DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jan 24 - 01:22 PM

Mrrzy, that sounds like a classic senior moment (glad to read you're healing well). Too bad you didn't put on your robe while you made the search, you'd have saved a few steps! When I got rid of the house phone I ported it to a cell phone and then ported it to Google Voice (you can't go directly from landline to Google, they only port from cellular phone companies). I use the desktop or tablet's Chrome browser where Voice turns phone numbers on web pages into links it will call, forwarding it to my cell phone. As long as it is ringing on my phone the call hasn't gone through, so I find it, answer, then hang up immediately before it connects.

Despite it still being January it is time to declutter my bedding of the down comforter. It's too cumbersome, and now that it isn't quite as cold out, I overheat any time the furnace comes on during the night. Back to layers of blankets and the quilt.

It's time to do some planting. Potatoes can go in, and if I get an area cleared near the kitchen door, onion sets. (I usually put onions in the same general area as herbs and garlic. Garlic was planted last fall and there is year-round oregano and thyme in the ground).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Jan 24 - 11:40 AM

Things are actually pretty organized around here, so of course I spent a loooooong time today and yesterday looking for things.

Today I wanted a particular vest (I have many), and while I haven't been hanging them back in the closet while recovering from that neck surgery, they were almost all missing. Eventually remembered the (neat) pile of vests I'd collected from around the house, but not yet hung up, sitting in the clean laundry basket under other clean laundry folded but not yet put away...

Yesterday, could not find my phone. It had been RIGHT HERE before my shower, after, was nowhere. This is why I have a landline, but my ringer was off from work, earlier, so picture nekkidity in long wet hair (no hat) calling, then running over to sit on the couch, or the bed, or... to see if I could feel them vibrate. Eventually located in the pocket of my bathrobe. Sigh.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jan 24 - 01:22 AM

Aw. Practicing what? What instrument do you play? (I play piano, and hate to try to remember the last time I sat down at the keyboard.) This account of sulfites is another dermatitis reaction; breathing isn't an issue. I'll have to backtrack to see why I was looking into it before, but it may turn out that I was not yet sure that coconut was my primary allergy problem. Sulfites are a sub problem.

NetFlix finally caught up with our family sharing plan today. Because of this I added a family member for $8, and now I can't see his named profile and he can't see mine, but he doesn't lose years worth of lists and viewing history on his profile. (Through high school he streamed various programs as he did his homework in his bedroom, then kept the account through college three states away - I asked NetFlix if this was ok and they said yes - and just for pure stubbornness we kept it up. He is almost 31 and still on my NetFlix account.)

We're nearing the end of January. What are our lurkers doing? Jon, we haven't heard from you in a while - how is your health, how are your parents, and what are you working on? Patty, where are you these days? In Arizona for the winter or some other southern state? Jennie and Maryanne and others - what's up?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Jan 24 - 10:16 PM

Sulfites can cause one to try to breathe but can't. A high dose will kill but low doses resemble mild asthma. Some preservative huh?

I won't be practicing every other day until a finger heals but it may take a long time. The first day of an injury doesn't tell me much except ow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jan 24 - 02:27 PM

Class was . . . interesting. A community recreation center is a well-used space and trying to hold an evening dance class in a room with a clean floor is a challenge. Using the restrooms for changing is a no-go, so dressing for class at home and walking through the parking lot in dance gear is the best bet. And it seems this will only happen for another month or so, then will move to the next town over (where I used to work). The new location is a few miles closer than the university, but it is something to take under consideration (there is a lot of road construction making a detour necessary). It has been several years since I took the classes so I need to do a lot of review. The first class was a nice workout. And even if the classes move out of that facility, the fitness rooms are still there to be used.

Seeing movement on eBay; an item sold and ships today. It's one I revised a little and that was enough to attract interest. More listings going up later today.

Meanwhile, I've been watching the PBS sewing and quilting programs and one program offered an interesting technique for making the quilting part of a project look good, especially for beginners. Calling it "sloppy woppy" they use a backing fabric with an interesting pattern that can be followed (around the edges) using free motion quilting. The result is the bobbin thread ends up on the top and an attractive pattern appears in the quilting. To remember this technique I picked up a couple of yards of fabric that would work for this, and I'll add my note and the episode information. Something to follow up on.

Next door to the fabric shop is the liquor store, and I stepped in to ask about low or non-sulfite wines. They used to have a section of them, but had only one bottle now that has the claim that sulfites are removed. A very helpful staff member reminded me that in the US they add sulfites to wine as a preservative. All wines have some sulfites, but European wines aren't supposed to be adulterated; none are added. I used to know this. I'll look into the comparable levels and see if switching to European wines would solve the allergic reaction I think sulfites are causing. Stopping wine for now seems to help, so if the lower levels are still too much, wine will be infrequent on my menu.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 24 - 10:28 PM

This evening I signed up for a weekly class starting tomorrow evening. This rec center is an easy mile away and I may add a couple of other classes later. After I had signed up I stepped into the back room where a stretching class was going tonight, same instructor, and it was old home week - three friends from the old studio. This is going to be good socially as well as for exercise. (Interestingly, everyone has lost weight since we were last together - we all seem to have been working on our health and fitness despite the setbacks of COVID in recent years.)

The items now on eBay are packed for shipping and stacked on the sideboard in the den; tomorrow I'll get a few more boxes and add listings.

In dog world these days I'm walking out into the backyard two or three times a day, luring them out with peanuts or other treats, though usually they just follow me because that's what they do. The dog door is there but by the time the old guy realizes he needs to head out he doesn't always get outside in time. Yet another accommodation for a really old dog.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Jan 24 - 08:00 PM

I have yet to declutter myself of the cough.
It has subsided to be a mild annoyance.

