DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Apr 23 - 07:50 AM

I love those “curiously strong” mints, too. My husband introduced me to them; easily sedated by long-haul driving, he used them to shock himself back to awareness, and we always had a couple of tins in the glove box.

I don’t doze on the road like Edmund, but the mints are still a fixture.

Sunshine in Stratford this morning, but the puddle around the furnace is reaching for pond-like proportions. I know what I’m doing after church.

More rain in the forecast all the way to Thursday. My back gets tired just thinking about it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Apr 23 - 04:40 AM

...And artificial sweeteners can play havoc with my guts, especially Stevia, which converts my stomach into a cement mixer, so no sugar-free sweeties for me!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Apr 23 - 04:29 AM

I dislike an overtly salty taste in food. I made some of Marcella's winter meatballs for last night (though we didn't have it with her roasted cabbage, just some tangy tomato sauce and home-made bread). The meatballs contain a small amount of pancetta and some Parmesan, both salty ingredients. She adds salt, but I was very judicious about that. With good minced (ground?) steak you hardly need to add extra salt as there's plenty of good beefy flavour in there. If I make home-made burgers for the barbie I just make the patties out of pure beef, nothing at all added. My bread contains 5g salt in a 500g loaf. There was a piece in a consumer magazine here last week which informed us that some bread, even from reputable sources, contains as much as a gram of salt per slice. The equivalent in my home-made loaf to that would be around three times as much as I use. A hearty ham sandwich with mayo made with shop bread would easily reach or even exceed that daily 6g limit, and that's just lunch...

I have a weakness for strong mints when I'm driving any distance, so I buy those little tins of tiny extra-strong ones, perky enough to make you sneeze. That way the sugar-calorie damage is limited. We don't eat desserts unless we have people staying. Unlike some people round here I don't have a chocolate fetish, though a binge three or four times a year isn't impossible...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 09:51 PM

Darn, Patty! You were nearby. I have a couple of close friends in San Angelo, but haven't been there in years. I'm sorry to read that the weather has not cooperated with your setup. Where did you do your mineral hunting? Is this rockhound activity at places like Rockhound State Park, or is it purchasing at the gem and mineral shows in Arizona - is it in Yuma? Quartzite? Tucson?

Steve, I'm anticipating being told that I need to watch my salt intake. Time passes and the blood pressure seems to be more vulnerable to the excess sodium. Medication choices can be made if you're willing to follow guidelines that make choice possible. My brother encountered this already so I'm not surprised. I also realized recently that I had an array of particularly salty snacks around here that were adding up to a pretty hefty dose each week.

Charmion, I agree about the vinegar and lemon. More often than not when making soup or bean dishes I'll add a little vinegar. Hot sauce - I love it on so many things, in particular omelettes and scrambled eggs, and many types of Mexican food. Foods I really like now that I tended to avoid as a kid and young adult are things like bell peppers and hot peppers. I can't get enough of them now.

Garden work tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 09:46 PM

Hi, Steve! Nice to see you in these parts again.

As we age, our olfactory senses change and foods we liked when we were younger lose their appeal. Many people try to fix this problem with salt and sugar, but primarily salt. Hence, salt consumption tends to increase with age, along with all kinds of health problems that may or may not be related to sodium intake. It’s notoriously difficult to tease out the various lifestyle factors that give rise to particular ailments, so salt gets the blame for lots of highly complex ailments. Sure, it may well contribute to high blood pressure, but how much? And what about all the other contributing factors? In any circulatory or cardiac issue, there are lots and lots, and more than a few are still mysterious.

Me, I like to eat different things now I’m officially old. Hot sauce, for example. I never liked it when I was younger, but I do now. A touch (or more) of vinegar in a stew or a soup lifts the flavour much more effectively than yet more salt. Likewise, a squeeze of lemon juice livens up a chicken cutlet or a pork chop.

The basement puddle is less bad, but not yet conquered — the rain continues and the ground water is still rising. I have now vacuumed up about four filthy litres.

I drove to London today with another load of books for Goodwill (6.5 cubic feet this time), and made a point of checking out the state of the countryside on the way. Soggy, in a word. Downright water-logged, in fact. Acres and acres with great expanses of last year’s stubble poking up through the water looked more like rice paddies than cornfields.

Ah, well, it’s only the beginning of April. No point in worrying until it still looks like that on Victoria Day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: JennieG
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 09:12 PM

I won't be doing much lurking for a few weeks, but will pop in if I can.

Tomorrow morning we are off in our little caravan - travel trailer - for three weeks to Canberra, about 700 kms south. I don't know what that is in miles, you will have to look it up. Lots, anyway. Our older son lives there as does The One And Only Grandkid so we will spend some time with them, but the main reason for a trip at this time of year is to attend the National Folk Festival. There are other musical happenings to take in during our trip - it will be a lot of fun!

Once I finish the coffee currently being slurped I will start thinking about packing important Stuff. Ukulele.....knitting for in the car (Himself will be driving).....hand sewing for the TV-less evenings, no TV in our van.....tablet with lots of books.....and some clothes.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 08:21 PM

"What salt does is make your entire cardiovascular system become less pliant and elastic and literally hardens and stiffens every artery and vein."

