DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 23 - 11:42 AM

My list of seasonal chores is growing. One regular thing I didn't do today is put out the trash because there simply wasn't enough to bother with, but I hope by Thursday to have a bag full of items discarded from the greenhouse workbench. One of the signs of spring is when local people share on Instagram their pots of soil for planting from seed; it's too early to plant outside for at least two months, but I can start a seeds-in-pots planting station. There is a garden cart in the sunroom, right now heaped with plastic containers and oddball things I should have sorted or discarded. To have space to work on the bench I first need to finish wrapping up the holiday lights . . . this is the "work backwards until you can do what you set out to do" method.

Before planting bedding plants it will be time to plant potatoes (late January) so I'll finish hauling away the pile of dead stuff from last year's garden. Okra makes quite a large pile if dry thick stems and potatoes tend to do well in the corner where I've stacked that stuff. I'm glad I finally fixed the gate next to the garden making the moving of it all easier.

Today is a bank and post office holiday in the US, but most businesses will operate normal hours. I ended up not going to the gym yesterday because I didn't have any other places I needed to go; today I have a short list that will satisfy my eco-goal to make each trip efficient. Go early enough and it might not be full with the new January members.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jan 23 - 06:04 PM

I used a long orange heavy duty extension cord in the master bath to calculate the length of a needed extension cord, routing it along the path from the wall plug to near the new bidet. I'll get a 15' black one to run down the wall, along under the sink cabinet, and back up the other side next to the commode. I settled on a simple black extension 3-prong cord that will be plugged into the plug on the far wall and won't need a surge protector because of the GFCI wall plug. When I get to the point of having the electrician in for my growing list of electrical projects, I'll have him run a line to put a plug in beside the commode.

I could stand to have both bathrooms updated with new cabinets and flooring, but they work as they are so will stay this way for now. I look forward to hearing about the work on Charmion's bathroom.

Dorothy, did you and R sell that house you had for years in Montreal? It sounded like it was in a great neighborhood (I think you posted a link to the Zillow page for it once) but it had floors that were ready to fall through and needed a lot of work and cleanup.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 15 Jan 23 - 01:51 PM

I started as a kid making landscapes that changed color every 5 degrees of motorized rotation. It was Paintings and sculptures until 20 years ago I prolifically decorated violins and cellos. Since then I went digital, ink cartoons and now stone. I have only kept about a dozen odds and ends and have never had any support or marketing since its a personal hobby. If its different its worth doing for me. My ancestors were probably cave painters.

Took down the tree and decorations today. This marks no more carbs till May. Also marks the start of Spring cleaning.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jan 23 - 01:02 PM

Keb, the easiest way to solve that mystery is to have the new key made. When you go to put it in a safe place, that's where the other one will be. It works *every* time - buy the replacement and the absentee item turns up.

So Mrrzy's drawers don't close? Then the job isn't finished. Did you consider hanging any of the drawer items in the closet? If you're not going to thin them out (do you really wear every one of those garments? Aren't there a few you pass by every time you look in the drawer?)

My hall closet is better these days; it used to be that I could open the door, stuff something straight into the dense collection of jackets, and it would stay there without a hanger, not falling to the floor. Try to remove something and the garments on either side also exited the closet. A while back I cleared out a few things that I wanted to keep but I don't personally wear. They're the extra jackets and sweaters kept in case a visitor to the house needs one. That has happened enough times that I keep these spares, but they are now in the guest room closet.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Jan 23 - 12:49 PM

I've lost a key. Wish I could declutter it. Looked everywhere for it.
My room has a lockbox for prescription medications.
That's the key that has gone missing, an old-fashioned metal key.
The nurses' station managed to get my locked meds box opened,
and now I have to leave it unlocked.
And I will probably have to pay to have a new key cut,
as I really don't know where that key went to.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Jan 23 - 12:24 PM

Oh, I didn't say they opened again...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jan 23 - 11:01 AM

Don, how much art do you make, and is this for your personal use or for sale? My art these days still is largely the sewing of masks (I gave two new ones to a friend who was here yesterday - she still wears them religiously in public buildings, as do I.) The art in this case was choosing a new fabric color and pattern and combining the t-shirt yarn ties and a couple of colored hard acrylic beads for the adjustable ear loops.

