DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 31 Aug 23 - 09:04 PM

Dupont:

Would be a peculiar day that such a sum would be spent on a repair in this home! Remember my fancy stove: I would happily have paid a repair person to come but NO! R took it apart to see if he could fix it. Then "borrowed" a new stove from his cousin and trashed our wonderful stove. (This is his house; I have no rights. Beaver is mine to cherish.)

Our matched set of Maytag dryer/washer (RED!) was purchased at a home auction- no doubt for a very low price. If one needs repairs, I would have to have a conniption fit to get it repaired or ...get a new one! R would prob come home with one he found in the trash! My plea that "I will pay for a new one!!!" would be disregarded as a whisper on the breeze.

Said cousin is moving this week. I wonder if he has a stove??? ???Will R pay him for the one we have so they can buy a new one????

I thought I had done well to get through that very tiring weekend but yesterday I slept all day; and last night also. Save for two meals of veggie stew and some time on internet. Today
I started cleaning up the plants on back deck: re-potting some and clearing up stuff. The plastic "shed" is not waterproof. Useless for the job of storing garden stuffs on the deck. I shall try to empty it and request it be moved to garage where it will stay dry!

Also weeded in the back garden and checked our one lovely pumpkin which I think is ready to come in. The squash plants have been blooming beautifully but it seems that someone has been eating the blossoms!

The front yard is blooming nicely and I think we can get through to winter without another lawn care visit! It will be challenging to bring in the Canna which have, of course, grown more roots. Fall has definitely arrived. I could just compost some but it is not in my nature to so that ---- as I repot more geraniums than I might have house room! The red flowers are so cheery! And we have, somehow, managed to kill all the Af violets save one!

This week's "chuckle": R brought home some fabric to be washed - which I did ...Then realized I washed it a couple months ago and gave it to him: "take it to town and give it to someone." This time the set of sheets is going to a thrift shop!

Lest you think our life lacks interest: He came home on Tuesday with the wonderful news that the police had taken his pick up truck off the road permanently! They would not even let him drive it two hundred yards to his property (city). It is scrapped - with a fresh tank of gas $60! The scrapper will get it. R was prepared - has another old truck on hand! I am glad and sad: I remember the evening we drove out into rural QC to look at a it and came back with that lovely clean truck. It was beautiful! And the wonderful old farm house and the nifty people we met! It has seen hard times and we cannot blame the police at all!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Sep 23 - 09:55 PM

Dupont:

No moving violations at all but it was one dreadful mess - just looked like it was due to fall apart but kept on running- with lots of repair time by the gang and, once in a while, Canadian Tire. So glad to see it gone. R knew it would happen but squeezed the last possible bit out of it. Some people can have a car for 20 years and it still looks almost new... It was a 1986 Ranger. People (men) thought it was amazing. I refused to travel in it. My 15 year old Scion looked 100% better when the engine died.

Today - Major de-clutter. We went to the Mill - R, Joe in Big truck and myself in car. One heavy pottery wheel had a ride to the back yard here. And the guys helped me clear a large section of former pottery. I was totally unable to conceive of where/how to begin. Most went into a nearby section of the building. The trash/myriad broken and flawed pots will be trashed. Kind of traumatic; I did make a lot of pots there before the mold got me. Tomorrow R and I are going down to do the next part - moving buckets of glaze and bags of glaze materials And kiln furniture, scales........

Then we lunched at Subway and I went off to an orchard - good strawberries and apples, and then the bakery for goodies and a Greek salad for R; it was to be repeated - Excellent!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 12:43 PM

Dupont:

Suffering from excess heat -only on its way to high 80s but, for me ... I am barely functional. Will soon give up and go upstairs to the BR and turn on A/C. Then go for some groceries while the room cools. SO grateful for A/C in car!

Yesterday, I drove to the orchard for more strawberries ARGHHH The season is over. Pears will be ready in a few days but I am going back to Beaver; might be back in time for some pears. Which reminds me that I have not noticed my little pear tree in a long while! I will look when I go out to shop; I hope it has survived; I started it from seed from one the their pears 3 years ago. (The slight inclination to jump up and go look does not survive the way I feel.) Yesterday's trip of 2 hours in the country netted two tomatoes!

R informs that our beautiful laundry equipment set was $800 at the auction. Everything in that home was top quality. He installed them.

Further to the truck: it looked rather like it had survived - just barely - a demolition derby. Very few spots lacked a dent of some size!

Oh yeah, Hope both SRS and Charmion had fine birthdays!

I have managed to pull a few weeds each day. I brought the pumpkin onto the porch as the stem had dried out. Yesterday I sorted the pottery stuff that was in car, put some in plastic bins which I could leave outside until next trip which made room to re-load the pottery left from last week - quite a bit - to take back to Beaver for the Carriage House/shop. There is more to go in the car for the trip, on leaving day, as yet undetermined.

A'shopping I must go. And check for pear tree...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 02:06 PM

Dupont:

Little pear tree is about a foot tall, has nice green leaves, and is protected by a "tomato cage"!!!

