DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 23 - 11:57 AM

The stacks of paper that seem to organically grow here sit back and laugh heartily when Don remarks on my progress. :) It's a running battle. There are notes I need to write down somewhere, then the scrap of paper can go . . .

I'm whittling down the food containers in the fridge; my freezers are both frost free now (though the little bar fridge that holds the overflow I think has a small glacier in the top I might take a look at.) Until a few years ago I had a huge midcentury Harvest Gold freezer that needed defrosting at least once a year. It always looked so new and amazing when I finished. When it died (or when the coils got so clogged with dog hair that I never thought to vacuum out) at about age 50 I replaced it. It was time, I did worry about it failing.

This week I picked up a new brand and type of tuna, this one a solid white albacore from Costco; I'm so accustomed to the shredded salty cheap stuff (Starkist, etc.) that this is a surprise. It's dense and you can actually tell it's part of a fish. Plus - I need to add some of my Nu Salt to the sandwich filling because the tuna I've eaten all of my life was apparently pretty salty. The diet adjustments are proceeding.

I need to offer a couple of plants to friends on Facebook, and if no one speaks up I'll put them on the freecycle or the FB buy nothing page. I dig up a few vitex trees each year (that sprouted in the flower beds) because someone usually wants one, and I also have some scarlet-blooming Salvia greggii that was extra.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Jun 23 - 10:49 AM

I recently got rid of almost all of one collection (crow! crow!)

Admittedly it was one of my smallest - 27 of my 28 LPs went to The Record Shop, run by a bloke who loves LPs, the 28th needs copying before it can go & I just asked a couple of friends if they could do so. I got lotsa' money which I gave to my favourite charity!! It was also invisible (hidden in a cupboard) but all the other stuff that needs new homes is very visible (sigh)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Jun 23 - 08:57 AM

Charmion is an inspiration. SRS sounds like a superhero.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 01 Jun 23 - 08:49 AM

Wow, Charmion, what a lot of accomplishments!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jun 23 - 08:10 AM

This year’s fireflies have yet to make their début on my lawn. I’m waiting …

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jun 23 - 08:06 AM

Ah, shredding. I have a couple of over-ripe tax files that are more than ready to go.

Recently, I was reminded of a nasty right-wing agitator by the name of Grover Norquist, noted for saying he wanted to see the US government so small and weak that it could be drowned in a bathtub. That’s how I feel about the excess stuff in my house.

Tasks completed recently?

The horrible mouldy bathroom, an embarrassment from the day we moved in, is now sleekly beautiful, allergen-free, and fitted with an exhaust fan and enough towel rails.

The library is now manageable: seven loosely packed full-height bookcases. Another full-height bookcase, in the basement, is full of CDs, and one half-height bookcase in the study holds the household strategic reserve of stationery and computer-related doohickeys. This winter’s cull was the third phase of a process that began a few months after Edmund died; on 10 October 2020, this house contained seventeen full-height and four half-height bookcases, all of them crammed tight with books. Five excess bookcases were also successfully rehomed this spring.

Several large boxes of household gadgets, most related to cooking, went to the church rummage sale in April. My inventory of wooden spoons is down to the two I actually use. Edmund used to buy them at random, always choosing the ones with awkward handles, and I must have had more than a dozen. I no longer possess a roasting pan big enough for a twenty-pound turkey.

I defrosted and scrubbed out the freezer, a job that has needed doing for two years.

I think I have sold the set of VW Golf wheels that has been stacked in the garage since February 2022.

Next, I want to reduce that accumulation of CDs to music I actually listen to, and move them, and the bookcase in which they live, from the basement up two flights of stairs to the library. I’ll need help with that; a six-foot bookcase is way more than I can handle on my own.

I also want to rid the library windows of their heavy curtains and have them fitted with light-adjustable blinds. With the curtain tracks gone, I will finally be able to get that room painted.

That’s enough for now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 May 23 - 08:44 PM

Dorothy, the summers down here are hotter longer but when you're not acclimated to it the summers in the north can be just as hard to get through. Today I finished weeding the rock patio extension in front of the porch (lots of grass and vines through the gravel now) and set up a couple of pots to grow flowers, others already had things growing. I paced myself with an hour around midday and an hour in early evening. With these beds I'm working my way around the house and am about 2/3 of the way across the front at this point.

Shredding finished and in the trash; the cross-cut shredder has a small capacity catcher and can get hot, so I went through the old checks over the course of the afternoon.

Fireflies in the yard these evenings at dusk and into the night; it makes the yard look magical.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 31 May 23 - 06:07 PM

Beaver:

I pretty much missed most of the last week. Having gotten lots done, last Monday was a strange day and I ate oddly with no recollection of WHAT! Tuesday, I was wobbly, lacking equilibrium and commuting from bed to washroom ALL day! Today(Monday) I finally feel back to my normal and managed to get a glaze firing going. Essential test of newly mixed glaze in this firing; if it is OK, tomorrow will be another firing using it - TEAl.

Nice not to be walking wobbly today!

After several years of blown fuses and having to re-start glaze firings, I finally realized it could be the water pump that puts the electric load over the limit. So far... But I must be prepared and not run ANY water after the kiln is on high! I hope!

With the outdoor heat in the TOO HOT range, my outdoor time is limited. The studio gets hot from all that wonderful solar gain of the big bow window - even with a heavy white drape and a fan blowing outward in the small west window. So I got out there and did some glazing then brought the baker's rack into the LR to do the sponge ware - so I could sit, bug-free and cool. Loaded by 12:30!

I managed to go to the Hort. Club mtng on Thurs: Dandelions - jelly, salve... Mostly from on-line presentations and a member who had made this stuff and brought samples. My Auditory Processing difficulty: throughout most of it the only words I recognized were "dandelion flowers"! They posted the links on FB so I could find them and use closed captions - which she neglected to do. The high point was a new member who is new to the community, about my age and an experienced potter. Hoping we can get together soon.

