DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 18 Mar 23 - 11:12 AM

Charmion, before you dispose of Edmund's and your university yearbooks, might you scan any content involving yourself or Edmund, and preserve it digitally?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Mar 23 - 03:59 PM

I think the compromise is to scan them if I'm not going to keep the physical volumes, and stash the files where the family can grab them if they want. I always check eBay to see if someone is in search of this stuff.

Every year on March 17 there are "sales" in the genealogy marketplace, and this year I took advantage of one with a two weeks free trial followed by low monthly fees until I cancel. This is to upload some stuff and make it available—and my goodness, but this is quite a rabbit hole to descend! I've loaded the DNA results from one site into another (less expensive than Ancestry and more prominent in Europe, where most if not all of the family came from anyway). I did also pay $20 extra to the original place where I did the test to find out about an "Archaic" human ancestry.

I've done some of the dusting, with more to do. In the process I stumbled across the wire strippers I misplaced (near the speaker wires I was working on in the den ages ago - must finish that project.)

The bread machine is set up to make a batch of dinner rolls as comfort food - these next few days are breezy and cool and there's nothing like carbs to make you feel warmer. I mostly use them to make small slider-like sandwiches. (My favorite being breakfast sausage patties in a roll.) I'll share a few with the neighbors so I don't eat them all myself.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Mar 23 - 01:42 PM

University yearbooks! I have three generations of them, dating back more than a century, and they take up the whole bottom shelf of an 80-cm bookcase.

At present, I’m not pushed to do anything in particular with them, but I think mine and Edmund’s won’t be missed — to the recycle box with them! My parents’ (1947-1951) and my grandfather’s (1905-1907) copies of Old McGill might find a home with a cousin, or even with McGill University itself, in Montreal.

If I can find the energy and initiative to make any of that happen. Not soon, at any rate.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Mar 23 - 10:54 AM

Several blustery days ahead and I see a freeze warning for next week - I knew it was too early to plant tomatoes. Since the yard isn't inviting me out to play I'll make a push to pick up indoors and in solidarity with Charmion's construction chaos, I need to dust everything. COVID masks come in handy for dusting and for the work I've been doing in the attic.

And like Dorothy, I have some loaves of whole wheat bread in the freezer (though I think I like these loaves better than she likes her crusty rye) and I've started making croutons again. They're cheap at the store but those seem to last forever, telling me there are probably preservatives. I'm back to eating salads several times a week and I do love the crunch of seasoned croutons.

I've done some rearranging in the master bedroom, a trunk under the window is now in the closet, and a box of stuff from my Mom's house is ready to be examined and used or tossed. I really don't think there is a demand for her high school yearbook. Should I scan it for Ancestry or Classmates, or do they already have a 1940 annual in the collection? Our family is slowly offloading family items, one postal box at a time; my sister sent this to me. I sent some of my Dad's ceramics to my son this week. At least the post office is making some money out of us.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Mar 23 - 09:49 PM

We're all having electrical issues, sounds like. I have the little wall-mounted push-button pop-out switches in the kitchen and bathrooms, and in the kitchen (like Dorothy discovered with her oven and her kiln) if I have the toaster oven going I can't also turn on the electric kettle or they'll pop that little wall breaker. But there are also a couple of 15 amp GFCI breakers actually in the circuit box that's on the outside wall in the backyard. The place where the master breaker and the various room breakers live. When you have a GFCI breaker and a GFCI switch, it's really easy for one or the other to pop to the off position.

I love your story about the "smoking newspaper" - you must have asbestos fingers to handle those pots (I'm assuming you use tools and mitts, etc.)

I did my volunteer work today but when I headed out after to go to the gym the alarming clouds and the wailing weather sirens dissuaded me from my usual workout. I got home and parked in the garage just before it hit to the north of us. So far we've just had rain but there was golf-ball-sized hail in the warning that has just now expired.

Today I heard about 20 minutes of an hour discussion about memory - types of - and how to improve it. It's on a local NPR talk show that has gone national to I don't know how many stations, so others could have heard it. It will replay again this evening here locally and anyone can listen to the podcast. Think: The mysteries of memory and how to improve it. I've linked both the program and the book they discuss.

Memory is key to who we are and, yet forgetting is so common. Boston University School of Medicine neurology professor Andrew E. Budson joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his work studying memory, how to control what you remember and how diet plays into this ability. His book, with co-author Elizabeth A. Kensinger, is Why We Forget and How to Remember Better: The Science Behind Memory.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 16 Mar 23 - 08:29 PM

Beaver:

The BREAD! There are still a few loaves that will be around for a while. In my enthusiasm - I really do not like these varieties much so need to do creative things - which Will take a cold day in July! They are all rather heavy rye types but not than the heavy rye types I totally enjoy.

The muffins are treasures that we dole out. Last week when I bought the only six available on my way to QC, I immediately ate one - Ambrosia!! This time I have ordered ahead so there will be enough for awhile.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 16 Mar 23 - 06:43 PM

Beaver:

Well, I wonder what my life might have been like if I were sensible.

The fuses blew last night but I did not notice until 10 pm. Then I replaced fuses and restarted kiln on high - with a gasp of OH WELL! I hoped for the best... In the am, I found it too hot to open ...for quite a while. Finally peeked and stuff looked good - but VERy glossy - as in overfired but just fine anyway... Except I really don't like them that shiny but someone else will.