Produce store is only about 15 min away. We shall see how good their Quebec strawberries are; they do not look as shiny. Supper will be 100% Quebec produce and chicken breasts.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 04:40 PM

Dupont:

Little pear tree is not yet as large as a partridge!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 11 Sep 23 - 02:01 PM

Beaver:

Boy, am I way behind but right now it is hot and I am in the sun. I stopped at library to check out an email from somthinbg called "shop" Finally figured out the source and phone Vita-save and let the sweet young woman have it with both barrels. Sent them a $500 order as I have shopped there for years... Then an email from "Shop" telling me to confirm it within 24 hours??? NEVER heard of "Shop"! Finally realized it was CONNECTED TO MY V-S ORDER, and phoned them. WHY!!!! In this day of scams, the last thing anyone needs is some ... MYSTERIOUS, UNKNOWN NONSENSE. After several scam sorts of phone calls, my credit card actually being scammed and having to get a new one.... I will go home and recover!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 13 Sep 23 - 05:43 PM

Beaver:

A gloriously beautiful day- breezy, sunny but ...sometimes it is sunny! And prob about 70F! and dropping. My idea of perfect!

Another cup of green tea seems to be needed so not quite perfect! I fact, it has been an sun then cloudy, then sun... More green tea needed.

I have been here a week and only just recovering from the drive. The car is unloaded and now most things have found temp homes until I feel up to sorting out the glaze materials I brought and those already here and make order of chaos.

De-cluttered a bag of small flower pots from Dupont to the Trust for seedlings.

My recent bread order from Dimpflemeiers included a 10 pound loaf of rye bread - I did not read carefully!!! I took it over to Community Trust and we decided it would be great for Sunday brunch - Diane could make French toast. I thought of D making French toast in the diddly elec frying pan and went to Canadian Tire for a real griddle.

On Sunday, arriving with bread and griddle: The back shed had burned in the night. No one was injured but the homeless sleeping in it were displaced and Diane went home in a state! Brunch was cancelled. Bread went in freezer with hope for next week.

I went back to 700 page novel.

Today, met with my two sister friends. Brenda wants to know who really wrote the Bible and ... WOW! Solid Irish Catholics and this left field Quaker bouncing around questions and ideas I never thought I would hear from them. I could view this as a really unique sort of de-cluttering?

Maybe tomorrow I can do some work in the studio.

May need a fire tonight. Steve did get this year's wood beautifully stacked in the shed while I was away. Pat picked up some pottery for the Carriage House.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Sep 23 - 04:41 PM

Beaver:

Still not getting much done. And, since a meeting last Thurs, mostly fits of depression and tears. Of course, we all know the difficulties in obtaining health care so I went to the meeting for "seniors" on health care. There were speakers from a number of different "health care" providers. The room seemed to be non-toxic; the sound system was.. strong ... I did not understand one word of any speaker. That is not an exaggeration- not even "the". The only answer I get is - a hearing aid! But I heard the blah blah blah quite well.

This has happened before - I understood one speaker and not the other. But... NONE! Each person was known to me and in a conversation I would have no problem understanding. I am totally traumatized, trying to convince myself it doesn't matter. But, to be told I need a hearing aid when I can hear quite adequately --- AND do not want MORE noise!

Google: material on APD, caused in my case by chemical exposure in 2000. And person after person telling me ...hearing aid. The local "Dr of Audiology" virtually pushed me out of her office when she realized I would not buy a hearing aid. The best article is specific to professional audiologists - long! So far I see causes but have not gotten to "cures" ...

Still pots to be glazed and fired, pots to be trimmed; but I need to get out of bed and into the studio before the solar gain makes it unbearable. Frost a few nights last week. Planning to go back to QC on Sat - Thanksgiving and a visitor from BC. Yard work needs to be done there - by the Mohawks - if I can get the energy to phone. I am managing to eat well - good soups from the local soup makers!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 27 Sep 23 - 01:47 PM

Dupont:

Robin read the comprehensive treatise I found on APD and was impressed by it - very professional with about 15 pages of references. And no solutions for the loss of comprehension due to exposure to toxins. Yes, people have trouble when there is background noise. I accept that problem. But to fail to comprehend 6 or 8 people, speaking one at a time, whom I know I can understand usually, with no background noise at all and an excellent sound system ??? The only other time this sort of thing happened, I totally understood one speaker and only understood "the" as spoken by the second one. This is not a hearing loss! This might be to do with distortion of sound waves in my brain? I shall continue to check it out with musician/sound engineer friends. I am only gradually recovering from the shock and certainly am not going to pay for a hearing aid on the off chance that this might happen again. !!!! Maybe if I had moved to a different part of the room I would have received the sound waves differently. ???

In the meantime, I am trying to recover a semblance of order in the house and yard. The Mohawk team will be along to rescue the yard!! YAY! The house is inch by inch. R has been kind about coming home earlier in the eve (before 9 pm!) so we have time to talk before sleep.

The ficus tree in the den has reached the top of the window so a lower cabinet will be moved to that window and the table it is on can go to that emptied spot. A few cobwebs may be disturbed! More plant movement will be taking place as those on the back porch need to come indoors and a few that did not survive neglect will be removed to the place of dead plants/empty pots...

Bring in the pumpkin, see if there are any sweet potatoes in the garden. And look at improving gardening methods for next year. R prefers the yellow cherry tomatoes to those tomatoes that produced prolifically (black/red which our friends loved). The two large plants I bought did little and died early on: Lots of rain but I believe it hit the profuse leaves and went on the porch rather than into the pot so the plants suffered from lack of water! And I guess the critters ate all the squash flowers - they were beautiful but were gone before having a chance to produce!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Oct 23 - 01:38 PM

Dupont:

Still having mental problems due to APD crisis. Brain is not happy. Composing, in my head, missives to the DR. and to the misguided woman who told me repeatedly that I needed a hearing aid and that hearing loss is a precursor of Alzheimers - just the right thing to tell someone who is already terrifically upset. Found another article on APD - NOT a hearing problem - but R has not yet read it and my brain loses the thread after a few minutes. The bottom line seems to be - no help for what happened to me. I still think about sound engineers - the way the sound waves affect my brain...? I still feel fragile with no idea how it could happen. Of course, the only "solution" is to accept ... Would it be worth a PET Scan to find out what is wrong in the brain?