I am hoping for the best over the next months;
I have spoken to so many people, a few of them physicians,
who testify to a cough that persists months after the rest of the symptoms clear.
But eventually the cough clears up as well, it just takes a long time.

So I am staying away from inhalers for now,
and nursing the cough with medicated cough drops.
It's worst in the evening,
and best in the morning.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jan 24 - 09:48 PM

No snow down here, only rain, so no need for anyone to bail water out of my driveway. Has your cough cleared up completely, Keb?

On Thursday I'm going to restart dance class. The studio I went to before I retired closed during COVID, and I had knee issues so didn't try to find a new place. Last year the instructor moved to the nearby rec center two evenings a week. I've learned that my Silver Sneakers account gets me into the center free (no penalty for living out of the city limits and the class cost is modest). Thursday is when there are a back-to-back classes and I'll choose to either re-do Beginners or get back into the Intermediate group. Since I won't have an annual fee to join the center I put that money into some gear for the class. This center also has fitness rooms so I'll also start going there for the treadmill and recumbent bike. I'll still go to the other gym; it has the pool and a lot of other stuff, plus much longer hours, but I won't go as often.

There was good luck today with eBay research, the discovery that a $5 Goodwill find is a Sheffield silver plate tureen. Those stamped hallmarks are difficult to figure out and I had been looking at it upside down, but I found the exact maker. There is silver plate, and then there is Sheffield silverplate.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Jan 24 - 07:05 PM

Snow has arrived in southwestern New England as well,
and may turn to freezing rain (ugh)
as the temperatures rise in the next day or two.
At least we have temperatures above freezing now,
for a week or so it had been bitterly cold here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jan 24 - 10:51 AM

Snowing again — or still? — in Stratford. All the snow that should have fallen between Remembrance Day and New Year’s has arrived late and brought friends.

Another bag of Goodwill-bound clag will leave the house this afternoon, after the nice lad from Nick’s Snow Removal has cleared my driveway.

I swear that’s the best $650.00 I spend in any given year.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jan 24 - 03:59 PM

Today's advance research shows no sales with large numbers of glasses going at once, they tend to be sold in lots of 2, 3, or 4; very few sold individually. The good news is that smaller boxes are easier to pack and ship. eBay gets a discount for sellers regardless of the shipper, and I usually ship USPS, but will keep similar sized un-branded boxes handy in case someone wants to ship UPS. (I offer both on my sales.)

I mentioned buying a bag of flour at the dollar store on xmas eve because I was almost out and would have no other time to shop before my family event; that flour was a help but I didn't use much. Since then baking with it reveals that it's pretty awful. Rolls don't rise as well, it's hard to mix into batter (lumpy) even after sifting. The final straw was a deflated batch of dinner rolls on Saturday—I tossed the rolls then tossed the rest of the flour and have Costco organic flour to make more rolls today. Such a disappointment (but the dogs got lucky and each ate a couple of rolls.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jan 24 - 11:47 PM

About 10 years ago I got rid of a futon that was well built and had a great full-size mattress - in hindsight, though it was large and in the way, I wish I'd kept it. I could cover it with a tarp and then rough blankets and use it for the dogs. That said, I was tired of stubbing my toes on it.

More eBay glassware is going through the dishwasher; I'll leave it in the top rack and run it a couple of more times to clear up any limestone that might have settled on them in their previous home. Then to list these. I'd used some of my canning jar cases to store them and ended up with no place for some of my canning jars, just in regular flats in the pantry. Perhaps I can streamline those now. Moving these cases from the front room clears the space beside the small table and I may soon be able to set up the photo cube and do some of that listing work in there again. Tomorrow: selecting boxes large enough to safely pack these glasses for shipping. There will probably be a half-dozen listings (I won't sell glasses individually, only in lots.)

I washed small area rugs and mats that have been in the dog crate today; tomorrow will be the covers of dog mats and gently washing the foam orthopedic fillers in the tub. When you have a couple of old dogs, this is a frequent activity.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Jan 24 - 04:33 PM

Cleaning guy skipped this week so so did I...

Luckily I have a mah jongg game. THAT room is clean. Now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jan 24 - 02:23 PM

Indeed, Stilly. Those three one-cubes fit neatly into the car boot with the cargo lid down, leaving room for a load of groceries.

In fact, I have nearly nine shelf-metres of CDs still to cull, in the hope of cutting back to no more than 2.4 shelf-metres (arbitrarily selected quantity). This level of precision is possible because I keep them in two 60-cm IKEA Billy bookcases with inserts on the shelves to double their CD storage capacity.

Yesterday, I also parted with eight chardonnay glasses and six bottles of wine, soon to feature as lots in a silent auction fund-raiser for the concert choir. This week, I will compose another lot with four Danish porcelain demitasses and a Bialetti moka pot.

I’ve had a nibble for Edmund’s enormous futon sofa that has been in the basement since 2017. With any luck, I’ll be rid of that soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jan 24 - 10:33 AM

An afterthought: three 1' cubes of CDs isn't the same volume as a 3' by 3' by 3' cube. Exponentially the 3' cube is 9X the amount of three 1' cubes.

The dogs have got the hang of these mornings with the dog flap closed until 5am. No impatient barking in the den today and I woke a couple of minutes before the alarm (so I'm also growing accustomed to this early morning date at the fence for a dog treat).

