DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 25 - 11:31 AM

I know that "with the pills they're feeling better" dance. Dosing cats isn't easy, though I've been doing it for years now with the friend's cats during her travels. There's a move with the thumb over the hump of the tongue - immediately followed by a treat they can't resist right after so you're forgiven. Dogs are easier, and I've had a few of the end-stage dogs on pills here. (It still hurts just as much to lose them.)

This morning part of the back yard has been mowed, but the lawn is quite dewy so when I went over the large fire ant mound I may have plastered a bunch of the fine soil of their mound under the wet mower. It was harder to mow without lugging it, so I stopped for now. After the grass dries I'll finish. I should have tipped the mower to see the state of the underside, but better to let any ants scurry off or die before I do that. They pack a wallop of a bite.

I have to round up a bunch of stuff and take it over to Goodwill this weekend. Right now it seems most of the horizontal surfaces in the den are stacked with things that have to leave - whether through the buy nothing page or donation.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 20 Jun 25 - 08:30 AM

> You and Herself may soon be targeted by the Cat
> Distribution System.

It's already happened. The aforementioned new kit on the block, a girt black thing, walzed into our garden and parked himself five feet from Ptolemy (who elected to show Olympian detachment) while Herself was there. When the offender scent-marked Ptol's favourite wallow, she instructed him to bugger off, fortissimo. This may well be renegotiated once Ptol's gone claws-up.

Meanwhile, as of this morning, Ptol's got a fortnight's stay of sentence, as he's looking less unlike his old self now the painkillers are kicking in, and he's actually eating more than Dreamies.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jun 25 - 12:15 AM

The garden by the side door is finished and now several cucumber plants are in place, mulched and with wire fencing to climb on. As an experiment this year there is a Smart Pot (unwoven felt-style fabric) with two other plants (two seeds started in one small pot) next to some stuff they can climb on. I'm testing out the Smart Pots in a couple of areas this year.

A funny garden story - I was talking to the next door neighbor who asked about the crops. I told her I was interested in how the red lasota potatoes are producing; I've been able to poke around in the soil and pull out potatoes without disturbing the plants above, so they can keep producing. I've picked at least three dozen potatoes so far. As we spoke I reached under one plant and pulled out a potato the size of a hardball, and poked around some more and another the same size came out. I held them out to her - she demurred that she already had some potatoes in the house and was trying to lose weight - but the proffer of organic potatoes literally dug before her eyes and 30 seconds out of the ground was irresistible. She reached out and accepted them with "I'll cook them first." And trotted off with those two beautiful po-ta-toes (I love that bit in the Lord of the Rings film (probably also in the book), when Samwise talks about how wonderful potatoes are).

eBay was interesting today. I researched my 1980s Canon film camera, that the New York City camera store declined to buy because it needed some work. I listed it with the specific information from the camera store about the camera body and lens - and offered them for parts or repair at the high price I'd found for similar cameras. An hour later I had an email that the camera had sold. So either I listed it too low, or it was such a good offer and someone had an alert set for this model. If the buyer plans to do the repairs it will take some time. Too often people list items as if the repairs have already been made and then they don't sell. I listed it so the guy who buys it can make some money on it after he does the repair. I also listed some of the other camera bits, and in the process realized I could keep a couple of specialized lenses and filters and buy an adapter (step-up ring) for extreme closeups as well as a polarizer. The stuff I can do with that closeup lens will be amazing (it was when I used it on the film camera).

Tomorrow is a birthday lunch for the ex with our daughter (I fully realize how lucky I am that he is still in my life even if we aren't married any more. The parenting partnership doesn't go away even if the legal standing changes.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 25 - 12:13 PM

Sad news about your little friend Ptolemy. In the end the thousands for all of the testing, had you paid it, wouldn't have changed the outcome. Better for him not to go through that torture also. Will the vet let you wait in the car until it's your turn to go in? Or use a side door? I've made that request the last couple of times we made that final visit, and it's a lot easier on everyone, in particular the pet.

Today is a federal holiday in the US, Juneteenth is the newest, celebrating the 1865 announcement in Galveston that the slaves were free (and had legally been for quite a while. The Texans just never told them.) The woman who spearheaded it is here in Fort Worth, and this has been her goal for decades. They're doing a celebratory 2.5 mile walk this morning, and it's hot out there.

Almost finished with the cucumber bed this morning, and I must push the mower through the tallish jungle in the back yard. It may be a holiday but that doesn't mean there is less work to do.

I've taken time to place several pet-related orders today. Cancel the dog food subscription, I have way too much of the one that last arrived and will be changing flavors (Pepper says it doesn't taste good and I have mixed it with an Aldi flavor to get her to eat what I have. I might as well just buy the Aldi food.) And time to get a replacement silicone flap for the dog door. The one there now has too many gaps for air and mosquitoes after several years of constant use by all of these guys.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jun 25 - 08:36 AM

So sorry to read that Ptolemy is approaching the rainbow bridge. I’ve been through this stage with several cats now, and it’s usually like that — first the shock of diagnosis, then a protracted, almost imperceptible decline. When the end comes, it's a whole new shock.

