DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Apr 23 - 12:25 PM

I know Stevia should be fine, but I gurgle for England when I eat any. No Stevia for Steve!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Apr 23 - 04:13 PM

Sometimes I wonder if I'm part goat.

My digestion doesn't much care what I run through it as long as I refrain from solid food until after ten o'clock in the morning, and I lay off munching at least two hours before going to bed. All the fake sugars -- aspartame, stevia, and all their friends and relations -- go down just like the real stuff, except that they don't rot my very expensively repaired teeth on the way.

I think I'll just sit here for a few minutes and count my blessings.

Last week was summer hot, and today it's cold and wet. How cold and wet? When I went to a choir board meeting this afternoon, I drove through clumps of actual sleet. On Saturday, I had the air-conditioning on. Today, the furnace is giving a boffo reprise performance of Heating The House.

The daffodils are okay with all of it. Tough guys, those daffs.

This morning's pool class finally ironed out the aches and strains I earned with my Stakhanovite stint of library maintenance on Saturday. I'm also a bit slimmer than I was last week -- some of last winter's flab has already departed.

But I do need to boost my water consumption. Unless I pretty well force myself, I can forget all about it until my throat turns Sahara dry. Should I accessorize every outfit with a water-bottle? Answers on a postcard ...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Apr 23 - 07:36 PM

this one?

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

The afternoon didn't go as planned, but it was productive. Over on FB Tamson asked if anyone had seen gnu around lately, and I realized I hadn't been peppered with memes for the last couple of weeks. It took digging in my notes from several years ago (his address is in there somewhere) and pulling up the content of our Messenger conversations. I got tired of scrolling so got to the end, highlighted and selected "all" and pasted it into a Word document then searched it. It seems all of our notes add up to a book-length conversation and I found the hospital where he stayed last time. I called and was so relieved when they told me he's there. Thank dog they don't have a HPPA rule that prevents saying he's there. I was prepared for a word game - like "if you can't tell me if he is there, perhaps you can tell me if I should call the police to do a welfare check. Or not."

The rest of the afternoon I looked through the garage for my hose-end aerator. It was right in plain sight - hanging on the peg board next to a second one I inherited from the friend whose greenhouse I bought. Gardening tools and metal fence posts were organized. I swept as I worked and wore a face mask because of all of the mouse droppings (no Hantavirus here that I know of, but still) and compressed stuff into a tidy row along one wall. I'm ready to paint more fence pickets, but first, the tree work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Apr 23 - 05:31 PM

The new mailbox arrived today; ironically, it was delivered by FedEx. I'll put it up this evening. Most mail theft is a speedy step up on the porch, grab the exposed mail, and move on. Anything that requires noise or energy is bound to repulse theft, so I'll use long screws to attach this to a stud behind the porch siding.

I'm going to give that "deep cleaning" from Martha Stewart a try, though only on the bathrooms to start with.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 19 Apr 23 - 06:31 PM

Dupont:

Reporting that I have done very little and may undo what I have actually done! I did manage to throw a few small pots and soap dishes - in the new style my friend wants - I don't like them but got the hang of making them - half a dozen for starters. THEN, I was working on back deck which was very nice on a warm dry day. The next day was not so warm and I managed to trim some of them before the drizzle began...

So, off to a building/home supply store for a roof of sorts. There was a dearth of Anglophones but, with time and perseverance I managed - You have to buy it first then pick it up and if it doesn't fit in your small car, you can return it!    OH, MY! I found the place to look at it, got a nice young fellow to find it and we determined together than it should fit. THEN, I managed to get back out by going toward the bar across the path with slow determination I saw someone do it! Went back and paid for it, came back around back and nice man put it in car. Oh, IT is a large umbrella on a stem off to the side that suspends it overhead.

It is in the house (in box) while I wait for a consult with R to decide if I can raise and lower it as needed. In the meantime, it is too cool, and due to rain for parts of the next 5 warmish days... The man has still not picked up his bowls. The tires cannot be changed here until 6 May. R's Birthday is Tuesday. Clay and tires are all in car - except I brought in one box of clay to warm up until I can work again. Hope ...

So: plan is to leave on Weds. Phone service station near Beaver to see if they have time to change tires. Consider the efficacy of this Umbrella or return it! Sit and do nothing in the meantime... - Almost. Did a grocery run yesterday, made the cauliflower cheddar soup - good for one more meal. If I go to K right now, I could put in a roast pork with potatoes and onions - in the toaster oven. Good for several meals.

This heavy weather does weigh me down. And too mach green tea makes me visit the washroom often. ... Did write a longish and careful email to a friend who weighs on me - and R. I feel badly not to be comfortable being a good support person and he has a similar problem; we cannot talk about it even. But cannot let it go completely; it has been several years... No wonder I am burying myself in the internet and THEN find, today, a dear FB friend's husband has stage 4 cancer; And she lost her adult daughter just 3-4 years ago and is still grieving seriously. ... Think I may need to fall back and re-group.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Apr 23 - 11:30 PM

My ex and I made a trip over to the local drop-off location for bulky trash and things like hazardous chemicals (I had some ancient weed killer from my pre-organic days). He has the water bill and address that allowed us to go in, and he had a big CRT old television that it took two of us to load and unload. Whew!