Tons to do today, I have a list, but I'm happy to report one small chronic issue had a simple solution. My desktop computer hums along and the side panel of the case started an annoying vibration last summer. I reach out to touch it and it stops for a while. This week I finally put a 2" piece of Scotch tape across the seam at the top edge of that panel and it stopped. Now it all issues around the house were so easily solved. The rest of my list will take a bit more time and effort.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jan 24 - 08:05 PM

The books I buy these days are usually discussed on podcasts or radio shows, and sometimes purchases are simply in solidarity with the authors. Occasionally I buy on paper to read, but it takes me a while. I get most books via the library Libby app, and while I occasionally borrow their eBooks to read on a tablet, I most often listen to unabridged audio versions. I've thinned out my bookcases a lot in the last few years. (The ceiling fell in the office back before the pandemic and I moved so many books around before the repairs that I managed to sort and discard a lot.)

I reread your discussion of three cubic feet of CDs. That's a HUGE number of CDs! I bought a 33-gallon bin of CDs a dozen years ago (a story told several times on Mudcat) that might have been about half that amount - it was over 300 discs and took two people to lift into my SUV. (An estate sale bargain - all classical - purchased for $20 for the lot. A true windfall, and I still have most of those.) You bought a lot of music over the years!

Congrats on return of your chair - I have a Mission Oak rocker that needs a reupholstered seat and the back panel; last time I asked was told it would be about $750, so it will wait till another day.

Dorothy, stay warm and comfortable and I hope you find a good book!

Another cold blast is on the way so I made a batch of chicken soup tonight.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jan 24 - 02:40 PM

No, the Merrell boots can stay for a while yet. Besides, I wear orthotic insoles in them and their original insoles are long gone.

But I am determined to continue the clearance of stuff that I don't use, an accumulation that includes rather a lot of CDs. True child of the aspiring artistic middle class, I grew up with the assumption that all the best people maintain large libraries of both books and recorded music But the fact is that my reading and listening tastes and habits have changed radically over the last 15 years, and that's okay. Cutting back the bookcases won't cost me my intellectual credentials -- and just might help me fit myself into a two-bedroom condo when I have to.

Recorded music is a particular case in point. I see no virtue in retaining CDs as objects on shelves when I have the entire collection stored on iTunes on my computer and backed up in the cloud. If Apple goes away someday and takes my music library with it, I imagine the world will be sufficiently screwed up that I will have more urgent problems to worry about.

Preparing to decamp from this house is an "eat the elephant" project: I have to do it one bite (or carload) at a time. Today it was three cubic feet of CDs I haven't listened to since the iPod came into my life.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, my wicker armchair is back from furniture rehab with beautiful new cushions custom-made for it by the upholsterer next door to the vet. That reminds me -- gotta book the cats' needle parade.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jan 24 - 11:12 AM

That's always interesting, when you get to review your past decisions like that. Are they headed to the Goodwill again?

I have a pair of my father's neoprene Wellington boots that aren't a bruised or cold-feet problem because they're so large I can literally step into them wearing some of my own lightweight sneakers. I rarely wear them, but when I do they are absolutely the right boot for the job. The next few days are supposed to be cold and sloppy so this is their kind of weather.

More kitchen puttering and now the peninsula counter has only things on it that are supposed to be there; 2 large Sam Scott ceramic bowls for holding fruit, onions, potatoes, etc., and the cutting board. The tray with tea stuff is tucked beside the toaster oven, and a vase holding two bunches of roses ($5 at my discount grocery) is smack in the middle cheering the whole the room.

Vintage colorful Libbey glassware is making a couple of trips through the dishwasher (to remove any limestone scale) before listing on eBay.

It's time to plant potatoes, and I have a bag of the remainder of my last crop in the fridge. It looks like after next week's rain will be the time to work the soil and plant these. It's too damned cold right now. I'll plop the asparagus roots into a bed at the same time (they've lived in my wheelbarrow for several weeks since I dug them out of the front bed, they need to move now or they'll dry up too much to use.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jan 24 - 10:19 AM

Three 1-cu boxes of CDs and DVDs are in the boot of the car, on their way to Goodwill.

While clearing those sections of basement shelf, I found the lace-up Merrell boots that I thought accidentally-maybe-on-purpose donated to Goodwill last winter. I felt a pang of buyer's remorse for the new boots I bought this winter, but recovered quickly when I remembered how chilly the rubber feet of the Merrell boots are. All those Maine hunting shoe clones have the same fault: the leather uppers are great, but the rubber bottoms conduct cold in a way that makes them unsuitable for wear in temperatures below minus 10 Celsius.

My new winter boots (purchased in Ottawa) are leather all the way to the soles, and fully lined with sheepskin. In Stratford's wussy winter I don't need them often, but nothing else will do in that one week, maybe two, when the thermometer takes a deep dive even here in the peach belt.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 02:38 PM

Dorothy, have you read any of Laura Lippman's mysteries? She is known for the Tess Monaghan series, about a Baltimore private detective (who was a journalist first). The link is to information about her and it does help to read them in sequence. She herself was a journalist for 20 years before changing careers to write mysteries, and it's a family thing—her husband is David Simon who is famous for detective programs like The Wire. (I only saw a bit of that - it seemed to be really hard boiled and violent.)

Puttering so far has resulted in steamed vegetables for the dogs, a batch of Egyptian style lentil soup and much of the paper clutter in the kitchen shredded, recycled, or filed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 01:16 PM

dupont:

SRS: a little free library seems a great idea for you. Rarely went to Pikes Market. Green tea is specific to helping me deal with the barometer dropping which used to involve raging headaches. The Little Green Library (LGL), funded by the adjacent municipalities and run by volunteers has a great selection of books (FR/ENG), movies, a children's program and a large room of books for sale. Top notch!