You and Herself may soon be targeted by the Cat Distribution System. Over the years, I have observed that, when a feline-friendly household loses a moggy, another eventually shows up to take the gig.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 19 Jun 25 - 06:59 AM

The wasps here do seem to be more genteel: they're English, after all, and were brought up to eat jam at a picnic with all due decorum. I've noticed that once one or more have been swatted, later ones tend to hover around the corpses of their earlier brethren, presumably on the grounds that whatever they were after was worth dying for.

Cat news: Ptolemy is officially in the last days, as whatever's got him is aggressive. We're giving him his prescribed controlled substance to reduce the pain and discomfort, and he'll take his last trip to the vet's tomorrow. Herself is more broken up about it all than she (or I) expected, perhaps because it's been sudden, then drawn out.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 18 Jun 25 - 03:25 PM

Woke up feeling fatigued and creaky again this morning. I should have all my energy back by now, but I don't. Consulting the weather and inciweb, discover I am up against smoke, ozone, dust from yesterday's storm, and altitude, plus the few new pounds that have crept on recently. The altitude doesn't normally bother me after a couple of days, but I think combined with just a bit of ozone, my system gets the urge to lie down and rest.

So I am staying indoors as much as I can, 'hunkering down', and chipping away at things in blocks of time; paperwork for a while, kitchen for a while, etc. Maybe I can get out and water the shrubs in the dusk hour when the 100-degree temps break.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 25 - 11:43 AM

If it was "more annoying than painful" then you have a milder form of (or more polite) wasp - when these things sting you it's like an injection of hot acid, blue words fill the air, the spot swells, will eventually itch, and I usually end up having to get a steroid shot and take antihistamines. Because here they usually get you in a pack, five or six at a time.

I've moved the first of two bundles of drying oregano to hang on the door clasp on my kitchen queen; they hang over the sink the first night in case any insects got missed in the rinse and drop off during the night. While working yesterday I inconvenienced a toad and an anole; the toad was moving into the area where I was digging so I moved it to a different part of the bed, the anole scurried off on its own. I apologized for removing the grass they like now, but they'll love the cucumber jungle that forms in a couple of weeks. Lots of climbing, good shade, and they do me the favor of eating any pests.

I hope keberoxu had a good night's sleep. How is the arrangement of stuff coming along?

Lots of small chores today that add up to a couple of big projects finished.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 18 Jun 25 - 05:52 AM

Good luck with the wasps, Stilly. Yesterday I got stung for the first time ever: I was reaching down to the cat's food dish to squeeze the wasp that was hovering over it, and the little offender turned and stung me in the index finger. More annoying than painful; I must be getting slow in my old age.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jun 25 - 10:26 PM

One job leads to another around here, so as I dug the garlic bed I filled a large bucket with the weeds. While walking that bucket through the side gate back to the compost I decided I needed to mow at least along that side between the garage and the fence so it would be easier to push open the gate and walk and also look nice from the street. With the heat I stopped a couple of times for a cooldown with iced tea (something I didn't grow up with but can't live without now). I've finished digging out the garlic, moved a pile of bricks and a bird bath, and dug about half of the garden area for the cucumbers. I also harvested two large handfuls of the oregano stems and have them hanging to dry in the kitchen.

I could stand to thin out several areas of the garden of irises, lilies, fall aster, oregano and basil and perhaps offer them on the free page (though everyone else who is a gardener may be having the same thought about now!)

In what I hope is the last wasp episode, for several days now no more tiny nest starts on the porch, but as I was looping the hose on the hose rack at the corner of the house I saw a wasp duck under the rack - and looked to see them building a nest right above the faucet handle under there. As it happens that handle is in the open position because the water to that stand comes from a faucet and hose on the other side of the front porch. But still. I turned the water back on and blasted the nest.

Charmion, that beer on the porch with the birds sounds like a nice afternoon! I'm about 20 pounds more than you, and about 5'7"; lose any more and I am really bony.

Now processing eBay photos. I set up several items to list today and changed out the background color in my photo cube. Using the new Nikon is wonderful for this work.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Jun 25 - 06:28 PM

The lawn is recovering from the damage done by the foundation crew. Max the neighbour kid mowed it this afternoon, and it looks almost normal.

I have initiated the engagement of my friend Jane’s window-washer, who will charge about Cdn$350 to scrub down every window in the place, upstairs and down, inside and out, including screens and tracks. I can hardly wait.

The house is now just about ready for listing. The agent is coming on Friday.

I am sitting on the porch with a beer, listening to the lawn sprinkler and watching the birds enjoy it. Starlings and robins — they play under the falling water like city kids with an open fire hydrant.

