FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 01:35 PM

I built a car port out of a rectangle metal gazebo and hang flowering pots off the edges where the rain water wants to drain. A tall fence forms one long wall and a fence gate forms the shorter rear wall. Its big enough to also shelter snow tires a table and 4 garbage cans. Besides a metal and bamboo roof I got a extra heavy duty rubber tarp as a waterproof roof from Amazon that hasn't degraded in 5 years. It looks fine and keeps hail, ice and snow off the car. It probably costs a grand but building a garage was quoted to cost $35K or more.

I didn't design or engineer this thing from the start but instead took an impromptu approach over 3 years. I do have to share this shelter with a family of birds who like to nest there every year. Hornet nests are unwelcome and are evicted. However hornets do not poop on the car.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 11:29 AM

Jon, though I have my own set of tools here it ended up doubling up (at least) on some tools when I inherited all of the tools from my father's house. There were some interesting ones that I didn't figure out what they were for until I actually needed something and had an "aha!" moment and went to retrieve the device.

It is the same as your house with boxes of screws and nails and other fasteners. I usually buy the size package closest to what I need but sometimes you end up with a pound box of nails or screws - there are lots of those stacked on the shelving in the garage. I keep scrap pieces of lumber and am regularly able to put them to use as I modify or finish something I've been working on, so the bin under the workbench is full and in the corners of the garage there are pieces leaning against the wall. The point of pride in my garage is that there is plenty of room to park the SUV and get in and out on either side without squeezing out or banging the doors into something. I refuse to let my garage be one of those that the car is always parked outside of and when the door is up it can be seen to be crammed completely full.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 03:45 AM

The Midsomer Murders episode was Dark Secrets. Edward Fox (perhaps best known for The Day Of The Jackal) played the murdering husband.

As for hoarding, perhaps the things we tend to hoard vary by sex rather than hoarding itself? I have a tendency to hold on to things that I think may come in handy for some project or task some day… I suppose I could extend it to fasteners. If say, I needed 6x1” woodscrews for a task, I’m going to buy a box of at least 100 and I’ve got 4 big organiser boxes full of wood screws, wall plugs, machine screws, matching nuts, etc. in my shed. I’ve also got small selection boxes of things including a few of types of small stainless hex head screws and threaded inserts, in my room. Of course, I’ll never use all of them, some maybe never again/at all but I do like to feel I’m pretty well equipped with these things.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Senoufou
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 03:11 AM

Thank you Stilly. Yes, we were (I thought) a very solid couple, but there it is - off he went. But as you say, it's good we're still in touch, and may reconcile in time. It's been a big heartache, but I just have to keep a-troshing, as they say here in Norfolk!
I think hoarders exist among both men and women. My much-loved friend (neighbour across the street) is a consummate hoarder, and it drives her husband mad. She loves ornaments, antiques, family heirlooms etc and there isn't an inch of clear space in her bungalow. Her sheds and the garage are stuffed full too, and the dust! Cleaning is nearly impossible when clutter fills the house.
I'm the opposite. Anything unnecessary goes out of the door. I like empty spaces and an easy-to-clean house. Why keep stuff if you're never going to use it?

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 11:17 PM

Charmion, I was mostly curious to see how much the swollen leg added up to. I don't plan on a weigh-in as a regular thing for some time to come. (I did wait until the laxative kicked in to clear the gut after anesthesia brought everything to a halt. Perhaps TMI.)

Jennie, I remember that Midsomer Murders episode, and I've seen a similar device used in various other mystery and detective programs. I always wonder at what the set designers have to do to get ready for one of those episodes, and how much more risk there is to the actors and crew in the midst of it.

This week I've quizzed several friends about home warranty policies and the companies they use now or used in the past, and think that may be the way to proceed for living with the old appliances in this house. Replace the one dead A/C unit then get a plan that lets me select the company and workers who do whatever work needs doing. It means I can keep things going until they don't, not always worry about what will fail next. It's a gamble for those companies, will they get to keep the premium this month or have to pay out to fix something big?

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 10:42 PM

I recall watching an episode of 'Midsomer Murders' in which an elderly woman was killed by a falling pile of hoarded newspapers from a stack which went up to the ceiling and filled rooms from wall to wall, leaving only a narrow walkway.

Our dishwasher is having conniptions, looks like it's time for a new one. We could wash everything by hand.....but we waited a long time to get a dishwasher, and it does make life easier for two Olde Phartes.

And the kitchen ceiling light has packed it in. We have bought a replacement and are eagerly awaiting a call from an electrician to install it.

Otherwise, life up here on the hill in paradise continues uneventfully.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 05:29 PM

I spent most of the day with the shredder and the last of Edmund's practice files, and now my recycle bins are packed and stacked with 10 bags of paper chaff. The study closet is almost coherent, by which I mean that everything in it has a reason to stay -- at least for now.

Stilly, don't ferGawshsakes weigh yourself until you can at least walk far enough to count it as exercise. There's no point stressing yourself about embonpoint when you can't do anything practical about it; besides, you're healing, and you need all the nutrition you can get, plus some pampering.

