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30 Dec 10 - 01:30 PM (#3063934) Subject: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage A couple of weeks ago I looked back and realized we have generated Declutter and Exercise (Accountability) threads since the spring of 2008. It's always good to finish projects, and we are moving forward, but these threads have a form of blinder since they're only four weeks at a time. They haven't allowed us to see as easily where we have come from. Here are a few of our past threads, selected because they represent our beginning, and a few points along the way. March, 2008 thread January, 2009 thread Our project, one year out - March 2009 One year ago, the Dec. 2009 thread Last month's thread I just walked through my living room after a long hot soak in the master bathroom. There is a lot of the beautiful faux limestone Italian tile in view than there has been in years. Every room in my house has been rearranged, but I can also say that every room in my house now has more room. Okay, my office shrunk this fall when I moved five antique trunks in here and stacked them around three walls. My office is the room where I work from the center at stations around the edges, and it didn't matter if that space contracted in here. The bathrooms, closets, even the garage have improved with both less stuff and more organization for what remains. I'm starting this thread in late December because we tend to look back and look forward in December, and I wanted a few of those observations to be there in the beginning of the January 2011 thread to help propel us forward. maeve has gone through the trauma of losing a house and the artifacts of many lives, but is now experiencing the miracle of building a new home. It takes a community, and her community is so hardy that they work in cold blowing snow to put up her bubble of warmth and light. Kat has recovered incredibly from health problems of a few years ago that she's not only working on her house, she gets out and hikes and walks around her town. Susan has pushed and shoved room contents around a huge old house and created zones where she can pursue her many interests and work. Michelle is just miraculous. In case someone reads this many years down the road who wasn't along for the ride, last year is when they detected cancer, and she conquered it with the help of a lot of great people in her community and in her virtual family. And then, as if that wasn't enough, came Jeremiah. I can't think of a single individual who had earned such a shot at complete joy, and it made for an incredible year for all of us who read along. Michelle's So this is where we might want to sum up and look forward, all in one month's thread. I can see the difference here, but I can also see the slow progress as a distraction from other things I want to do. The mention of a "grand gesture," whether a garage sale or other giveaway is still in the back of my mind. I usually weigh these questions around "what should I keep for my children, and what will my children find to be burdens?" Inheriting antiques can be a great curse. Add to that the instincts of a librarian or archivist, and you have a lot of work ahead. (I think I have a New York Times article in my eBay workspace about the curse of antiques. I'll post of link if I find it again one of these days). Get healthy, get fit, get organized, get moving. And lets see where we are at the end of 2011. (Here's hoping we'll be calm, organized, rich and not-so famous that we can't live with it.) SRS |
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30 Dec 10 - 01:33 PM (#3063937) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage [face slap]Andrea fixed up, packed up, and moved to a completely new house. No small feat. And I'm sure I missed a lot more. SRS |
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30 Dec 10 - 02:50 PM (#3063984) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing I think it's okay for you to miss out on some of what the rest of us have done, my gosh, SRS, you have been a tyro getting so much done! I'll be happy to get back to hiking. I kind of lost it all when Rog broke his foot and have backslid since he started walking on it in a boot. As a consequence, I went off the rails with stress eating and have been fighting off a head cold which has kept me from being as active as needed. I am going to see the doc, today. But, I DID write another 50,000 word novel in November! I seem to work best under extreme pressure.:-) Now to edit it and and the one before it and get the first one available online this year, I hope! Rog brought me some empty boxes yesterday. Morgan and I are going to load books into them. I called a humane society and they would be thrilled to get them, esp. when I said I'd put the retail worth on each one after looking them up at www.addall.com They have some stuff they want to get on ebay, but haven't had anyone who has the time. IF they have a computer etc. on which to do so, I may offer to do some volunteer work for them. I know I could do it from here for them, but I need to get out of the house more. I also have some other stuff that will get boxed up to go to them. kat |
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30 Dec 10 - 04:20 PM (#3064036) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg SRS, the folks who were missed can and will post their "props." Breathe! :~) If they's not posted of late it's no wonder they din't come to mind right off. Either they'z organized more and writ less.... or they'z not organizin' right now. I also built Dog World, organized a home skewl for Presbyterae, started a comprehensive multicultural ed/anti-racism program, and still house the last bits-to- distribute of a regional ministry resource library. These last three items together constitute a frosh-to-master's level religious studies/theologikal kollidge for self-directed adult learners, in addition to a little Gay Clergy Spouses Network a-borning. (I MAY have organized a diocese!) And I learned how to run a BIG website, and how to Slow Down, LOL. And how to use tools at hand to keep my HEAD organized. KISS, TBTG, and eat my dust!, ~Susan |
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30 Dec 10 - 08:08 PM (#3064168) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre SRS, Thanks for putting up the links to the other threads....I really like looking back over some of it! It certainly has been quite the year for me...the lowest of lows and the highest of highs!! Declutterwise, I can't say that I did all that much this year but I am happy to report that my dishes are done daily, the floors are decent and we have clean clothes to wear! Most of the time my kitchen counters are visible as well as the top of the kitchen table which seems to be a catch all area for us. When I think back to the 2008 thread, I can see all kinds of work and change going on around the house....a remodeled kitchen, new paint in the kitchen and living room...bathroom and hall too. This year has been exhausting for me and continues to be on a daily basis but I am proud of myself for doing my best..what else can a body do? I know I've said it before but a special thank you to many of you here on Mudcat...you'll never know the difference you made for me this year. Love to all, Michelle |
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30 Dec 10 - 08:53 PM (#3064190) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: SINSULL I haven't posted much on the declutter thread. But I accomplished my most important goal. After seven months of lost paperwork, wrangling and miscommunications, I got GMAC to approve my refinancing hence saving my little house. I am not sure I could have survived losing it. Though maeve gave me hope. SINS |
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30 Dec 10 - 11:53 PM (#3064240) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage That's great work Mary--and now you don't need to move all of your stuff (even if you still might have to sort and thin some)! Tonight I opened side-by-side Windows Explorer windows and moved photo files into one location, deleting the dups when they were already in that location. When I run Picasa in my computer I've been aware of photos appearing in several places, but I didn't want to just delete files in Picasa in case I might be getting rid of too many. This is primarily in my work files. I've cleared out a couple of GB of photo clutter that way. This is the kind of work it pays to do now, making it easier to get into the swing of things when the semester starts again in a couple of weeks. SRS |
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31 Dec 10 - 12:20 AM (#3064254) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg As a BTW to newcomers to the "group"-- the old threads all, I think, have links at the end of each, to the next one. Also the old threads contain numerous decluttering tips. ~S~ |
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31 Dec 10 - 08:09 AM (#3064360) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy Thanks for the links, and the reminders of some remarkable stories! I'd like to look back in a year's time with the building work done, but unless I grasp the nettle soon, and get some prices in, I'll still be in the same state. (Part of me is a bit scared about what it's going to cost, and the VAT (GST by another name) increases next week!) I have decided that the building work has to come first, and any other bits and pieces will be done with whatever cash nis left (if anything). Happy New Year, everyone! I'm off to a murder mystery party tonight, despite a streaming cold, courtesy of Freya! Andrea |
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31 Dec 10 - 11:37 AM (#3064477) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Liz the Squeak I have made a spare bedroom of sorts again, if only I can keep it that way! A year of poor health has put the accountablilty on hold, but I am not going to give up. It's back to the Plan next month and hopefully a few of the health problems will be resolved too. Happy New Year Decluttering ALL!!! LTS |
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31 Dec 10 - 04:04 PM (#3064642) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg On the way IN are a set of 3 recliner/sectional pieces to make a Canoodling Department in our LR-- good timing, too, since the remaining circa-2000 fire ins. recliner is about to go. Two of these 3 pieces are drying (we rug-foamed them) out on the porch. The one least in need of repair will come in tonight to air-0dry in the heated LR; the 3 washable cushion covers are in the laundry in a hot-wash. Muy very dirty, but otherwise worth repairing the sproinged springs on 2 of the 3. These were freebies courtesy of the local junk dealer who did not want to bother with the repairs we cold see an easy way to do, tra la! :~) A huge ole smoked ham and a leg of lamb are roasting away for slice-up & freezer while we putter on long-overdue couples' projects. One will involve (in about 15 minutes) the complete re-organization of family finances and payor, using a system I started to set up a few months ago that we agreed last July might be a good thing.... add Hardi and stir. ~Susan |
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31 Dec 10 - 07:36 PM (#3064719) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage A friend came over today and we tried burning a BluRay disk for him, but the file wouldn't open in the player attached to the TV. It's one of those things we realized you need to "produce" (in the Hollywood sense) with lead-ins and such, and my software wasn't cooperating with his software. So he'll have to learn more, and we trashed a disk, but we learned a lot. I got rid of the software I loaded after putting in the drive (it didn't have any drivers in it, it was for the person who doesn't already have all of the burning and editing software I have). I reinstalled my Nero program and will get more use out of it now. I did a lot more work clearing and organizing my photos (this after I showed a friend how to use Windows Explorer to organize her photos - I figured I ought to do mine as well). All in all, the computer is up to speed for the things I want to do this year. I cooked some pinto beans this afternoon, and they're still simmering now since I added some blanched tomatoes from the garden. They're still ripening. The friend here is a good cook, but he thinks black-eyed peas taste like dirt, and since another friend came in and none of us is from here, we felt quite comfortable in trashing southern traditions in favor of our own. :-) Pinto beans will be fine (I prefer kidney beans, but I didn't want to run to the store) and my neighbor sent over a bowl of her mix of collard and mustard greens she cooked up last night. They smell wonderful. My New Year's Eve is as usual, spent here at the house. I enjoy the puttering and watching old movies. I'll put in a load of laundry, clean up the kitchen, and have a neat house to enjoy tomorrow morning. It's a small ceremony along the lines of "begin as you mean to continue." I will take down my Australia calendar in my office (from my secret santa last year) and I have a new one up behind it already (doesn't have a photo, so if something prettier turns up in a discount bin in the next few weeks I'll pick one up.) Two big things I want to do this year - start transferring my father's cassettes to DVD, and scanning my grandfather's articles. I've mentioned it before, but not in this thread. Something I plan to resume is the blogging that was sidelined by other stuff during the year. I enjoy it when I get back to it, but the buildup of unfinished articles has been a bit of an obstacle - what to resurrect and publish, what to leave alone for now and write fresh stuff. Just getting moving is what is needed. My garden is going to grow larger and I am going to build the low stone wall in the front yard. I've spoken to enough practitioners (bricklayers on campus) that I know how to do it, I just have to get started. I'm going to continue selling the extra stuff around here on eBay, and I will use the proceeds to target my credit card bills. It would be nice to pay this off this year, and since it doesn't look like the lottery will come through, I need to do it on my own. :-/ Yes, we'll have to see what it looks like a year from now. Andrea, good luck on choosing which tasks to tackle in what order. My brother is going to be in the same boat - he just bought a house that he said "I'm going to keep for the rest of my life." It's in the perfect place, has the right set up for his interests (a house at the beach in our home state, with a good dock and deep enough for mooring a boat year round) but it needs some basic work. Permits and plans and contractors are in his future. I'm not to that point, I can't say that this house is it for me, but it works for now, so I'll keep working on maintaining the value, and adding value where I can. We have other gardeners who participate here. I'll be interested to hear what you each plan. My growing season is a lot longer (and I was out weeding the key hole garden today, working on digging the Bermuda roots from under the center walkway) so we may not hear about those plans till spring. I am going to try to space my plantings better, and I'm going to expand the beds further down the hill along the driveway. And put in new beds smack in front of the house. My yard will be an Edible Estate by the time I'm finished. I'll lift my glass of wine at midnight and offer a "skoal!" Have a good year, all! Stay healthy and happy! SRS |
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31 Dec 10 - 08:53 PM (#3064767) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Garden catalogs have started to arrive here and we, of course, are planning and drooling. Our hoop house is not yet complete, although it is getting close. The cold crops are growing in our living room in the most sunny spot, where I also have a large pot of fresh parsley growing (YUM). I am most jealous that you still have tomatoes ripening! Tonight I made a pizza from scratch using canned tomato sauce that we made this summer. Mmmmmm. Mmmmmm. GOOD! I slept in this morning after a restless night. We went to Walmart...all 3 of us...what a nightmare that place is. I picked up 4 totes for storage of Christmas decorations that have been needing something more than a basic box to keep them protected from dirt, bugs and snakes in the storage shed (yep..found snake skins in there...EW). Dishes from dinner are all done up, we have new sheets on our bed (polar fleece...so cozy in our unheated bedroom) and I cleaned out most of the fridge today. I am looking forward to leaving this year behind and moving into the new year. We talked about getting out my new rifle (ok...I've had it awhile but it's still NEW) and bringing in the new year with a BANG. I still might do it (we live in the middle of nowhere where this can be safely done) but will use a pistol instead as the rifle would kick back right into the port in my chest...probably not a good idea! Anyway...a very Happy & Healthy New Year to One & All!!! Michelle |
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31 Dec 10 - 09:23 PM (#3064782) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I've frozen the sauce that I made the other day, and I froze some tomatoes that I blanched and cut up (because I wanted to add some to my beans). Dishes are piling up, but I'll take care of them when I finish here. A couple of loads of laundry, and I'm also changing the bed linens. It isn't so much a new year thing as it is a jump on the last weekend of my holiday vacation. Now that the guest room isn't being used by guests, I'll spread out a sewing project on the bed. People unfortunately shoot off guns at midnight here in town. Thanks for the reminder - I'll bring the dogs in for a while, because that noise always scares them. SRS |
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01 Jan 11 - 05:09 AM (#3064882) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: SPB-Cooperator Last year successes reduced alcohol consumption by as much as 75% My partner was able to stay in UK for 11 months Paid off three creditors Sang in public - but only once Stayed in my overdraft limit for five consecutive months. Two new clients - and two more pending. learned to cook czech food Last years non success. No progress on kitchen Car commuted to the car park in the sky Only away on holiday for 10 days in the whole year - 7 in january, 3 in the summer. Stopped going to czech classes On to this year, 75% of my bank loan paid off Pay off more from my credit cards Stay in my overdraft limit for all the year Actually start the pending clients, and get more new clients Start work on the kitchen New second hand car My partner back in UK in June Perform in public more Resume Czech classes (September) Start Music Hall Society/group/Club - watch this space above he line. Anyway - that's my goals...... |