On the health front, my weight has settled around 59 kilos, or about 130 pounds. When I last weighed 130 pounds, I was about 15 years old and had yet to finish growing. Of course, I have lost height — I’m now 167 cm tall, down 5 cm from 1974. My voice is not fully recovered from the bronchitis that hit me four weeks ago, so I squeak when I talk and can sing at only about half normal capability. But I feel fine … just impatient to get on with the Next Big Thing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jun 25 - 10:50 PM

Mowing the front yard was a slog this afternoon, even after having already mowed part of it yesterday. With this rainy weather it shot up so tall that I was pacing myself slowly so I didn't lug the mower in dense growth. But it looks good now. I'll also go around the edges with the trimmer tomorrow. I did clobber another soaker hose, but it's very old and probably needs replacing anyway. I'll swing by Harbor Freight for a couple more; theirs are more flexible than the stiff rubber ones from the big box stores. (I cut off and keep the ends because the hardware they use on them is reusable for repairing hoses.)

The first round of garlic harvest was last week in the various odd spots it has popped up around the front yard; I hope to have gotten it all so it stops growing there. Tomorrow morning I'll dig the garlic bed itself and trim the oregano growing around it (I dry it then vacuum seal it in jars), then plant the my large pots of cucumbers for the summer. The garlic corms and rounds (small bulbs that didn't grow enough to put up flowers) will stay put in that soil and sprout again in the fall, long after the cucumbers have finished. The yard is green and lush at the moment, and I know to enjoy it while it lasts. It can get pretty grim if we go through a long dry spell.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jun 25 - 04:59 PM

I made myself sit down and answer a question on Reddit to do with a digital long-distance photo that the OP felt wasn't clear as it could be. My first detailed answer took a while to assemble (and make sure I was putting the steps in order) only to have it not able to load. Maybe a rejected keyword (I named a different type of camera when referring to the film one I learned on). I trimmed it a lot and it did post. Now to see if it gets dissed or is considered helpful. Or just ignored. It was a good exercise.

The lawn was too wet to mow this morning and it's too warm right now; at about 6pm I'll go mow when it is shady in the front and cooling down. Before that I'll put the cucumbers in next to frameworks they can climb on.

An eBay box left the porch this morning. More soon, hopefully.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 16 Jun 25 - 02:00 PM

Working on health today, made some fridge salads etc. Eating 'right' can be time-consuming as heck. On the upside, the smoke is blowing away from us in general, and no power loss so far.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 25 - 11:21 PM

Where has all the yarrow gone, long time passing? 𝅘𝅥𝅘𝅥

I have a little yarrow in a front garden bed that leans over the edging and occasionally gets a flower or two knocked off. I just mowed around that bed this evening as I worked on the north side of the front yard. I realized I'd left it until too late and the mosquitoes were going to get me even if I was moving, so I stopped at a point where it didn't look too odd, and will finish tomorrow morning.

As I worked around the vegetable garden this afternoon I heard an odd noise coming from the heat pump fan, it sounded kind of off balance. Upon examination it looked like a leaf on the top grill, then I realized there was a sad wildlife story. A small deceased and somewhat desiccated lizard was dangling through the grate, hanging by it's armpits, and the tail was just long enough to be hit by the fan below every time it turned. Removing the lizard solved the noise problem. Would I have looked a fool calling the tech about a funny noise in the outside unit!   

keberoxu, why do you suppose you bought the shoes? Are they a style you won't wear? Or just extra? Maybe time to put the new shoes to use and retire an older pair?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 15 Jun 25 - 09:39 PM

Dupont:

Whatever this bug has been, We are both still recovering. After the little stint of weed whacking - I have been whacked ever since - mostly in bed trhying to recover. R has been doing better and managed to get his "new" riding mower off the truck, mow the lawn and THEN! the mower would not go back on so he found a place in the neighbourhood where he could put the truck lower and get the mower to go up the ramp! Unfortunately, I was too sick to ask him not to cut the daisies and yarrow. hope they come back soon. At least he left the milkweed!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Jun 25 - 06:42 PM

My apartment is ready for the bed delivery on Tuesday.
I continue to find stuff, as I unpack, that I want to let go of.
I opened one box to find another box with a pair of shoes
that I don't even remember buying, and have never worn,
and just reacted with, One more thing to get rid of.
So I decluttered the apartment of the box with the shoes,
which will be donated.

The room which I will surrender this week, on campus,
is being seriously de-cluttered as I move stuff to the apartment.
When I vacate the room, it will have the furniture,
the bedclothes, and the bathroom towels,
and the telephone, and that's all. Everything else will be gone.
There is very little left to remove, it will fit into an overnight bag.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 15 Jun 25 - 04:09 PM

I had so many things going on this spring, and two unexpected trips, just did not have a window to move 'sell the rig' to the front burner. My sister's health was more important, so was nephew's wedding.

Emptied it, 'decommissioned' it. Took the time in May to get 2 items fixed by a tech, but techs were useless in dealing with some pesky rattles and cosmetic issues. I just don't feel good about selling a major item that's not in as good a shape as possible, I want the new buyer to love it like I do.