Senoufou's post about her husband's bags and boxes of stuff brings up an odd thing that happened the other day. One of my sisters-in-law actually asked if I was interested in dating again! I couldn't believe my ears at first, and then the first words out of my mouth were "God no!" Not because I don't like male company -- I do, very much -- but because I'm finally getting the house squared away and I emphatically don't want other people in my space for more than a visit.

As for hoarding -- it's a gender-neutral affliction, in my opinion.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 11:02 AM

Senoufou, I didn't realize that had happened! I am so sorry - you two have always sounded like a solidly loving couple. Of course, there can still be love even with there are issues that make a separation helpful for sorting-out purposes. My very best wishes on resolving that in a way that works for both of you. It's a good sign that he invited you over. I'm better friends now with my ex, now that we aren't married. We met in 1979, so he's also one of my oldest friends. We were in the first year after the divorce and going through some of the snooty stuff (when the kids would stay with who, etc) and I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. All of a sudden the divorce was no big deal, no one had died of it. He even suggested I could stay at his house during my recovery after the surgery so they could look after me. After that we got along just fine. (I don't recommend cancer as a way to get over relationship issues, but it worked for us!)

The technicolor bruising is showing up as we enter the fifth day after surgery. And the powerful pain meds they injected or applied have worn off, so I'm carefully pacing the various types (not all are prescription; good old reliable Tylenol is on the list to take 3x a day).

Out of curiosity I weighed myself today - with the leg as swollen as it is it puts on several pounds. I don't plan to weigh in again until after my 2-week checkup. And once I'm off of the pain meds is soon enough to think about resuming the weight loss activity.

Don, if you watch any of those Hoarders shows on cable mostly they seem to follow around women, but that may be the way the programs choose, not aligning with demographics. Some of the most famous hoarders are men - I remember reading about the Collyer Brothers years ago. It was a novelty back then, though now we know it is far more common than one might expect.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 08:46 AM

I don't know for sure but I think men make the worst&biggest hoarders.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Senoufou
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 05:35 AM

My husband invited me last weekend to inspect his little flat which he's renting in a nearby town. I smiled secretly, because 'clutter' hardly begins to describe the state of the place! When he left me five months ago, he took all his 'stuff' - dozens of sports trainers, fancy cooking equipment, heaps and heaps of clothes, dozens of male toiletries and so on. It filled about twenty big cardboard boxes and four suitcases.
My bungalow is so clear and tidy in contrast. But he seems to like his 'man cave'.
If we reconcile and he comes back here to live, I'll have to bite my tongue when the large twenty-or-so cardboard boxes and cases get plonked all over the place, then emptied into every cupboard, drawer and wardrobe, plus the floors. (I might 'tidy' him away into a cupboard too, hee hee!)

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 11:32 AM

CET (Edmund) had his birthday on 19 March, right spung in the middle of Lent. He tried not to take it personally, but nevertheless annually griped that it wasn't FAIR! Why couldn't he have been born a mere two days earlier, on St. Patrick's Day, when Lenten discipline is off for the saint's festival? Was that too much to ask? (Um, as a matter of fact, yes, it was.)

I well remember the acrobatics required to bathe with a non-walking plaster cast on one lower leg, and I'm still amazed that I never hurt myself during either the entry or exit stages of the evolution. At first, I could get into but not out of the bath-tub, being too weak from the injury and the surgery, and too stupid from the drugs, to hoist myself as one does in the return phase of a bench-dip. After the crisis of convincing my brother to extract me, I stopped taking the pain-killers and thus regained enough capability to manage the task about every second day. Hair-washing was a doddle by comparison.

Note to file: Don't break any more bones, especially in the legs and feet. I'm too old now for that kind of lark.

When I read about chiggers, I think of Ontario's swarms of mosquitoes and blackflies and count myself lucky.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 09:57 AM

I was thinking about the two of you yesterday, Charmion, as we celebrated my ex's birthday. When is CET's birthday? We still celebrate ours as a family, usually with a meal - those are dates that are etched on the memory. (I never remembered our anniversary, but always birthdays.) When everyone left yesterday afternoon the house was looking good - they picked up around here for me. That was a gift!

The first big challenge since coming home is that I'd like to wash my hair today. When I bathe I take a shallow bath to keep the knee out of the water but I can't wash my hair there very well. I'll do it bent over the kitchen sink so I can use the sprayer hose to rinse.

Dorothy, early last week I got out in the knee-high grass behind the back fence in my yard and got into the chiggers. In the surgery setup area I had to pull my gown around to show the nurse the red spots on my torso, to be sure they would do the surgery. If I'd scratched any to a point of infection they'd have postponed. The tall grass is pretty (it's inland sea oats) that are meant to be tall, but the chiggers like them. I'll probably spray them with some soapy water to see if that reduces the redbug population.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 08:13 AM

I went out and played at a session yesterday. Edmund would have loved it.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 22 - 08:39 PM

Parties at the beach were fun when I was a kid. Always had to watch out walking barefoot in case someone just threw sand over the fire to put it out. More than once I've gotten a burn. Now I live on a creek and I suppose if I didn't mind how closed in it is down there, a barbecue on the rocky beach would be possible. Around here people put chairs out in the driveway or open the garage door and sit inside in the shade. Rather than setting up a picnic the creek is the place to take a bucket and a pry bar for digging the fossils all around.

