DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Mar 25 - 08:43 AM

Charmion, a sump pump is designed to relieve ground water problems such as yours. Its not exactly a do it yourself project.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Mar 25 - 05:48 AM

been there, still doing that!

last year I decluttered 2 big craft collections - jewellery stuff (2 big reusable shopping bags) & mohair for teddies (3 ditto.) I had stopped making bears 10/15 years before & probably had more mohair that full-time bear makers! All I ever made with the beads were earrings & I also had far too many supplies!

But as some clever cross stitch designer said decades ago "She who dies with the most (fill in item) wins!" Same or another designer also said "As ye sew, so shall ye rip" & I'm certainly not downsizing my seam ripper, I was only using it yesterday ...

Last week I decluttered one of my dozen or so (I just counted 17) zipped folders of felt toy patterns. These were cat patterns to a friend who knits cat blankets & goes to a craft group run by a cat protection society. Now all I need is to find homes for dogs/elephants/rabbit/mice/christmas etc patterns. Some folders also contain lovely Japanese craft books. I used to teach craft at a friend's church which had a Japanese congregation & after the tsunami I put ribbon hangers on all my samples for a fund raising fair. Last week I opened the Poodle folder & am finishing off several gorgeous little poodles and cut out 2 more ...

Today at craft I gave away some small stuff eg tape measures etc. to a friend's sister who is teaching kids. Another member brought in a dozen tapestries of Australian birds. Her friend has bought them for her antique dining chairs, but they were too big for the seat backs, so gave them away. Our friend bought all the threads & stored them in the shed ... alas the threads drowned & died. One panel went to a member & I took the others to our local Craft Op shop (Opportunity/ thrift shop) The Sewing Basket & I only bought one small doiley to embroider + 3 balls of wool! Well done, me!

I also have more yarn than one person can use - did I need 3 more balls? YES!! I knit coathanger covers (12 stitches, shoulder width) to cover padded coathangers for a charity chop in a local hospital & I didn't have those colours (I think/I hope/I want!)

sandra

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Mar 25 - 09:51 PM

This afternoon I was prepared to ask the apartment management to do a welfare check on the friend who hasn't answered calls or messages for a day, but when I got to the apartment and rang the bell she answered. Whew! Seems her CPAP mask is broken and sleeping is difficult, so she was propped up with the mask and slept through calls. I'll make one of my 3D Covid masks for her to use to help hold the mask in place for now (her appointment is Monday and another week before she gets replacement equipment. This is the life of a person on Medicaid, something Trump is trying to completely remove.)

This evening I've looked around for a couple of portable chores I can take with me tomorrow and complete while I'm at my friend's house during the funeral activities. If I take my laptop I can keep going with my usual stuff, so it's turned on now to sync the browsers. It's only a few hours, but can I make myself complete some chore while I'm over there?

I have a growing stack of stuff to donate to the project that accepts craft donations for local teachers. They just sent a report about what they've accepted so far this year:
- 14 dumpsters of materials were rescued from landfill doom
- $155,019 worth of free supplies was distributed to schools
- 705 educators felt supported by their community

There seem to be a lot of us decluttering our craft supplies.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Mar 25 - 11:29 AM

Your purple to duck-egg paint job reminds me I have intended to repaint the bathroom that is now hen's egg yolk yellow to something milder.

Today when I watered plants in the windows I looked out at the yard and realized the time has come to mow. The weeds are growing lush and soon will be tall, and if I start mowing now I won't have the huge jungle to battle that happens some years. Saturday is the day set aside for that. (With this first mow I have to be watchful in the front; there is occasionally a bunny nest out there.)

This week I've updated a couple of eBay listings and am planning to take down one that has attracted little interest. Goodwill time for that item. I've also done a lot of writing and am preparing to send messages to my elected representatives about their lack of participation in the democratic process that includes pushback or impeachment. You know that throw away remark of "it's always something" that one hears when describing complicated times? Now it really is. That "flood the zone" or "muzzleshot" approach is growing very old. A Slovakian friend in grad school introduced me to the saying "Not my monkeys, not my circus." Well, now it is.

Last week I bought two large multi-fish packages of tilapia that were frozen and needed careful softening so the fillets were still frozen but could be separated. I put them back in the freezer on a tray and the original packaging, to be bagged later. It worked. I just heard the trash truck drive by and realized I should have put that original wrapper in the trash today. Now it will wait in the freezer until Sunday night.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Mar 25 - 08:21 AM

Ground water is seeping up into the northwest corner of my basement and I am completely ticked off. The shop vac is deployed and the bucket and mop are handy, but my back is not up for three to four clean-up sessions per day until the wet season passes. And what in hell will I do in April, when the house goes on the market?

Must talk to Real Estate Lady soonest.