Friday's Open Mike was better than usual but I still felt wobbly and queasy and left early. Saturday at the farmer's market I was asking for herb tea suggestions, to no avail; bought 4 lavender plugs and put them in lg yogurt containers with good soil until I can plant them somewhere. Waiting with great hope for the Dragon Flies now the weather is warm enough! I find I have a very few safe minutes to pull weeds before the biting bugs find me. This is ok because my shoulders complain if I do too much!

Chiropractor has actually helped a great deal!

Sunday: went to lunch at the Trust- big community event, chance to talk with wonderful friends. Volunteers have been developing a huge garden on the back parking lot to raise food for those who need it. Mulch and soil mountains were donated. I loaned my wheel barrow - best I could do.

Guess I forgot to send this. Now it is Thurs - two glaze firings, a visit from a special friend and too much heat for much else!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 May 23 - 12:18 PM

I didn't say in the last post, but I thought that book might be of particular interest to Dorothy.

New checks arrived, and with no parchment copy pages included they're slim, two books of checks attached side-by-side on a piece of paperboard and in a flat plastic envelope. Not the classic box of checks I've seen all my life. Apparently many people don't recognize what they are because the parcel says "Do not discard. Your order is enclosed." I thought I ordered 200, but it is 100. Still, at the rate I write checks, a lifetime supply. So many things one orders these days end up not being what you expected, even with vigilance when making the purchase.

There is a lot to do around here, I hope to cross a couple of things off of the list in the kitchen. One of the things to do today is make a batch of yogurt that I will in turn drain (fill cheesecloth and hang over kitchen sink for several hours) to use as yogurt cheese (it comes out more like cream cheese than lebne).

Nearly halfway through the year, one more month and it's the downhill slide. Were there things we wanted to do by now that we've finished (or have we forgotten what our plans were and just moved through space and time in a haphazard fashion?)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 23 - 08:21 PM

Usually when I leave Canada I've used most of the cash I had and if (like the last trip) I take a cab to the airport then the cabbie gets an odd tip with lots of change (and probably a bit higher than usual.) In the 1980s I made many trips into Mexico and had some cash I held onto for future trips, then in 1994 they devalued and changed their currency and I don't think it's worth anything. So don't keep it if you can spend it before leaving the country. (When I worked at Organ Pipe Cactus Natl. Monument in Arizona my aunt and uncle from Calgary visited, and I rounded up all of the spare change and bills that we had collected in our various donation boxes and they bought it from us to take it off of our hands, because the bank wouldn't take it.)

Interesting interview on the NPR program Fresh Air today, looking into allergies and how gut and skin health are part of it (how we eat foods now that don't resemble the foods our gut flora evolved digesting.) Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World. I think it was released today. Dr. Theresa MacPhail is the author.

Medical anthropologist Theresa MacPhail, herself an allergy sufferer whose father died of a beesting, set out to understand why. In pursuit of answers, MacPhail studied the dangerous experiments of early immunologists as well as the mind-bending recent development of biologics and immunotherapies that are giving the most severely impacted patients hope. She scaled a roof with an air-quality controller who diligently counts pollen by hand for hours every day; met a mother who struggled to use WIC benefits for her daughter with severe food allergies; spoke with doctors at some of the finest allergy clinics in the world; and discussed the intersecting problems of climate change, pollution, and pollen with biologists who study seasonal respiratory allergies.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 30 May 23 - 06:05 PM

Yes, in Canada you have to wait ages for your knee replacement, but at least it doesn’t cost the earth and eventually they do get around to you. Things are iffier if you're one of the multitudes without a family doctor — or primary care provider, if that’s the correct term these days. I still say general practitioner, and people still know what I mean. But get hauled to hospital by ambulance and you’ll find out that urgent care is far more efficient, even if you have to do time on a gurney in a hallway.

When I travel south of the border, I’m struck by how many apparently middle-class people I see with medical issues that would either have been corrected or at least significantly improved if they lived in urban Canada. The best way of picking poor folks out of the crowd here is missing and broken teeth; dentists aren’t covered by provincial health plans. With doctor fees and hospital expenses largely off the table, middle-class families can afford all the routine dental maintenance and often extensive orthodonty. My crossed eye and snaggly front teeth mark me as a member of the pre-socialized medicine generation.

Canadian coin change can run as high as 15 percent American, depending on where you live and whether it’s a tourist-rich environment. Don’t try using US coins in Canadian vending machines and parking meters, though; odds are better than negligible that the machine will eat your money and give you nothing in return. Laundromat dryers used to be particularly sensitive that way.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 23 - 01:03 PM

Interesting about that liner. I did an image search and found both the Canadian and US versions. I used to have a huge coated nylon tarp that I could use for a quick tent or to double up to use for other things - but the "coated" part should give you a clue - it never wore out but that lining aged and peeled and took on the typical vomit-smell that I finally couldn't stand to have around any more.

My cousin in Calgary came to the US last year for knee surgery because on the Canadian system that would have taken another couple of years to happen, but on other things, it sounds like an excellent setup. The GOP here take a swing at it because they don't want folks in the US getting any ideas about making medical care available to all. Your postal arrangement was a little puzzling, last time I was thee I had to go to a store in a mall to mail a package home, but it was an interesting conversation with the clerk. As I was paying I pulled out my coin purse and it turns out he collects American quarters, so was able to "sell" him several that he didn't have. (Back then it was just state quarters, now there are lots of people on the backside as well.)