Yesterday my mask friend from above came over with a stack of old aluminum crutches picked up at Goodwill; she has Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), is 4'3", and children's crutches aren't robust enough. Her husband used to cut down adult crutches for her, but he has a form of dementia making that work impossible, so she explained her requirements and we attacked the spare crutches (one of the current ones has a broken plastic underarm piece). We got one cobbled together by shortening an adjustable part and it involved the reciprocating saw, but that isn't easy and doesn't cut completely straight. Also that tube was molded in an oblong shape, but she had a couple of other crutches that have round adjustable tubes and it dawned on my last night to get out the little pipe cutter I've used on copper pipes. I'll be making another pair of crutches for her this week for backup and replacement crutches will become a feature of my Goodwill shopping. #ItTakesAVillage

At Goodwill last week I examined a Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) battery backup unit that was probably donated because the batteries inside need replacing. For $15 and $50 in batteries I would have a working unit and I considered buying it to use as a backup in the main part of the house for power outages (for phones and tablets and a small light). But until I replace the batteries in the hall UPS that keeps the router and modem running during a power outage there is no point in buying another. Fix what I already have first.

Time to make a list of house and garden goals for this year; I noticed the last list on the fridge didn't have things crossed off during the year but I'd managed quite a few.

Today is a fasting day and will feature a trip to the gym. The sugar from the holidays kicked in the addictive sugar-craving that adds weight, and I've about got it out of my routine again. I wonder if I could think of a few bacon-based gifts to give out next year? Or beef jerky treats with a holiday bow in a bright red gift bag? And keep that kind of snack at the house. Trouble is, I enjoy the holiday baking. :-/

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 15 Jan 23 - 10:15 AM

innovation
While Dal-le AI software can create art of every painting description and 3D printer cad cam can carve marble sculptures similar to Bellini it Michaelangelo, I am still creating art that AI can not create.
It is because I am combining sculpture and painting using unusual materials.
The AI database is over 800 million images and is headed way past a billion.
Today we can type a brief description and create a Van Gogh or Rembrandt painting or even animation. Easy come easy go. It may make true handmade art more valuable but diminish the need for graphic artists when good enough is all that is needed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jan 23 - 07:58 AM

Drawers that close! And open again without jamming!

The true basis of household order.

I have decided to rehome the large cooking gear that I never use any more. The giant Instant Pot, the roasting pan big enough for a young emu, the cast-iron skillet that I can barely lift — it’s time to let them go. Must canvass the family …

In other news, we have snow again, but not even enough to sweep off the porch let alone bring out the town plows. If this goes on, we’ll have a drought come spring.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Jan 23 - 06:55 PM

Made it through the rest of the drawers but moved things amongst piles and did not get rid of anything.

But they close, now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jan 23 - 10:51 PM

I weeded a bunch of old calendars out of a shelf in the office closet - I mentioned them to my ex - that it was time to let these go. He suggests taking photos of the pages before recycling. It's all of the appointments the kids had, guitar lessons, field trips, doctor's appointments. I suppose that will work and they won't take up any more space. There are other papers around here to scan or photograph, I could spend a fair amount of time working on all of that.

Papers are coming out of that closet also, and I probably don't need as many file folders as are up there. After the next rain I'll set out the burn barrel to burn old bills and receipts. I bundle them a year at a time; it's time to set up this year's accordion folder and start putting the January printouts and bills in it. They're piling up on top of the printer right now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Jan 23 - 12:32 PM

Well... We moved from London to Cornwall 36 years ago when we had two small children. I had a teaching job in a nearby small town and our children went to the local primary school. Those were our two fast routes into making a new circle of friends. On the other hand, there are lots of stories of retirees buying up cheap homes or chalets in the south of Spain where they'd go for a few months every year (or even to live permanently) to escape the British winter. Many of them find themselves mixing with similar ageing Brit expats only and can feel lonely. There's the language barrier for many and the fact that many locals don't take kindly to incomers who are not Spanish. What's more, many of the lovely summer holiday honeypots almost completely shut down in winter. I always felt that moving to a different area to work may go down a lot better. Careful choices to be made, eh?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 13 Jan 23 - 12:07 PM

Friendships seem to develop with people you spend a lot of time with, work being a big one of those, or have common interests/pursuits which bring you into regular contact. Of course these situations vary throughout life; you don't stay in the PTA group for your entire lifespan, though you might keep in touch with a few of them.

All I really know is it is easier to pursue friendships in retirement because people have more time for it. The modern middle-ager is locked into work, housework, yardwork, child care, extended family, maybe religion, and usually youth sports. Who can be surprised if their only new friends in adulthood are work friends?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jan 23 - 11:43 AM

Rounding up dishes and running the dishwasher today after the messy process of making a loaf of lemon poppyseed pound cake last night. So much work and splatter to beat all of that butter with everything slowly added. I like it, though I think next time leave out the poppyseeds. They go straight for the gumline, don't they? I followed the instructions in the cookbook the first time and nearly burned out the motor of my ancient handheld egg beater. Another time, use the Kitchenaid stand mixer.