Not a lot else was accomplished. I didn't install the mailbox yet; I'll do it in the morning. I took a couple of naps today. This evening I made a pint of Italian style tomato sauce using my homegrown canned tomatoes and garlic and herbs from the yard. The kitchen smells wonderful!

I've set up in the hall bathroom to start the "deep cleaning" tomorrow; I won't try to do the whole house in one day.

The yard needs more mulch spread in the garden beds. We have a long growing season so I haven't been in a rush, but I need to block out weeds before they are big and robust. After cleaning the garage I located a stack of the black plastic bags I use for transporting the woodchips.

Good luck with those new-style pots, Dorothy, and with the long-distance connections with old friends. Your local friend is lucky you'll take the commission to try the new style since your own style of pots sound so remarkable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Apr 23 - 07:46 AM

Yet another book run to London yesterday — my last. For now.

And Mary Anne the Guitar will pick up her bookcase today. That leaves me with one more full-sized bookcase to re-home.

My fancy new LED standing lamp has apparently died. The big drawback of this form of technology is that there’s no bulb to change. Now I don’t know what to do with it — except park it in the basement and find one of the old-fashioned kind. Heigh-ho, off to the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. I’d like a tri-light, if I can find one.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Apr 23 - 08:38 AM

Spring is a good time to declutter your car with new fluids.
If you think an electric car is in your future wait until 2025 when more choices, better prices, and chips will be available.

We donated a third of the living room and have recovered space from a defunct computer station.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 20 Apr 23 - 10:19 AM

LED "3-way bulbs" (what we knew as "tri-lights") are available from Home Depot.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Apr 23 - 10:24 AM

It'll be a frosty Friday in July when I buy a fully electric car -- they're not practical in this very large province with its cold climate, large expanses of thin population, and terrible public transit. When city people take them to the country, bad things can happen even within spitting distance of our southern border: Electric car owners stranded during Quebec storm power outage

All the commentators snarked that those folks should have known better and planned better -- but shit happens even to those who know better and plan well.

Spring is when I take my car to the vet for its spring check-up, including changing to summer tires and decluttering it of its layer of winter filth. Fresh fluids and filters are also on the menu. When a vehicle is so insanely expensive to buy and run, skimping on maintenance is the stupidest possible form of false economy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Apr 23 - 10:30 AM

I have an LED tri-light bulb, Andrew, and very expensive it was. What I would like is a standing lamp with a bulb socket and a three-way switch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 23 - 11:24 AM

I've tried some of the specialized LED bulbs (I had one to replace the 300W halogen bulb in the torchiere lamp and was underwhelmed). It didn't last long either. They have gotten the single brightness ones working, with the screw in base, but I won't buy more of the attempts to be other kinds of bulbs any time soon. I put a halogen bulb back in the torchiere and yes it burns moths if they are attracted to it, but it works.

It seems that my used Pathfinder can sell for almost exactly the same price today as I bought it three years ago. It would make a great downpayment on a new vehicle, but the new ones have gone through the roof. It's always something. I decided I need to clean it like I'm going to trade it in but then simply enjoy my newly clean vehicle a while longer. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 23 - 11:56 AM

The new mailbox is installed, no electrocution in the process. The stud that was best placed to support it has an electrical outlet 12" up from the porch floor, so I made sure no screws went anywhere near that side of the stud. In all, there is only one screw that is in wood, the rest are in the exterior drywall and I used those plastic stabilizers to put the screws in. Everything but those came in the box—it's a well-designed, well-packed, and easily-assembled heavy steel box. Now I can continue working my way through the stack of post office mail that needs the address changed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Apr 23 - 07:53 AM

I'm currently suffering from my seventh dose of cellulitis since May 2020. Incredibly, my GP lets me keep a course of antibiotics in reserve at home, which is a life-saver. I can start taking them as soon as I get the earliest symptoms, and this time, touch wood, I seem to have reined it in to a mild attack. Unless I strike really early it turns severe very quickly and there's always the danger of sepsis. Vigilance is the watchword!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Apr 23 - 08:48 AM

Holy shit, Steve — that’s awful. Good luck that you have a doctor who knows you well enough that s/he trusts you to use your antibiotics correctly.

It took me twenty years to build that relationship with my doc in Ottawa. Then we moved to Stratford, and I was back among the poloi — reduced to begging for timely intervention when I caught a cold that would become bronchitis and then pneumonia.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 23 - 05:19 PM

I'm back from a run to the e-waste collection event at my old campus, part of their annual Earth Day activities. About 20 pounds of small electronics, batteries, plus old house phone wire and coaxial cable (with copper wire inside) were dropped off. These had accumulated over a year in bags in the pantry. I also weeded out old not-very-good computer speakers that I'd kept because they still worked, but they were too low power. That clears a little space in the office shelving and I should reorganize in there.