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01 Jan 11 - 11:57 AM (#3065038) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage That's an efficient list! Good luck to you! This morning the kitchen looked nice and the laundry was finished. Ornaments need putting away, so I'll do that as I watch my last NetFlix disk. No tree needles to clean since the "tree" is a dry limb of crape myrtle. It generally got rave reviews from visitors. Though it wasn't a resolution because it is a chronic condition, I need to tackle the paper around the house. There seems to be a layer over everything. Filing, recycling, dealing with the issues printed on the paper, that's a running battle. Michelle, I think I'm probably very lucky that I don't get gardening catalogs or I'd go a little crazy! I do think that if we each resolve to try to grow something we eat this year we'll be a little bit ahead on the healthy eating and in understanding the environment in our parts of the world. This time of year I love regularly opening the freezer to pull out something I stashed there last summer, or picking up a jar of home-canned food, but for those who don't do canning, simply growing lettuce or radishes or tomatoes or herbs, it's a start toward better health. (Kat, does Morgan do any gardening? I bet he'd love a window garden to plant in the yard in the spring! I used to grow somethings I didn't eat much, like jalapeno peppers, just because they were pretty to grow and easy for the kids to pick when they were little.) I've just about finished a spectacularly good eggplant parmigian that was made with my own eggplant and tomato sauce last year. I assembled it in a Rubbermaid freezer box but didn't cook it. This week I popped it out of the box and dropped it into a square glass casserole dish. Even though it was over a year old, it was great. And home grown. Have a great day, all! If you're football fans, the Rosebowl is featuring a team from Fort Worth, Texas. I attended and work at a different nearby university, but as the hometown team, I'll wish the Hornfrogs well today! SRS |
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01 Jan 11 - 12:31 PM (#3065056) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing I have hopes for cleaning house, today. Still a bit shaky/wobbly, but better after getting some good sleep last night, in little bits. Rog is supposed to sweep the house. I will do some laundry and maybe the dishes. I want to go through the Christmas ornament box and get rid of a lot of stuff. I have a bunch of old ornaments which are missing their hangers, not the little loop of wire, but the thing which actually holds that in them. I think I can repair a few of them, but most are going to go to the thrift store or something, if they can do something with them. I know they can be used in vases, as decoration, but I don't have the space or vases.:-) SRS, I have a calendar my sisters sent to me. It's got beautiful photos of WY horses, landscape, etc. If you want it, it is yours. I have no wall space for such and don't use them, anyway.:-) I will copy phone numbers, etc. from last year's datebook. It's spiral bound and sits flat in front of my monitor. It always feels good to transfer stuff in my own handwriting. My appts. for the next couple of months are already listed as I remembered to buy the 2011 book before I actually needed it! I got tired of looking for the one I liked each year, in town, and finally just started buying it online. SPB..looks good. Congrats! |
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01 Jan 11 - 01:01 PM (#3065063) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre I worked on my bucket of papers and threw 80% of it in the trash. I need to start doing that the second it comes in the house instead of making a pile to look at later because *later* usually means when I'm sick of looking at the pile!!! I did get several thank you notes finished up today for gift from Jeremiah's party in November! ARG. I'm so ashamed of myself that they are this late but I DO still have trouble with my hands and it hurts to write much more than my name. So..they are late. Handwritten and individualized and late. ARG. The living room is picked up, all toys put away. It looks like a preschool in here anyway....and that just makes my heart happy! A walker, hoppy, pack & play, 2 baskets of toys, a neatly folded pile of 3 blankets for layering on the cold floor to play on, a little rockig car, a miniature workbench....yep....a little boy lives here!!! I did a load of laundry this morning, Pete made some bread and I mad curried egg salad. Sadly, none of the eggs are from our hens who are rebelling against all the gas well activity going on around here. Speaking of hens, it's that time of year to be looking at this year's bunch of new chicks. We get catalogs from hatcheries just like we get seed catalogs. Does anyone else here get new chicks in the spring? What varieties do you like and why? Chickens for meat or eggs, maybe both? Well, Pete's headed out to move about 80 bales of hay down to the back barn and at the moment he's playing with Jeremiah....now it's finally my turn!!! YAY! Enjoy the day! Love to all, Michelle |
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01 Jan 11 - 02:22 PM (#3065114) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage That's interesting about the hens. How long have they been upset by the noise or other signs of work? I wonder if this is something that others are experiencing, and if they've compared notes? Kat, I'd love the calendar if you don't have a use for it. And that's a good idea about the address book right in front of the computer. I have enough space on my desktop now that I've streamlined the system that I could at least tuck it away but in view under and behind my monitor. I have to step around things to reach it on a shelf right now. This morning I commented to a friend that I need to organize my ornaments, that I'm sure there's stuff to toss, but that means getting it all out. And realized as I wrote that there is now room in the living room to spread out all of those boxes. So, before I put the current batch away I'm going to make myself a bowl of popcorn, pick a couple of DVDs to watch, and get down all of those boxes. This afternoon. This might be a one-movie job, maybe two. But it will make decorating easier in the future and should clear space in my office closet, where most of this stuff lives up on shelves the rest of the year. (It also means I have to go pull a string of lights out of the pine tree in the front yard, but I haven't turned them on for a couple of nights anyway. Odd - everyone turned their lights off early this year, didn't leave them up till New Years.) SRS |
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01 Jan 11 - 03:17 PM (#3065139) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine I was asleep by 11pm last night, so I missed the arrival of the new year; darn! Was sleeping so soundly that I didn't hear anything. Did some laundry. Baked a fruit cake that I hadn't had time for before Christmas. Got the kitchen cleaned up after that, and also moved around a few things in the cupboards to make some more space. Happy New Year, everybody. Maryanne |
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01 Jan 11 - 05:34 PM (#3065220) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing I'll send it out as soon as the posty opens, SRS. Glad for it to go to a good home.:-) The photos are from the Pathfinder Energy area and are really beautiful...lots of scenery and wildlife. Rog did the dishes. We took turns mopping from our office chairs in the kitchen. Hadn't realised just how filthy the floor was as it is original 1950s brown lino and filthy anyway. We did have another floor on top of it, but it got ruined by a water leak, so...when we're both doing better, one goal is to get a new floor down...maybe when Rog retires next Fall. Laundry is always going on. Just watched the latest Shrek movie with Morgan. It was really fun. Rog is at the grocery store and I am going to go put my feet up,:-) |
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01 Jan 11 - 07:13 PM (#3065276) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Liz the Squeak Have started the year with red wine and pizza... not the best of starts, but I have got 3 quilts on the go, another one in the pipeline and some radical tidying to do with my fabric stashes.... you'd think I'd have learnt not to buy more fabric by now, but have failed miserably in that! At least one of the quilts is using all the little scraps and will drive the recipient mad (he has OCD and symetry issues - the quilt is crazy patchwork), the other two are outstanding presents. I WILL get my room sorted out, it's a slow process but I am actually making progress there. Happy New Year all, Michelle, you have the rest of your life to tidy the room but only this afternoon to play with your boy as he is now.... Enjoy! LTS |
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01 Jan 11 - 09:14 PM (#3065328) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre LtS: :) :) :) Excellent point!!! When Jeremiah woke up from his afternoon nap, I put a few toys in his crib and he played while I cleaned out his dresser....no more size 6 or 9 months. He's growing and growing....grew 2 inches in the last 3 months and gained 2 pounds. He's still in the 25th percentile for both height and weight but the doctor says not to worry about it, "He's perfect!" I agree! :) And Kat...I LOVE SHREK!!! FUN! :) Michelle |
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01 Jan 11 - 10:30 PM (#3065350) Subject: RE: BS: Raise Chickens From: wysiwyg Does anyone else here get new chicks in the spring? What varieties do you like and why? Chickens for meat or eggs, maybe both? SQUEAM ALERT: For several years at our busiest here, yes, when we had hungry teens motivate to feed them in exchange for the full bellies. Farmer Cress Simpson over near you, if he is still doing it, did a clean kill and pluck for uys one "peak" year with about 48 meat birds.... The best chick supplier and best deal all-around was.....[strokebrain....] it will come to me... but they also had the prettiest catalog, with a gallery of oil paintings accurately depicting each breed, and they have them ALL. They have assortments, too, to make it easy to get the ratio of meat/egg you decide you want. The farmer I learned from (IL) ran a demo farm/outdoor ed place, and his flock was all ornamental varieties to teach inner city kids about the diversity of life. Pretty birds lay almost as good as their plainer cousins, unless you want to sell commercial. I dunno how the pretties do for meat-- we went for classic meatbird breeds there. I'll post the name when it comes to me, but the main thing is, their chicks (except the fragile banty's) always arrived strong, and healthy-- we never lost a one but the banty's, till the rats got at 'em one year and even then no reg. chicks lost. Atall. I think I ordered such a small banty lot that they did not cushion each other well i the carton-- legs were not strong enough to survive loose packing. MCMURRAY, that was it: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/feather_footed_fancies.html Check out the pix at the bottom of that page-- typical of the ALL of the catalog illustrations. Don't be afraid to try assortments-- there will be no lemons in the lot whether yer an old customer or a new one they never shipped to before. Worth the tad-higher price, because you will have less heartbreak when you open your box to start the brooding. Main thing there is to be able to get them from a post office when they arrive-- work with the local postal inspector to arrange night-time pickup when they phone to say yer chix iz in. Some will, some won't. You can find one who will. Arnot and Covington are small enough, each with a lady inspector, who might know which POs are big enough to have night staff. Arnot's is Pete L's daughter-- he was inspector there till he retired. Acourse for pre-colored Easter eggs you'll want Araucana's. We glazed them one year as gifts, but we never could get the Shrove Tues. folks to cook 'em. No courage! :~) Have fun and TAKE PICTURES, ~Susan |
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02 Jan 11 - 11:01 AM (#3065557) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy I was going to take the decorations down today, but I have been laid low with this bloody cold. Now I don't get many colds, and they don't usually last too long, but this blighter forced me to go to bed when I got back from my niece's yesterday, and I've been hugging a hot water bottle on the sofa most of today...in between bouts of coughing. At least I've got some vapour rub and some Benylin cough medicine. Thanks Freya...at least I know why you were so grumpy last week! I wish there was somebody around to force me to eat something...just don't want to go and prepare it! Moan over. Happy New Year anyway, folks! Andrea |
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02 Jan 11 - 11:23 AM (#3065565) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Since Christmas was kinda overwhelming for Jeremiah, we decided to leave a few gifts for later. This morning was one of those days. He opened up his Fisher Price Racetrack. FUN!!! He likes to check everything out from all angles and then sits back to play. I love watching and playing along!!! I took the tree down this morning and will have the rest of the Christmas things put away shortly. I also have some leftover paper clutter from yesterday that I didn't finish. Laundry is going, dishes are done and later I have a yoga class to go to! YAY! Regarding the chickens, I am looking more for specific breed information that others may have had experience with. Time to get busy! Later Gators! Michelle :) |
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02 Jan 11 - 11:27 AM (#3065571) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing {{{{Andrea}}} Now, go eat something!:-) Seriously, your bod needs food to keep fighting it off. (I know you know this.:-)I thought I was doing well at not catching it as badly as Morgan had, but finally had to break down & get meds. I hope you heal well and fast.:-) |
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02 Jan 11 - 12:59 PM (#3065616) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine Finally got all of my Rome pictures posted to FB. Here are the links: Rome, day 1 & 2 Rome, day 3 Rome, day 4 & 5 Rome, day 6 I sure hope these links work. I'm taking down the tree today. I already put a note on my November 2011 calendar: "Skip the tree". Maryanne |
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02 Jan 11 - 01:34 PM (#3065641) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Links didn't work for me, Maryanne, but it's probably my browser. It's been acting up. I'll try them on another and look forward to it! Rog just did some more sweeping. I have three packages by the front door, ready to go out tomorrow if I can get Rog to take them. Mondays' are iffy for him. I sat down to go through the Christmas box and had a pleasant surprise. Apparently I'd already done so a year or two ago as there just wasn't as much to go through as it looked like when we got it out this year. Once I'd taken the stuff off of the tree, I went through what was left and, now it will be REALLY easy to get the lid on and we have a small box of stuff for the humane society pile. Rog is doing the litter boxes now. We will mop the hall, bathroom, and rest of the kitchen today. |
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02 Jan 11 - 03:03 PM (#3065705) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maeve Your links worked perfectly for me using Firefox. I enjoyed your photos very much. They made me homesick for Italy. Thanks! |
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02 Jan 11 - 03:47 PM (#3065724) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I don't have this browser logged into my facebook account, but it still opened them. What a wonderful trip! I'd seen a few of your photos on facebook over the last week. I put 2/3 of the packed ornaments into the closet last night, and I've been sorting and organizing the lights and the remaining couple of boxes of ornaments. I'm working on my shopping list, and have a growing list of things to do. Pay bills, go to the post office, recycling, etc. Andrea, even if you don't eat, drink plenty of fluids. That will help you feel better, because just being dehydrated can make you feel off. Looking forward to reports on the roof and interior walls on maeve's new house this week. And I'll offer the reminder again that as we talk about things that we're needing to give away, if they're reasonably shipable, I hope maeve will let us know if she would like something sent up there. No pressure, no un-requested items sent. (Housewarming gifts might be difficult to contain, but that's a different matter, not covered by this thread). :) SRS |
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02 Jan 11 - 06:12 PM (#3065841) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Another thing I mean to use with my datebook this year is a 4 Colour Retractable Refillable Pen. We used them in hospital: day shift wrote in blue or black, I can't remember; evening in green, and overnight in red on the patients' charts. I will use red for appts., green for medical or food notes, and don't know, yet for the others, but it's a lot easier than picking up a different pen for each colour! |
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02 Jan 11 - 10:46 PM (#3065962) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Kat, I really fuss about the pens I buy. I found some several years ago that are still available, but I have to hunt for them. The Pilot Better retractable has an ink they formulated to have a smoother feel, and you can tell the difference. They come in a couple of colors at least. |
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02 Jan 11 - 11:40 PM (#3065967) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine The tree is down and everything is packed away. Whew! I made a pot of chicken soup for supper. Threw in almost every left-over in the refrigerator, and it turned out good. I've got a complete set (7yrs) of "The World of Hibernia" magazines & I've got to do something with them. Probably the library. They're too nice to just recycle. M |
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03 Jan 11 - 12:48 PM (#3066319) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg Today I decluttered my blog, because discernment runs both ways. That's the lovely thing about the process as we know it in this Diocese, where committees function surprisingly well, and where the source is always considered as part of the discernment. :~) Especially when a source goes to great lengths to identify itself. ;~) ~Susan |