That debt ceiling thing shouldn't happen here either. I think Biden should explore that part of Fourteenth Amendment and just dispense with the Congressional nonsense. It's there for a reason.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 30 May 23 - 12:36 PM

No, Stilly; that olive-drab quilted thing in the back of my car is not a poncho — it’s a poncho *liner*. You can wrap it around yourself like a blanket, but it’s not a garment; it’s for insulation when you and your buddy make a hoochie (rudimentary shelter) out of two Army-issue ponchos and a tree. Since the Vietnam era, the lighter and snugglier US Army version, popularly known as a “woobie”, has been hugely popular with troops who use it as a security blanket. It’s wonderful for enduring a drafty house, but it’s not what I would call sturdy.

The Canadian version is not cosy, but it’s moisture- and abrasion-resistant. When moving something heavy and awkward, such as a bookcase, I spread the poncho liner over the floor of the car boot so it hangs well over the back bumper. This allows me to slide the bookcase on its back over the bottom lip of the boot and into the car, never taking its full weight.

In case of rain, I keep a scarlet golf umbrella on the cargo cover of the car. If I’m lucky, I’ll never again find myself struggling into the driver’s seat while wearing a drenched poncho.

BTW, you have a genius for making me grateful for Canada Post and the various organs of our provincial and federal governments: all you have to do is describe any interaction with officialdom. Y’know, that debt-ceiling thing your Congress does — that can’t happen here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 23 - 11:32 AM

I have a 6'x8' tarp I bought cheap at Harbor Freight that lives in the back of the SUV for spreading out to cover the cargo area, but your poncho does double duty to wear in an emergency, so good choice! (My emergency plastic rain poncho was a buck at Home Depot and is in a box in the back.)

Going a bit nuts waiting on a federal agency to mail paperwork. Like the IRS, OPM is extremely understaffed and underfunded (the House took a swipe at the IRS with the debt ceiling hostage taking, but they don't mention the OPM, that I'm sure wasn't recently given adequate funding.) And paperwork comes via the US Post Office where DeJoy is still postmaster general. Problems brought on by Trump that Biden hasn't had time to fix yet, or his fixes have been attacked. One has to be patient to work for the government.

I'm making incremental progress in the garden, but today I have two volunteer gigs, pushing digging of beds to tomorrow. I'm ready with four trash bags of mulch picked up this weekend (using that above-mentioned tarp to cover the SUV cargo area.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 29 May 23 - 09:12 PM

Finally, I defrosted and cleaned out the freezer. There’s enough vacuum-sealed lamb in there to last me to Christmas.

I have also finally got around to posting on Kijiji the summer tires (and their rims) from the blue Golf that I wrecked in January 22. They’ve been stacked up in the garage beside the freezer for more than a year.

Tomorrow, I’m taking the last unneeded bookcase to Habitat for Humanity. It’s small enough to fit into the boot of my car, and I can slide it in on an old Army poncho liner.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 May 23 - 07:41 PM

Sorting out my backup photos that load from my phone camera to OneDrive; I have inadvertently ended up with two Microsoft accounts and am hoping to stop paying for one and not have stuff I want go away, but trying to tell what is where isn't easy. So I'm filing my photos from the camera roll by year and will see if I can see the updated results from both "accounts." If so, one can just go away at the end of it's subscription. You can't rush these processes or they crash.

OneDrive is cheaper than a similar amount of paid space on Dropbox, but it isn't as easy to use as Dropbox. My Dropbox account is a free one and as long as I don't get too close to the space limit they don't keep pestering me to pay for the account. If I can get the OneDrive sorted out then I'll empty Dropbox and go back to using it for daily stuff and anything more than a few months old will be retrieved from OneDrive. I stopped backing up to Dropbox in March, but I miss it.

Probably as clear as mud, but the short reason for this is that if I want to find anything in OneDrive using a phone or tablet it eats up the battery and takes a long time to scroll back years in the Camera Roll. This way I can aim at where I think things are and search more easily. I'm moving 2018 now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 May 23 - 05:45 PM

That also comports with the slim amount of info on my gardening guru's site. Cyclamen.

Guests were over for lunch and it happens one had a birthday today. I made a cake unaware of that, but because it was a holiday weekend. This was a picnic-like meal with with tuna sandwiches on homemade bread (custom mixed tuna depending on the amendments people wanted - pickles, celery, onion, lettuce, etc.) Fruit and corn on the cob on the side. I made a batch of my green tea with some of the lemon balm snipped from the back yard. I'm not drinking green tea these days but one of the guests went through the entire quart as iced tea.

In the process of decluttering there were some door prizes - things I've taken out of circulation as I reduce the amount of coconut sodium laureth sulfate (there are a number of these ingredients the pharmacist refers to as "the SLS group") in my daily routine. This time, unopened containers of toothpaste and shampoo. I like the Tom's of Maine toothpaste, but realized it had a fairly high amount of SLS. It has come off of my Amazon subscription list. I can still donate this stuff to the community fridge and pantry, but they relocated and I have to figure out what spot is closest to me now.

I make facemasks for this group still, and in particular the pride rainbow masks are the favorite of one gay man who finds they telegraph so much very well in some of his favorite shopping venues. We also talked about quilts and embroidery and trapunto projects. Health, gardening, shopping, jury duty (how difficult it is for disabled people to get into courthouses to serve on juries). These meals are happier and healthier now that we aren't rehashing how awful the dean was at the place were we all used to work—a good sign that we've moved on. That angst was definitely worth decluttering!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 May 23 - 04:59 PM

Exactly what you said. In my experience, they survive but are never quite as good next time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 28 May 23 - 03:40 PM

A hot, sunny Sunday, and I just made the season’s first jug of salted lemonade. Next time, the mint will be up enough to add a couple of sprigs.

Does anyone know how to nurse a potted cyclamen through the summer? Mine has been blooming consistently since Christmas, when it was given to me, but it’s down to two blossoms and some of the leaves are yellowing. According to Mr Google, that means I should let it dry out and go dormant.

