FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 10:42 AM

I missed a step in Dorothy's kitchen sink saga. Why is the Formica being heated and removed from the sink cutout piece from the counter (did I get that right?) Is a piece of the cutout being used as a patch next to the new sink? (Is the new sink smaller than the previous sink?)

We have a couple of lovely days. Let's see what I can manage to do with them. The to-do list is long.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 12:41 PM

Pool class and physio, check. My back is now much improved.

It’s almost Ottawa cold in Stratford today, and people are whining. I’m enjoying my down-filled coat.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 12:48 PM

Seasonal Schadenfreude.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 12:52 PM

Oohh, Kitchen sinks again...

Ours (some composite) has been in a terrible state for years. It's badly scratched and stained.

Trouble is (even if I could fit it), I don't see a straight drop in replacement and suspect a change would mean someone in to cut a new hole in a new work top as well as replacing the other couple of worktop boards to match.

We just live with it...

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 06:51 PM

Yeah, Jon, I know your feeling. The Formica seam a few inches over from the sink has warped open a little, but I'm not ready to replace a counter and a sink yet. There's no point in putting a new sink in a counter with one funky spot.

No big projects finished today. I found refills for the squeeze mop I like; I just installed the last one and ordered before the packaging info got lost. The model numbers seem to change every few years. I entered the UPC code to an online site and it found the correct model in their database, so that's a keeper and I downloaded it into the phone. Meanwhile, the recycling is in the back of the SUV but the village bins aren't emptied until tomorrow (and it would tough work to cram this stuff in now). For drama, I broke up a real dogfight between Cookie and Pepper, and saw Cookie start it. Time to spend more time walking them and being pack leader. I stopped this one with a broom (never grab fighting dogs!)

There is still the evening, but I think exercise and dog walking are the extent of my plans.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Feb 22 - 10:50 AM

I went out at dusk and pulled out the dead and now dry and easy to pull remaining stalks of peppers and okra, and gathered a couple of dried stacks of tomato limbs and piled it onto the tarp I use for dragging this around. These materials completely overtop the sides of the compost bin (because it's all dry and not compacted yet). Next time I have the steel-toed waffle-stomper boots on I'll step in and break up all of that stuff then run the sprinkler on top of it. There is a second compost structure, made of tall metal fence stakes supporting a plastic sided length of material that stands about 36" high and has nylon buttons to hold it in a loop around the posts. I'll lift that off of the compost inside (nothing new was added for a couple of years) and relocate the posts and siding for a new compost pile this year. Since that oldest pile is finished I'll use the tiller to break it up and then move the soil-like compost out to the gardens.

The weed whacker is finished and a call from the lawn and garden shop this morning informed me that the tiller needed new fuel lines and a new carburetor for about $160 in repairs. I asked them to JUST replace the fuel lines because I wasn't having any trouble with the carburetor. Is this the first test of this shop? We'll see when the tiller comes home. Two different repair guys on two different pieces of equipment, and I'll keep in mind which one to ask for next time. I really hate it when they think they can get away with too much work (or none at all and just charge for it) because a woman is the customer.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Feb 22 - 10:05 AM

Today.

Let's see what it brings. Why wait for the first day of the year to set goals? Why not today? It certainly seems to be a mistake to leave them till tomorrow.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 16 Feb 22 - 10:37 AM

Well I've set myself a new goal but it's a musical one. Something to try after a long while of doing very little.

Tune wise, before my attempts with tenor banjo and mandolin and Irish sessions, I had a short spell playing morris dance tunes with a D/G Hohner Erica melodeon. I've still got the Erica but as time went on, I grew less interested and the box is pretty well knackered now anyway.

I've still had an occasional interest in the boxes but fancied trying my hand at the B/C system which is very popular in Irish music. I had one brief play with this and a Double Ray I bought very cheaply but never got on with it and blamed the instrument for some of my struggles (it was sluggish and in need of work).

Anyway, good fortune and a generous mum have just provided me with a nice Salterelle Awen so I want to give B/C a better try this time.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Feb 22 - 11:42 AM

Today the mid-February thaw has set in, with a forecast of temperatures well above freezing even at night. That means rain and slop, and of course winter is not over. Next week, sidewalks and parking lots will be covered with lumps of frozen slush. What larks.

