frustrated but it was mostly dad’s effort. I like him doing jigsaws as I think they do help a bit in keeping both the (limited dexterity) hands and mind working. Well, I usually like… He can be prone to loosing bits and still feel a touch upset (although not angry about) with this pic of a local church. We (while mum was still driving) went out to take the pic, I got it made as Wentworth custom puzzle and after 2 attempts at it, there is a piece missing… Other things, I’ve chopped the tops off our remaining 2 small rows of potatoes because of late blight and am worried about the tomatoes (which would be nowhere near as many as SRS deals with) . The conditions we had (humidity over 90% and temps dropping around 10C at night) a couple of weeks back are good for it so it’s no surprise but annoying… Still, with gardening, I guess you have to shrug your shoulders and hope for better next year... |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 24 Jul 21 - 11:27 AM As comfortable as the house is this morning, I'm realizing that the outside fan must have been on the fritz for a while, perhaps weeks. It is so much better now that the inside fan isn't running forever, unable to lower the temperature. I've dropped a few pounds this week with the alternate day fasting; it seems there is excess water in the system that goes first. With my trying to cut down on carbs I'm thinking those 40 loaves of bread Dorothy ordered would defeat any diet. I hope you got them all into the freezer! I made a batch of bread this week and split it into two pans, so two pieces off of a half-size loaf is like one regular slice. It's easier to make a small sandwich with slices that have crust all around than cutting a large slice in half. The exercise program is ongoing (using two sensors that go on my right leg then connect to the app in the phone) and I'm avoiding all sideways moves to help the bursitis heal. I've also stopped the Voltaren gel, it isn't as effective on the pain as are two Ibuprofen by mouth. Yesterday on my way home from an errand I took a route through the village that passed two garage sales, and at the second they had one 300-piece jigsaw puzzle. $1 well spent. It was nice to visit for a minute, and they said that they'd gotten this during the COVID lockdown of last year to do something together as a family, so this one comes with particularly good vibrations. Before leaving I pulled up the Facebook site I use to find local estate sales, and I didn't see any puzzles. What I did see was houses crammed full of stuff that one family couldn't possibly use. It is possible that the estate sale folks brought in contents from other houses to try to move, but mostly it seemed to be the organic clutter over decades in one house. I found myself sending a couple of photos to my daughter with the suggestion that if I ever got so bad, or didn't keep unloading the stuff I have here, to just shoot me. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 23 Jul 21 - 07:24 PM Forty loaves of bread! Dorothy! What were you thinking? I'd have no room for even 10 of them with all of the tomatoes and peppers filling the freezer. That'll make a great story, though. The air conditioner jumped the line and got fixed this afternoon. The fan in the small unit needed replacing and I used a lot of my fence building mad money for that. Still waiting on the next part for the dryer. It does remind me that I need to finish the fence (next thing I need to get is the sturdier concrete for setting the corner post that will hold the gate.) More sheets dried on the clothes line this morning so those will smell wonderful next time I make the bed. I've been picking up around here, putting away some of the canning stuff I won't need again for a while. I still tomatoes, but they aren't so overwhelming, and I'm eating them every day. For my "fasting" day tiny meals I've been using a whole tomato as my vegetable - 20 calories and deliciousness. Tonight it'll be a small plate of mozzarella and tomatoes and basil with balsamic vinegar. The lawn needs mowing. Maybe first thing in the morning because I wouldn't finish tonight before the mosquitoes attack. Dusk is dinner time for those monsters, and it has been a bad year for them with so much rain this spring. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 23 Jul 21 - 05:07 PM Dupont: WEll, I really did it! Never counted how many loaves of bread I was ordering from Dimpflmeiers. The shipping cost was the same regardless and I thought is would be great to try out different types. So came home from town this am to find two huge boxes of bread on the doorstep. Now trying to freeze as many as I can manage at a time, having taken a quantity of stuff out of the frig freezer - into an insulated box. FORTY loaves of bread take up a lot of space! I might up my bread intake to TWO slices/day! Hmmm! Maybe go buy another small freezer??? But where to put it and find enough electric for it.... Hoping it will all freeze - in freezer and frig freezer before the things in the box thaw! WE GOT BREAD! Otherwise: I came back to QC on Friday to attend the opening of a pocket park near one of R's buildings. He donated two OLD machines - this is in an area which has been industrial for a couple hundred years. Across from the historic Lachine Canal which has beautiful bike/walking paths, grass, trees... As people gathered for the opening, bikes were soon affixed to the bizarre "bike racks" - free form metal tubing that went creatively from one machine to the other. We had a nice conversation with the Parks Canada staff in charge of historic Montreal canals. We need him on "our side" as much as possible for the R's project on another part of this canal. Fifty years ago, this canal was a dumping place. Not being able to find my car one day, we had the police to the house. "Why would anyone take MY car!" "Ah, these people, they like to take cars, drive them in the canal and watch them make glug glug." Sometimes things do improve! So I am back to spending 2 hours, or more, each day driving R. And getting little else done. At least another week before he gets his license... It has cooled a bit but still too warm in the afternoon to pot. Pat sold four mugs at the shop today and I am feeling ... Oh well. We had smoke in the air from the fires in northern Ontario! Really unpleasant for a while. Not bad now. That is a pleasant de-clutter! My big de-clutter last week was telling Ephraim, in no uncertain terms, to stop pushing R to do more than he can manage. R is calmer. We have had a couple striped tomatoes from the garden. There will be quite a few more, eventually. And some wax beans. Lots of basil and parsley and some oregano. I put too much sugar in the rhubarb I brought from Beaver so bought more at the famous Atwater Market today and cooked it with less sugar. Also picked up some cheeses and decent whipping cream. First time to Market in LONG time! Bought Chicken Masala at M&M last week; it tasted great and R LOVED it but I felt lousy the next day so today I picked up jars of sauces without toxic additives so I can do it myself. I also looked up recipes and bookmarked them but sometimes I do not have the mental energy to even find the myriad ingredients. I have not used an aluminum pot of any sort since we trashed all ours after the doctor suggested it was unhealthy to use. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 23 Jul 21 - 10:20 AM Weight-bearing exercises for women of a certain age helps prevent osteoporosis. I put in the order for the next part of the dryer (the thing the glide strips attach to isn't very expensive, but it does come with more pieces to install). I was planning to wait till the dryer is fixed before calling the AC guy, but the house is just darned uncomfortable without the second unit running. I have called the man. (I've had the same guy work on this since 2002 when I moved in here and he and his father's crew installed it. His father passed away so he's running the business.) Another load of laundry is running now, to be hung on the clothes line later this morning. I always like the sheets dried outside so this is as much a treat for myself as well as a chore keeping up with the laundry. With the dryer taken apart I have a few things in the way in the hall that the AC guy will have to move past so I guess I'd better move stuff. I finished the jigsaw puzzle I was working on and have a new one, but it's a holiday theme so I'll look for another one to do in the meantime. I tossed the old one, after quizzing a few folks on Facebook - then someone came along and mentioned simply putting a black X on the box photo where each of the five pieces is missing. Maybe next time. It is a nice way to clear my head of thought and focus on the puzzle, then move on to the next thing I plan to do. I don't sit and work on the puzzle all day. Cleansing my mental palate. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 22 Jul 21 - 07:04 PM I keep my house “just so” because a tidy home with everything stowed correctly preserves my sanity. Clutter generates stress, stress promotes anxiety, and over time anxiety makes me crazy. It’s that simple. Exercise has a similar effect. I don’t think my current regimen will help me lose weight — except that I can’t eat in the pool — and at my age building muscle ain’t gonna happen, but it keeps all my joints moving and makes me feel, um, competent. I’ve booked myself in for an aquafit class tomorrow and something called Zumba on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, next week is cluttered with appointments that conflict with the Y schedule, but the week after I will make sure I nab a slot as each class I want to do hits the booking website. Before COVID, of course, one just walked in, no need to book … The past is a different country where they do things differently. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 22 Jul 21 - 01:28 PM Dryer slide pieces arrived and I realize now that the part they attach to (the dryer drum front support bearing) is missing pieces to hook to. Second order in, should arrive next Tuesday. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 22 Jul 21 - 12:14 PM Charmion - Excellent choice - I hope you have some pads to put under it, or cushions you can move to a warm spot should the need arise. In reviewing the possible need for a future small warm sleeping place, the craft room/studio closet is the longest, but is stuffed full of my daughter's bedroom stuff and the length of it is along an exterior wall. I could give myself more sleeping room if I cleared out my office closet (not gonna happen) or work out some kind of insulating situation in the front room (a blanket fort or tent?). Pro tip: Never run aluminum through the dishwasher, not even the coated pieces (that look kind of chrome-like). I learned that the hard way. Same with pewter-style pieces. I started the alternate day fasting yesterday, I'm going to weigh myself every day, and I just have to not go crazy on the "feed" days. If you treat it all like a diet you hit plateaus. Normal (not crazy with the carbs) then the lower calorie (500-600/day) fasting works. Now why do calorie and cookie get the "ie" and not spell as calory and cooky? As a realization during COVID for months with so little human contact for so long, I've finally this summer formally started making a point of pampering myself by doing things ahead. It helps with my state of mind and forward movement on projects. Not that I didn't know this, I just didn't bother. But clearing the kitchen counter and having the tea things ready for morning, not leaving the sink piled with dishes, giving myself room on the kitchen dining table to eat and not just perch on the edge of a cluttered horizontal surface, keeping the house less dusty, improves my mood. Gifts for my future self. Yesterday I read for at least 20 minutes while I soaked my feet and gave them a good scrub then used the pumice and trimmed nails - no pedicure as with nail polish, but just a chance to pamper them. After all of the standing and walking of canning, these feet needed some love! I also spent a considerable amount of time walking around DSW until I found a really comfortable pair of sandals that have the arch in the right place and enough cushion to feel great standing or walking in. I settled on a pair by Teva - from the clearance section they still cost more than a lot of other more decorative styles, but the way the straps are set up they're easy to adjust all the way from the toes to the ankles. It's the same with the bursitis PT stretches. I've put it off for ages, if the hip didn't hurt, I didn't fool with the stretches. But if I do the stretches as a regular thing, I might be able to get back to the dance classes I enjoy. Pamper myself by doing the stretches. (It is possible to get steroid injections, or have the bursa removed arthroscopically, but I suspect that can lead to other issues.) The bread is rising - I made a one loaf batch in two smaller pans. There aren't enough people here to eat it all while it's fresh, so freezing half and having smaller sandwiches has been routine for a while. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 22 Jul 21 - 10:33 AM Stilly, it was your account of the big freeze in Texas that made me keep Edmund's down-filled sleeping bag. The camping percolator was not improved by its trip through the dishwasher, so I slow-marched it to the trash. After at least fifty years of hard use, I don't think it owes me a thing, and it's aluminum. I'm not a fan of aluminum cookware. The grill is as clean as it's going to be, and a lot better than it was, so it has found a spot on the wall rack where the skillets live. The clearance in the garage is remarkable, almost palpable. When the large collection of rucksacks has left the building -- probably tomorrow -- many of the shelves will be empty. Go me. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 22 Jul 21 - 10:25 AM Today the furniture moves again. I drafted the Brother-In-Law to help me haul the sofa back downstairs from the library to the parlour. The choir executive needs to meet in person, in a place where we won't get rained on or have to compete with road noise. So it's the library at my house, the only space we have that's big enough, and sufficiently ventilated, to accommodate up to eight people under the current public health rules. This is the meeting when we tell the conductor that we can't afford the 12-month contract he has always had, and that he must either accept a month-to-month arrangement -- that is, he works (and we pay him) only when we can rehearse in person -- or he resigns. It will be ugly. So the library has to have separate seats for eight people. Therefore, the sofa shall move. Fortunately, it's not a great hulking overstuffed thing or, God forbid, a hide-a-bed; it's a teak-framed Danish Modern job. But it's no featherweight, and it's long, so a bit of skilled manipulation is required to get it through the library door and around the corner to the stairs. Widening that door is one of the objectives of the bathroom renovation I would like to do before I get much older. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Donuel Date: 21 Jul 21 - 04:35 PM My backdoor hydranges are called Nikko Blue and are naturally blue without manipulation. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Jul 21 - 02:37 PM Don, if you have hydrangeas then changing the acid level in the soil is what changes their color, something pretty easily done. I'll be curious to see if the food color affects the blossoms you treated - have you done this before? Charmion, I have a lot of camping gear here also. Who knew I'd end up using as much as I did during that February freeze and my three nights in the closet. And I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to collecting packs and some of that gear. That reminds me - I haven't found a battery pack for the house yet, something my sister said has come in very handy for her in the last couple of years during outages. Enough to run a small lamp, a radio, etc. I finally planted several small potted plants I started from seed a while ago. They may have been so rootbound they won't do much, but I set them free in the soil of the garden. The basil is tall enough to start thinning so there will be tomato and mozzarella and balsamic vinegar on a plate with a few leaves later today. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 21 Jul 21 - 02:11 PM My neighbour Constable Leslie, the mad fan of camping, has departed with Edmund’s 40-year accumulation of outdoorsy gear, thus relieving me of half the contents of the garage shelving, including several fire hazards. I kept our large ponchos and Edmund’s down-filled sleeping bag, and let all the rest of it go — except the soot-covered camping coffee pot and a handy-sized cooking grill that was never washed after the last time it was used. Both those items are in the dishwasher in the hope that they can be returned to household service. So now I have no tents, no camp stoves, no air mattresses, no pumps for air mattresses, no fold-up cookware, and only one sleeping bag. And I’m just fine with that. Next, I’ll dispose of the accumulation of rucksacks … Goodwill, I think. The Stratford Y is open again, and pool class has resumed. Today I flung myself into the water for the first time in months, and booked myself in for two more sessions this week. I should hurry up and book next week before all the slots are taken. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Donuel Date: 21 Jul 21 - 12:29 PM Today I used a great hedger to sculpt a prolific 15x12 foot forsythia into a SUV/TRUCK with the aid of a special ladder with railing. In late fall I will add 2 gallons of concentrated red food coloring to the soil and 2 more late winter. I am expecting a profusion of ORANGE & RED blossoms in the spring. The entire property is now hedged and mowed to 1 inch. The tires/cab windows were done with a black plastic spray (not paint). It looks more rad than the mazes I used to mow in the grass. The other white blossoming trees will get blue food coloring. The pink azaleas will get the yellow coloring and left overs. I have no idea how they will look. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 20 Jul 21 - 11:05 PM I'm trying to pace myself, working on one major appliance at a time, but the outside unit of the smaller heat pump is making odd noises and not turning on all of the time. It comes next, and it isn't on much for now. If I can just push this one to next month . . . the dryer glides are on order and my postal account (I can look up what is coming to my address using "Informed Delivery:" it says they've been shipped by the company but not received by the post office yet.) A quart of tomatoes processed this evening; tomatoes that were ready to be used and not enough for a big batch, so I'm back to the asparagus cooker and one jar at a time. I also put another pint tub in the freezer so there is a gallon frozen in there and two gallons of tomato juice. Whew! |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 19 Jul 21 - 11:51 AM For all of us who have received the vaccination, we can't just let down our guard. I still wear masks in public spaces, in grocery stores, the post office, etc. By way of illustration, five of the 50+ lawmakers (all vaccinated) who fled Texas a week ago have tested positive for COVID-19. They were vaccinated, but they were somewhere with an infected