Now, cyclamens like cool conditions. I wonder whether my very chilly basement would be a good spot for it to spend the summer. Thoughts?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 May 23 - 11:48 PM

Today was spent running my own errands plus doing some shopping for a couple of friends. I found fruit on sale I couldn't resist - a box of 18 Ataulfo mangos for $4; even splitting the box with my ex that's a lot of mangoes to eat this week. I'm having friends over for lunch on Sunday so there will probably be fruit on the menu!

The garden is progressing, there are nice sized potatoes in that part of the garden (they pop out of the soil as they grow and you have to push soil or mulch over them to keep the sun off or they turn green, and that green part supposedly can make you ill.) The front yard is looking nice after all of the work, and tomorrow the back yard will get the same attention. I spent some time yesterday pulling out a type of grass called Foxtail Weed that has seed heads that can cause the dogs problems - several years ago Zeke needed surgery because he had a couple embedded in his foot. At the time I didn't know which type of grass was the culprit (there are lots of things growing wild in the back). Now I do and I noticed them so pulled them all out by hand and they're in the trash. No putting these in the compost where some might escape. I'll have to keep pulling these now that I know - there's a lot of it behind the back fence and will probably encroach from there.

I stopped at two Goodwill stores in search of sturdy arm chairs, the old library or courthouse type that are wooden and well-built. A friend's husband needs a chair that will let him stand by pushing himself up with the chair arms; he has a degenerative neurological disorder that is like Alzheimers but not, and he can't just stand up like one would do normally. I found no chairs, but there were a few other things that caught my eye, such as the perfect griddle for lefse and tortillas, a newer version of one I bought at Goodwill a few years ago, with a better non-stick finish. The old pan is in the donation bin.

Memorial Day weekend. Friends over on Sunday, but other than that, a quiet time spent at home (with a few trips to a neighborhood north of me, where I am feeding a friend's cats now through Sunday.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 May 23 - 12:02 PM

Don, do you water the area ahead of your digging project? If you don't have a convenient rainstorm, watering the day before makes the soil friable for working. That's my go-to trick here. That, and using a mattock (with an adze for chopping through roots) when need be.

The paint disposal was easy yesterday - since the ex didn't have a lot he drove over here and since what I had wasn't a lot it all fit in his trunk so he drove it to the disposal site himself. Most times we need the extra cargo space of my SUV so I drive over there to get his stuff. (You should have seen the extremely heavy Queen-sized latex mattress we stuffed in there. Sad to take it to the dump, but we didn't think anyone else would want a splendid but hard to transport mattress.)

The donation bin still has space, so no trip yet. I added a gooseneck lamp I never use and will probably add more of my culled too-big garments soon.

Tidying in preparation for a group of friends here for lunch this weekend. I have a discussion starter on the table - a notebook of my mother's that I may have mentioned already - it is a Midcentury Modern time capsule of sorts, articles and ideas she clipped, and the methods are as interesting as the content. For example, in 1964 she didn't have access to something so universal today as a photocopier (let alone a scanner) so transcribed information she wanted from books by typing it out onto several sheets of paper to save in the binder. Probably from library books. These are all library folks, so I'm sure they'll see any number of other things about the collection that interests them. That said, I have to figure out what to DO with this thing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 25 May 23 - 09:22 AM

A new fridge and combo convection oven replacement have kept me busy with transfer chores. I have 5 planting jobs which are complicated with dry compact soil but shoveling is always hard with roots and such.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 May 23 - 11:38 AM

Another morning with plans to work in the yard, and another morning rainstorm. I'll let it dry before I mow. Then there is a new bed to start and to move some cannas to it before they get too established in their temporary site. My arms are feeling the effect of several days of digging.

I'm going to add an extra reinforcing long screw to the new mailbox - I've been meaning to finish that before I forget about it. If I have an angle iron to attach under the outside in the middle I can do that, otherwise on the inside compartment I'll drill through the back and into the wall stud and add a long screw with a washer. As of now there is only one long screw in the stud, the rest are perched in drywall.

Ex and I are taking some old cans of paint and garden chemicals to the municipal drop off. I checked with next door to see if they have anything to go - not this time. It takes a village sometimes to responsibly get rid of hazardous products. Six cans various sizes and a bottle of what might have been gasoline stabilizer - the label dropped off and it's time for this mystery product to go away.

The donation bin in the laundry room has slowly accumulated castoffs, and I typically lift the lid and drop things in without looking so I don't know how much is there now. Time to check.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 23 - 09:20 PM

"Investors" swoop in with cash and lowball bids to senior citizens then slap on some paint and tile and a cheap roof and call it prime real estate. Buyers often have to undo what has been done later. I was lucky, I found this house that had been a rental for years and bought from the original owner; several I looked at already had the investor touch and that was 20 years ago. It's much worse now.

I hadn't thought about those Jim Walters homes in a long time; friends out in West Texas were considering having them build a prefab house on their lot because they couldn't find a regular contractor to do the job for them. Years ago now Mudcatter maeve had a house fire and replaced it with a prefab yurt (with modern building materials, not tanned hides.) The photos I saw of those houses were lovely; perhaps she'll drop in and report how that has worked out.

Trimming around the front yard was done with the gas trimmer; it's more powerful than the electric one, and alas, killed a rough earth snake that was under some grass I was scraping off of the driveway pavement. A second snake got a glancing blow but will be fine. Tomorrow I'll mow, possibly both front and back, a really good workout.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 23 May 23 - 08:18 PM

Build? As in expensive house, architect, and 2 year build process? Lol. Just for fun, I looked up Jim Walter Homes which would be the only thing in my price range. They closed in 2009, victims of the last time the financial industry stomped on the USA.