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03 Jan 11 - 03:30 PM (#3066453) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy Well I feel a bit battered, but much better today, despite pulling an inter-costal muscle coughing (and somehow a buttock muscle on the same side - I blame my short sofa). I put some washing on this morning and then noticed that my slow-running drain was actually running down the yard as the machine pumped out. So I have done a 75 mile round trip to the nearest store that sells drain rods. I haven't resolved it yet, but the compant i rang wanted about £150 to do the job...I don't think so! I need to get the old iron inspection cover up tomorrow to get at the blockage from the bottom. I got a lot of old nasties out of the top today, but I can't find where the drain hole is, and it feels full of gritty stuff. The problem is that all the drains run into this trap, and the soil pipe just a little further down, so it could get a bit "interesting"! I also have to get the cat to the vet tomorrow, because the stupid sod has been fighting again, and has a nasty punture wound in his neck, which I am having to bathe with salt water at the moment to keep it clean. It had scabbed over, and the scab came off a few days ago. The vet (over the phone) said it was lucky it had, as it was allowing it to drain. I still haven't got the decorations down, as a large part of today has been spent on the phone or on the road. And I didn't wake up till late, which is a good thing, but lost me a couple of hours. Tomorrow is another day, however. Andrea |
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03 Jan 11 - 04:19 PM (#3066475) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Andrea, that house sounds wonderful but it definitely has a few adventures ahead. I was watching Nate Berkus this afternoon, I usually give it half an ear when it's on, but Jamie Oliver was his first guest on the show. He's one of those folks who promotes healthy eating and good food all at the same time. The last spot in the show they had a 12-year-old boy who has been making his own portion control videos as he works on losing weight. Nate told the boy that he had someone there who heard about this and wanted to meet him - Oliver came out with his cookbook and the poor kid burst into tears! Clearly Oliver is one of his heroes. The thing about this section is that for once it wasn't over-produced, it was something that just kind of happened. Anyway, this show reminded me that I've wanted to pick up cookbooks by some of these environmental/healthy eating cooks and scholars. I need to better blend my gardening with cooking, so I can make more calculated choices in what I grow, not just the same ol' same ol'. Note to self: head to Half Price books with a list of these folks and see what I can find. Also, for any of you interested, Dr. Oz has a free 11-week weight loss program starting this week on his program. BMI calculator. Maybe we should be a Mudcat group participating on his program. I wonder if they do groups? :) Yesterday I picked up a small pair of swimming goggles to use when out walking or working in the yard, to see if I can keep my eyes from watering in the cold air. It's a test - if they work, I'll see if I can find a pair that would take a prescription lens. I'd love to be able to get out and walk the dogs every day, regardless of the air temperature. SRS |
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03 Jan 11 - 04:49 PM (#3066497) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg I also have to get the cat to the vet tomorrow, because the stupid sod has been fighting again, and has a nasty punture wound in his neck, which I am having to bathe with salt water at the moment to keep it clean. It had scabbed over, and the scab came off a few days ago. The vet (over the phone) said it was lucky it had, as it was allowing it to drain. Have treated that at home numerous times. PM for more info, and good luck! ~Susan |
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03 Jan 11 - 05:20 PM (#3066519) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Today I went grocery shopping...major grocery shopping. It's nice to know I won't have to do any running this week for that kind of stuff. Everything is in the house and put away...YAY. Laundry is going, dishes too although I have more of both to do. I also have to get my wrist x-rayed sometime this week. I have an order from the doctor and it's not an emergency so I took care of the house stuff today. Maybe tomorrow I'll get over to the hospital for it. I'm hoping to have everything before long as I have a training to attend for one of the the boards I'm on. :) Should be a fun training!! Also, a major SCORE for ovarian cancer in a nearby community and they've ask me to be part of the planning team...I'm WAY excited about that too! HOORAY! If you should happen to know anyone with ovarian cancer, send me a PM as I have two places offering some great things for current patients and survivors (must submit diagnosis date, Dr. and contact info so it can all be verified....well worth it!). Love to all, Michelle |
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03 Jan 11 - 05:41 PM (#3066532) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre SRS, Do you have any titles in mind for the cookbooks or are you just browsing? We plan for our garden too...what has worked in the past, what we want more of, generally a new variety of this or that. We planted a (new to us) heirloom seed last year that worked out really, really well. It cost a little bit more but knowing that it wasn't genetically modified and that, if we want, we can save seeds and it will grow again next year. Some GM seeds will germinate from saved seed but the fruit isn't nearly what it should be, at least that's been our experience. We grew wheat this year, gathering it by hand, got the hulls off the old fashioned way, ground it up with a hand grinder and have made our own bread from it....very satisfying! Jeremiah has been eating from our store of canned and frozen goods that we put up this summer...talk about a good feeling!!! :) Anyway, I was just curious if you were thinking of any specific titles. Jamie Oliver is very interesting...did you catch his series about foods in the schools in West Virginia (I think)? He's definitely on to something! I'm going to go nose around the Dr. Oz site to see what you were talking about. I've started making progress with my weight loss...YAY! I've ben stalled for awhile now after gaining with all the chemo & steroids (weird...never heard of people gaining weight with chemo but my oncologist says it has to do with each individual combination of drugs). Later Gators! (Okay...yes, I'm stalling. I need to start dinner and I just don't want to. I'm tired. The baby is sleeping. The house is quiet and I want to nap too!!!) Onward! Michelle |
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03 Jan 11 - 09:59 PM (#3066683) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage My gardening guy (Howard Garrett) has a few links to some of this, but there is a little lunatic fringe stuff going on with one of his partners. She doesn't cite sources of some of her more radical information. I was going to look into Michael Pollan's books, Drs. Weil, Perricone, and Northrup, basically make a list of the PBS lectures and current folks I know of. I want to grow things I can eat, but I don't want to eat things that require complicated preparation or too specialized growing conditions. I want to be able to eat relatively familiar foods, though if there is a really good case for trying something new I'll think about it. The gas lease royalty arrived today, but as the first one I have no idea what to make of it. If this represents a year, a month, a quarter. I guess I'll have to wait and see, and simply use this to pay bills. It's a windfall, so it might as well go to where it will do the most good. SRS |
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03 Jan 11 - 10:20 PM (#3066699) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre I have one of Pollen's books...started it and got involved with something else so I never finished it. Barbara Kingsolver has a good book out called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. If you haven't read that one yet, I'd highly recommend it! :) Dinner turned out nicely. Today was Pete's first day back to work since December 23rd (or so) so I decided to make one of his favorite meals to welcome him home. I knew he'd be tired...getting back into the swing is always tough....well worth the energy and effort to make it! He is a happy man! :) That makes me a happy woman! :) Michelle |
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04 Jan 11 - 07:28 AM (#3066900) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy I donned the rubber gloves this morning, and scooped some more gritty crud out of the trap. Then I managed to lever the cast iron cover off the inspection hole - rodding didn't reveal any blockage apart from the one at the trap - so I chucked some buckets of water down to check it was flowing. I suspect the up-down of the water when the loo is flushed is merely down to it being one of these silly modern ones with a narrow neck. The cat's been fired up with antibiotics. I still don't understand how he has the amount of flexibility in his neck to lick off his own fur behind his jaw line! At least the wound looks clean, although it's about half an inch long by a quarter wide. Because of where it is, there's a chance any pus might settle below the skin at the bottom. The vet reckoned that once the antibiotic kicked in, he'd probably leave it alone, and it would have chance to start and dry out. I'm going to read my mail, get some lunch and then get to grips with dismantling Christmas. And good news - after 2 months, they have taken my sale board away this morning! Andrea |
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04 Jan 11 - 10:27 AM (#3067007) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Those are gloves to keep in a special place out in the garage, Andrea! Do you have plumbers snakes there? Like they use on this site. Washed dishes while water heated and tea brewed, and I then blanched, peeled, cut up and bagged (~ 12 oz per bag) tomatoes that have been ripening in the window. I have another batch to do when I heat water for my second cup of tea. (I use one of those electric kettles that turns itself off when it hits boiling. When full it heats enough water for a cuppa tea and a bowl of tomatoes.) I misplaced part of my holiday lighting stuff and I have an orphan box that needs to go with the rest, so I've been working on the office closet, and as I move each decoration box I stored a couple of days ago I'm taking a peek in the see if the small boxes I want are in there. So I'm not only still organizing part of my holiday decorations, I'm working on the closet that has become unmanageable, at least regarding the stuff stacked on the floor. In order to get stuff off of the closet floor I need to make the shelves more efficient and move it all up. Amazing how doing one task sometimes has the push-back to force a couple of other projects. SRS |
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04 Jan 11 - 11:49 AM (#3067060) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Laundry is going and the last of the Christmas decorations have been dusted and repacked up for next year. I have my most favorite Christmas things all in one small tote (minus the ornaments). My focus today is on the living room. Now it's on to dusting and putting framed photos back out (where the Nativity was). I love when Christmas gear gets put away because it opens up so much more space and just that fresh clean look. :) I just finished vaccuuming the carpet and upolstery and the dogs beds too. I found a fabric freshener that doesn't smell like a public restroom and have sprayed the dog beds lightly with that too. My mom got me a Ninja blender for Christmas. Hate the name, love the appliance. It's EXCELLENT for blending up smoothies with frozen fruit...no more chunks of frozen fruit!!! So...I'll be making a smoothie shorty....frozen peaches, mangoes, pineapple, plain greek yogurt, no sugar and some skim milk! Pete likes it sweetened a little bit but I think the fruit makes it sweet enough. Healthy and YUM. The Ninja also blows through onions and peppers...made meatloaf last night and I swear it took less than 5 seconds to have chopped peppers and onions!!! Onward! Have a great day everybody!! Michelle |
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04 Jan 11 - 12:43 PM (#3067099) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Ninja makes commercial-strength appliances, apparently. There is one of their devices down at the neighborhood gyro place. I'd never heard of the the brand before. I agree about how fresh things look once the ornaments and holiday stuff is packed. The swimming goggles don't fit well and steam up, but I've done more research and my next approach to this wind-in-the-eyes problem is to look at paratrooper or bicycle goggles. I found a place with reasonably priced clear glass aviator's goggles like for the old bi-planes. SRS |
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04 Jan 11 - 01:47 PM (#3067130) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Heh! I want photos of you in those!!! Michelle |
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04 Jan 11 - 06:21 PM (#3067319) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage You're not the first to make that comment today. Ideally, safety glasses with side protection would work, but it seems you don't go down to the store and buy something like that. You have to hunt them down. I haven't solved this problem yet. Here's another option. SRS |
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05 Jan 11 - 01:35 AM (#3067514) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage The floor in the closet is clear, though the contents are undifferentiated in a stack on a shelf. But this is progress! I'll sort the mini light strings and set quite a few in a recycle box. Tonight I found a few LED light strings I can put on the limb in the pot and run as white or colors, and they're way more energy efficient. I'll make that switch out before the weekend, because I hope to have one more family meal (with the transformed tree in the background) before the youngest heads back to college. SRS |
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05 Jan 11 - 09:59 AM (#3067737) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Serious progress was made in this house yesterday. It seems I always slack off when my husband is home for vacation...we are just too busy enjoying one another, relaxing, etc. So. Yesterday I put away all the remaining Christmas decorations, moved all the baby gear, vacuumed, swept, exchanged old toys for some new ones in the toybox, gathered all paperwork to be gone through and put it in one tub that is sitting by my chair to go through when I have time to just sit for half an hour, dusted, did dishes, found the kitchen table and did 5 loads of laundry. Add baby and stir. :) It was a busy day here yesterday but it felt good to get it done. I think today I'll focus on the bathroom which really is in decent shape but the floor is bugging me. It's been swept and swiffered but I think it needs a good old fashioned scrubbing on my hands and knees. That will wait until the baby is napping. Speaking of the baby, guess who was standing up at the side of his crib this morning?!?!? All smiles! WOOO HOOOO!!!! So stinkin' cute. :) Time to get busy! Onward! Michelle |
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05 Jan 11 - 12:58 PM (#3067827) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Ok. Scratch the plans for earlier. I decided it was time to lower the mattress in the crib since my Wee One is now pulling himself to standing! Sounds easy enough but it entailed pulling the crib apart, moving it away from the wall, moving other stuff so I could angle the crib and THEN undo the wonky lift/screw system to lower the mattress. It's raised and lowered by a very VERY stiff lever arm. Whew. Oh yeah..had to take the baby bumper off to which I had tied on VERY securely. What a pain in the tush! Meanwhile, Jeremiah played nearby on a blanket with blocks and a musical ABC toy. While I was working on the front of the crib, he spied the screws on the floor for the backside of the crib (had to take out all 4 before lowering) and that little bugger crawled halfway across the room to get his hands on a wingnut!! He only just started moving forward 4 days ago but you should see him GO!!! Of course I was right there and got to the stuff before he did....but shoot, he can MOVE!! LOL In the end, I was successful in lowering the mattress, Jeremiah happily played an extra hour and a half longer this morning and now I'm taking a break!!! Perhaps that bathroom floor can wait until tomorrow or maybe this afternoon if I catch a second wind. Whew. Michelle |
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05 Jan 11 - 03:36 PM (#3067940) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy No, I haven't got a plumber's snake - a wire coat hanger did the initial work! There was years of debris in the trap, including gritty gravelly stuff...and the gloves have been dumped on the outhouse floor. Michelle - the fun starts now! It won't be long before there are high shelves you never knew you needed! Andrea |
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05 Jan 11 - 05:47 PM (#3068046) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Liz the Squeak Michelle - it was about at that stage with Limpit that I invested in a harness set (or walking reins as they used to be called in the UK) and one of those extending dog leads. Strap baby into harness, clip dog lead to harness. Several times I pegged her out on the lawn, so she could potter and crawl but not get into trouble. When she started walking (and it doesn't sound all that far away for Jeremiah) the lead meant I got an extra 3-5 seconds before my arm was wrenched out its socket and I didn't have to worry about her dashing off into traffic. It meant a few bumped bottoms but with a nappy (diaper), who notices?! LTS |
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06 Jan 11 - 12:33 AM (#3068237) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I used a harness with my kids also - it's particularly useful when they walk well enough that they want to be on the ground but are so young they don't respond well to voice command or have the ability to recognize danger or reason about what they should and shouldn't be doing. I got my harness (all cotton, fits around the chest, zipped up the back, and had two cotton ribbon lengths that were, for lack of a better term, the leash) at Sears. I think we might have used them for up to a year with each kid, if they weren't being carried in the backpack or on the hip. I drove to a couple of Big Lots looking for another string of LED lights to use in my tree. These don't look like the holiday lights, and I found two strings yesterday. I may have to commingle a couple of brands. All of the lights in the pine outside and the strings on the crape myrtle inside came down today, and I found the boxes of motors, hiding in plain sight. :-) Big load of laundry done, and the closet is looking better (not finished yet, though). Bills paid this morning, and a couple that I need to call about I'll probably take care of tomorrow. SRS |
