DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 May 25 - 12:14 AM

I have a chair like the one you describe as Edmund's chair. Nicely contoured, solid, but it doesn't swivel, and found at a garage sale. It was an ex-library chair from a university library, according to the woman selling it. It sits at the foot of my bed and is the seat and barre I use for various exercises.

The work in the pantry area has resulted in clearing the three-shelf wire rack. Mine fit perfectly in the space between the wall and the side shelves, but with the boxes of jars at the back jutting out a bit beyond the back shelves it can't roll all of the way in. Now what else can it be used for? With this work done I can easily reach the shoulder-high back shelf of the pantry where my router and modem are situated.

Trashcan at the curb. Along with dried out vines and regular kitchen waste I was able to break up a few slats from a fence panel that I'd put down between the garden beds ages ago. It was flimsy and went without much of a struggle.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 May 25 - 01:48 PM

Charmion, in these United States, Stickley makes chairs like that.
I was in a Stickley showroom once and sat in such a chair.
I didn't take it home, but I sure wanted to.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 May 25 - 01:33 PM

I find I have a whole lot of canning jars after pulling them out of the pantry cupboard and off of the bottom of the shelves in the hall. Giving them away now would be silly because if I get a good crop of okra and tomatoes I'll be canning. I'm not making jelly now but I put my tomato sauce in the half-pint jars; those are the first to be offered if I decide I have way too many. And I need to see if I can find one place where all of the jars and boxes can go so I have a better idea of the number in the future.

There are things in the pantry that I don't use often, and there are things that I never use. Those things will come out today for donation. My baking sheets live in there and are used frequently, so if I take them off of the rolling shelves where will they live for easy access? I'm rethinking how I house the jar rings so I can see what I have. The boxes they're in now hide that information unless I pull them down to look, I could use the transparent Rubbermaid gallon containers for those. And there are a gazillion cardboard boxes canning jars came in because the rule of thumb is to store the jars in the box they came in. Time to weed them out.

This afternoon I'll set up the garden sprinkler since next Wednesday is forecast to hit 102^o. I'll need to get outside for some fresh air after all of the pantry dust.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 11 May 25 - 11:05 AM

Cohen & Cohen are still in business, but their inventory does not appear to have the sort of chair you're after. (I had a chair like you described that followed me from office to office and building to building as I changed jobs in Chatham.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 25 - 09:57 PM

This evening I stepped out at dusk to bundle the vines I had pulled and stuffed them into the trash can. A glowing firefly/lightning bug bopped around as I worked. The first of the season!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 25 - 07:20 PM

A summer of theater and fireflies doesn't a bad thing.

I've considered how the yard would respond if I have someone else mow on occasion. I have to set it up with edges or barriers so that beds don't get mowed. One of the obstacles to an outside mower is the line of soaker hoses along the south side of the house (I know they're in place so mostly avoid hitting them). One of these days I should have a sprinkler system installed (and if I have the foundation worked on I'll have to have such a system to keep it within warranty - but put it in before or after?)

On the potting bench I have seeds started for several crops, so I'll get those beds ready. One has been tilled a couple of times and when they're tall enough the okra goes in and that bed becomes a jungle (okra can grow 8-10 feet tall and each plant can be 4-6 feet across). Other areas, like where the cucumber is planted, will have more careful attention and I need to put in things for them to climb.

Tonight, more in the house. It's the Saturday night PBS mysteries and dramas that keep me interested and I can work while I watch.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 10 May 25 - 05:21 PM

Today, I finally broke out the bucket and scrubber to deal with the tiled floor in the kitchen, ground floor loo and entry area. While I was at it, I hauled the vacuum cleaner downstairs and tackled the sitting room. As usual, the quantity of loose cat hair had to be seen to be believed — and it gets everywhere.

The plastic upholstery on my office chair is perished after some thirty years of use, and it lately began shedding nasty black shreds all over the study floor. So today I hauled it downstairs (backwards so as to avoid risking my neck) and into the garage to await the next heavy-goods trash day. I don’t want to replace it until after the move, so I’ll make do with Edmund’s old bentwood straight chair for the next few months. I’d like to replace it with an old-fashioned oak swivel chair, the kind with a carved seat and no upholstery, but I’ll be lucky to find one of those in decent shape. Every furniture maker in Ontario (and there used to be dozens) churned them out for decades, but they were heavily used and are now very démodé.

So far, I have left the lawn alone, hoping to give the bugs and butterflies a fighting chance, but it’s getting noticeably shaggy — time to whip up the neighbour kid to start mowing.

I had hoped to have the house listed if not sold by now, but I’m still waiting on Lucas the foundation guy, who says he might be able to give me a start date next week. Note that he won’t be ready to start; just ready to give me a date. That means I’ll be in Stratford for a while yet, so I might as well buy myself some theatre tickets and look forward to summer evenings on the porch watching the fireflies.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 25 - 12:08 PM

This is the US Postal Employees' food drive collection day so I put a bag of canned and non-perishable bagged goods on the porch, and in the process of poking around the pantry shelves I found a number of way-expired jars. The contents of three jelly jars were stirred into a bucket of water that was sloshed around the base of the tomatoes in the garden (the sugar stimulates the biological activity in the soil). Other things can go into the compost.