Went to "the music" last night and really enjoyed it. Sound system worked fine. Just the usual APD issue of not understanding due to mixture of words and instruments. Nice to see people, after a while...

Making an effort to clear some of the first floor of books, etc. Mostly R's and he started off well this morning... The omelet is not yet made and he has disappeared. The day is ... still light!

I got tired of fighting with the sheet/quilt/weighted blanket so I left the sheet off last night. Spent the night fighting for a piece of the quilt - cold feet. ...???

R is back at it and things are going to the basement/cellar - somewhere else!! Out of sight!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 10 Oct 23 - 11:05 AM

Dupont:

house guest from BC for a few days as he visits with QC friends. Then hs is off to NC - near Raleigh for a longer visit to his "home turf" A war resistor, he has lived in Canada for 45 years but likes to go back to the known weather and accents of his childhood. A quiet guest but needy re how to get places. R took him to the city today and we can only hope he will find his way, via the bus system, back this aft. Or I can fetch him from a bus stop not to far away. Surely he will make it across the River! Tomorrow he goes away for a couple days; back to attend at Yellow Door Friday eve. He has heard about - through me - for 45 years but never been there. I alerted Marc, who now keeps it open on Friday eves. Hope a few people show up! His FB page is not very helpful, starting out with something about August!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 10 Oct 23 - 11:55 AM

Dupont:

Brain fog!!

Thinking of Charmion and her stop in Gettysburg! (blech!) Paul will be stopping in Harrisburg on way to NC. He may find a couch; he is connected with at least one of those sorts of sites for traveling from home to home/ couch to couch? - I guess it is. He drove here from BC, stopping to visit on the way. I suspect he has developed a network of possibles over the years. R and I have used airbnb a few times with good results.

Books are mostly in the basement Library now. Hallway still has a surfeit of objects that need to be re-homed. BUT R spent the weekend closing holes in the attic to, hopefully, keep out bats and squirrels, and closed the hatch to keep in our heat! Not turning on furnace yet but keeping minimal heat in the areas we use - Den, BR and the Kitchen- use helps provide part of that.

Made a huge Thanksgiving dinner (on Sunday) for the 3 of us. And we enjoyed it - for two days so far! 16 pound turkey was overkill but a big chunk will go into freezer after Paul leaves; he puts away a great deal of food!! - Long, lean and only 71. In the meantime - every day is Thanksgiving!

We have had lovely pastries from the bakery in southern QC. I boo-booed and went down on Weds - "only Thurs, Fri, Sat" declared the lovely young clerk! So I went back on Friday, bought lots of yummies, had lunch with Geri, and took photos of the kiln I am selling - she says "yes" and we need to arrange a pick up time. SOON! With the weather in mind.

And yesterday!!!!! R spent most of the day removing offensive floor boards in den - they had buckled and were a hazard. Removed and all crud removed, tediously!, from each one, they now lay flat - only need to be battened down. I will suggest glue. These are 100 years old - maple, I think. R seemed to go into a meditative state doing this - to most people - tedious task! A terrific sense of accomplishment. And I can cross the room (the buckle was right in the middle!) without fearing a fall.

NOW, I would like a load of firewood! Before heavy winter!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Oct 23 - 05:18 PM

Dupont:

With some help from friends, I am over the shock phase and re-joining life. I felt like getting up this am and cooked BF for R and self then went off to cross the bridge to the city! An email to the grocer from which I have been purchasing a particular choc bar/with almonds, elicited info that they were de-listing it! So I went to the nearest of their shops (no one else carries it) and found 4 bars.

Then went to customer Service to find if there were any more. The candy person came out and told me "no but they would get more tomorrow!" I, then, wandered around this large, well, arranged store to see if there was anything else I wanted - yep! real oat flakes! Bought one each of two brands! Looked for pumpernickel bread but none better than what I order... BUT - over there, on a shelf with non-related foods, were five more of the choc bars! So a few weeks supply came home. I shall keep foraging; Go back. on Friday for more. AND maybe they will keep stocking them!

It was fun exploring a well-stocked - kind of - store. So I went to a dept store (Hudson Bay) and looked at sale clothes. The only thing at a kind of reasonable price, still cost more than the total cost of my attire. (All from thrift shops.) I left without bags. thought: If you buy stuff do you need your own bag? I would, of course, refuse a bag and just roll it up and throw it in the car.

That was enough exploring so I came home for lunch and emails and mudcat and exploring sites re APD and the brain. MIT is doing some interesting work.

A musician friend responded to my concern with one of his own: "the entire process of music and hearing is a scary mystery. when I have my headphones on (to help me cocoon and sleep) and I play guitar (to learn the feel of the instrument and of the vibrations in my chest) I am aware that my pitch awareness is radically diminished. everything sounds higher (or is it lower) than it actually is. certain frequency ranges affected more than others. the brain is a fragile and magnificent thing. get your hearing checked!"

I am not concerned about my hearing; I am concerned about the brain waves - where they go or don't go; how they work or do not work. The work at MIT ... Lots of people have these problems and the neuro-scientists seem to be starting to get a handle on them. I look at how shut out I have felt for 20 years and - How many other people? And what this does to our social fabric? How much of the violence is by people who feel isolated???

Robin took our guest to the Laurentiens yesterday thinking he would check on a property up there but he did not have the right key so he had a great day visiting Paul's friend who lives off the grid in a very impressive manner. All that fresh air brought him home early and asleep early!