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06 Jan 11 - 12:50 AM (#3068245) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Liz the Squeak I must just add, she was never left unsupervised when pegged out on the lawn and the lead (or leash) was on retract so there was never a loop for her to get tangled in.... I hit on the idea of the dog leash when I found that the long strap that came with the harness was just long enough for her to get her feet caught in, but not quite long enough for me to walk with her more than 50 paces without hunching over like Quasimodo and suffering excruciating back pain - and I'm not exactly tall! LTS |
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06 Jan 11 - 09:36 AM (#3068466) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Liz the Squeak I don't make resolutions but I have decided that this year I will attempt to finish things.. to that end, I'm working my way through the chocolates I got for Christmas, whilst hand quilting and catching up with all the programmes I recorded over Christmas! LTS |
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06 Jan 11 - 11:31 AM (#3068546) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage This morning I blanched, peeled, and froze a quart of the tomatoes that ripened on the counter. It would have been easy to toss these little ones into the compost, but instead it is a little kitchen ritual - each tomato I pop out of the skin and drop into the bowl will be part of a bite of good flavor in soup or beans sometime this winter. I froze them in bags, 8-10 ounces of tomatoes in each. My ongoing goal with the garden and food preservation is to have the pleasure and good health from growing it and eating it, but what I struggle with is this: today I saved myself the cost of a couple of cans of organic tomatoes. Maybe $2. If this was only about saving money, it would have been cheaper and faster to buy the tomatoes, but it isn't, it's about the holistic process one can achieve at home. I just wish I had more discipline in all of the other little $2 here and there that get away from me. Liz, I also need to finish more things. It has been one aspect of de-cluttering, to clear things out. But as I go through some of this stuff I'm reminded of things I want to get back to doing (more projects to start and then to finish). It is a vicious cycle! It may seem early, but I am aware this year that if I act right now I can have something closer to the garden I really want to have. Potatoes, beans, lettuce go in now, but I have to dig and shape it first. So I have more to do than ever this winter, when I should also be working in the house during the cold weather. Oy. SRS |
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06 Jan 11 - 11:36 AM (#3068550) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg Hardi and I decluttered the DVR of several hours' gospel music (to pick out offertory selections as a couple), and have several more to go. (Hope to knock them out tonight.) The result will be hourlong car CD's to learn tunes while we're on long drives-- meatball-style because this is music to learn by ear and then discard once we arrive at our own version of each selected song. In many cases (for the ones we decide to work up), we then buy an MP3 download (where we can find one; some of it is older stuff not in MP3 form so we learn it and record our own version to help us recall the tunes/arrangements). It's a lot less work than the older process it always took to select band music and teach all members the songs. I'm so busy now that we expect the band to coast for several years on the songbooks we already created. === A revision we had thought necessary for several of those songbooks is now possible to do with computer-printed labels to paste in the changes; it's easier to edit and update our own arrangement copies of the words where they vary from the songbooks-- a lot fewer copies to deal with! === A doc's appt ydy resulted in reduction in BP meds and simplification of dosing/pill sorters I can now implement with the setup of the next set of pill-sorters. The effective BP-adjuster has finally been identified (guess who figured it out), and we're getting MUCH better readings. Also, since the last time I looked the pharmacy now has BP cuffs with more automatic features, so I can finally resume monitoring at home if we buy the right gizmo. === A planned surgery was discussed and logistics to make it possible are in the planning stages now. This will coordinate with my studies so I can combine rehab time with reading time-- some bed rest will be involved. The BP news coincides-- during bed rest my exercise program will not be able to work on the BP, but the med now controlling it has side effects that are minimal and, when on lowered activities, nonexistent. That means exercise can suspend during the surgery/rehab period, and after I heal I can do LAND exercise with HARDI. === During Christmas time I lost 3 pounds (probably more, I left my heavy shoes on), while the rest of the world gained. I did this relatively simply and quite painlessly. === ~Susan |
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06 Jan 11 - 08:10 PM (#3068896) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine I don't really make resolutions, but I have decided to try to be more frugal this year. I could probably save a lot, just by cutting out some of the junk I buy, esp. magazines. I'll look online before I buy at the newsstand. Maryanne |
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07 Jan 11 - 12:36 PM (#3069341) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage The strings of LED lights for the tree are a little short as I've wrapped them so far. I'll redo it this weekend, see if I can cover all of the limbs. They're quite bright, and I may see if I can plug them into a little rheostat plug and dim them a bit. The changeable strings are "icicle" sets that I might be able to use now, so I may stretch them out and see if I can arrange them without the icicle look. They're the best set, they are clear or colorful, depending on the switch setting, and will blink, dim and glow, or show steady in clear or colors. I have a short string of clear rice LED lights that I think I'll stretch across the mantle and let them glow under the crystal, see how that looks. I didn't take the trash to the curb yesterday, there wasn't much to go. But I'll make a run to the recycle center this weekend and I can drop the household trash at that same time. In the same room with the recycling I have a bag of flower seeds a coworker gave me a couple of years ago. I might stomp some of the dry flower heads apart for the birds and spread the rest around along the fenceline of the woods across the road. I think it's echinacea. Every time it warms outside I realize I should go scoop the dog droppings, and then it gets cold again. I'll try to make that run through the yard later today, add it to the compost. It does more good in the compost than in the mixed Bermuda and weed turf. My compost for this year has been sitting there done for the last year or so, the poop and weeds from this year have gone on a huge pile that is imperceptibly shrinking with the rains and decomposition. Somehow I managed to stack it really high rather than wide. When I start the weeding this year, I'll start composting in a new location, and that tall pile will get used next year when it's finished. I have some wine that turned that I hate to pour down the drain, so I'll probably pour that in the garden directly instead of in the compost. Sugars are always welcome in the garden! SRS |
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07 Jan 11 - 11:33 PM (#3069658) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I've tested the holiday light strings and am keeping a box of the newer ones. The really old strings need to stop being used, so they're going in the trash. I picked some bulbs off of one of the strings to have as spares. Finishing up some kitchen odds and ends; the pumpkin bread has baked, there is a squash in the oven I forgot about. It's nice to find them again before they're a science project. :) I have some beef out to grind and make into taco meat for over the weekend, and I need to wash the dishes. We're due for some really cruddy weather, possibly ice and snow on Sunday. Tomorrow I'll head over to Home Depot and buy a few hundred pounds of topsoil and humus to keep the truck more stable on the road. Pickups are heavier in front because of the engine and slip around unless you add weight. I'm going to try for a family dinner on Sunday. My daughter thinks she can come by, but that is only if it is safe driving. And on Monday I take him back to the airport to head to Tuscon for the semester. I'll make it an easy meal, favorites, and let people munch and visit. Maybe bread or rolls, meat for sandwiches, soup, whatever. SRS |
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08 Jan 11 - 11:23 AM (#3069872) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I was a little fuzzy about that butternut squash. I found it in the back in the fridge, it wasn't forgotten in the oven. :) I finished the hamburger meat- when I was a kid we used to fry the pound of hamburger and add the packet of Shilling taco seasoning and some water. And then modified it by adding tomato sauce. But over the years as a cook it wasn't enough to use a packet of seasoning (and those packets got fairly expensive). Now I use an onion, a green bell pepper, some jalapeno, and I mix my own seasoning (cumin, oregano, etc.). And then I add a can (or the equivalent if I cooked them from dry) of kidney beans or black beans. I realized last night that this dish is now down to being only 1/2 meat, the rest is veggies and beans, and probably much healthier. I use this for nachos, I use this as filling for burritos, use it like tacos, etc. So for my accountability portion of this thread, I thought I'd describe this. I don't count calories, but I do try to make sure I get a lot of fiber, and the beans do that for me. I need to round up kid stuff this weekend to get my son ready for his trip west. I'll send him with clean laundry, etc. And I also need to start rounding up tax stuff, because both kids need to turn in their FAFSA stuff for college. If I can finish before the end of the month, we get them in line early for funding. SRS |
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08 Jan 11 - 11:51 AM (#3069892) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Me again. Lots of organizing tips from Martha Stewart, and when you get to the end of this slide show, there are three others on different rooms and subjects that might interest you. SRS |
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08 Jan 11 - 12:02 PM (#3069898) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Your burrito/taco mix sounds yummy SRS!!! Gives me an idea for later today...so thank you! I went to WW this morning after being away for almost a month and I'm happy to report that I did not gain an ounce over the holidays! YAY! :) :) :) My menu is planned for the day and I already tracked it all online. Double YAY!!! :) Have a great day everyone! Michelle |
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08 Jan 11 - 12:30 PM (#3069911) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Congrats, Michelle!! SRS...the beans and veggies sound really yummy. I thought you meant you'd found the squash in your garden.:-) I am getting back on track this week, I hope. A "perfect storm" has been brewing, but it looks as though we have it under control, now. I have three small packages to be mailed out, today. Rog is out of the boot and can do more to help, now, so I am hopeful he will be able to take the decorations bin out and put away a few other things. Oh! AND, he is going to four day work weeks, so he will have three day weekends every week! Now, we are looking at some projects which have been waiting for him to have more time! |
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08 Jan 11 - 02:06 PM (#3069974) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I made myself a couple of burritos, and the tortillas I used were home made and out of the freezer. I topped it with guacamole that I'd made from scratch and frozen in ice cube trays. If you're paying attention to the various raw ingredients in the marketplace, you can usually save money (versus buying the packages of guacamole in the produce department - that Avomex is great, but expensive) and I don't have as many ingredients. No preservatives. If you keep producing these things when you can, then you have them when you need. Right now my kids aren't living places where they can do this kind of operation, but I hope some of it sunk in over the years. I bought a jar of tomato pickles at the place I may have described earlier - its a store called Vending Nut and it is open from 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday, and from 9am to noon on Saturday. They package and distribute bulk dried fruits, nuts, and nut products (lots of chocolate, salt, peppers, etc. involved). And they carry locally produced salsas and pickles. So I tried some green tomato pickles. They also had a relish from red tomatoes. I have to try these then work out when to make them. My friend Dean has opened my eyes to what relish and probably chutney (not that I've ever eaten it, but now I get what its' about) can do to dishes far beyond hot dogs and hamburgers. It's the acid in the preserved fruit or vegetables that gives a savory splash to other foods. I spooned the last of the tomato relish my neighbor gave me over the beans and rice I have eaten this week. So now that I've identified something that 1) uses leftover green tomatoes and 2) adds great flavor to foods, I need to figure out what I want to make. NPR just reported that a Congresswoman from Tucson, AZ was assassinated while giving a speech at about 10am Tucson time. Several killed, many wounded. What is this world coming to? Must go find the story. SRS |
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09 Jan 11 - 02:24 AM (#3070331) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage This afternoon I took a large bag of recycling over to the depot near here, and noticed a chest with art deco-ish lines sitting in the exchange area. It has an oak veneer, dove-tail drawer construction, but it also has some staples and nails and some cardboard in places that are a bit confusing. It isn't a fine antique, but it may date from the 1940s (or looks like it) and is an interesting and kind of ugly dresser. The mirror frame (the glass is missing) attaches on behind so when you look at it without the mirror, it doesn't look like anything is missing. The veneer has some chips. So, I figure this is the kind of found object that needs to have some plastic wood used to fill the veneer gaps before it is sanded, primed, and painted. The drawer pulls aren't all there, so they need to be replaced. It has interesting bones, so to speak, and I think I'll paint it in a high gloss enamel. So far I only brought home a can of primer, tinted gray so the paint doesn't have to work so hard (instead of being painted over bright white). If I don't like this when it's finished, I can sell it or give it away. The price was right (free) and the paint won't cost that much. It also isn't so big that it will take that long to work on. I do need to clean it up, and someone did use some paint on it before, so I'll probably use the little circular sander and take most of that off before I repaint it. I may end up doing some sanding inside the drawers, since I don't plan to paint the insides. I don't think. I see a little crayon or maker in one drawer. I know, I'm supposed to be getting rid of stuff. But this was just too tempting to pass up. I'll post before and after photos. :-) SRS |
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09 Jan 11 - 10:13 AM (#3070541) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg The recliner sectional we got free has cleaned up well; yesterday we brought in the two pieces that needed repairs (springs re-attached), and did them together. Faulkner "helped." The two reclining pieces make a nice canoodling loveseat, which awaits Hardi's return from church later. They were nice yesterday for some music we have been reviewing before we dashed off to church-- bandmates were away so I sat in. The third sectional piece is light enough to pull up as needed when one of us wants to stretch out or let Faulkner up-- that third piece is earmarked as "his". I have an ottoman that can either extend the length of the set for stretching out when together, or for a footrest for that center section if needed for F or a third hoomin (i.e. child). The long-postponed sort/ship of CD cases is underway at last and will be out of my in-basket by week's end. ~Susan |
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09 Jan 11 - 02:42 PM (#3070708) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Today I made some homemade vegetable beef soup from leftover pot roast. Oh man. Talk about good! Healthy too! (all fat removed...or at least as much as possible!) Had some orange slices too. Both of my guys loved the soup and the oranges too! :) Day 2 of journaling on the WW site! :) Michelle |
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09 Jan 11 - 10:53 PM (#3071012) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine Spent several hours sorting thru the papers that littered the area around my computer. Got a bagful of to go to the recycling center & a lot of material filed away neatly. Still have a couple piles to go thru, but I'll save that for next weekend. I'm going to try to go gluten-free for a while and see how that works out. Maryanne |
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10 Jan 11 - 12:39 AM (#3071042) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I found some interesting crackers at Big Lots last week, Maryanne, made from rice and ground hazelnuts (filberts). Gluten-free and put out by Blue Diamond. I took a box to a co-worker who is on a very restricted diet, and she'll report back as to how good they are. Kat, your calendars arrived last week; I hadn't been to the post office for a few days, but I found them on Saturday. Thank you so much! SRS |
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10 Jan 11 - 03:34 AM (#3071083) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Wow, that was fast, SRS. I think we only sent them out on the 4th? Michelle, I'd be interested in what you think of the new WW. I love tracking it online. Good for you, for doing so! Rog was a trooper, today. He did the dishes, the litter boxes, and the trash. I did some laundry and picked up a few things here and there. I sat at the front door, inside, and watched Morgan play in the snow. Taught him how to make snow bricks by packing snow in one of the plant pots and tapping it out. He thought that was pretty neat. |