It's just a bad time. I just read there is a 'shortfall' of 3.8 million homes, which they blame on millenial household formation while building didn't keep up, but really it's just a function of a ton of people buying more than one unit, whether for second home or investment or AirBnBs. And many homes being neglected into slum status and abandonment, that's not helping.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 23 - 03:18 PM

It seemed prudent to wrap up the digging and mulching in the front beds before I developed heat stroke; that part of the yard is sheltered by the porch so there isn't a breeze to make work a little easier. I'll mow after 6pm when it cools a bit.

A celebration will be in order soon—six weeks shy of the one-year anniversary of his retirement the feds finally calculated what the ex's pension will be. So they will have also calculated my portion. I stayed home for nine years raising kids, I earned it, but talk about deferred payment (I went back to work in 1997)! Now to watch out for the appliances getting wind of this, though I think the aging tires on the SUV are still at the front of that line.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 May 23 - 12:46 PM

Good luck with that search, Patty. I wonder if building is any better opportunity-wise for affordable housing? I've read that there are big contingency funds added as the prices of materials goes up. No news on the brother's search, but I believe he has invested well over the years and probably won't have to worry about financing, making purchase a little more straightforward.

A neighbor of mine (she worked for a big bank and helped the last refinance on this house) is an "investor" - she has been buying up local houses and renting to the Section 8 community. I am not opposed to this, but I wish she did a little better background check. There is a lot more foot traffic because many of these folks don't have cars; again, not a problem - it's the number of times each week police are called to a couple of these houses that is troubling. The reason why I bought a house and got away from apartment living was to avoid this (after the divorce we spent two years in a complex that was generally pretty good, but still, weekends were a bit rowdy with fights in the parking lot and there was vandalism to vehicles pretty regularly.)

I got up early today to start mowing only to find it was raining. Hmmm. Shift in plans. I did go out with a squirt bottle to spritz some Spinosad on the herbs that seem to be munched by garden critters (after the Sluggo didn't slow them down.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 23 May 23 - 11:58 AM

House-hunting has not gone well. I thought if I was free to not have to choose an area for employment, I would have good pickings. But, it's just a bad market for buyers, as investors send their tentacles out anywhere the least bit desirable or affordable. Not good for sellers either; so many are clinging to what they have in fear they won't want to finance the new place at high interest rates and higher prices.

Often the only affordable listings in any given town are the 'problem' homes, or junky cosmetic flips not worth the money. I hope SRS' brother has better luck in New England and a big pot of money to work with. On the up side, if you're in a home, that's paid for, or has a low payment, you're a winner!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 May 23 - 10:35 PM

Two small tablets have been decommissioned, both now have gone through "factory reset." It took hunting in several places to find the bits and pieces that came with them. At the minimum the power supply (a charger pod and removable cable) and quick start instructions if possible. Another couple of devices need a similar treatment. Then to eBay.

My museum volunteer gig comes with logon credentials because I'm working on their big server to store scanned images—it's my extensive previous library training that got me this work and after three years I have about 5,000 discrete images scanned for them. But as a docent (part two of that gig) I don't need that email, and when they send docent stuff to the archives account, I can't see it since I've never been able to open those from home. I recently asked them to stop sending docent stuff to the museum email and the IT folks removed both of my addresses from the docent listserv. [sigh] Now I need to find a streaming lecture from the training session they did today that I just now learned about. There are too many cooks in that networking process. A couple of times I year I have to ask them to restore some access or other that they randomly remove. Not a great way to run an IT dept.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 May 23 - 01:19 PM

I see your cats and raise you two dogs (the third one has a short flat coat.) The dog hair here is incredible - sweep every other day and the dustpan looks like it has a bouffant wig being carried to the trash can.

Today I waded into the sewing studio's stack of rag and mending stuff and consigned a half-dozen knit tops to the donation bin, put a couple of t-shirts back into circulation (I couldn't wear them until I lost the weight.) Two have gone into the trash, because it's either I throw them away or the Goodwill would throw them away. I still have several to use for rags, no shortage there.

Mowing today, and when I put the fitness tracker into a band I wear around my ankle it adds up to a good number of steps, though it confuses the heck out of the Google Fit map as I walk back and forth in the same small area. (When I mow my hands are on the mower bar and the tracker isn't moving back and forth as when one walks with free hands, so the gyro or whatever is inside doesn't pick up steps.)

It was Susan's birthday a couple of days ago—if she reads these posts, I hope it was a good one, wherever she's living. And Dorothy and Charmion, have a great holiday today, not too noisy. Will there be some good food and music?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 21 May 23 - 06:47 PM

A lovely Sunday in Perth County, after a cold, wet Saturday.

As I type, I’m sitting on the porch. With a beer. The truest Canadian way to mark the dear ol’ Queen’s birthday. (Victoria, that is.)

Tomorrow will be noisy, with firecrackers that sound like far-away small arms fire that is nevertheless closer than I like. But right now all I hear is the hooting of mourning doves and the grandchildren of Neil-across-the-street helling around on scooters.

The house is thick with cat hair (again) and the kitchen floor badly needs washing. The flower beds still need clearing of the winter’s debris. But I do not care. Right now, it is sufficient that the evening air is like velvet and the scent of lilac drifts on the breeze.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 23 - 11:06 PM

Dorothy, it's good to see projects you started move forward under their own steam. In college a friend and I started an outdoors center on our community college campus, to make equipment available to borrow (or rent? I don't remember) and to teach outdoor skills. About 20 years later I was on campus and that organization had taken over the whole upper floor of the building and was a busy hub of activity.

Loaded up on fruit and dog food today and did a little trimming in the garden, but mostly it was a lazy day. I did some laundry and ran another load of dishes with that dry detergent I've been trying to use up - it does such a poor job I'm going to throw out the rest and go with the pods that clean dishes and remove tea stains from cups. Why wash dishes AFTER they come out of the dishwasher?