At last, I have reached the bottom of the chest freezer. It lives in the garage, so I have to wait for warm weather -- probably around Easter -- to defrost it and give it a good scrub.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 16 Feb 22 - 10:18 PM

Dupont:

SRS: you got the sink part correct! It is good! One of these days R will get around to the fiddly task of cutting a piece of lino to fit the floor of the cupboard so I can put things back in!

Feb thaw! About that bread what has been frozen on the back deck ... It is now safely in the indoor freezers!! YAY!!

Been busy renewing acquaintance with an important friend of 50 years via emails. Went into shock at the passage of time, after my brain fog cleared and I was able to do the math. Back on track; a good track I think.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Feb 22 - 04:19 PM

Yesterday was lovely, today is wretched, a windy day that started at the day's high at midnight and is progressing to the mid-20s by midnight tonight.

As I drove home from museum scanning job I debated about a trip to the grocery store, involving another cold walk from and to from the SUV. The wind is cold enough to have me mentally cataloguing what I'd recently seen fresh in the fridge. I have enough vegetables and fruit and there is frozen chopped spinach and lots of frozen garden stuff. Today I finished the large Costco bag of fresh baby spinach before it started to rot, something that I rarely manage. It's a combination of being too slow to eat it OR storage in one of the really cold spots in the fridge that sometimes freezes part of the contents. Anyway, I figured I'd head home and eat what is here and not worry about topping off the supply. I can live without sweet potatoes and asparagus for a few more days. (Though the sooner I get a sweet potato, the better. I'll use one of the Beauregard ones for making slips for planting in the garden this year.)

Sewing this weekend, several projects. And after a hiatus I think I'll download another audiobook. They go well with sewing.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Feb 22 - 10:48 AM

The chocolate Labrador retriever is showing his age more this winter, but he still has a good appetite. I'm entering "watch the dog closely" mode to respond to his 14-year-old needs.

This week I've decided to kick out the junk food and to continue the strategic draw-down of food in the freezer and pantry. I made a batch of spaghetti sauce last night (splashing tomato around the kitchen and on myself) to keep a jar in the fridge and freeze the rest. It looks like the looming shortage we'll be dealing with is chicken, so next shopping trip I'll get some and freeze portions—I don't use that much meat these days. I usually bake a single breast or leg quarter and it goes for a couple of meals at least.

I'm still adding software to the rebuilt computer; last night I downloaded Adobe's DNG (Digital Negative) software, and it appears to be working. In the last build it didn't like my older version of Photoshop. That makes it easier to use the big Canon camera (and not just rely on my phone camera).

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Feb 22 - 09:35 AM

Our mid-February thaw lasted precisely 24 hours followed by snow and more snow. In fact, it’s *still* snowing. The wind is blowing great billows of it down the street and the neighbours’ dog (not a small animal) is up to his armpits in their driveway. Neil-across-the-street will spend extensive quality time with his snowblower today and I am under house arrest until the Nick the plow guy comes.

So I might as well cook. I have a cabbage, a celery root, and a kilo of stewing lamb, so Norwegian lamb-and-cabbage stew is on the agenda. Pity I don’t have any bacon, but I’m not going out in THAT if I can possibly avoid it.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Feb 22 - 12:26 PM

Dupont:

Charmion and I are having the same wonderful weather! Might go back above freezing an a couple days. LOTS of snow. And the snowblower?? maybe tomorrow? I'm not going anywhere no matter what we "need". I can barely stay awake.

Just cooked another small pot of rice - without burning it, more by luck than design. We agree the "better" salsa makes a big difference and was worth the effort of finding it! I have made room in the hall closet for the dozen bottles! More "extras" can go in there and de-clutter the pantry.

Had company yesterday: Rita and PUPPY! and her daughter and SonIL. The LR was bright with sun at the time! Daughter, a grad of Julliard, founded and is director of a org that provides free music lessons and instruments in NYC (all five boroughs). Over 150 kids with parental involvement required. opportunitymusicproject.org Great visit, esp the puppy!

Phoned #1 son last night - and got him! He sent pics of the beautiful lot on which they are hoping to someday have a small home, with lots of light on one of the highest points on Whidbey, with a view across the Sound to the Olympic Peninsula. The ever increasing price of building materials is daunting.

14 is a good age for a lab! You have done well, SRS! Many years ago we had a shepherd/collie mix live to 18; she was an only child (of our runty little shepherd) so we kept her; her mom took care of her until she died at 14. "Baby Dog" did not seem to miss her mom and decided to herd the farmer's cows in our "back yard". It's in the genes!