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10 Jan 11 - 04:48 AM (#3071114) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Manitas_at_home REally LTS on the sofa, can't be arsed to log out.... Kat - are you going to teach him to make an igloo next? Decluttering my sewing corner starts today, as soon as I find the inclination and stop faffing about on the computer! :-D I bought a small table yesterday so hopefully I can use that to stack stuff on and make it look at least tidy, rather than the pile of poo it is now. Plus the cat will be able to sleep on it without sliding sideways in an undignified but highly amusing manner. Of course, if I just stopped acquiring more fabric stash, it would help, but like the magpie outside the window right now... I can't resist. So many projects, so little time... Swapped the old and rickety rocking chair for a new springy chair (Ikea's 'Poang') which now requires a green or brown cover to make it blend in a little more, so sewing stash will not go away just yet! Rocking chair was out the front less than an hour before someone knocked and asked for it - I wish them joy of it, whether they mend it properly or use it as firewood! Anyway. I must away and do something constructive. Chocolate clearing duty must commence! LTS |
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10 Jan 11 - 11:30 AM (#3071361) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing If we ever had enough snow, I might, LtS!:-) He would love it. I am back to baby steps, remembering to make a list and see that I've actually done something. Apparently I had a chemical reaction to the antibiotics which caused a lot of shaking and depression. I am all done with it, now, and feeling better..more capable. So, this morning...I meditated in my sanctum and smudged the house with incense ( a good way to start out my day) started some laundry, watered the houseplants and made sure I have a full thing of ice water to sip on all morning. |
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10 Jan 11 - 04:52 PM (#3071611) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Doctor's appointment for me this morning, lunch out with my Mom and some grocery shopping. Kat, I think I'm liking the new WW program but it's still an adjustment for me...I've done Points for so long that this change up is slowing me down a little bit. I have to think a little more but mostly it's just Core/Simply Filling foods that are the best and most healthy choice. I think the higher point allowance makes people feel like they are having more and not being deprived and also, I really do like the new way they figure points. We've all known for a long time that 100 calories of cookies doesn't have the same nutrition as 100 calories of fruit. I do miss the points slider and am not overly impressed with the new calculator thing but I'll get used to it. I have been tracking online...would have started a few days earlier but the site had a glitch and I couldn't seem to get beyond the sign in screen. How about you? Do you like it better? Day 3 of tracking here....still have to figure what my lunch points added up to before I plan dinner although I'm thinking whole wheat pasta with our own tomato sauce and a tossed salad. We'll see. Michelle |
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10 Jan 11 - 07:47 PM (#3071738) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg Decluttered the "To Do" basket of a major project today, getting it out to Last Approvals for a quick "submit" tomorrow for digital distribution. It's amazing and quite interesting how many people can be drawn closer in community by consulting them at the right moment on content and process. At this point in the basket-emptying, it's a lot like watching a baby born into a communal marriage get born with all the extended family present and cheering, and then immediately grow up to walk down the aisle in white organza. Also figured out the source of the Bottomless Hungries of the last few weeks: when I get physically busy (as with holidays and ministry crises) I get less study time, where the 100-170 calories in a brekky serving of peanuts over oatmeal and/or study snack has apparently been an important part of my weight loss; instead I get more NEED for calories and a confused metabolism. Easily fixed with a can of nuts at the brekky-making counter! Tra La! Shopping day is tomorrow and dry-roast peanuts iz on sale! ~S~ |
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10 Jan 11 - 11:33 PM (#3071841) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I received my new modem today, but haven't hooked it up yet. I'll wait till tomorrow when I'm sure someone will be there to make the connection (I have to call my IP folks and tell them the new MAC address). Last night I spoke to my son about the connectivity problem, but he said his computer was downloading and sending data quite fast. I unplugged the line to his computer in my equipment cupboard and plugged my computer line into that port. And it works fast. Darn. That means it was the router, not the modem that was on the fritz. With one port down I need to replace the router. I use all four ports around the house (my son's room, my office, the BluRay player for streaming NetFlix, and the computer in the living room). I've had these pieces of equipment for two or three years, so I suppose it's time. When I replace items, I need to find the intersection of reasonable prices and new technology. There are now routers that are geared for farther and faster wireless connections. I don't have many of those devices now, but potential in the future is there, so I'll upgrade to a newer technology router for about the same price I paid for the one I'm replacing. I compared devices and ordered one via NewEgg that I should have by the end of the week. It's quite conceivable to buy televisions with wireless connections for the Internet, to buy BluRay devices with wireless in them (many of them now have an expensive attachment for wireless, but competition will probably force more of them to make it automatically part of the device). I suspect that as I replace the huge big-honker old televisions around the house, I could end up with something that gets a boost through the router. My son arrived back at college this evening, and has an extra day to buy books. The Obamas are going to campus on Wednesday, which would have been the first day of classes. I hope he's able to go listen to the talk. The return trip timing was good, our drive to the airport was on a day that had cold conditions but none of the ice they predicted. The rest of the week is supposed to be really cold, and I'll be bringing the dogs in for the next few nights. The dishes are finished, and tomorrow I'll do laundry. I see lots of school opening delays on the news tonight, so it looks like people are anticipating a slow start to the day. I don't need to go anywhere. No yard work this week, but I can start some seeds in the house. SRS |
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11 Jan 11 - 09:24 AM (#3072074) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Manitas_at_home LTS not bothering to log out... Got the WiiFit Plus yesterday.. was too busy sorting sewing stuff and sewing to try it out but will do so later today.... if it gets me back into doing something even once a week, it'll be a plus. About this time last year, I spent the night in hospital after massive chest pains so I know I've done nothing on the WiiFit since about then. Ah well, keep it going. LTS |
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11 Jan 11 - 12:05 PM (#3072201) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Modem is set up, works fine. Didn't take too long talking to the cable folks to set it up. I'm awaiting the arrival of the new router. The old one is barely working now, so I may operate with the modem directly into the computer until the router arrives. (It means no NetFlix over the TV until then, or I'd have to plug the modem straight into that device). The dogs are in the house today because our weather is very cold today, though I did put the fleece jacket on the pit bull and send them out for a few minutes just to be dogs and sniff around. SRS |
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11 Jan 11 - 12:09 PM (#3072204) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Manitas_at_home Tried out the new Wii FitPlus... there are some fun things on it, and some killer excercises for the upper arm - I knew birds were leading us on! I am sad to say I am back at the weight I was 2 years ago, which explains a couple of things but apparently my WiiFit age - based on balance and mental agility is that of someone almost half my real age! And after the angiogram last month I know my arteries are clear and my cholesterol is good.... must just be the lack of movement in the last year. So... 30 mins today, a few calories burned, knee is a little ball of fire and it's time to make dinner. Enjoy the day chaps! LTS really, - can't be bothered to log out. |
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11 Jan 11 - 12:44 PM (#3072231) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Don't worry about where you were, Liz, just work on where you want to go, and you'll get there. SRS |
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11 Jan 11 - 01:02 PM (#3072247) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg Also once one has muscled up, it takes a surprisingly short length of time for the muscles to get right back to where they had been, and resume their fat-burning work. Some trainers/coaches say that an annual weight-gain cycle of variance amounting to 5-10 lbs. is not unusual or problematic for people who work out-- that athletes can relax about that much offseason gain, because the resumption of seasonal workouts will soon drop it back off to "fighting" weight. It's when we gain more than that, our bodies cannot quite cope as well. ~Susan |
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11 Jan 11 - 01:09 PM (#3072251) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine Halfway thru my 2nd gluten-free day, and I doesn't seem to be as hard as I expected. Made a pumpkin custard (pie without the crust), which can double as veggie or dessert, and will make some tapioca later. I had a chicken from Sunday, so I'm still finishing that. Maryanne |
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11 Jan 11 - 08:45 PM (#3072583) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage The pumpkin pie I made last week could easily have been baked in a pan without the crust. And it was good with Splenda, making it a source of protien (milk and eggs) and veggie (squash) and pleasure! The dogs have been in quite a bit today. It's like having a fan club always at my heels. They're asleep on the rug in my office (a few feet away) and if I move to another room, they'll move also. I guess dogs that are used to being in the house have a different concept of time, space, and what to do with themselves. That said, I know these dogs well enough that when they go to sleep at night I can tell which is which in the dark by their doggie snores. :) SRS |
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12 Jan 11 - 12:59 AM (#3072679) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I sent the pooches into the garage for a while this evening, and when they came in I gave them baths. They're still a little damp, but snoozing comfortably on the carpet in here. We'll all head to the bedroom in a few minutes, and by they time they head out to pee in the yard in a few hours, they should be completely dry. Roasted chicken in the fridge, ate lots of veggies and fruit today. Too cold out for much exercise. Maybe this is why a Wii would be a good idea? For days when going out isn't an option. SRS |
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12 Jan 11 - 02:36 AM (#3072705) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy I dug mine out a couple of days ago. I didn't use the Wii Fit, because that means shifting the coffee table, but I played on the sports resort. I'm too competitive on bowling and frisbee, and they do my shoulder in. I'm hopeless at golf, but quite good at the archery. I must get the table moved and the board out! On the house front: having read the paperwork on the permission for the rebuild work, it seems I have to have an archaeological survey before work starts, and allow room for a materials compound on site. That will probably mean bye-bye lawn for a bit! I am going to be contacting builders in the near future to get prices. I spoke to a local guy yesterday, and he said it was too big a job for him as a one man business, and that the demolition would be a large part of the cost. Andrea |
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12 Jan 11 - 11:38 AM (#3072995) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Andrea, I would put vegetables in the front yard. Depending on how formal or informal you want it to look, you have a lot of choices. I learned last year that the arboretum in Dallas used Swiss Chard as the edge around several gardens. It is a lovely plant that comes in many colors, all of them edible. Garlic, onions, they are as elegant as any iris leaves, etc. Some of the determinate tomatoes (they ripen all at once then the plant is finished) don't get so big and straggly as the indeterminate varieties I usually plant. I cleared out a drawer of paper in my kitchen queen and found stuff I'd forgotten about ages ago. It is now in a basket in the office area where I can see it. I have a several-years supply of post-it notes I didn't know about. The drawer in the kitchen queen now holds a variety of ornaments that I don't use in my tree or mantle displays, but would work okay in a table centerpiece in the holiday season. One more drawer to empty (batteries) and store somewhere a little more logical and easy to find. Got down to 20 last night. The sun is coming out now, but I don't think we'll get above 32o today. My canine pack is sleeping in the bedroom right now, but they'll wake and be bored eventually, so I'll have to park them in the bathroom for a while or send them out to the garage. I left the heater on high out there - it doesn't warm the room, it just keeps it from freezing. SRS |
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12 Jan 11 - 01:13 PM (#3073115) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy I grew Swiss Chard in my last garden. The main problem here is a relatively small area, with no fencing. I might put some herbs in, though. I've got a rosemary ready to plant out. I was going to edge with box, but I may use dwarf lavenders. About an hour ago there was a knock at the door, and it was the joiner I used recently, enquiring about the annexe door which I want to replace. Given the work and carnage that may be going on near it, I've decided to postpone that job till afterwards. However, he's coming in about a week to fit some shelving into a cupboard in the "little room/study". Andrea |
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12 Jan 11 - 03:46 PM (#3073240) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing qi gong twice this past week Michelle, I am reserving judgement re WW...I don't think I like it as well. Will keep using it for a couple more weeks and see where I am at. Seems like too many points allowed. |
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12 Jan 11 - 04:06 PM (#3073250) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine I guess the east coast got clobbered with snow again, but we only got about four inches, so I ran the snowblower this morning. Went out to lunch with some folks I used to work with. Fortunately the restaurant serves "breakfast" all day long, so I had eggs & sausage. Made my tapioca pudding when I got home. It's so simple; I wonder why I don't make it more often. Maryanne |
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12 Jan 11 - 10:58 PM (#3073483) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage My Mom made a lot of tapioca pudding when I was a kid, so for me it falls in the comfort food category. Another really cold night, so the dogs will come in. Last night I didn't close the bedroom door and they stayed put in their beds. They're such creatures of habit now, going to bed when it's dark out, that even though they're in the house they go to bed and stay asleep all night. They spent most of the day outside, indicating that they wanted out, even though it hovered around freezing all day. It's what they're used to, and is more interesting with squirrels and cats to bark at. There is a stack of backpacks still in the hall, evicted from the closet during tje sorting and stacking the holiday ornaments, so tomorrow I'll find a place for them to live. I'll cull a few I never use. Laundry is finished tonight, I did some shopping, and I finished a couple of things for work this evening that I was tired of looking at. I listened to the Obama speech. One couldn't help but think that the Obama girls were in his mind when he spoke of the 9-year-old who was killed. SRS |
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13 Jan 11 - 02:29 AM (#3073533) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy There's a WW meeting in the village, but I haven't been. I'm still not sure how user-friendly the new system is. My cynical head says that WW is primarily a business, and that they seem to reinvent themselves every 2 years or so, which must coincide with a drop-off in sales and membership. The points system/filling foods worked for me when I used it properly. I know protein intake is also important, but I still see the new plan as a money-making exercise, and somewhat complicated from the outside. However, there may come a point at which I hold my hands up and acknowledge that I need the threat of a weekly weighing hanging over my head! Andrea (who needs to concentrate on portion control) |
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13 Jan 11 - 08:41 AM (#3073675) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Manitas_at_home REally LTS not bothering to log out. I came to the conclusion that things like Weight Watchers and Slimming World and all those other 'weekly fees payable' organisations work by taking all your hard earned money so you can't afford the luxuries of chocolate and butter. Mind you, it's double edged because these days a McD's regular meal costs less than a low fat pasta salad and is more satisfying to the mouth. I will try to increase my fruit intake, although I don't have the inclination right now... in a downward spiral towards 'black dog days' at the moment and comfort food is about all that is keeping me from killing someone. At least now I can recognise that it IS a downward turn and know that it will get better. LTS |
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13 Jan 11 - 11:17 AM (#3073739) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: GUEST,mg maybe your body does not operate well on low fat pasta salad and fruit. Many do not..have you read up on insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome etc.? If you have it, and most of us have some degree of it, your body will do just great with the chocolate and butter and not the pasta. Starches are really really bad for someone with that type of metabolism, and if fed in excess will lead to diabetes. mg |