I'm happy with the shade tarps I put over my patio; they're attractive and effective. I have enjoyed sitting out there comfortably some afternoons and evenings.

Today I said good-bye to a 10-gallon nursery pot with three lantana plants that I transplanted out of the back yard lawn so my daughter can put them in pots at her house. The roots were so robust that it didn't take long before they revived from being dug up. She'll have flowers soon. They're popular here while they're invasive weeds in Australia. I've been mowing them for a while but they keep coming back.

The heavy-duty pain killers applied during surgery have worn off all around the knee and I'm keeping track of meds on a notebook page in the kitchen. And after four days the magnesium has kicked in - thank dog! I was warned, but still, when your guts grind to a halt for a few days it gets your attention.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Jun 22 - 08:01 PM

Before surgury how about an old fashioned Texas sand bar party.
#1 check out a sand bar at high tide. don't forget sun block.
#2 Bring enough wood for a good bon fire.
#3 bring enough food and drink.
#4 Leave by 8PM

Remember its easier with a boat.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 22 - 05:31 PM

When the doctors instructions say you should have someone stay with your for 48 hours after returning home from surgery, they don't take into account that when it's family you're liable to overdo rather than just kick your feet up. I managed a compromise, and spoke with the PT supervisor yesterday and got some helpful hints. The ice pack takes two large inserts that go to mush very quickly and it is huge and saggy, so I'm just putting one pack into the case and that works better. The calf-squeezing things slide all around. Not comfortable.

The medical folks probably didn't expect me to make a birthday coffee cake this morning or make small personal pizzas for lunch, but anyway, everyone has headed home and now I will relax some more. PT starts tomorrow.

After a phone conversation with her partner my daughter asked me for a COVID test; since the partner wasn't feeling good she figured they both should take the test so I'd know if I had anything else to make me miserable. Everyone came out negative. That's the reason for keeping a few extra boxes of these things around.

This is the strangest year; it's like we catapulted directly from May to August. Hot as hell out there and no sign of it letting up.

Dorothy, good luck with the hernia diagnosis.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 07:26 PM

Beaver:

Yard is de-clutttered of knee high grass etc!!!! I felt as though it was the Cavalry when I heard Steve's machine! There is still more I would like done but he did the most important stuff, including path to the wee bridge. (I'll post a pic of bridge on FB.) He will do more when he has time and keep it from getting away again, and stack the firewood!

The resident ground hog was enjoying the cuttings this morning! I suspect it was around before but the grass was too high to see it!

Then I fetched the screen doors from back shed and they are ready to hang; seem to have misplaced one set of screws but it is cool enough still that tomorrow is fine! I rarely come to this thread without finding a reminder! This one is to check for an empty bin in back shed for stiff that needs storing in shed - from house - for winter.

Also feeling I have made pretty good progress getting rid of stuff here. There is a great deal on its way out when
I decide to where? Not risking taking anymore to my friend the hoarder as we do not want the Carriage House to get more cluttered!

Managed to complete the mugs but need a few more pieces for an order. I have just spent two beautiful days doing little more than reading and watching the leaves dance to the music of the wind.

Trip to Dr: probably hernia - appointment with dietician - I'll give her a chance though I am doubtful; and someday in the future an ultrasound here in Bancroft. For anything more complex, a trip of 60 miles (each way) is required.

I am hoping #1 son's co-habit will like some lengths of fabrics when they visit in late August, celebrating her 50th. She still sews.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 07:05 PM

Charmion, you would love the thrift store in my neighborhood. I haven't bought new jeans in 20 years (though they're new to me so it feels the same as new). 90% of what they sell is clothing and there's something for everyone there, and I always find great pants. (This building used to house a large grocery store. It's huge.) With all of those vintage jeans to poke through, there are always several pair that fit perfectly. It's easy to come out with five or six pairs of jeans for $20.   

Thrift stores are the great anonymizer of used clothes. I always feel a little odd looking at clothes at estate sales because I'll know who used to own that particular garment. Not so with the thrift store. Odd? Probably. (I had some hand-me-downs from neighborhood kids when I was growing up, and lived with the embarrassment of knowing that other people recognized the dresses I was wearing as having belonged to someone else.)

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 05:58 PM

Today I went to the big mall in Waterloo in the hope of buying a pair of ordinary straight-legged Levi’s blue jeans with a zip fly and no damage. Epic fail!

The only jeans in stock that were in my size and did not come with factory-fresh holes in the knees were retro 501s complete with button-up fly. I remember those from 1968, when one wore men’s jeans or did without, and they were not convenient. Fly buttons vanished for good reasons! The twenty-something vendeuse understood my distaste for the back-from-the-dead 501s, but I failed to convince her that pre-stressed jeans are not a good look for a lady of a certain age. “On you, it’s fashion, but on me it would look more like negligence,” I said, departing.