I started mowing the back yard last night and I'll finish this afternoon. I have to take the trimmer out front and knock down more vines and use the Hori Hori knife to trimming out the vines under the Salvia greggii (it also makes a great weapon). I always joke to the neighbors that one of these days the village garden club may invent a "most improved" sign to award me one of these months.

I realize I'm probably setting up at this house the same kind of thing my friend who is moving soon is encountering now; I have a lot of specialized plants that if/when I ever sell, the realtor will want managed or gone. I'll just have to try to sell to another gardener.

After mowing I need to tackle the cluttered horizontal surfaces, flatten cardboard boxes, and get out that Ryobi scrubber to get the muddy prints up in the den.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 May 25 - 07:51 PM

html or ascii code?, source codes?- shudder!!!!

sandra (bear of small brain)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 May 25 - 06:31 PM

Good job on scheduling the declutter, keberoxu! Sandra, there are a few symbols you can leave on the Mudcat pages if you use html or ascii code. And if you look around there are lots of html practice threads. They started out with people working on the code they needed to make music appear correctly in this and other sites, but of course it evolved into
silly stuff like marquee messages.
(More information here at W3C and if you look at the source code on this old JohnInKansas post you'll get all sorts of goodies. Scroll the entire thread for more.)

Over the course of three days I paced myself to scrape the mounded lines of grass out of all of the cracks in the driveway. There are a few pots ready for veggie seeds and some larger pots sitting in place already that I'll stir in some fresh soil then drop in old packages of flower seeds to see if anything grows. I may mow a bit of the back yard this evening. Lots of yard work to do around here.

Got a call from the camera store - they received the box I sent and can buy some but not all of it. They don't buy things that need repair, but did tell me what the issues were, so those pieces are being returned and I'll list on eBay for parts or repair and state what work they need. I looked at YouTube, all of these can be repaired by someone who wants to take the time and the gear is otherwise in great shape.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 May 25 - 05:52 PM

well done - gold star, pat on the back & Happy Dance!!

sandra (some folk send emojis but I have a few screenshots I add to emails - drawing of a smiling face with a hand patting it's back, a big gold star & Snoopy & Woodstock)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 May 25 - 03:56 PM

Made some decluttering headway today;
the cartons of books were delivered,
sorting started right away, and I took three bags of books to the shop.

Even more momentous:
I made a reservation for next Wednesday
for 1-800-GOT-JUNK to come to my apartment building and
help me downsize by taking away the furniture that I can't fit
into my next apartment.
I was scared to call and make that reservation, but I did it.
That's less than a week away.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 May 25 - 06:49 PM

I kept reminding myself this afternoon as I pulled and dug and chopped my way through the vines that took over the front patio and most of the salvia next to it that if you take a year off from gardening this is what happens. Last year I was under full thrall of the statins and had no motivation to do anything out there; the reason there are things that bloom every year in the yard is because I did the work ages ago and put in plants that come back every spring. I left most of the trimmed stuff where I dropped it and in a day or two it will be quite dry and good to stuff in the trash can. The vines that are a nuisance I don't toss in the compost.

The most noticeable change in the front yard, when I finish, will be clearing the lines of grass out of long seams in the driveway. I finally figured out a way to remove it easily, with the Ryobi battery operated trimmer. Moving up that line of grass and pushing the trimmer along the concrete it comes away as if I were shearing wool from a sheep. A lot of fine soil and composted old grass has accumulated under the line of grass, so I'm dropping the trimmings into a tub for the compost and have a small dustpan to scoop the soil from the concrete under it and that will go it various pots. To do as much as I did today took two tall containers of iced tea. This is about 300' total of seams to cut out and I've finished about 60' so far, but I have a method now that will speed it up.

I pulled out more food storage containers to list on eBay as I looked at the pantry to decide what needs to stay and what can go. And what can be moved in there from other places. And of course, while I was working on this and digging around in the garden tools I stumbled upon the bag of cans of fish that I was going to put in the garden. I still have things to plant that I'll use the older cans for this year; the rest of the fish is within its shelf date and can either be used for human consumption or in the garden next year. (My mom made the best salmon croquettes, always using canned salmon, and if I could figure out how she made them I would use all of this fish that way.)

This evening is for listing eBay stuff. I think with the tariffs looming there will be an increased demand for vintage items.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 May 25 - 12:57 PM

Patty, you reminded me of a Paraguayan orchestra of children who play instruments made from material out of the local dump. From Trash To Triumph: The Recycled Orchestra

I pulled out a good LowePro lumbar camera pack and have it airing on the patio clothesline; it held the old SLR Canon and was stored in a cupboard for years near candles so it is a bit perfumy. I'm debating about using it for the new gear (if I do I'll have enough extra space to tuck in my lunch or a water bottle). On eBay used they go for a good price. The new camera came with a garden variety bag, boxy with a shoulder strap. The lumbar pack is comfortable and allows for hands free work. And I just noticed that my digital Canon camera and gear are all stored in a Nikon bag (picked up for the size needed at the time, or maybe that camera store threw it in, I don't remember.)