In other news, the purple bathroom is no more. It is now the same gentle duck-egg green as much of the rest of the house, and looks a thousand percent better.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Mar 25 - 12:32 PM

Patty, I've also thought about solar power here. I would buy them outright, not go with one of the companies that wants to average your current payments and keep that going to them - I think they lease the panels to you - they have too much squishy stuff going in the operation, and the point is that you add power back to the grid and save money in the end, not just keep paying someone else. But that comes on my list after getting the foundation work done, and quite possibly replacing the roof before putting up panels. Research needed in the future.

Funeral and visitation announcements are up for my friend's husband and I have offered to stay at the house on Friday during the funeral (to deter a break-in) and a couple of our little university group could join me for lunch. It's a full-on Catholic funeral and I have trouble sitting through religious ceremonies of any kind. Visitation tomorrow is very near me, so plans are forming, a couple of friends could come to my house and I'll us drive over, saving some space in the parking lot. I'd better go clean out the middle seat in the SUV.

The temperature today isn't bad, mid-50s, but the wind is still brisk so it feels colder. I am glad to see the woven shade cloth tarps over the patio cover are still up but I'll probably have to swap out several of the bungee cords that have been in place for a while and wearing thin. Yesterday I surveyed down branches (not many) but see that a tree that was hanging onto my bank by a few roots and leaning into the creek has completely broken off and is probably now washed up against the bridge (creating a dam and can cause flooding if the village doesn't remove it soon. The tree is anonymous so they don't know it was mine, but if need be I'll report a tree against the bridge to the village staff.) All of us who live along the creek pay an extra fee on our water bill every month to cover this kind of work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 05 Mar 25 - 12:01 PM

.... Well, knock me sideways with a bedding trowel: primroses *are* primulas (primula vulgaris, which I for one find delightfully common). Anyhoo, I noticed the other day that our rather rugged primulae have seeded themselves into the back lawn, which I hereby declare to have been primulated. All from one plant donated by a friend and planted in mid-summer, when I'm reliably informed our clay soil was as friable as concrete.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 05 Mar 25 - 10:08 AM

Apparently it was a sure-enough haboob that rolled through Deming, saw video of it on a weather site. Up here, it hit hard and blew all day, but I didn't see it approach. Drifts of dirt on the patio but only one tumbleweed.

Meanwhile the too-big-for-its-britches electric company took 13 hours to restore power to my house and about 1200 others. Sheesh.

The power went out minutes after I awoke at 6:15 a.m. Made the best of it; headed to town and grabbed a friend who loves to breakfast out, caught up on her travels, then loaded the furniture from the auction in the cargo trailer with help from her and another friend, parked the big rig while we picked up two more friends for a little jaunt to Mexico. By days end, power still off, dropped in at the local social club to wait it out with yet another taco and beverage, caught up with an old friend and got to know an acquaintance much better. Don't you love days that turn out completely different than you had planned?

Blessedly, the mini-splits remembered their setting, and the house was warm when I returned. But it does make me think hard about equipping the place with solar panels and not being quite so dependent on the shabby power company.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Mar 25 - 06:01 PM

Yes, Stilly, I’m from Ottawa — born & raised and, after 10 years away, I lived there from 1984 to 2017. The Brothers live there, as do Nephew No 1 and his family and Great-nephew No 1. I don’t know yet what I will do with myself most days of the week but I intend to take my time re-integrating myself.

Today turned out unexpectedly expensive: the vacuum cleaner died. Taxes included, its replacement — a humble machine with only one bell or whistle, HEPA filtration — cost a cool thou. I’m kinda stunned but, with two constantly shedding cats in the house, I must have a vacuum cleaner.

The Trump tariffs are now in force and the Prime Minister has said out loud what many people here have suspected: that Trump’s desired end-state is Canada in economic collapse and ripe for annexation. I’m having Munich 1938-ish qualms.

Time for tea, and a sit with the cats.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 25 - 04:09 PM

I spoke too soon about Patty's dust storm - it has arrived and was apparently giving a push to the morning tornado watch we had. The air is a weird yellow/brown that isn't the same weird yellow/green that the sky gets when tornadoes are approaching. The outdoor circuit breaker to my office has popped twice today, once in the windy rain, and just now in the wind, and I am going to schedule the electrician to do the work as soon as I know the funeral date to work around.

My next door neighbors are on a 10-day cruise and she is only using email this trip (the phone company gouges on a travel plan and adds extra fees when she travels). We've exchanged remarks about branches down in her yard (not many, and they aren't very big) and the state of the creek (no flooding, but it is always a risk if we get many days of rain in a row). I hate to be the bearer of worrisome news, and so far it is just updates but nothing wrong. And if need be, she'll take her phone off of airplane mode and call, regardless of the extra fees.