So now I have someone who is actually getting the coach in top condition to list, while I work on having it squeaky clean. It's a tough time to sell, but hopefully it's unique enough in this area, and much cheaper than 'new', that it will find a home. We'll see.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 25 - 03:25 PM

Turns out today is drizzling so no mowing or sprinklers. I've been practicing with that little digital Kodak; I'd say 1/3 of the photos from yesterday were oddly blurry. I think, upon research, that the setting to recognize faces was the culprit. Faces were clear while things around them weren't. There were a lot of folks out with full-size SLR cameras yesterday, but they're bulky; while in a pinch you could swing one by the strap as a weapon, that's not a great reason for taking it to an event like a civil protest. I'll work with this some more and stick to my plan since there are a lot more protests coming. We are so spoiled by taking photos with our phones, they have so much software working in the background to keep them clear and focused, they really aren't like using a regular camera.

Work on eBay this week paid off, an item needs to be shipped tomorrow. I'll do more of that for now. With this drizzle the floors need to wait.

Patty, you said you'd be detailing the RV. I remember you working on that before, but you didn't sell it yet? Charmion, how's the grass? Keb, is the apartment ready for the bed delivery? This week?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 25 - 11:16 AM

Patty, that whole setup of the Gila Wilderness was a great idea (from Aldo Leopold, it was the first established US wilderness area) but the USFS couldn't commit and in the end built a long road into the middle of it. Wimps. I'm not surprised there are utilities running along there. You sound like a good candidate for putting a solar array on the roof or on panels in the yard (maybe turn it into a parking structure).

I have to mow and set up the sprinklers. We've had a lot of rain but may be at the end of that episode. My garden has a couple of tomatoes (a lot of foliage, not so much fruit so far) and eggplants. Potatoes. The peppers are puny plants still (my daughter tells me hers look just the same. Something to do with the bedding plants we bought?) and cucumbers will be planted somewhere today.

If the daily rain is finished I'll get out the Ryobi rotating brush and attack the dirt on the den floor. It's dreadful right now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 15 Jun 25 - 10:35 AM

Respect to SRS and all those who stood up to be heard yesterday, it was big enough even the corporate press could not sweep it under the rug. And apparently not enough parade fans showed up for them to brag about support for Trump.

We had made a huge start on little repairs and detailed cleaning of the motorhome this week. Amazing what can be done by a smart and motivated craftsman neighbor, after multiple techs just shrugged, declined to help, or did a poor job.

So yesterday was about getting fresh food in the house and getting on a program to drop the pizza pounds and then some. Literally halfway through the shopping, got a message from the power company saying they will cut power this weekend whenever they feel like it, likely the usual 12 hour nuisance. Why in the hell our power has to come across a mountain wilderness (the Gila) to get to our flat valley road, where we are much closer to a flat crossroads town, which has a power plant literally on the road to our area, I do not understand. It's crazy.

Anyway, there is a fire raging in the Gila right now, and the smoke blanket is pretty bad this morning, can't see any of the surrounding mountain ranges. So, I was advised to draw off water and be ready for pump failure. If the heat gets too awful during the day I'll just clear out for refuges in nearby towns, they aren't having their power cut.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 25 - 10:08 PM

In my goal to distract myself from the US political stage I chopped planting spots into the last of the garden beds beside the driveway, emptied several cans of past-their-use-by-date sardines into a bowl to break up, then scooped a spoonful into each hole for the okra plants. They're now mulched in and ready to grow.

Parts for my sign for tomorrow are printed and I'll put it together (a message on each side) this evening. I finished a blog post to make note of these events but also to acknowledge the health issues that can happen with too much focus on stressful subjects.

When houses are photographed by Realtors^R they always use a really wide-angle lens, at least a 28mm fisheye, making the rooms look huge. Don't be surprised if you don't recognize the space in the online photos.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Jun 25 - 05:47 PM

In re Stilly’s demo kit: Except for picket duty and demonstrations during two civil service strikes, I have never felt the need to take part in a street protest of any kind. I think I’ll just sit here and count my blessings yet again.

In lovely, leafy Stratford, I am literally watching the grass grow while Marco finishes painting the basement. The realtor wants to send in a “stager” to depersonalize the place and make it more photogenic, and that will happen next Friday. I guess that means the photographer will come next, and then this shit gets real.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 25 - 11:42 AM

The den feels like it has a mud floor at this point after all of the rain. Even with a double length of mats by the door they've tracked it all the way into my office.

I'm assembling my marching kit for tomorrow. The women's march is in matching costumes and I didn't buy one so I will walk on the sidewalk, but more importantly, I will photograph the event. That's from 11 to noon. I will be wearing my No Kings shirt and have my sign ready for the rally from noon-2pm. That isn't a march. I have my small camera ready and batteries charged and will have my phone tucked in a fanny pack with a backup charger if needed. From the optometrist's office one of their small glasses cleaning spray bottles, but with isopropyl alcohol and a bandana. Face masks. Little vials of eyewash. Bottle of water, a hat. Discretely tucked away, some TP. Governor Abbott is sending the National Guard out to many of the cities hosting these marches. It's beginning to look like I'll need the lumbar pack, the next size up from the fanny pack (the water bottle is the clincher in this - it'll be a hot June day in Texas).