Before the trash was picked up this morning I had time to prune the juniper in the corner of the front yard. Those sharp branches go out with the trash because they never seem to break down in the compost. I had trouble mowing around the lowest branches yesterday. I never come away from that task unscathed, but so far it looks like just scratches, no splinters. This has a classic juniper smell, but for consistency, think of the classic Red Cedar tree crossed with a cholla cactus.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 07 May 25 - 10:27 PM

No one does a better job of creating musical instruments out of what would otherwise be garbage than the mighty Super Chikan. Glad to be reminded of what great music he could get out of cigar boxes, oil cans, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXIgpJpMeGk

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 07 May 25 - 10:14 PM

Good idea about misering water to share with plants. I did a great job of minimizing water use in my RV, saving 'til it's hot' water for other uses, but really had not thought of it for plants.

We got a tantalizingly brief rain yesterday, the air smelled wonderful with its dampness, .01" fell, and then a full rainbow appeared, as if to mock us!

Ran errands locally, but I think I better order oddball stuff online tomorrow before the tariff prices and shortages hit. The dollar store today was lacking floss; toothbrushes and other things had been artfully spread out on the hooks where the floss should have been. A bit ominous.... Time to get those no-other-brand-will do soaps, sunscreens, and stuff...

Found an odd but useful new thrift in a nearby town. Saved a small fortune on a bundle of Chicago cutlery.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 25 - 09:44 PM

Sandra, that has many similarities to the Welman Project here. I just pulled up the site to get the URL and signed myself up for another donation at the end of May. I go over about every six months with stuff. This time I have a lot of yardage and notions (from the friend who is preparing to move - we are slowly disseminating her excess supplies through the community.)

My front yard is mowed, though it was a soggy slog. Every time I pulled the mower backwards the wheels pulled up divots or left bare soil tracks. I also worked on the grass growing through cracks in the driveway, and think I'll be able to tackle the rest of that over a couple of days; it's a long driveway and there are at least three distinct lines of grass running the length of it. Instead of using the weed whacker I'm using a mattock and a Hori Hori knife to trim it off at the concrete edge. (That link goes to an item no longer available, but it really is a great value, it came with a sturdy case and a large sharpening stone. I bought a couple extras in 2023 and sent them to my kids for their gardening.)

There is a lot of weeding to do in the beds and pulling vines and volunteer trees out of the beds; I might put a couple of the volunteer pecans in pots and see if anyone wants them. They're gorgeous but pecans are huge trees and I don't need them growing where the squirrels planted the nuts. I have photos of a couple of the potted vitex trees that I'll offer this week on one of the free sites.

Tomorrow will probably just about perfect for digging work, after the rain has saturated the soil but it has had some time to drain a bit so it isn't a clay-like gumbo.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 May 25 - 05:35 PM

Reverse Garbage - Choose to Reuse Reverse Garbage is a creative reuse centre making a difference in the world by reducing waste and creating change in the way we look at resources. We inspire and support kids, adults, artists and teachers to consume less, make more, save money – and feel good doing it!
Reverse Garbage was started by educators and we’ve been educating the community for over 45 years! We are true experts in sustainability education.
What we would love to take

From the Archives - Home-made musical instruments from Reverse Garbage

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 25 - 12:22 PM

Sandra, your Reverse Garbage shop sounds amazing! I know I've referenced a book I read recently, Adam Minter's Junkyard Planet, where he examines how scrap is reused (that's an extremely broad understatement of the process.) I have a new appreciation of the process and desire to find places that do actually reuse or sell to the appropriate places for scrap. I have his next book in the stack to be read (to do with thrift shops and clothing).

The online camera manual is around 500 pages, so I'm not going to try to print it. I downloaded the searchable PDF and I have a lot of tricks to learn. I probably shouldn't have waited so long to make this replacement, it's a much steeper learning curve than if it was something like a phone, that I tend to research and replace every 3-4 years. A dozen years was probably overdoing it. Like my ex stubbornly refusing to give up his old flip phone until recently.

The lawn is tall and very wet. I'll look at it this afternoon and see if there are any areas to start on that won't leave mower wheel marks dug into the wet soil.

Looking at the pantry project again this week as I decide how many of the things in there I never use and can send to the eBay stack, Goodwill, or Freecycle, etc. And since I'm not eating bread much these days except for gluten-free products, I am way overstocked in the materials useful for its manufacture. That could clear out a lot of space.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 May 25 - 11:45 PM

last week I sorted all my charity shop stuff. Part of that sorting was picking up stuff that lives on the floor (I do have an assortment of empty shelves in my bedroom & living room, but ... ) so I could vacuum both rooms, a very slow job as my back & legs need lotsa' rests! I've never had such a full bag of dust, as I decanted it into my garbage I rescued several pins - pearl-headed & safety!!