R left before BF so I made myself porridge with ground almonds and dried blueberries, and cinnamon, with plain yogurt. That was good. But now it is lunchtime...

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 22 - 12:57 PM

I called for a vet appointment partly by way of apology to the old Lab - I'd covered the dog door because he was out barking, but this time staying inside had him really distressed. I uncovered it when he wasn't going to settle down and go to sleep and realized later that I'd probably brought him in before he took care of business. Poor guy, and once again, reminding me that what I require (not barking at midnight) is not necessarily what he needs, so next week I'll ask about how to keep him comfortable.

About a week before Poppy passed away we were on a walk and she was so slow I returned to the house and let her in then walked the others; when we returned she was still sitting in the same spot. I felt bad - I probably shouldn't have tried the walk to begin with, but didn't know she was so close to the end. And I should have walked her into her bed when I brought her home. Reading what they need* and getting it right is a challenge.

The house is disorganized and there is a lot of paper that needs filing. It's time to start my income tax return and I need to mail my absentee ballot and hope it is accepted. These Texas GOP politicians are doing everything they can to reduce the turnout.






*If you reach the stage where you have to offer canned food, it is the end.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Feb 22 - 05:35 PM

I mailed my ballot, then someone piped up and said it should have two stamps. It didn't say it needed two stamps, so we'll see what happens. (There was a long panel of barely legible print down the left side of the envelope front and I didn't read it. I glanced at it and thought it had to do with how to deliver your ballot to the county, in person, drop box, but no one else can deliver your ballot crap.) If I look up my ballot online and it doesn't show as returned and accepted by election day I can go vote in person.

I'm going to attempt pressure-cooking beets again, this time staying in the kitchen during the whole 18 minutes run. Last time the weight must not have seated properly and it dried out and scorched. This is part of my "eat a lot of colors" diet that I've been on since last fall. With that last beet setback I've avoided them for a while (and when I looked in the store I didn't find canned beets. I should have tried a bigger store; Aldi doesn't carry the whole rainbow of foods.)

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 11:01 AM

"Family Day" in Ontario, a recently established provincial holiday that features patchy availability of goods and services. A fair few people don't really believe in it, notably us Olde Phartes who grew up without a statutory holiday between New Year and Easter. The groundhog, St. Valentine and St. Patrick still have more pull with most of us.

The snow has stopped (for now) and we're having another bit of thaw -- high of 7C and sunny today, high of 11C tomorrow and rain. Before the rain starts, I shall unwind the Christmas lights off the mulberry tree and maybe take a little stroll downtown.

Beets are excellent roasted, Stilly, especially if you give them a light coat of olive oil and a good dose of garlic and thyme along with the S&P. I've never bothered pressure-cooking them; like potatoes and carrots, I cut them up and just boil them in a saucepan.

Supper today will be the third round of Norwegian braised lamb and cabbage, and it's definitely better with time in the fridge. I made it in Edmund's enormous cast-iron skillet, the only pan in the house that accommodates an entire cabbage as well as the lamb and celeriac. That's the first time I've had that brute of thing on the stove since Edmund died, but I hadn't forgotten just how awkward it is, mostly because it has only one handle. Nowadays, most large skillets also have a "helper" handle on the opposite side for cooks who do not have hands like back-hoe shovels.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 11:15 AM

I have one of those large cast iron skillets with a cast iron lid. It came from my great aunt's house where a friend was helping me with the estate. When she saw that she said "you have to keep that, it's great for frying chicken!" I rarely fry chicken (I can count on one hand the number of times I can remember making fried chicken) but it is good for other things. And yes, very heavy.

I've started using the pressure cooker because it's here, and it really is much faster than boiling beets till tender. Once they're cooked, peel and slice. I'm trying to use the various pieces of cooking equipment that have been stashed in the pantry to see if I want to keep them or not.

Another dose of wintry weather is headed here after a warm start to the week (it should reach 80^o today.) I don't believe this is a named storm. But wait! I just pulled up the forecast - they've named it "Oaklee." [sigh] I will finish my running around today and plan to hunker down the rest of the week if need be. I have appointments on Wednesday and Thursday that I'd like to keep, so we'll see if it's just cold as can be or if it precipitates and makes travel dangerous. I think we're at the bottom edge of a southwest-to-northeast-oriented storm predicted to form overnight.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Feb 22 - 06:33 PM

One 75-pound chocolate Labrador retriever has been bathed. The dog, the bathroom, and I are all a bit moist. He looks good and didn't seem too upset about it (it has been a long time since he had a bath.) I'm not doing the others today, I'll stager this chore over a couple of more weeks.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Feb 22 - 10:20 AM

It seems that a clean dog is a happy dog—Zeke has been quite frisky since last night, and his coat is so soft today. He regularly requests cuddles anyway, but they're easier to give when you don't have to wash your hands after a back scratch and an ear rub.