Since I was already there, a visit to the U bookstore bagged a couple of university branded t-shirts in my current size. The others from years past are so big they're only worn to sleep in or for yard work. I'm especially happy to revive the logo as part of my personal brand now that the awful dean who made life a misery for so many people has departed. (There was no reception offered by campus and she didn't want one in the library - she had a cake delivered to her office for drop-in visitors and the report I heard said there was a lot of leftover cake. And even better - one of her flying monkeys announced her imminent departure for a new job soon. The rats are fleeing that ship as rational people once again take command.)

Now, into the garden.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Apr 23 - 10:40 AM

The wheelbarrow is full of soil I have pulled away from the first of the trees I need to tend to this weekend. The premise understood by more and more landscapers and gardeners is that when trees are planted at nurseries, every time the small tree is moved to a bigger pot, more dirt is piled around the base of it, and so by the time a 5, 10, 15, or larger gallon pot is sold at the retail nursery, sometimes several inches has been piled on top of the root flare—the natural level the tree would have achieved if a seed grew on the ground, not in a pot. That flare should be above soil, and when it isn't trees tend to suffer. It might be all of the transmission of biological activity through bark that would normally be exposed. I have several trees that were planted before we knew about this problem that now need to have several inches of soil pulled back off of the flare. One I was warned about two years ago by a leading landscape architect in the region but didn't get out there promptly (bad knees was my main reason). Now I'm doing the work.

That soil can go to low spots in the yard or can be mixed with amendments and put into pots for this year's flowers and herbs and such. And darn! I just realized some of the weeds I pulled out of a couple of pots weren't weeds, they were the small Texas star hibiscus sprouts (the leaves on the small plants change from a grape-shape to a palmately lobed shape). I need to be careful and save any more that sprout, I had to move them all last year and none of the transplants survived to sprout this year, I have to start from seed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 Apr 23 - 09:17 PM

Dupont:

What a dif a change of weather makes - for me. The last while - most of the time I have been back here, I have felt TIRED. Then a Thurs eve, I suddenly had chills and HAD to go to bad about 8:30. Took extra Pau d'Arco and woke up feeling my "normal". I had noted for a while that if I forget the four hour rule, I start getting a scratchy throat, which goes away in a few minutes. But the tiredness ...

Yesterday, I threw a few pots on the back porch. Today, I threw a lot more and trimmed all except the last few. The wind was blowing just enough and the negative ions drove me! Why I thrive by the sea, on mountain tops and on windy days. Of course, when I stopped - at a good stopping point and hungry - I ached something terrible.

THEN R came home with a larger book case it had taken him a week to fetch - re Marketplace. I was barely functional - pain and hunger! But he got it in the house and I had managed to move the small one out of the way. After he dashed away for dinner with cousin et al, I ate and then was able to start filling the new case. Decided to move the smaller one next to my chair, replacing a $2 table (but nice) which is piled high with books, etc. Not sure where the table will go but I will find a spot 'cause I really like it's antique look which is barely visible here. It will be nice to have books on shelves, and not a two foot high pile lurking over my shoulder! Tomorrow!

Every once in a while, a break from books cascading off every surface is a treat.

Took a hot bath with Epsom salt, which greatly diminished the aches.

Decided the Umbrella I bought is not adequate; I can return it. Found the canopy frame which had "disappeared" - right in plain sight - it happens! Tomorrow I will try it out but think it may be too large for the porch. Wayfair has a smaller one I am considering. It is SO nice to be able to work outside!

Googled, then phoned a woman who was a close friend in the 60s. She is 90,immediately called me by my old name, asked about respective kids. It was a good move. I sent her pics and Troy's concert youtube. I am glad she is OK.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 10:34 AM

Down here we had a weather flip overnight; I was expecting a low chance of rain today but it seems to have decided to be generally drizzly and there is a large green splotch over my region on the weather map. Mowing will have to wait. Over a couple of days I dug out several inches of extra dirt around the base of two ailing pines, and while aeration will happen later I can take out a bag of granular organic fertilizer and cast it around them today so it will start soaking in. (The trees each have the appearance of standing in a shallow bowl now, but I'll scrape a thin layer of pine needles over the soil to disguise the digging work.) I toted the dirt from around the trees to the dip in the lawn left after the sewer replacement a few years ago. Over time I'll manage to raise the level of that spot.

It looks like a day of cleaning and eBay listings.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 03:24 PM

Dupont:

cool and rainy! no neg ions. WE took the umbrella back and R had the opportunity to wander around a store he had no yet encountered - bought 5 gallon bucket of paint and some other things. WE used the journey - half hour each way- to talk about what I need to make potting more viable.

WE had planned to have BF first- there must be a place in B.! HAH! The place I had noticed had a line out the door into the drizzle! WE toured all of Beauharnois for a while, until R asked his phone and got directions --- A place we had passed on the edge of town, but there were so many parked vehicles we thought it was a used car dealer! Nice BF! The waitresses were stick-thin - run off their feet!