I think I have that out of my system - it was something I wanted to make over the holidays that kept getting postponed. After sampling a slice the rest is in the freezer and will be a lovely dessert when friends come over for lunch.

Also trying to get coconut out of my system. I think something came into the house with the term "natural flavorings" that was actually coconut, I can't figure out where else, but I've had my classic skin breakout after coconut this week. I've gone through the packages of things here and tossed a couple where contents were vague.

Rereading my riff on where we manage to make friends, at work or outside work, I want to add that what I'm always pleased to read here are all of the people over the countryside in two provinces who Dorothy seems to know when she describes her travels. She sets an example of how to be friendly and a good friend and (most importantly) enrich both herself and those people in the process of their conversations, however long, short, or involved it might be. Taking note of the people we meet and the in-person conversations, those are so good for us.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jan 23 - 10:30 PM

Charmion, will they have to build a plastic barrier between the bathroom and the rest of the house, to keep the mold out of the general air circulation? Will it involve connecting with the framework of the house, not just pulling out tile and sheet rock and redoing it? What will be the extent of that remodel?

This weekend a friend is coming over with some aluminum crutches, needing help trimming them down. She has Osteoporosis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease) and needs her crutches to be adult strength (versus lightweight child size) but very short. Her husband is deep into a form of dementia and is no longer able to help her, as he used to do. I'm glad she knows I'm here to help; I have my coping saw and my drill handy. She has remarked several times that it astonishes her that at this point in her life that she is considered the "able-bodied" of the two of them.

This is a friend who retired from the university, though she wasn't a victim of the awful dean as were many of us (she worked in the next building over from me). When I look at the array of friends both inside and outside my old workplace, clearly most of my friends now were met at work. I throw up my hands when the subject of where your friends should be made comes up (work or outside work); ages ago I understood that those people you met outside of work were organically the best friends (why?), but it has been my experience in an educational institution with thousands of employees that you meet people with whom you "click" because of your fields or because of similar interests. I see packs of librarians traveling and partying together; they met at work. If I return to the part of the country where I grew up, the people I know there are adults who were kids I went to high school with. Very few adults from my working life. Does this make sense? I'm questioning the validity of suggesting our friends should come from a particular part of our lives. I'm curious where each of us situates our friends in relation to our jobs or workplaces.

By way of explanation, I know why this has come up. It's in the front of my thoughts because of the departure of the almost-former dean. A psychologist friend today stated adamantly that I (all of us) need to leave the anger at her behavior behind. "Burn her in effigy. Buy a piñata in her shape and destroy it!" Good advice!

Lunch with my daughter and a trip to the gym tomorrow. Pleasant company and then a workout listening to an interesting book. That sounds like a good day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Jan 23 - 07:17 PM

The builder’s estimator came, and this time I just might get my bathroom squared away.

It won’t be cheap … but good service rarely is.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jan 23 - 11:20 AM

Trash is picked up twice a week here and my contribution is usually small because I keep recyclables in a separate bin and take it down to the collection dumpsters at city hall every week or so.

My donation bin is next to the recycle bin and it's filling up, so I think over the weekend I'll be emptying both.

My methods to get more stuff out of here are to sell it, donate it, or throw it away. The eBay activity is started up again and it will feed itself once a few things start selling. Success breeds success.

I've managed to follow-up on some ideas and appointments that were written on bright yellow post-it notes stuck on my computer monitor. I'm leaving in a few minutes for one of those appointments and have only one note left to tend to. It's a new year that had a rocky beginning but I think I can turn it around. Now, to get a mask, put on my earrings (with closing hooks so I don't fling them off accidentally with my mask) and grab my shopping list.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 06:53 PM

Thank goodness for good news about Pepper, Stilly.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 06:21 PM

I could be wrong but I'm not aware that the aspergillus infection is a serious issue here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 06:04 PM

I pulled up my browser history to find the fungus I was discussing: Black rot of onions (Aspergillus niger).

Here is a starting place about corn gluten meal and you can use the Library Topics link to bring up the alphabetical list for things like Hydrogen Peroxide and Compost Tea.

I've just returned from several trips to the back of the back yard with a tarp filled with the pruned Salvia greggii from around the front yard. I took it down completely in three places and left it standing in two others, where it is a good barrier. The cut branches are dropped over an area that was becoming a path along the back - it's private property so we don't need it looking like a path into the woods along the creek. It's 84^o right now, but supposed to cool considerably overnight, so this was a good time to do the job.