More mud in the den this morning, tracked in after a gentle overnight rain. Combine this with the short dried out Bermuda grass beyond the patio that clings to their coats any time someone rolls and you have the makings for adobe bricks coming in on their feet and coats. Spring will relieve this, but we're weeks away yet. At least with snow all of that is out of the way for now (though yes, I know about the consistency of mud after a thaw.) A modern-day version of the Housewife's Lament. (The thing I will never forgive my mother for is she finished her family genealogy and mailed it out to 70 family members. I got my copy and instead of listing me as a park ranger, a forester, an interpretive naturalist, or a writer - she said I was "a housewife" because at the time I was raising kids and doing freelance writing. Something I never in a million years would have used, and I confronted her about it, I even sent her sheets of stamps so she could mail out the corrected version. She died before she got to it.) #rant off

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 09:21 AM

Isobel is due at the vet in 25 minutes. Getting her into the carrier is a stealth mission; at the critical moment, I put the habeas grabbus on her slumbering form (currently on my lap) and drop her in. The hitch is always maintaining my grip between the comfy chair and the carrier, which sits on the parlour floor over by the window, for Isobel is at one with that 19th-century naval officer who declined to surrender because he had only just begun to fight.

Here goes nuttin’ …

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 09:47 AM

Back when we had cats (I’m assuming your creature is a cat), we had a good plastic coated steel wire framed cage for at least 10 years and may still have it in a shed. I don’t remember getting any of ours into this as being a problem and it was easy enough to close the lid and push the “bolt” back in place. It was much better than the flimsy plasticy things we'd had before. Their reaction to being in there did vary though as did their response to being driven in the car. I would sometimes go with mum to the vets just as a passenger to try to help keep at calm.

I wasn’t involved in this one (a brother helped with that) but mum’s journey here when she moved from N Wales (W coast UK) to Norfolk (E coast) would have been a bit more interesting. I think there would have been 1 (or 2?) cats, 1 dog and at least 4 chickens in her car.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 10:28 AM

Pet week in the Declutter thread! I take Zeke to the vet tomorrow. He's ok with the ride and compliant about the SUV, but with his arthritis I'll have to do some major lifting to get him in - the body is willing but the back end doesn't cooperate well. And I took that side step off a few months ago, making it much easier for me but much more difficult for him.

There's a very thin coat of freezing drizzle on the ground this morning. I have an appointment at 11 and I'll leave early enough to drive there in slow motion (if need be) on well-travelled streets so it will hopefully be worn off. Tomorrow's appointment with Zeke may end up postponed if there is more accumulation. And the first thing I encounter on my route out of the village will be The "bridges freeze sooner than roadways" at the bottom of my street. That's the test - turn around and go home or continue onward.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 01:50 PM

Isobel is, indeed, a cat, and a very intelligent one, as cats go. We have returned from the vet’s office and she is back in my lap, having evidently put this morning’s adventure behind her.

Snowing again, after two days of thaw. Still February.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 03:04 PM

The vet called, Zeke's appointment was cancelled due to tomorrow's forecast, but reading the last couple of posts reminds me that I have a sturdy plastic step stool that I could use to get him into the car and take it along for the vet parking lot end of things as well. (I recently read Virginia Tam's Facebook remarks about using a stool like that for getting into her "caravan" - aka "trailer").

I wonder if the cat's rapid forgetting about the morning adventure has to do with how tempting it is to sit in a warm lap on a cold day?

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 05:30 PM

Isobel is all about household routine, and enforcing it. In the early afternoon I’m usually reading, and when I’m reading Isobel is in my lap. Simple.

Isobel never pokes her nose outside voluntarily, so the weather makes no difference to her.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Feb 22 - 11:02 PM

Skipping the stretching workout, I'll do a gentle Hinge Health routine before bed to give today's steroid shot time to kick in. I'm not going through the whole process of holding off knee replacement like last time. Steroids worked for a while, gel shots were never very very helpful. This summer I'll have the second knee done and look forward to moving forward with two functioning knees. Until then, continuing to get the leg muscles into good shape, losing weight, and preparing for about three weeks of extreme inconvenience with gear and schedules.