Donations go to 3 charity shops, each has a different emphasis - the Community Centre takes general household stuff (china & kitchenware, clothes, books & household stuff etc), The Sewing Basket's name says what it takes, & Reverse Garbage (est 1970s) takes all of the above + industrial discards - empty thread cones from clothing/textile manufacture make dolls etc, used & unused advertising posters/banners etc, unused plastic jars & lids, left over stock (last year I got some pillowcases to store my winter woolies) ...

Now I have 3 labelled piles just waiting till my friend with car can take me & the biggest collection to Reverse Garbage, I can take the others myself.

The Reverse Garbage pile includes the suitcase I got when I was 21, it once lived under my grandmother's lovely dressing table & held off-season clothes, plus a collection of big gift boxes that could have held a pair of boots, but the stuff they held has gone to new homes. The biggest box once held packets of photocopy paper, it could have held 2 pair of boots!! & long ago I covered it with pink fabric - it's the perfect item for the treasures of a little girl who likes pink.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 May 25 - 07:23 PM

I spent time in the yard this evening photographing plants in my garden, and figuring out the timing and focus tricks with the new camera. I'm switching from a solid but elderly Canon EOS 60D to the new mirrorless Nikon Z50. For any of you who were/are original Star Trek fans, it's like going from running the shuttlecraft to piloting the Enterprise.

Huge thunderstorms this morning, but I think that's it for rain for the week. Now is a great time for weeding the garden, when everything slips out of the soil easily. I pulled some weeds then dropped mosquito dunks into various buckets and birdbaths to keep the mosquitoes from a population explosion (hopefully).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 06 May 25 - 07:15 PM

No progress yet on the basement — I’m waiting on the foundation guy’s start date, perhaps another week.

The funeral was fine, except for the protracted tribute speeches by two grandsons and a daughter. That family should have had a long, boozy wake instead. I still cough, but it doesn’t interfere with my voice, unless a fit hits me in the middle of something.

I’m packing up yet more boxes of stuff for the church variety sale. My hands smell powerfully of Javex from taking the tannin stains out of five — count ‘em, five! — teapots before donating them — I’m sure they will sell better if they don’t look grubby.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 May 25 - 11:16 AM

Patty, when I lived in the Sonoran Desert the neighbors were all NPS rangers (I lived on the compound a couple of years) - they used gray water for all outdoor watering like that. I still do that here, even when I'm in a much moister area. With summers as hot as they are, a bucket in the sink to catch stray rinses of things, running it till it's hot, etc., I end up with a fair amount of water to pour over pots and crops. But I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one.

Heavy storms again today, one passed over and another is bearing down on us in the next hour. This is the kind of weather that pops that ground fault breaker in the box outside, so I made a call to the nextdoor neighbor to ask if she has an electrician, and I have a name and number to try.

The new camera has been set up and the basic programming established. The first couple of photos were of the dogs, it seemed only fair since they are frequent subjects of my photography. Then a few odd shots of the boxes on the kitchen table as I played with settings. I'll download the PDF long form of the manual and start reading it.

Charmion, how did the funeral singing go? Is the bronchitis all cleared out now? And how have the workers progressed on what sounds like an expanding job on the basement leak and window refurbishment?

Dorothy, a friend who was arranging to fly to the NYC area for some of the Pride Month activities is I think cancelling his flight because it was into Newark. Air traffic controllers have managed to leak information that Newark should be avoided. One wonders where else these warnings are needed, if the staff are able to alert the flying public. Were you planning to drive?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 06 May 25 - 09:57 AM

Watched rain clouds nearby all day, but none fell on the yard. So frustrating. So often the rains cling to the mountains and leave us high and dry. It's been months now. The oleander seems to be mostly green after its rescue watering last month after some leaves browned up.

Neighbor says the ground is moist when he excavates, apparently the mountain rains are recharging the ground here. Still, starting to wonder if the prickly pear need a bit of sprinkling, their skin looks more caved in than seems right. And their roots are much shallower than those of the shrubs.

Blew probably 20 pounds of dirt off the porch which piled up while I was gone; the welcome mat was buried under an inch of it, and sand got in the door look, so I couldn't open the door when I got home. It's okay now.

Well, off to town and border, lots of stops and errands to do.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 May 25 - 09:53 PM

I hoped to do some mowing this morning after the FedEx delivery, but he was late and a few minutes later the rain started. I'll have to wait a couple of days at least, more rain in tomorrow's forecast.

The last two bags given me by the friend who is moving were opened after lunch with my daughter today. All of the contents are now either with her or in bags for the art teacher donation. Very few things need to stay with me. There is one bag of fabric "crumbs" that I'll look through and a couple of small interesting colors of yardage. There were a lot of sizable lengths of fabric in the bags, so the teachers will get lucky. And with those bags sorted my den sofa is now again available for sitting on.

Allergies are kicking my butt today. Early to bed after taking Benadryl to boost the daily Zyrtec.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 May 25 - 08:30 PM

Dorothy, we will keep our collective fingers crossed for you and the trip to that wedding! Maybe by then the orange one will have been impeached.