I'd like to see the evidence for this. The big deal on salt in the diet is as follows, and I'm fully aware that this is not quite in the spirit of the thread, though I do think that broad-brush and potentially misleading statements deserve to be addressed:

Lots of foods contain added salt. Stuff such as bacon, sausages, burgers and cheese, even bread, can be high in salt. Processed foods and ready meals are prime culprits, as salt is used to mask the fact that low-quality, cheap ingredients are used.

I'm a big fan of Italian cookery, and that means using high-quality ingredients that have plenty of intrinsic flavour. There's a world of difference, for example, between cheap hothouse tomatoes and the very best that the best growers can produce, and the price difference can be quite small. You just have to be savvy about what you're looking for, that's all. If you use good ingredients, you need use far less salt. Most of my cooking is very simple with fresh, unprocessed ingredients. I know what salt I'm adding but I don't delude myself. I made a risotto last night that contained about 50g pancetta (for three people) and a good dose of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese. Two salty ingredients. The vegetables therein, nil salt. The extra salt added, nil. No-one was complaining!

One other thing, with regard to the broad-brush statement I started this post with: the evidence for harm caused by salt intake above the recommended level (it's 6g per day in the UK) is very conflicting. It's possible that you as an individual might be aware of specific adverse effects on you, apropos of high blood pressure, for example. Two things there: other factors may be contributing to that, and salt may not be the worst of them and you wouldn't know. Second, lots of people tolerate inadvisably high salt levels very well. I read a study many years ago (don't ask me where, because I can't remember) that concluded that four out of five people handle excess salt very well. Of course, who knows whether you're one of them, and Russian Roulette could be not necessarily the best way forward.

I'm not arguing against the precautionary principle here. In fact, I'm extremely vigilant about my own salt intake as my blood pressure tends to the high side of normal. But, as ever, broad-brush doesn't cut it with me. I tend always to look for the real science.

I bought a blood pressure machine a year ago that came highly recommended for its accuracy. I'm not exactly over the moon about my readings but I won't worry as long as they don't skyrocket.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 04:37 PM

Whoops the San Angelo disaster was the previous day, had to leave Kimball Bend for Toledo Bend, 300 mile jump. Just made it in time to register, too. They now have it where if you show up in time you can get a senior discount, but if you have to pay your balance online it's full fare. Another 'gotcha' the camping 'system' seems to be filling up with.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 04:34 PM

Hi SRS, I did see your call for lurkers to report, and was on my way across Texas, and had to reroute from my usual paths. So, I thought, great, I'll get close to Fort Worth, and try to find a place to meet up with SRS!

Which last-minute, half-baked plan promptly blew up. I booked in at Kimball Bend Park, immediately started to look up meet up spots and connect with SRS, and found absolutely no Verizon service whatsoever, though in the shadow of an enormous megalopolis. What the heck? And I was sick to my stomach for most of the time, so did not hit the road trying to find a place where I could get a signal, til I had to leave for a reservation at San Angelo, where I got to hook up in an electrical storm in order to try to catch the Mudcat zoom. I think karma was telling me I will have to plan ahead much better. I would like 1 brownie point for trying and will accept 2 demerits for failing.

It has been a weird couple of months, for every great experience there was a letdown. Meanwhile another 'it's not usually this cold' freezing month in New Mexico wore on my patience. Worse wind and dust storms than usual, too many 25 degree nights.

In pursuing mineral-hunting, I acquired several flats worth of rough, and a rock splitter, etc. So clutter is mounting, and I cannot wait to get to my storage unit to get winter things out of the coach. Cannot wait to go find a home base to give collection-and-hobby clutter a home, and stop rolling for a while.

Meanwhile, I can catch a meeting of the N.O. Quarter Shanty Krewe this week, sing some shanties with them, if I can get to New Orleans tomorrow, so that's the immediate plan. Today I am filling the fresh water tank, washing lots of stuff, oiling the splitter, and enjoying a spring day in Louisiana, green trees as far as the eye can see. Was a little startled to wake to a chorus of many different birds this morning.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 03:16 PM

Yeah, "chipping" was an understatement. Years ago I was watching the old ABC Home Show, based in Los Angeles, and during water shortages they talked about these little transfer pumps people could set in the street at the curb to capture shallow water running down the street if someone else ran enough water for it to go into the street. I don't know what they're called, but something like that could round up your wet spot also.

Don, your description of the cardiovascular system is certainly clear. Something to look into.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 02:25 PM

Installing a sump pump in the wet part of my basement would require a much more aggressive approach than mere chipping, Stilly. A jack-hammer might work.