I had a call from the vet while I was working–it is good news for Pepper. That mass was a mastitis tumor that flared badly but it wasn't cancerous. If I'd gone in to have her teeth cleaned last year in the spring (they knock them out and do any other small things or trim nails at the same time) and had it removed, this wouldn't have happened, so this is on me. At the time he thought it was just a fatty tumor, but either way, it wouldn't have become this big messy expensive surgery had I acted promptly.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 05:28 PM

Hmm. Having just checked, I think that our neck rot is not your black rot! Neck rot is a botrytis infection whereas black rot is an Aspergillus infection. Neither of them is connected to the white rot I mentioned.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 04:53 PM

What you're calling black rot is what we call neck rot, I think, which is caused by a Botrytis. White rot is completely different. It attacks the base of the plant with a soft-rot white fungal growth which soon produces the typical black spores that can persist for many years in the soil. Check out Stromatinia cepivora (syn. Sclerotium cepivorum).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 04:28 PM

It's mid-January, when Ontario is usually very cold and knee-deep in snow, but Perth County has temperatures hovering above freezing, consistent rain, and no snow at all. This has been going on since New Year's Day. I think we got the winter that should have been delivered to southern Germany.

On the other hand, I'm not eager to wear the big coat and heavy boots that are normal January kit, or to put up with chilblained fingers.

Tomorrow I have a date with a builder's estimator to talk about my bathroom. I've had a lot of asthma this winter, probably initiated by the bout of COVID I had but surely made worse by the presence of a major mould infestation to which I am very allergic. Pumping myself full of steroids and bronchodilators keeps the worst of it under control, but the drugs make me feel wobbly and tired.

I'm not doing anything interesting with compost, and the house remains full of books that need new homes. The box-seeking visit to the LCBO (liquor store) hasn't happened yet. I must admit, however, that I'm looking forward to getting shot of the works of Sir Winston Churchill -- not only his history of the Great War (four volumes) and the Second World War (six volumes), but also his biography of the Duke of Marlborough (four volumes) and his memoir about youthful adventures in South Africa. That's a lot of shelf space to devote to an ... um ... "unreliable" narrator, as they say in literary circles.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 04:01 PM

I really, really should compost.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 03:58 PM

Black onion rot is a fungal disease - you have a couple of options. If you're starting with onion sets, then I'd give a good sprinkle of corn gluten meal on the ground where you're going to plant them, stir it into the surface a bit, then put in the sets. You can't use the corn gluten meal when planting seeds because it tends to prevent germination. That's why it's a good one to apply to prevent winter weeds, and to put down when putting on the soil around bedding plants to slow weed growth around them as the season starts.

Hydrogen peroxide (the store strength 3% variety) is a good fungicide, but even at that strength it will burn the plants. You might want to spray it on the soil the day before you plant onion sets and see if that helps, then add a little to a mix so it's dilute if you ever do foliar feeding in the garden. And you could continue to sprinkle corn meal (cheaper) or corn gluten meal around your onion bed every so often as they grow. Or put corn meal in water to soak for a while then spray the "tea" directly on the plants. You might even want to try spritzing the seeds with a mix of compost tea and hydrogen peroxide before you plant (place them in the ground still moist).

Another anti-fungal treatment is potassium bicarbonate or even baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), a couple of tablespoons dissolved in a gallon of water with whatever else you're putting on the garden - compost tea, liquid organic fertilizer, etc.

It sounds like you could treat the soil ahead, treat the soil at planting and during the growth season.

The only things I don't put in my compost are plants with seeds that I absolutely don't want sprouting as volunteers around the edge. So I get rid of the datura from the front yard flower bed into the trash, the seeds can scatter everywhere and if the dogs eat them it will make them sick.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 01:08 PM

I compost all types of animal manure when I can get it, Maggie. That's not what I was saying. It's the potential for spreading plant diseases that bugs me. When I started my veg garden here 35 years ago I had no onion white rot. Somehow it got into my soil and I haven't been able to grow onions, shallots, leeks or garlic without losing a half to two-thirds of my crop. The black spores can lie dormant for 20 years. Unlike most UK gardeners I've managed to keep brassica clubroot at bay. I had that when I had an allotment just outside London and it devastated my crops every year. So nothing from any bought cauliflower, cabbage, kale, sprouts or broccoli goes into my heaps. The counsel of perfection is to put suspect material into the middle of fresh heaps where the heat will kill any spores, but in practice that in unachievable for most of the heap, especially the stuff nearer to the outsides. I generate so much compost from my home-grown crops, weeds and grass clippings that I should think that shop-bought trimmings would contribute less that one per cent of the bulk. My blighted potato tops go in the heaps as the spores can't survive the winter unless they're in "volunteer" potatoes, and I never worry about weeds that have seeded. As for pesticide residues, to register as an organic farmer in the UK you mustn't have used the chemicals banned for organic for at least two years. That rule is there for a reason. Many shop-bought products, including oranges, tangerines, lemons and peppers are dusted with fungicide before sale. There no definitive evidence that mere rinsing gets rid of it all.