Charmion, do you have groups to reconnect with when you move to Ottawa? Is that where you lived before? Good luck with the paint, and keeping the cats out of it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Mar 25 - 09:17 AM

Heavy rain in the forecast, with the ground still frozen. That means flooding. What fun.

I expect to be okay at home, and I sure don’t want to be out in that. I have a date with the hairdresser this afternoon and I had planned a trip to Habitat for Humanity with the huge Breville toaster oven, so I hope the worst of this latest lake-effect weather system will move through quickly.

As the sale of my house approaches, I find myself gradually detaching from Stratford stuff. I have two more concerts to sing with the concert choir and I don’t really care. The church is having a special vestry meeting to discuss its latest crisis and I won’t go. I’m in a state of emotional suspension that is very new to me.

But today the purple bathroom project begins, and Marco is due any minute. I must turn the cat off my lap and get on with the day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Mar 25 - 02:44 AM

Made progress on eBay listings today, and revised one that has languished.

Probably later in the week there will be a funeral to attend for the husband of one of my university group that meets here for lunch. We knew it would happen eventually, just not so soon. He had Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), that acted like dementia, but not quite.

There's also a pending lunch date with another former co-worker, we'll set the date once the funeral is announced.

The wind gusts are really hitting the neighborhood now, since around sunset. I expect to find a few things out of place, knocked over, or possibly gone by morning.

I found a pocket-sized camera that will do the trick for my carrying around in coming weeks, and a spare battery (rechargeable lithium). I already have several spare SD cards that will go with it. The companies that used to make this size got out of the business because phone cameras have filled that niche, but one company licensed the Kodak brand and they get reasonable reviews. I should have kept my old Canon, but that's water under the bridge now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 07:12 PM

I think the dust will have dropped out of the storm by the time it reaches us, but we have high wind warnings from tonight through tomorrow night.

I've decided that when I pay my taxes I'll simply file on paper and mail in a postal money order. That keeps my bank records out of the current minefield of IRS information. If they dig back a couple of years, it's there, but that's a layer of protection I'll take (if I changed my bank account I'd have to change so many other things - meaning it is something I probably should do rather than let inertia control my choice.)

I'm thinking of getting a small camera again; I sold the last one because I never used it, but there are occasions in the future when a phone might be a target but a camera can do the heavy lifting out of harm's way. Lots of protests coming up starting this month. I have a surveyor's vest in my closet that hasn't been used in years, but it would go under a parka easily and let me stash various devices without showing up as lumpy spots. Pockets would be the first target of anyone trying to grab a phone. (I just visited the closet - the old Filson surveyor's vest is a dayglo orange, not exactly subtle, but I could tuck a large lunch in the back pouch. I have a off-brand beige vest that would work the same way, without the space for lunch.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 01:40 PM

Raging dust storms here for today and tomorrow. No signs of spring, it's been quite dry for months.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Mar 25 - 11:53 AM

The big declutter today; I have to finish and pay the income taxes. I suppose I should ask for Musk's Venmo account email contact and send it directly there.

More rain overnight so the garden will be very workable this week. The weekend had the usual maintenance of making the bed, doing laundry and dishes. It feels like spring (and the damned time change is coming up on Sunday, that seems to make it official) so time to do some deeper cleaning. I need to use my spinning brush (Ryobi) to scrub the muddy path across the den floor, dust everything, and look around to see what needs its every year-or-two-or-three run through the wash (the woven throws over the sofa, decorative pillow covers, ornamental wall hangings that get dusty, etc.).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 25 - 01:34 PM

The test of using freezer zip lock bags in the food saver device results in one bag still sealed and one that has slowly let in air. This may be the bag I pulled off of the machine without remembering to wait, introducing a small leak. It deserves more testing, and in the meantime I am thawing that package to make soup with stock that needs using (I can't freeze it all). A neighbor brought over some vegetables that she thought wouldn't last during the 10 days they'll be out of town, so I'm going to figure out a chicken soup with cabbage recipe.

I'm 2/3 through the next Gary Taubes book, The Case Against Sugar. Chapter nine, "What They Didn't Know," pulls together the threads of my interest in cholesterol research and follows a few researchers who finally broke through the standardized opinions about low-fat/high carb diets to show how sugars actually behave in the metabolism. Table sugar is half glucose (that registers in blood work) and fructose (that doesn't, because is broken down in the liver first, contributing to fatty liver problems). All of this leads into the larger class of "metabolic syndrome" that is the progenitor of "Western diseases" of diabetes and heart disease, etc. And how products like high fructose corn syrup contribute to so many of those problems, all the while the sugar industry has insisted that sugar belongs in the "Generally Recognized As Safe" group of food additives. The glycemic index only registers glucose, so HFCS became somehow acceptable for diabetics. I have a short list of the most helpful blood work to show me the actual state of things. From last year to this the only thing that went up was the LDL cholesterol; my current diet has improved my triglycerides and HDL levels (they were already good, now they're better). And those are the numbers that actually seem to be more important, along with a test for inflammation. For more details I have a couple of papers to look up. He has great notes and 36 pages of references, making that further reading easy.