Thinking about what else might be useful I decided having a whistle, the old fashioned metal or plastic kind on a lanyard, could make more noise longer than screaming if necessary. I know I've seen some around here (the dog whistles are too high pitched to be helpful). Kitchen drawer had none, but I realize I have an inordinate number of keyring bottle openers and box cutter devices. Moving to the desk in the den, that drawer yields lots of colored markers and rulers, but again, nothing. My son's room for sure! Nope. I did find a music stand, a harmonica, and a drum. If I go out today I'll stop by a dollar store and get a whistle.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 12 Jun 25 - 10:51 PM

Dupont:
So, after the the big trip, I was recovering nicely and feeling good about it - THEN! R brought a bug home. He is mostly over it; he stayed in the city with a fever and came home yesterday. I changed the sheets to get rid of some of the germs. I am coughing fiercely and the energy level sank considerably. I had managed to do a stint with the weed whacker before it hit. R keeps telling me he is bringing a riding mower to do the yard - now two feet tall in places!

I wore a mask to pick up the veggies from the Jardin de Resistance.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 25 - 09:48 PM

Wow! Those are some good examples of weird nests! Some of these birds will fail in these nests because they made bad choices (Darwin) but some will get away with it because humans assist - possibly enabling less-smart birds to keep going until they can't (making fatal mistakes).

Last night's storm broke a limb in the baldcypress in the back yard, so with a handsaw and a lopper I got it out of the tree. It's cut up and in the trash can for next week (though those branches are straight enough I could run them through the small electric chipper).

I took the trimmer around inside the edges of the vegetable beds (not too close to garden plants) to start the work I'll finish tomorrow with the mower. I've picked a couple dozen more tennis ball sized potatoes and some a bit smaller (came out by accident). The plants are still looking good so I'll let them keep producing. Usually the plants end up looking so wilted I pull them and pick up the potatoes from underneath. This is more just prodding around the outer edges of the plant.

The boxes around the house have been compressed into a smaller area and a couple are ready for things I'm listing on eBay this evening.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 Jun 25 - 06:02 PM

And for those who enjoy ill-advised bird nests, there is a subreddit for that: https://www.reddit.com/r/stupiddovenests/

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 25 - 03:06 PM

Wow! Good call on that rotted pole! There is a wooden pole in the next door neighbor's yard right at our fenceline that was kind of leaning in his yard's direction. I came home one day to find one of those thick cables with a heavy yellow guy guard cover attached from 3/4 up the pole to a long eyebolt drilled into my yard about 10' in from the fence. I had three dogs in the yard at the time and though they are friendly dogs, the idea that these folks were over the fence to do the work that probably took a little while was a bit disconcerting. (It was probably like having three toddlers trying to help. If they had treats, the gig was up as far as my dogs being the "security" patrol!)

Anyway, next time you can threaten to call the supervisor on a utility worker on behalf of yourself and your neighbors. Chances are the opportunity will come along.

Charmion, I had to look up Canada Day, close enough to the US Independence Day I should be able to remember that. If your yard was down here that grass seed might have been washed away this week. Hopefully it is sprouting for you up there.

Today's rainstorm was over early so we were able to make our rescheduled shopping expedition then go for lunch with our daughter. Dropped her off at her museum parking lot so she could tuck my old Coleman cooler into her car (to take home to craft a cooling station for her chickens.)

She told an amusing story at lunch, about being at an SCA event with friends, and one of them put his hard plastic helmet on the ground next to his chair. A small enterprising bird spotted it right away and started bringing over sticks and grass and after a couple of hours had made good progress toward a nest. They figured the idea of an armor-plated nest was irresistible and were sorry to dislodge the hopeful tenant. I've had them build nests in hanging baskets and one time in a plastic bag that was full of dried flower seeds that I'd left hanging on the decorative grate over my back door. I've been seeing some interesting birds in the neighborhood, and the oddest thing - a yellow-crowned night heron standing on my front yard, tipping its head. It suddenly darted that long hard beak into the turf and came up with something - large insect, toad, lizard, not sure what. But it looked more like a robin move than a heron move. That's it for the Naturalist's Corner report.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: pattyClink
Date: 12 Jun 25 - 12:26 PM

Thanks all for encouragement before I set out on the trip, it was much needed and appreciated. I am home, exhausted. It turned out to be 4000 miles in 12 days, 90% by rail. Glad I made the effort, got to see many family members I needed to see, and some great western scenery on the way. The wedding was a good one, though the kindergarten graduation was probably more fun to witness.

Lots of to-dos to start in on around here; my windshield suddenly has a crack, the tankhouse is done and I have to help design the interior arrangements, urge the well contractor to come out and rework the top of the well, get some groceries and a wheelbarrow asap, yada yada for two pages.