Tomorrow we are going to the Yellow Door. I did not realize that Paul has been hearing about it 45 years but never been. Hope there are enough people in attendance...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 Oct 23 - 06:20 PM

Dupont:

Turned the corner yesterday: No more shock, no more concern for the "why" now that I realize MIT is working on it. Several sites for info have turned up; need to spend some time reading before my eyes/brain tire each day.

I have had my hearing "tested" 3 times in different places. The "audiologists" are in the business of selling hearing aids and each tells me "slight hearing loss". I hear quite adequately; can hear a whisper with no trouble in a quiet room. This business of not being able to discriminate words with background disturbance, is common. It sells lots of hearing aids and some people tell me it helps - in noisy venues.

I do not want louder. Definitely do not! But not being able to discriminate words on TV/movies or with too much background noise is, I now realize, very common, even amongst people with no recognized brain disorder. Hence, I feel less alone and, while I would like answers, if MIT does not have answers yet, I will wait in hope - for myself and the thousands of others thus afflicted.

I will check with a friend in Bancroft who just might know if anyone else has had this not-understanding-anything problem with sound systems he knows.

I have decided I need more fun in my life so took myself back down to the bakery, where I encountered a wonderful older couple and we had a great conversation on this lovely fall day. I chose to take different routes from the usual and enjoyed an almost hour drive on empty tree lined roads, each way, thinking about other routes, and places I could visit another day.

Tomorrow I have an appointment to pass a kiln along to a new person. I will meet her at the mill and, we, including her husband, will hopefully, load kiln and its furniture into her vehicle. This is a big de-clutter. There are a couple really old kilns there that I need to offer on line - when I can clear enough space to get photos and other info. I will be down to taking anything needing to be fired to Beaver. Not making much so...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Oct 23 - 11:01 PM

Dupont:

Nice to hear that I am in good company! Surprising to find that lots of people only cope with closed captions. Now if I could just get R to realize he needs to "look at me when you talk to me!"

R saw a friend with a $7000 "hearing device" changing settings on it; it can change all sorts of things - may even wash the dishes! I have enough trouble with my non-smart phone! Character in current novel commented that "the sound system was garbled". Amazing the comments we notice when they suddenly have relevance.

I am still processing what I would like to say to "that woman"; seem to have left her card in my jacket that I left at Beaver. I do want to make the effort to explain the difference between "hearing loss" and APD, as well as the extreme un-helpfulness of insisting to someone who is terrifically upset that they have a hearing loss which could lead to Alzheimer's! Reviewing tha manner in which she spoke to me - details - I wonder if I might have written something in the newspaper (in the 90's) which annoyed her; her attitude was more punitive than helpful.

I have been getting out more though mostly just exploratory shopping expeditions: found some nice socks down the road a ways (two towns down) and went into a drug store never visited - even though it is immediately adjacent to oft visited supermarket! Needed eye drops and found a much wanted pair of slippers on sale.

Taking extra MSM/GS to de-clutter pain in shoulders. Definitely works - when I remember! Cannot find the eye drops I bought yesterday but choc helps reduce the sporadic blurring. I'll look again tomorrow.

Also need to re-organize hall closet in hopes of finding N-95 masks; need to wear to go to mill. Woman for kiln cancelled last Sunday as both young sons had flu. Hoping we will meet this Sunday. This is a big de-clutter event!

Organizing the hall closet will also be prep for trip back to Beaver on 28th. The laundry I bring here, and etc.

Appointment to get tires changed on 1 November. Ordered a choc pie from bakery for tomorrow - a nice trip and possible visit.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Oct 23 - 11:26 AM

Dupont:

Raining and very gray! Computering and trying to get to something useful - --- Actually a good day for a hot bath and back to bed with a book seems like a good plan. Seriously. The ones taken have used huge amounts of time but also helped the energy and achy body.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 04:10 PM

Just my own observation:
I recently attended a concert including a string quartet,
which means chamber music.
All four players had tablets, not scores,
on their music stands,
and they had those little things you click with one foot
in order to turn the page.
This was a thing I had not before seen in chamber music.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 03:42 PM

All Dorothy's pear tree needs now, is a partridge . . .

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Sep 23 - 11:17 AM

"Meatloaf position"! I love it!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Oct 23 - 06:32 PM

I gave up on movies in cinema theaters years ago,
largely because of the sound systems and how I couldn't understand anything I heard.

When a film is broadcast on television,
I have no problem understanding dialogue and speech.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Aug 23 - 02:34 AM

Our village is having an event on 9th September called The Lyng Fling. (Village is called Lyng). It includes several activities including selling your unwanted 'clutter', which interests me. (A bit like a car-boot sale, but on the Village Hall field, with tables provided)
We have some stuff we could sell, including lots of clothes that no longer fit. Husband is fatter now, and I've lost weight. We have a portable clothes rail to display the clothes on, so we could probably sell the lot. Or maybe we could swap our clothes hee hee! I could wear all his sporty football tops and he could wear my capacious flowery summer trousers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Senoufou
Date: 18 Oct 23 - 03:40 AM

We've just noticed that a nearby village holds a big car-boot sale every single Sunday afternoon on a small field. This seems to me a very good idea. Because it's now well-known, they get lots of customers, and people can dispose of their surplus stuff without having to 'dump' it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 17 Oct 23 - 09:11 AM

Keep in mind, Charmion, that ships can also challenge one's immune system.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 17 Oct 23 - 07:09 PM

Stilly, from the donor's point of view, you're often happy to see them off.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 08:45 PM

Neil-across-the-street gave me some home-made sauerkraut the other day, so supper was that, with a large pork sausage. Urp.