person and now have to maintain quarantine while in Washington, D.C. They won't die of it, but like anyone with the vaccine, it is still possible to get sick and to spread it. Plan to keep the facemasks around and actively in use for the meantime. Charmain, your drive routes sound interesting. Here in Texas I live within a few blocks of the intersection of two Interstate highways (I hear the tires on the road most in winter when the wind is from the north and there aren't many leaves on trees to buffer it). But I prefer the state routes, and there are some lovely roads parallel to the Interstates that are popular for road trips around here. If you want to investigate future drives in Texas Hill Country (please stop to see me when you're here), any of you might want to look at the north-south routes of state highway 16 (from Wichita Falls down to San Antonio) or 281 (from Stephenville to San Antonio - 281 runs one tier of counties east of Hwy 16 through more small towns). One feature of that kind of drive is that the highways go through all of the county seats so you get to visit lovely county courthouses along the way. There are also some lovely routes that involve connecting up various smaller highways that are parallel to the interstate, close enough to connect up on occasion, but still very pretty and rural. Well, you'd think that with four posts in a row I'd have covered the really big project, but it seems not. Yesterday I took a pot scrubber (Dobie pad) out with some Pine Sol and water and gave the plastic-covered nylon clothes lines a good clean up, used the pruning stick to take down the Hackberry branches dangling into the lines, and sorted through clothespins, tossing all of those with rusted hinges. And hung two loads of laundry. Only one load got rained on, in the afternoon briefly, and by sunset it was close enough to dry to bring in and suspend on hangers to finish the job. This because I have decided it's time to fix the dryer. I need to clear stuff out of the laundry room blocking access, then remove the two screws that hold the top and front onto the sides and back. It's a box of air with a few places around the sides for repairs (rather like a desktop computer). There is a gasket that needs replacing; as it is the broken piece keeps snagging laundry and subjecting it to the rubbing edge of the turning barrel. The loud thumps lately tell me it's time to stop ignoring the problem and fix it. There is a case (12 pints per case) of canned diced tomatoes after yesterday and another six pints in "poor man's Tupperware" restaurant plastic containers in the freezer. I have the big processing pot soaking with vinegar in the water - the limestone encrustation is really heavy this year. There's always some of it, but I reused the water in this pot for three batches so it really had time to crust onto the pot. Time to make room in the pantry shelves for these cases of jars. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 19 Jul 21 - 10:51 AM As a doubly jabbed citizen of Ontario, I am now free to travel, within reason. For me, that means driving (not gettin' on no plane if I can help it), and visiting inoculated relatives. I have just booked the services of Georgia and Max, the kids down the street, to take care of my house and the cats when I'm away. Over the last 25 years, I have made very few solo road trips -- right now I can recall only two -- requiring more than three hours on the road by myself. The last time was in August 2017, when I had to go back to Ottawa from Stratford to complete the trade-in deal on our cheatin' diesel Volkswagen, and I swore when I returned that I would never do that on my own again. Consider those words eaten. Rather than beat my brains out on the autoroute (Highway 401), which can be dangerously crowded with transport trucks, I might take the old King's Highway 7 across the province a little north of Toronto to the Trans-Canada Highway a tick upriver from Ottawa. Like the curate's egg, parts of it are excellent and other parts emphatically are not, but at least there's more to look at than asphalt and the arse end of an 18-wheeler. The other trip, southwest to Windsor, will have to be on the 401. But that's only three hours, with a diversion on the way at Chatham, and I can do that on a cup of coffee and a cheese sandwich. My bedroom floor is unacceptably dusty, so house cleaning is on the agenda this week. The choir executive wants to meet again tomorrow, so that afternoon is shot, but the rest of the week is clear. Today I must buy groceries for both felines and humans, and make soup. I shall also renew my membership at the Y and book myself in for pool class. Life is finding a new normal. Hurrah for that. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Donuel Date: 19 Jul 21 - 07:01 AM Writ large is the phrase thats writ large today. Everyone's getting infected with the Delta variant writ large. Delta is more contagious writ large. But anti vaxers are blind to whats writ large. The most absurd little big lies are writ large for them. Olympic money makers will not attend the olympics. Facebook executives are in quarantine. Politicians get vaccine in secret. Writ large are the evil of yesterday lies that discourage common sense today. 99% of all the new tomb stones from Delta Covid are of the cult of the antivaxers. The USA has an embarrassment of riches that greedily bought all the vaccines so the world has very little for a priviledged few. Now the cure goes to waste while the crazies wait. People die as the world waits. Waiting for the gullible to grow wise lasts as long as death. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 17 Jul 21 - 11:32 AM I have weighed the ingredients (again) for salsa and am going to wade into that project this morning. I'll try to use fewer pans (or at least smaller pans) and will clean the kitchen before I start (almost finished that while I waited for my tea to brew.) After that, I'll use the processing kettle and dice and can tomatoes by themselves. The garden got a good deep soak last night, using a smaller sprinkler stuffed in under plants and running for 30 minutes per zone. Much more thorough than the big oscillating sprinkler hitting the whole area for 30 minutes. The tomatoes, okra, and peppers look refreshed this morning. Sweeping yesterday, dusting begins today. With a mask because it is a sneezy chore. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 16 Jul 21 - 05:14 PM It took about an hour to work my way through the entire house with the broom (moving things, picking up stuff, etc.) and I can feel it in my back (still suffering after stepping in a hole a few nights ago.) The kitchen is a mess, lots of projects passing by each other on the countertops and tables. I made brine for pickled okra and processed one jar this afternoon (pickles are very forgiving - easy brine, stuff everything in a clean jar, top with brine then process for 10 minutes. The trick is to let it sit for a couple of months before you open it to eat.) This way I can make a jar every time I have enough okra, not wait until I have a couple of pounds collected over several days for a large batch. The house smells great! |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 16 Jul 21 - 11:27 AM Dorothy, I hope R sorts out his driver's license soon. I'm looking at driving stuff now myself - if I take a defensive driving course every three years I can get a good discount on my insurance. It's that year again and I've paid for the online course, now I just have to take it. Today looks like a sweep-and-dust day. It has been a while. I works to do a deep-dusting in a room a day, but I need to start by sweeping all of the floors to clear the dog hair and dust kittens. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 15 Jul 21 - 11:15 PM It has been my observation that a three-to-four-day trip can be really refreshing - if you can get the travelling done on the first and last days that you have two full days in the place and enough of the other days to make it feel longer. Arrive in daylight the first day so there's time to do something, leave on the last day after some activity but so you're not struggling to get home (if you have to work the next day, etc.). Long social day today, followed by work here at the house tomorrow. Canning tomatoes should clear up the kitchen peninsula of boxes. It's nice to alternate on the activities, appreciating being with people, and enjoying time at home. And having a choice now that a fair number of people have been vaccinated. I still take a mask with me, I made the 3D masks with a neck loop so I wear it like a necklace and put it on when I'm going into stores, places with people and low circulation, etc. I have a stack in the sewing room to iron (I figure that gives them an extra level of protection, having been heated up by the iron after washing.) |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 15 Jul 21 - 04:11 PM BEAVER: Got out of bed on Tuesday knowing I had to come home! R could fend for himself. I was becoming depressed by missing being here. So I made BF, packed up stuff to bring; he helped put it in car, agreeing this was a good move. I drove him to town, took time to look at the gates he designed for "Mill Street" which are being fabricated by his staff. They are incredible. If I could get my phone to talk to my computer, I would post a pic on FB. And was here by 3:30 - SO happy to be here. No strawberries. There may have been some... The yard needs to be cut but I want to pick the purple clover blossoms first. They make a nice herb tea. Maybe this aft if it does not rain again. Major glitch thanks to R's failure to communicate: On Monday he showed me a pocket park near one of his buildings, to