DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 08 Jan 23 - 02:13 PM

Been trying hard to get-things-done at the start of the year, and making headway, after some goof-off time at Camp Harmony. But honestly it seems I get 2 things off the list and 2 new ones crop up.

One thing was a large ordering binge while I am stationary for a few weeks. Ebay turned out to be wonderful for ordering odd-size clothes, bless the people who gather these things up and make them available. Land's End, on the other hand, still hasn't actually shipped anything but has sent 3 promotional emails. They are moving at the speed of Sears Roebuck in 1962. Minimizing my Amazon buys, and will send back the mis-sized item they speedily sent.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jan 23 - 11:14 AM

At xmas my kids gave me a specialty bidet commode seat. The Cadillac of bidets with a warmed seat and warm water, etc. I set the box to the side for a couple of weeks because I had company and frankly didn't want advice or to have to fuss with someone else wanting to try it before I figure it out myself. (This last holiday season got on my last nerve something fierce - it started with the dog in a cone for three weeks, add to it an elderly visitor who coughed and hacked and blew her nose much of the time she was here over five long days . . . ) I've had time to calm down and read the installation instructions.

Today Amazon should be delivering an indoor/outdoor power strip that will be plugged into the GFCI plug on the far end of the sink counter. The extra water protection may not be necessary because of the GFCI plug, but whatever. With an 8' cord it will reach along the wall and be attached to the wall next to the mirror so the bidet power cord can be plugged in. I have checked with the stud finder and should be able to make this power strip pretty stable where I want to place it.

2023 may turn out to be a perfectly fine year, but the start to it has had a number of puzzles and annoyances that have me on edge. I still have a really old dog and the middle dog may have cancer but on the plus side my ex retired so my income will increase one of these days.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Jan 23 - 01:54 PM

Dupont:

Charmion would get more out of the "Brysonville School revisited" than I.It is a bilingual group and only a couple that I talk with. A few songs last night in French sounded delightful. Of course, even when they are in English, I usually have no idea of the words due to my Auditory Processing problem, unless "You are my Sunshine" and the like! It is a rare voice that is comprehensible to me. Enunciation is not taught in school.

R's is getting worse - or my problem is - or both! My current comment is, "Just make sure if the house is on fire, I understand you." There are people I understand with ease. "Grocery shopping" - I usually understand staff. So, twice a month I have something akin to social time.

Yesterday, a cross-the-street neighbour caught me outside - as I watched to make sure R put on his safety belt, which I do every morning. This short visit was an event: Jay is from NZ, offered to plow our drive free of charge. I found out his parents (also over there) are Canadian and Belgian. SO! 3 possible social connections. The dog walker down the street has become a friend but with very little time; he did come in for a bit a couple weeks ago.

Now, I shall brave the frosty weather and go socialize at the vitamin shop! And the produce store. Then try to see if I can re-configure the kitchen - like that pic circulating on FB - sans chat!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Jan 23 - 12:41 PM

Puttering indeed.

I'm procrasti-cleaning, putting off writing the minutes of the latest choir board meeting. While I'm at it, I moved a small bookcase from the study to the bedroom and dusted all the baseboards (how to tell you're not just cleaning, but actively avoiding another task).

With no rug in the bedroom, thanks to Watson, I have to be even more punctilious about keeping the floor dusted in there. That task is easier with more room around the bed for bending over and swashing the dustmop or the vacuum cleaner underneath. To that end, the enormous chest of drawers moved across the room and the considerably less enormous bookcase took its place.

And now I want to move the pictures, and put up the new one my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. But I really have to write those minutes, and the choir newsletter -- the deadline is coming at me like the noon freight.

One final note: I envy Dorothy her outings to old-time music and open-mike events. I finally got to play a few tunes on Thursday with my fiddler friend, who has finally quit her draining classroom teaching job, but that's about the sum and total of my non-family social life that isn't choir practice.