Down here we're into spring - Patty, are you seeing wildflowers in your neck of the woods/desert yet? If you had good rain last fall it should be an excellent year. Seasonal rainfall and flowering plants research was conducted by botanists in the years I was working in the Arizona desert, something I like to share. My daffodils are starting to open and the weeds in the turf like henbit are blooming away.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 01:08 PM

Yesterday's news from Washington brings to mind the tune I was researching earlier this week - The World Turned Upside Down (singing starts at 1:47). There's another song by that name that comes out of the Cromwell era but it's complicated.

I'm curious about those declutter-resistant bins. I have a few of those around here myself.

This week I dropped off a crochet hoop to a friend needing one and the drive with another to the electronics store also let me hand off the burned out UPS. Not a completely unproductive week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Mar 25 - 08:32 AM

Another day of weather warnings and cancelled plans. I was supposed to play tunes with the session group at the Western Fair market in London, but then I looked at the weather map. Nope, not today.

So I’ll do some vacuuming, get in a few groceries, and maybe wash the kitchen floor. I have two bins of mixed doohickeys to sort through, also. The stuff in those bins has resisted purging and decluttering efforts for a good 25 years, so I’m not expecting much success.

Yesterday’s news from Washington shocked me to the core, and Trump’s 25-percent tariffs on Canadian imports are supposed to go into effect today. So I’m feeling apprehensive, like anyone with a lick of sense.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Feb 25 - 11:59 PM

I have improved on my homemade granola recipe by adding a couple of ingredients a friend uses in his. Mine is mostly nuts and seeds, a bit of oatmeal, and I added chickpea flour and some powdered milk. It absorbs the oil and honey better and makes it a little more clumpy, though I don't want it too chunky. A little cinnamon doesn't change the flavor particularly but is a nice aromatic touch. I mostly use it on top of my fruit and yogurt mix, and this is great for a healthy gut. I put the whole recipe in the Other recipe is too long thread (that is probably longer now than the first one was).

It was office work today; I got stuff finished but it didn't make the house any tidier in the process.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Feb 25 - 11:52 AM

Not going anywhere or buying anything on this day of protest. I'll probably continue it through the weekend just because.

Instead, what I need to do is actually use things I pay for. I rarely remember to watch Netflix (my son is on my account and uses it all of the time, so it isn't neglected). My exercise program has been ignored all month. What else? The genealogy site that keeps telling me I have new contacts. I'll look at my spreadsheet and see what I subscribed to that needs to go away.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Feb 25 - 04:53 AM

feeling good is definitely wonderful!

Ive been known to take a torch to a cupboard (not one that could have a light installed, tho!)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Feb 25 - 12:19 AM

Dorothy, I'm so glad you're feeling excellent! Yes, you've been away from the thread for a while - so there is a gap in the record. Where have you been and how long were you away, or are you talking about having been in the city for a long time and finally going back to Beaver for a visit?

Gingered chick peas sounds interesting!

And yes, it's an ungodly mess down here. Lots of writing and calling our representatives going on. Pushing back where we can. Suggesting to our senators that they should impeach Trump and get it over with, once and for all.

It has been a busy week, tomorrow is quiet. Also a day for not spending as part of a protest. We'll have to see if it works or if the MAGA crowd spends like crazy (those whose news sources don't tell them about what is going on.) I'll be working on the garden, and maybe scanning at the museum, I haven't been there in quite a while.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 27 Feb 25 - 09:05 PM

Dupont:
A bit closer to being able to go home again, for a few days anyway. Larry reports house is OK but I want warmer weather. Today is the best I have been in over a year!! THAT is wonderful! And tomorrow Jeff and Agata will be here for lunch and Jeff and Robin will talk business after. I made gingered Chick peas - first time in several years and black bean soup.

On Sunday am I opened dreadful corner cupboard and saw the wee box of some sort of lighting meant to be installed in that cabinet??? Asked R and WOW - he installed it, and what a difference! I can SEE things and now it is all redone and many things re-organized and... I found the chick peas and the black beans...!

And the house is clean enough.

I was surprised to see how long I have been absent. I have been overwhelmed by the mess below the border. I hope this good spell holds - eat well and drink lots of water!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Feb 25 - 02:38 PM

A large canner! Oh, what a lucky Goodwill with that and the jars!