Glazed pots the remainder of pots while waiting for stuff to cool enough to unload. Unloaded and reloaded and started kiln...Almost...! No dice. upper elements did not connect. What to do -- Call my fav electrician who will be over in the morning. The cost will be another donation to Community Trust. (He does not realize I do that but he also volunteers there... )

This is going to be very tight scheduling for getting out of here on Saturday with pots cool enough to pack. Years ago, in a big hurry, I realized there was smoke coming out of the newspaper... We learn by these things, sort of.

I did realize that the fuses blew about 7 pm - about the time I used the toaster oven. SO, the clue is that with my pitiful 100 A entrance, there is no extra when the kiln is firing - I will avoid doing other than lights - no water - the pump!, no cooking except gas stove... I will consult with Mike tomorrow; he really is an experienced, retired electrician as well as an absolute sweetheart.

Took all the used fuses into Home Hardware and they checked them for me. Most were OK. I Still did not get a lesson in using the meter! But I bought a couple buckets and mixed a new glaze to test - black, I hope. I had a really good black but most of my recipes were lost in the Whidbey fiasco.   

So I brought all the heavy duty books back to the library and looked for something frivolous, picking out 3 hopefuls to get me through. Now I am going to find some comfort food; I need it!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Mar 23 - 01:45 PM

GFCI switch? There is one in the bathroom, but so far it has never affected the study or anything plugged in there — possibly because no one in the bathroom has ever plugged in an appliance more demanding than a night light.

The messiest phase of the bathroom project is complete, and half the house is veiled in a light coat of plaster dust as a result. Today I’m in hiatus as the mud dries on the fresh drywall (yes, it’s the green mould-resistant kind) and the patches on the old plasterboard.

The concert choir I sing with has reached the panic stage of preparing a program of French romantic music for performance next Saturday. Three of our tenors have fallen by the wayside and the sopranos were no more likely to make their entries last night than they were a month ago. Two extra rehearsals have been laid on. There went my weekend.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Mar 23 - 12:46 PM

Another rainy day in North Texas, and apropos of nothing, I started making myself a list of essential garden hand tools. It's amazing how many are out there, and because they basically evolved over time without patents there are tons of styles and names (when you start looking online for photo examples). Garden tools are a physical manifestation of the folk process. I've bought a lot over time and many others I inherited. And I've found uses for all of them. (I was organizing tools in the greenhouse last week and I have another batch of them my neighbor gave me in a corner of the garage that need to move to the greenhouse.)

As my focus shifts to the out-of-doors, yesterday's work on the soffits revealed a couple of new tiny wasps nests starting along the edge of the house. Wasps are beneficial - but best kept at a distance. Any time they build around doorways or well-traveled routes, someone (me) gets stung. So time to knock those down and have them move along.

I ordered the next batch of dog heartworm vials from the Australian pharmacy I started using during COVID. I used to buy from one in the UK but COVID shutdown air travel, taking out the airmail delivery mechanism for that business. The last time I tried to check out the site I got a logon screen with no information and it makes me think maybe that site is in the wind and someone has scooped up the domain and is trying to get logon credentials. The latest issue of the AARP newspaper arrived yesterday and the heading is "What we learned from COVID." A lot, and so many things are done differently now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Mar 23 - 06:52 AM

Grapefruit interferes with quite a few medications. Just sayin'...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 23 - 07:36 PM

It sounds like good progress with the pots, Dorothy, and I remember you talking about those favorite muffins in the past. I'm assuming you'll stash them in the freezer - but wait - didn't you end up with cases and cases of some kind of whole wheat bread a while back? Did you use all of that, or is it forgotten in the freezer somewhere?

I hope the bathroom work is moving swiftly. And a question - if the circuit your computer is on is the same as the bathroom, is it impacted by a GFCI switch? I have a kind of weirdly wired switch in the circuit breaker box that impacts my office. Before this area was a room it was part of the garage and there was a GFCI switch in the breaker box for that area. If we get a heavy rain something about the humidity sometimes flips that outside switch - and there goes the computer equipment operating on the circuit. I finally realized that they didn't put this in on purpose when they remodeled the room, they never changed out the breaker. So, next time the electrician has to come over, I'm getting that upgraded and for more amps.

I postponed the soffit work for ages, but it is finished. I used a combination of wide steel washers and wood screws to push the soffit under the back eaves up into place then screw them with this hardware combination so the screws would hold. The wood is some kind of fiberboard and the screws by themselves just push through it. The washers are for stability. And it is finished for now, after pushing and disturbing dust and what I suspect is mouse or squirrel hair from years past. They live lightly along the inside edges of these planks, probably ingress at cracks near the chimney.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Mar 23 - 06:18 PM

Beaver: pushing myself through a total lack of energy, I managed to get pots waxed, glazed and into the kiln. And returned to total lack of energy.
On this totally gorgeous spring-like day. Not quite warm enough to sit outside.
Dragged myself out to fetch a lunch special from The Curry House - butter chicken. Did not help much. So I am plowing through The Children of the Holocaust (1979) and going out for breathes of spring air.

Another firing tomorrow. Hope I am more energetic. My goal was to mix small batches of a couple new glazes and test them in this firing cycle. A green and a black - to satisfy curiosity!