So I invested more than an hour of driving, with gas at Cdn$2.10 per litre, to learn that the LL Bean website is my best bet.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 09:37 AM

Digital photography means our computers and external drives are full of files to keep track of.

I wonder if the slides would be of interest to crafters. Lampshades and window covers via Pinterest. My scanning project at the museum has me in the middle of a bunch of slides taken for research by two area artists. They photographed art in books and used them for ideas or to to calculate the positions for the figures they were painting (wanting to have a modern rendering of the classics). Except for the fact that these are two famous artists, they probably would have been dumped. Here is an eBay take on the selling of old slides.

I have a closet in my office that sounds much like your study closet. Lots of paper that should go, but when I dive in to look at things there are interesting ideas - but will I ever follow-up? Probably not.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jun 22 - 09:12 AM

On the plus side: Most of the Freecycle-bound clutter is spread out on the work table in the basement. The boxes of papers to be shredded are sitting on the study table. I found the box of shredder bags that I had misplaced.

On the other hand, I had put out of my mind just how many boxes of photos, negatives, albums and slides are stashed in there.

It occurs to me that digital photography has liberated future generations from this task.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 01:58 PM

Today I start working my way through the congestion in my study closet. It's the last concentration of unsorted -- in fact, not even looked at -- boxed-up clutter in the house.

Easiest is the last boxes of Edmund's papers, which have only one destination: the shredder. But first I have to check with the nice lady at the Law Society of Ontario to get permission.

Next come several boxes of miscellaneous office supplies, of which the bulkiest are a stack of three-ring binders, rather a lot of plastic page protectors and a stack of yellow legal pads, all of which can be immediately Freecycled.

That leaves the boxes of photographs and negatives. One is full of commercially prepared slides from museums and historic sites my parents visited back in the day, and I have decided simply to chuck those. The rest ... Dunno yet. I'll think of something.

I must go to Canadian Tire to buy a folding work table that I can move around the house by myself. I have a really good "table, six-foot, folding", but it's in the cellar and too heavy for solo shifting. With enough effort I can move it upstairs, but getting it back down again would be much too dangerous. I've done it once, so I know!

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 22 - 10:25 AM

My Physician's Assistant happily told me of the comparison of my opened up knee in situ to the Xray (they always make note to help interpreting future Xrays). "Yup! This one is completely worn out!" When I first saw the doctor about my knees he said the worn state made me "knock kneed." That is no longer the case.

Looking forward to a weekend with family here. The house got a good cleaning this week, the dogs are clean (no having to wash hands after a pat) and the fridge is supplied for me and guests.

I'm still making cloth masks and will make another few to give my PA, because they use theirs a lot (I have taken them masks on most checkups over the last 2 years).

If I was still working I'd have 4 weeks or so at home, but everything I do these days can be done remotely, so not much will change, except not driving to the museum to volunteer.

By phone, Room 319. Heading home in an hour or two.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 11:12 PM

I have a little list (Gilbert and Sullivan wrote "I've got a little list," but it would have been more grammatical my way) and all but one item are crossed off from today. Now let's see what I forget to take.

That last item is an extra anyway, to read the the new AC manual and set it to turn on and off by itself. I already reprogrammed the big house unit so it will cool a bit more than usual (I usually adjust it manually during the day) so the dogs will be comfortable.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 12:30 PM

I intend to avoid acquiring any more stuff that might find its way into a bin, Stilly. Also, I enjoy looking at the empty space where a bin used to be.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 11:51 AM

That reminds me to change the backup batteries in my wired smoke detectors. Something else for my growing list (but not for today's list). Why is it the battery always pops out easily but needs a shoehorn to put the replacement in?

I pulled out dog records and see that two of them are due their shots, though rabies are up to date. The village used to schedule a pet shot clinic every summer but haven't since COVID. More stuff for that other list.

Today's lunch will be roast chicken on a bagel, haven't had one of those in a while. Much of the rest of the day's dining will be fruit because I got kind of ahead of myself and everything seems to be ripe right now. Must make room in the fridge.

Good work on clearing out all of those bins. I hold onto them, I always seem to find some new way to organize. Sometimes they end up with garden soil and plants in them out beside the kitchen door, after drilling a few drain holes. That is truly the end-stage for any bin.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jun 22 - 09:53 AM

Heat warning today: forecast high of 32 degrees Celsius, or 88 degrees American -- a mere bagatelle by Texan standards. It comes with a high likelihood of thunderstorms, however, and the humidity is correspondingly high, generating a Humidex of 41C. In short, not fun, but typical for mid-June. Things don't get horrible until the night-time low temperatures consistently hover above 20C.

A burglar alarm technician is on the ground this morning. As security companies look for new services to offer, their systems expand with new capabilities and new potential problems. My system includes smoke and carbon monoxide sensors that beep relentlessly at the slightest provocation, and fail surprisingly often. This always happens on the weekend, when the B team is on duty at the monitoring station. They promise to refer the issue to the tech support team who will call on Monday. They never say which Monday. The sensor crapped out five weeks ago.

