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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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 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 - 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Jon Freeman Date: 30 Jul 21 - 11:02 AM Drs appointments here (at least with my GP's practice) are hard to get. You can get held in a phone queue for ages and then will probably have to go through the practice nurses before agreeing its a GP you want. Covid has made things more difficult but I think there is a basic problem that they are overloaded... With my history of drink problems, music hasn't always produced a positive response for me. I don't get out now but an answer to "what do you enjoy" being "I like going to the pub to play in an Irish session" can take a bit of reasoning! Sidetracking a bit, I've hardly picked up an instrument in the last couple of months. More tech babble: But it's still wet and I’ve been playing with openwrt. I’m not sure I’m right but think I’ve turned an unused rasp pi2 and a spare wi-fi dongle to work like access point I have running in client mode (to connect the wired only camera in dad's bed room where I don’t have or want to run the wired LAN) and a TP Link wifi-router into a multi SSID vlan supporting AP (it’s own firmware was more limited) which could serve as a spare for the wireless network here. It took me ages (the hardest part was finding that relayd provided the solution I wanted for the pi) but gave me something to think (and get confused…) about and I don’t suppose potential drop in replacements like this are bad things to have from idle objects. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Jul 21 - 11:42 AM Jon, I bought a Netgear wireless extender that I have plugged into the most distant wired Internet connection in the house so it sits on the mantle in the den at the back of the house and serves the two back bedrooms and the patio outside. I originally wired the house for telephone, but that soon became unnecessary so I converted the wiring and the wall plates for computer router ports. I have a router in the closet outside my office and a seven-port extension box on the wall under the router, so most of the rooms in the house are wired. Charmion, enjoy your trip and I hope the roads are clear and the views are lovely! |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 30 Jul 21 - 11:44 AM Y’know, Jon, it is possible to play in a pub session without drinking anything alcoholic. In fact, it’s easier to stay off the grog if you’re playing — you can’t hold a beer and a fiddle (mandolin, concertina, whistle) at the same time. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 30 Jul 21 - 11:45 AM Oh, and on other things, I'm puzzling over dying grass round the back. Grass can struggle here in hot dry spells where the affected areas die and grow back when conditions are better but we've not had weather like that and it's not rallu like that anyway. It looks more like someone has sprayed a path about a yard wide from the gate to the wendy house shed (say 30+ yards) and alongside the concrete path with a weedkiller. On sprayers btw, SRS, I use one of these rather than the pump up things. At 3.5L, it's not a great capacity but it does for the occasional bit I want to spray and fits in with my other Ryobi stuff. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 30 Jul 21 - 12:06 PM I think this one I had gave a different problem though, SRS (and my 2 AP towards either end of the wired part covers most well). The camera is a wired only POE one so it needs to plug into a wired port. I didn't want the hassle of running a cable into the bedroom so I took this route as I had an access point that would do it. The access point in this client mode connects to the wi-fi in the same way as a computer or mobile device would do. Instead of its port connecting to the LAN, it becomes a sort of wired extension of the wi-fi which I can plug my wired only camera into (well in this case, indirectly as I also need to inject poe). Maybe there are other ways but it's one way of getting a wired only device online where there is only wireless available. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Jul 21 - 01:47 PM I see what you're talking about - you had to get around a device that wanted to be wired in a place where you didn't have the port. I have a similar sprayer but it's just a pump, not battery operated. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Jul 21 - 10:47 PM Two pint jars of pickled okra processed, a huge tomato handed over to the next door neighbor (who mowed the side yard again today), and a lot of picking up around the house. My next week's doctor's appointment is virtual so I faxed my bloodwork report to her office. I was looking forward to driving over and having lunch and doing some shopping after the appointment, until the scheduler left a message about the appointment being a remote one. I'll have to plan my own little road trip next week. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 31 Jul 21 - 09:57 AM I had a big fat rat in the havaheart cage but when I dropped it in the full bucket the support holding the top door in place slid down, so after I walked away the rat pushed it's way out of the trap and the bucket. Chances are good that rat will now avoid the trap, but will it avoid my garden? Laundry day, so some will go on the line (sheets) while some will go into the newly-repaired dryer. My towels can stand up by themselves if they dry on the line and are as rough as sandpaper. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 31 Jul 21 - 04:52 PM That’s one tough rat, Stilly. In a previous life, maybe he was an action movie star. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Aug 21 - 05:46 PM That rat is a tough story to follow. I have the trap set up again, but it'll have to be a different rat that falls for it. Friends are coming over for lunch next weekend, and when I sent a note saying lets set the date for sure (we had a range to see who could come when) it didn't feel like it was happening. After that note I suddenly felt inspired to pick up, to cook, to have the house ready for a long congenial visit. We meet for lunch and are sometimes still here at dinner time. In particular this group got started because one member needed extra encouragement to keep moving forward; it's difficult enough to be laid off when you're older, but when they do it to a disabled person it is even more of a blow. We know how this got started, and we all gain so much support from the group that it is a regular thing. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Aug 21 - 12:58 AM The tomato supply in the fridge (those no longer stable enough to stay on the counter) has been drawn down considerably with the production of a gallon of fresh zesty salsa. This won't be canned, the tomatoes weren't in good enough condition for processing, but they're the "ugly fruit" that is perfectly good to eat. Four quart jars are cooling to be used and given to friends this week. I reversed the amount of peppers in the recipe, putting more hot peppers in to make this batch hotter, as was requested by a couple of family members. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 02 Aug 21 - 07:45 AM Rats are clever and able creatures. We’ve spent on trying to make the property more secure but I think they would still find a way in… I don’t like it but once you have a rat problem, I think the only sure way is extermination. I’m not sure I ever mentioned my favourite sighting of a brown rat? In my earlier days here, mum and I sometimes used to like to go down to the BBQ shed for a night time drink. The shed was set up well with (still there) 4 paraffin hurricane lamps and a Camping Gaz stove and (gone) a Calor gas heater. It was quite cosy even in cooler weather. One time, a rat just walked across the lintel over the door and between that and the corrugated roof. It must have known we were only feet away but it was so casual about it. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Aug 21 - 11:21 AM I'm still kicking myself that I wasn't more careful about making sure the trap stayed closed when submerged at an angle. Last night I released a toad that got itself caught. This week the goal is the bring the house into some kind of order for house guests next weekend. So of course after a rainy night the dogs have tracked a whole bunch of new muddy footprints along the length of the den floor. I have to get another mat to put by the door; one isn't enough, two just about catches most of the mud by the time they get to the far edge of it. I tossed an old one (it's at the curb as I type, waiting for today's trash pickup) and the one I'm using now was a good price at the Dollar Store. Must get another. I have a tall table in the middle of the kitchen that is where a lot of standing prep happens because it's a good work height. I have a stool that I've used for canning when I need something to set the jar on for steam juicing (decanting the juice from the pot to the jar means it needs to be a little lower than the stove.) Usually it hides in a corner behind the kitchen queen, but I've left it standing under that table. It looks good, but I *think* it isn't one to sit on, I may have had to tighten a joint on one of the legs? I must check that out before someone tries to sit on it and takes a tumble. In which case I have a different tall stool that can live there. It just never pays to keep boobytrap furniture around the house. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Aug 21 - 10:05 AM This very humid morning the dogs and I went for a walk around a few blocks, a little over a mile. Plenty for the old lab, who I think is starting to either have an odd effect to being deaf, or has early dementia. In the evenings he starts barking. He'll do it outside, he'll do it inside if I cover the dog door. I can usually distract him a couple of times to get him to stop, but it's annoying to have it happen every night. So now the TLC for the old guy has to kick in, and one thing the advice site that seems a good one says is more exercise. We have been lax during the summer heat, but I got up earlier this morning to take them out before I fed them. The other reason is that the alternate day fasting isn't very effective if I'm not getting more exercise, especially on the fasting days, so the walk is good for me also. The house is looking better, the kitchen counters have less clutter, as I prepare for houseguests. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 03 Aug 21 - 11:35 AM Home again, after a visit to Edmund's sisters and their families. It took me a fair while to process the adrenaline rush from seeing so many relatives for the first time since Christmas 2018, not to speak of three hours of Highway 401. A great deal of family business got done quickly and efficiently, for which much thanks. Today I have a long list of phone calls to make and some necessary shopping -- cat litter! Then I'll dust the study and the bedroom. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Donuel Date: 03 Aug 21 - 04:35 PM I gave up walking from Government center to Fenway but subsequent treks got easier. Between three flights and 700 miles of driving we covered alot of ground. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 03 Aug 21 - 07:35 PM A few grocery items I can't use were sitting near the side door for ages, so I loaded them and ran a couple of other errands then stopped by to drop them off at the community fridge. Since it wasn't a lot I stopped at the Supermercado nearby and picked up a few additional non-perishable items (and some freshly made tortillas - they can sit in the pantry area for a few minutes until someone grabs them up. The corn tortillas were still hot!) I discovered that site last year when I had lots of extra hot peppers; this year I'll be bagging extra peppers and taking them over also. Until the weather cools the refrigerator at that site can't keep up with the heat (it's a southern exposure). I also stopped by Home Depot and picked up a couple of supposedly heavy duty spray bottles. I'll put them to the test with the organic foliar feeding and pest control mix I need to put out. The leaffooted bugs (stinkbug family) are back, and since I saw nymphs out there today, I know I can knock most of those off with the spray. Now if that rat under the tomatoes would just snack on the bugs on the tomato plants, I'd be set. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 03 Aug 21 - 09:35 PM Dupont: R finally got his provisional license today. He may only drive for business until 17 Sept. Then he can take a written test and regain a full license. I'm so happy I could cry! and nearly did. I would rather drive 3 hours on the 401 than the trip to the west island and - OOPS! cannot get anything done here; need an appointment. So he managed to sit in car and make an appointment for noon in the north end of the city - back the way we came and then on a dreaded highway and many blocks in the wrong direction and back in the correct direction and -THANKS to my having been there before many years ago, we did not have to go around in circles trying to find the entrance. Then back down town on said dreadful highway - about 3 hours traveling in total. It took less than half an hour for his appointment - which we just made! Boy! Have I read a few books in the last couple weeks! Then we went to a nice little cafe for lunch and I took him to where I thought I would be freed! He was loathe to go into the building and sat in the car for an hour making calls and responding to texts or emails. I read. THEN, I came home and started to recover. Ate some food and took a long nap. Finished washing the dishes - after two days - and did up sauteed pears because they needed it! I could go to Beaver tomorrow but now I want to be here to see the big gates go on the building - one beautiful 1800 30 inch thick stone wall actually, on Mill Street, next to the bike/walking path along the Lachine Canal. Maybe tomorrow I will have the energy to phone Apple Help to find out why my phone and computer are not speaking - so I can post pics of this Gate - and others. The gate should go in place by Friday. Need to make appointment to have car serviced and go to library for more books. And WATER plants ... |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 04 Aug 21 - 04:46 PM Well they harvested the wheat on one side of the field (the field is divided by the track and our patch) today and I guess the other side (the larger part which we look out on from the pigsties) will follow soon. Another sign of the changing season is our rowan tree which now has ripe berries. I spent a couple of minutes standing under the tree and watching a female blackbird, who wasn’t bothered by my presence, tucking in to the berries. The walking stick clips for mum’s trolley have worked fairly well but I noticed the first one I’d printed (with PTEG, I used the more durable nylon for the other one) had started to split so I printed off two more nylon ones (one as a spare) before sealing the filament reel up. I can’t remember if I mentioned this before but when I was pondering longer term storage of filament, I bought one of those food vacuum bag sealers. It seems to work well (and the full width bag roll the machine came with turned out to be just the right width for a reel) and may be better than a zip lock bag although I put the sealed reel in a zip lock bag. The machine was intended to (possibly) be dual purpose. I also got some bags for it and may get to try it out with some food later this week. I picked our small aubergines yesterday, not a lot but I think I’ll get 3 or 4 meals for the 3 of us out of them and there should be 1 smaller picking later. I just want some courgettes to go with them and then I’ll stew them up. The ones I thought I had were rotted at the ends and stunted. I did add some last night for our grocery delivery today but (as can happen with these online orders) they were out of stock when my delivery was picked. I’ll try Chris, one of our neighbours tomorrow. He always comes round on a Thursday to ask if there is any item we need when he goes into town to do his own shopping. I’ve actually got two chances with him because as well as a supermarket possibility, he also grows his own and might have a few spare. Staying with the garden, I bought some spinach in this grocer order. I’ll have to use that first but the next time after that when I want something on those lines, I’ll use our Swiss Chard. Not all my plants survived but the ones that did are growing well now. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Donuel Date: 04 Aug 21 - 06:07 PM Canada remains safe for now since despite vaccination, the Niagara border was closed to us so we walked to Goat Island instead. If you travel expect hotels to be more problematic than airlines. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Aug 21 - 07:24 PM I finally put a few seedlings into the garden, Swiss chard and a couple of very late squash plants. They're still small but they're not dead so come the cooler weather they may have growth spurts. The leaffooted bugs are increasing in size and number, and along with my spray to knock off nymphs, I carry the flyswatter with me when I go to the garden and I simply knock off any adults I see. They can fly and respond to threats but they aren't fast enough for a targeted flyswatter. I used to have a couple of paint stir sticks that I would slap them with above and below the leaf they were resting on, but the swatter is easier. Still pushing toward the tidy house for next weekend's visit. I've done a couple of loads of laundry and will do maybe one more to throw in the small table cloths I use (under the acrylic clear plastic I keep on each table top). I suppose this is the equivalent of plastic furniture covers for the tables, but this way the table cloths are in view and I don't need to wash them all of the time, I just wipe off the plastic (that is cut to fit right to the edge of each table). I decided to up the wildlife game in the yard and instead of fussing about that damned rat, I scrubbed out the bird baths and filled them. I'd much rather enjoy birds than worry about rodents. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 04 Aug 21 - 09:16 PM We have a small pebble pond with a mushroom head that you can see from the hall window. Once in a while, it can be nice to stand there for a couple of minutes and watch a little bird appearing to have fun with the water. My favourite sight that I sometimes see there is a wren. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 05 Aug 21 - 08:49 AM Decluttering continues at my house: Edmund's espresso machine has gone to Niece No 1 (and her Italian husband) in Windsor, along with half a dozen Le Creuset espresso cups. A lovely framed photo of Edmund went to Sister No 2, and his Welsh rugby fan gear is now in the custody of Sister No 2's sport-mad husband. Now for the beer steins from Germany ... |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 05 Aug 21 - 10:56 AM I'm upping my activity level and went for another dog walk this morning. We go about a mile, uphill half way, then downhill the second half. We left a little before 9am; I need to get myself out of bed and go earlier next time. We were okay but they were panting up a storm when we got home. I spoke with my rheumatologist this week about the bursitis and she said that the main change she's seen that works to remedy it is weight loss. So to help an old dog and an owner of a certain age we will make a point of taking more walks. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 05 Aug 21 - 11:59 AM Mum tidied out the study a couple of weeks back and unearthed an old Meopta microscope (I think it had been a student model from a department in the UEA where a friend had worked so maybe once was good enough for science undergraduates) we were given years back. It came without a mirror and I had tried to work out a LED light for it but that got lost and my attempt wasn't that good. I debated whether to scrap it but found a Chinese sold mirror on ebay for £5 and thought it worth a try. It came today and is a perfect fit. I'm not sure what use it will get but I've ordered a cheap objective lens to replace one that isn't too good and, with luck, we'll have a reasonable microscope if we ever want one. Either way, it can stay on a living room table from now on. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 06 Aug 21 - 02:18 PM Dupont: Still in recuperation: watering outside potted plants - no rain and they take several gallons each day. I don't know if they will survive if I leave - for even a few days. R is not dependable; he does not live for plants alone! Yesterday was the installation of the amazing gates. I went to city for the purpose, about noon and was back about 4. Four hours in the open air, hot but shady and breezy - but still HOT! I took lots of pics and tried the video but no idea what I was doing so scrapped those. It really looks monumental! Just observing 4 competent people working together was a treat - with large tractor/front loader... and two large trucks and the forklift. IT is such a de-clutter in R's life he came home last night, "Now what do I do...?" Now he is faced with the political/bureaucratic logistics of the project; he has been in avoidance and leaving them to E but still hours on the phone and meetings. I hope I live long enough to see this project come to fruition - and that is is not torpedoed by "big money" hand in glove with paid off bureaucrats. And All I do is water plants! I hope I get enough energy back to drive to Beaver in a few days. In my arena: dishes, laundry and K mostly in order. NO grass/weeds are cut. I open and close windows and drapes according to the weather and use fans when it gets too hot for me. Thankfully, it has cooled enough each night to live without noisy A/C. Then, just now!, I realize I could cool the BR with A/C for a while before we go to bed, even while I take a 1-2 hour nap. Would cool the bed and furniture. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Aug 21 - 08:53 PM I try to water deeply and infrequently in the garden, but the pots need daily attention. And even "infrequently" ends up being at least twice a week this time of year. While shopping I picked up some brown paper bags and am about to pull the covers off of a bunch of New Yorker magazines and pulp the insides in these bags. I read it online, the paper version usually sits until it goes in a stack somewhere. I finally switched to an online-only subscription this year. These bags will be easy to pitch into the village recycle bins; I try not to put intact boxes in, they end up taking up too much space. Anyway, clearing out the magazines will give me a couple of cubic space in a set of shelves in the kitchen. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Aug 21 - 10:53 AM Two very heavy bags of magazines loaded into the SUV to recycle later today. There is a lot to do around here in addition to clearing out recycling—I have to mow this morning before it gets much hotter. I slept late and it's a bit too hot for the dogs out there now (at least for the oldest one). Instead of getting up earlier I had a weird dream - I'd moved to Tennessee and was living in a stacked "tiny house" mobile home (out of a shipping container?) near a friend (who in fact lives in San Diego) and was trying to figure out how to transfer my prescriptions down there when I woke. That was enough to get me up out of bed! Last night's clearing also got rid of magazines and catalogs that were stacked on the kitchen queen. (My cabinet has several layers of paint I'd like to remove, but is otherwise in excellent condition. It came from my great aunt's home and was probably bought new in the family.) Now that enamel worktop can be extended and set up as a serving area for lunch tomorrow. Looking around the house, it's on the cusp of being ready. I've done a lot of the small scrubbing stuff, now to do the big sweep and vacuum dog hair and dust and get tables set. Make a loaf of bread, and be ready to make BLTs and have various kinds of salsa and dip around tomorrow. If we decide to move outside (COVID-19 Delta is back, even though we're all vaccinated) I may set up chairs under the vitex tree out front. The dogs run the back yard and I still haven't fixed the patio cover, so it's less inviting. There are two bird baths under that tree, and I'm seeing feathers in them, telling me the local song birds have taken to those water sources. I'll keep filling them a couple of times a day and tomorrow they may have company. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 07 Aug 21 - 01:57 PM Today’s adventure is another trip to Goodwill, followed by a visit to Habitat for Humanity. Leaving the building are: two ugly end tables, Edmund’s 30-year accumulation of rucksacks, and a large box (3 cubic feet) of excess crockery and kitchen gadgets. Then I’ll buy some groceries. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 07 Aug 21 - 05:45 PM Most of my basement is now clear of excess stuff looking for new homes. I can see a lot of wall previously covered with bookcases, which reminds me — ugly baby-shit brown colour scheme! Also, amateurishly installed baseboards and window frames. In good time, I intend to clear the storage shelving of bins and boxes, and then clear the basement of said storage shelving. Trouble is, some of the stuff in the storage shelving has been hiding in my basement — if not this actual basement, one of its predecessors — since 1992, when my Dad died. Puts me in mind of Boyle’s First Law of Motion: “Bodies at rest tend to remain at rest.” |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 07 Aug 21 - 06:09 PM I think that should be Newton above, charmion? I remember a Boyle's law from physics at school and that was pressure x volume = a constant. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Jon Freeman Date: 07 Aug 21 - 06:20 PM Interesting bit of furniture, srs. I'd not heard of them. I'm not sure I like the white bit but I guess it gives a good durable work surface. I can imagine yours would look better in wood than paint but I'd not have the patience for a task like that. A similar (I think) bit of furniture I think can look good in a kitchen is the Welsh dresser (according to Wikipeda, called a china hutch in the US). At least if you have a kitchen that would take one. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 07 Aug 21 - 07:01 PM Yes, Jon, you’re right. Newton, not Boyle. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 07 Aug 21 - 07:11 PM Jon, the difference between a Welsh dresser and an American “kitchen queen” is that a Welsh dresser is strictly for storage and display of ready-use crockery, while a kitchen queen integrates a food-preparation surface, typically made of enamelled steel. When I lived in Germany, the furnished apartment I rented in a village near the base had a “schrank” (floor-to-ceiling cabinet) that strongly resembled a kitchen queen, having the same base and hutch design with a marble slab work surface as the top of the base, and two pull-out cutting boards. The house was hundreds of years old, and the kitchen schrank probably dated from the 1890s. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Aug 21 - 11:09 PM I think the kitchen queen came from a day when kitchens were radically different. No storage. It is a compact yet generous amount of space - they had flour storage and a crank sifter (this one didn't, it was removed before I got it) and a bread box bin (still here) and some metal drawer sliders and wooden drawer sliders. The lower large cupboard has a piece of wood in the bottom that is in tracks and can actually be pulled out to access anything sitting on it in the cupboard. There is a bread board tucked in under the moving enamel counter. The roll-top part works (it took work with a box cutter to remove the paint holding the slats together). The tall cabinet door on the right is actually a pie safe with wire racks for putting hot baked goods on to cool or protect. The flour sifter side was one tall open space until I put in some pegs and shelves (I took plywood and ironed on oak veneer on the sides so they look finished) and used to keep cookbooks in there, but now it's all dried beans and pasta and rice in that ex-sifter space. In the lower cabinet (with the pull-out base) I keep party stuff - plastic plates, extra table cloths, and there is another wire rack shelf part way up in the back that could be used for storing large food items. I leave cookie canisters and such in there for the holidays. The bottom drawer on the right is the old bread box and is where I keep spare kitchen stuff from my Dad's house (and every so often send something out of there home with the kids). The next couple of drawers are for batteries and the battery tester and some spare pads of paper. It's a very efficient piece. At one point I thought to use it as a bar with the fancy glasses in there and such but I just don't entertain that much and rarely with drinks to make it an efficient use. Oh, there is a wide and shallow drawer with separate compartments right under the enamel top that is for silverwear. I keep lots of spare stuff from Dad's house along with more antique kitchen gadgets from family estates. Kitchen queens stand on hard little iron casters and each leg has a little metal fitting around the castor that my great aunt told me was for something like a layer of Vaseline to keep ants from climbing onto and into the cabinet. They really thought of everything. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Aug 21 - 06:42 PM The house is tidied after company left, the dishwasher is full, and I get to enjoy a couple of days of a completely tidy main part of the house (before things start creeping onto horizontal surfaces again . . . ) I kind of overdid yesterday with the trimmer in the front yard - reaching forward and holding the weight in front of me tends to pull stomach muscles, and they were complaining this morning. Other than that, the day went well. Since we'd talked ahead of time about whether everyone was vaccinated I ordered some inexpensive silicon bracelets that say in contrasting color "I got my COVID-19 vaccine" as a sort of party favor. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Charmion Date: 09 Aug 21 - 08:41 AM Rick the Painter is due at nine this morning to start work on the ugly bedroom. At nine-thirty, I’m out the door to the Y for pool class at ten. Planning is now under way for the ceremonial interment of Edmund’s ashes at Beechwood in Ottawa, where the National Military Cemetery is located. It will be done on 9 October, the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. I have booked the padre, poked the JAG Old Boys’ Net, and bought a return train ticket; two solo road trips to and from Ottawa in one season is a lot more than I feel equal to. And I booked a cat-minder. The padre, a musician himself, will engage a piper and a bugler to provide the traditional calls. I have no idea yet what to do about the equally traditional drinks and lunch after, but I’m sure there’s a mess somewhere that will be open — perhaps even the Army Officers’ Mess where Edmund was a member for the better part of 25 years. I will be soooo glad when this is done and dusted. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Donuel Date: 09 Aug 21 - 09:08 AM It sounds like a perfectly wonderful service to remember. |
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Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021 From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Aug 21 - 10:50 AM It does sound like a lovely service, with the traditions expected in a military situation. And after poking around on Google maps it looks like not driving to Ottawa is a good decision. I have the WeatherUnderground app on my phone, and I pay $2 a year to keep it ad free. It includes a feature where you can ask it to display when the perfect conditions for walking will exist in a day—the temperature, wind, precipitation (not!), and during daylight. My app is showing only the earliest morning hours as suitable right now, so I'm getting up earlier and taking the dogs for their walk. The good thing about it also is that when I check the weather in the morning I see that green bar and remember that I SHOULD take a walk today. I'm not to the swimming pool exercises stage yet so it'll have to be walking for now. The dryer is working after my repair, but I'm going to keep hanging laundry on the line outside; it's a tiny gesture, but with fires raging and oceans rising I don't need to run a box of hot air to dry my clothes when the solar dryer works fine for free. And I think instead of sending paper shreds to the landfill I'll just dump them in the garden or the compost. I see people dumping paper shreds in the recycle bin but suspect they go straight to the trash. The butterfly effect, starting here in Fort Worth, Texas. |
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