And I’m not sure I want to get that tough on a problem that appears only once in five years (so far). Shop-vac first.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 12:34 PM

To help limit salt intake I found simply reminding myself what salt does really helps.
What salt does is make your entire cardiovascular system become less pliant and elastic and literally hardens and stiffens every artery and vein.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 10:17 AM

There aren't many houses in Texas with basements, and those that have them usually have a sump pump in place because they do get wet. I have no basement but the setup for my air conditioning means the drain line runs up to the attic before out the side wall and down to the garden near the dryer vent. (We didn't want to break the foundation to put in a drain for this new unit.) The sump is small and very quiet; in a basement it would need a recess (put the pump in the lowest wet spot) and a power supply. I'd think one could be rigged up (you would have to chip away concrete for a more pronounced low spot than you have now). Oh look - I found a plumber in Toronto. I just searched on "sump pump setup in basement" without a location so it appears you're in good company. Their diagram is also helpful to see how they are set up.

A cursory look through the office closet finds the box for the EOS camera body (the one I'm keeping) but so far not the smaller Canon box. I typically keep them flattened and I probably organized them to someplace I'll have to find later. Maybe even the attic. I've always had in mind the little camera could be sold on eBay so I'm sure I kept the box.

Cat sitting begins today and it means I try to figure what other chores can be run while I'm out. There's a mutual aid food donation pantry near her house, so unopened food items can be donated there. (Later in the year that's where I'll donate extra garden produce.) Her house is half-way to my gym, so I'll work out more often (my titanium knees always feel better with more trips to the gym.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 08:30 AM

Today I must visit Canadian Tire to buy a wet-dry vacuum cleaner. I must do it before the puddle on the basement floor laps up against the furnace and inundates the bottom row of wine.

It’s a very wet spring in Perth County — March went out like a beaver.

Apart from that, nothing new on the home-improvement front.

Uninvited water in the basement just makes me feel tired.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 23 - 11:05 PM

Executive decision: I have a good older Canon EOS camera, and I have a little Canon Powershot that I won in a raffle. The little one takes a decent video but it is hard to focus for photos (no viewfinder). I worked on eBay stuff today and compared the two. My conclusion - it's time to list the Powershot on eBay with all of the bits and pieces and use the cash to buy a new lens for the EOS. My current favorite lens needs a repair (they are complex machines in their own right and repairs take time and are expensive). A less-robust lens will do for my eBay work and I need to see if the guy I know who fixes camera lenses is still in business. I might get the other one up and running again. (I've read that film cameras are coming back into vogue, like vinyl records—what's old is new again. I should pull out the old Olympus film camera and see if anyone is interested in buying it.)

There's a Sony full-frame mirrorless camera I have my eye on, but it's out of reach for now. When looking at photos from the Powershot, I can take better photos with my phone camera, but I have to jump through hoops to get the photos out of the phone into the computer. Someone who wants a dedicated pocket-sized camera will get a good little camera with the Powershot, but I like the bigger camera better.

It was good to get started on eBay stuff again.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 23 - 01:15 PM

Looking at labels for sodium opens a very large can of worms. I anticipate a clearing out of some of the short-cut ingredients in the cupboard - in particular, my favorite flavor-enhancing things like bouillon. Also reading the labels on salad dressing, cheese, and so much more. Soy sauce. Good thing wine is very low sodium. [sigh]

A quart of applesauce has been processed. Houseplants watered - and I had a thought yesterday about setting up a shelf in front of the bedroom window and moving some in there. Now that the trunk that used to sit there is in the closet, there's a spot opened up. Cardboard loaded and ready to drop off soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 23 - 10:39 AM

My siblings and I are very close in age, so when one has a medical development, we all perk up. This week I learned that my brother is watching his blood pressure and is pretty sure it was the salty snacks that pushed it up in a recent episode. Out of curiosity I started reading the labels on the various snack foods around here, and it appears to be time to change some snack choices. I always read the ingredient lists looking for coconut derivatives, but it's time to pay more attention to the sodium part of the labels. He also tells me that now he has cut out most of the salt, the little bit he does use is really noticeable. In addition to eliminating smokehouse almonds, it appears the days of dark chocolate with sea salt are over. Must investigate the other dark chocolate offerings. (I'm making this adjustment now because I'm 10 months older than he is ("Irish twins"), putting me in the cross-hairs also.)

Today a trip to the recycle bin (if people flattened their boxes there would be more room for everyone; nowadays I have to go the day after the bins are emptied in order to find room for my flat boxes.) Time to put away some of the materials used in recent projects, and it wouldn't hurt to organize the shelves in the garage where a lot of these boxes of screws and hand tools live.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 31 Mar 23 - 09:47 AM

Beaver:

Arrived on Tuesday. Just about feeling recovered. Took myself to BF yesterday and again today - today because I left my hat there yesterday... and one more treat -a BF I did not need to cook. A neighbour was there with a friend so nice chat. And he introduced me to the waitress; I had a nice chat with her as the place cleared for a few minutes before I left.

Now, check a couple things on Internet then, mix a couple glazes to test before I reload the kiln that Michael so kindly fixed. Then off to The Trust to pay him for the parts - hoping he will be there since his wife is doing a group thingy this aft.