Lots of paper needs filing or shredding. The sewing studio is set up for more mask making, and I'm remembering how to do the projects that I haven't working on much for several months. I've made hundreds of masks so it will come back to me. Muddy footprints need mopping (with the newly replaced mop sponge) and Cookie's jacket needs expansion. I should have bought her a new one when it was warm but I forgot.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 24 Feb 22 - 03:52 AM

I got the 3D printer going for the first time in a while yesterday and had some fun getting things working. The main problem was that I failed to notice I’d not clipped the glass plate back correctly the last time I used the printer. Anyway, all’s working now.

The task was a simple one. Mum has been loosing her diary and address books regularly. Part of the problem is that she uses these in both the study and living room and things get put down en route to her chairs as well as getting buried under other papers and books.

The attempted solution I came up with was to get her a A4 Portable Bag File Holder and ask her to make sure the books (and possibly other things she might need) have the bag as their home. The printer was used for a simple hook to clamp to one side of her trolley and for her bag to hang on.

Not much else happening here except I've ordered (and already have a couple of items) veg things to grow.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Feb 22 - 07:43 AM

Jon, you do get a lot of use from that 3D printer! That kind of bag is handy - I bought one for my son for his sheet music when he was taking guitar. I tried to set up a system for a brain-injury friend who kept losing things. Large bright orange melmac bowls for the kitchen island and on her dresser. Put keys and hearing aid batteries, etc. there when finished. Trouble was, a lot of family came through to visit and put things on top of them or moved them to use for something else. #Fail

Years ago I put in a programmable thermostat and since I was heading out to work I programmed it so it would warm the house up to 70^o at about 5:30am. Then it dropped back to 68, and for the hours I was usually absent, down to 62. Up to 68 in the evening, then 62 for overnight. I retired three years ago and never changed it.

I now think that the heater blower is what clues Pepper to "it's time!" to head out for the treat from the neighbor. He rises early and heads out at dawn with biscuits for the dogs. So with a super cold spell the furnace went on at 3am and she was out in the yard and barking, with the other two in tow. I called them in, covered the door, and they fussed and barked and I let them out again, repeat. I got a couple of hours sleep last night.

While lying in bed I used the phone app to program the smart light in the living room and to turn on for five minutes at dawn, and will see about setting an alarm on Alexa to announce they should go to the fence for their treats. I need to figure out how that light knows when dawn is.

Today - two snow day projects in the hall. I have batteries to change out in that thermostat, then reprogram it. And I'll start on the hall doorbell chime and the adjoining transformer so I can put up the new wired video doorbell.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Feb 22 - 11:27 AM

Got down to desktop, and dusted same! No longer does my laplop linger amongst random papers not even in piles! Papers organized, even, not just piled elsewhere. A win.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Feb 22 - 11:30 AM

It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood! Sunshine, not too cold, birds in the hedge singing their little heads off. Lately I've been seeing chickadee-shaped critters that are not chickadees, and gleanings from the Google rabbit hole suggest they are dark-eyed juncos.

I think it's time to get off the choir's board of directors; those meetings don't spark even one tiny bit of joy. I'll do it in the proper way, though, and be sweet and reasonable about it. Then I can just sing and be done with it.

I went to my usual pool class today and will go again tomorrow. On Saturday, I plan to try a different kind of water exercise, something called Aqua Zumba. I just hope it's not loud.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Feb 22 - 04:46 PM

Mrrzy, I stopped by the post office last week and the box was crammed (I hadn't been there for a couple of weeks). I've been sorting junk from bills at the kitchen table, and there is a small crescent-shaped area in the clutter where I can put my plate, glass of water, and the phone stand (I eat alone, so I catch up with Instagram or read the online newspaper.) It is time to clear several horizontal surfaces of their paper buildup.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 24 Feb 22 - 06:18 PM

What was it that wore out your knees somewhat prematurely Stilly?
While there is an autoimmune factor in many joint problems there are also auto healing processes.
You will not find my advocating visualization for disease and illness despite the fact I was a therapeutic hypnotist. People must find their own path to mind body healing. I never cured my own migraine condition of weekly migraine torture so I know limitations exist. That migraine has preditably disappeared with age I have no illusions but all other conditions have healed nicely, some might say remarkably.
With your learning curve behind you I hope your second procedure if you decide goes really well.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Feb 22 - 06:41 PM