Too cool and wet for potting so this is a day to regain energy, and finish the book case changeover. R has gone to do stuff. I can only hope I will see him again before tomorrow morning. I still have a full-fledged pork roast dinner - planned overs.

How does one throw out the torn remnant of the camera case that came with the camera Dad bought in January 1937 - to take pics of the baby?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 03:30 PM

The spring rummage sale is on again at church, so I’m rounding up housewares that I don’t need, want or love — a surprisingly large range of stuff. Silicone doohickeys for poaching eggs are remarkably prominent in the selection. Nowadays, I go to the diner if I want a poached egg. Likewise, I’m parting with the Instant Pot, the largest Römertopf clay baker, and a stainless-steel roasting pan big enough for a 20-pound turkey.

With every load of stuff that leaves the house, I feel just a bit better.

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

I have a Römertopf clay baker that gets used a couple of times a year, but usually I find them at Goodwill and sell them on eBay. That generally only works if it was rarely or never used.

The plans for today were doused with the rain and I haven't seemed to get moving doing something else, just little stuff. Dishwasher, laundry, etc. There's still time to accomplish great housekeeping feats, and I predict those will have to do with the volume of stuff in tomorrow's trash. Several times today I've asked myself "why am I keeping this?"

I did step out after lunch to scatter some dry fertilizer for the trees and there was a plastic container with several schoolhouse lily bulbs that I poked into a small bed near the birdbath. Yesterday I "healed in" (forestry trick for keeping seedling trees alive until planting) some canna lilies near the driveway - they will bide their time there until the new bed is dug and they can be planted permanently. They weren't going to survive in the bucket where they were stashed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Apr 23 - 06:17 PM

Another carload gone, this time higgledy-piggledy housewares haphazardly stacked in boxes, a few framed pictures, and the aforementioned roasting pan and clay baker.

And the house is still full of stuff.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Apr 23 - 10:02 PM

The trash went out early today and I made a couple of trips to add more to the can before it was collected. There is still a lot of stuff here also, but the kitchen counters are looking a little better and there's more room in the freezer.

The front lawn got mowed and I scooped a bunch of leaf litter and leaf compost out of the curb area to mulch into the lawn. As I was working the mower through some of the leaves a guy in a pickup with the classic yard work equipment trailer in back drove by slowly. I could see the mental wheels turning - should he stop and ask the middle aged woman if she would like to have the lawn mowed? I saw him look from me to the next door yard where my white-haired 80-year-old neighbor was out mowing his yard and the penny dropped. On this side of the village, we do our own yard work. He drove off.

I need to get out the keyboard and play, or clear the bench and play the (out of tune) piano. My typing has gotten pretty sloppy, and I find that if I take time to practice the piano my typing improves. (Alas, more typing doesn't make my piano playing improve.)

I'm planning to get my next COVID booster tomorrow; it sounds like the Moderna formula has a little more punch this time, so I'll ask for that. And in other health news, I've found one more source of sodium laureth sulfate to eliminate from my daily routine: I googled my dish detergent, and there it is, low on the list, but it's there. So I'll be using gloves now because I doubt there is any dish detergent in the world that doesn't have that stuff.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 12:23 PM

Filed my income tax return.

Before the end of the week, I must go to the bank and declutter my account of rather a lot of money that I apparently owe to the gummint.

Feh.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 10:35 PM

Several times a year organizations send me return address labels, and today I cut up most of the PO box labels. These live in a crowded little faux-Chippendale secretary and I was pleased to find mixed in a couple dozen for the house address, so those are stashed with the stamp assortment.

Following museum volunteering today I swung by the gym, but late in the afternoon the parking lot was crowded enough that I didn't want to go spend an hour exercising in a space packed full of unmasked people. I'm not an early riser, but on those occasions I get to the gym in the morning I meet more women who are my age and the place isn't packed. Getting to bed earlier is a goal I should set.

When I was going through the labels I found an enveloped tucked away with a note that it was receipts from a 2003 trip to New York City with my daughter. A mother-daughter trip we made when she turned 14. (I wish I'd managed a trip like that with my son, though our drives back and forth to the university 900 miles away were kind of the same as far as formative travel). Anyway, I've tucked that into my bag and when we go to lunch tomorrow we can take a look together. I'm curious to learn if she thinks she got out of that what I hoped she would - the desire to travel (she certainly has that) and to do interesting cultural things. We were poking around Chinatown and eating in Japanese restaurants right at the age when she started being interested in Anime and such. Lots of museums, some good shopping, and lots and lots of walking and eating. And now she works in an internationally respected art museum. I think I just answered my own question. The envelope has given me an opportunity to show my past self that it was a good idea.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 12:03 PM

There's a MidCentury Atomic Age Vintage Retro Culture and Ads site (long name, easy to find) on Facebook, and I was reminded this morning of the set of Russel Wright melamine that I pulled together a few years ago. Some of it is a spinoff from the company that did the pressing (after they ran the Wright "Residential" or other patterns they had to use the rest of the plastic emulsion so put out their own basic pattern with the same plastic mix. I got some of those also.) I should probably do something with these. Some of it came from my family, we used it when I was a kid.