Volunteer work tomorrow, and then I'll head to the gym. I have a new audiobook to listen to and mostly I use them at the gym (where there are TVs all around the room but it's a nuisance to go get a channel changer and they have cable with a gazillion channels to scroll through - I'm better off with a book).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 May 23 - 09:48 PM

Beaver:

Mostly social day today but I managed to throw two plates so they can be drying so I can use the bats for two more tomorrow. (only have two large enough!)

Went to farm market in the rain. Good visits and some helpful info. Managed to finish one of the most poorly concocted novels I have ever tried to complete. Getting to the end was... well... fund out who dun it but ARGHHH! Author goes on list of never again.

Then off to an event an hour north - great visits with old and new friends. A very new potter moving to the area! And a wonderful visit with a man telling me how much he enjoyed a program for which he worked - his first summer job as a HS student (circa 1985) - that our very new women's centre had initiated; apparently I was the supervisor (unpaid as chair of the board.) Good feeling to be remembered kindly all these years later! The Centre, founded by myself and a couple friends, is doing vital work almost 45 years later - feels to me like a kid who grew up wonderfully well!

10 good days here and two weeks more before I need to get back to QC.
Poured rain sporadically all day. Tomorrow to be nice and a bit warmer so back to potting work!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 23 - 11:42 PM

Clearing out some old technology. When I updated to a newer model, I kept a small Amazon Fire tablet to use to connect with an Instagram account I manage (not my own). It was the only device I could use to edit typos, but times change and it works on the computer now. It won't bring much, but it works and factory reset is now churning through the apps and settings. There are a couple of other devices that have been reset and all need to go on eBay.

I did more digging and weeding in a light drizzle, spreading another bag of mulch, but when the thunder started I retreated indoors. I don't know if it is really true that if you can hear the thunder you can get hit by the lightning, but I usually choose not to put it to the test. I finished the heavy lifting needed in a front bed by digging out several weed trees that keep coming back. I mixed another batch of 20% vinegar with a little orange oil to use for spraying on weeds. It is best used on sunny warm days so the vinegar works faster.

Except for that thunder today I could have washed the last of the dog beds, but it was in use by the blue heeler who hates storms and was hunkered down in the closet, where this other bed stays. Tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 23 - 11:16 AM

I had one of those forehead slapping moments this morning; new plastic storage drawers have entered the sewing studio as I continue to find places to put things so they won't collect dust but I can still tell what's in the bins. I'm wrapping up work on masks (I make a few for people who still wear them, but not at the pace of 2020 or 2021). Looking around for a new project to work on, (I'm leaning towards quilted panels and corduroy tote bags) I put my hands on several projects I have materials and patterns for that have languished. I could start by making or finishing those projects. Duh.

When I was a kid one of the attractive and sturdy things my mother made were braided rugs. She shopped the Salvation Army for old wool pants and cut them into strips that were then fed through metal tips to shape the strands for braiding. They were then stitched together into oval rugs using heavy duty nylon thread. Mom kept everything and my sister sent me all of that stuff. I'd like to make some of those wool rugs, though the modern fabric that I've used for projects are old t-shirts; when you find the ones that don't have side seams or huge plastic printed art you can make a jersey fabric yarn that won't unravel. (It can be connected together for big projects.) I use it instead of elastic for masks. What else might I use it for? I have a lot of thrift store t-shirts I bought for the various colors to go with masks. I also have a lot of jeans denim to use for projects. Must start looking for patterns.

Out to the yard in a few minutes; yesterday was eaten up by a big web design project, so only a couple of hours in the yard. Today I should complete a lot more (since I watered yesterday to make weedy beds workable).

Good luck with the house search, Patty. My brother is doing the same thing to relocate to the New England states to be near his daughter's family, but about an hour away from Boston where prices are so high. He has a plan (staying at B&Bs in various areas to give himself time to look around) very similar to yours, but without a van or RV as his base of operation.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 19 May 23 - 08:53 AM

SRS, that was a lovely outcome on the amber earrings, well done! That's the way to pass things on.   

Charmion, ridiculous that you find a perfect soul to take the Romertopf and he refuses! Sometimes people are too nice for their own good. As if you don't have better mementos to hang on to than a darn pot.

Steve, I don't know where that wear-shirts-twice thing came from out of the blue, but don't try it south of the 40th parallel, unless you have no sweat glands!

Doing fine out here on the road, had a nice stop at Reelfoot Lake TN, saw a lovely apple-blossom spring in Illinois, and bopped down to Georgia for a field trip. Househunting in Wisconsin was a big bust, so now I am taking a look at northwest Illinois towns. Today one will get the 'do they have a decent YMCA' test. A nearby town was promising, but had a hideously managed pool, so it fell off the short list.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 May 23 - 04:06 AM

My mum always used to advise that you could wear a new shirt for two days before it needed washing (unlike older shirts that should be changed every day). I never did see the logic of that. But always remember the old adage (*puts on best Hyacinth Bucket voice...*) that 'undies worn twice are not quite nice...'

If in doubt, twenty minutes on the clothes line outside solves the problem. This also works a treat if your clothes have picked up cooking smells. As long as it isn't raining, of course...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 23 - 10:42 PM

This afternoon I ran a small sprinkler in zones across the front of the house then was able to step into those moistened beds and pull out the Bermuda grass and spiderwort that was in amongst iris and lilies and taking over. Tomorrow I'll dig out a bed that is full of Carolina Snail Seed, a pretty yet horrible vine that strangles everything. I mowed last weekend but the grass is tall again - tomorrow is the day the code enforcement guy comes by to see if the lawn was mowed - it was, but can he tell? We've had a couple of days of rain to let it grow fast. I'm betting that without as much grass in the gardens, he won't complain.