Friday: start organizing and loading to leave on Saturday, picking up 2 dozen raisin/carrot muffins in Madoc and stopping off for a music event in Belleville.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 23 - 02:05 PM

Keeping an eye on the news today, lots of Trump trash is coming home to roost. (The world seems also to be watching as lot of banks are starting to wobble. Thanks loads, Donald.) Later in the week I may need to do a news blackout, too much of this isn't good for me.

Spring cleaning today, when I pulled a half-dozen light jackets from the hall closet (fleece and jeans) and ran them through the wash. I tend to wear the fleece jackets around the house in the winter instead of turning up the heat, but now they're the right weight for going out so they can all stand some freshening. Next up: dog rugs.

I think the day is about as warm as it will get, so I'll head out and do the soffit repairs before rain that is forecast later today and tomorrow. And the back yard needs mowing, so I can put on my ankle band for my fitness tracker and see how many steps. (They're meant for wearing on a wrist that moves as you walk but the wrist is stationary during mowing, hence my regular default to an ankle strap to track activity.)

This afternoon I may complete the first attic di-pole antenna using an old coaxial cable that's no longer connected to a cable company point outside the house. It's a test. Something for R to play with if he's ever in the mood, Dorothy. :)

I picked up Cara Cara oranges and Ruby Red grapefruit at Costco yesterday - and I'm back to at least one citrus fruit a day while they're in season. This is one food group that has a well-defined season if you want really good fruit.

It looks like our New England and Down East lurkers are getting pretty nasty weather today. I hope some of them will check in. In the far West, another atmospheric river is headed toward California. Keep your heads above water and let us know how you're doing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Mar 23 - 11:00 AM

We might have achieved peak chaos this morning: the carpenter and the plumber plus two electricians (journeyman and apprentice) in the house, plus a frequently visiting site supervisor. That bathroom and the wee, tiny corridor space between it and the top of the stairs are not designed to accommodate more than one full-sized adult human at a time, and right now there’s four of them all trying to work in there.

The electric receptacle in the study, where I plug in the computer, is on the same circuit as the bathroom, so I’m not getting any work done today.

Bugger.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Mar 23 - 05:47 PM

Beaver:

Sorry about the weather, Charmion! Bancroft is having a mostly sunny day with a bit of melt. Still waiting for the huge chunk hanging off the east roof to THUNK! It has moved almost another foot downward. Tomorrow for sure! It is meant to go above freezing - a few degrees!

Still drying pots- put them all in the kiln with the dampish ones to themselves. Plan to turn it up about 7 tonight so it can be cool by morning - with hopes that the small ones that were last in will not explode!

Spent a length of time on phone with former neighbour who had a cancer - complete removal of female innards in Dec and some radiation. Hoping for the best; she is only 75. Great attitude!

And another lengthy phone call, with friend Hannah re the history of programs at the Yellow Door. Mind like a steel trap, just like her Dad who got it all going, or allowed and encouraged it. The two of us who were supposed to start the "Elderly project" have been asked by current admin to provide history. Be careful what you ask for! I am gathering a small committee of those who were there. And Hannah is searching out a newspaper articles from the time.

Also made a list of available glaze materials, deciding what I can do with this batch of pots and what materials - and glazes - will have to wait for an infusion of missing ingredients - may be at the mill. If it warms a bit next week I can get stuff from there and bring it back. Or think about option of setting up at Dupont if R has time to make me a civilized space.

Indoor woodpile replenished. I am still parking on the road... Waiting for enough warmth to clear the mess the town plow made. Smelling spring in the air, in any case!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 23 - 01:20 PM

In view of Charmion and Dorothy's winter weather it seems churlish of me to complain that the temperature here is cool enough that work outside is less than comfortable. A light jacket would suffice except for the breeze that sucks body heat from exposed skin. To say nothing of the pollen that is a yellow dust on any dark vehicles that are parked outside overnight. I'm back to using Flonase every day to combat the allergy sinus stuff.

Health care is a moving target down here also. The shortage of some medications is putting stress on the availability of others as substitutes. (Too bad the FDA wasn't keeping such a watch on the far more dangerous oxycodone; they would have saved lives.) The pandemic let a lot of people who started working at home realize that the noise they thought was the workplace was actually inside their own heads.

A discovery this year, even though I missed my high school reunion, was a couple of people I enjoy reconnecting with via Facebook. One is a quilter and has someone do the quilting on the tops she pieces together. Amazing work. I realize how much more that stitching can add to a pattern - and it has me thinking that if I do pick up the quilting habit I'd better start small and learn topstitching as part of it. I'll pull out my Georgia Bonesteel Lap Quilting books and see what she advises.

Good luck locating the plumber!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Mar 23 - 12:19 PM

Stilly, the building code here requires what the builders call MR (for moisture-resistant) drywall (sheetrock to you) in bathrooms. It can be green, blue or purple, depending on the maker -- anything but just like all the other drywall.

The new bathtub is in, but the plumber is AWOL. The carpenter is not pleased. The house is a mess of plaster dust and drop-cloths on the stairs. The front door is forever opening and closing, so I'm chilly. Boo, hiss.

And the weather is not great. We're getting all the snow that should have fallen in January, and we're getting it all at once.