A friend will arrive to stay in about 10 days so I've started Martha Stewart's deep cleaning routine, but so far just in the hall/guest bathroom and I'll work outward from there. That was an hour of remarkably sweaty work, scrubbing and polishing. The box of everything that came out for the cleaning will be assessed and tossed, rehomed, or washed before going back to the bathroom.

I hear the rain so will dress accordingly for my next cat feeding/lunch with child trip, and plan to finish all of my running today by mid-afternoon when heavy weather is forecast to clobber the area. I want to be parked in the garage in case there is big hail.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 10:07 PM

The hall bathroom looks really good, I'll move on to clean my bathroom and dressing room tomorrow. I'll save the kitchen until closer to the visit because it is most likely to be messed up again quickly.

I'm considering what the next stove in the kitchen will be like; I've avoided the glass stovetops because I do the heavy pots for canning, but I may be able to buy a single burner to use for that separate from the stove. Induction stoves are apparently pretty good these days. This is what happens when you watch science programs on PBS.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Apr 23 - 07:41 PM

Well I'm just about recovered from my latest bout of cellulitis (which I mentioned on the 21st). Because I was able to strike early with the antibiotics my doc had allowed me to keep at home, I've avoided the horrid swelling and blistering which I've endured in most of my other attacks, and I didn't have to go to hospital. We'd long had a trip planned to Bath, which Mrs Steve wanted to cancel, but I wasn't having that. I know I've not mentioned it on my new thread in which I mentioned Bath, but one of the main objects of the trip was to visit the graves of Mrs Steve's half-sister who died 12 years ago aged 41 in tragic circumstances and, in a completely different location, the grave of her mother and sister. There's no-one else left to do these visits. We could go to Bath, a city which means a lot to Mrs Steve and where our son went to university, and do both grave visits on the same day with a very roundabout drive (the weather was awful!), so we stuck to that and ended up having a couple of really nice days in Bath which included the gastronomy I mentioned in that other thread - and a visit to the William Herschel museum. What a place. It's the house he lived in in the late 1700s with his sister Caroline when he discovered the planet Uranus. It was the first discovery of a new planet since the dawn of mankind - all the others, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, were well known as they are all easy naked-eye objects. There are models of the telescopes he invented as well as lots of exhibits to do with his music - he was a superb classical composer as well as a brilliant astronomer, and his sister Caroline was no shrinking violet either!

You can go into the little back garden and stand on the exact spot from which he discovered Uranus. That is such an unbelievably wonderful thing to be able to do. And the odd thing was that we were the only people there!

I didn't feel great for a few days but one has to battle through! The whole thing was so well worth it.

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

I got the COVID bi-valent booster yesterday and am achy and tired today, but with Motrin I'm still moving.

I'm cat-sitting for a friend, and the house next door to her is being heavily remodeled by the new owner (she seems to be living in a 30' travel trailer in her backyard for the duration). It's interesting to watch the improvements big and small; today I noticed a new steel locking mailbox on the porch. It looks good, and is one of the models I considered before I settled on the one I put up. Anyway, I'm interested in who is doing the work versus who is contracting it. I have to replace the side door in the garage and I've considered going over to ask the guy doing the work if he does one-off jobs.

Charmion, is the new bathroom completely finished? How does it look?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Apr 23 - 12:38 PM

The bathroom is finished — except for a non-functioning plug receptacle — and it looks wonderful: bright, clean and mould-proof, with more than enough towel bars where previously were none.

The bill has yet to land, but I’m braced.

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

That sounds good. And the cats approve?

I made a tiny improvement in the kitchen this week; through a series of changes (most recently not using dish soap with bare hands because there is coconut in it) I'm going to be wearing vinyl or the long rubber dishwashing gloves, and they need a place to dry. I had a small rusty swing arm towel rack (three 11" vinyl-coated arms that pivot from the side of a cupboard over the sink). A new chrome one was about $8 on Amazon and delivered in one day, put up in a minute, and I now have three 12" arms to dry my gloves (and face masks using clothes pins). One of the least expensive pieces of hardware in the house but used several times a day.

To complete the deep cleaning of the hall bathroom I should finish scraping up the old glue off of the exposed concrete and put down the vinyl tiles I got for in the meantime (once the foundation is fixed I may put non-skid porcelain tiles in there. But who knows when that expensive job will happen.) I have started in the far corner and am working on straightening the edge along the tub (removing lumpy grout). I think before I put down these vinyl tiles I need to put a straight bead of silicone grout down at the tub/floor intersection to keep water from getting under the tub. No tile now because it could crack with the shifting house during the leveling process.

I started scrubbing the corner after doing some scraping, and this is the kind of job that once you get started and see the progress you're motivated to keep going. I sure hope so, anyway! Finishing by the time guests arrive is the objective.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 23 - 12:28 PM

I retrieved three different tubes of silicone caulking compound from the laundry room cupboard, all fairly elderly but possibly still pliable, if I can get any out of the tubes. I'll run that bead of caulk today before moving ahead with the vinyl squares in the bathroom.