I have some squash plants almost ready to plant and a tomato that was an extra straggler in a potted nursery bedding plant that I scooped out and put in its own pot to grow. I now have an extra plant to put in the garden. I know - silly - but if I can get a free tomato plant I will. The squash and okra are growing from seeds. I'm also trying to get some cucumbers, so far only one of about 8 seeds has sprouted in that mound (they are old seeds). I need to buy a couple of eggplant bedding plants to put in. Over in the butterfly host plant pot of rue one of the caterpillars has disappeared, probably due to predation by lizard.

Back in the house, every time I walk through my bedroom I'm pleased with how good it looks. As a follow-up tweak I've moved a few things off of the antique Mission Oak rocking chair and put two lap quilts away in an under bed zipper bag. (There is a meme about clothes worn once - you don't want to hang them up in the closet but they don't need to go into the laundry bin yet - so "hello, chair" - where they air until they're worn again. This is that chair.) My exercise area beside that rocker is inviting, and this is a good thing!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 23 - 02:18 AM

Dorothy, we cross posted. It's nice you have shops that you can send your pottery to. Good luck keeping the frost off of the tender garden. I'm setting up sprinklers here as it starts to heat up.

Once the bookcase top in the bedroom was bare I realized I could reclaim my dresser by relocating the TV to that spot. My exercise stuff is also there, all in front of the carpet where I use my yoga mat. Disturbing dust was part of this operation.

The messiest job today was the continuation of dog bed cleaning. When the second fluffy bed went in the washer I added the case from a flat egg crate dog mat (it's "orthopedic" for the old Lab.) Once the case was clean it was clear a lot of dirt had migrated into the foam so that needed a wash also. With dog shampoo in the tub I did a lot of gentle swishing and wringing then draped it over a couple of plastic trash bins in the bathtub so air can reach it to dry overnight. The amount of dog hair around the house right now is astonishing. My next project is to gag my vacuum with as much as I can round up. I've started brushing the dogs and though you'd think that would reduce the amount of shedding, I think it makes it worse.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 May 23 - 06:26 PM

Washing dog beds. The washer is fairly smart and works based upon weight and the assumption that it is normal laundry; it will suss the volume of laundry on its own for water level, but these beds are light and bulky and don't slide down into the bottom of the tub. I set it manually to use lot of water on the gentlest cycle to let these things soak and do an extra rinse. It's a nice day so the first one will go on the clothesline when finished. The second one might fit in the dryer. The den already looks so much better without these two humongous beds in the way.

I moved a stack of dusty beading supplies from the top of a bookcase in my bedroom to the sewing studio. In the process I found a pair of amber apple-shaped earrings (the diameter of quarters and with darkly tarnished silver settings and French hooks). They arrived in a box of jewelry my sister sent when sorting our mother's estate. It was mostly costume, but there were some good pieces, and I decided that my daughter (who was probably 12 when the box arrived) should have the whole thing, not just getting the picked over stuff. It included a quite valuable long string of chunky amber (I've seen that necklace in photos when she goes to costume events - it gets used). The amber earrings I thought I might wear, but they needed repair. They were forgotten for 20 years until I moved this stuff.

I took them apart, polished the silver, reglued the settings, and when I tried them on realized that as light as amber is they were heavier than I like. I tucked them into a little box and remembered to hand it over when my daughter and I had lunch yesterday. There's nothing like the surprise of a tiny box. I reminded her about Mom's jewelry, and asked if she could use them or make them into something else. It seems lately she has been wearing more clunky earrings so as we talked she swapped out the small silver dangles she wore to work with these amber ones. Excellent outcome! There was an exchange - she had a couple of hand-me-down long-sleeved shirts for me. Not elegant, but they'll get more use than the earrings ever would have.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 May 23 - 06:23 PM

Beaver:

Had to phone R and beg frost protection on the new plants!! He sent me pics. Frost again tonight and, possibly, next week. Botheration!!!

Bowls and plates are getting made as energy permits; none yesterday, lots today. Feeling good about the progress. They will not, of course, be as heavy after the water leaves - in the firings!

Fire in stove last night again and all day as it did not warm. Brought in more wood.

Rain due on Saturday. Bummer as it is first Farm Market for this year. Also going an hour north for a gathering planned by friend of 45 years - since she was 6. Looking forward to seeing the folks up there. And check out the shop where my pottery sells. Hoping for good summer sales; it is en route to Algonquin Park, very touristy.

Have done some weeding in the raised beds here. Pulled some sorrel to add to sweet potatoes.

Long visit with friends at Timmy's; a long time since we did that.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 17 May 23 - 12:33 PM

I got paid for the fiddle school gig — a fuchsia plant, a chocolate bar and several fervent hugs. The fuchsia is out on the porch, easing into bloom and looking as if I always have the good taste to acquire porch flowers, which I of course don’t.

The flower beds still look awful, but I find that I just don’t care; when I do, conditions will improve.