Don, the doctor said he usually waits for the patient to tell him when they're ready for the procedure. It isn't like heart or gallbladder or cancer surgery or other things that must be done, it is elective, but it is a huge quality of life choice. If I step wrong I can almost topple over; it's an instant collapse when you move wrong when exercising, dancing, climbing around the yard, etc. Walking on uneven ground or climbing stairs is painful and you can hear the bones grind (the noise travels through the skeleton, and I think someone other than me could hear it if they were nearby.) It's a hard surgery so it isn't taken lightly.

I wore my knees out the old-fashioned way—hard work. In high school I took up mountain climbing, going up and down mountains wearing a heavy backpack (down is usually harder on your knees than up), and then there was all of the long-distance backpacking with even heavier packs. I spent several years working in forestry climbing through clearcut units and fighting forest fires (carrying a lot of gear). I've been gardening for years, doing a lot of digging and lifting and dragging and carrying of heavy objects. The cartilage is gone, it's bone on bone and my knees are knock kneed (only one of them now). Standing with deteriorated knees mean your legs aren't straight, they meet at the knees.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Feb 22 - 11:09 AM

The steroid shot to the knee socket helped a lot. I'll be out in the yard this weekend doing some work on uneven ground without the usual discomfort. I had the trimmer and the tiller worked on last week and I need to test them within 30 days (the length they guarantee their work.) So I need to make a run over to the gas station that sells unadulterated gasoline (no ethanol). Home Depot for a new gas can, then to the next county over, where I'm told there's a Walmart gas station that sells it.

I've been getting a lot more stuff done since that shot. I didn't realize how much the knee was slowing me down. Of course, it didn't affect the filing of paper, the cleaning of the kitchen, etc. I think the now-sunny weather has helped with my mood.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Feb 22 - 02:10 PM

I’ve had way too much smoke alarm drama lately, and last night the fire brigade showed up. After much twiddling and three trips to Canadian Tire in a snowstorm for batteries (two kinds!), calm has returned.

The firemen were nice, and very helpful. They even offered to come back and change the batteries in the three — count ‘em, three! — alarms on the upstairs hall ceiling if I didn’t want to climb a ladder. I probably reminded the crew chief of his mum.

I’m glad the steroid shot is helping you, Stilly. One of my several sisters-in-law is nearly crippled by a bum knee and so far has found nothing that helps. She had one injection into the joint that absolutely nothing — a gel shot, perhaps — and I’ve been nudging her to ask about cortisone for a while. It has done a world of good for my wonky foot.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Feb 22 - 02:50 PM

Wow! Smoke detectors are a huge help and also a tremendous challenge (especially when they start beeping at 3am and you can't tell which one it is. I have 5 through the house.) And I always find that while the batteries come out easily, they are a bugger to put back in.

Gel injections in the knee never worked very well, so I'm not bothering with it. This one steroid shot is just to help me get to the time of year when it's easier to go through the surgery. When you can choose, it's nice to be able to. (After going through the third trimester of my first pregnancy in a hot Texas summer, we timed the second one to be born in the spring. Much easier on me.) They don't like to keep doing the steroids, so at some point the surgery becomes the only option. The repaired knee is so much better.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Feb 22 - 11:58 AM

I'm pacing my news consumption; the assault on Ukraine is a wretched state of events and the best I can do here is watch for good NGOs that might be able to help as far as making donations. Add to that donations to politicians in some of the battleground states. My Congressmember was part of a GOP junket to Russia in 2018 at the very moment the senate was releasing the report that Russia did indeed interfere with the US elections. That group was there to suggest "we don't mind what you did." She needs to retire, and I'd like to help with that.

Last night I worked on more masks (the CDC is now watching hospital capacity as a way to tell people if they should mask or not - I prefer not to get sick and hope I don't end up sick OR hospitalized.) I started a new fabric for my library friends—the print looks like the marbled end paper you see in tipped into old books (or printed in some newer ones.)