Mostly I have read and brought in fire wood, went to chiropractor who might be OK. Not much else. Driveway is clear but snow is still deep everywhere. We are to have a few days above freezing - HOPE! I just looked up to see snow flakes coming down...!!!! JUST A FEW>>>

I have never used molds. No use for green soap...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Mar 23 - 09:38 AM

A powerful new sci-fi feminist movie is on Prime Video called The Power.
It's a three-parter right now but part 3 is good enough in a pinch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Mar 23 - 08:59 PM

All of the fruit and veggies picked up earlier in the week are being drawn down; one pineapple cored and in the fridge, the second one still ripening. Zucchini and squash are for both the dogs and me; other fruit eaten fresh or, with some of the apples, I'll make applesauce to bottle and process because I use it in baking (usually to reduce the amount of oil used in some soda breads like the pumpkin or zucchini breads I love). It's always a race to use these while they're still in good shape.

Tomorrow I have the whole day at home so will make a short list and see if I can knock off a few of a few chores in the house before I get out in the garden to start digging and planting. The garden is always more appealing than housework.

I have plenty of boxes here, what I need to do with them is pack eBay items and have them ready to ship once they're listed and sold.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Mar 23 - 07:07 AM

I have now packed five 1.5-cubic-foot boxes of books and hauled two of them to the Goodwill bookstore in London.

But now I’m down to the heavy stuff: reference books, music, and sundry big fat tomes. That means another trip to the U-Haul store in Kitchener for one-cubic-foot book boxes.

I’ll have this job done by the end of next week.

The builders are due back today with the cabinets and the sink, so I’ll leave them to it and take my mandolin to Serena the Fiddle’s house for a dose of tunes.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Mar 23 - 11:10 AM

Charmion, good luck with the dust. Here at the house the dust comes with a large dog-hair component, making dust puppies the size of fluffy slippers. We're not out of the wet season yet so the muddy footprints would instantly reappear if I tried to mop them now.

Out in the yard there is a bizarre kind of clutter - a wind storm we had a couple of weeks ago loosened the contents of some old squirrel nests in one of the back yard trees. They drag an array of fluffy things scavenged from the yard (lots of old dacron filling from when I had dog beds in the garage) and pieces of the cover and filling from outdoor cushions that used to be on a back porch bench. I blamed the dogs for tearing it up, but I think the squirrels started it. And now it's all slow-motion raining down out of the trees. There are lot of shreds of plastic shopping bags, and where they got them I can't say. Perhaps they blew into the yard and I didn't see them before the squirrels did?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Mar 23 - 10:21 AM

The grant application has been submitted. Cue the second-guessing, speculation and criticism.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, I might do a little light housekeeping today -- perhaps even vacuum the plaster dust out of the carpets and damp-mop the human and feline footy-prints off the hardwood floors.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 02:29 PM

Construction resumes on Thursday.

The concert stress has been replaced by grant application stress. I effing well hate the Ontario Arts Council.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 10:13 AM

Good idea about Zoom. I have a well-curated bookshelf behind me for my Zoom meetings. You've reminded me that I needed to reposition a frame with a typed signed poem by Calvin Trillin, a gift from a friend. (It appeared in The New Yorker, you can probably Google it - from the Bush/Cheney era, it's called "I Can't Appear Without My Nanny Dick."

Don, there are lots of large fabric prints out there now. A few years ago I discovered Amazon's photo print shower curtains and have two of them, deployed over a standard clear vinyl waterproof liner. One is a lovely Douglas fir forest, the other is a Greek beach and ocean scene.

With this weekend's haul at the discount grocery I've decided to up the veggies on top of dry dog food; I usually do it for dinner but I'm also adding it on their breakfast. I'm convinced that the fresh food moisture is what keeps them all healthier than dry food alone. The same goes for me, though in my case I'm trying to lower the percentage of carbs that come from wheat flour.

If any of you are considering knee or hip replacement, I have to say that this spring is the first in many years when I felt like my old self - able to move around the house or garden comfortably, and having lost the weight gained over time (combination of stress at work cortisol and slowing down from knee pain), back to a level of dexterity that is a gift. My mother (and one of my aunts) at this age were truly acting elderly. I don't see myself that way - my plan has always been to take after the other aunt who took good care of herself (she lived until about 94). We're talking another 25 years.

Charmion, now that the success of the weekend chorus has buoyed you, I hope the work crew is able to contribute to your well-being by working neatly, quickly, and without dust or chaos.

Dorothy, that furniture stored in your basement sounds interesting. Post a photo on FB if you think of it. I'd love to see what it looks like. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 09:41 AM

They also make nice backgrounds for zoom.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 09:38 AM

It may seem tacky to some but if you have a cinder block wall or an unsightly wall you don't want to paint for hours; on Amazon they have what they call tapestries that come in bookcase, landscape or unique scenes made of printed polyester that hangs nicely with carpet tacks or miracle tape.
No fuss or adhesive from 11 to 23 dollars.
Just search Amazon for tapestries and a desired scene be it interior or exterior.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Mar 23 - 10:43 PM

Mission accomplished, toilet tank has all new apparatus and the bidet I received at xmas has been installed. Now to read the directions. All of this extra work isn't the bidet's fault, it's because the old apparatus in the tank was leaking and the old flare valve on the water line - its time had come.