We went out on a produce run today and loaded up, also found some large packages of frozen tilapia. I'll have to pry the pieces apart to use, there are several possible approaches. The cost was a lot less than the usual I buy frozen at Costco, and I'm hoping the fish is still in good shape (it was sold as fresh then went into the freezer to go to Town Talk for sale). The bonus on the trip were a few more 85% cocoa chocolate bars and a bouquet of various flowers. I usually bring flowers back for the next door neighbor also, but they're headed out on a cruise in two days, so no time to enjoy them.

More garden prep this afternoon and soon I'll be getting another load of free mulch from the city bunker near here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Feb 25 - 12:43 PM

Another carload of excess stuff went to Goodwill today. Half-litre and larger Mason jars, an entire stack of wooden cutting boards that I never used, a Tupperware pie-carrier, half a dozen bread pans, a large canner, a paella pan big enough to feed six …. Every time I think I’ve about exhausted the supply of stuff I don’t want to move again, I find more. Stashed in the bottom of the linen closet — Edmund’s kettle bells and ankle weights! Loading those in the car was a special experience.

Snow and rain in the forecast — it’s still winter. Provincial election today; almost certain to return the Conservatives under the egregious Doug Ford with an even larger majority. Bah, humbug and phooey.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 25 - 09:03 PM

This afternoon I spent time with the string trimmer scalping the dead grass and weeds in each of the raised beds beside the driveway. It took about an hour for my hands and lower arms to feel normal again, after lifting the trimmer and all of the vibration from it. This is in preparation for digging and mulching and whatnot.

A friend asked about how to make calls to federal elected representatives so last night and today I worked on a blog post to describe it in the simplest of terms, then sent her the link to see if she can make it work. Sometimes the shortest pieces take the most time to write.

Now to do something else.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 25 - 05:15 PM

It's going to be a busy year for you, we can all predict that now!

This morning while eating my scrambled eggs I sneezed - three times! The resulting headache from food that migrated into a sinus was finally resolved with the neti pot. Kind of killed the day, though. Everything on my to-do has been postponed until tomorrow.

More virtual rearranging (and no bin needed to collect the bits!) Lots of house rearranging also needed.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Feb 25 - 12:27 PM

Patty, the swooping cash buyer probably issn't seen often in Stratford, or the real estate people at both ends would have warned me. The selling agent has been peddling properties in Perth County her entire adult life, so I think she'd know.

And even if it happened to me, I have a contingency plan -- store my stuff, board the cats, and camp with one of The Brothers. Not something I want to do under any but the direst of circumstances, but people who don't make a Plan X end up needing one when they have no time or energy to plan anything.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 26 Feb 25 - 11:59 AM

Regarding selling houses, we have had a few years where quite a few of the desirable ones get snapped up by cash buyers; both real people trying to put cash in safe investments, or landlords and corporations building big rental portfolios. They can swoop in fast, and they don't have a long lead time for the deal to close, so it might pay to be ready for that scenario.

Ran a full set of errands yesterday in the new wheels; took me a while to figure out the hatchback WAS locked, it just kept unlocking itself every time I walked up to it with the magic key. Ridiculous, but I was afraid to leave it 'open' in a big parking lot til I proved to myself it really was locked.

In an effort to get some of my funds out of the hands of greedy corporations, I stopped at the new little produce stand I've been speeding past. Met a nice lady and got some fresh local foods for a song. Have to do the same with local meat suppliers next. Bought a leather belt I needed in Mexico instead of at the big-box. Just think if 50 million of us pulled back even 20% of our purchases from the chains...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Feb 25 - 08:55 AM

Stilly, a house move late in life is like bankruptcy in one respect: its progress is achingly slow at first, and then sudden.

This one began at a few minutes past midnight on 10 October 2020, when Edmund died, and kicked into perceptible movement in late January of this year, when I realized that I don’t want to endure another winter on my own in Stratford. In the end, I figure it will have taken up about five years.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 26 Feb 25 - 05:20 AM

> it's all moving around pixels so no clutter to speak of.

Don't forget to empty the bit bucket: that's where dropped pixels end up. Write-only memory has a limited capacity, y'know.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 25 - 12:49 AM

That's what I thought, but it seems to be coming on so quickly! The speed at which good houses sell is sometimes astonishing, and the number of hoops a seller decides to put themselves through in advance can make a difference.

Working on a project for a couple of friends this evening, it's all moving around pixels so no clutter to speak of. Tomorrow I need to do some digging and some scanning. Let's see if I can motivate myself out the door to do both. I should scan first so I'm not covered in garden dirt when I get to the museum. I could go for a three-fer and get a gym visit in as well. That sounds very ambitious.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Feb 25 - 08:40 PM

Oh, no, Stilly. Selling a house these days is only partly about price; the other critical issue to negotiate is closing date. Most people have to sell a house to be able to buy one, so it’s common to set a seller’s condition of 60 to 90 days to closing. Consequently, when I sell this place, I jump in the car and drive to Ottawa to buy my next abode, where I will dicker with people bent on forging the next link in the massive chain reaction.