Years ago I bought a lumbar backpack that I seem to have last used when walking the dogs, because I finally found it under a basket of dog related stuff on the bookcase in the den. It was expensive and little used but very dusty so I've soaked it in the kitchen sink and before I could hang it outside to dry I had to put the clothesline back up. One post is very close to where the large hackberry was taken out last month so I had removed the crossmember so it wouldn't get hit by falling branches. Now it is back in place, the lines up, and the black pack is hanging out there and hopefully won't be a mottled dusty color once it's dry.

I used pliers to start tightening the nuts of fence hardware on the clothesline crossmember, but needed a ratchet to finish the job, so stepped nearby into the garage to retrieve the right pieces. And I will note here that I think this set came from my dad's estate (I have 3 sets, this one has the nicest metal case). And every so often even after all of these years (he died in 1997) his household/estate items continue to surprise me. While cleaning up the garage a couple of weeks ago I organized stuff in the shelves and apparently uncovered a plastic blister pack of several drill bits, though what was in the pack didn't register until I went looking for drill bits. They are exactly what I needed from a long-gone Pacific NW hardware store. Thanks again, Dad!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 29 Apr 23 - 04:42 PM

Dupont:

Still here. This time I was planning to leave on Weds...Then Thurs, but on Weds there was a post on FB from a musician friend/student of a special event at the U - some compositions of hers, and others, and a couple pieces in which she participated with voice and/or instrument. I went because I really like this young student; the one who was in the musical last March or April. We enjoyed it. I felt called to be supportive! She was highly involved in organizing the Yellow Door 50th a few years ago; very competent - and creative!

So pots that were thrown are not trimmed. Appt. to get tires changed is on 6 May - THEN I will go home to ON...

In the meantime: Cleared last year's Canna out of the hall where it had wintered over in front of a south-facing glass door. One piece actually bloomed in December! Nice yellow treat. The whole huge bunch is now in the ground or very large pots - lest they expand and break a good (plastic) pot. NOW, it is raining! Also cleared most of the grass out of the veg bed.

Tomorrow I will plant some seeds and the wonderful sweet potato plant that wintered in the second floor South window on the rad! It looks very healthy. Just hope the bunnies do not fancy it! Went to plant what were supposed to be colombine seeds but were empty, however, the area already has columbine seedlings so I guess I threw some on last year.

There are two rabbits that come and nibble in a certain area in the late aft. I try not to disturb them.

Nice to have the hall cleared and cleaned! Also nurturing some basil seedlings; those that survive to May will need to be potted. Geraniums are being moved outdoors. Need to find a good system so R can water easily, and rarely!

Drying pots are still in DR and need to be boxed for transport to Beaver; keep putting it off as I am not sure where I will stack boxes! And the man who was going to come and get bowls has not; I would have been at Beaver this two weeks. Lesson: Do what I need to do and do not wait for someone else...

Last night R brought home two large spanakopita from a Greek resto, just because he was there and knew I like them. I warmed them in the toaster oven this am for BF! YUM! It was a great BF with no trimmings. He can bring them home anytime! There are no goodies like this near here.

But I did go, on Thurs, to the good bakery an hour south, in the country, and picked up some good pastries for treats - nothing like that near here either. Then visited with Geri, and Sarah showed up! Then went to the good butcher for some unpolluted bacon and a large bag of sweet potato fries - which I do up in the toaster oven for a nice treat. Also unpolluted.

Did income tax and mailed it. Next year I will make sure I take it to volunteer helpers near Beaver. My brain quit. My eyes quit. I quit and gave them royal what for! Only a sadist would develop a form that convoluted.

R spent a few hours - until the rain started, trying to sort out myriad boxes (40--50!) of books that had been "under cover" in the back yard for a few weeks. Procrastination = a bunch of wet books. Some went in the trash and many are in the basement in hopes of resurrecting them. A little effort could have had them in a dry place. I try to be quiet about it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 23 - 01:11 AM

Dorothy, your spanakopita breakfast sounds wonderful! I also love those Greek spinach pies. A savory breakfast is just fine with me.

I worked on replacing the soil in various pots beside the side door today, and what I couldn't use was tipped from the wheelbarrow into the garden that I'll start working tomorrow. Today I took the weedeater out to scalp the garden beds, and tomorrow I'll run the tiller through and do some planting with bedding plants I picked up a few days ago.