My view on fresh chicken and rabbit droppings is that they should go on the compost heap, not straight into the soil. Small amounts of rabbit won't do any harm, but chicken is a "hot" manure which will do wonders for your heaps but not a lot for crops, and in large amounts it will do damage. The only fertiliser I ever buy is chicken manure pellets, which have already been composted. Not saying you're wrong, but I've been gardening organically for 45 years...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 12:07 PM

Steve, you are perpetuating old wives' tales as far as the reluctance to put stuff in the compost. If the compost is breaking down as it should (it does so faster if you turn it occasionally and water it if you don't get much rainfall) then the microorganisms in the compost itself will do that work for you - including destroying any residue from pesticides on the onions, etc. You can also drop in, contrary to those same old wives' or more likely old bachelor farmers, dog or cat droppings. It breaks down. That whole "no predator poop" nonsense is just that - nonsense. Things like cow or horse manure must be composted before using, and should probably be composted separately before adding to the household compost. Same with chicken. Rabbit droppings can go directly on the garden. (Literally - I do this gardening advice for a living - I know what I'm talking about.)

Over here in the US there are products like Milorganite that are the composted highly processed solids from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin sewage treatment plants.

Good job on starting the dresser reorganization, Mrrzy. I still occasionally find some drawer or rack with clothes I've forgotten about. Last week in my closet I realized the hanging plastic bag with strings at each corner to support shelves of sweaters had been overlooked as I shopped my closet for things to wear this year now that I'm lighter. There were sweaters I haven't worn because they were too snug but now they're perfect, and I donated a couple of them that were a) too big and b) a mistake to buy in the first place, I never wore them.

The jigsaw puzzle is put away and I have several now to choose from. The boxes are on the table I use for puzzles and I'll wait until the impulse hits, which one appeals. Right now I'm kind of puzzled out. :-/

Don, please stop dropping in random statements with no context or participation. That may work on some of the other threads, but we prefer that you share more information about what you're actually doing, not random brain droppings.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Senoufou
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 11:51 AM

Mrrzy, tu as raison, je vais le faire s'il ne se comporte bien une fois réinstallé ici. Comment va ton dos mon ami? J'espere tu vas tres bien. Bonne Année!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 10:20 AM

Senoufou, tu lui donnera un grand coup de pied de ma part.

Funny how things work out.

Since becoming an ex-hoarder I have to keep my clothing amount down, so I have rules, like no more tshirts than fit in my actual dresser drawers. I have a heavy tallboy.

When I got back from my back surgery, the drawers in that tallboy were too heavy to move, so I had a friend pull them out stepping-stone-wise, so I could get to their contents. Which meant things were spilling out of the drawers but at least I could get to my clothes.

Now I can open the drawers myself and have discovered that somehow I don't fit in them any more. I can't *close* them again.

So time to declutter... But do I?

Well...

Yesterday I locked my keys in my car, which isn't supposed to be possible but anyway, I called my kid, who has a key to my house, to fetch my extra key from my top drawer...

An he couldn't find it. I had put it somewhere else. But I came home to the contents of that top drawer dumped out on my bed! Perfect first step! Thank you, kid! [It was my request not to put anything back.]

So I now have in that drawer neat piles of socks in pairs, long-sleeved shirts with and without hoods separately, got rid of the big shirts from the sleep pile that I don't like to sleep in [old hoarder habit, moving the too-big shirts to the sleep pile] because of their material...

Only 3 more drawers to go!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jan 23 - 04:00 AM

I'm very cautious about composting kitchen waste (in my case, I have so much garden refuse that kitchen waste wouldn't add much in any case). There's the risk of attracting rodents via the shells of raw eggs, and I've bought onions in the past that were infected with the dreaded white rot. Then there's the issue of pesticide residues from bought produce getting into my compost. I go to some lengths to avoid virus diseases of potatoes and club root of brassicas and I'm not about to risk introducing them via shop-bought potato and brassica peelings. My own home-grown stuff is fine.

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

New York State recently authorized human composting. I'll stick to kitchen waste and garden refuse for now.

The new drawer organizer worked well and I was inspired to toss some of the redundant stuff that doesn't merit donating. Old paper clips and safety pins, zip ties and whatnot. The plastic containers are in the sink but will probably head for the recycle bin; they've been in the drawer long enough chances are they're too brittle to put back into use storing food.