Today's mini-crisis is ending well: the sensor had a five-year replacement guarantee with two more months to run. Sweet!

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 06:39 PM

I have emptied nine large plastic storage bins that I refuse to refill with household clag. To my delight, Habitat for Humanity wants them.

Tomorrow I will scrub the grotty ones and, as soon as they have dried, I will load the lot into the car for delivery to the ReStore.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 05:32 PM

Went through my mess o' individual winery wine glasses and got rid of all duplicates, made about a half-shelf of room and my glasses are now vaguely organized.

Did the same with my shot glass collection. Also now organized.

Prompted by my getting some souvenir shot glasses this trip, and not having room for the new ones.

Am starting to acquire old-fashioned-sized souvenir glasses; the room on the wine-glass shelf will be appreciated.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 02:35 PM

Thanks for the heads up on the pool occupants! I haven't been at the gym dressing room when participants are preparing for a pool class, but I won't be surprised.

I have occasionally set the table with fancy table cloth and cloth napkins, maybe once every 5-10 years. Invariably someone spills something on it. Wine and cranberry sauce are top contenders. :-/

I'm glad you're able to recycle textiles! That option is woefully lacking in any of the centers here.

Next trip out to do with the portable AC: a 25' 12-gauge 15-amp extension cord. I'm going to plug it into the outlet inside the AC closet opposite my office door, then it won't trip the breaker for the office. I know they say don't run it under carpet, but I'll get a door mat for the hall to put down so no one trips on it, and wend it around the wall to the new AC. If this was a larger unit (over 15,000 BTU) it would need 20 amp. Harbor Freight to the rescue.

I did the extra brushing on the Lab and there was a flurry of fuzz dropping to the ground. I picked up some of it so they don't track it back into the house. If it were nesting season the birds would be pleased; I used to find old birds nests in the back yard lined with hair that came from my Catahoula-Blue Heeler mix Poppy. She shed a lot and the birds loved that long soft hair.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 01:14 PM

Stilly, you will find lots of similarly scarred company in the locker room. The aquafit class I go to at the Stratford Y looks like an event for veterans of orthopaedic surgery.

Another trip to the dump today, this time with a load of clothing and household linen for the textile recycle bins.

Among the condemned items are Irish double-damask table napkins worn to holes and/or stained by hard water. Who still uses napkins that must be ironed? The fancy modern steam iron Edmund bought six months before he died has no setting for linen and doesn’t get hot enough. Another appliance that doesn’t do what I need done, dammit.

I kept four linen tablecloths, including a hand-embroidered one made by my grandmother and her sister sometime during the reign of Edward VII. Don’t know when I’ll ever use it again (it used to come out for Christmas), or where I would get it laundered in this day and age — it’s much too big for a domestic ironing board. But I’m not ready to part with it yet, or the lace-edged tray cloth that matches it. When did you last see a tea tray laid with a linen cloth? When I reel my memory back, I find myself in the mists of the 1950s with the rector on a pastoral visit.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 10:59 AM

GFY That took discipline

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 10:51 AM

The Labrador retriever got a bath yesterday, and it loosened all of the hair in his coat that was going to come off this summer. At once. I have a couple of brush things to use and will have to attach him by his leash to a post outside so he'll stay put and let me comb it out. It's a chocolate lab explosion in a dog hair factory this morning. But he is quite frisky, they all are. They tolerate the bath but they love the outcome.

I've reached my weight loss goal for this surgery, so will stop the alternate day fasting for now and just maintain a daily count of around 1200 calories (probably about 1000 when I'm sedentary after the surgery). The really high heat has made this easier than usual, because just taking needed big drinks of water during the day helps keep you feeling less hungry. After the surgery I have 20 more pounds I'd like to drop (maybe 15 - it depends on how the weight loss shows in my face.)

This isn't cooking weather, but needs must when you score a lot of good cheap produce. Last night I blanched and froze the contents of four bags of "baby spinach" for about 8 servings. And I had four containers of small mushrooms to sauté then freeze. Bounty from my favorite discount grocery. Lots of fruit also, nectarines, mangos, and a honeydew melon.

For today, the new AC is ready to set up and I need to work in the garden. I have a couple of trips to run, and might get in a trip to the gym (Silver Sneakers congratulated me on 25 visits - really? It must be at this location because I know I've been to the company's gyms more than that since I joined the program. They pay for this nice gym membership.) Charmion - my next goal, after the knee heels enough, is to finally get into a swimsuit and take an exercise class in the gym pool.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 22 - 10:29 AM

I've finally gotten it into my head (and most importantly - habits) to start planning the meal around what fruits and vegetables are fresh in the fridge or on the counter, and then look for a source of protein. Of not eating bread more than once a day (or even every day) and pacing myself with the higher calorie foods. A slice of pizza on an eating day, at lunch, means I can work off most of it and have a chef salad (light) for dinner. This is the alternate fasting process, and I imagine after the surgery recuperation (when I hope to simply maintain whatever weight I'm at) that I can finish losing by winter. I have to just keep eating more fruits and vegetables, not go back to my old grazing through more complex carb filled meals every day. I mostly eat fish and chicken these days, and less than I used to (I am supposed to eat more during the knee recovery period).