Stressful? No kidding.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Feb 25 - 04:50 PM

Wow, Charmion! So what will you be doing in the next five weeks? If it sells right away, do you have a new place selected already?

I helped a friend with a computer case today, it turns out that when the rather expensive case was tossed it didn't have the guts (graphics card, processor, RAM). But she can sell it as an empty case for someone to rebuild. Trouble is, she doesn't know anything about computers so when she listed another one on eBay from what was printed on the old box, it was returned because she didn't know all that was missing. I'll have to convince her not to just list things she found in her building without doing more research or she'll get a bad reputation on eBay and will have trouble selling.

She also needs help understanding how to call her representatives and what to say. I'll work on that with her. Send a text every day if that will help.

It's a warm afternoon. Time to head into the yard for a bit of digging.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Feb 25 - 09:21 AM

The melt is strongly under way, and southbound traffic on Mornington Street has ceased to come as a nasty surprise. Of course, with such heavy accumulation, we are now at risk of flooding in certain areas — fortunately, not on my property. But rivers and creeks will run high this spring.

My favourite mandolin has developed a nasty tuning problem that I can’t diagnose myself, which means a trip out to St.Mary’s to visit the luthier. I so don’t need this now.

By the end of this week, I really should have the basement work table cleared of the latest load of Goodwill-bound stuff. The house goes up for sale in only five weeks … !

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Feb 25 - 12:52 AM

I have completed the first pass through the tax forms, and printed the appropriate page of the tax table to mark the range for my taxable income. It always looks cut-and-dried, but I don't think a year has passed when I didn't have to go back and do the math again (sometimes to my benefit, sometimes not.) The bread crumbs from past years usually help, unless I made a mistake that was caught later by the IRS and I didn't go in and mark my documents to show where the error happened.

There are some really asinine calculations to make, with results being compared to other results for the larger or smaller of those numbers. This is why the commercial companies stay in business, people are unable or unwilling to jump through these stupid hoops. Tax prep companies lobby Congress to keep taxes complicated. Poor people have to jump through these hoops, the super-rich ignore paying taxes altogether or have so many deductions it works out the same. And the IRS folks who keep the super rich honest are the ones being fired right now by Musk.

I finished my cuppa herbal tea, I'm headed to bed to read. Taxes resume tomorrow.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Feb 25 - 08:57 PM

This afternoon I headed into the garden with the small mattock to test the soil consistency, and find it is good and workable. I cleared one side of the bed where I'll plant potatoes, then worked my way through the asparagus bed to remove weedy dead grass so I can see when the shoots start. If they're a good size I'll harvest a few, but since they were transplanted to that bed a year ago this year they may not be ready for much picking.

Joann's (the fabric and craft store) is closing completely late in the spring, so I tried going to their custom fabric site to order one last batch of the Pride fabric I designed in 2021. That part of the business seems to be shut down, so I'll use what I have left carefully and look around for a place to order more. I keep a supply of the homemade 3D Pride masks for friends and family.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Feb 25 - 01:26 PM

My mother always had a plan to get almost everywhere in town in a way that avoided left turns. She was convinced they were the most deadly driving maneuver out there. I seem to have absorbed much of that policy, I either avoid lefts that don't have a light or make three right turns to avoid the left. I hope that visibility resolves quickly!

Appointments this week and they run the gamut from teledoc to driving someone to their appointment to digging plants in a friend's yard. (We only have drifts of sunshine to impede driving here.) This implies getting up, dressing, and being ready for the day. Typical stuff, but it was so cold last week that slouching around the house in flannel pants, layered shirts, and the long bathrobe was briefly the norm. Back to the regular world.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Feb 25 - 08:36 AM

Tax time is looming on my side of the border, too, and about half of the relevant documents have yet to arrive. Every year some of them never show up at all, and I have to dig around the Revenue Canada website to find the data. Without actual pages of numbers in boxes, I always feel nervous; is this the year I screw it all up and attract hostile attention?

The inevitable mid-winter thaw started yesterday, and the accumulated snow already feels different. I hope devoutly that the melt lasts long enough to reduce the bank at the corner of my street by at least 18 inches so I can see the southbound traffic most likely to T-bone me on my way to all the places I go most often. On my way to church yesterday, I had to goose the accelerator like a stock-car racer to make the left turn ahead of a pick-up truck driven by a person who obviously owned the road.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Feb 25 - 05:12 PM

The visit happened but they got a call from their house during the drive down that the pump company had been contacted and told them where to find the reset button. Good save! Apparently the pump house is frequented by black widow spiders, so it took a long-sleeved shirt and gloves to make that important move to restart the pump.