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13 Jan 11 - 03:27 PM (#3073878) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Manitas_at_home My body hasn't operated well on any level recently and has just been diagnosed as having arthritis in parts of it.... as I'm not even 50 yet, this is a tad downheartening! I don't actually eat pasta salad - I was just using it as an example of a low fat, vitamin packed healthy meal that costs more than the high fat, empty calorie meal that unfortunately I do eat... The Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson said 'one can never be too thin or too rich' but it seems in some areas, one can only be thin IF one is rich. I shall go back to my walking to the station and using the Wii Fit as long as my knee will stand it, and try to reduce the fast food to no more than twice a month. Chocolate you will have to pry out of my cold, dead hand. LTS who can't be arsed to log out. |
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13 Jan 11 - 03:53 PM (#3073889) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Laundry, dishes, swept, vaccuumed, organized taxes, bank statements, bills, insurances and of course, taking care of the Wee One. :) I'm going to roast a chicken for dinner to go with some carrots and potatoes, maybe a salad if I'm ambitious. I'm hoping to mop the kitchen and bathroom here shortly. Jeremiah has two teeth trying to break through and he's pretty fussy today. At the moment, he's napping...the child should be worn out...you should see him GO! Also (forgive me if I posted this already...I forget if I did or not), we are teaching him basic signs. He has the sign for more down really well. Today he was sitting in his hoppy looking at 3 Cheerios he had dropped on the floor, looked at me and did the sign for more!!! Other signs we are working on include Mommy (he can say Da-da), kitty and all gone. There are more but those are the ones we are working on right now. :) Time to kick back and relax for a few minutes. Michelle |
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13 Jan 11 - 07:31 PM (#3074048) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage All of those firsts for him will be such fun! I remember my son's first word was the name of one of the cats. :-/ I have an opportunity, should I wish to take it, to give myself a cleaning goal of January 29. That is when several of my co-workers are having one of their weekend lunches at a barbecue restaurant. The one they selected this month is a few blocks from me and is my favorite in the area. I'm going to go to the lunch, and if my house is clean enough, I'm thinking it would be nice to offer an invitation for them to stop by for a while. I've never had any co-workers over here because I'm kind of off the beaten path (I work in the next town over, where all of the rest of these folks live) and because it has been such a work in progress. Our cold weather continues, but I was reminded on a television program yesterday of some good indoor exercises. Richard Simmons was a guest on the Nate Berkus show, and he did some of the exercises that involve lifting household things (bottles of wine, etc.) but even better, he reminded me that I used to do the step exercises with a box I built (there is a computer on it now, but I could use my sturdy plastic step stool for this). Up and down to a musical beat is a good stair-climbing exercise. I picked up some onion sets and seed potatoes today. The onions cost as much as a pack of seeds and produce about as many bulbs. As soon as it warms a little for this gardener to get out I'll plant them, and put the potatoes on some of the raised beds that I used for tomatoes last year. I'm moving things around this year, and I'll start the early stuff on existing beds. We have a long weekend, and if I finish a newsletter this evening, I might take tomorrow off and see if I can get started on that dresser I picked up. SRS |
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13 Jan 11 - 11:46 PM (#3074180) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage The new router is in place, but the company sent a rather pushy program to run with it that I don't need. I can simply address the router and make all of the settings or changes I want. The place has gotten to be a mess with the device management. Boxes, padding, shipping boxes, instructions, all over the place. I must pick up the house and office some this evening. SRS |
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14 Jan 11 - 02:17 PM (#3074616) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage If I am thinking about having co-workers over in two weeks, then a systematic cleaning is called for. Even if I don't invite them over, it would still be nice to have the place up to speed by then. I started with the smallest room this morning, my dressing room outside the closet, and cleaned the counter, mopped the floor, dusted the contents of the room. There is an empty wicker basket in the kneehole of the counter, and I need to find something suitable to store in there. Pillows, towels, or yardage, whatever. Blankets. I was working late last night so I pulled up NetFlix and re-watched Dial M for Murder. Last time I watched it I realized that because it all takes place in one room of an apartment with glimpses into the other rooms and out into the hall and a street view, that they were very careful with the set decorations to make that one room look rich yet not cluttered. Very tasteful. There are the mix of tall and short objects on table tops, etc. The setting of some things in front of others, it is all beautifully arranged. Not cluttered. I won't look at this as my only source of decorating inspiration, but this is what encouraged me to put the Chinese Shouxing figure and a tall brass lamp on the library table, and they look really great. Time to get out my Clutter's Last Stand by Don Aslett and give it a quick read through. (If anyone else is interested, he has many books out and you're likely to find them in half price book stores and garage sales.) SRS |
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14 Jan 11 - 03:54 PM (#3074672) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing I had what I think might be a good idea for non-profits. I would love for the local humane society to send over a volunteer or two who can help me with going through and packing up stuff to donate to their store. I think they could offer that as a service with a small fee going to the volunteers and all of the stuff to them to sell. I have thought about paying the gal who used to clean for me to help out and I like her, etc., but I'd love helping out the humane society in a more direct way and I think it may actually be something which could really take off in a community which has so many retirees, etc. Thinking out loud for now, but I think I'll call them next week. In the meantime, I wait for Rog to help on the weekends. |
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14 Jan 11 - 05:14 PM (#3074717) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage In my village the garden club does an annual garage sale, and they have a bunch of tables and sawhorse and plank supports set up down at City Hall for a few days of the sale. It goes to add to landscaping in our parks, irrigation work, etc. I think someone on our declutter threads has spoken about donating items to the humane society for them to sell. Don't remember who. If they have someone dedicated to selling and place to store stuff, that is one option. I heard an interesting discussion of fat in our diet, healthy fats in particular, on YouTube from Dr. Weil. It's much shorter than the Vitamin D lecture I posted a while back, but it's just as important, I think. Overcast today, gloomy, and cold. I need to do something to perk this place up. SRS |
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14 Jan 11 - 07:28 PM (#3074793) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine Finally decided to stay home tonight. There's a music session close by, but it's just too darn cold to go out. And we're supposed to get more snow later tonight. I guess I turn into a hermit during January. Maryanne |
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15 Jan 11 - 12:40 AM (#3074930) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I sat down to mend something yesterday and the simple act of cutting a bit of fabric and sewing the backing to mend the dog's jacket was a huge reminder of how little time I've spent sewing lately, and how much I enjoy it. And this time of year is perfect for sewing. The kitchen is clean and the counter is clear. The paper is beginning to make its way to the recycle bag, and I took a bag out to the trash. I swept the bathroom floor to get dog hair and it still seems to be covered with dog hair, so I haven't made progress on all fronts. Very healthy dinner tonight, chicken and roasted vegetables and a couple of clementines (nectarines) for dessert. The wine probably added more calories than I needed, but it was nice sipping during the evening. I've set up the bedding plant kit to get seeds started for spring. Tomorrow I'll fill the flat with dirt and make sure I get a good mix of plants started. I think it will warm enough this weekend that I can dig in a couple of areas where I want to turn over the soil before putting out onions and potatoes. Long weekend, I hope we can get something accomplished, each of us! SRS |
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15 Jan 11 - 12:48 PM (#3075202) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Down 1.5 pounds this week and still continuing to track online! :) I know that hotdogs in general are not great for you (but oh how I love them) but I found some that are low in fat that I really like: Ballpark Angus Low Fat hotdogs, only 3 points per dog. They were approximately $3.70 a pack. A bit more pricey than other ones but if you are craving hotdogs and are trying to keep the fat content down....YUM. Well worth it! Michelle |
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15 Jan 11 - 01:26 PM (#3075217) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Maryrrf Well I feel a sense of accomplishment. After my bout with Black Widdow Spiders in the shed over the summer, I decided that I would clean it out during the winter, when they're not around. It's been super cold, but today it's in the neighborhood of 45 degrees, so relatively warm. I cleaned out the shed, threw away stuff I didn't need anymore, neatly arranged the shovels, rakes, etc. and put the smaller tools in plastic bins with tightly fitting tops so it should keep any spiders out. Then I swept it all out with a broom. I know there'll probably still be spiders during the summer, but I feel like now that everything is neat and organized I'll be able to see them better and not risk grabbing for a tool and getting bitten. There were a fair amount of mud dauber nests - I left them. I hope they come back as I've heard they eat black widow spiders. |
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15 Jan 11 - 04:17 PM (#3075305) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I have mud daubers all through the garage, and if you break open the lumps you'll find them filled with spider parts. At least here in Texas the mud daubers prefer spiders, and the organic gardener Malcolm Beck found that they really prefer black widow spiders. I cleaned up my garage in the fall, and I'm always careful about both the spiders and any rodent droppings, in case Hanta virus is in the area. Years ago when I cleaned my father's garage in the Puget Sound area there were these humongous spiders, and when squashed they left a kind of a milk chocolate looking goosh. Those were the most unsettling spiders I've had to clear out. Down here I capture tarantulas and release them in the yard if they get in the house. I don't bother them in the garage. Today I've been digging in the garden, and I came in to look up potato planting. I'll dig a trench in the raised bed and set the potatoes in it, then hill around them as they grow. I need to walk the dogs this afternoon while it's warm, and later I'll see if I have time to work on the onion beds. I'm sure I have gained back most of the weight lost last fall, but I'm eating healthier again, no more cookies and candies and over valentines day I'll stick with a few good dark chocolate eggs. Cadbury makes some packs of their mini eggs that are only a couple of ounces and don't bring on too much guilt. I think in the future I'll bake just the family specialty cookies to give away and not face the temptation of all of those chocolate chips. SRS |
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15 Jan 11 - 05:09 PM (#3075329) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing After being cooped up for a few weeks, I was able to get out, today, with Rog, to go shopping. I was wobbly and had to sit down a couple of times, but it sure felt good to do it and to last as long as we needed. Got some new undies, leggings to keep me warm, and Rog finally bought himself some really good boots with steel toes, even! We also bought a steam inhaler which I wanted to break up the congestion we both have hanging on. It's really neat and led to me having a sort of mini-spaw day (that is NOT deliberate, but I am leaving it that way..LOL)...I put a tiny drop of oil of oregano on a tea towel, draped that over my head, over the steamer and went limp in about two seconds with relaxation. Moved to the sofa, asked Rog to warm up my long, wheat husk back pillow and a small tube sock one for my neck. Which he did, quite carefully, though he got them w-a-y too hot.:-) Still, I was able to sit, after a while and just enjoy the heat soaking in on my back and under my feet. It was lovely. Haven't felt such luxury in ages. I did call to see if Morgan wanted to come over. I knew this day was coming...after spending every day of the past week with his dad but one when he was over here for a couple of hours, he has now moved on to spending part of Sat. playing at a friend's house!! It's okay...I am ready for it, but it's still a new phase. walked about 30-40 minutes! |
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15 Jan 11 - 08:11 PM (#3075415) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Four potato plant locations were planted today; no point in putting in more until I know more about how they grow in my yard and what pests to expect. I also planted some white and yellow onions. I have a couple of potatoes remaining that I'll plant in containers to see how that goes. My new compost pile for the year is started with the weeds I pulled while working today. The dogs and I went for a pleasant walk, and I have to run out to do a little shopping and get my lotto ticket. Usually two a week, the state won't get rich on me, but I like to have a remote chance of being the one to win. :) SRS |
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16 Jan 11 - 12:17 AM (#3075486) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall As a rank newcomer to this thread, I have tried not to jump in with both feet but that is the way I seem to live my life. I hope you will bear with me as I bring you up to date on my never-boring life. In the last 12 years, I have moved from a a little old farmhouse – with barn and sheds) in the middle of 100 acres of Ontario bush, to a charming seven room working class craftsman style bungalow (maybe a Sears house) in SE Penna with garage and small shed, to a former chicken house, beautifully renovated, and a storage unit, on Whidbey Island then a 4 room single wide in the woods with sheds, back porch and greenhouse for a pottery studio, also on Whidbey. Each place I left, there was tons of stuff left behind for others, recycling or, last resort, the dump. Just two years ago, I was faced with yet another move as my landlady died and the property was being sold. That May, I tried to move to a charming place where I would be doing care for a 90 year old woman in exchange for housing. My wonderful air cleaner spent two weeks laboring to no avail. I could not move into a dust filled, hence toxic, space. I stood on the grass at the edge of the lovely woods and said to myself, "Well, then, being homeless, I shall use rent money to drive to Quebec for the Apple Hollow Music Fest." So I did. My stay with friends of 40 years, in their loft, turned into caring for their 95 year old Dad until he died. By then I had connected in a meaningful way with one of the brothers. We moved to his house, vacant for years, damaged by water from the fire next door and frozen pipes and the floor being eaten by powder post beetles – hence I put my foot through it last month! And full of Victorian antiques – furniture and non-furniture (stuff which really does NOT belong in a small city house. Declutter: We went to Whidbey in November and brought back my remaining stuff --what had not been broken or taken or left to rot in the field when the tarp blew off. I am moderately grieving some of the losses – pottery kiln and a couple Quebec antiques I had had over 40 years. It is stored in a portable garage in the back yard. Being mindful of what has meaning to Rob, I am careful of how far I go in decluttering. I would love to sweep through the house like the north wind. I settle for developing small oases of beauty. So, for me decluttering means sorting through my own things and disposing of some and integrating some and putting some of both mine and his into boxes back in the shed to be reconsidered together when the house is more together. This includes the someday project of ripping out the entire kitchen – to the exterior walls and down to the basement to, hopefully, eliminate the bugs and have a kitchen which does not even look as though it is falling into the cellar!! Decluttering is happening centimeter by centimeter. As in, a friend stopped in on Monday, bemoaning the discovery of a dead rat in her stove drawer. In considering the crisis this was presenting for her, I gave her a packet of sweet grass, suggesting a ceremonial cleaning of the air in her lovely home. Her knowledge of native people's customs made this amenable to her and I got rid of a piece of "clutter" in a very positive way! We have started to regain the second floor since the tenant has not been heard from in over two months! We moved the nine foot tree up there last week so it now has room to spread its limbs. This week, Rob cleaned the upstairs tub. It took most of a day and a half, including finding, and cleaning incredible crud out of, the pump for the whirlpool. I was able to take a hot detox bath on my birthday! Oh joy!! I have been successfully staving off flu-ish type symptoms with vit C and Pau d'Arco tincture. MSM/glucosamine, depending on need, keep my hips happy. D, calcium and B6 complete my current supplement regime. Weds, I found the shower curtain rod purchased at a yard sale last summer and then a curtain at the thrift shop, brand new with rings! This trip, to the burbs, was also to deliver two excess chairs to a friend who could use them. Rob had his detox bath on Weds aft! Then the police took umbrage with his truck, sending it for inspection. Two pages of repairs sent him online to find a "new" truck. While he did that in the kitchen, I set up my sewing machine (circa 1954) on the desk, found it in sore need of maintenance after two years in storage, went to Fabricville for oil, gave it tender loving care and it now runs like new. Oh joy!! Then I got onto the repairs: new elastics on 3 long johns and a new zipper for my ski jacket and more. Oh happiness! Also replaced buttons on two garments, finally! Today we picked up the newer – not falling apart – truck. He is way ahead! This truck cost less than the repairs would have, everything works and it has snow tires. The old one can offer parts. We are HAPPY!! The old one was so bad I would not drive it or ride in it. Now I want my own key! We also spent a good deal of time, over these two days, at reno stores designing a 4X4 foot portable powder room for a commercial tenant! Honest! He has the technical logistics in hand and just needed the interior which has to look good. Amidst all this, I made black bean/salsa dip or soup, split pea soup and a double batch of spaghetti sauce - half went in the freezer. We eat a generally low carb diet, very little bread, potatoes or pasta; lots of veggies. Spaghetti is an infrequent meal but the sauce is mostly used as a taste treat in our morning omelette. After today's restaurant brunch (1 pm) we brought home all the toast; I'll use it for french toast tomorrow. This eve while Rob is working, I have caught up with mudcat threads. Tomorrow I can continue with the getting rid of excess paper, sorting, filing and think about scanning family photos for my sons. So, there you have me, right up to the minute. I promise not to write so much again. |