Calorie overload the last few days; I can't be trusted around chocolate or some kinds of cookies. I'll be at the gym working those off next week. I didn't buy many, at least I had the discipline to only buy a couple of each, but if you ever come across the chocolate bars from Western Australia called Darrell Lea with milk chocolate and peanut brittle - they are fabulous. (Why doesn't that word "calory" follow the spelling rules? Calory would be the singular, with calories the plural. Same with Cooky/cookies.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: JennieG
Date: 30 Apr 23 - 01:40 AM

Ah, Stilly......many of us Ozzies grew up eating Darrell Lea......I love their marzipan bars.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 23 - 12:14 PM

JennieG, I almost passed them up, never having heard of the brand. Probably just as well I only bought two, and the rest will be gone next time I'm at that store. :)

On Sunday mornings I putter around the house while I listen to a gardening radio program, and this morning I spent that time updating more mailing addresses. When going into a place like eBay they have such a complex scaffolding of data for listings, shipping, membership, and other details that you have to go to a half-dozen places to make the update. I keep track and have made 21 changes so far and am only up to "E" in my account book. My goal is to avoid having the post office mess up my mail forwarding in the future by taking care of address changes now. That fool DeJoy is still the postmaster (I thought they'd have kicked him out by now, but whatever.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 23 - 06:14 PM

Since it rained last week it was a good time to take the tiller into the yard to both break up an old compost pile and till some rows in the raised gardens. I moved two wheelbarrows-full of compost to the front beds, mixed in some amendments (greensand and lavasand) and tipped it into the beds. It was getting warm so those things were put away and later I'll go out and get some seeds started in pots and get the bedding plants put in. Maybe even make a run to the neighbor's yard for some of her free mulch.

I'm doing a low-till bed this year - I dug along the paths for the plants and used the weed eater to scalp the rest. I'll mulch deeply around crops to smother the weeds I cut off at ground level. By the time crops are big and can hold their own above the weeds it isn't such an issue if the weeds are there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 23 - 01:58 PM

Filing papers, finishing small repairs, putting things away. Still filing address change (and realizing there are places that have my credit card that never mail me things but still need to know the card's new address or purchases may not go through).

In the yard, more planting, digging, mulching, mowing, and tree care.

There are a couple of deadlines this week. I really need to dust around here, and I'm considering rearranging the office again (so I can sit closer to the window to look out.)

I've got a little list (of chores, that is.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 01 May 23 - 02:53 PM

An eight-litre Instant Pot and all its accoutrements may have found a new home with the family of Serena the Fiddle. I sure hope so; it takes up lots of space, and it's much too big for just me. They come in smaller sizes, and I may eventually buy the three-litre version.

Likewise, the middle-sized Romertopf clay-baker (about right for a three-kilo chicken) will eventually go to Mark the bass (singer, not fish) from the church choir. He was searching the rummage sale to replace a much-mourned Romertopf that suffered a terminal crack, but demurred on accepting mine because he couldn't quite believe that I'm genuinely ready to let it go. "But I haven't used it since Edmund died," I wailed. He looked at me sideways and said, "I've heard of that ..." I gather that the Anglican norm is to hang on to everything forever "just in case". I persuaded him to take it at Christmas if I still haven't used it by then.

On Saturday I heard from my great-nephew Logan and his sister Faith, who have both completed their first-year final exams. Logan already has his results: a GPA more or less equivalent to an average of 85 percent (I don't grok the GPA system; it wasn't used in Canada when I was last a student). Faith's results won't be in for another week or so, but her work to date indicates that she should score in the same neighbourhood as Logan. So that investment is paying off.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 01 May 23 - 03:23 PM

Speaking of dust ...

After a burst of activity about ten days ago, I have resumed procrastinating on floorwashing and dusting. I also have several pictures to rehang since the departure of six bookcases from the music room-cum-library, but whenever I think about hauling up the toolbox and spirit level, I just want to sit down until the idea goes away.

I might have had all the household change I can take for now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 23 - 03:26 PM

Props to Charmion. Graduating without student loan debt is the greatest gift you can offer those two. After graduation they will be able take jobs they want, not just something in order to pay the bills. They will be able to buy homes or start businesses without reference to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt that somehow never shrinks (and here in the US, can never be discharged through death or bankruptcy). They can save to go to graduate school later without loans. If Biden had been able to do the program he wanted to discharge massive amounts of student debt, that would have been the single largest boost the the US economy in decades (and the states that opposed it are the perfect example of cutting off their noses to spite their faces - they would have benefitted hugely also). Both of my kids worked, and their father made up the difference, for which I am eternally grateful. I did the running part - driving them to school and work and such, for my share (and more modest income.) They're moving forward, my son bought a house at age 28, my daughter travels a great deal. Your sibling and niece or nephew are very lucky that you're doing this for the grandkids.

Getting set to use the clothesline for the first time this year, and it's nice after the hackberry removal, no tree hanging over the top dropping bugs and leaves onto the laundry. Another lumbar pack (smaller, used a lot, from LLBean) from the same extra-dusty dog equipment storage shelf is soaking and will also dry on the line. I haven't worn this in years, since when my weight and health then were basically what they are now, so this pack will work for more dog walking or in lieu of a pocketbook.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 May 23 - 06:59 PM

Meanwhile in the Land of Oz - ‘It’s obscene’: ATO still chasing $2bn in student debt from controversial 1990s loan scheme The Australian government is still chasing $2bn of debt from more than 140,000 former low-income students who traded away their right to welfare under a loan scheme more than two decades ago.

The student financial supplement scheme, which operated for a decade from 1993, enticed tertiary students to take out “low-cost” loans by giving up benefits including youth allowance, Austudy or the pensioner education supplement.