I checked the weather radar (and my privilege) this morning and thanked my lucky stars that Perth County does not get nor'easters. While south-central Ontario lay under a scrim of pale blue, indicating the slightest of sprinkles, a vast green and purple swirl over the Maritime provinces and New England showed that our neighbours down east are having a most unpleasant day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 Mar 23 - 10:03 PM

Beaver:

Bills paid and not much else on this grey, snowy day. Snow was melting as fast as it fell but there may be a bit in the am.

Did consult with neighbour re the hole in my armpit - result of totally unnecessary op 18 years ago. The hole got worse and the consult was -where to find health care. We finally agreed I would go first to my fav pharmacist: epsom salt poultice followed by Polysporin. Done! Took this to MD a year or so ago and received NO advice at all. REAlly needed Sue's encouragement. Health care is an oxymoron in Ontario - most places from what I am hearing.

Greenware Must keep from freezing! Currently wishing I had thrown more but best I could do. A few more small pieces to trim, then vigorous drying so I can fire on Tuesday. And would like to mix a black glaze. Much to do but not much energy; barometric pressure NG! But I want to push on so I finish in time to go to music on Saturday, on way back to Dupont.

Above freezing weather ahead - a little, for a couple days...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Mar 23 - 05:42 PM

Today I am stiff and sore from weekend contortions in the attic and from pounding stakes with a two-pound hammer to reposition the compost bin. After museum training (this morning) I usually head to the gym after but decided to skip it today, so by turning the other direction out of the parking lot I spotted my daughter walking toward me headed to shop and eat lunch. She hopped in the car and we did both things. What a nice surprise for Monday! (It took the full the five minutes that she was in the pharmacy for me to find the correct button to change the SUV clock to Daylight Savings Time.)

Charmion, when both showers in this house were redone (I moved here in early 2003) they used a type of green sheetrock behind the tile that is supposed to prevent that kind of damage. By now there's probably something even more innovative available. All of the cabinets throughout the house match, bathrooms, kitchen, and hall linen cupboard, to say nothing of the fully-paneled den. Painting and refacing the kitchen cabinets might be an improvement.

Every time I cross something off that that to-do list I add more to it, so it never seems to shrink, though crossed off items show I'm doing something.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Mar 23 - 03:16 PM

The wall damage was indeed deep and bad, to the extent that the sheathing board under the tile surrounding the bath tap was soft enough to push a finger through. Fortunately the mould was confined to the wallboard, grout and caulk, and the studs underneath are healthy.

The mustard-yellow bathtub, the crappy painted ceramic tile and the Canadian Tire cabinetry have all left the building, and the bathroom has that unmistakable look of a bombed-out bordello.

Mr Google tells me that my water heater is almost certainly suffering from a surfeit of lime scale, no surprise there. So a visit to the cellar to empty the bucket is now a daily event, until the bathroom project has reached the point where there's room in the house for a gas-fitter down below.

The cats are so not impressed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Mar 23 - 08:55 AM

The builders have arrived, and the bathroom project is officially under way.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, the water heater is ailing. I popped into the furnace room-cum-wine cellar yesterday and found that its drip pipe had dumped some four gallons of water into the bucket that lives under it just in case. Well, I'm so glad that the bucket was (and still is) there; four gallons of water on that floor would be no damn' fun at all.

And it's snowing again in southwestern Ontario, because of course it is.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Mar 23 - 12:05 AM

My fitness tracker doesn't reflect all of the times I was up and down the attic stairs, but the lines are finally in place and I was able to wire the antenna and the CAT5 data ports and finish with a plug wall plate. The data line isn't live yet, but this was the biggest part of the job. The most satisfying part is that if I decide to switch Internet providers it won't be a puzzle as to what lines run where and how to get to the point where lines enter the house. I left an old phone line that can pull a new fibre optic cable if need be.

In the bedroom on the wall opposite most of the work I took off the obsolete phone jack cover and put a simple data faceplate with a blank filling in the port. If I ever decide to put something there, that old line is inside for pulling a new data line.

This weekend I broke only one drill bit and dropped another down inside the wall cable enclosure, but got my trusty sewing pin magnet that's on a cord to fish the bit out through the junction box opening.

Several items crossed off of the list.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Mar 23 - 06:09 PM

Dorothy, do you have to keep your new pots in the warmth - would freezing damage or break them? It's ironic that here where it's warm I'm building up a supply of cedar kindling and I don't even have a usable fireplace. I only use it in the burning barrel or I can use some starting the charcoal grill (right now I have more kindling than newspaper, the usual starter of choice).

I am alternating activities this afternoon, with an hour of reading for the volunteer museum work with an hour of hauling more wires out of the attic. In addition to more shakes (I filled a 15 gallon black nursery pot) I've pulled the old DSL line through the hole and into the attic (it still terminates in the hall closet, and I'm going to reposition it to wire the master bedroom) and got the coaxial cable that was stuck yesterday free at the outside end and now the whole things moves inside as well.

So - one more attempt at Plan A before considering how to manage plan B (the one that involves moving furniture).

Also noted while up the ladder outside, the soffit near all of this wire activity is slightly sagging in a couple of spots and needs snugging into position now. There was a feather stuck to the line at one point - a past avian death in the attic, I fear, and if this isn't fixed now birds and squirrels will be able to get in. The soffit material is some kind of fiberboard and earlier repairs worked best with wide washers around screws attached at the edges.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Mar 23 - 01:00 PM

Beaver:

I look out the window at about two feet of snow!! And SRS is mowing the lawn!!!