On the plus side, two kind neighbors called the power company, which I called last November about a leaning rotted pole, because the leaning got worse after a recent storm. They had sent a fellow out back then, he said they would get to it as soon as possible, never happened. They are so difficult to reach I failed to do follow up calls.

This week's fellow came out, put his hand against it and pronounced it 'fine for now'. Dear neighbor went off on him and threatened a personal lawsuit. They were just leaving it until it crashed in my yard taking out power and possibly starting a fire. Suddenly the supervisor was called in and they suddenly had the one hour to spend replacing the pole. And lo, it snapped off just below ground where it had rotted completely through. So now I can add 'enforcer' to my neighbor's list of skills.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jun 25 - 05:23 PM

Marco the painter has finished priming the new drywall in the basement and patched and sanded the many holes down there, and yesterday he painted the ceiling. On Friday, he’ll be back to start putting colour on the walls. The damaged area of the lawn still looks like the wrath of God, but I keep watering it in hope that at least a bare scrim of new grass will soon appear. And I have hoed out the last refuge of clutter, the space under the basement stairs, where I had stashed some old suitcases. At the deep end, Isobel (Cat 2) had established a bunker in an old toy box … Evidently, I must find a way to provide a similar bolt-hole in my new place.

Once the basement is painted, it will be time to call in a crew of professional cleaners for a complete scrub-down, including windows. Then I can list the house. Let’s see if I can get it done by Canada Day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Jun 25 - 03:55 PM

There isn't room by the door to have a box to put things in. That box has to remain in the living room, and yes, there are things going in the box that I don't need after all.

And I put a combination lock on the storage bin reserved for my apartment, so I can start decluttering the apartment of stuff that I don't have space for but want to keep (in boxes, of course).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jun 25 - 01:21 PM

Shopping outing yesterday was postponed - will try again tomorrow. This week is forecast to be quite rainy and we don't have to lug bags of groceries through sodden parking lots.

I picked up a book I saw referenced in a review of something else over on Reddit; turns out it's mostly crap but there are a few gems buried in it. So I'm skimming through The War of Art. No surprise to realize as he describes what he has named "Resistance" is that Procrastination is a wide-ranging skill set. Handmaiden to procrastination is Rationalization, the process of deciding that you're doing something that needs doing, even if it isn't the thing you want and need to do. And pulling the trigger - do the work to set up a project then never getting started. Something akin to fear of success. All of these are old companions. When this is the water we swim in, if we see what we've been doing can we now defeat or at least reduce the effect?

How's the yard, the foundation, and the basement looking, Charmion? How is the unpacking progressing, Keb? Do you have a box near the door to put things you moved but decided you don't need after all? Dorothy, how are you feeling after the big trip? Patty, I'm guessing you're somewhere mid-trip, I hope it is going well and the wedding was as lovely as we always hope they will be.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 25 - 08:47 PM

Keb, congratulations on accomplishing the move! That's a big deal!

Bedding plants are almost large enough to transplant into the garden. Cucumbers and okra, and one odd small plant I have no idea what it is, it looks like a mutant cotyledon of some sort. I'll leave it in the pot and watch it, possibly a volunteer of some sort.

At the cat sitting gig one of the cats peed on the tile bathroom floor at the edge of a washable carpet that has a rubber pad it sticks to. It took me a couple of days to figure out where the smell was coming from since it wasn't in view - but flip back the rug and whoosh! So I escorted both parts into the back yard, checked with my friend, and the rug is in the laundry and the mat hanging on a fence. And my clothes go in the laundry tonight because there's a hint of eau-de-cat-pee on my jeans (or I was around enough of it that it is stuck in my nose?)

Several things stacked in the car to drop off for my daughter soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Jun 25 - 07:18 PM

YAH to the end of one decluttering, welcome to the new apartment & the sorting of possessions into their proper homes.

Subject: RE: Convicted felon US 47 Pres /Musk coup 2
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Jun 25 - 03:06 PM

My old apartment has been decluttered of my possessions, and
I surrendered the keys before I left.
It's a big declutter.
I now have a new apartment full of boxes to unpack,
so that declutter is going to take a while.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 25 - 09:43 AM

Not a great night's sleep as thunderstorms pounded the area for what seemed like several hours. It's the jolt awake by thunder that is the worst, I can sleep through lightning flashes, though the blue heeler can't so her fussing also woke me. At one point I escorted her to the hall bathtub that has a sleeping mat in it for times like this.

Saves time today, though. No need to water and too wet to mow. I need to get the heat pumps serviced, and the hall sump pump fixed. There's a condensation problem that the pump itself has created and on muggy days like this I have to empty a little bowl I placed under it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jun 25 - 12:55 AM

As I pulled this up a weather alert shone on the phone - thunderstorm warning. No sirens going off, so it's a general announcement for the region. I put out fertilizer this afternoon so the rain could soak it in, as is happening now. I think pots are positioned to get rain but not catch rain off the edges of the roof (no gutters).