A while back I transferred some large pumpkins to my daughter for her chickens. There was still one pumpkin left but it was on the porch during the freeze and was too spongy to seem healthy for the hens. When she carried it past the chicken coop on her way to the compost this morning all of the hens watched expectantly, disappointed when they didn't get their gourd. This afternoon I sent her home with a cucumber for them (something they also adore).

And another stray cat turned up on their property, not sure if it was a littermate of the one my daughter adopted last fall, but it was a friendly calico and was taken to the county shelter. Turns out the shelter had only one other cat at the time and someone the day before had been in looking for a calico.

Stories of spiders, chickens, and cats today, and I can see the influences of her being raised by a park naturalist mom who gardens.

Back to the photos for eBay listings.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Feb 25 - 12:27 PM

I noticed an unincorporated town of Dwyer in New Mexico when we were camping at the City of Rocks State Park. Wide spot in the road. :)

Surprise visit today, daughter and wife coming over to shower and do laundry; their pump is out and they're preparing for a trip tomorrow. We'll take what visits we can get, and I'll make lunch. Top of their to-do list will be to pool resources and buy a new pump (it came with the property, chances are they can get something more efficient and with a solar component that will serve them well.) I have sudden motivation to quickly pick up around here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 23 Feb 25 - 12:17 PM

Ugh, taxes. The most beautiful time of the year, with so good weather and fun things to do, and we have to mess around with taxes. Well, nothing to do but get organized, and whip through them. One consolation is at least the forms are about the same this year. By next year the traitor-tots will have decided we should all do taxes on some dysfunctional app that runs through the overlord's platform.

Got out on back roads including Dwyer Road yesterday, trying to explore with the little SUV, learning how to shift into sand/mud mode etc. It was strange having high clearance and a tiny turning ratio.

Unfortunately though I am close to Cookes Peak, no public roads lead directly there, have to backtrack towards town to get to the access roads.   Will not tackle going up into the mining districts til I have a buddy traveling with me.

Well, there is clutter on every surface, back to work getting the house under control.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Feb 25 - 12:14 PM

Time to bite the bullet and figure out my income taxes. This year it is unlike anything I've ever considered doing because of the political situation and the agency that processes them under massive assault. I will continue to write and call and nag my representatives. If I owe taxes I'll set up a second checking account at my credit union and use that account for the debited payment, hoping to keep my usual account number out of harm's way if all of this goes pear shaped onto the dark web.

Today there are a couple of more things to offer on Buy Nothing and a whole bunch more for eBay. The camera is out and the second computer warmed up for processing photos.

Last night the new friend from the buy nothing group posted a photo of the mustang grape jelly she made. Her original intent was to use the strawberry juice first, but I bet her curiosity is why she changed plans. And of course she was thrilled with the flavor! It is a sweet-tart taste kind of like tamarind, by way of comparison. I'm glad to be sharing the wealth of these grapes (now to find a new vine that is easy to reach and not also full of poison ivy.) My daughter wants to make wine if I can find a good source; she can't use frozen juice because you have to start the whole grapes with the skin for the must.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Feb 25 - 11:02 PM

Charmion, how is the surgical spot feeling? Are you able to eat without it bothering you? And good call by the family in avoiding driving into that whiteout!

Two batches of crispy pecans in the oven this evening, the house smells wonderful. Hopefully the salt level is better this time; they need some, but somehow the last time I made them there was way too much. They're coming to the end of three hours, one more to go (oven set at its lowest temperature for this long process).

After the cold overnight it's supposed to get back to more normal Texas temperatures. About time!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Feb 25 - 06:00 PM

In Stratford the snow is deeper than ever, and it’s quite cold. I stayed home and paid bills, reconciled the chequing and credit accounts, and had a fruitful phone conversation with the realtor in Ottawa . Then I took a hot bath, reading the Spectator while I wallowed in the steam and bubbles.

Getting into and out of the bathtub is much easier at 60.5 kilos than it was at 79.8 kilos, although my wonky ankles still don’t allow me to crouch or squat properly. It’s not a manoeuvre I would ever willingly perform for an audience.

My great-niece Faith and her grandparents — SIL Mary and her husband Terrance — were supposed to come to Stratford to visit last Tuesday. Mary and Terrance planned to drive from their home in Chatham to London, where they were to meet Faith and travel the rest of the way to Stratford in her car. I did not like the weather forecast because the radar map showed a massive storm system inbound from the west, and I called Mary at breakfast time to warn her. The sun was shining brightly in Chatham, so they decided to make the trip anyway.

All went well until they turned north off Highway 401 heading into London. Within about 5 km they entered the southern edge of that storm system and found themselves in lashing snow. When they reached Faith’s apartment, they called to say that discretion is the better part of valour and maybe we should try again in April.