I, too, detest DST but fear it may be here to stay. Complaint read about kids walking to school/bus in the dark! CHANGE THE FLIPPING SCHOOL SCHEDULE! At this point I don't much care which time we get as long as the #@$%^&* change STOPS! NOT having a great morning! All my energy left home!

Pots drying, and hoping I will find energy to trim the last few small pieces. Fire wood is not optional! 0F this am but going up to a couple degrees above, they say! Sun is shining!!! Deck is re-appearing a few inches at a time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Mar 23 - 12:59 AM

Dorothy, I am always impressed and entertained by the places you've been and the people you've met.

More attic work this afternoon/evening. I'm not able to get the cable to pull through on the side of the bedroom that I thought would work (the drilled hole is too small and the wall header is too deep for any of my drills to expand the opening), but after removing extraneous old phone lines and leaving the one from the far side of the master bedroom, that may be the one I can to use to pull through new lines for data and antenna. I will have to rearrange some furniture. Decluttering: this afternoon in the attic I pulled out two old phone lines, a long double line of coaxial cable (I originally used it to haul my newer antenna lines through the attic - I see my signature wraps of blue painter tape on the end) and two strands of 300 ohm twin lead antenna wire. The attic is its own little archaeological "dig" - I find signs of people who came before (the antenna leads from the previous tenants) and my earliest days in this house (in 2003). I've also pulled out more old cedar shingles to add to my kindling bin (it's hard to believe that they put cedar shingles on all of these houses in ~1976). The previous owners who bought the house new with a cedar shake roof put on standard asphalt shingles in the late 1990s.

My front yard got mowed this evening as a gazillion flying insects rose from the turf. Not mosquitoes, yet, but very soon.

I hate Daylight Savings Time. It starts tomorrow, which isn't such a big deal, but I have places to be on Monday and that's when the time shift will kick in for me.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Mar 23 - 11:53 AM

Beaver:

Focusing on throwing bowls; texted customer tonight to check on colours. AOK. Hoping to get fair number completed before trip back on 18th. Remember to order a couple dozen of our fav muffins (carrot/raisin) from our fav bakery, to pick up en route. Stop for music event in Belleville and home before dark...??? Time change Sunday...

In the meantime: have to park on road due to plow having made a mess. That's OK since only about a dozen vehicles go by in a day re the few homes up the dead end road. Still about 8-10 inches of frozen snow on deck but my paths are still OK. Today it was dicey so I sprinkled sand on the paths. I suppose some will come indoors... Someday I will vacuum! In April.

There was an event at Community Trust today, attended by our local member of provincial parliament. Talked with his nice young assistant about our health care problems and the desperate need for affordable housing; they get calls about these issues frequently - GOOD! The Trust is geared to helping low income folks and those with drug problems, and managed to get permission from the Town to have a warming centre - Finally! Still trying to get permits for apartments on second floor of the donated building.

Well, that was my event for the week! I could not stay long as I suddenly got so hungry I had to go home. I did my pottery work before I went and hoped to do more after lunch but went to bed instead. Realized the weather had come down on me and a cup of green tea helped but the day was too far gone by then. I put plastic over the un-trimmed pots to hold them 'til tomorrow.

Then spent way too long on internet (it costs when I am overtime). Lost a carefully written email and will have to start it again tomorrow. But managed one to a friend on Cape Breton. We worked together 50 years ago on a new project at the Yellow Door - finding ways to be supportive of the older people in the neighbourhood. The folks running the program now are asking us for memories of the beginnings so I need to dredge mine up and compare notes. I can try to use my early morning thinking time...

(This, written on Friday, will go out next time I connect to internet - Sometime Saturday)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 10:33 PM

I recently cleaned the shower grout with CLR, magic erasers, and Scocth green scrubbies. The floor required extra soft scrub.

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

I waited until the attic cooled and spent a few more productive minutes up there. More Attic Dek in place and I found the coaxial cable that I want to use to pull a new data line and use as a defacto tv aerial (it won't be attached to an external antenna, the cable itself will be the antenna up in the attic.) There is a really long chunk of the coax cable inside the wall and with duct tape and string and CAT5 I can accomplish what I want easily.

I have to follow the wall header for two of the bedrooms in the attic and find the right place to drill through and run a piece of CAT5 for data in the sewing studio. The room at the front was my son's (it's now the guest room) and I wired that years ago when he was the only kid at home by then and it didn't matter if he was on the computer in the living room or his bedroom.

I might as well wire all of the rooms - I have the materials, I have the time, and when the time comes these will be obsolete because everything will be all WiFi all of the time. But for now, faster streaming and better pictures in any room where someone takes a device that can use the connection.

This afternoon I cleaned up some of the plant saucers by the side door then took a bucket of leaves to the compost area where I relocated the black compost bin and dumped in some recent weeds and poured in the 10 gallon bucket of sawdust from the forestry work last week. It's a great way to kick start the pile. That bin was put in the last spot two years ago and now there is a beautiful pile of compost ready to use.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 04:00 PM

Ah, yes - the thing I realized when I had the heat pump replaced - all of the stuff I had to move from the door to the workspace included art on the walls. The art was coming down as they started walking into the house.