Today: So far I have managed to get out of bed and have porridge for BF, wrote a fairly long "spirit guided" message/poem? to a friend; trying to heal from meltdown resulting from birthday 87 when I was blindsided by the last 60 years of my life - not what I wanted! The Grief group on Monday got the full effect. How do we heal?

So I am in recovery. Which is not much different from the last months of doing nothing.I pat myself on the back each time I do a little something. And cancel that which will not help me feel better. A Louise Penny book would be helpful but I have read them all. MAybe I'll go to the local library. MAybe try St. John's Wort - it usually helps - I just have to think of these things! Too cold and windy for a walk.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 11:15 AM

Sandra, my daughter learned lots of sewing tricks in her years of studying costume design and construction. I showed her the tons of old colorful thread from my mother's house, but she unrolled bits of thread from the wooden spools and gave it a quick yank - when they broke easily it meant they were too brittle for sewing. That said, I listed all of those old attractive spools on eBay with the note that they were too old for sewing and someone still bought them. I went through my old thread then and discarded a number of less-charismatic styrofoam and plastic spools.

Yesterday I picked up a bottle of my favorite Scotch and toasted our late friend gnu, but since alcohol was a significant contributor to his health problems, I will acknowledge that by resuming a dry January. I also need to work on a clean January - the house is suffering from too much dog hair and sticks dragged in through the dog door and chewed to pieces. And my own problem of things on most horizontal surfaces.

This morning while searching a couple of my usual storage places for Costco bulk OTC medications (cupboard for small things, pantry for big things) I came across a few really old Rx bottles. I was certain I'd finally tossed the old stuff last year, but nope. These are from when the kids lived here (they're in their 30s now). Those will go in the Rx disposal bin next time I'm at the pharmacy.

The anniversary of moving into this house is Valentines Day, it will be 22 years. Last week we passed Zeke's "gotcha" date (when my friend was injured he moved in with us and never left.) The friend has made a substantial recovery (head injury) over those last 12 years and we've loved having the dog (he was too strong for her so this is a win/win situation). I should get things cleaned up and have her over to celebrate.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 02:32 AM

today I bought an 800 metre reel of Guterman ecru sewing cotton, bloke asked if I wanted the 250M reel. I said I hoped I'd live long enough to use it up, dunno how long I took using up the last reel, tho I do know I run out of the black reel during lockdown but was able to do a click & collect sale as the craft shop was nearby. What is left of these reels will go to the craft charity shop along with all my other stuff!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jan 24 - 01:45 AM

Decluttering kayaks! That's one I haven't heard before! I've considered getting a kayak so I can putter around the pond in the creek in my backyard to grab the plastic trash lodged in roots and branches. It washes downstream every time there is a heavy rain. Why haven't I bought one? Because if I had to roll it over back there I'd hate to end up a body in my own backyard. I'll probably find a portable canoe instead, I grew up with those on the lake where we had a cabin when I was a kid. Anyway - if I'm remembering our FB names correctly, harpgirl does a lot of magnet fishing - and that would also be a great activity for my creek. Seriously. I've picked up some interesting things that have washed downstream on the small beach, but who knows what is under water? I know there are freshwater oysters, I keep finding the shells, but there is probably a lot of metal also.

Dorothy, I'm testing/tasting a half-dozen types of herbal teas (tisanes) sent at xmas by my son. Two of them so far are on my "get more" list, and as I try each I put them in a glass jar (he mailed them in ziplock bags with the name written in Sharpie). Have you ever bought tea from the folks in Seattle at Market Spice? It's one of the first shops you run into if you walk into the Pike Place Market from Pine Street (they are to the left of the big fish market, if things haven't moved in the last 10 years).

Dorothy also mentioned the green library - probably unrelated to the Little Free Library movement over the last 20 years, but I have more books to take to the little library my neighbor keeps in her yard. I just looked at the map - she has her library listed on the site. Maybe I should build one of my own. Related to this, I'm feeling quite rich with the doubling of the online libraries I have access to now. I could add a couple of QR codes to the case to share links to Libby (there are Reddit groups that actually have people sharing their library cards to get books across systems).

This evening has been a bit of a standstill - I visited gnu's Facebook account and did some wallowing, and grabbed a few of the photos he posted. So many times I was tagged in his posts, and now that has come to an end. He died Monday, according to his nephew. Since he was posting last week it looks like whatever killed him was fast. He was in palliative care for such a short time that I hope it was also peaceful. He was two years younger than me, which adds another perspective to his passing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: harpgirl
Date: 17 Jan 24 - 11:13 PM

well SRS and meself still interact quite a bit on Facebuns but here’s today’s story. I found some girls interested in my kayaks so I offered three of them free. I’ve accumulated five over the years. They took a red, a yellow, and a green kayak. The green fishing kayak had a terrible smell. While strapping it to the trailer, they looked into the bow hatch only to find a dead and very smelly squirrel. The yaks had been up against my fence in the backyard for several years. I was very embarrassed but hey, three free kayaks? Just squirt it out! I swear I didn’t know about it!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 17 Jan 24 - 10:39 PM

Dupont:

I have been doing the absolute minimum for ... No sense of time!
3X Saturday BF which have been fun. A couple trips down to see Geri and give support as someone hit her car broadside and we needed to determine whether an 18 year old car is worth repairing. No! but she can still drive it after R got a window closed - permanently! So the rain could not enter! We found a car she could have bought but I backed off and left it for her to do, or not. It was only about 3 blocks away. Also had a short visit with Rita and the bonus of her daughter and grandson arriving before I left.

All the house stuff is just fine - not terrific but fine! I read a couple terrific books. HAd a second visit with the neighbour. Today was too cold to bother going out the door.