The garden process is a little wonky this year. I've had projects that kept me from doing the work as early as I might have, and now I have to work to keep it alive during the heat we're under. I plant some things later in the season now to avoid the usual spring pests (cucurbits mostly). I made lots of pickles a couple of years ago and would like to again this year, if I can get the cukes in. And this year I plan to make a lot more tomato sauce. You can make it after the fact with frozen tomatoes, but truth be told, the best time to make tomato sauce is right when they've been picked and you steam juice then separate them.

This weekend I baked (yes, in the heat) a couple of large sweet potatoes and made an extra-large batch of my kidney bean recipe (eaten plain or over rice). It means I'll have extras for my helpers who will be here for a few days. I imagine we'll do birthday takeout on one of those days (the ex turns an incredibly old number I never envisioned being when I was a young person.) Oh my - just a year younger than each of my parents were when they passed away. That's a sobering thought. His parents lived at least a decade longer than mine did, that helps.

Air conditioner arrives sometime today. The plants in my sun room are a bit cooked these days, as is the garden. Hand watering the garden today, only 102^o forecast as the high. Summer is a week away, ♬ tra la ♩ ♩ . I have Swiss chard seedlings that I will plant today in a shady area of the front yard, near the hose stand so they will be watered any time I use the hose. I love spinach, and I love chard eaten the same way (steamed with vinegar). This summer is such a scorcher we can eliminate the steaming process and let them cook in the ground. :-(

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 01:13 PM

Fifteen pounds in seven weeks is a lot — more than two pounds per week — but your soon-to-be-surgical knee will thank you for every absent ounce.

My wonky foot hurts far less now that I have shed more than thirty pounds, although it still bugs me with toes crossing (blisters!) and pressure where no pressure ought to be. I’ll never wear cute shoes again — unless, of course, I acquire a palanquin and a team of bearers — but I can at least walk briskly without limping. I call that a win, and well worth the minor hassle of monitoring everything I shove down the ol’ pie hole.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 11:21 AM

Down 15 pounds over about 7 weeks of working on it. Still setting aside jeans that are too loose or need the cuffs rolled because they're too long.

I have an old electronic Orbit hose controller (you program it to when you want to water, attach to the faucet and turn on the water. It only lets water run out through the attached hoses on schedule. There is a bypass to get water from the tap other times, I have to set that up next.) That Orbit piece cost enough that I was extremely annoyed at the puppy who two years ago chewed exposed wires on the hose attachment parts. I found replacements for cheap on eBay and last night put it back together and programmed it. I'll wrap it in such a way that the now adult dog can't reach the wires if she still feels like destroying something.

107^o again today. That's 41.7 Canadian. Ugg.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 10:36 PM

The knee repair next week will be during really hot weather; I don't know if the bandages will fit under the slim hem of a couple of my Capri pants, but I may have a couple of other pair tucked away. I have to look around. I'll take a loose pair of fleece pants in case others don't fit.

eBay is a place that has buyers and sellers of vintage clothing, if you want to sell the old garments, or give them to someone who can do it. I sold some vintage WWII clothes of my mother's some years ago. (I don't keep most of that either. I am not a museum.)

Two dog baths down, the last one tomorrow.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 09:25 PM

Ah, yes: what to do with fifty-mission legs in a youth-obsessed culture! Between the scars and the broken veins, it’s hard to find any part of my undercarriage that doesn’t look like the aftermath of a flak attack.

A few years ago I bought a pair of loose linen trousers with a drawstring waistband. I get an unpleasant rash when the summer heat and humidity hit their peak, so I wear those with a south Asian-style cotton shirt that I can sweat through without regret. In June it’s usually still cool enough here for a quilt on the bed and a jacket after dark. July and August can be scorching hot in Ontario, but not all the time and it’s over by mid-September. I would not do well in Texas.

Over the next week or so I intend to empty out the bins of really old clothes — my grandfather’s McGill sweater (circa 1907) and Great-uncle Alfred’s tails (1917!), for example. It's time to get ruthless; that stuff will never be worn again and it’s time to stop storing it. If I stiffen up my spine and buckle down to the job, I could clear the shelving in the basement and give the bins to the Mennonites or the Sally Ann.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 07:04 PM

107^o here today. Time to set up the sprinklers (and maybe run through them while they're on!) Cookie gets a bath in a few minutes, we'll both enjoy that! I'm going to relocate the stock tank onto the patio so it's in the shade all of the time, keeping the water cooler. I'll put a chunk of old hose out there to use to drain it over to the base of the baldcypress. That tree thrives every year from the water in the tank being cleaned and refilled.

With it being so hot there are no two-days-in-a-row for jeans, though that's ok. I'm trying them on and finding many of them to be too large and setting them aside. I'm eyeing the storage boxes on the upper shelf. For now I'm trying on Capri pants. I don't wear shorts much any more, or at least, nothing very short.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 02:29 PM

Dump run complete. Hurrah for me.