Busy week ahead, and cat sitting for a friend again starting next weekend. She was over here yesterday and I pointed out the new fence and gate on the side of the garage - told her that her cat sitting payments were set aside for these kinds of projects. It's a way to pace myself and be sure that those projects DO get done, even if it's over considerable time. It's not something I really plan to turn into a business, it's more a small word of mouth side gig.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Mar 23 - 11:00 AM

At the big box stores if I go through the gardening entrance I frequently find myself answering questions. People are usually talking outloud to others, asking questions, so it's easy to offer unobtrusive help. How durable are the various plants, what spacing, how big they'll grow, etc. Recommending organic methods for pest control issues means one less toxic yard on the planet. On Friday I passed a woman with an interesting array of herbs and woody edible plants in her cart and remarked "your yard must be delicious!" That was enough for an interesting conversation about how we cook and the flavors we have in our gardens. I think this is like what Dorothy does so well - social interactions with strangers are good for all of us.

It seems only fair that in the same store another customer offered me advice that I could use when shopping plumbing parts. He said "you can bring it up on YouTube, there are lots of videos." My response - "I'm good with taking plumbing advice from a total stranger in the plumbing aisle." You can usually tell who is at sea working on their home project and who is there for a specific piece they know they need. He knew what he was looking for. Today should be the final day of my plumbing project.

Dorothy, I'm still researching and eliminating any coconut products, and I was saddened to learn that the "vegetable glycerin" in my Tincture of Green Soap is coconut based. I'm giving these away, and my ex yesterday took home the 1/2 gallon of green soap. He'll use it as a soap, but remarked that back in the day when he was doing ceramics he used green soap to brush into the molds so the pots would release. Do you do this? This was using a slip instead of hand shaping harder clay, maybe a totally different process.

What are our lurkers up to now that Spring is officially here? Jon with his cameras and safety alerts for the parents, Patty in her RV somewhere in the American West, and many others who work quietly on their decluttering projects. Any eBay sellers? There are so many marketplaces now, Facebook offers local competition, but eBay with all of it's rules still tries to stay the gold standard for online selling.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Mar 23 - 09:02 AM

Yes, it snowed again last night. Fortunately not much, but enough to show the sprouting daffodils who’s still in charge. Having lived some forty years in the Ottawa Valley, I’ve seen snow on apple blossom more times than enough.

The concert choir survived last night’s performance without inappropriate drama, thank God. We all sang our heads off and nailed most, if not all, the entries in the frankly challenging Requiem by Maurice Duruflé; then whipped off the rousing final number, a late-Latin hymn with all the organ stops out. The audience looked a bit stunned when it was over, and then clapped and clapped and clapped.

I went home to a stiff whisky and an hour of cats-on-lap time before bed.

The house is not at its best, in the shank of that “enduring construction” phase of ubiquitous plaster dust, pictures off the wall, and random extension cords snaking around corners. The library-cum-music room is in disorder, with three half-empty bookcases and boxes of books stacked on the floor awaiting the trip down the highway to the Goodwill bookstore in London. But I’m not doing anything about it until I finish the grant application. The deadline on that is noon Tuesday.

I have almost all the supporting documents I need — pdf versions of posters, programs and cvs — but I’m waiting on the operating budget and an audio clip from our last Messiah performance. Must pester the Maestro …

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 10:17 PM

PS: No word from Mike re kiln. No notice re power outage at Beaver!! Hoping to go back on Tuesday, in any case.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 10:15 PM

Dupont:

Total nothing day while waiting for the rain to start... Make that snow!!! And SRS has an iris in bloom! And I am perfectly happy to use a bucket to flush the toilet and spend my time on other things - including nothing at all... Never have gotten use to civilized living after years off the grid with an outhouse!

R dealt with our neighbour who needed a place to put some furniture - temporarily! Alan and Michel, and R moved the two pieces into the cellar, then - reciprocity! - they helped him get a defunct frig out - now sitting in the snow! I was really tired of Alan's problem and twisted R's arm. Well, I really cared about his problem and wanted a solution. We have a big cellar. R says it is really ugly furniture but no disputandum... and Alan is trying to keep it until his daughter can afford a home. I wonder if his daughter wants it???

R also managed to get most of the remaining firewood in from the back deck which has as much as two feet of snow in places - depending on the amount of sun that hits - or none at all. And I put a fire in the stove - using the dry wood that has been inside a while. Cosy on a snowy day!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 10:04 PM

After some research about adapters and an evening trip to Home Depot I ended up talking to a guy in the plumbing aisle who suggested cutting off the old valve and putting on a compression fitting. The store plumbing guy said that will work just fine. I've finally got all of the necessary parts but will again wait until daylight to turn of the water at the curb and begin this next stage. I didn't have to make any extra trips for the guts of the tank, it's this old valve that has caused all of the chaos in the project.