Funny; only a few years ago, I would have eaten two of those sausages without hardly drawing breath, but tonight one was more than enough. The sauerkraut was excellent. I hope Neil includes me in next year’s distribution!

We should finally get our first frost tonight.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Oct 23 - 04:51 PM

I am finally recovering from the sinus affliction that has been bothering me since ragweed season opened in August. It's really quite shocking how a persistent discomfort in the head that renders me dizzy, queasy and tired, can erode my general joie de vivre. For the last week, I have been dizzy and queasy enough that just looking at the computer is miserable and God forbid I should do anything more challenging than washing the dishes.

The up side? Lots of time in the comfy chair, providing lap accommodation for both cats.

Getting to see the doctor on short notice is something of a trial these days. The practice does not advertise it, but it runs a so-called after-hours clinic, essentially sick parade for clients of the practice who should not wait two weeks for an appointment but also should not clutter up the emergency ward at the hospital. Each day, one of the doctors in the practice works that extra shift. Patients with an urgent-ish problem -- defined by me as an illness that requires prescription medication today, not two weeks from now -- must book, of course; God forbid one should just, y'know, walk in with one's miserable hacking cough. The after-hours clinic phone number is not posted anywhere in the office; if the receptionist takes pity on you, she might let it drop when you have been sufficiently reduced to desperate pleading for an appointment. Of course, you must wait until five o'clock to call for a clinic spot ... It's enough to make one slam down the phone in tears of frustration.

Once nose to nose with the doctor, all goes well. She listens carefully, takes notes, asks intelligent questions, briskly proposes an appropriate treatment, and then offers me a buckshee flu shot. The hard part is the obstacle course that always comes first.

It's raining in Stratford this week and looking more and more pre-winter-ish, but it's still oddly warm. We had one touch of frost on Monday, but today's high was 20C -- more like Germany than Ontario.

The hydro power fails here frequently, but rarely for more than a minute or two. I'll find the clock on the stove flashing 00:00 in the morning when I put the kettle on. It happens often enough that I don't bother resetting the clock on the microwave, which works just fine without it. The stove is less cooperative.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Oct 23 - 04:07 PM

First forecast of flurries today, but so far only rain. It's chilly and raw, and the trees have dropped more than half their leaves. After so much unseasonably warm weather, it's a bit of a surprise but oddly reassuring to be putting on a warmth layer under the waterproofs.

No more decluttering here at the moment except for another outward bound bag of clothing that I will never wear again. I'm considering the purchase of blinds for the music room and adapting the heavy curtains that I bought for it when it was a bedroom so they can hang from a sturdy wooden or metal rod, leaving the top of the centre windows -- a big ornamental transom -- uncovered. I suspect that project will cost a whack, but then so did the curtains. That room also still needs painting; it's the one with the puce-and-aubergine colour scheme.

A friend came over for supper last night. Watson the cat put on a tremendous display of lap-lolling and shoulder-climbing between courses, purring loudly and generally making the occasion all about *him*. My friend (a dog person) was impressed by this behaviour, unaware that most of it was designed to persuade me to undertake our usual evening routine in the comfy chair in front of the telly. Cats are so normative.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Nov 23 - 11:08 PM

I spent possibly the last shirtsleeves day of the year raking and bagging leaves, and cutting back perennials. Except the rose bush, which decided to start blooming again just before Thanksgiving. Gorgeous day, but by late afternoon the wind was accelerating and the sky had gone grey. The next week is supposed to be wet and chilly.

Stilly, you’ve reminded me that it’s time to have the wheels changed on the car. I’ve been remembering and forgetting to do that for at least a month now, but it’s time — we had our first sprinkle of snow on Wednesday.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Nov 23 - 08:41 AM

I had my sixth anti-COVID shot yesterday at the drug store, and I have to say that hypodermic injection technique has really improved around here over the last few years. The pharmacist who did the honours sneaked that needle into and out of my skin with such skill that I felt only the faint sting of the serum as it elbowed its way into the muscle tissue.

Practice makes perfect, I guess.

All Souls’ Day is 2 November, and St James’s had its annual memorial service last night. The congregation was unusually focussed, and for the first time I saw a bunch of Anglicans enter into that special Zen state that develops from fully united, and invested, group singing. The hymn was “Abide With Me”. In the throes of the last stanza, I saw why hymn-singing is so critical to Christian worship — they were experiencing genuine uplift.

Meanwhile, I was carrying the alto line and concentrating on not coughing. It’s leaf-mould season.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 23 - 03:24 PM

It’s sleeting in Stratford — winter’s first blast. Nasty.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 23 - 10:43 PM

Thunder and lightning now. A Perth County Particular with ice rain. So glad I’m tucked up under two cats.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Nov 23 - 04:41 PM

The paint stick is my favourite bookcase shim, Stilly. My library/music room contains seven bookcases, all but one shimmed with a paint stick (the four-litre length) in the middle of the front bottom edge. I'm not sure it's possible to keep house without a basket of shims and a bouquet of paint sticks.