Meanwhile, the storm system had settled across Highway 7, the main road between London and Stratford. About half an hour after Mary and Terrance decided to have lunch with Faith in London and then go home, a massive white-out enveloped a column of traffic entering a roundabout about 15 km southwest of Stratford. One vehicle skidded and rolled, while six more piled up behind the wreck. The cops closed the highway and issued a bulletin asking everyone to stay home, for God’s sake.

If they had not decided to abort their trip, Faith and her grandparents would probably have reached the collision site within about five minutes of the first impact.

So, bullet dodged.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Feb 25 - 04:35 PM

Excellent lunch, we talked two hours, mostly politics - it was good to be in person and be able to say this stuff out loud. Handed over the shirts, much appreciated. Also talked a lot about houses, gardens, and decluttering. I think the garden needs to be larger and more diverse this year, to compensate for what's going on in the world. My friend is another one who cooks from scratch, who loves the fresh produce. I can see some visits this spring that are centered in the garden.

Big push this weekend to get eBay stuff out, and I'm going to add a bonus to the antique sewing machine I have listed, a parcel with few extra bobbins and some needles. The bobbins are harder to get for those old machines, so this might be the offer to finally make the sale.

A friend needs a ride to a computer store next week, and I looked up their reviews. They buy used computers and game consoles (what she's taking over) but they also do complimentary e-waste recycling, and I have some of that so I'll put a box in the SUV to unload over there.

Still darned cold out there, but next week will be up into the 70s again. Time to start digging and tilling that garden.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Feb 25 - 12:44 PM

MaJoC at most I would like to draw targets on a number of individuals, that's about it. Lead poisoning couldn't happen to more deserving schmucks.

This morning I exchanged two jars of mustang grape juice and two jars of strawberry juice to a former (fired last week) federal employee in my FB buy nothing group. We had a quick conversation on the chilly porch. She just finished her MSW at my university and said she was thinking of applying to teach there. My opinion is that isn't the best choice, adjunct work is poorly paid and they overload them, but regular state jobs at the university in any department is a better bet. I told her that's how I ended up in my job, instead of teaching at the university I stayed in the staff position. Excellent networking, and she's made enough jelly and done canning to know why the jar exchange was a condition of the offer. Said she'll make strawberry jelly this afternoon.

Already having those four jars of juice out of the freezer means I could put a bag of frozen blueberries in the door shelf. I hope to give away four more, and I'll keep three and make a batch of jelly later for gifts.

Taking a couple of t-shirts to a friend I haven't seen in ages as we meet for lunch at a restaurant that probably needs to come off of my list of acceptable places. They're on the list of companies that capitulated to the dump DEI policies of the current regime.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 21 Feb 25 - 11:57 AM

> (sharpie at the ready)

Have you been deflecting any hurricanes recently, Stilly .... ?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Feb 25 - 04:56 PM

I have a discreet bandage under my nose like an off-centre Hitler moustache. It feels strange but does not hurt. But I have to stay out of the Y pool until 48 hours after the stitches are out, and I have to figure out how to take a shower without getting my face wet.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Feb 25 - 12:52 PM

Patty, I don't have an ice cream maker (but I take your general point) but I've been considering long items like baking sheets, though they're doing ok in the pantry now. It should be something that isn't harmed if there is a messy spill that splashes into the cupboard. I have some of those rarely used items in the bottom shelf of a different cupboard already. :)

To have a clear picture of your vehicles, you have an RV and the Subaru? It sounds like a great vehicle you found.

I've been looking at stuff in the freezer and am going to try an experiment. There are YouTube videos that show how to use commercial freezer zip bags in the FoodSaver machine, but what I observe in the freezer is after a while many of the regular plastic bags have puffed out and the contents rattle around. Were they just regular bags I used (non-freezer?) that must be somewhat air permeable? So the idea of using zipper bags instead of the expensive sealer branded bags may be good as long as I use freezer-weight bags. There are a couple of techniques and I'll try both and label the bags (sharpie at the ready) and see how they work.

I also have quart canning jars full of frozen wild grape juice and I'm considering offering them if people who get them bring me quart canning jars in exchange. I have about a dozen jars in there and don't want to give away a case of them if I can avoid it, I use them a lot.

A phone call with my sister last night showed that even a thousand miles apart and not talking very often we still think alike. We've both been organizing accounts and trying to streamline but also protect finances from possible bank or credit card nonsense in this era of 47. We each had good suggestions for the other so I'll be considering some of that.

Still very cold today, but sunny and dry. It was so cold that last night the programmable thermostat showed the house was pretty darned chilly at bedtime. I pushed it up a couple of degrees for the dogs. I did manage to surprise Cookie and put her jacket on, and she's ok with it. That boxer/pit coat just isn't meant for really cold weather.