The Stratford municipal dump has an employee whose task today was to supervise people like me who bring their trash instead of putting it at the curb on garbage day. He went through the load, telling me where to put each class of junk. Corrugated cardboard here, metal there, textiles in bins, genuine trashy trash in the dumpster. Nice guy, great tattoos, endlessly patient but firm. My tax dollars at work!

The choir’s MacBook Pro is ready at the computer place, and I can’t find the power cord for the hand vacuum I just had repaired; maybe the vac shop guy has it?

Maintenance never ends.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 07:48 PM

Beaver:

It took a week for me to get the energy/inclination to pot. Today: threw about 15 pieces. Yeah I could count them but didn't and now at the library using the free internet.

Glad to have made some pots, I went into get out and push mode. Reading and a nap filled the aft. Then I pulled some weeds, clearing a space in a raised bed for potatoes that have sprouted. Need to do more but the bugs were nasty.

Picked up 3 books at the library yesterday; have finished 1.5 do have to hit the library again tomorrow for a couple more; it will be closed until Tuesday.

Today was clear after gallons of rain for 3 days. Hoped for the lawn to be mowed ... but not! It is still hovering about 70F so not too hot for me. I need to put on the screen doors but hesitate to fetch them from the back shed through the tall grass (knee high).

Finding myself feeling so much better here than at Dupont. Pondering what could be done to make Dupont more to my liking but the main thing is the air is different here - seriously different. Also I feel safe and have friends; I get to see and talk with friends - not just the staff at stores!

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 11:41 AM

I hope the MacBook Pro will take all of the updates. Over that period of time you're probably talking about new versions of the OS. I'm a Windows desktop user myself, and with the current house heating and cooling issues I've resumed nightly turning off of the computer. I usually just tell it "sleep." But it generates enough heat that I don't need it melting itself down.

A friend offered the URL of an online boot repair site to consult regarding the soleless Timberland boots, but they have gone out with the trash. I'm not fussing with a second opinion. I did some reading and will try Wolverine at some point in the future; for now, the slip-on Pumas that I bought earlier this week will serve as my yard shoes and I'll be careful when using the big mattock. This one has a pick and and adze and can do serious damage to a novice user. Since I've had one of these things around since my teens working for the Forest Service, I'm aware of the damage they can do.

The dogs need baths this week, at the rate of one dog per day. There is a good screen in the tub drain to catch all of the hair, but since it's so hot I can simply use the garden hose and do it in the yard. This is in advance of people coming into the house for the next few weeks. I'll also vacuum the whole house and mop the floors where the latest round of dried muddy footprints are in view.

The new AC arrives on Monday, and will be allowed to stand upright for several hours before it is put in place. I'll have no way of knowing if it was transported on it's side, and the coolant needs to settle into the proper position. I'll have to work out a drain for it (probably a bucket, but I have the existing sump from the defunct AC - I wonder about running a line out the window and putting it into use.) As it is, I need to look at where these are plugged in. I have a suitable heavy extension cord to plug this in on a different circuit than the computer equipment. So many considerations.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Jun 22 - 10:58 AM

I shed the presidency of the choir in favour of taking over its library, only to find that the MacBook Pro in which its records are kept hasn’t had an update to its operating system since 2017. That’s like never changing the oil in your car.

So it’s in the hands of the local computer genius, who promised its return by tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I want to run a database on it … not possible with an antique OS.

Meanwhile, I had to do a major security overhaul, changing most of my passwords because Apple Mail won’t tolerate any password that even resembles one used on Amazon. That took a ridiculous amount of time to complete, and some of the gadgets are still complaining.

Despite the continuing ache in my back, today I intend to visit the dump. But first — to Canadian Tire to purchase a new tarp! There’s no way I’m loading all that crumbling rubber carpet padding in my nice, clean car without something to keep the fall-out under close arrest.

House repair is a constant theme here, too. My mouldy bathroom is getting worse — the mould has migrated from the shower wall to the toilet, where it grows on the underside of the seat and must be kiboshed with bleach every week or so. Remediating that mess will cost what it costs, and it’s increasingly urgent. I just made another appeal to the contractor, this time by email.

I don’t even care any more about making that bathroom all stylish and modern; I just want it fully functional and not a public health hazard.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 22 - 06:04 PM

A portable air conditioner unit is on order—buying an air conditioner in hot weather is not my first choice for shopping. I made a decision based upon a combination of articles about these units in general and by reading some of the reviews from certified buyers in a couple of sites. I also went by a store and looked at what they had on hand (not much). It's still a crap shoot. Getting it and having it set up before the knee goes under the knife is the goal; if this first one doesn't work it will be returned and I have a second one I would choose (returning the first would happen after recovery but within the 30-day limit).