There are tons of keys in there, some of them I know what they're for, others I should have tossed when the locks they went to went away. Lots of key rings, holders, and more. They've never all been in one place like this before. I'll take time to sort and thin those out later.

Thanks for the puzzle suggestion, though I have to say that I do too many things online already; the idea of online puzzles is interesting but I'll stick to the analog boxes of pieces I have here for now. You've mentioned it before and that may be a link that someone else (one of our lurkers?) can deploy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 10 Jan 23 - 10:38 PM

ecologic innovation trends feature composting cadavers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Jan 23 - 10:22 PM

I've been doing jigsaws for many decades. Before my grandmother died she gave me two 1950s puzzles which will go to my cousin along with other family treasures. I sent all my jigsaws to charity shops a few year ago (many of them came from charity shops!) Unlike my jigsawing friends, I only have one table in my apartment so it needed to be cleared to puzzle, & bending over did my back no good.
So now-a-days I do oonline jigsaws I only kept 2 puzzles, one is a cheaply made war time puzzle of General Macarthur & Battle of the Coral Sea (probably a fundraiser), the other is a good quality puzzle from 1954 of Queen Elizabeth's coronation.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jan 23 - 07:47 PM

My volunteer gig this morning went long so I didn't have time for the gym, but had time to kill before a doctor's appointment, so stopped in The Container Store for inspiration. They didn't fail me: in the drawer organizer section there was a two-level junk drawer organizer (think silverware organizers for drawers, but with an upper sliding layer and lots of odd little compartments). I have a bunch of round restaurant take-out plastic containers in my junk drawer and over time they all get mashed toward the back of the drawer. For $12 this may be a more reasonable and transparent way to sort the stuff that doesn't have anywhere else to live but is deemed necessary to keep. And there's still room for the other Rubbermaid silverware holder that actually houses screw drivers, pliers, kitchen scissors, pencils, can openers, etc. And room at the front of that for my rubber kitchen mallet, because doesn't everyone need a mallet in the kitchen?

I'm going to break down and pack up the completed puzzle and choose something completely different in look and complexity for my next outing. I took up jigsaws during COVID and it's something I want to continue, but that last one was nearly the end of me.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 11:55 PM

Finally! I finished the jigsaw puzzle I started early last year. It languished in the sun room for many months of heat when there was no AC in that part of the house. I'm ready to box it up and move on, and offer it (via Facebook, or here) to anyone interested (first come, first served). Not all of these puzzles interest people, though I'm mailed a couple of them to collectors. This was so tough it seems someone drawn to the challenge might want it. I thought a piece was missing, but there it was, right on top of the rest of the puzzle when I had everything else in place.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 03:34 PM

I, too, have "concert blacks", Keb. That's my last skirt, a Christmas present from Edmund in 1998, and I wear it with a long-sleeved black tee shirt, black silk long-johns from LL Bean, black socks, and a pair of black sneakers. My spot in the choir is the back of the Alto section, so nobody sees my feet!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 01:24 PM

I haven't used deodorant since high school; it isn't good for you. That said, I have gotten to where my hair needs to be washed usually about once a week in the shower and I take baths every couple of days. It takes a while to adjust to this, and washing spots is perfectly acceptable in the interim. I rarely use soap on my face. The soap I do use is usually Mediterranean or African, made with olive oil or shea butter. I use that on my hair also.

When I finally learned that I was allergic to coconut about 15 years ago that answered a nagging question about skin breaking out. It's internal - eat coconut (the shredded product, the juice, the oil, etc.) and external (soaps, shampoos, lotions, etc.). https://www.livingbeyondallergies.com/coconut-allergy/

Jump to the "Hidden names of coconut" that I've learned most of through researching any products I buy new (and revisiting what is in regular products in case the formula changes). Some of the most common lathering agents in soap and shampoo are Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, just about anything with "Lauryl" or "Cocoate" in the label, and a lot more.

Keb, after having bunion surgery on my right foot I stopped wearing heels, and that has kept me from needing any further foot surgery. I have a couple of pair of boots with 1" heels, for special events.

I have to empty the donation bin contents into a bag and take them to Goodwill, and make a pass by the city forestry department where they have free mulch. Tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 82^o and I can get some work done in the yard in the afternoon after running errands.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 12:56 PM

I haven't used deodorant for over thirty years (I do shower twice a day!) and I never use body sprays or any soap or cream that contains perfume. I've had to give in when it comes to shampoo because I need something that keeps dandruff at bay, though a small bottle will last me a year. I have far less hair these days. Our washing machine does not rinse my clothes and towels anywhere near well enough and I react badly to any residues thereon, so I do a huge amount of rinsing, typically in cold water in the sink. Gosh, what a delicate thing I am.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 12:34 PM

My decision to join an amateur vocal chorus means I have had
to add to my wardrobe, what are called "concert blacks".
Black blouse, full-length black skirt, black shoes.