I've gotten over the "hump" so to speak in the attic decking project - a raised platform to protect the heat pump lines and over the center spine of the house. I'm not to the point to pull the data line yet, but I am to the point where I've realized that the large duct on the SW side of the house is an important air intake and I should treat it with more respect. I'll move the dresser that stands in front of the bedroom grate. Drill batteries are now charging and I'm done for the afternoon since the attic has warmed considerably.

No snow, just drifts of white petals of Mexican plum blossoms and the dogs are still tracking in sawdust from the tree removal last week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 03:39 PM

Oh, yes, Stilly, there will be ripping out and replacement of all fixtures and cabinetry. Also removal of an entire tub-surround of small ceramic tiles with their mouldy grout. And remediation of the mould in the wall behind the small ceramic tiles.

The cats will spend their days in the basement with their water fountain, kibble dish and litter box. I will shut the doors of all the other upstairs rooms and remove everything hanging on the walls between the front door and the top of the stairs, and in the upstairs hall. The garage will probably be used for staging and carpentry space, so the shelving has to be draped with tarps and the car will go outside.

Not my first rodeo.

This project won’t take long, as renovations go, but it will be messy and stressful while it lasts.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 11:40 AM

After a 2020 pause, spring break/superspreader events seem to have grown in size. Boggles the mind. I doubt many of them even glance at the CDC advice about how to travel safely.

Good luck with the bathroom work. Will this also involve cats locked in other rooms of the house during the day? Will they pout or misbehave? Any idea how long it will take, and are there new things installed (tub or shower or commode or sink)?

I've started a list - it's a long one. I have to just pick something and do it. Easier said than done.

My daughter and I had lunch yesterday and I described an old-fashioned project I'm working on, one that the grandmother of my middle school best friend used to do. In the 1960s we'd often walk to her house after school (she lived with the grandparents). And if her grandmother wasn't cooking she was doing needlework. I asked her about the projects and she had a technique of joining two pieces of fabric, the top with a printed design (picture). Stitch around the elements of the picture she wanted to feature, then make a slit carefully through the backing and stuff the space with batting before closing that gap to create a raised relief. She framed these. As I described them my daughter's eyes widened and she grabbed her phone to pull up the Wikipedia listing for Trapunto Quilting. Well who knew? It isn't exactly the same, because this is using a print instead of a plain piece of fabric, but I'm impressed that she recognized it and gave it a name. And I'm impressed that what was old is new again for us.

It rained gently yesterday so today is a bit soggy for the yard work. Also cool, and the weekend should be nicer, so I'll look at the list and see what I can tackle in the house.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 08:55 AM

On Monday, the builders will start work in my mouldy bathroom. Things will be chaotic and expensive for a while.

Next week is the midterm school holiday (“March break”), so half the town will be focussed on finding ways to occupy the time and attention of their children. Late-winter trips to sub-tropical places are popular with folks who can afford them. I am always amazed at the ever-increasing number of people who seem to believe that international vacation travel is anything but an insane luxury … Oopsy, I seem to be slipping into rant mode.

Gotta take my vitamins and go to the gym. It’s snowing again. Sigh.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 23 - 12:00 AM

I must start a list of multiple projects and small tasks I need to do. They seem to occur to me at times when it isn't convenient to do them, so they are forgotten again. It's time to start addressing and crossing off some of this stuff.

Today I picked up the packages of hose-protector things that will lie across the driveway like a speed bump to keep the hose from getting smashed as I come and go to the garage. When ordering I tried to calculate how long the things would be and concluded it would take two to span the width of the area I drive over with a large SUV; I think now that one will be enough and one can be returned. They're in the back of the SUV right now (two young women worked together to load the cart at Lowes and I rolled them out and just tipped the things onto the tailgate and shoved.) I'll open one box in the car and if all of the parts that come out add up to long enough, I'll leave the other to in place to return later.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Mar 23 - 12:46 PM

Two more boxes of household clag have departed: most of Edmund’s accumulation of broad-brimmed hats, off to Goodwill.

Now, suddenly, I actually have room in the closet for all of my own hats.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Mar 23 - 11:11 AM

So many small projects are underway here, but I've sorted some of them to prioritize. To name just one, two boxes of Attic Dek panels need to be moved from the hall up into the attic, and there was an old box of long screws that came with a special (misplaced) drill bit that I'd like to use up there. My Ryobi bit set had one that fits, so no need to buy more screws or a new bit. Up they go.

I have the last few chapters of an audiobook that I'd really like to finish so my choices of projects today will depend on what can I do that won't distract me from the story. Not attic work (wearing headphones up there too precarious) but I can sew, and I can clean out some of the pots for this spring's planting—there is so much standing water in them now it will be mosquito central soon if I don't clear them out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Mar 23 - 12:06 AM

The ADHD tests today were essentially a form of audible and visual drip-drip-drip water torture, really meant for children, not adults. At this point they prove that one aspect of the condition is the ability to hyperfocus to complete tasks. Since I'm not hyperactive but have the "executive function" problem of distraction, we'll discuss this further. Meanwhile, my house is full of unfinished projects. I need to make a list.