Not much else got done today.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 05:13 PM

Older houses like mine have the "flare" style fitting for the toilet tank line, but the modern system uses compression lines. They don't interchange. I'll have to go to a plumbing supply store on Monday, because that will still be cheaper than having a plumber come in to change the tap.

It was a bonanza at the gourmet discount warehouse today, mostly fruits and veggies, but also some nice smoked wild caught sockeye salmon packages that we basically cleaned out. They were in the freezer section and now they're in our freezers. I need to stick to eating all of the fruit and produce and avoid the bread-like carbs, but have to eat the stuff in order of durability.

I put two packages of asparagus in the lower fridge door shelf, (with water in the bottom of the tall open container) and when I opened the fridge, Cookie who is at that exact height gave my asparagus a kiss. Good thing I was the veggies before I cook them. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 01:54 PM

Day Two of the Toilet Tank gear replacement:
I've remembered what the difficulty is with this setup: when they plumbed the toilet they didn't use a standard size water outlet on the pipe that comes through the wall that has the on-off handle. The flexible replacement toilet water line is too small to screw on. I'm heading out to Lowe's with the old nut and the new line and will either exchange the line for a regular sink water line (I suspect that's the size they used) or see if I can get an adaptor. The goal is to not have a plumber come $weat off the old valve and put on a new one.

Otherwise, that job is going fine. The instructions are clear and once I get past this it's only a couple of more steps to finish.

This morning a friend came by for a few minutes to drop off plants thinned from her garden, so while I waited for her I planted a new small rosemary near where the last big one was that died. I suspect that old one was unusual in how large and long-lived it was.

I hear lawnmowers running in the neighborhood, the March Canadian cognate would be snow blowers. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Mar 23 - 10:30 PM

Dorothy, I divided the toilet repair into two parts. This evening I went out and uncovered the water shutoff (this one is mine, a foot over is the box for the city shutoff). Lifted out some extra dirt then sprayed WD-40 to loosen the gate valve. Only three trips to be sure the water was off (you really have to push it all the way to turn if off). Then the toilet water tap - emptied the tank, used a wrench to remove the valve, and it was a simple matter of a broken washer. Replace it, use some Teflon tape on the threads, and screw it back into place. When the outside water was on no more running into the toilet tank - that is still off.

The kit is all-encompassing, it replaces everything in and on the tank, and I have decided to take the prudent move of doing the rest during daylight and when plumbers are on call easily. I've done this before, it shouldn't be a problem, but doing it at night just seems to court disaster. So tomorrow the rest happens, but the worst is done - just getting started and fixing one leak!

I noticed a blooming iris in the yard today, and there are several daffodils scattered around. In a few weeks the yard will be full of blooming iris - this is when it looks best in the whole year.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 24 Mar 23 - 09:16 PM

Dupont:

You guys do remind me of things! Like the toilet problem at Beaver! When it would not flush but just kept spewing water, I just turned off the water valve to it and used a bucket. Easy - and I had forgotten. Mike is fixing the kiln while I am away; I did not have the audacity to ask for the toilet! I am sure he would not complain. I made a nice donation to Community Trust for their warming centre. (He refuses payment so this is our arrangement.)

SRS: garden plan is sounding good! I checked the front bed today and, on the sunniest part, the daffies are up a few inches! The rest is still covered with a few inches of snow. Hope!

Have twisted R's arm a bit for neighbour who needs a temporary home for his family DR set (trying to keep it for his daughter); Wife has refused to give it house space so far. The eternal optimist thinks she may yet let him put it in his office, or the college will finally provide an office... In the meantime it can stay in a spare room on 1st floor until he can put it in our cellar - after the snow melts on the north side of the house. I just had to move a few movable things. Sweet man teaches music at a college in Montreal - classical...choir... Maybe we will have time to talk sometime!

Managing to maintain the household at minimal standard. Hope to go back to Beaver in a few days and re-find some energy. Every day, I think I will throw some pots... I did go fetch some needed glaze materials to take back. It took half a day to go north and come back, including missing the correct exit... Ordered ahead and very well organized shop had it all ready, and a nice fellow to put it in car.

Replenished groceries and did a small roast pork in toaster oven - worked well! Did ribs a few days ago and almost wrecked them - tried to pay a bill while they were cooking - a five minute task??? Called HELP and got help, while telling them that their IT people do not understand the brains of normal folks - in no uncertain terms. "Choose a profile": 1. What is a profile? 2. Why am I asked to choose when there is only one??? And WHERE is the correct place to put the PW... after I find it! OH, timed out!! Burned the ribs - the sauce but the meat was WELL cooked!

Accepting that R is NOT a veggie... At least not 7 days a week. Maybe 4?   

Beautiful day today. Just above freezing. Back porch is totally shaded and icy! A couple more days above freezing MIGHT do the job.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Mar 23 - 08:02 PM

Good luck with both the sink and the concert, Charmion! You can say you've thrown everything into these projects, including the bathroom sink. (And the kids wouldn't be doing anything you're doing, they'd be doing some artsy kid thing and attracting eyeballs, is all.)