I debated about mowing this afternoon, and I still have some time before sunset, but may wait until tomorrow. I have a delivery from FedEx in the morning and if I'm out front mowing I won't miss them (or have to chase the dogs away from the front door to open it).

At the museum today during my tour another visitor stepped over to say hello in a "your dentist's nurse at the grocery store" moment. You know the face but need to place location. Until he spoke I was casting around for where I knew him from. He was the vet tech at my vet's office and have seen during most visits for the last 20 years. He said he retired last week and is moving back to Mexico, and was glad to say goodbye (and a hug). On Zeke's last trip there he met me at the car and helped take him in. Paul (probably Pablo to his family) is a US citizen but is going back to Yucatan where he's from, and with a pension and social security will live like a king. I know a number of people who have made that move once they retired. I think the three folks in my tour were charmed by the short exchange.

Next week is more relaxed, hopefully I'll get more cleared up in the house and not just yard work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 04 May 25 - 06:09 PM

Dupont:

Feeling a bit worried today as my better energy seems to have gone. Will try get back on track with supplements. So easy for me to get sassy and forget that which actually helps me feel better! I felt the energy slipping away.

Went to B-Day party for R at Cousin's last night. Actually got hearing aids up to snuff for that number of people in their house. So, moderately enjoyed evening; really not much conversation as bro sucks all that out. Once again asked poor R if his very fine parents did not teach bro anything at all about courtesy. "he refuses to learn"! So we all live with it. - not much conversation! The cousin and family are nice; would like to get to know them!

Started yesterday with mini grocery shopping. - fiddle heads for R and a few other items. Then read until time to drive there - an hour to get there at rush hour and 30 min to get home! Went to bed with book - which I did not read! Dragged myself out of bed to make buckwheat cakes for BF. R cooked the fiddle heads (I do not eat them!) Tired all day so "gardening is being done in 5-10 minutes bits this week!

reservations made - with great difficulty (took me about 4-6 hours to figure out how to do the hotel one!; now dealing chronically/fearfully with the political situation. A Youtube by the ED of ACLU 2 weeks ago gave me hope but things seem to be worse. Will go find latest HCR for hope.>>>

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 May 25 - 12:26 PM

Patty, it feels good to get back home and I hope you left yourself some frozen meals from the groceries you picked up just before the trip. A gift to your future self! A friend is trying to book a flight to Newark in time for Pride Month activities (he stays in Jersey and takes the train into NYC) - it sounds like Newark is a disaster area. And why again was it a good idea to terminate FAA officials?

Halfway through the cat gig, this morning was the most complex set of instructions to perform (one cat has a Rube Goldberg collection of medical things going on.)

I have museum and cat stuff and picking up items from a friend this afternoon, then when I get home I may be able to push the mower around the front yard. Three inches of rain on Friday means it's all growing like gangbusters front and back. I have to head out very early to the cat gig tomorrow so I'm back home for the FedEx delivery time they project (signature required). Yes, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the new camera.

Ahead of the big spring dog hair event I've done some vacuuming. The blue heeler's coat is huge right now, and the darn thing is spring-loaded so she sends hair in all directions no matter if I manage to get her to stay put to be brushed or run her through the bath.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 04 May 25 - 10:39 AM

Back from a tiring 2 week trip using our horrible air travel system, and a little overwhelmed at what needs doing this week. Oh well, one foot in front of the other, one list after another.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 May 25 - 03:39 PM

Milk in tea?! Not for me. I use a stainless steel strainer most times to put good quality loose tea in and pour the water over it. It rests on the lip of the cup for the brewing time.

I use the teapot when I have company and we're all interested in the same variety.

Film camera has been handed over to FedEx to ship to the NYC camera store to assess and if we agree, purchase. I didn't see any sales on eBay that would be as easy or bring in a comparable amount. Spare battery and UV filter for the soon-to-arrive new camera are due today. I looked at these parts at the camera store and found I could get the name-brand items for less on Amazon. The camera was the same price as Amazon but the NYC store included a modest-sized memory card and a case. I buy high-end electronics online regularly, but am more careful about who the actual vendor is. For the camera, buy from a camera store. The Amazon vendor is a camera store but they have such a huge mix of packages for sale that you can't get a good reading on their ratings for the basic item. I got the odd bits as separates where the reviews are good and the prices are reasonable.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 03 May 25 - 03:17 PM

I still brew up in a pot. I think there’s something unutterably sad about a tea bag floating in a mug, especially if the milk was put in first.

But of course it’s only in the last few years that I usually take tea on my own. I’m fairly sure that brewing up for oneself without asking the other people in the house if they want some is at least a sin, if not an indictable offence.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 May 25 - 09:39 AM

I haven't thought about teapots in ages, but I also have several. Yet 99.9% of the time I brew in a cup with a single serving measure. Hmmm.

Thinking about the stress of our current political lives in the US. And the physical response, wondering if I'm setting myself up for PMR again. It feels possible. I'll start a diary to track activity vs achy muscles. Is it gardening or something else?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 03 May 25 - 09:23 AM

The spring “variety” sale at church is coming up, so I made yet another sweep through the house for stuff that should not make the trip to Ottawa. The dining room table is crowded again.