Tomorrow, more work in the yard. But also work in the sewing studio, plus one trip out. My bank seems to have crashed as far as online stuff so I may also have to drive over there since online deposit is kaput. We live in a world when all it takes is one employee clicking on the wrong PDF file in an email to crash an entire bank. I hope there isn't a ransom involved.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Mar 23 - 10:01 AM

The goal for the garden is to have a thick layer of mulch on the path around raised beds, keeping weeds at bay, so yesterday I started that digging around the upper end of the garden plot. I've tried putting down cardboard and mulch over existing weeds, but they break through, so the weeds are coming out. The first bed will be planted with potatoes this week, and I'll work my way down the hill past three more raised beds. I have lots of places around the yard to dig and things to plant. In addition to a vegetable garden there are canna lilies, schoolhouse lilies, and asparagus (it needs its own bed so it can come back every year).

The house is the inside of a goat's stomach with everything in a state of flux. So many projects underway. My attempt to turn bar soap into liquid is at the testing stage - I had a second foaming dispenser jar under the sink that is now holding the slurry. Not sure this will work, I'll probably have to find a pump bottle to use. I'm sure I kept one, I always do. "I might be able to use this for something else" and it gets tucked under the sink or into the laundry room somewhere.

I've ordered a hose guard cable protector thing to run across the driveway in front of the garage door. This will eliminate the need for a very long hose to run around the garage (to avoid driving across it). These guards aren't cheap, but I will be able to do more with the hose with it in place.

Last summer I bought a large bag of corn and flax chips that I've just tossed because they're several months out of date. The size of the bag is off-putting; I was thinking I should wait to open it when I have people over to go through it quickly and there it stays forgotten on the shelf. Aldi's offerings are more practical, small bags of similar products that I'm more likely to open (and if I don't less expensive when it's tossed later.) For months I've been working to draw down the large surplus here, in particular in the pantry and the large freezer. This means sticking mostly to fresh fruit and veggies when I shop, or things I'll consume fairly quickly. I am making progress.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Mar 23 - 05:52 PM

You got that right, Jennie. Imagine the outback of Oz during the 19th century, but sub-Arctic.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: JennieG
Date: 05 Mar 23 - 04:08 PM

I looked up Cornelius Krieghoff, Charmion.....I bet life in wintery Quebec wasn't always as jolly as he makes it look!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Mar 23 - 01:33 PM

In southwestern Ontario, a late-winter storm is likely to be violent and dangerous, but they don’t last long. Friday’s weather bomb lasted until sometime after midnight, but stopped abruptly when the system rolled past Toronto and headed down the St. Laurence River. When the sun came up, the temperature was already above freezing. The cloud cover thinned and vanished by noon, and by suppertime the sky was a clear blue.

Nick’s Snow Removal keeps my driveway clear all winter for the princely sum of $650.00 Canadian — a screaming deal. I shovel the footpath myself, just to keep up the skill. By the time the new owners of the bookcases showed up, the strong sun of the afternoon had made away with the last vestiges of snow on the footpath and the third of the driveway closest to the house.

So, no quaint Cornelius Krieghoff scene of “Canadians Moving Bookcases in Blizzard Conditions”.

(If you don’t know about Krieghoff, he did Currier & Ives-type paintings of country life in Quebec, where it was apparently always winter.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Mar 23 - 11:30 AM

My gardening hand tools were spread all over the house and out buildings, with the lion's share propped against a wall in the garage. A few were behind the door to the sunroom. They are now back where they started in a dedicated spot in the corner of the greenhouse.

Another pass through the pantry has revealed a way-old big canister of powdered Gatorade that I mix up to drink in gardening season, especially during the summer (the salt content helps avoid cramps overnight). It's mostly sugar, though, and I'm going to set this can aside and once the garden is going I'll mix it up in water and pour as a fertilizer—it would be a missed opportunity to send it to the landfill. This also works with soft drinks, old milk, etc. (Milk helps fight fungal diseases like powdery mildew).

In a drawer I found a couple of the small bungee cords I've been needing, and in my mind's eye I can see the container I've been looking for, but either I put it away so safely it will never turn up or I used them all and recycled the container. I'll pick up some more (Lowe's had a good price).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 23 - 10:28 PM

Did they leave during a snowstorm? I have a visual image of people sliding down your icy front path seated on top of the bookcases.

I've cut and pinned and sewn this evening to finish a project for a friend. He asked for six masks, I think he's going to end up with about a dozen. I had a pattern from Joann's for a reversible mask to which I've added a third layer to make it more robust. I still prefer my 3D pattern, they're far more comfortable, but it's what the client wants that matters. Elastic ear loops and no nose-wires for glasses wearers. It's the fabric that matters.

I'm getting close to the end of a novel I've listened to for ages. Silly me, I have a print copy of it but still prefer the audiobook; I move a bookmark through the paper copy so I can sometimes look at the words on the page. Next month I have to renew my public library card so I want to finish this before I have to jump through those hoops (I use the water bill from my ex to show that I'm still in the city limits and can use the library.)

More gardening tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Mar 23 - 09:10 PM

Aaaand … the bookcases have left the building!