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16 Jan 11 - 01:27 AM (#3075500) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Dorothy, we're going to need a map! And some photos! The project you're working on is not just de-clutter, obviously, but also restoration and reutilization. If it would help, I'll reiterate that Clutter's Last Stand by Don Aslett was very helpful in deciding what to keep and what had to go. At this point in time my cupboards are neater, my drawers are organized (even the one that used to hold the big tangle of tools and odds and ends!) and most of my closets are looking good. A couple are still full and need some triage. With any project like we've been doing or you describe, it will get better and then it will get messy, as something needs to be disassembled or several pieces moved to reach one, etc. These threads are the place to vent, to make plans, to ask questions. Heck, our spin-off output includes a cure for cancer, so we can't be doing too bad! (Michelle gets all of the credit for the very hard work, but we were the rooting section!) When you're not doing all of this moving and de-cluttering, what is your occupation? Is that where the kiln came in? SRS |
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16 Jan 11 - 01:34 AM (#3075502) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I forgot to mention my stuff: I filed a bunch of papers, a preliminary step to doing the taxes. The kitchen is clean again, and I have accumulated some recycle stuff to take out to the truck tomorrow and drop off next week. Did you know that any computer that is running Win7 and is on a home network can see the files on any other Win7 computer in the home network? All of my computers are wired through one router, and finally, someone had the sense to let these computers see each other through the router. I didn't need to haul all of that stuff back and forth on a hard drive, I could have just set up this network. It probably helped that the new router is in place. Each computer has to be set up to participate if you want it to. Nice discovery, and I set that up this evening. SRS |
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16 Jan 11 - 11:03 AM (#3075683) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg This really is a declut, tho like others I did not fail to enjoy a bit of winter luxury-- We had three twinsize down comforters around the place that we'd bought the kids when we moved them into this drafty, mountain-climate home after a somewhat-less-harsh home setting with warm new-construction/insulation bedrooms. Well, when they moved out they-- silly kids!-- did not want the comforters! So the comforters have had various uses, but since the kids left we mostly have had beds bigger than twins. OK if I forgot to mention a few weeks ago, Hardi sewed two of the comforter covers together for me and two of the twin comforters were then joined into a mega-king that now flows across our kingbed and down to the floor to make really snuggly cold-bedroom sleeping. What to do with the third? I had this thought years ago but resisted it, I don't know why: a LR lapwarmer?!?!?!? YES! Across the two of us when we can steal a few minute for canoodling time on our new (used) sectional with dual recliners.... ahhhh. (Cats: "Iz minz! Muv ovur!") ~Susan |
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16 Jan 11 - 11:35 AM (#3075710) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Up and busy early this morning. The kitchen (minus about 10 minutes worth of dishes) is looking good as is the table beside my chair. All mail clutter has been sorted...usually it sits on the table until I can't stand it...not today. Mostly junk anyway. I ordered several earth colored cardboard magazine box holder things...I have no idea what they are officically called but since Pete doesn't like to throw away his guitar, fishing or gardening magazines and I have some I like to keep too..they come in handy. However....I set one aside near the kitchen table and that is where I keep this week's paper (yep...only a weekly paper here), various Pennysavers and this week's sales flyers....it keeps the paper stuff OFF the table and up to date...works much better than a pile for me!!! Jeremiah was up twice during the night (highly unusual) as he's cutting some teeth. The poor boy is drooling more than a St. Bernard and LOVES LOVES LOVES to chew on Mama's *bling* (if you knew me in RL, you'd understand why that's funny...I have only a few piecese of jewelry that I wear all the time). He has a book that he loves to gnosh on too...it's not a board book but it's some kind of indestructable paperish stuff....crinkly too...he loves it and it survives the drool (and Mommy can wash it often). He doesn't like the baby teethers so much or a damp wash cloth to chew on. Funny though, he LOVES to chew on the wash cloth when he's in the tub! Go figure! Anyway, he's napping, we are relaxing and as soon as the Wee One wakes up, we're headed to town to pick up a Christmas gift that a family member gave us (a gift card for a over the stove microwave). I'm psyched about this because our microwave takes up limited counter space AND you can never tell when it's going to work right. We only use it to warm up soup, baby food and coffee but this morning, it blew half of my coffee right out of the cup (same cup, same time as always). The other I made Pete a bowl of soup, burned my finger (left a mark) on the handle of the bowl and the soup was still cold. I'll be glad to see that go! Ok, so microwave, wood pellets, eye glasses, pharmacy and loading up a truckload of wood for a friend, then back home. Ahhhhhh. The comforter idea is good. We have a full size bed and always get blankets a bit bigger so there is a lot of draping over the sides and also, it makes for less cover stealing (ok...I'm usually the guilty party). Mom got us a set of polar fleece sheets for Christmas...can you say LOVE?!!??!? I don't want to get out of bed in the morning...they are so soft and sleepy, cuddly warm! We don't heat our bedroom, so they are especially wonderful!!! I gave my mom a twin sized blanket for her living room last year. She has throws (me too) but they are just long enough to go to the top of her feet....not long enough to tuck under, so we both found that the twin sized blanket was perfect for cold winter evenings while watching a movie or reading a book! :) Michelle |
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16 Jan 11 - 07:31 PM (#3075995) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg Big haul ydy at a Sallie's that seldom has good linens by the time I get there-- several flannel sheets to fill in existing sets and lots of flannel PILLOWCASES. Plus one satin flat sheet in GREAT shape to fling around at selected times! Flannel underneath with satin over us is heavenly! ~Susan |
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16 Jan 11 - 09:44 PM (#3076088) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Dorothy, thanks for catching us up. Delightful writing style and loads of interest. I won't be posting much for awhile, but I am reading along. Got the clean clothes put away and, with Rog's and Morgan's help we got the LR neatened up, the floors swept and a few other small chores. I want mostly everything out of the house, now. The clutter of even old treasures is really bugging me. So, I am planning, in my head, what to pack away for maybe later or for a kid, what to sell and give away. Soon, Rog will have three day weekends, so we've got plans to clear out and clean up! kat |
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17 Jan 11 - 11:42 AM (#3076446) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Dishes are done, laundry is going, sweeping is done, bathroom sink, toilet and tub have been scrubbed. I need to make a grocery list and go get stuff but I'm tired today. So tired. Last week I had a day where I slept for 17 hours. I am so darn draggy lately. Dr. says it's the chemo still working it's way out. :( I have stuff to do that feels like I can't keep up. I. Just. Want. To. Sleep. *yawn*stretch*deep breath*shower*walk in the cold* WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP. Michelle |
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17 Jan 11 - 01:21 PM (#3076511) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage The weather probably contributes to the sleepy feelings, Michelle. On our heavy overcast days here it is tempting to roll over and go back to sleep. Scanning and updating my son's computer. I'll probably move it out of his room before I pick him up in the spring because he'll be bringing his college computer. The modem and router are up and running; as I set the old equipment aside, and knowing that he generally had a good connection to his room, I did wonder if the culprit to my room had been a dodgy cable. I'm not going to put the old stuff back to find out, it had been in service for probably three years and was bound to fail soon even if it hadn't now, but I tossed the cable just to play it safe. I went to see The King's Speech yesterday. It was wonderful, story, cast, and music. Looks like a major Oscar contender. I go in spurts, getting out to movies, but it is something I can do for myself, and if I go to a matinee it only costs $5.50 at my local theater. I had to sit down at IMDb to look up some of the people - I knew the faces but somehow the voices were a bit different, or the hair and makeup were just different enough that I had to place them later. Lots to do around here, I'll choose something and try to finish it, so I end the long weekend with a feeling of accomplishment. I think today's focus should be in the hall right outside my office. SRS |
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17 Jan 11 - 01:54 PM (#3076543) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy Wow, Dorothy! That's some journey you've had to get where you are now! I was brought up with antiques, and love them, but my last move forced me to get rid of a lot over a couple of years. The funny thing is, now I am in a "proper" antique house, I am happy to furnish it with modern stuff, and apart from a couple of 19th century bidets which I use as little tables, and a few Victorian chairs, the rest is ornamental. I suppose the smaller size of the house also has something to do with this. Well, at the end of last week I decluttered the filing cabinet and shredded a load of stuff before reorganising the files and getting the newer stuff stowed away at last. I moved some old meeting minutes and other files onto a data pen and cleared some room on the laptop. Today the joiner came and refitted shelves into the cupboard in the little room off my bedroom, which has meant another load of books and stuff is off the floor and away. I've also got a carpet cleaning machine coming this week, as it has been costing me a fortune in spray cleaners, due to the mixing of beige nylon carpets with open coal fires and high traffic areas. My last house had wool carpets (also beige), and they were much easier to keep clean. When I can get hold of Ernie at the stove shop, I'm going to see if I can get the installation of a multifuel stove lined up. He's got one I like the look of. Weight-wise, I've slipped back again: they had chocolate digestives on off at the co-op...it also didn't help that I have spent most of today sprawled on the sofa reading some chick-lit that I got at the supermarket. Andrea |
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17 Jan 11 - 04:57 PM (#3076671) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Taking a break in shelf-installation (extending an existing one) in the hall closet. I realized I hadn't sent a link to my son so I can figure out which volume of a text he needs (we're trying to find them online less expensive, but that only works if you get the correct book!) Once the shelf is up, I'll sort the packs and bags in the hall. The once I'm keeping will go on this shelf, and the rest will head out to the pickup for a trip to Goodwill this week. Tomorrow the new semester starts, and as with most years, today feels really "heavy" - so much starts to happen tomorrow, I could spend today getting ready, but I'd be just as busy tomorrow and this week and would have lost a day of my holiday. So I'm making myself avoid the temptation to try to get ahead. SRS |
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17 Jan 11 - 06:45 PM (#3076743) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre I didn't go grocery shopping. We have enough and it's so cold out! Besides me being exhuasted, I just didn't want to take Jeremiah out in the cold. It was minus five degrees here this morning and that is without the wind. I have a nice fire going, the baby has had his evening bottle, dinner and bath. There's nothing quite like a baby fresh out of the tub and into his little footed jammies...course you all know that already!!! *happy sigh* I have to start dinner soon. Michelle |
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17 Jan 11 - 06:58 PM (#3076754) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Glad to hear you didn't go out, Michelle. It's wise to listen to your body when it says it needs to rest. You, too, SRS...good for not starting in on work on your holiday! Morgan went home after lunch and I slept most of the afternoon, just as this morning. I did get a load of laundry washed and dried and one more to go in the dryer. Oh, and had a book request, so it's ready to go out the door. |
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17 Jan 11 - 07:33 PM (#3076771) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: GUEST,mg Yep..if you need to sleep, pass baby on to probably one of dozens of people who have volunteered, or get a babysitter to take him to her/his house and sleep the day away. mg |
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17 Jan 11 - 08:49 PM (#3076825) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Mg, as much as I'd like to sleep, that's not going to happen. Daddy is home, baby is in bed and NOW I can sleep. I appreciate the thought! :) Michelle |
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18 Jan 11 - 01:06 AM (#3076903) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Babies and baths - aren't they a great combination? I was on a trip to Pennsylvania to handle some family estate stuff, and I took my son, who was about 18 months old at the time and still nursing. We had a really long day at an auction, then I loaded the trailer and we drove to the town where my great aunt was in a nursing home to spend the night. (Jersey Shore - what a name for a town in the middle of the state!) The hotel was an old fashioned brick multi-story building, and it just didn't look at all like home and my son was so tired and out of sorts. I pulled out my rescue kit - several of his favorite bath toys - and ran a bath. For him it was a descent into normalcy, water and toys and Mom there like usual, even if the room looked different. The next morning we visited my aunt, and my son was such a hit in the nursing home day room! A blond curly-headed toddler moving around the room, and all of the elderly folks reaching out from their chairs, hoping to get a cuddle or one of his laughs, while I visited with Thelma. Today I finished my hall closet shelf, and then loaded it with the light weight of backpacks, daypacks, and a few bags. The rest is in a plastic milk crate on the floor in the same closet. I have a stack near the back door for the Goodwill. The dogs got a brisk walk this evening, and I roasted veggies in my roman clay baker for dinner, along with a steak. The house still smells wonderful. This evening I tackled my ugly fireplace, to get a good look at it. I'm thinking about using some of the pink insulation boards (from Home Depot) and building a liner for the thing and closing it off. If I do that, I might not get cold and damp air coming out of it and I could put the large television in front of the opening on the hearth itself. I might have to get a piece of plywood to level the hearth for things to sit on, the stone work doesn't appear to be level. SRS |
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18 Jan 11 - 03:57 AM (#3076943) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: GUEST Stilly, if you do close your fireplace off, remember to leave a few holes in the top bit for ventilation, or fit a vent. Also, make sure you can remove the top every so often to get rid of any dirt that may fall down the chimney - vital if you have uncapped chimney pots that birds can nest on. Opening up one of the fire places here, I found two dead birds (well, half a sparrow and a hawk) that had obviously come dowm the chimney but couldn't get back up because the fireplace was completely blocked. Michelle - carrot batons were a great help when Limpit was teething, you might try them for Jeremiah. Cut a few good sized batons and keep them in the fridge. They're soft enough that he won't hurt himself, firm enough that he shouldn't be able to bite chunks off and choke, non-toxic, non-fat, sugar free and when just out of the fridge, they're nice and cool on his gums. He should be able to hold them comfortably and chomp on them to ease his desire to chew. My knee has been decidedly painful this weekend... I think it doesn't like the rain or the amount of walking I did on it on Friday. Consequently, the Wii fit is on hold and I'm trying to find an alternative to ibuprofen. As for the decluttering... slow but sure. I still have room to put the spare bed up in the computer room, there's some tidying to do but I have found a spare Really Useful Box so there goes the pile of fabric by the side of the sofa, where the latest quilt (black and white in a pattern I call stars and stripes - see my Facebook page for a closeup)is waiting for a large enough area for me to put the batting and backing on. This is where I wish I had my old computer room back, which was twice the size but is now full of teenager stuff and teenager, so not a square inch of floor can be seen! Right... off to work now, so a walk up to the station to clear the cobwebs and get the knee going. LTS |