How the hell did I end up with so many teapots? This inquiring mind wants to know.

I have to sing at a funeral this morning. I’ll box it all up this afternoon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 May 25 - 07:11 PM

Those kinds of storms are the reason I don't leave a lid on the Rubbermaid trash can; even though they supposedly snap into place, the wind will pick it up. That extension of fence I built to create a deep corner helps keep a lot of things in place that used to end up all over the yard or in the street.

We dodged thunderstorms this morning while running around for shopping and lunch, and after lunch I had two of the bags in the SUV for opening to look at the fabric and craft items with my daughter. We sorted into pieces she wants, pieces I want, donations to the Welman/art teacher project, and a few items for the buy nothing group if someone is looking for clean jersey rags. The art teachers are getting the bulk of this batch.

I tried calling my electrician, but after a "this number is no longer in service" message I did the sad online search and found his obituary from 2024. I didn't realize he was that old, but still, I'm sorry to see he died of a short illness. Now to ask around to find an electrician. There's a local company that if you call he sends out someone else and charges a lot because he takes a cut. I need to find the licensed electrician without the middleman. I referred my plumber to my next door neighbor last week; maybe she can return the favor with an electrician they use.

Camera was ordered. Now to take the old one over to the FedEx drop-off, and set that sale in motion. Cat sitting also underway. Busy weekend ahead.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 02 May 25 - 01:07 PM

A ferocious line squall that roared through town on Tuesday did all kinds of random damage — roof shingles off, tree branches down, garbage bins rolling about, that kind of thing. At my house, it ripped a fake shutter off the façade and blew the lid off the composter, depositing the fake shutter in the street and the composter lid up against the garden shed some 20 metres from the composter. Plus, of course, twigs and branches all over the lawn.

Jordan the landscaper appeared on the patio yesterday to recce the up-coming window project in the rain. This is an encouraging sign because my entire sell-up-and-move agenda is on pause, waiting on the contractors. I’m holding out hope that Lucas the foundation guy can start work by mid-month, but I haven’t heard a peep from him so who knows?

Meanwhile, Spring has finally arrived definitively, allowing me to take the snow brush out of the car and make a date for semi-annual maintenance at the VW dealership in Kitchener. Forsythia is in bloom all over town — I wonder whether it will grow in Ottawa? Must check.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 25 - 08:36 PM

Research for cameras on eBay and Amazon (refurbished) and it looks like the best way to remove the old Canon A1 from the cupboard in the den is to ship it with the lenses they want to B&H. I have a quote from them and they'll pay the shipping. That out of the way, I can consider selling the newer Canon, and covering the cost of a new camera. There was a roll of film in the camera that I should have developed somewhere, I'll have to check around. There is a batch of filters they don't want that might be able to go cheap on eBay.

After several tries we got my account restored at the museum where I do volunteer scanning. I lost track of when I last did a logon (I've mostly worked the docent end of things this winter/spring) but we got it up and running. I need to get back to the volunteer work even with the work to impeach the despot on the throne in the US.

I'm going to step out and plant the last couple of tomato plants before I feed the dogs this evening. Tomorrow I'll move a large pot around to the front for a batch of ornamental sweet potatoes (and I need to weed the patio next to the porch where they'll sit.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 25 - 11:53 PM

Will you be near the place you're in residence now, to drop in for a tune-up as needed? We've seen your accounts of hauling out a lot of surplus from the apartment already—having the new place in view lets you pivot and take measurements and hopefully when you get moved into the new place it will be with a lot of furnishing old friends.

The whole tariff nonsense has lots of people deciding about purchases, to buy or wait. I decided to stop looking around at other vehicles and hold onto the SUV I'm driving now. A smaller purchase, something I've shopped on and off for over a year, is a digital camera. Looking at mirrorless cameras and from there, considering the size of the sensor. I'm not a professional photographer and as nice as a full-frame camera might be, for my uses it would be overkill. Down from the "full frame" sensor the APS-C variety have some very good cameras. But they're all imported. This is a camera for art and work, contrasting with the tiny pocket-sized one to take on protest marches. My 12+ year old Canon works and upgrading would be a luxury, so not making a decision is also making a decision if this goes nowhere.

This afternoon I lugged compost from the greenhouse and mixed it into a couple of huge pots and planted some of the ornamental sweet potatoes, and finished planting one bed with eggplant and bell peppers. I'll have to start my hot peppers from seed, I didn't find the varieties I wanted at the nursery.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 Apr 25 - 06:04 PM

The room where I have been housed in the residence is
a furnished room, so the furnishings stay,
and I just pack out the clothes and things that I brought in.
The apartment is going to be the big thing,
but I don't have to do that all alone.
The furniture I don't have room for, will go to
St. Vincent de Paul which picks up donations, for example.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 25 - 02:29 PM

This morning drizzle started about the time I opened the garage door to lug out some bagged mulch; it was a race to see how much could be accomplished before the real rain started. I ended up with four tomato plants in the ground and mulched with cages around them (not just one cage over the plant but I positioned three of the old little cages around with one of many shepherd's crooks I have for garden stuff holding a couple of them together like a Venn diagram); the idea is to guide the lower limbs out through those cages instead of having them droop from within the single cage I usually use. Better this for now than buying something new to try.