It’s really quite amazing how many spiderwebs and dust bunnies can hide behind three six-foot bookcases.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 23 - 05:14 PM

eBay quandry today. I sent out a perfectly working used device and today received a refund request (purchase and original shipping cost). The return shipping (the buyer doesn't get that back) is ~ $15. I have my doubts as to what happened (impatient people can break these things), but I don't do repairs. I decided to see if I could split the shipping difference - offer the purchase refund and original split the shipping cost, but he keeps the parcel so doesn't have to pay $15 before he gets the refund. I don't do repairs, I have no use for it if he broke it. I'm not Zappos, I don't absorb all of those costs. We will see if the purchaser has a cool head and can do the math. That way I'm only out $7 instead of $15 and he is also out only $7 instead of $15.

Higher math.

I mowed the back yard today and will do the front tomorrow. I need to do some digging in the garden before it gets much later.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 04 Mar 23 - 03:59 PM

Yesterday Stilly mentioned the storm headed for the East.
In my part of the east,
we are merely cluttered with an additional four inches of white slush.
Not the big mess we were told to expect.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 23 - 10:31 AM

Yesterday I swept enough sawdust into a 10-gallon bucket to super-charge my compost pile. The yard is a new place with that huge tree gone, it really opens up the space and there will be grass growing on that side of the yard again.

This weekend is forecast to be perfect gardening weather so I plan to make use of it.

I shared some plants yesterday with a friend and will digging more to take over (I gave him a big bag of canna roots and he gave me three lily bulbs. At the next place she was interested in the cannas also so I told the first friend (probably terribly ungraciously) that if I'd given him too many cannas that this second friend (who lives near him) would like some. But I realized I'll be in town early next week and will take over more of those if they want plus some crinum lily bulbs. Friends who are gardeners here trade plants from yard to yard. :)

I need to put in some cucumbers this year along with other stuff I usually plant. I want to make more pickles; I almost bought some cucumbers the other day but prefer to use the really fresh homegrown organic ones. Other than those, it will be the usual tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, okra, but it's too early to put any of those out yet.

The sewing project for a friend is at the halfway point. I've finally cut out enough pieces of everything to simply assemble them now. I have several other projects to work on also. I listened to the current audio book while sewing and may manage to finish it before renewing (it's a very long book, renewed 3 or 4 times now!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 06:40 PM

The composter has left the property.

Huzzah!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 12:39 PM

I will keep a few rounds from the thickest part of the tree to use as either seats or (more likely) perches for Cookie. The nearby wood waste recycling plant will grind up the rest. Antonio laughs that they'll give him back his trees when he goes to buy mulch. But the size of equipment needed to grind all of this landscape material is such that charging to receive the raw stuff as well as selling finished mulch is the only way to keep the equipment paid for. I'm good with that. They undercut the cost of taking it to the dump so they keep raw material coming their way.

It's cool and muddy in the yard but the sky is a glorious clear blue. It's beautiful to be working out there right now. We took a break - closed the gate and let the dogs out to investigate and take care of business.

I've set up to do some sewing today, to finish a project for a friend, and I have a new one to start. Later there's a gathering of friends and I'm thinking of making a dessert to take along. I made cranapple juice this week (put frozen berries through the steam juicer) so I have fruit pulp for those rich cranberry bars. I'll keep a few here and take the rest to the party.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 09:41 AM

The weather that passed through down here last night seems to be the tail end of what is approaching to clobber everyone in the north as well. Will your visitors be carrying bookcases out in a blizzard? That composter would have had a welcome home here, but the trip to pick it up would be a hefty one!

The big backyard hackberry that is in danger of falling on (take your pick) the garage, the greenhouse, the dog kennel (or all three simultaneously) or the fence or the tree next door or even smashing into the yard next door and taking the fence with it is coming out today. Conditions are sodden out there, my handiman friend offered to do the job yesterday but wind was threatening and I had appointments. Now it looks like yesterday might have been easier because the winds didn't really start till about 5:30 and it was still dry. Hindsight is 20:20.

We have a couple of more days of dry weather before the next rain passes through so I suspect this weekend will be one for digging in the yard. It needs at least today to dry out a bit before I try it.

The dogs bark periodically when something thumps out back - I'll take photos of the tree removal progress, partly based on when they make a fuss so I can go out to look. They're in the house today, for obvious reasons - mostly they'd be underfoot, but also the gate will be open and Zeke doesn't have a collar to keep him in the yard.

It goes pretty fast, though this tree is much taller and a larger volume of wood to haul to the dump than the last tree he took out, a pine in the front yard. Too bad we don't have a chipper, I'd have a lifetime supply of mulch. As it is, I'm still getting mulch a few blocks away where that neighbor had a regular tree company come in to do work with the chipper truck they bring along. They left the chips for her but she has way more than she can use. My guy may be taking this to the recycling company nearby - they have a big chipper. That would be better than the dump.

Another paroxysm of barking - time to head out to see what's up (or down).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 08:13 AM

Snowpocalypse is heading my way, again. “Winter Storm Warning!” shrieks the Environment Canada website in a red banner across the top of the screen. Sure, of course we’re facing another storm — it’s freakin’ March, and we live within spitting distance of four Great Lakes. It’s Canada, in late winter. It snows. Relax.

In other news, I’m waiting on two people to come and pick up large items that I don't need or want. If all goes well, I will soon be rid of three full-height bookcases and Edmund’s rolling composter. Cross your fingers!

Also, now that I have a stock of sturdy boxes, items bound for Goodwill are heading out the door. First up: Edmund’s accumulation of hats, size way too large for most people. They’re packed and ready to go.