Today is still cool but mid-week it'll be up to the 70s and I'll head outside to move a plastic sided compost enclosure in the back yard to start a new enclosure for weeds and kitchen waste. I always struggle to make the piles dog proof, and this time I'll probably make some kind of a wire mesh cap to go over it. It's the time of year to start pulling out the dormant Bermudagrass, a persistent weed that pulls out of the soil most easily after a freeze and rain (our circumstances this week). That weedy grass will go in the bottom of the new bin and I'll empty the kitchen waste buckets into it. It's a messy job but adds up to good compost. The pile that is inside the current bin location isn't of interest to the dogs, being a couple of years old. I'll start breaking it up probably next year (at any given time there are usually four piles in various stages of decomposition, with a new one started each spring.)

Decluttering jigsaw puzzles this week when I'll be headed to my old work town and drop them at the thrift store where I discovered a good supply.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Feb 22 - 05:19 PM

I took a trip to the nearest Big Smoke today to visit Lee Valley Tools, and found a festival of drifting snow on the county roads. Ugly. In town, it was a fine clear afternoon, but the minute I was on a road with billiard-table-flat fields to windward, conditions promptly soured. Such is life in southwestern Ontario. No ditch for me today. Hurrah.

The news from east Europe is unremittingly depressing and so full of speculation that I have stopped reading it. My social media feed is dominated by military indignation from every Cold War veteran of my acquaintance, most of them saying something like “I told you so!” If anything good happens, I’ll find out soon enough. If anything worse happens, ditto. Either way, there’s not much I can do about it.

Capacity limits, social distancing and proof-of-vaccination requirements go away next week in Ontario, but masking stays for now. In hope of better things to come, I have registered and paid for a music festival in August. The glass is half full!

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 27 Feb 22 - 05:40 PM

Your brothers, nevertheless, remain silent on the subject on social media. (We do, however, have opinions.)

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Feb 22 - 04:50 PM

It's a busy week ahead, with generally nice weather. Coming up is the one month when, in three years out of four, if you forget to flip the page of the calendar the dates are still correct. Daylight savings time in two weeks does the awful "spring ahead" to remove an hour that I miss for months until fall comes around again. I feel cheated.

There's a lot going on since my plate is full with self-assigned projects. If I manage to do some of these I just might lose weight from the energy expended alone. With the exercises and stretching there are muscles under the fat, but it is harder to do a lot of stuff when carrying the extra weight. So, in a nutshell, the spring is dedicated toward getting in better shape and losing weight while working on household projects so when I get to the knee surgery things are running smoothly around here and missing two or three weeks of regular activity won't put me behind. Toward this end, a couple of weeks ago I cut out the chocolate and much of the sugar and it takes a while to get past the cravings, but I think I'm about there.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Mar 22 - 11:23 AM

It's Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

I have deeply mixed feelings about organized religion, but some of its aspects are very helpful in daily life. Top of the list is the traditional Christian calendar, and I'm confident that Jews and Muslims and Hindus and Zoroastrians every other faith group that does holidays would agree. At bottom, Lent is forty days set aside to figure out where and how we are failing to do right, and to correct our behaviour and, thereby, our thinking.

There's a thousand ways to use it, from resolving to eat better and clean the house (and then bloody well doing it) to weekly attendance at Stations of the Cross and hefty alms-giving. Some people swear off their guilty pleasures (giving up booze and chocolate, for example), others go back to the gym in anticipation of bathing-suit season, and still others do something more intellectual to achieve self-improvement in anticipation of Spring.

As a PK (preacher's kid), Edmund always marked Lent with giving stuff up, usually booze and sweets. One year, he tried to give up meat and actually made it to Laetare Sunday (the third Sunday in Lent) before caving in to the temptation of double-smoked bacon. He felt personally burdened by the fact that his birthday always fell squarely in the middle of Lent, making timely celebration awkward.

I'm not giving up booze or chocolate or meat, and I'm not planning to become a frequent flyer at Stations of the Cross. I think I'll give up procrastination, especially with respect to boring jobs I loathe, such as washing the kitchen floor and vacuuming the parlour rug, and responsibilities that bug me, such as choir administration. Of course, I give up procrastination every year and so far it hasn't quite taken, but I live in hope.

It's a beautiful day in Stratford with bright sunshine despite predictions of foul weather from Environment Canada. I think I'll have lunch and go for a walk downtown.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Mar 22 - 11:46 AM

I am resolving to eat butter and hire other people to clean better than we ever could. As far as religious mixed feelings I am betting religion
has as much corruption and lies as your typical go fund me page. Much good will be done but there will be a bunch of crap too.