When it was just raining but not storming I made a dash to the pharmacy to pick up an Rx they've been texting me about for a week. It's in the grocery store that has good beef that's very expensive but the last chance bin has meat at 50% off. I also had a 10% off coupon so with all of that brought home a nice haul of rib eyes and tenderloins that will be frozen. I keep beef to about once a week or less often (apparently all of the grain cattle are fed means they have more omega-6 that isn't as good for you as omega-3 that they'd have if they were grass fed.)

I've been out once today to flip the breaker back on that serves the office. I really will call the electrician this week. It's just the cost of it that has me putting it off, but there's another cat-sitting gig coming up, so I'll dedicate those funds to the electrical to-do list.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 25 - 10:42 PM

Good for you, Keb! Does any of the material at your current residential establishment go with you, or just things from the apartment that you're emptying? We'll have to watch the parallel moves of Keberoxu and Charmion (and if Janie were still participating in this group we could learn more about her move from North Carolina to Virginia one day soon. She is also selling a house.)

This afternoon some bedding plants and packs of seeds picked up at the nearby nursery, along with organic fire ant bait. They're bad this year. For now the plants are resting on the potting bench and I'll arrange then plant in the morning. And I have two large cans of sardines that are past their shelf date that will be emptied into a bowl, broken into a slurry, and some will be spooned under each plant as it goes into the ground. I think there are some more cans around here that I picked up from the buy nothing group some weeks ago, if I can just remember where I put them. I'll have to look in the garage. The seeds were in the 70% off bin and will be scattered on top of a few pots of soil. Other better seeds will be started on the potting bench and planted in May (for cucumbers and squash).

Aside from dishes and laundry, not much progress indoors so far this week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Apr 25 - 07:33 PM

Today I kept an appointment at the retirement community that I am moving to this year. For all resident applicants, a cognitive assessment is required; it was administered by the community nurse. I scored 30 out of 30.

I also got another look at the apartment that has been 'on hold' for me after a fashion. It is still technically occupied by the current owners; but for reasons of their own, they have emptied the space and cleaned it up, and it appears as new as it was when they began to occupy it.

The purpose of looking again was to determine if I wanted any of the changes to which I have a right as the next occupant. There were two:
I need an airconditioner for the bedroom, in which the window faces west; and I chose a very pale pink color to paint the walls. But the kitchen appliances are going to remain, and so is the carpet. One of the staff pointed out that the carpet change is usually the thing that takes the longest anyway, so with the paint job, it shouldn't take all that long to get the place ready.

People ask me if I am ready, and I'm not sure; I've been preparing for months, but it's happening rather fast now.
Oh, and I put down earnest money, it amounts to 10 per cent of the entrance fee to the retirement community. So, although I'm not there yet, I'm "in".

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 25 - 12:29 PM

Congratulations, Dorothy! You made better use of your sleepless night than I did mine (I blame the caffeine in dark chocolate too close to bedtime). Another factor is that the room temperature is warmer and I'm figuring out how many covers are enough or too much. It finally dawned on me when I was doing the "vent knee" out from the covers to cool off.

Yesterday's tilling was pretty good, but I'll make another pass to clear a couple of deeper paths in each where I'll do my planting (no point in tilling to the edge of the bed because I don't usually plant that close to it.) I'm going to cobble together some robust tomato stands by wiring several tomato cages around each plant. I have a lot of them and don't want to go buy stuff for wire cages (the reinforcing mesh for concrete is what a lot of people use).

The track for the sliding glass door has once again been brushed out and WD-40ed to have it sliding freely again. I was to the point of having to put down whatever I was carrying to use both hands to open it. While I was at it I put graphite in a couple of the backyard gate padlocks.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 29 Apr 25 - 06:45 AM

YAH!!!! well done

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 29 Apr 25 - 05:36 AM

Dupont:

Taking life in both hands, I made the decision to register for grandson's wedding on 1 June, hoping things might settle down a bit in the lawless country. This after listening to the ED of the ACLU talking about how they are working, with other orgs, to alleviate the situation.

Then the challenge of modern ways of communicating - YAY! I did it! Will call Robin in the morning for his choice of entree. Magic! - once one figures it out -with determination.

5:20 am and I am hungry and exhausted. Read a novel all day with mini "do something" breaks - laundry and remake bed and rake a bit, re-pot a plant, look at the clay and determining I need R to move a loaf upstairs for me. No more- "Oh, well, I can..." Bit by bit, I am re-gaining strength and cope-ability. - at the hospital last week I made a mini-mis-step and a staff person muttered about a walker. Now, That would be a real hazard!