I can't imagine housing and maintaining so much legacy computer hardware, but then I'm not only a neat freak but also allergic to extra anything except, perhaps, Wedgwood bone china. Instead of several printers, I have a plethora of coffee cups and no fewer than six teapots.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Nov 23 - 10:37 AM

Good on you Maggie. Jiffy Oil Change has the same BS rigamarole.
I'm back from the market and now I will mulch mow the rest of the leaves and do other yard projects today. I don't use any barrels anymore since it drowned a chipmunk.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Nov 23 - 04:40 PM

I have an undecorated 7-foot-tall Christmas tree in the living room, but its a sword fern topped by a Boston fern. Maybe the real Christmas tree will go in the kitchen this year.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Nov 23 - 04:57 PM

I am big on chicken stews. I add a bit of vinegar, lots of Mumbo sauce and a couple of tablespoons of diced pineapple. Instant spicy sweet and sour. Plus egg noodles for the carb addicts.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Oct 23 - 10:55 AM

Three and a half pints of Italian style tomato sauce are in the freezer and the house still smells good from all of that cooking.

It got too hot too early to do the yard work, but I'll head out in a few minutes for some of that. Next week is forecast to be cooler and rainy. There's something about washing the car and bringing on rain, (if I worked I'd wash it weekly), but I do need to wash it (especially to wash the windows inside). I also need to take it in to have the oil changed and they will run it through the car wash free, so win/win if I make an appointment this week. Recycling needs to be dropped off recycling at the village bins and then I should vacuum the SUV insides. I'm considering swapping for a truck later this year, but only if this is clean and ready so I can get top dollar. And if I find a used truck with only a few miles so it has a long life. At this point it is a question of if an extended cab truck has enough bed room to make it worth the swap or if I can fit more long stuff in the SUV.

Before heading out to work I have a favorite pair of jeans with a rip under the back pocket that needs mending. I bought them used at a thrift store so I don't know where they were before, but it is unusual that mending under both back pockets has been needed. They're my yard pants, but in case I need to go somewhere during the course of a project, the holes need fixing. I've already had the experience of ripped pants in Home Depot; not something I wish to repeat.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Oct 23 - 02:40 PM

As we get older the size of meals we eat has to shrink unless we are content to expand. I've been tracking my calcium intake for years using MyFitnessPal and have my daily calorie intake set at 1200. It doesn't take much to meet that level.

Drizzle today, and when it lets up I plan to dig an area to plant garlic for next year (it is planted in the fall for harvest around April-May). I'll be using the mattock to clear off the weeds on the surface since it was all dug very efficiently last year and again for planting in the spring. Garlic kept in a cool dry place can last for a really long time so some of these bulbs to plant go back two or three years and are still viable.

The fridge is more orderly as I continue to downsize some containers and finish the contents of others. I'm not sure how I manage to occasionally end up with the fridge stuffed full of mostly produce but it had happened recently. My eyes are larger than my crisper bins when I shop bargains at the discount grocery.

I've learned a lot in the last few days as I practice sewing scraps together for assembling a "crumb block" for quilting. I'm figuring out how to make sure there aren't gaps or overly large pieces in the blocks. There's a lot of trimming and reattaching. This is the getting-my-feet-wet part of learning a new activity. As I work I've listened to a 1961 murder mystery by Lawrence Block; I find myself second guessing what were legitimate clues in 1961 compared to what I know about forensics today (as much as the viewer of police procedurals and dramadeys like Bones can reasonably assume is accurate - even if it all happens in "TV time.") I'm mulling a red herring as I get to the last 90 minutes of the book.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Oct 23 - 11:49 AM

Over on Facebook we're reading about Bat Goddess's struggle to replace a dead refrigerator/freezer, emptying the old one and preparing for the removal and new delivery later this week. That means a removal of things in the path to the door. It was a relief to finally get my new upright freezer when the old one (50 years) started to fail; it may have been my fault because I hadn't vacuumed under it and the compressor may simply have needed the dog hair removed, but at that age I always worried it might fail.

After a wonderful rainy night I'll let the grass dry enough to mow the back. Meanwhile, I'm killing time waiting till the recycle bins behind city hall are emptied today after driving past on Sunday and finding them stuffed full. Then I'll clean the SUV and stuff the any back seat cloth shopping bags into a couple of the largest bags and move out some of the summer survival materials (extra bottles of water, mostly). It may be time to take the folding chairs out of the vehicle as well, I haven't needed them for a long time, but they bring back memories of enabling tailgate visits with my daughter and friends during the 2020 COVID shutdown.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Oct 23 - 11:22 PM

A day of mostly rain, and a reminder that the next clear day I have to finish a few outdoor repairs while the temperatures are mild.

The buildup of papers needing filing has been cut in half, and I think it's time to start a spreadsheet to keep track of some of these donation requests. Donate once a year and they send out reminders for your renewal way before that year is up. The running list in a bullet journal isn't enough for keeping track.

This afternoon I got the RSV vaccination and was reminded that there are others I should look up. I don't remember when my last tetanus shot was, meaning it is probably due again. The pharmacist says 7 to 10 years. While at the pharmacy I disposed of the decade-old bottle of Rx cough syrup in their handy disposal bin.

I'm not drinking caffeine any more so the cup of decaf tea in the morning is just habit, but once it is in hand I sit down at the computer to check in on the world. I need to shift my morning routine and after feeding the dogs do my exercises, then get the tea.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Oct 23 - 05:03 PM

Some peaches purchased recently weren't ripening well as they aged so after using the apple peeler on them they were cut up and simmered with peach cobbler stuff and are now in the oven. It'll be good that way, if not the way I've eaten peaches and nectarines all summer (with yogurt and granola on top).

Filing has continued and a lot has gone through the shredder. Since getting rid of the extra filing cabinet it all goes in the large plastic hanging file (the one to grab if the house is flooding or burning down), but some of that can be shifted over to one of the remaining files. Or I'll just stop saving statements (I get a few bills via email, but not all of them. I want paper copies of some things.)