Early this aft I was wondering why I felt lousy and kind of sick in a sort of way - and realized this malaise - about a week now - seems to have started with the new green tea from the Japanese market. I reverted to the previous and started feeling better. ????

Almost 11PM and no sign of R! I am hoping for a trip to Beaver this weekend - both of us so short!
Pick up mail! and attend a community social gathering. I can take a bunch of stuff for the "take what you want Table".

Check with Steve re plowing of Driveway - lots of snow up there! And maybe ask Larry to put a fire in stove.

Have to go down to the Little Green Library tomorrow to return books! And a visit with Geri; Rita if she is not busy.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 09:51 PM

Indeed!

After tomorrow I will have more time to address the buildup in the front room, so in addition to pulling a few things to list will again organize boxes saved for shipping. They take up so much less room once they're flattened.

I haven't delivered many things to Goodwill lately, instead offering things through Freecycle and the Buy Nothing page on Facebook, but small things have accumulated in the donation bin that will be dropped off soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 08:11 PM

applause, well done -

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 04:58 PM

Today’s run to Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity is completed, and another carload of clag has left the building.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 24 - 03:39 PM

The sunroom is set up for cleaning of some eBay items and I'll be using my new battery hand-vac. Part of that involved finding the label maker and filling it with a spare cartridge I located (in a logical place but one that had eluded me for a while. The label maker will go into the same place now.) I wanted two small labels with the year two new Ryobi batteries go into service for my various devices. The two old ones still work but don't hold a charge as long. So as you can see, I have been working backwards once I decided I wanted to use the vacuum in there.

Still in the teens temperature-wise today, but it ends after tomorrow. Cat sitting also ends tomorrow. This morning all of the cats dashed out of the bedroom where they usually lurk so I closed the door behind them. They'll stay in the rest of the house today (with water and boxes) because I retrieved a mattress cover draped over the bed pillows and put it into the wash. (There's another one over the mattress and bedding itself, a plastic and cloth combo.) The door will remain closed until it dries and is put back over the pillows, and this is a 3-visit operation. I'll let my friend know that it was washed today and if they spray it tomorrow during the day it's hers to wash. Those boy cats are incorrigible. They started this the day after she left but there was no way I was going to wash this every day. Each time they hit it I spritzed on the enzyme stuff that does a good job of cutting the stain and smell. #FirstWorldProblems

It's a bright cold day today and the two younger dogs are using their heat-seaking instinct: though it's about 20^o out, when they lie in front of the greenhouse (a windbreak) they can soak in the rays and nap. Me, I'm staying in the house, and when I do go out, thank dog for remote start on the Nissan so it's warm when I get there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jan 24 - 05:53 PM

Today I made a major clearance in the box room, including garments of Edmund’s that I could not let go before. When I get some packing paper, I can make a similar dent in the basement clutter.

I’m striking for empty shelves.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jan 24 - 11:52 AM

One person arrived for the tour yesterday and it was a pleasant walk-through conversation that hit all of the high points I usually aim for. With groups sometimes they steer things in different directions and you can't stay totally on topic. After that I spent a couple of hours scanning since I don't think I'll be driving over there tomorrow. It isn't supposed to warm until late Wednesday and there may be more snow to deal with. The museum is a lot farther than the cat house.

Snow on the ground today, probably an inch at the most. Effing cold out there, it was 11^o when I returned from feeding cats. And as I sat for a few minutes waiting for them to finish eating the smallest guy hopped into my lap for a cuddle. Whether due to affection or a warm lap is anyone's guess.

To avoid icy bridges I drove around the block to avoid the trestle that crosses the federal depot just north of my house, only to encounter the railroad crossing bars stuck down across the road as I got near the cat house. I had to go around, meaning I drove across the huge (several times higher and longer than the federal trestle) old bridge that goes across some switching tracks near the grain silos. That bridge is off the beaten path but near a hospital so it was salted. Another "whew." I stayed long enough to take care of the medication for two visits so don't have to drive back till dinner.

This feels like a good day to bake some bread and make a pot roast or beef stew. Chicken soup. Cold weather comfort food.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jan 24 - 12:01 PM

The cat-sitting house is now set up for the cold - water dripping in bathroom and kitchen sinks, under-sink cupboards propped to let air in but knobs with sturdy rubber bands to keep cats from exploring those spaces. She flies back Wednesday from a diving trip in the Caribbean - home will be a stark contrast to that!

I have a stack of hats, scarves, and layers on the barstool at my kitchen bar/counter next to the tall seat where I always stash my handbag, so I can assemble the layers according to the trip. Normally I would leave this stuff in the hall, but that is a narrow passage right now since I haven't moved the extra bench out of the way. Not a problem for walking through, but sometimes the dogs lie down down in that hall and are tripping hazards.

The little dog Cookie is now zipped into her jacket and once in it she's happy (putting it on is a struggle). The other two have heavy coats and are fine on the various dog beds around the living room and one in the closet of my office. That closet is pretty much the year-round sleeping spot for my Blue Heeler.

I'm betting that heading to the museum for a 2pm tour will be a wasted trip; I can't imagine anyone voluntarily museum-hopping this afternoon, but I'm on the calendar so I'll go over. It won't be wasted for me, I can do some Archives scanning while I'm there.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jan 24 - 10:17 PM

There has been a rattle for a few days in the SUV engine compartment, coming on suddenly but not triggering any warning lights. Driving back and forth to the cat-sitting gig the last two days had me wondering if I should run by Nissan, but I decided not, to just keep to a few trips until Monday. Then this evening I turned off the A/C (it runs heat and cold) and the noise stopped. It's the fan in that unit and it will need attention, but the vehicle is roadworthy, nothing is going to fall off and leave us at a standstill somewhere in the cold.

Whew.