Its time for the second dose of food coloring for the blooming trees experiment. I am removing a pink shrubbery and replacing it with a red or orange azelea. Cutting down all unwanted brush and mulching with red pine is also in the cards.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 22 - 02:01 PM

As a child I had friends in a family in the neighborhood who were ardently Catholic, who used to tell us regularly we would go to Hell. I don't remember a conversation with my parents, but I suspect there was one, in which we were told that their religion dictated rules to them and we didn't need to participate in their fiction. That conversation would have been with my father, a lapsed Catholic. Mom was nominally a Lutheran and tried to teach us about the religion by making us go to Sunday school, but after a couple of years of that we were able to talk our way out of it. I don't pray or pledge allegiance at public meetings either.

Decluttering accounts these days; the newspaper I get is digital only and I paid an annual fee of $118, but got a postcard stating that was discontinued and they would charge me a monthly $18.72 now, or a $110 increase per year. I. Don't. Think. So. I called to cancel and amazingly they can offer a rate of $8.62 a month, coming out less than before. I'll keep it for a couple of months, but I don't need it. I also canceled the DVD part of my Netflix plan; I never remember to watch the darned things, so I might as well stop getting them. I can add it back later if I want - they'll always happily take my money. There are a couple of other things I need to revisit as far as keeping or tossing - after a while these things add up.

Five puzzles dropped at the thrift shop, and I brought home two. 500 pieces this time (there was a double-sided one I didn't buy - that's for the hard-core gluttons for punishment.)

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 22 - 11:12 PM

There's a huge gap because of a database failure. I printed the thread and will put up some long posts with the text. Not every thread got hit the same way.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Mar 22 - 11:25 PM

I was beginning to fear that
we would have to give up the Mudcat for Lent ...

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 22 - 12:14 AM

Maybe not. It looks like the longer threads took longer to load. Keep your fingers crossed.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 22 - 11:05 AM

The big worry lately has been the health of the old Labrador retriever, but aside from being deaf, forgetful, and lumpy (harmless fatty tumors), he's in good shape. The blood work shows a slight shift toward kidney problems in the future but that can be headed off with a low protein diet, that he's already on (it can go lower with an expensive Rx dog food, but the vet said that isn't needed now.)

I found what could be a major source of clutter (if I'm not careful) - a new online site for ordering sewing materials, all sorts. Wawak. And they mail out catalogs every month. Those catalogs will be the start. It looks like they have all of the good stuff that used to be in the big old fabric stores (those older big ones even before Hancock, that finally closed down in our area, leaving Joann's the last woman standing). AND I've responded to a freecycle offer of two trash bags full of yarn (I don't need the yarn, but my daughter expressed an interest in yarn recently, for the crochet squares she makes during meetings, etc.) If the offeror responds to my email, this porch-pickup may come under the heading of "be careful what you wish for." We've made contact, now all I need is the address, from the crossroads listed she lives a mile from me. If I do this right I can drive over to the museum where my daughter will be working tomorrow and meet her at her car to drop these off.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Mar 22 - 06:12 PM

A pampered dog with gout?

Binge watching Netflix isn't a fitness program.
None the less I have been highly entertained by comedies like 'The Good Place', 'Lilyhammer' (for Sopranos fans) and 'Upload' on Amazon Prime video.

With a near 80 degree Sunday I plan the yard clean up work.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 22 - 10:03 PM

He is a very good boy who gets a good diet and will now lose a little weight (I'll disguise the fact that there is less dog food in the dinner bowl by adding a little more vege - that way he gets less protein and gets the fiber that everyone needs.) I cut 1/2 inch slices of zucchini and steamed them this evening - Pepper was less happy with the raw squash yesterday but gobbled this down immediately. When they think they're getting people food they are always thrilled.

Time to poke around in a trunk in the front room looking for a couple of things to ship to my son. I'm going to have to move stuff from the top of the trunk before opening it - I'll look at this as my second workout of the day (and before I start moving I'll put on a mask and dust.)

Charmion, I hesitate to pull a Keberoxu-style awkward moment here, but it has occurred to me lately that one of the most annoying things about totalling the last car is that you'd just performed a very expensive repair on the broken antenna. Was there any adjustment in the insurance company payment that helped ease that pain?

Dorothy, I've lost track of your comings and goings - Dupont vs Beaver. Where are you these days, and do you ever get to other locations like the Mill?

Are there any lurkers who would like to surface and give us a progress report? Those who read along and rarely post sometimes offer the most amazing accounts of their activities!