Grocery shopping doesn't count, Dorothy!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jan 23 - 11:04 AM

A significant declutter that over a hundred people in this area are thrilled about is the departure of a Really Really bad boss. She arrived at our institution in 2012 and proceeded to break it so badly that about 75% of the people working there at the time found new jobs, quit outright, or retired. (I was in the latter group). She's moving on to break another institution's library in the far north, but the odds favor her being fired there within the six month probationary period. When we learned of this job consideration we kept her incompetence quiet, so the other institution wouldn't learn of it—because this local one needs her to move out so it can heal. (Honestly, we think this is how our institution ended up with her - someone here didn't do their due diligence on the projects she did at her last university - where they undid her big changes as soon as she left.) So - once she leaves, the new employer will be given the information they need to be on their guard for her evil personnel management techniques and general level of incompetence. There is new top management at our institution, president and provost, who, we think, don't suffer fools gladly and told her to find a new job and leave on her own or she's out. And now that she's announced that she is leaving and has given an end date, there are no do-overs if she finds the next place changes their mind. So much interesting information has come in through the back channels lately regarding these personnel matters.

Here on the home front eBay stuff is beginning to move again. One box delivered to the post office yesterday and a couple of more listings nearly ready to put up. This is good work for chilly evenings. Since today's high temperature will be in the mid-60s I can go out for a little while and finish cleaning out the freeze-damaged contents of the pots out front and at the side of the house. It's a day for puttering inside and out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 06 Jan 23 - 01:13 PM

Dupont:
Here am I! Back, on Monday, from a week at Beaver. R's mid-winter break but not nearly long enough. I wish we could have sent him far away for a month. He drove the whole way there but I was still exhausted as tho I had done it myself. I believe I was not well for a long time before we went and, finally, felt better after a few days there. I sent him off in my car to enjoy as much as there was - thrift shops mostly closed but he explored what he could and finally went off on Sunday to play chess with our 90 year old Estonian friend. This made R remember how much he enjoys playing chess. Arne Roosman is a highly regarded artist (you can google), a highly intelligent person, and much loved locally. So it was a good break for R. Maybe someday I can acquire one of his paintings.

I just mainly hung out at Beaver and considered doing something... The snow was rather overwhelming. When we arrived on the Monday, R had to plow through thigh-high drifts to get to the house - and the shovel! He cleared a path for me and I texted our snow-clearance guy, knowing he had been up to his eyeballs! He came early on Tues. We could park on the road as there are only 4 or 5 neighours beyond us.

The most interesting aspect was that the wind had come from a different direction and put snow into the front of the wood shed. The back deck was also thigh-deep! R did lots of shoveling! I was too tired - unusually.

The trip back was ... I had hoped to meet a friend in Tweed, thinking his driveway would be impassable but... He did not understand my texts and invited us for tea (the drive was clear) but by then, R had gone off to consult re business so I thanked my friend. Rather than go back 15 minutes to his place, we headed south to the 401 ... The dentist phoned with an opening for my tooth cleaning... So we went back 30 minutes and got a bite to eat and R had fun exploring Madoc while I got clean teeth. Now it was getting late and R's driving was driving me crazy so I ended up driving the remaining 3 hours, as it got dark - home to Dupont at 7:15 pm. And felt OK the next day, unusual.

We did de-clutter stuff in ON. Now I look at what is here and... I need to sort through piles of fabrics and see what more I can easily part with then invite a friend, who sews, to choose whatever she wants. The rest will go back to Beaver for the Thrift shops there.

I have slightly de-cluttered bank accounts with donations re animal rehabs and a burned down house. Deciding how much I can give to local group that is dedicated to helping people in need - housing, food, drug rehab... This group is making a BIG difference for a lot of people and encouraging political action/complaining/pushing re the severe lack of affordable housing. I consider them worthy of whatever I believe I can afford, with some left for ...

Hoping we make it to the monthly old time music event tonight; our social event here. We managed to attend an open mike event when we were at Beaver.

And a new cord for the computer arrived by Fed-ex this am; I ordered it a couple days ago in desperation; the old one died completely late last night! And, as I was watching R leave this am, a neighbour walked over and said he would clear our drive - no charge! We have not needed it as we just push though it! But it was nice to meet him - from New Zealand and now I realize the older couple who offered help a while back are his parents - a Canadian and a Belgian. They all speak English! I look forward to seeing them again. I only know one other Anglophone neighbour and he is so busy- teaching classical music (choir I think) that we rarely get a chance to chat. My only social life is going to the grocery store and the library (did that on Tuesday).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jan 23 - 12:52 PM

Bingo wings, Stilly.

I've been to pool class and I'm tired and a bit wobbly; apparently, this is the new normal, at least for now.