Heavy weather arriving overnight and lasting through Wednesday, and with sub-freezing overnights through next week on Saturday. I've done as much to set up ahead of it as I can think of, and we'll see how the old Lab does this week. Arthritis and really cold weather don't go together well.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Jan 24 - 06:36 PM

WHere I am staying, the storm that just passed through
was a rain event with the last warm air we will have for some time.
The rain finished decluttering the snow we got earlier in the week.

Now for a cold snap -- days below freezing . . .

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jan 24 - 09:17 AM

Sandra, I'll put a note to remind myself - much of that is in a trunk in the front room with the eBay stuff. That room is simply a place to store the trunk (I think the family brought it from Ireland in 1855, it's a huge wooden thing with a wrought iron hasp on the front). I have no plans to sell it; it is something I want to keep in the family, so I need to remind my kids what it is. And Jennie will be able to see these also if I put them on FB. We can compare notes on colors and styles.

Yesterday my daughter and I had lunch across the street from the rug shop where my large Persian carpet was cleaned in 2022. The man who runs it is from Iran and has what looks like a hoarder's paradise of rugs in there (piled deep with narrow paths) but he does a lot of business out of that store and knows what he has and where it is. I took her in to introduce them (my ex is friends with this guy and that's how I learned about getting my rug cleaned there). When we walked in he was repairing the edge of an antique tapestry and she noticed - the fact that her museum's next big show is to do with antique tapestries has wheels turning and connections being made. I love it when people meet and there are complex layers to their common interests. But also it means I'm going to take over a Navajo rug that the great aunt who gave it to me said was on the floor in the family house for years, and looks it. I finally remembered to ask him about it and he will see if there is any way to restore it.

I got the new tires - time and money well spent. The old ones were a problem especially when starting through intersections after a full stop at a light or stop sign - I always had to have a very light foot to avoid slithering, a classic sign the tires were at the end of their life. And I didn't reward the Nissan dealer by asking them to match the price of Discount Tire - they've done too much bait and switch lately. They're also a lot farther from the house. And contemplating some of the running I do, I realize I don't mind the idea of driving so far to the gym and such, I really was restricting my own movements because of the tires, so this is way past time.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Jan 24 - 05:40 AM

fancywork it is Jennie.

One of the vintage pieces I'm keeping is the last piece I bought.
It's a willow pattern in fine blue backstitch, I'd never seen anything like it so I had to have it. It wasn't till I scanned it to send the pic to a friend that I noticed every stitch was precisely over one thread. It wasn't handkerchief linen, but it isn't a coarse weave. My friends praise my fine stitching, but only a few of my stitches are over 1 thread, most are bigger, & they are very uneven!   

Maggie I love to get pics of some of your embroideries, & could send you some of mine

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: JennieG
Date: 12 Jan 24 - 01:03 AM

Sandra et al, I have some embroidered/crocheted edge doilies made by women in my family over the years, including me.....and some crocheted doilies beautifully made by Himself's maternal grandmother....and some tatting made by my mother's Aunt Laura, including an exquisite tablecloth with a linen centre and a wide tatting border. I do enjoy using some of the pieces, and when I am no more I hope they go to an op shop (thrift store, charity shop, depending where you are in the world) to be bought by someone else who loves them for the women's work they represent.

I recall those embroideries being called "fancy work".

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jan 24 - 12:19 AM

Charmion, encountering sympathetic border personnel is a great experience. I had the SUV loaded with camping gear when I wanted to take my small children to meet a friend in Mexico. The border patrol in Mexico were going to make me unload the Explorer until I told them that I wanted to take my kids to meet Benny at the import store in town (Sonoyta, a border town in Sonora, just south of Arizona). They knew who I was talking about and let us through. Whew! (And the visit with Benny was wonderful!)

Sandra, I should photograph some of the pieces here and see if they appeal to you to embroider. :) From Ireland to Connecticut to Texas to Oz.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 04:11 PM

Maggie, for me doilies are embroidered items,I was surprised to see wikipedia etc. considered them only crocheted pieces. But lots of people on Etsy etc. know they are (also) embroidered. Amongst my family treasures is an unfinished mat made by my mother. She had run out of tan stranded cotton & did a very small section in a colour that did not quite match - I had a similar problem so didn't finish it off, picky, aren't we? I don't have any of her finished items.

I don't crochet, but I can put a 2 row, 5-chain edging on a small piece of embroidery!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 02:36 PM

I have crossed the border with a parcel packed and wrapped for mailing only once, in 2008 when Edmund was deployed in Afghanistan with an American formation. Fortunately for me, the border guard I encountered that day was an Army Reservist who had returned from Iraq only a few months before. If he had not accepted my recitation of the contents — coffee, marmalade, evaporated milk, socks, peanut butter and a fruitcake — the parcel would have been confiscated and destroyed. I don’t think I would get such consideration today — not that I have any inclination to drive to Buffalo any time soon. That’s a three-hour trip from Stratford.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 11:42 AM

Charmion, at one time I was rounding out my collection of Russel Wright Melamine residential Northern plates and cups (a blue confetti pattern) and had searches set up on eBay for some of the pieces. I'll be reversing that routine one of these days because I ended up with more than I needed of somethings and some that weren't quite the right color.

I think Dorothy has driven to the border to mail things on occasion - I remember her mention of that a couple of years ago. I don't know how practical that would be if you ever find yourself headed that way anyway (and if you have a box packed and customs wants to take a look - oy!). Maybe not such a great plan.