Outside I'm preparing to move a rain barrel that I haven't used much and is in the way of a siding repair. I started emptying it with a little battery operated transfer pump and when it's low enough then I can tip it on it's side and empty the rest. A 55-gallon barrel is too heavy to tip full without smashing things around it or hurting myself.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Oct 23 - 10:46 PM

It sounds like a good choice, Dorothy. That conversation to text feature or app was demonstrated recently by Senator Fetterman of Pennsylvania; since his stroke he has trouble with hearing in certain spaces or with background noise.

John Fetterman addresses using closed captioning on campaign trail after stroke

John Fetterman is using 'assistive technology' in the Senate as he continues to struggle with auditory processing issues after his stroke - the Daily Mail also has "REVEALED" in the headline, as if this is a shocking detail. It makes perfect sense he would do this.

I saw something within the last week about this but I'm not finding that recent story right now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Oct 23 - 11:39 AM

Good tips, John. I get their name, but it doesn't always occur to me to give them my number right away. I don't talk to Apple tech support (I'm an Android and Windows user) but there are enough times I have to call for appointments, etc., that those are just good things to do when calling a help line.

Rain rain rain last night; the creek stayed in its banks but someone up the street apparently lost a tree over power lines. I'm sitting at my kitchen table with a power line from the next door generator (they bought one a while back and didn't realize how much capacity it had until the big freeze of 2021, so now if the power is expected to be out for more than a few hours, they have me run my long power cable over.) The electric kettle and the small fridge next to kitchen table are plugged in. I opened the big fridge once and will leave it closed the rest of the day, and won't touch the big freezer. Since the computer and Wifi are all off I'm for the first time using my phone to be a tethered (Bluetooth) device to my tablet. I have a little Anker Bluetooth keyboard also in use and can reach the outside world. Data will be higher on the phone plan this month. (The tablet doesn't have adblock so Mudcat is a busy place with all of the Google ads - I will research this when the power is back and see if I can add something to this tablet browser.) We expect power to be restored by dinnertime. If not, I'll move things around and plug in the big fridge and the freezer.

Many people upgraded their emergency setup after that outage and freeze. I have a propane stove I can use (or I can plug the microwave into the power strip) for dinner, and I have a portable power device the size of a modest toaster oven for everything from jumping the SUV battery to running a lamp, radio, and charging USB devices. The phone is plugged into that as I work. I carry a 6700 mAh power pack in my handbag, good for several phone or tablet charges. I've always tried to be prepared for emergencies (years ago I took a mountaineering class and they taught about the 10 essentials - the gear that would keep you safe in an emergency. I still apply those skills to life in general). When I lived in NY City I carried a pack back and forth to work so if the power went out in the subway I had a book to read, a water bottle, and a flashlight; I made use of them several times. These days it depends on charging small computers everywhere. I'm leaving in a little while and will have to disconnect the garage door opener so I can lift the door by myself, then reconnect it for when the power returns. I guess the test when I get back home is if the door opens or not when I push the button on the remote control.

With the power distractions this morning I missed getting trash to the curb in time; it is full of the shreds from sorting and filing that I finished yesterday. I fear my rain barrel has refilled itself with the several inches of rain overnight, but my work clearing the area in the side bed where I'll plant garlic won't have been undone by the weather. I'm not opening the fridge again, that delicious peach cobbler will have to wait until dinner (it can be a great breakfast). Tonight I start a long weekend of cat sitting for my friend and at least I won't have to worry about watering her potted plants. She has caterpillars in an enclosure on her porch and I have rue and dill growing here if I need to replenish their food supply. Word salad to finish this post (where there is an autocorrect setting I have to adjust in my MS SwiftKey app - it's being bossy this morning.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 23 - 11:43 PM

Dorothy, I hope you were able to conclude your data transfer issues and get a phone set up at Apple. I have a friend who visits regularly (she's planning her 90th birthday party for next May and may stay here or do a party at my house) who has on occasion needed to be taken to the Apple Store for some technical problem. There is a Jack In the Box restaurant nearby where I go wait while they tussle with her phone and tablet.

As an Android user, I think I found enough things to turn off in my Samsung tablet to stop the battery from draining too quickly. When I first started using it the battery strength was stunning, and I'm sure the various apps and Samsung proprietary programs as they were turned on became too active for my taste. I don't need it to check in with the Mothership as often as it has been doing.

The backyard lawn nearest the house got a mow today, so the rain in the next couple of days won't make going out a problem for the oldest dog. He's a Lab, he doesn't really care, what he likes is to be towel dried when he comes back in, but I want that area to be inviting and easy to walk through. We're already getting weather alerts about rain passing through the region tonight.

Today I received an email from the congressman who represents my district, and it included a letter that was never actually mailed to me on Sept. 25. It offers answers to everything I've had questions about a pension I get a portion of. Who knows how long I would have waited for this answer if I didn't ask for help. #MischiefManaged

Today I've made appointments for various things; my mammogram, the SUV oil change, and for the girls to get their shots and checkups at the vet. The dogs all got their heartworm medication (once a month) today. I inspected the garden today and am ready to protect it if we get cold weather (possibly on Monday through Wednesday in the overnight hours). My tarps are ready.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Oct 23 - 09:21 PM

When I do the cat sitting one of the runs is simply to give a cat medication that must be taken at least an hour before or after food with his other medications. So today I went up late and gave him the medication then spent an hour doing my Essentrics exercises before feeding all of them dinner. Having a set time and nothing else to do does help me stay on task for the exercises.