The mouldy bathroom really is urgent, and well beyond my limited skill with tools, so I contacted one of Stratford's main building firms for a quote. Their website said I would have to wait for an estimator, but within a few hours an email rolled in proposing a visit next Thursday. I accepted with enthusiasm.

If I tried to tackle that job on my own, I would make a mess and probably hurt myself. Even the destruction phase requires tools I don't have and don't know how to use, not to speak of the mould itself, a major threat to asthmatic ol' me. Classic example of a task for a properly equipped master carpenter.

Damp spots have been appearing on the bedroom rug lately, and I suspect Watson (who spends his days on the bed) although I have not noticed so much as a whiff of cat pee. This cannot continue, however, so I rolled up the rug and told the cat, "This is why we can't have nice things." He just showed me his belly and purred.

Today is Epiphany, or Little Christmas, and neighbour Neil across the street is taking the tastefully restrained festive lights off his roof. I bet the people on the corner will leave the gigantic inflatable (but only half-inflated) Santa on their lawn until at least half-way through Lent.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jan 23 - 11:08 AM

It still feels good that the holidays are over - they were rough this year. And after a couple of days back using the dog door it still feels luxurious to have my time to myself now that they come and go as they wish. I have to puff a dry medication onto Pepper's tummy daily, where one wound is still healing, but that's it.

A few days ago I took pliers and level and a pry bar and a couple of bricks to the side gate installed last summer and I raised the height (it was dragging) and tapped the hinge into place then tightened it completely. A determined burglar could bring a pliers and dismantle the gate latch and come through; these kinds of gates keep the dogs in and honest people out. Now that the gate is working well I need to take the wheelbarrow through it and finish moving the last of the dead garden vines and plants to the backyard compost.

The knee surgery six-month follow-up shows good progress. I went from there to the gym, but it was late afternoon and the place had more people than usual (with their resolutions to get in shape). I spent only 30 minutes this time, getting back to the routine, but left before the after-work crowd arrived for the fitness classes. I wear a mask and make a point to use machines that are fairly isolated in the rooms. They finally finished the work in the wet area so it's time to get a suit and add laps to my routine. We'll see if Charmion's description of "bingo flaps" or such (the upper arm wattle) in the pool is very noticable. I expect to just swim, not wave my arms around in the air. ;-)

I hope Dorothy locates this new thread pretty soon. She had a lot of moving around planned and keeping up with it is always interesting.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jan 23 - 08:56 PM

I have a bag of towels and an old blanket to donate to the Humane Society, but they were closed by the time I got there today. I picked up Pepper, still a bit loopy after sedation, but no more in a cone or t-shirt. The Humane Society is across the street from my vet, so in a couple of weeks for a recheck I'll take the towels over. And by then I may have rounded up a few more bedding pieces that can go to them.

The dogs cornered a cat in the back yard this evening; their Invisible Fence collars prevented them from reaching it, but that wild thing wasn't interested in my help (I got scratched) so I dropped my hoodie over the top of it and tossed the cat over onto the creek side of the fence. I expect coyotes will find that guy just like my dogs did; feral cats don't last long out there.

What a day. Today's exam showed that Pepper's scar tissue is unusual and so we went ahead and sent in the tissue for pathology. Should this be treatable in a reasonable way, ok, but I suspect it's going to be a rough year for losing pets.

At least I got my overdue library book turned in this evening. They don't charge fines now, but they were emailing me about it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Jan 23 - 01:58 PM

I have had my moments of art by pen, clay, oil, digital, wood, stone and now will begin my acrylic age. In the meantime I have one mixed media space portrait to finish composed of translucent silk layers and LCD-illuminated stone stars, planets and UV glowing nebulas. Sadly its depth is impervious to photography and its final effectiveness is as of yet unknown.
Ecologic innovations? I wish I had some. Minimal Jeff Goldblum Xmas decorations on the second floor basement will stay until the super bowl.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: JennieG
Date: 03 Jan 23 - 07:59 PM

Charmion, I'm also quite partial to butter tarts and Nanaimo bars - my friend in B.C. makes delicious bars - but we don't have them here in Oz, they have been treats on visits to Canada. Ditto poutine. Your ketchup is different to our tomato sauce, it's much sweeter, something our Canaussian son remarked on when he was first in Canada. According to Doug a meat pie was not a meat pie without lashings of tomato sauce....or dead horse, as oldies sometimes still call it. He has learned to use ketchup but still hankers for Ozzie tomato sauce.