Middle of the night trip to the bathroom last night and I realized I could hear water dribbling in the tank, nonstop. It's slowly getting worse, and the little faucet handle to turn off the tank line doesn't work. Today I picked up a full-replacement kit for inside the tank (why make three trips for parts when you can buy everything in one box for $30?) That's for this evening. I have to turn off water at the street to do the repair. I'll first see if I can change the washer in that tap handle because if I can't I might have to call a plumber and let him replace that handle and then fix the insides. This is where the bidet is to be installed, so it might as well be up to snuff. I have a home warranty now - this is what they might be covering (replacing the handle plus fixing the insides that need replacing.) It depends on how much my share is. Or maybe they just cover clogged sewer lines. I'll refer to the policy.

I did my income taxes yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to have a refund due. It took several tries to get the e-file documents to stick; they fussed about how I entered an address on one form and they didn't like that my self-selected PIN was the same one I used last year. So? I've used it several times. Now they care. So I have a new one. And a couple of other bookkeeping bits, but it was finally accepted by the IRS this morning. In the process of comparing how I did last year's taxes with this year's forms I noticed an odd difference on one worksheet, and realized that last year I made a math error that the IRS didn't catch. It's in my favor so I'll have to submit a revised return to get the rest of that cash. But I'll wait until after this year's forms go through. No point in confusing them.

Last year it took forever to get my refund, it was part of the whole COVID slowdown. Here's hoping Biden has hired all of the IRS folks he intended and it goes more quickly. (Congress has the purse strings, so even though this money was approved last year, there's no saying what programs and departments the current lunatic crop in charge will try to hold hostage.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Mar 23 - 02:19 PM

Aaaand ... we're back.

The bathroom project was ticking along perfectly until yesterday, when the inevitable happened: the people who were supposed to supply the sink failed to convey some critical information from Point A to Point B and it therefore will not be ready until next Wednesday. That's a two-day interruption in the schedule.

Just as well. On Monday and Tuesday morning, I will be focussed entirely on submitting the grant application, which has to be uploaded through a frankly wonky web interface. Not having builders in the house while I do that will be a relief.

Dress rehearsal tonight, concert tomorrow. Our conductor has recruited a ringer for the soprano section, a professional who knows the work cold. What a relief. Now, let's hope none of the few remaining tenors comes down with the collywobbles, and the weather tomorrow isn't too terribly awful. Rain is forecast, but just an ordinary downpour -- nothing dramatic.

Dramatic was yesterday's trip to Kitchener for my monthly date with the allergist's needle. Perth County lay under a fog thick enough to qualify for November in Halifax, with visibility at less than 30 metres. Like an idiot, I took the county road instead of the highway, and found myself in the middle of a convoy tiptoeing along at 20 kph below the speed limit. Except for the fool about two vehicles behind me, who nourished the delusion that he could maybe beat the system and pass all the rest of us without getting creamed by a livestock truck coming the other way. Nothing bad happened, but not for lack of trying.

The water heater is dripping consistently now, about half a liter per day. Fortunately, I have a couple of large, deep boot trays that we brought from Ottawa; now one is under the water heater, and the other is under the humidifier. A morning visit to the cellar takes care of the previous day's drippings ... Gotta deal with that water heater before the next time I want to leave town for more than 24 hours.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Mar 23 - 02:47 PM

Bouncing moppets won’t solve the concert choir’s issues, I’m afraid. Little kids can’t sing oratorios and cantatas, which is what we do.

Back to work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Mar 23 - 10:56 PM

Keb is right - with the kids performing their parents and families will follow!

My backyard was mowed today and I only stopped twice to turn the mower on it's side and scrape out all of the wet grass clinging to the underside that slowed operation. (I keep a putty knife in the pocket of gardening apron I use for yard work.) It happens every spring. Years ago I used to uncover bunny nests. With dogs in the back now there are no bunnies in that part of the lot.

I linked a ceramics online course over to Dorothy's Facebook page - it may be too small and fussy to fool with, but it might be interesting to watch.

Good luck with the grants - and of course learn from the wording you're looking at. Very likely none of it is truly original. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Mar 23 - 04:00 PM

Charmion, it won't work for your concert choir, but
this is my chorus's secret for attracting audiences that are SRO.

Perform with groups that have young children in them.
All their families and friends will buy tickets and show up.

Our chorus performed in a show with:
a troupe of Irish step-dancing students
a children's chorus

and the hall was absolutely packed with people.
This was a big deal for the children's chorus,
which had been inactive from the time of the pandemic,
so no children's chorus for some three years.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Mar 23 - 02:29 PM

Suddenly, in spite of everything, the daffs are sprouting in front of my house.

We have absolutely no reason to believe that the snow is over until next winter, but there they are. Ain't nature grand?

Today I am writing a grant application for the concert choir (not the church choir), and editing applications for two other music outfits. Of course I plan to steal ideas from the documents I am editing; that's why I agreed to do them.

The provincial government is the new Prince Archbishop of Salzburg. The Stratford Concert Choir is no new Mozart, but let's hope some arts administrator thinks we're worthy of patronage anyway.