This week coming up is our quarterly bulky waste pickup (Charmion's branches would be eligible - pile them at the curb and a truck picks them up.) I don't know if I have much to go now, I've been cutting things up and stuffing into the trash can for weeks instead of waiting for all at once.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Jun 25 - 07:54 PM

Today I burned the garden rubbish and set myself coughing again, but it had to be done; the heap of dead branches and dug-up tree roots was reaching for the sky. The damaged parts of the lawn are showing signs of life after two days of careful watering. Next week promises rain, so watering will continue for free.

As I tick off each task on the preparation checklist, I feel the tension crank up. I hope I never have to do this again.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 25 - 05:28 PM

Try orange oil instead (also called D-Limonene. Expensive but very concentrated and lasts for quite a while). There is food-grade diatomaceous earth (it's used in livestock feed) that is safe to use (still wear a mask, you don't want to breathe it or in your eyes) and there is "pool grade" for pool filters that is an imperfect and not particularly refined form. That's the nasty stuff to avoid.

New garden hose stretched out more, other old hose moved. A very large toad trying to look invisible in the deep recess of a cinder block next to the faucet.

Almost 100^o today. Summer is here.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 08 Jun 25 - 12:54 PM

> diatomaceous earth

Not something I've heard of before, but (grep grep) I can see why ants might not like it underfoot. Our neighbour suggested using peppermint oil as an ant-repellant, and that seems to have been successful; Herself even permits (nay, requests and requires) its use in the kitchen. My problem with it is that I can't stand the taste or smell of peppermint, a disability which I believe I inherited from my grandmother.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 25 - 11:12 AM

One of the dog toys, a multi-color thick rope with a few knots, has been so chewed and tugged that the strands are shedding rapidly, a condition that can be dangerous if they start eating the cotton strands (though the old Lab ate lots of cloth items and survived it all). I looked on top of the freezer where the spare toys live and found another one. (There are also two squeaky toys up there that drive the blue heeler out of her merle mind so they stay out of sight.) There was some interesting territorial posturing with the new rope toy, the blue heeler in charge at first, but it didn't take the pit-boxer mix long to appear to lose interest only to sneak back around the front hall and grab it. The old one is in the trash.

The kitchen is looking better and I've scrubbed the countertop where I brew (and sometimes slosh) my morning tea. As clean as it all is I'm still seeing a few ants, so it's time for another spritz of diatomaceous earth along the back edge of the counter. (Too bad I can't train the wasps to eat the ants!)

The new long garden hose is in a relaxing stage - I've stretched it out to diminish the curl of being wrapped up tight. As I lay it across the patio (in front of the door, so close to the edge that it isn't trod upon) I'll sweep and rearrange around the area. I need to do a little watering today, and mostly I need to put out fertilizer in advance of what is forecast to be another wet week. And getting a few bags of the free mulch for the areas where the last of the seedling vegetables will be planted soon. The house gets short shrift when the garden is in full gear. I bought this house because of the yard.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 07 Jun 25 - 06:49 PM

Dupont:

Machinery is what Robin and his bro buy and sell, collect, take to the recycling depot... And are hoping to put together a museum of the history of Quebec machinery. He had a great time at the museum, talking with those running it - about machinery! AND !!! amazingly, was not late for the wedding!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jun 25 - 01:45 PM

Sounds like a nice dinner - and I'd go for the halibut and asparagus. Though I grew up literally at the beach I never developed a taste for oysters. There's too much going on in there that seems like it should be cleaned out, but people eat the whole thing. I enjoyed other seafood; I used to dig clams and wade at low tide for Dungeness crabs, and did a lot of fishing. (On a trip on Hood Canal my childhood family was camping next to a family with a Labrador retriever who had been taught to retrieve oyster shells. They would throw empties into the water and he brought shells back - usually living oysters they would eat later.)

Taking each day as they come, I can feel the prednisone kicking in. I think this lower dose will be enough to do the job; it takes days (or weeks if it is more serious) to remove pain, then the rest of the month to be sure it stays away, then tapering.

The portable pet steps fold into a compact 18" x 30" x 6" format and slid easily into the back seat to go with my friend to her house and elderly dog.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Jun 25 - 10:48 AM

The garden looks convalescent, especially with the sprinkler deployed. The landscapers assured me that, after last winter’s stellar snow-pack and our wet spring, grass is practically leaping out of the ground. They spread the seed very thickly in the hope of achieving at least scanty growth by the time the realtor decides to have pictures taken.

After my drastic week, I went out for dinner last night at the Prune, one of this ritzy town’s ritzier restaurants. For the first time since Edmund died, I enjoyed myself at a table for one in a snazzy joint. I had oysters, and a dish of white asparagus, and a lovely piece of halibut. Entirely within the parameters of a low-carb diet, and delicious to die for.

One of the many nice things about the 21st century — not quite up to laser eye surgery but close — is the availability of excellent oysters even in months without an R in them.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 25 - 11:22 PM

You buried the lede on that post, Dorothy! Congratulations on the tumor report! That's funny that Robin went to a machinery museum, the definition of a "busman's holiday."