The Chrissy decorations, such as they are this year, will be put away soon. They are being gathered in one spot to make for easier putting-away-of. It has turned quite hot here but the next few days are set to be cooler, so better weather for doing household Stuff.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jan 23 - 06:19 PM

Andrew, that's quite a rabbit hole to descend.

The blue laws in Texas and Kentucky and Louisiana that I have experienced over the years impacted Sunday purchases of alcohol along with odd things. Clothing, automobiles, personal things like pantyhose, no rhyme or reason to a lot of it. Most of those have been removed (though in Texas auto dealers have the choice of which weekend day they are closed, they can only be open six days a week.) I just looked up my home state of Washington's liquor control board and find they seem to be largely about cannabis now.

The holidays have an impact on diet - so much sugar. I'm off of the various breads and cookies, along with the wine and Scotch that were here over the last month, now just to finish off the last of the dark chocolate caramels and go cold turkey. I'm hoping that if the dog cone and stitches are resolved tomorrow that I can finally go back to using the dog door and spend more time away from the house. I know people go to work and leave their dogs indoors for nine or 10 hours at a time, but these guys aren't used to it and the Lab can't handle it. I'll go to the gym tomorrow afternoon and make more progress on my audio book. I've missed that. (I typically don't just go to the gym, as far away as it is I combine that activity with volunteer activities and am usually away from the house 4 to 6 hours.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 03 Jan 23 - 10:37 AM

Stilly, the LCBO was and may still be the largest single purchaser of alcoholic beverages on the planet. It maintained (and may yet maintain) a leading quality-assurance laboratory from which many other booze vendors have benefited; in the early 1980s, it (along with the West Germans) detected ethylene glycol in Austrian wines. The scandal nearly ruined the Austrians' export market. The history section of the LCBO's Wikipedia article is worth reading, if only for a reminder of what things were like in a nanny state with no laws to protect one's privacy.

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

That might do it. Or look around that bathroom you want updated and decide to start a project on your own without beefy craftsmen to do the heavy lifting. That lets you view everything else from a new perspective.

Yesterday was dreadful here; I thought about posting or sharing via email to a friend and finally posted a jeremiad to a small private group - this morning [most of] the things I complained about had reversed themselves and were fine. Whew.

The SUV gets an oil change and tire rotation today. I have an overdue library book that I'll read while I wait then return it on the way home. I've just ironed a handful of my 3-layer 3D COVID face masks to wear as we enter the fourth year of COVID. Knock wood the threat of a head cold seems to have passed, but the mask would help keep my germs to myself if it was still a question of coming down with something.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Jan 23 - 08:30 AM

Sortilège is one of those things that, if liked at all, are typically liked a lot, a class of article that also includes poutine, butter tarts, and ketchup. It’s all yuck to me, and sometimes I wonder if my Canadian birth certificate would be revoked if the government ever found out.

It’s still grey, wet, and too warm for January in Stratford; I continue to feel washed-out and wobbly, presumably from COVID after-effects; and the cats are fighting again for no apparent reason. Things really have to improve.

What if I were to wash the kitchen floor? Or would that be too drastic?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: JennieG
Date: 02 Jan 23 - 10:34 PM

From which one can buy (and has indeed bought) Sortilege Maple Whisky.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Jan 23 - 05:13 PM

Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Stilly.

Boozetería.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jan 23 - 01:54 PM

When I remember what a job it was to go through the separate houses of both parents (divorced many years earlier) and how rough it was on the rest of the family, I would like to avoid that in this generation. It's a lot better than it used to be, but I have a lot left to do, though I *think* it isn't as bad as my parents' homes.

LCBO? Liquor boxes, maybe? Trying to figure out that acronym. In Washington State they had way-expensive state liquor stores (until Costco sued and got the right for itself and other retailers to also sell hard liquor) and we used to go get boxes for moving. The theory was they were strong for bottles and not too heavy to lift when they were packed.