My big de-clutter is high heels: no more, never again.
Sure, I have some shoes/boots with one-inch heels, but that's not high.
And the black shoes have to be decorous-looking onstage,
so they have to be nice shoes;
but they can still have lower heels and be acceptable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 11:21 AM

Thanks, Patty!

Cosmetics make my eyes water and don't do my skin any good. I think it's the coconut products in it, same is in many soaps, shampoos, and lotions. On rare occasion I've used a waxy wand thing like a mascara tube to force my eyebrows to appear on my face, though I think wearing a pair of half-rim glasses with a dark upper rim tends to achieve the same effect. I mail order glasses through Zenni.com these days.

My wardrobe for volunteering is usually good jeans, attractive walking shoes and a knit shirt with no message (unless we're asked to wear one identifying us as volunteers). The closet also holds black slacks and a couple of mid-calf skirts, a couple of suit jackets, and for special occasions a long cashmere kilt I bought about 50 years ago. There was a lovely sweater to pair with it but moths devoured that; the kilt is packed in an air-tight bin.

It is astonishing the quality of clothing that turns up in thrift stores, especially things from the last 30 years or so—there are some things that are truly out of style, but garments like mid-rise or high-waist jeans (the latter I prefer) and simple strait sweaters or knit tops are fairly timeless. The current lightweight "fast fashion" also turns up there to be left on the rack.

I buy new shoes starting in the clearance rack at DSW. I grew up going to Nordstrom's in Seattle with my mother, starting at their clearance rack. That's when Nordstrom's was JUST shoes and just one store in downtown Seattle. Decades ago they merged with Best's Apparel and for a few years were called Nordstrom Best's until they went back to the single name, keeping the nice clothes.

When my father died I filled a large U-Haul box (the next size down from the wardrobe box) with shoes, mostly running or walking sneakers (called "trainers" in the UK). I think I estimated the value at $50 a pair (most of them barely if ever worn) and with donations like that to the local Saint Vincent DePaul was able to wipe out the estate's income tax bill (and they were THRILLED with the shoes that mostly went to homeless men.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 11:03 AM

Steve, this might be a good time to stroll through some local thrift shops (not jumble sales) and see what turns up. You might find better-looking and better-made things for a fraction of what you've been investing. You're right, the XL sizes can be hard to find, but, you might find great things on the hunt. I understand you're not a fashion plate, but, a couple of nice new things can give one a lift of spirit, especially if the results of a successful bargain hunt.

Stilly, the upside to finding out ADHD is a thing in the family is, you didn't blindly get put on strong/wrong drugs for years.You have the advantage of perspective and the results of society's large scale experiment with them, and other methods of coping.

We join with you to toast the departure of the wicked witch of the workplace, glad she won't be able to do your coworkers or the institution further harm.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 09:43 AM

Now almost ten years past leaving my last government job, I have pared my wardrobe to seasonal variations on shirt + trousers + sweater. (Canadian weather ranges from tropical heat to polar cold, so we need those variations.) I can't remember when I last wore pantyhose, but the hassle of keeping them hauled up is fresh in my mind. Make-up makes my skin crawl, and then break out in a rash. Giving up dressing up is probably my most important decluttering decision ever.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 06:39 AM

I'm terrible with clothes. All my shirts are cheap and cheerful short-sleeve ones, generally from Asda George and Mountain Warehouse, and half of them are falling to bits. I wear cheap sandals only and have just a single pair of shoes, in black, for weddings and funerals only, that I've had for over thirty years. I don't wear socks. I have one pair of half-decent trousers, one white short-sleeve shirt and an ancient sports jacket for emergencies and I wear cheap nylon shorts all year round. I will put on a tie only at gunpoint. I never wear wool or anything with long sleeves. I've just bought a cheap winter coat for twenty quid (I haven't had one for years, but that December cold snap and my advancing years gave me a wake-up call), of the Rab type that everyone seems to wear, but their genuine Rabs cost upward of £150. I can buy seven or eight of mine for that money. I don't get it. I hate paying full price for anything but I really have to do some shopping. My size is XL, the first size of everything to sell out in the sales. I'm the kind of bloke that could put on a sharp £300 suit and immediately make it look like I've picked it up for a fiver in the Scouts' jumble sale.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Senoufou
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 06:08 AM