A catastrophic machine failure is a great way to loose a night's sleep. I had to conclude that I'll work on what I can do something about for now (the temporary cooler) and I need to actually write up a replacement plan for some of these things to do them before they fail. Both air conditioners, water heater, those are big ones. Fix the bottom end of the sewer line before it backs up again (the new part is sound, but the bottom end is where tree roots still get in and cause backups). The foundation is the biggest one and that won't come first. Sometimes the house just grabs you by the short hairs and you have to struggle to fix it without getting hurt in the process. I'll work on a plan.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 22 - 05:33 PM

The boots were pronounced dead yesterday, and today my AC unit was pronounced too old and expensive to fix. It's a 2002 Freon unit and Freon is expensive if you can find it. Since it apparently leaked, there is no point in trying to test this old system to then try to find ancient replacement parts. For now, it's off, except to blow air, and I'll get a window unit for the office and come fall will consider what upgrade can be made. Let's hope there isn't a third time this week. I don't want to live a charmed life.

The AC tech told me that the gas they're using these days, R410A or Puron, will also be phased out, so waiting isn't a bad idea, to see if there is something I should shop for that will have some staying power. RS-53 (R470A) is the next refrigerant coming down the pike.

Alas, while he was working he trod squarely on my Texas star hibiscus. I fear I won't have as many flowers this year, with the biggest one biting the dust.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 22 - 12:15 AM

Dorothy, I added a link to the store in my post. It stands for something like Discount Shoe Warehouse, they have stores all over the place. A Facebook friend suggested a shop that will work on hard-to-repair shoes and boots, though it looks like they mostly work on boots with stitched soles (these are glued). I'll give them a call.

I have a lot of mowing to do, and the weather is just going to keep getting hotter, so it'll be a morning task. There isn't much dew on the lawn early with this weather. And I'll need to keep the garden mulched and watered enough to survive this early heat wave.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Jun 22 - 07:50 PM

Beaver!:

SRS: DSW?? As for any tech stuff -- I cannot deal with what I already have! Glad you were reminded!

Plumb wore myself out and Monday was a day of rest - reading and just resting. in nightgown. That is serious resting.

Today I went to Home Hardware for netting, tomato cages - for Dupont, and a good pair of hand grass cutters. Put netting over strawberries and blueberries, and cut all around areas that I do not want Steve to mow - cut part of clematis last year. They are wonderful. I will take them to Dupont - Put them in the "Take to Dupont" pile. We have had 24 hours of gentle rain; hopefully it restored strawberry plants I disturbed by vigorous, much needed weeding. It has been a couple years since I was here to harvest berries!

Stopped at the bulk store for a small quantity of sugar for the rhubarb and it is now in freezer in small containers. There will be more in a few days.

HUGE bumble bee just outside the window enjoying the large comfrey just starting to bloom!

Greatly hoping it will be dry enough for Steve to mow tomorrow- and he has the time. More rain is forecast! It is so lovely sitting here looking at the leaves fluttering, I forget I need to finish with the internet stick before it costs $$$!

Hoping tomorrow I will have the energy to get potting.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jun 22 - 07:23 PM

Have you ever walked past a mirror in a store or seen yourself reflected in the glass doors and had the reaction "What was I thinking?" I need to sort my pants and shirts by size now. I've lost almost 15 pounds and that's enough to make today's large t-shirt that I've happily worn for several years look incredibly baggy. And the pants, while they fit at the hips, have gotten weirdly baggy around the legs.

Today the boot repair guy pronounced my Timberland steel-toed work books unrepairable. They aren't stitched, so are a "glue job," and even sanding off all of the midsole, apparently the glue won't hold with the replacement of the midsole and sole. They have had a couple of other pairs come in and with those results they won't accept Timberland for repair any more. I stopped by DSW on my way home (after an hour at the gym) and picked up a pair of Puma slip on sneakers that will now be my garden shoes.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 22 - 05:34 PM

I was astonished to see men in ratty pickup trucks come by and take all of the carpet foam mats when they were out at the curb. My contractor twigged me to that when we were pulling out the 1970s shag carpeting - he said they are able to get money for it somehow. It has been 20 years, I don't know if it's still the case.

More mulch picked up this afternoon but it's too hot to work right now. I think it's supposed to hit 100^o today. I patiently await the air conditioner repair guy.

Late lunch of a chicken pesto pasta (this is a regular eating day) and dinner will be salad. On an impulse I picked up a diet Pepsi, supposedly still doesn't use Aspartame (it didn't used to) in the fountain drinks. It will keep me awake tonight, but it was nice. I haven't had a soft drink in probably a year.

My gift to the dogs this year will be a new galvanized tank, the same length and width as the current one, but shallower. The Lab used to get in to cool off but the current one is now too tall (for his weak hips). The other two will just drink out of it. I tried an inexpensive kiddie pool and Pepper demolished it very quickly, so it must be metal.

Subject: RE: FITNESS & Declutter 2022 - Pandemic redux
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jun 22 - 04:17 PM

I have hauled more stuff out of the cellar to the garage for disposal. This time it’s rolls of carpet underlay, the kind made of recycled rubber, that is now so old that it’s depositing a fine black dust wherever it’s laid down.

Thus, I have a trip to the dump in my immediate future. That leaves me looking around the property for more clag so as to make the trip worthwhile.

Last week I went to the theatre three times, including two first nights. This week it’s the dump. Ain’t life grand?