This afternoon I pulled out six long-dead okra plants to be hauled out back, and I dug around and found a few small sweet potatoes. The trouble with growing those is the vines sprawl all over and you have no way of knowing where the potatoes end up under all of the vines. I got a few small ones and broke a piece off of a larger potato but couldn't find the rest of that potato. Odd. It'll sprout next year and we'll have more sweet potatoes in that area. I still need to finish tightening the gate hinge, something I'll head out to do in a few minutes. It's warm and very humid right now, getting ready to rain.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Jan 23 - 01:28 PM

Today is the statutory holiday for New Year’s Day, so the town is quiet. The Y was open, however, so I went to pool class, where I saw several unfamiliar people. The long-term frequent fliers call these folks “Resolutionists”, and expect them to vanish by February.

I weighed myself yesterday and found that I had gained half a pound over the month since I came down with COVID, including Christmas. I ate whatever was handy and palatable when I was sick and accepted every delicacy that came my way during the festivities, so I expected to be considerably fatter. I wonder if my body has right-sized itself and I should focus less on calories and more on eating what I need and what I like.

Tomorrow, I intend to visit the LCBO and get as many boxes as will fit in the car. It’s time to start packing up novels that I know I won’t read again. Goodwill Industries has a bookstore in London, so that’s where I’ll take them, one carload at a time.

I still feel compelled to continue shedding stuff, and I’m not quite sure why. No one is pushing me to sell the house and move, and I know lots of people who just let their families’ accumulated possessions pile up around them without so much as a second thought. I’ll have to think about it …

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jan 23 - 11:07 AM

One more dive into the closet rack to pull out some really big t-shirts that were favorites but that I've passed by for many weeks now when choosing a t-shirt for the day. They are too big to use for the dogs also (Pepper is wearing size medium or large that aren't humongous.) And a few of my long-sleeved shirts that are too baggy or worn out to look good, though I still have several larger blouses that I will typically wear over the top of a contrasting color shirt and roll up the sleeves when I want another layer. For the last several years the loose outer blouse was worn to hide the "love handles" from where my snug t-shirt under it revealed the muffin top above my jeans waist.

My organizing system is to put the shirts with a messages or art on hangers along the upper rod in the closet; there are shelves in a narrow cabinet built in the back and I keep a large wire basket in there to stack my folded (I used to roll them) shirts on, arranged by color. No art - they're the tops I wore to work or to dressier events when I'm not a walking billboard for a philosophical statement or cause or some silliness. Ever since I worked on my Dad's estate and realized he hung his t-shirts arranged by color I started that - it's easier to find what I'm looking for. I have a few blouses and slacks, but they are a thing of my distant working past for the most part, with one or two nicer fabric/higher cost to mix and match for occasions like weddings or funerals.

As days pass my fingers are crossed that what my houseguest last week experienced was a bad allergy attack and not a cold. She coughed and sneezed all over the house on Friday and Saturday so I'm three days out and still ok. I really don't want to catch a cold or RSV or whatever it is going around now. I keep my allergies tamped down to avoid getting sinus infections - until I admitted that I had allergies I used to end up with horrible sinus stuff. A head cold isn't going to respond to the allergy medication and not so well to the decongestant.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 23 - 11:49 AM

This thread isn't about Greta and that kind of political topic. I transferred those two off-topic posts to the Good news re: . . . environment thread, where they fit perfectly. Climate change may be too broad a subject in the title, I will adjust it to keep it pretty tightly on topic here; we touch on lots of things, for example, some recipes, in passing, but not multiple-post discourse; we generally stick to local references to aspects of national topics that impact the participants in the thread.

The dog reference that was transferred leaves Charmion's remark hanging; sorry about that. We still have ongoing pet discussions here (and licenses are required). My dog has a new rabies tag after her surgery, when they caught her up on her immunizations, but because she is now wearing a reinforced cone (I literally put a new cone on behind the vet's harder plastic and now cracked cone) I won't expose either of us to the possible ridicule a walk could initiate.

Now that I'm thinking about donating towels I've starting a box in the laundry room (where my regular donation bin also lives) and will add towels and some of the really old bedding (I imagine washable old blankets are also used at the Humane Society, but I'll ask before I drop them off). I have some really old bed pillows that need to come out of the closet; it looks like if I run them through the washer and dryer, I could then upcycle them into other uses, by taking the fiber out of the covers and stuffing new cases. One site has several new case suggestions, but there is also an image of a long narrow device to block the cold air from coming under the door. That would be helpful in a couple of areas and they could be made of some really sturdy corduroy or sail cloth. Would they survive dog attention? They'd be washable.