which he donated two OLD machines; it was in process of being groomed for an opening "next Friday". Designed for the cyclists, and workers nearby, it will have tables... However, on the way to town on Tuesday, I realized "next Friday was really "this Friday" - tomorrow. So, yesterday I rested and stirred glazes and rested... Today I glazed and the kiln is firing. Early tomorrow, I will unload kiln, sticker pots for shop and pick out a few for Quebec clients, and get back to Montreal by 2 pm for the opening of the park at 3. Monday was the first time he even mentioned it! Next trick is finding out when he is installing these monumental gates on the historic building (remains). That will determine when I will come back to Beaver. Needless to say, I have not done much else here! There is a huge brown-eyed Susan clump in one of the raised beds. After it is finished blooming, I will dig it up and take it to Chateauguay for the front garden. Next trip, perhaps. The tomatoes in QC were coming along and I am grateful that it has been raining enough for the outdoor plants. R does not even have a hearing re his license until 28 July! Since he failed to address the issue for 3 weeks after he found out about it - when he finally checked the mail... Spending two hours a day taking R to the city was becoming infuriating. The heat did not help; by the time I got back to the house, it was too hot to do any pottery, or much else, even cooking dinner... WE did spend last weekend on the House - R decided to put up pictures and we collaborated on some and some he just did; they can always be moved but at least they are no longer stacked in the spare room. He also re-arranged the spare room and it looks much more friendly. And put a screen in the back door and in the room I am using for pottery until something better... Letting in the cool night air is important to me. I am sufficiently rested to make the trip back. And restored by being here! Realizing how much I need to be in the country. Spending two hours a day taking R to the city was becoming infuriating. So I just picked a good batch of rhubarb and a few heads of clover. Starting to sprinkle again and not so hot! |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 15 Jul 21 - 11:30 AM Thanks for asking SRS. He got home around midnight the day of the fall. He got a clean bill of health but I'm a touch concerned about his mental state. He remembers nothing of the incident or going to hospital and I had another sort of near miss last night. I say sort of as the only place he was going to land was safely on his bed. As for cameras, I went for an EZVIZ one. The reason for the choice is that one provides an rtsp stream (as do all our current cameras). That provides a standard most security software can work with. Even VLC can use it with a URL on this sort of lines: rtsp://username:password@mycamerasLANIP/mystream. It fits in easily with the xeoma software I use. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 15 Jul 21 - 10:58 AM They are losing people being picked off by the Taliban, according to last night's story. 70,000 people to be moved and they wait till the last minute. The Toronto Star link wasn't working but I've looked it up (it maybe be because of my location). The photos - not a good idea right now. ______________________ I have back-to-back meetings today so the tomatoes will wait for processing tomorrow. Just as well, gives me a breather. It's a pleasant aspect out the back door (if you ignore the messed-up patio cover) after I mowed the back and dumped the compost (and it's in an area the dogs can navigate, so no rats back there). Jon, you may yet inspire me to put up a camera. They're coming down in price and there are so many ways to store images. (And I hope your father is home and feeling better.) My bloodwork is back and everything is where it should be now, and to continue as I am. So the answer to thyroid weight is "you have to work it off yourself." It doesn't magically vanish. Darn. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 15 Jul 21 - 10:42 AM We've still got 3 jars of black and red currant jam from 2018 to use up. The rest (9 jars?) are Victoria plum and damson I made last year. The Victoria plum tree is quite laden with fruit so I hope to make more jam from it later in the year. I've not noticed what's happening with the other plums but greengage and damson are possibilities. I don't eat a lot of jam but mum and dad often have a jam sandwich as part of their mid day meal and, despite there being the old jars left, it does get used at a reasonable rate. The old jars may be part my fault anyway. The jam and marmalade jars are stored on a cupboard shelf that is beyond mum's reach. She asks me to reach a jar down for her which then goes on a lower shelf she can reach until it's used up. |
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