The concert choir's show is on Saturday night -- French Romantic music with organ. We're still struggling to round up an audience that's bigger than the choir. The sopranos sound a little less desperate than they did last week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Mar 23 - 12:25 PM

Dorothy, I have several types of bulbs that need planting. One friend gave me cannas and some liriope (an ornamental grass) and another gave me some schoolhouse lilies, and yet another has two types of crinum lily bulbs for me to pick up. And my daughter rescued some tulips dug up at her museum - the flowers were still lovely (so why dig them now?) and she's saving the bulbs for me. They'll go in the ground and come up next spring.

My goal is to put in beds that are easy to mow around, easy to weed, and so attractive that they stay in place for a long long time; these are new beds because the ones around the house foundation are in harm's way if I have the foundation worked on. I'm planning to make it mostly mulch or let the lawn grow there. (If have the foundation fixed I'll probably have to put in a sprinkler system to maintain it.) My xmas cactus blooms on and off during the winter months, and I was surprised this week to see that the poinsettia from 2021 that is still in a pot in the window has put out red flower/leaves. Not in time for the holidays, but no matter! I've never had one put out the red again after it was pushed and sold in a store. Nice! (These are actually bracts, not flowers.)

Today is supposed to warm up, but not so far, and it's a heavy overcast. So much of that this year! The next couple of days should be around 80 - very nice for getting out in the yard.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Mar 23 - 11:57 AM

Dupont:

Still in recovery from trip but getting a few things done: took shop vac out to clean the car - embarrassing mess - before today's servicing. R was to put summer tires in car but not! So later for that and somewhere else, but soon. Which is worse: feeling you are wearing out the snow tires on bare roads or OOPS! it snowed??? None in forecast - very unusual. A clear sign of warming climate.

Several pairs of pants (for R) from thrift shops need hemming - maybe today! A few plants could be potted soon. Includes separating the huge Canna clump... They won't be able to go out until mid or late April, or even May, but can stay in the bright hallway. One actually bloomed there for awhile. Christmas Cactus is liking new spot in cool bright window - even has a couple buds! The orchid just keeps living - gets a new leaf, loses and old one, but NO flowers!

And, of course, I can find the energy to make more pots...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Mar 23 - 11:27 AM

I wasn't getting enough delta/theta sleep so I take 3 melatonin 10 mg gummies and they did the trick.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 07:52 PM

The local pharmacists are united in their unhappiness at the games the mail order pharmacy plays. Apparently it is a common complaint that they put a large shipping charge on them to get them promptly. Consensus is to call 2 - 3 days prior to the next prescribing appointment and find out the status of their supplies.

Revisiting the hall closet reveals a very tattered Eddie Bauer parka purchased in ~ 1979. Time to retire that to the sewing room for parts; the zipper and a few other parts can be reused, but the lining is shredded and the cuffs are incredibly frayed. I saw an ad for a nice parka on Instagram today, meaning I'll ignore that and look at my usual places first. And possibly even the thrift store, because they sometimes surprise me with the great stuff they have. That was a men's medium jacket and it's roomy, and it looks like a large women's will fit about the same. I like to have a layer or two under the parka in cooler weather.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 12:03 PM

A new week, and intentions to get a few things on my "to-do" list accomplished. One of them is to shop local large pharmacies because almost two weeks later I still don't have the new medication that had the prescription sent to the mail order pharmacy, and this is simply unacceptable.

Weather will be improving and I have several bags of things that need planting. Some of them need new beds to go into, so I'll be working on that. The yard needs work and I need exercise: win/win.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 23 - 09:45 PM

A light jacket was enough to make working outside comfortable. Though it is the worst time of year to prune a tree, now that it's mowing season I decided I wasn't going to go another year of walking into the thorns on the Mexican plum. I took off two branches and some are in the trash while some are in a bin waiting to go through the electric chipper.

I was looking at the soffit out front and found a hole with a huge squirrel nest inside—there were strands of plastic and a lot of grass sagging through the hole. I used tongs to pull out a bunch of stuff (in the past there was a baby squirrel that fell out of the soffit, and silly me, I put it back up in my attic.) This time I sealed off the holes and put a piece of wood over the chewed hole. I'll check back later to see if they chewed around my piece of wood. I did this during the day so hope everyone was outside, not inside the attic. While I was doing all of my work last week they must have been quietly watching from their corner.

Interesting note - there was a large old paper wasp nest literally 3 inches away from the squirrel hole - they seem to have lived in harmony.

I mowed part of the back yard today (stopping at dusk), bagging the clippings so I could drop them into the compost. That will get things cooking in a hurry in the new bin.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Mar 23 - 12:35 PM

"My brother became essentially a vegetarian to get off the meds."

I have heard of this:
the magic word seems to be "anti-inflammatory" to describe the diet/eating lifestyle.
Some advocate starches rather than proteins as being less inflammatory.
I'm reading some books by a Dr. Michael Greger on the subject,
one of them is titled "How Not To Die."