I unsubscribed a half-dozen email sources so far, and many more ahead.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health * Climate Change * 2023
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jan 23 - 08:35 AM

When I had to buy a car last year, I had a hell of a time convincing the sales staff at the Volkswagen dealership that I really did want the smallest, fuel-stingiest vehicle they could find. Wasn’t I afraid of being crushed in a collision? Didn’t I want to impress people with a brawny ride? Well, yes, in fact I am kinda scared of being crushed in an accident, but I know that’s actually more likely in a boxy, top-heavy truck-type vehicle with stiff steering and awkward sight-lines. The Golf I bought impresses with its ease of extraction from snowbanks.

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

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health * Climate Change * 2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 23 - 12:52 AM

A friend left today after visiting for most of the week, during which time she visited with her grandchildren and their child and seems to have caught a nasty cold from them. So I'm hoping it doesn't land on me in a day or two. I was going to go out to the gym but decided to keep my germs to myself for a few days, just in case. I don't need to offload a cold (or who knows, RSV?) onto other people.

It's warm here and in the next couple of days I'll finally finish some of the garden work - the tough, woody okra plants need to come down and get tossed into my woods over the back fence. The old sweet potato vines break down easily and can go on the compost, and I'll even dig to see if there are potatoes in there. I'm going to visit one of the big box stores and see if they have any leftover rosemary xmas trees - I have to replace at least one plant that died last week when it got down to 9^o. I'll keep them in the greenhouse for a few weeks until the last freeze date has passed.

I'm recycling old t-shirts of mine by putting them on my blue heeler, to keep her for scratching at her surgical spot on her stomach. It takes more than just a cone to protect the area; she can lift her back foot and scratch, not just lick. It has been suggested in other venues (Facebook pages, I think) that really old towels and such can be donated to animal shelters, and I have some that I think it's time to send in that direction. Even then I'll have plenty here left for me to use. I should ask if they also use general clothing rags or just old towels.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health * Climate Change * 2023
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 31 Dec 22 - 07:44 PM

Charmion - singing & talking come from different centres of the brain, which is why a past colleague of mine could barely be understood with a severe stutter, but sang like an angel. I've also read something somewhere about people recovering from strokes who can barely speak, but if they use a sing-song voice are understandable.

Declutter - hmmmm

Thoughtful distribution of unwanted stuff. Before covid I used to visit a huge community centre (ex-WW1 & 2 Army base) weekly. One of the community groups there was a composting organisation with huge bins so I used to take all kitchen scraps. During covid I couldn't go that far so took selected scraps to a friend's worm farm (worms are fussy!) & have been throwing out unwanted stuff. I know there's a local facebook group for contacting individuals with compost heaps who welcome contributions, so JUST need to ask friends on facebook to check it out for me. A few months back our small soft plastic recycling industry collapsed - one company lost their premises to fire, another had stockpiled plastic cos they couldn't use it fast enough! Not good, & stockpiles are a fire risk, so we all need to toss it out at the moment ... more waste.

I recently took several long term bags of unwanted (& very much in the way) stuff to charity shops! small YAH! but there is more to go.

A friend's teenage granddaughter is visiting & they have been going thru small family treasures & other ornaments etc. The charity shop pile is slowly growing. I suggested several anonymous family treasures (eg. small unmarked painting by an ancestor) be marked so her sons & granddaughters know what they are looking at if she suddenly pops off the twig. My cousin who has 2 daughters is looking forward to my smallish collection of family treasures so they can continue to be passed down in the female line.

But I have so much other stuff that needs sorting, including some that is already supported & was forgotten ...

Charity shops re-open next week, but many are overwhelmed by donations at this time of the year.

sandra (ignoring floor that needs vacuuming cos various craft projects & books are filed on the floor

Subject: RE: Declutter * Health * Climate Change * 2023
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Dec 22 - 02:23 PM

Thanks for the new thread, Stilly.

I joined this group-within-a-group comparatively late, in 2020, after my husband died and I found myself neck deep in clothing, books, papers, furniture, housewares and other assets -- even an extra car -- that I did not need and either could not or would not use. Over two years, I have shed most of the excess and reorganized the house to suit myself on my own. Only the library remains to be reduced to manageable size, and I have actually started work on it with the transfer of all remaining children's books to the youngest cohort of the family. That's the declutter part.