The only flowers in my garden that the local rabbits don’t eat to the ground are daffodils, blue hyacinths, and hellebores. Maybe I should go out and buy a whole whack of hellebores and plant them everywhere that isn’t covered with periwinkle.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 May 23 - 07:36 PM

Well I'm behind with my gardening, mainly to do with poor weather (until this week, which is lovely) and a bout of ill-health last month. Last year the farmer whose fields surround us signed up to some wacky scheme to grow wild flowers for their seed crop, which could then be packeted up and sold. He sowed the four-acre field next to us last year, and guess what: not a wild flower of even a remotely desirable type in sight. I could have told him. Plenty of ribwort plantain (ok for his horses, I suppose) and thousands of prickly sow-thistles, all of which seeded and which covered my garden with their feathery flying propagules. So I have a magnificent crop of sow thistles up to six feet tall in every flower bed, veg bed and plant pot. They're very easy to pull out and I suppose they'll make good compost. I've even heard that you can eat them (they're related to lettuce). They're so tall and thick and fast-growing that they seem to have suppressed the other weeds, so I'll take that as a positive. One thing's for sure: if he tries the wild flower thing again, the millions of sow thistle seeds he produced last year are just waiting in his soil to thwart him!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 May 23 - 11:38 AM

This new batch of granola is much better, with just a hint of the honey flavor and not too sweet. I've bagged and frozen some, and I used the FoodSaver vacuum seal canister to bottle some more. The trick is to put a jar with whatever dry thing you want to seal into the vacuum canister with a sealing lid held lightly in place on top of the jar. Set up to seal the canister, and when the machine turns off, open the canister and you'll find that the lidded jar inside is now also vacuum sealed. It means you can use all of those old spaghetti sauce jars to seal in dry stuff and reuse one canister to seal those jars, not spend $20 or more per canister just to store dry things like herbs and cereal and other grains. I've also stored dehydrated vegetables this way.

My neighbor gave me a bottle of avocado oil at xmas and I've been looking for ways to use it; for the granola this one is perfect, it's much healthier than corn or canola but not a strong flavor like olive. It looks like I'm going to have a good crop of basil this year and I think making my own pesto with this kind of oil is a great way to control salt and have as fresh as can be at the same time. I've added pine nuts to my shopping list.

Last week I switched the house heat pumps over to the summer settings, and I see this week that two of the dogs are now choosing to sleep on the tile floor instead of the filled dog beds. It's time to wash the covers and put them away and stack the orthopedic foam and fiberfill beds out of the way (so Cookie doesn't tear them up to get at the stuffing. That's why there are covers on them.) I'll leave a couple of the orthopedic mats out. There is so much dog stuff around here.

Charmion, I hope the yard looks fabulous after your raking. Dorothy, those sound like some rather heavy plates and bowls you're working on now. I have a few of the real heavy ones around here from my Dad's house, they get used for serving food on special occasions. Hopefully that is the destination of your fine pottery!

How is everyone else doing? Any lurkers want to lower their shields and share their spring plans or progress reports of home renovation or decluttering? Jon? Keb? JennieG? Patty? Don? Steve? Sandra? To name just a few.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 May 23 - 11:13 PM

The vinegar seems to have worked on the area I tested; I've now mowed and will watch to see if they grow back from the roots or if killing the foliage killed the whole weed.

I have rue in a pot and today I found swallowtail caterpillars munching away. I'll get some more at the neighborhood nursery, they always eat themselves out of food before they're ready to pupate. With the number of lizards living nearby on the rock wall, I think it might be a good idea to move the pot (though the yard is full of lizards and toads - who love eating insects.)

This evening I made a batch of granola; last time I made it the cereal was so sweet that this time I doubled the oats but kept the original amount of honey and oil. And I added a lot more nuts (whatever I could find in the freezer - almonds, walnuts, and some pecans). And raisins. There is a little flavor from the honey but it's a much better mix. I'll enter it in MyFitnessPal and see what kind of nutrition information is revealed. (270 calories before milk is added.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 May 23 - 04:57 PM

Beaver:
Things got planted. R put soaker hose in place. New tent will go up when I get back to Dupont. Now: Working on getting new order of pots ready - after my 3 days of recovery from drive. Two plates and two "larger" bowls - about 3 # of clay each - took about an hour and will require a rest period of ... Maybe 2 hours... Not sure yet. Went to chiro this am. Hope it helps!

That planting fit at Dupont certainly improved my belief in my ability to get the body working better. I even walked out to my little bridge through the area that is very rough - without any problem. And unearthed four tables - metal legs with plywood tops - that have been sitting out in the "back 40" for a few years wrapped in heavy plastic - Useable! Will get them up to deck as an alternate work area for glazing.

I did fire the greenware. Took two large plastic bags of flower pots to those who will use them to help community gardeners grow food. Visited at my fav org - it is working on food availability, drug problems, and low cost housing - with no cooperation from the town.

Still need to drop off stuff at thrift shop- Town is a MESS with the main street in process of... something??? I thought we went through this last year. All the businesses are suffering terribly - with plywood ramps from street to entrances! Traffic is backed up - my excuse for not going to thrift shop!

Narcissi(?) are in bloom in front garden and the mock orange starts to show green but looks like it had a rough winter. Have screen door on back
door but front one needs attention. Not to worry! It was just above freezing when I got up this morning! Small fire in wood stove last night.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 May 23 - 11:40 AM

Only #1 and #2 plastic are reliably recycled via the bin. Pop bottles and milk containers and many large jugs. The jugs my white 5% vinegar comes in are reused by me many times before they are so broken down they go in the trash. Other recycling this weekend: my favorite thrift store is closing to relocate, so on their last afternoon I found an unlined silk Talbot's Ike jacket and a Columbia Sports cotton flannel shirt (everything half price). That came out $7 each.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 May 23 - 11:12 AM

The items taken at our recycling bin are pro forma - because they always took them they still take paper and plastic, but I think they only recycle metal, glass, and corrugated. So paper is being shredded here and going in my compost, plastic into the trash (an experiment to burn with trash reveals a melted plastic sludge & probably releases hydrocarbons). But - my organic pesticide test went well. Now to mow the area and see if the weeds are dead or just wounded.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 May 23 - 08:21 AM

They have to be short paragraphs too.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 14 May 23 - 12:52 PM

Yesterday’s agenda — violin school recital in the morning, demanding choir concert in the evening — left me quite whacked, and today I’m dragging my tail. I’ll do an hour or so of raking and sweeping in the garden but not much else.