Good work, Sandra! You're finishing crocheting those things? I have a bunch that my great grandmother and great aunts must have worked on, but they're so old fashioned and I'd never find the yarn or thread they used. I learned this week that my son's partner is trying cross-stitch and I pointed my phone at the bin of skeins of 6-strand embroidery thread that if she develops a real habit I can send her way. I'm not ready to part with it yet, I still use them for some things, but I can keep a few and send the rest.

I am considering getting the new tires sooner rather than later, with possible ice coming up. Everyone may have the same idea, but I'll check what's available today. Will declutter one thing off the list that the recent inspection said was coming up soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 10:02 AM

The pile of garments and household items ready for Goodwill has taken over the box room. It's obviously time to pack it up and move it out. In particular, I'm targeting the my collection of aspirational and relic garments: stuff I bought thinking it would fit in a few months but never has, and stuff I used to wear but doesn't fit well now. Non-clothing items are mostly kitchen duplicates. Why did I have three sets of measuring cups? Five pudding basins of various sizes?

It's finally snowing again in Stratford, though only God knows how long it will last. The news media tell me (and tell me and tell me) that large swaths of eastern Canada and the United States are struggling with the aftereffects of major storm systems, but for once Perth County seems to be exempt. Snow is normal in January. We like normal.

Stilly, I do check eBay prices religiously, and Replacements. I also follow a Facebook group for Doulton collectors that so far seems dominated by figurines and character jugs. I hadn't considered selling to Replacements because of the border thing, but I can at least enquire.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Jan 24 - 06:40 AM

Tomorrow a trolley load of vintage Christmas decorations heads out. A friend who has a very large collection of Christmas decorations could have had them before christmas if members of her family hadn't had health problems. The collection is held in 2 shoe boxes (sneaker boxes not wimpy little fashion shoe boxes!) with extra stuff that probably could have fitted in 2 or 3 more boxes if I had them! They had been sitting on my camping chair (I haven't camped for at least 10 years) but I kept the chair when I sold my gear & kept stuff on it. Don't need to keep stuff on it anymore, so I'll ask around - we're heading to a festival late next week, & someone might like it! It's a very comfortable chair.

Several shoe boxes of small & miniature decorations went to a charity shop a few years ago, & now all I have left is a small box of cross stitch decorations I made yearly from early 90s to a few years back, plus two 6" trees & a new 2 or 3" tree given to me at christmas. Well done me! The trees live permanently on my bookcase. The small box is a piece of nostalgia - the seniors among us might just remember PUNCH CARDS! When I started in the Federal public service in 1973 we had punch card operators & they sent their cards off to "The Computer" in Head Office in these boxes. Of course I long ago covered the box in Christmas paper, & I no longer display them, but it's not easy giving craft stuff away.

I recently went thru a very large box that holds my collection of vintage fancywork & pulled out about a dozen or so pieces I want to keep, the others will slowly go back to the charity shops I bought them from!

For a couple of years I've been working on vintage embroideries, all the "useless" domestic embroideries our mothers & grandmothers decorated their lives with. No surface was undecorated - one of my favourite items are sandwich tray mats - can't put sandwiches on bare china! & I've embroidered lots of doilies & other items like pretty little pockets to put match boxes in, or dainty little handtowels, & I'll be using them to make a summer bed cover, not a quilt. I can only find pics of quilts blocks made from damaged pieces, I want to use my complete embroideries.

sandra

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jan 24 - 10:40 PM

Rather a lot of the china that should leave is highly collectible Royal Doulton, so I'll be joining Stilly among the vendors on EBay.

Charmion - do a lot of poking around in the eBay listings before you start. As you search on specific pieces, always look at the left side and click on "sold" for true prices of what things actually go for. The general listing prices are wildly unrepresentational. Sometimes selling individual pieces is fine, other times selling parts of a set or an entire set is the best way to get it out all at once. But before you start all of that, look at Replacements.com. It can serve as a benchmark to consider (if you undercut them a little on your eBay listings you'll sell more) but you can also offer the set to them. They'll offer a wholesale price, but you can pack them all up in boxes inside boxes and get rid of it all at once.

Keberoxu, there is a storm headed your way, after bouncing around the country like a ball in a pinball machine. The outflow boundary wind caused a power outage today (just a couple of hours) that gave me a chance to pull out things I have in place since the 2021 outage, and be sure they work as planned. I tested the propane stove (works great!) and the Stanley battery pack thing. I need to make one more purchase as far as the compact power supplies for in the house. This Stanley one with USB and a cigarette lighter type charger is meant mostly for a car and can jump the auto battery, so it needs to stay in the car for the cold months. I can use it in the house, but not to plug in a radio or lamp, etc. Luckily I have great neighbors with a huge generator on their back porch and they always run a line across the fence so I can do a few things with the microwave, TV, laptop, etc. I also am better situated now with a regular sleeping bag and better bedding setup (I used mummy bags during the 2021 outage for 4 days and they're difficult to get in and out of). If you have to stay indoors but without power, do you have a way to sleep warm and stay connected? A down or low-temp-rated flannel sleeping bag and a smartphone with a battery backup as a bare minimum. Stay safe, friend!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Jan 24 - 06:47 PM

Congratulations, Stilly, on the happy outcome of that uncomfortable health procedure.

A rainstorm came through last night, and decluttered the area of most of the recent snow that fell less than a week earlier. Now it looks like "mud season" although it is months too early for it. Not to worry, there are more storms in the west-to-east pipeline, I'm sure, and some of them may have snow in them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 24 - 11:39 PM

I've already used my new library card. I'm working my way through the Louise Penny Inspector Gamache novels and there is one novella (6.5) that the local library doesn't have as an audio book, but Houston does. So I've put a hold on that (two weeks - and it is only an hour or so, very short) and then it looks like a three week wait for book #7 from the local library.