You and Charmion both stay healthy and stay indoors with that smoky air.

Cat sitting gig came up this weekend, but good news is it's short (won't conflict with the June 14 protest/march - I'd have to do a lot of scrambling to meet her schedule and mine.)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 06 Jun 25 - 08:38 PM

Dupont:

Sitting in Den with air cleaner going full tilt. Smoke level "high health risk" today. Deleting hundreds of emails that built up while I was away; unsubscribed to lots! Fed Up! Also fed up with the state of North America.

WE broke the boycott of USA by going down on Thursday to PA. My grandson's wedding took priority. Also got to have great visits with each son, and wife, and smaller visits with two grand daughters whom I had not seen in 5-10 years. The great grands were also nearby but not invited to wedding and we did not have time to go to where they were.   

Beautiful area down there - Bucks County; The Pearl S. Buck Estate was a terrific wedding venue, as well as a museum. Robin went to a machinery Museum where he was well-received; His "reward" for giving me 6 days that he needed to be working.

In total exhaustion, I wore shoes that hurt like ... I did not realize it was just the darn shoes until I put my Birkies back on and was able to walk around again. Something to remember! It never occurred to me that it was "just" the shoes. Kind of spoiled That day!

A biggie for me was finally getting to Bauman's Apple Butter shop. I had a jar of it years ago and have missed it. The shop was enroute - sort of- coming back north and we chose other sorts - peach, cranberry, etc - all sugar free and No refrigeration needed- ever! YAY!

I'm too tired to go back and check history - hope I mentioned the "main tumour" is shrinking and I am likely to live forever -(HO HO!) Sure has changed my attitude about how to go on with life!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 25 - 04:22 PM

Nests within reach are long gone; others are far enough away not to be a problem. I've seen "fake nests" crocheted to hang under eaves to try to discourage new nests, I don't know if they really work. It would give a crafty person a project that could keep them very busy, making scarecrow wasp nests for everyone they know.

Next door house is looking at a new roof, and my handyman friend has a roofer cousin doing appraisals, so I will let him tell me what he thinks about the condition of this roof. No way a cold caller is stepping foot in the yard (too often they are scammers of various sorts). I hope the heavy duty roof I put on (hurricane strength cost more but my insurance rates dropped) is still doing it's storm-proof thing. The co-pay on these is a killer. Next door told me their co-pay would be $12,000At With the rate that Trump is trying to deport immigrants, I'm sure that's forcing up the cost of labor. There is a lot less around right now.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 06 Jun 25 - 12:16 PM

Don't remove the nest, Stilly. When we had a waspectomy in our previous house, we were advised to leave the dead nest in place to deter (or displace?) possible repeat offenders.

Cat news: Ptolemy seems to slowly be recovering his nerve: last night, he wanted into the study where the dishes are, and finished off his tea; then he wanted out of the front door. Him having a snack before going out, erm, hunting used to be his MO of an evening, so we're hopeful for the short-to-medium term at least. Then he gets picky again this morning. *Sigh*.

Oh, and Herself does buy tuna in water, as that (unlike oil) can go down the sink.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jun 25 - 11:48 AM

The foundation repair people deny all responsibility for the torn-up state of my lawn, so the patio crew (landscapers by trade) have agreed to top-dress and re-seed the extensive damaged areas. Right now, even as I type, Jordan and his partner are levelling sand and hauling stone.

Wildfire smoke from thousands of kilometres away has brought air-quality warnings to Perth County. Summer already doesn’t look good.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER: *Sorting *Health *Progress - 2025
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 25 - 11:46 AM

Turns out the hail storm on Monday has generated lots of interest in the neighborhood by roofers. I've hung up on a dozen cold calls from folks who will "be in the neighborhood" - but I see a roofing sign in the yard next door. She said theirs is 20 years old (I remember watching the installation, I hadn't been here long.) Mine is 18 years old. I suppose I should have the insurance company take a look. The storm that really clobbered things was about five years ago, with tennis-ball-sized hail, but perhaps golf-ball-sized hail this time finished the job. I paid for a hurricane-resistant shingle to get some extra savings on my insurance. No insurance companies are going to stick around in the state if they have to replace roofs too often.

Wasps hovering around the front porch appear to be free agents, drifting from soffit to speck of paint on the wall, looking for anyone to offer them a place to anchor and start building.

I have a set of pet steps I picked up at Goodwill to use for Zeke to get into his chair, but we never deployed them. My friend who is in town this week has an elderly Schnauzer who might be able to use them, so on her way out of town this afternoon they'll hopefully stop by and stuff them into her daughter's car. No way I'm letting either of the two dogs here now sleep on my bed so I won't use it. (The rule is "if you're going to sleep on the bed you stay put and sleep" but these guys think they're guard dogs and get up and race out into the yard to bark, then want to come back onto the bed. Nope.)