I went to bed about 10pm, slept 'til about 2 am, (R not home - oh well) then decided it was decision time. Now, It's getting light! Back to bed!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 25 - 12:19 AM

The garden beds were tilled this evening. I stopped partway through when I realized the molded plastic cover was vibrating off of the tiller, and went looking for a small bolt to install to fasten it back in place (chances are the original one vibrated off and is somewhere around the yard, never to be seen again.) If the next door neighbor was watching out the kitchen window it offered a little example of resourcefulness (they also are pretty good at fixing things around the house and yard). Tomorrow I'll head to the nearby nursery and see what bedding plants they have to get this year's garden started. I also have some seeds to start on the potting bench.

The red lasoda (Irish) potatoes are putting on foliage and I found a couple of shoots from a few small sweet potatoes I put in that bed. And in the house I have several sweet potato slips coming along (on potatoes I intend to bake - I'll cut off the end that is growing and eat the rest). Those will go in pots.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 25 - 07:12 PM

I hadn't heard that the scar tissue returns. Congratulations on getting that taken care of. Did they dilate both eyes?

My appointment today was a telemedicine one, and we seem to have changed hats for this visit. The PA who oversees my ADHD meds has many patients who are anxious about US health care and all of the possible services and medications that can be taken away from them for no good reason other than RFK Jr thinks they should. She asked about some of the reliable websites I've used for making contact with my representatives and I sent a number of links. Her patients want to speak up about their health care but don't know how. She can't (and wouldn't) tell them what to say, but they can look at places like 5 calls.

Crispy pecans in the oven this afternoon, the second of two batches. Like with my granola, it is something I want to have around as a regular healthy snack; I've been figuring out how to scale up these basic recipes so I don't need to make them as often.

There's weird windy weather this afternoon, we are again at the very southern end of a front that is mostly clobbering the upper Midwest. I'm going to get out in a few minutes and take care of something - there are so many projects out there to choose from.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Apr 25 - 03:04 PM

I’ve been to the ophthalmologist, and my eye is much improved.

It was a very 21st-century experience. A very slick office in Kitchener, full of junior staff to put dilating drops in my eyes and run the full battery of preliminary examinations with all the mysterious machinery that did not exist before 2010. Then a slender young Arab-looking man in sweatpants and yellow Crocs— the ophthalmologist himself — peered into the eye with a slit lamp, twiddled with his computer, and then matter-of-factly informed me of the 1/3,000 odds on anything going wrong with the proposed laser treatment, except for me because I have had a torn retina, so there’s that — are we having fun yet?

Among his remarks, he reminded me (as if I could forget) that I was a whisker away from losing my driving licence.

I weighed up the threat and risks and said, “Let’s do it.”

The treatment? Right there and then, he sat me down in front of yet another science-fiction machine, told me to look at his right ear, and laser-zapped many tiny holes in the veil of scar tissue that has grown over the implant lens. The effect was immediate — everything bright and clear again.

I drove myself home to Stratford.

But there’s a big, fat caveat: this treatment is a one-time deal, and the scar tissue will eventually grow back. So I have a reprieve. Definitely time to reorganize my life.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Apr 25 - 12:15 AM

Shifting from short-term memory to paying attention to the details: I use a Bluetooth Logitech trackball (thumb) and a couple of years ago the Bluetooth card died in my computer. So I hunted around and for about $10 bought the TP link Nano Bluetooth dongle that I used until this month (it started blinking out and losing track of the mouse) when I spent about $25 and got a new WiFi and Bluetooth card to put in the desktop to improve operation and to free up the USB on front where the dongle was.

This evening out of curiosity I was looking at the Logitech Bluetooth trackball pointing devices out there now (this one is a bit sluggish; it might just need a good cleaning) and watched a video comparing this one with an upgrade version. And the guy pointed out that they come with a nano dongle tucked in the battery compartment. Really? Did I know that when I bought it? I just looked and there it is. [slaps forehead]

Did some gardening today, will mow tomorrow and mulch the weeds I tossed onto the turf area. Did some writing, am letting it rest and will take a look again in the morning. I have four 13-gallon sized trash bags on my sofa from my friend who is preparing to move; they're each stuffed with fabric and I haven't looked in any of them. I'm debating about using them as a surprise and doing an unpacking at lunch with my daughter one of these days. (We are so easily entertained.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Apr 25 - 10:10 AM

cartoon I saw recently - old man speaking over his shoulder to his phone - "Siri, what did I come in here for?"

speaking of cartoons, here's one I saw last century. It's set in a Stately home in England, an old(er) Lady this time, who is walking up one side of her double staircase - muttering "Now where did I leave my short-term memory?"

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Apr 25 - 10:00 AM

Agreed. And at this point, the idea of touching any account (I have two federal ones) and making changes is insanity. If they're working, don't rock the boat.

Our retiree group lunch today has had so many cancellations that I'm calling it officially off and will try something in a week or two. One friend has osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) and is dealing with a broken leg she's supposed to stay off of for a while but has offered use of her home for our lunch. I think if we bring everything with us so she doesn't have any prep or cleanup it would mean she gets a chance to socialize, so I'll work on that with her.

Since lunch is off I'll don gardening gear and attack the front gardens. There's a native weedy vine taking over some of my landscaping.

Let's see, I came in here to do something . . .