Husband is moving back in with me in two weeks, and he's having a sort-out of all his surplus clothes which are clogging up his flat in a nearby town. We've been to the supermarket where they have large containers for unwanted clothing (Salvation Army etc) and popped lots of stuff in there. Also took some small pieces of his furniture to our local tip, where they have a big shed for 'still useful' items.
I've lost tons of weight (from size 20 to size 10!!) so all my fat lady's clothes have gone too.
But he wants to keep his 20 pairs of sporty trainers and dozens of football shirts. (Why not eh? If it keeps him happy!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jan 23 - 07:31 PM

This week has been one in which things feel like they're flying in all directions. One of the few areas where I have maintained some control is keeping to the weight I'm at after working for 6 months to get here, and a lemon meringue pie is hard to resist. I have figured out how to make some of these things in smaller versions, and that is one possibility. I'll throw out the lemon juice before I make the whole pie and do that to myself.

The really terrible boss who impacted a lot of people and most of my friends, since most of my friends here were co-workers, has announced she's leaving, after 11 years of misery and the diaspora of those friends. I retired before she could fire me ("we're not extending your contract" they told many of the others); the writing was on the wall. A lot of old memories have churned up. Add to this the recent family diagnosis of ADHD and the realization that there is a direct line from my father, through me, to that child, and I'm hit with the realization that my scattered way of doing everything was possibly treatable decades ago. There is great potential in view - I think the best way to look at all of this - but great change is part of it.

I have rescinded the intention to do a dry January, though I'm keeping it to most days of the week. Self-medication with a glass of wine and streaming a video is a socially acceptable and non-destructive way of coping. Now that the dog is out of the cone I can get back to the world for hours at a time and stop by the gym. That is a huge help but I just wish it wasn't so full of people starting out their new year's resolutions right now - I try to go when the place is sparsely in use. I went out in the sun this afternoon to let it shine on my forehead; I always find that improves my mood. I've also been doing some sewing; it seems that multitasking has been my standard operating system and sewing and watching TV at the same time works. That, or sewing and listening to an audiobook.

This is more than I usually share, but it has needed to come out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jan 23 - 06:05 PM

If you have spare bits of lemon, just stick them in your freezer. Next time you're peeling apples, carrots or parsnips, put them in a pan of not too much water with your piece of lemon. It stops them from going brown and means you can peel them in advance. Voila!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Jan 23 - 05:57 PM

10 steps to reduce extinctions https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/12/19/cop15-biodiversity-wildlife-extinction/



Texas could do alot more to protect the ocelot population as well

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 08 Jan 23 - 04:37 PM

”I love lemon meringue pie, but if I'm here by myself I'll eat the whole thing”

And the problem there is….what, precisely? ;-) :-)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jan 23 - 03:58 PM

When my kids were growing fast and I discovered eBay I used to pack together like-sized clothes in good condition for kids and sell them as a "lot." Pants and shirts, generally aimed at school-age kids. I sell estate sale handbags and shoes there, and specific types of garments like vintage things from my mom's closet or really old things out of the trunks from my great aunt's house. And thrift store finds like types of jeans that sell well.

I had a couple of lemons I peeled the rind from to use in baking last month but never squeezed the juice; they were stored in the fridge in sealed containers. I finally decided to squeeze them and today have been looking for a recipe or two for lemon juice. There's a nice yogurt lemon pound cake that I'm going to try (I love lemon meringue pie, but if I'm here by myself I'll eat the whole thing.) The cake sounds like something that would freeze.

Yesterday I used things from the fridge and freezer and made what I will call an unusual batch of kidney beans; I added several of my roasted Hatch chilis and a smoked chicken breast that had been in the freezer for a while. It's odd but edible. Like Hatch chili stew with beans added. It used some frozen garden tomatoes and used up a small container of sofrito from a batch of Puerto Rican arroz con gandules we made last week. The goal was to empty several containers, and I did that.

My power strip has arrived, but I ordered an 8' cord and this is 6'. Damn. Either change plans or return it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 08 Jan 23 - 03:10 PM

Charmion asked, ”In re: dog licences — Whaddaya mean, “reimpose” the dog licence? You don’t have to tag your dog in Britain? Since when?”

In the UK, Dog Licences were abolished in 1987. The old dog licence was a bit of a joke costing, as it did, the princely sum of 37 pence (slightly less than one US dollar). A promise by the then government to introduce a formal dog registration scheme never came to fruition, although it is a requirement that dogs must have a collar with owners’ details when in public this rule is widely ignored.

Personally, I would change the law to require a licence costing at least £50 p.a. for every dog, but I suspect that such a move would result in huge numbers of abandoned dogs in our streets, and rescue centres would be totally overcome.