Clean bill of health today and thank goodness I can put that behind me. A-hem.

Time to sew a new cover for the small dog bed that was stashed in the front room after the stuffing was ripped out (I replaced and mended it). The extra cover is to try to keep Cookie from tearing it up (the covers on those things are easily shredded). Really cold weather coming this weekend and it will be one more spot for a small dog to hunker down and stay warm. I have an old bedspread from my dad's house (probably mentioned last year) that is essentially a nap-less chenille that is pretty tough.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jan 24 - 06:05 PM

I use the library's digital materials most often these days, audiobooks and eBooks via Libby, and I do all of my shopping in that city so they get my sales tax, but I don't live in the boundaries so I used my PO Box for years to qualify. Now that is gone so I suspect the next renewal will involve paying a fee to keep using it. I'm ok with that, I looked it up, the cost isn't a deal breaker (in the past the fee was much higher). But I hunted around and have joined the Houston Public Library with an e-card and have added that to my Libby app. This concludes a research project that I started at the end of last year.

Another change from last year is my gym routine, expanding it to add another couple of devices in my gym visits, focusing more on weight-bearing exercise. The recumbent bike is great for my knees but doesn't strengthen my bones. I started using the treadmill, but am looking to stagger it with something else. A search brought up this NIH/National Library of Medicine Surgeon General Report article table with a simple list of gym weight-bearing exercises for adults. I don't need to fool with barbells, I'll add the step machine and go back to dancing. And this brings me back to the library card - the nearest recreation center and the library are in the same city, tied together with a common logon system, and I will have to actually use regular ID at the rec center to start up the dance classes I was taking at a private studio. She lost it during COVID and now teaches at the Rec Center. The change in information at the one place might flag info at the other, but I now have a backup library (and I will be a donor there, as I should be at the local one).   

The last of the outside xmas lights are down but I didn't mow. The grass is still wet from rain yesterday, making for a gloppy job (leaving wheel ruts and it looks like a bad comb-over as the grass lies down instead of getting cut). I will rake and move the leaves from the curb in the street onto the turf, then it looks like Wednesday or Thursday will be dry enough for mulching them into the lawn. This evening I'll pack up the decorations on the mantle and be finished with the holidays.

I have a date with eBay tonight, to start up listings. If I get far enough in the front room I can move the photo cube back in there and clear the dining table for laying out sewing patterns, or possibly using it to eat on.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jan 24 - 11:55 AM

The process of finding another place to settle in crosses my mind also, but there's a big asterisk - the cost of living in the place I'd like to move to is way above the costs where I am now. It requires lining up a whole bunch of ducks; though I'm herding the barnyard fowl I'm not to the point of looking for that new home yet. The wildcard stream of income is eBay and it's also one way to declutter (especially if I don't bring in new stuff for eBay for the time being.)

In this post-pandemic world it occurs to me to test prior to the prep for the gastro visit. No point in torturing myself only to postpone things if I have a silent case. I doubt I have it, but best to be certain.

Some of the holiday lights are down and the last of them will be rounded up today. That lets me pick up a sturdy outdoor power cord on the lawn, giving safe access to the front with the mower. Yes. I'll be mowing the lawn and mulching in leaves in January. Some of this will be caught in the mower bag so I can drop it into the compost bin (on top of the contents of the two kitchen waste bins that are full.) I'll top that enclosure with a piece of chicken wire to keep Cookie out. She raided it last week for some corn cobs, so dog-proofing is back in use.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER *hoards *bad habits *toxic stuff - 2024
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jan 24 - 02:22 PM

I'm back from Ottawa and more or less on top of the stuff I feel obligated to do. Note that does not include vacuuming the stairs, where cat hair is accumulating like desert sand in a ghost town. Cue the tumbleweeds!

It was a pleasantly low-key visit, free of drama and strife. The only thing I would have liked to change was the weather: truly dreadful, with constant rain and the sky so dark with cloud that I felt like an extra in Ridley Scott's "Bladerunner". I don't think I've ever seen the city look worse.

On the other hand, I got to ride the new light rail system (Tunney's Pasture to the By Ward Market in five minutes) and spend a day at the National Gallery.

More and more, I'm getting the feeling that I should start getting ready to move, most likely back to Ottawa (despite the winters) and into smaller, more manageable digs such as a condo apartment or townhouse. None of us is getting any younger, and I know -- as I know that the sun rises in the east -- that I want to get this done while I'm fit and capable. I shall not wait until something bad happens and I'm pushed.

Looking around the house, I see that more decluttering is called for. I spent Thursday rummaging around the dining room and the kitchen for items I don't use and can bear to part with -- i.e., not the early Victorian teacups that were my granny's favourites, but definitely the Bing & Grondahl coffee set that I acquired in a complex swap with an antique dealer who lusted for a certain occasional table with elephant legs. Rather a lot of the china that should leave is highly collectible Royal Doulton, so I'll be joining Stilly among the vendors on EBay.

The accumulation of CDs must be weeded again, to the benefit of Goodwill or, possibly, the church rummage sale this Spring. I'd like to cut the library back by another bookcase, and that seems the simplest way to do it -- and, besides, nowadays I listen most to satellite radio or Apple Music. Every one of those CDs was ripped to iTunes years ago, so I would be losing only the storage media.

The same goes for DVDs, except I'm morally certain that I'll never part with the complete Rumpole or "Jeeves and Wooster".

More daunting is the challenge of disposing of a perfectly good conventional queen-sized bed and a three-seater futon sofa that unfolds into another queen-sized bed. I cannot disassemble or move either of them by myself, and I don't know anybody who wants or needs them. Time for the freebie sites on Facebook, I guess.