Every dollar of welfare a student gave up entitled them to $2 in a SFSS loan, which could be used to help cover expenses while studying. Minors were also able to take out loans.

The Coalition dumped the scheme at the end of 2003, acknowledging it was saddling students with high levels of debt, was “administratively cumbersome and poorly targeted” and effectively hit people with hidden interest rate costs through forgone welfare.

It also conceded that many of the students would struggle to pay the money back. When the scheme was axed, the government actuary estimated about 50% of the loans would be recovered ... After two decades, a former student, Dennis, last year managed to pay off his Help loan, which was about $15,000, but he still has more than $36,000 owing on his SFSS loan.

When he initially took out the SFSS loan it was sitting just under $10,000. “It’s basically just accrued interest for years,” he said.

Dennis was from a low socioeconomic background and took out the debt at the start of his university studies to help pay for a move to Perth.

Th Coalition = right-wing parties, HELP (Higher Education Loan program) is the current scheme.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 23 - 11:43 PM

That sounds dreadful, Sandra! Is this legislation written by the banks? (That's what happened here. Congress accepted it as written and now this mess is law.)

Finished mowing, and a load of laundry is folded from the clothesline. The smaller lumbar pack cleaned up nicely. Kitchen is cleaner than it was.

I started looking for a repair kit for a 20-year-old oscillating sprinkler, one with a lifetime warranty. There is a yellow plastic lever to control the span of the watering that broke off. I came across reference to how to get the sprinkler fixed or replaced - I don't have the receipt but I did keep the package in a file where I put that kind of stuff. (Reminds me - I just bought a spade fork with a 15-year warranty - I have to file that receipt. Up until I'm 83 I'll be able to replace it if it fails.) Apparently if I had the sprinkler receipt I could send an email with a photo of the sprinkler and a scan of the receipt. Otherwise, I need to ship the sprinkler to them to look at to repair or replace. Main thing is that this sturdy metal sprinkler stays put - I don't want them sending me a cheap plastic sprinkler replacement. (The company is Melnor.)

Today was satisfactory with a lot of small chores being completed. No scolding myself for frittering away the time.

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

The Surgeon General says we are a lonely nation. People feel ashamed about their loneliness as if they are unlikable but the despondency from loneliness has health risks. Hyperconnectivity is surprisingly a symptom of loneliness. In children, it has become a suicide risk.
There is a kid's online safety act law being introduced. Maintaining relationships is the only work that works.
Sure the pandemic was a big impact but the loneliness factor has always been around. I think we are seeing the results of loneliness in the type of crazy shootings lately.
I don't think Steve Jobs foresaw the iPhone as a factor in loneliness.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 May 23 - 12:06 PM

Don, you have put your finger on the reason for the volunteer work I space out through the week. The society at the museum and the botanic garden are therapeutic as well as personally satisfying from a contribution standpoint. Achieving a good balance of time spent at home puttering around while also getting out and doing social stuff is the goal.

This morning I got a photo of the line of pecan-shaped dog droppings left on the way out the door by the elderly Labrador retriever. He's 14, deaf, terribly arthritic in his hips, and incontinent poop-wise. If he hasn't been outside for a while and starts barking, chances are he's going to drop them right there, or if he's just getting up in the morning. I keep a dustpan and brush handy to scoop up a couple of times a day. We can sometimes go a week at a time without any. My goal is to keep him on a healthy diet to keep everything a good consistency for easily rolling onto the dustpan.

I loaned my "Weed Popper" to the neighbors next door, and while I stood in their backyard talking my dogs stood and stared at me through the chain link fence, clearly chuffed (in the displeased form) that I was visiting and hadn't taken them with me. I can walk the girls but Zeke needs a very careful tour around a very small area with his arthritis. He wants to go, but can't go far.

I remind myself of WYSIWYG's "Dog World" conversations. I wonder how Susan is doing?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 May 23 - 02:47 PM

Clearing out the laundry room because I was looking for something and realized I'd never find it without moving and tossing stuff. I need to tackle the potting bench inside the side door next. Guests walk through that area so it should look interesting, not heaped with stuff. While working on this I've tossed a number of things that "might be used later or fixed." Nope. Gotta move on.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 03 May 23 - 08:25 PM

Mowed, planted 16 blue Iris bulbs, hedged, solved an insulin snafu, and decorated the fence with more polyester tapestries. It was cold but pleasant. What I consider active is about 1/10th of what Stilly does. The Chinese forget-me-nots have germinated without any help.

I'm glad the world runs better than I do but new Walmart size 10 4E width shoes make jogging easy in the short run. Wearing the wrong size of anything makes life hard.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 May 23 - 09:21 PM

The same shoe size from one company to another is so different that I rarely ever buy shoes online unless it is something I already have and and getting the exact same thing. Always pamper your feet.

Tomatoes and peppers planted, seeds in for chard and cucumber. I'll retrieve another batch of mulch before I plant more, the goal is to have really deep mulch around the plants to shade out weeds underneath.