Health? I'm still here, and functioning remarkably well for an aging asthmatic recovering from COVID-19. I have an ugly cough and at present I sing better than I talk -- don't know why. I can still drive on high-speed autoroutes, even at night, although these days I need a break every 150 km or so. I'm a frequent flyer at the YM/YWCA swimming pool and I still walk well. The doctor doesn't see much of me; in fact, I doubt if she could pick me out of a police line-up.

As for climate change, I've probably lightened my carbon footprint about as much as I can without selling the house. Thanks to the inadequacy of Stratford's public transit, I will need a car as long as I live here, and I'm nowhere near ready to move. I travel very little these days and not at all by air; in future, I will probably take the train to destinations more than two hours away by road. But Canadians have good reasons to be heavy consumers of energy, and that won't change as long as we have cold winters and high housing costs leading to long commutes to work. Of course, I don't have to commute any more (hurrah!), so at least I don't contribute to that problem.

I find myself returning to the abstemious habits I learned from my parents, who lived through the depression and the war, and raised three children on not nearly enough money. It's oddly comforting to decide that entire classes of consumption are simply off the menu, out of the question, not for me. Avoiding advertising is a big help; what the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't yearn for.

By the way, the foot and a half of snow that fell over Christmas is now gone. I woke this morning to rain on the roof and today's forecast high is 8 degrees Celsius; yesterday it went up to 12C, and we won't see freezing temperatures again until sometime next Wednesday.

New Year's Eve is a good time to settle debts and count blessings. In that spirit, I shall clear my MasterCard bill, vacuum the upstairs (I'm so lucky to have an upstairs!), and phone my sister-in-law to thank her for hosting the family hordes. Then I shall make myself a toddy (three people gave me whisky for Christmas!) and settle down with the cats for a nice evening of reading and television.

Life is good.

Subject: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 22 - 11:01 AM

2022 Declutter thread, Pandemic edition year 3

Our habits shift over time, tilting more toward environmentally sound practices. Organic gardening, recycling, buying products in containers that are recyclable (glass and metal and corrugated cardboard are most likely to be recycled; plastic and mixed paper less so), and looking at our closets and thrift stores for slow fashion. Gardening because it's good for us and good for the planet; when the carbon footprint of your meal is nil because you carried that eggplant or tomato 25 feet from the garden. Growing from seed. Driving prudently and making several stops in one trip instead of single task trips. Walking more, driving less, or even moving to a place where everything is nearby and transit is efficient so a car is unnecessary – that's more difficult, but might be a goal we need to shoot for in our lifetimes.

It has been many years since Katlaughing started these declutter and fitness threads, and now it is quite a few years since we lost Kat La France who went by that moniker. Other members have drifted away and drop in occasionally with updates (we love those!) We lost Alice Flynn in early December; at one time she was quite active on these threads (and in the Facebook cognate). They were interested in all of these things we're still talking about, an aspect of these threads unlikely to change, and chances are these conversations will lure in a few new participants.

COVID is still here, with its recent companions RSV and the Plague Influenza. Planetary scientists are looking at the super storms racing around the planet (we just finished a horrible long freeze that hit the lower 48 US states, when on Christmas day they were all simultaneously frozen at least somewhere.)
We need to continue using our spaces as efficiently as possible including the making of compost to fertilize the garden, buying clothes to last, mending clothing, remaking existing clothing, learning food preservation, learning to trade or barter, etc. I've been reducing the amount of turf that needs mowing every year, though I still have gas-powered equipment along with the electric tools. I don't know if I'd ever use a push mower on this half-acre, but that is a possibility at some point. I have planted and will continue to plant various sized trees, while leaving myself a sunny area to garden.

I don't make resolutions – though late in 2022 I decided a few things that I have already started on, like weeding out the email I never read (unsubscribe) and make a bigger effort to sell things in the house now that I know the kids aren't interested in. Redistribution of resources to declutter and avoid the need to manufacture new is a task to refine. If you use the Japanese or the Swedish approaches to household inventory, or other trends that come along, please share.

National Wildlife Federation: Gardening for Climate Change