We have a couple of days of rain ahead, so after tomorrow's cat run I'll be at home and perhaps I'll finally start doing some of the projects in the sewing studio. I may do another hour of exercises - I find them helpful for increased flexibility.

My daughter and her wife and their roommates are finishing a move to a new property, and if I play my cards right, I can give them any number of things from here that will be helpful in their new rural home. Not just plants for the garden, but extra gardening tools (and if it were helpful, at some point they could dismantle and move the greenhouse - especially if I ever think about moving from here).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Oct 23 - 07:57 PM

Essential shopping today on a cold damp day that followed a day that was very warm and humid. The heat is on/the heat is off. That's autumn in Texas. When I made the bed today I added a quilt to the sheet and thermal blanket. The layering begins.

In the yard this week I'll put down the floating row cover that keeps the plants underneath a few degrees warmer on those nights that just dip to freezing. Tuesday and Wednesday look like the nights that could clobber my garden.

Vacuuming, sweeping, dusting, and laundry today. Making the indoors more welcoming as the outside becomes surly. Rain is forecast for all night so I'll wait till morning and leave the trash bag at the curb. The bag out overnight could be torn by dogs or raccoons.

Time to start getting out the warmer dog beds, but also time to once again try to keep Cookie from tearing them to pieces.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Oct 23 - 11:33 AM

Today I'll shift contents of the greenhouse, get the water barrel filled and the heater in place and seal the doorway on the north end, then move in two volunteer tomato plants and my small Texas Star Hibiscus in pots. The hibiscus is usually grown in the ground but with the heat this summer I started some in pots. They didn't grow huge or bloom but they did grow. I may also see if I can pot a couple of smaller things for the winter. Peppers. In the front yard it is usually sufficient to pull pots from that patio onto the porch to protect them. I'll take the battery trimmer out to the veggie garden and get the grass out of the way of some of the other crops then put down the floating row cover for the overnight hours for Tuesday and Wednesday nights (holding it down with a combination of pegs and bricks.)

My across the street neighbor has been taken to the hospital in an ambulance this morning. I was going to take over some fried eggplant for her soon (I just picked one and have a couple more almost ready to pick.) Her husband is at home so I'll make the whole eggplant parmesan dish and take it (I'm careful adding too many ingredients for her because of the past episodes of diverticulitis.)

I haven't turned on the heat yet but we're close to that event. The quilt on the bed and the ceiling heater in the bathroom for my shower last night are enough so far. Can I make it to November 1? That would probably be a new record.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Oct 23 - 12:05 PM

What the heck. Beat our post counters. 1000.

I've just scrolled through the Mudcat dropdown menus looking to any that are defunct due to the current disk error problems Max is working on. It was an interesting look at the early days of Mudcat, if anyone has a few minutes to take a look.

Making headway around the house this morning with laundry washed and dried and veggies steamed for the dogs and me for the next couple of days (broccoli). The Lab turned his nose up at raw zucchini, but I have a bet with myself that he'll still eat it cooked, so I'll steam some of that later today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 23 - 01:23 PM

Today is the official last day of my PO box rental; this post office building was constructed in 2000 and I was probably one of the earliest customers. I'll miss having to run over every so often and pry contents out of the next-to-smallest box - NOT. When the annual rent increased to $248I began the already described transition to the mail at home in a locking box. The PO address mail will now forward for 18 months (I paid for an extra 6 months just for the heck of it.) I'll think of a suitable ceremony. Maybe I'll apply the sticky numbers that came with it to the box, but it is mounted under the house numbers in view on the porch.

The heat is officially on in the house. This morning was just too chilly to sit in my office when it showed 62^o in here. I'm puttering around, swapping sandals for slippers, setting out a few lap quilts, and turning off switches for dusk-to-dawn lights that would possibly invite trick-or-treaters to the house.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 23 - 07:20 PM

The pot Thompson describes is a product from a company that also produces the Neti pots. This is the one I use. I usually do use tap water, but I see from WebMD that I should be using the water that was already boiled and cooled from my electric kettle. Warm in the microwave if it needs it. They're easy to wash, and easy to use once you are accustomed to it. I use about 1 teaspoon of a mix of Pickling salt (no additives) and baking soda. A bit more salt to soda in that mix, maybe 60/40%.

This is a post for reflecting on the controlled movement of water. I also finally emptied the rain barrel (it has two holes in the top, nowhere else) by taking a 10' hose, pushing it all the way to the bottom, then a bucket of water and a pitcher to pour water into the other end held high enough to build up good suction when it was laid down on the lawn. The siphon got down to the last couple of inches in a 55 gallon barrel. For tonight it is lying on its side in an inconspicuous area and tomorrow I'll put it in the backyard. It's close enough to twilight that parents with tiny trick or treaters will be hitting the street on this mild clear evening. I don't want to be out front in view, having to decline offering treats. That said, I've always liked this particular cartoon, being another Margaret. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 23 - 10:59 PM

Different antibiotics are used for various treatments so your low dose for cellulitis isn't what would be used if a sinus infection took hold. Infections aren't caused by viruses, they are bacterial, or are a bacterial side effect of a virus. What treats bronchitis probably isn't what will treat cellulitis.

I fought off sinus infection and bronchitis for a week or more after the recent head cold by using guaifenesin and the neti pot to keep the congestion from building up too much and causing an infection.

After the work to put the floating row cover over my plants I don't think it actually froze last night. It did the night before, enough to knock out really tender stuff, so what I covered were the larger plants (eggplant, pepper, tomato) that I want to harvest later this fall. The hit or miss effect of the almost-freeze two nights ago is kind of interesting, what got hit and what didn't.