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18 Jan 11 - 09:16 AM (#3077085) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg Yesterday while waiting for a big project to print I whipped around the upstairs doing the scheduled Monday chores plus anything else that hit my eye as I ran around... and went to bed an hour early! ~Susan |
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18 Jan 11 - 10:49 AM (#3077138) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Liz, there is a screened cap on top of the chimney, but there is always a collection of spiders, spider ball thingies, pill bugs and occasional snails in there. I doubt anything I could achieve with insulation would be remotely airtight, but I'd like to keep the draft out of the house and the moisture down in that area. This is just a thought - the fireplace is rather attractive as I have it arranged now, with a mirror propped on the back of the log support and a plank in the middle of it that supports a multi-candle stand. I light that occasionally when I have company and it has the beauty of a fire without the puffs of smoke when the fire is going out. But walling it off entirely could involve taking off the glass doors and inserting a shallow cabinet built to fit it and look like a couple of shelves in the stone wall when in place. Or leaving the doors and putting the television in front of it. Here's a photo of it - this really is an ugly fireplace. I had moved a speaker off (visible on the far left) that usually sits in the corner, and the various dog-walk related items that sit on the edge near the door. It is just a place to set stuff, it isn't an attractive feature. But I need to think about "staging" it to see if it would look better. I put lovely things on the mantle and distract from the wall behind it. SRS |
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18 Jan 11 - 12:41 PM (#3077198) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg SRS, we also re-purposed an unused fireplace. In our case (it was much wider than yours), we set two bookshelves on the hearth, and put air-blocking material between the bookcases and the opening. The rest of the hearth not covered by these holds additional books-- binders from our Sat. nite music program. I think we lived here about 12 years before we went ahead and did it, and that whole time I think we used the fireplace once. Fires are nice, but only new one fireplaces with today's building codes create more heat than they lose. So our recreational fires are now fall and summer outdoors campfires. ~Susan |
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18 Jan 11 - 05:00 PM (#3077442) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine Liz, for my knee pain, I've gone back to using Bengay Pain Relieving Patch. I'm sure you'd find something like it where you are. I put it on when I go to bed, and my knee is much better when I get up in the morning. Just a thought..., esp. since I'm trying to avoid acetameniphine (sp?). Maryanne |
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18 Jan 11 - 05:35 PM (#3077469) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Regular household chores are done. I spent a few hours today setting up an online budget and going over the expenses of the last 3 months. Very interesting and eye-opening in some areas (not so much in others). It puts it all out there for you to see....pie graphs or bar graphs, comparisons of month to month or years. We have a budget, have had for years but never quite this visual. I like it and find it very helpful! Michelle |
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18 Jan 11 - 05:37 PM (#3077470) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg Just a note-- nutrish/declut/weight loss-- we have been slowly decluttering the beef shelf of the freezer and bulking up the fish and white-chicken department. Almost all the dairy calories have become non-fat Greek-style yogurt. Every once in a while we get a fat-calories craving, because our at intake is now so low-- and that's what unsalted almonds are for, every time they go on sale. BTW look up Hungry Chick. Marvelous foods and yummies with large servings of few calories. Her recent survival tip on bulking of frozen dinners has worked bigtime-- serve the small portion on top of a base of steamed broccoli. A new pursuit for months has been trying a new fresh veg each shopping trip, to make veggies the star of each dinner around which we build the proteins and carbs in smaller proportions. TBTG the stores cooperate-- have been getting diced butternut squash ready to roast or stirfry. Today it's rutmus, with rutabagas pre-diced. Very handy! ~Susan |
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18 Jan 11 - 08:59 PM (#3077599) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage It's a mistake to not have enough fat in your diet. Just make sure it is healthy fat. Working on newsletters this evening. Dull and repetitive in many ways, but when they're finished and look pretty it's nice. Fish for dinner, more roasted vegetables, any maybe a strawberry and banana smoothie for dessert. I need to move some furniture this evening. SRS |
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19 Jan 11 - 08:04 AM (#3077811) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy The carpet shampooer arrived yesterday, so I hoiked it upstairs and had the first go at getting the chimney crud from uncovering the old fireplace, out of the beige carpet. It's vastly improved, but will require another session. however, removing the cover-up rug has made the room look bigger again. I have found that there is a Zumba class in the village...In just over 4 hours' time I shall be hauling my body up to the school hall. I've been dying to try it. I hope I can cope! Andrea |
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19 Jan 11 - 11:56 AM (#3077939) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I moved that reclamation dresser into the sun room, out of the hall last night, and later today I'll remove more hall clutter when I take the donation stuff over to the Goodwill. Sinuses are revolting about something in the air this morning. I've taken an antihistamine and will get a couple of motrin in a few minutes. That combination usually seems to work for me. SRS |
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19 Jan 11 - 01:00 PM (#3077989) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Thank you for positive comments! I really am finding this thread inspiring. I think of it as I go through my day: what am I doing, how is it helping make life simpler, better.... Yesterday aft, Rob and I met with a social worker and occupational therapist to look at how we can help him (and me) with PTSD as a result of being assaulted (in a court room) on 4 August. Subsequently, on 3 September, he had a hole drilled in skull to relieve subdural hematoma and was 9 days in hospital. (One of our musician friends insisted he go to the hospital because of recurring headaches Special Thanks to him!!) It has been rough times. The stress, physical pain, fear that the guy was not behind bars. Then finally he was. Wheww! Trial may be in February. I do not believe in prison as it is so freely used, even here in Canada but this guy is scary. I still feel weepy thinking of it and there is not much which frightens me. I feel better knowing there is finally some help. (Actually I feel weepy with relief but we won't tell Rob that.) We will meet again next week with the OT and Rob will have support filling out the forms which have just sat here being daunting - for the rehab service and victims assist. (At least I know where they are!) And also working on some organizational strategies. The OT has good ideas and will take some of the stress off me trying to "do it all". I push him in a lot of ways to get things done but it puts a strain on our relationship at times. I am NOT his mother! We have decided to move his office into the upstairs now that we are reclaiming it. He seems excited about doing this. It will be less stressful for him to work where he is not going to be constantly interrupted by his brother. (During our meeting, bro walked in twice, interrupting with with total unnecessary "business" stuff. They are business partners.) The meeting took most of afternoon so today I shall start packing up stuff of the unheard-from tenant and work with Rob to get a desk area, computer - run phone line up from kitchen, bulletin boards and whatever else we think will provide a helpful workplace. The front room upstairs is large enough for an office area and a sitting room area for the lovely Victorian furniture. I'll bet he even has a desk in storage somewhere that will fill the bill. ("50 of them," he said.) So is this the ultimate in trying to get organized and get life onto a more even keel! I am glad you are all out there wishing us well as we go through trying to heal and get a better handle on life. As I too wish all of us well. Everyone in the world, too! On the everyday level, I manage to accomplish the shopping, laundry, cooking healthy meals, improving the general appearance of the little space we have. This week we found and re-organized some basic tools. I had to clean rust off but now they are clean and in a tool box. If we can help Rob heal and be more effective in his business affairs, there will be hope of a new kitchen before this one falls into the cellar. I looked at cheap plane fares today (tempted to visit grand and great grand-daughters in San Diego) but then realized that $2000 (cheap plane fares lead to hotel bills, car rental....) would be better saved toward a van so we can do our getaways in a less expensive manner. Another long term goal. November's trip will be paid off in another two months, then I will start saving for the van - or new windows for the house????? The van is probably more important so Rob can really get away. The only relaxed times have been when we were away a week in July and two weeks in November. This morning, I found two bulletin boards in the shed and cleaned them off (pottery stuff) and up. I started a triage of office supplies of which I have lots. I brought in the box marked "kids books" and sorted out ones for possible use at a Quaker gathering in May - if any kids attend. There were also some other books - for adult Quakers and on stress and depression. Both categories were on my list of things to find. I will leave the latter where they are easily visible, a subtle suggestion. I put two piles on he bookshelf I cleared two days ago - one for kids, one for health. And put some of the adult Q. stuff in my special "carrying bag for taking to meeting". I also brought in the jump cables for placement in my car - for when I forget and leave the lights on as I did, once again, last night while waiting for Rob! I must report: whenever I am unpacking boxes of mine, I bless the woman who arrived on my doorstep when I needed her. I had met her when I was working at the Exxon station on Whidbey; we talked about books. Two years ago come March, I was faced with the move out of the single wide and suffering total inertia. I could not even manage to gather boxes. Along came Jo in her ancient van with two dogs and a cat. She lived on the driveway, used the bathroom, gathered and packed boxes, kicked my butt. That is why boxes are labeled; I never would have bothered. And she packed fragile items more carefully than I would. This fragile/tough lady is a light in my life. Even competent women need a boost when things get too overwhelming. I am, when possible, a potter. Not a great one but competent. I make beautiful functional pots. When the time is right, I will begin again. I was a newspaper reporter for the small town weekly in Bancroft Ontario for 6 years, editor of The Canadian Friend: a journal of Quaker news and thought, for 16 years, worked in adult probation in Alberta for 18 months, was an Adult Protective Service Worker , with developmentally delayed adults living in the community, for several years, a behavioral specialist and mobile therapist with children for 7 years, and more. I lived off the grid for 16 years and loved it. Today feels good. The days are getting longer, today is 29 degrees, life is looking up. The plants need watering. Oh, the clivia lost its last flower last week but I had thought ahead and bought a small red cyclamen and Monday added a beautiful apricot kalanchoe - on opposite sides of the room! Each is under its own table lamp for plenty of light and warmth. And a tropical is blooming with foot long stalks of white flowers - corn plant?? Onward and upward. The plants call me to action! |
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19 Jan 11 - 01:03 PM (#3077990) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Oh dear, I've done it again! Enjoy?? |
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19 Jan 11 - 02:56 PM (#3078088) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy Dorothy, words flow from you because they need to, and yours is a very deep story. Andrea (whose middle name should be "verbose") |
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19 Jan 11 - 04:00 PM (#3078153) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Fascinating and well said! I did a huge load of dishes and one more of laundry. I have plans...when they start I will let you all know. It involves mostly cost-free spruce up the kitchen and get rid of clutter at the same time.:-) |
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19 Jan 11 - 07:36 PM (#3078287) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg BRAG.BRAG.BRAG.brag.braggggg: Looked for a small chairside folding camping table for 3 years, FOUND it, got it FREE at local second-hand shop in thanks for "hauling away" the recliner sectional I tried VERY hard to pay for (because it cleaned up great and was easily repaired)! Like the folding camp chairs "everyone" has, only it's a low table-- square-- with a drink holder. BOOM into the miracle van it goes! I have not even seen these for cash in stores for several years! [smirk] It matches my 2010 new CHAIR! TBTG, ~Susan |
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19 Jan 11 - 08:19 PM (#3078319) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Dorothy, it sounds like you're working through a lot of things coming and going. It certainly gives a sense of proportion to what the rest of us are looking at (not nearly so much). I propped some decorative baskets in front of the fireplace yesterday and for an ugly area it looks much better. I need to move and dust the crystal on the mantle and put up something with a completely different look for a while. The dogs and I went for a lovely big loop of a walk this evening, and it has been a mild day as winter goes in North Texas, but tomorrow the junk from the North is supposed to descend upon us, very cold temperatures and freezing rain. A good day to work indoors and not plan to drive anywhere. I need to choose my electric company for the next year and I need to purchase a couple of books for my son. There is a load of laundry waiting to be washed and a few of the usual dishes. And tax stuff looms as papers arrive with important numbers. Lamb, spinach, rice and yogurt for dinner. Mmmmm! SRS |
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19 Jan 11 - 10:18 PM (#3078369) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mg SRS..I vote for forcing some spring branches of cherry or forsythia or something..mg |
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20 Jan 11 - 02:53 AM (#3078437) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy Well done Susan. I think I know the sort you mean. Fabric top? I am waiting for last night's (rather enjoyable) Zumba class to kick in with the aches and pains. Legs feel a bit leaden today. My knacked up shoulder muscles got put through the mill, but they can learn to live with it, sez I! Trouble was, I grabbed a ready meal when I got back at about 7pm, and topped it off with the remains of a heavy fruit pudding that "needed" eating up. Silly girl. Andrea |
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20 Jan 11 - 08:55 AM (#3078567) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg Andrea, yes. That nylon canvas stuff camp chairs here are made from. BTW, are you eating the requisite post-workout recovery calories to refuel the muscles-- typically a small bowl of cereal and fruit in milk or yogurt-- and are you doing a good warm-down to get the lactic acid buildup outta the legs? Hardi does two things to deal with that leaden after-effect: 1, put legs up on a wall (lie on bed, butt to wall, legs up). 2, a rolling pin run from back of the ankle to back of knee, then a second round from back of knee to buttocks, pulling up against the weight of the leg... he does that one seated, with knees tucked up towards chest to get the right parts accessible. ~Susan |
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20 Jan 11 - 11:01 AM (#3078653) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Susan, for that kind of table you found I'd have tried the Army - Navy store. I think there's one in town here and I haven't been in one in decades, but that was the kind of place we'd look for some of those camping oddments. Freezing rain is supposed to pass close by our region today. Sounds like a lot of folks didn't make it to work today. I'm working at home, but I'll watch the email to see if they close campus this afternoon. By working from home I've occasionally missed those early dimissals everyone else gets. SRS |
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20 Jan 11 - 11:18 AM (#3078660) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg We HAVE no Army-Navy store nor anything like it for miles and miles, but thanks. ~Susan |
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20 Jan 11 - 06:41 PM (#3078981) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Yesterday: 3 boxes of "tenant" stuff packed and drapes off beautiful big bright windows! Lots of dust up there. Need Rob to help carry up the large air cleaner bought at thrift store on Whidbey in November - $25 instead of $500!!!! I am hyper-sensitive to dust so will wait 'til that kicks in. Also load of laundry, computer time, and good supper - lots of veggies and enough for Rob's breakfast! Maybe I could start cooking enough that we could both have veggies for breakfast. What an idea!! We LOVE this ratatouille sort of veggie mixture. I posted it on the canned tomatoes thread. Today: shopping at Maxi (grocery) and found BIG Tide free and clear (hard to get here). And a one kg packet of buckwheat flour which is notable for its plain brown bag with green print which stood out beautifully amidst all the fancy packaging. LOVE the note: "Located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River beside Lake St. Pierre, the Ricard family has been cultivating buckwheat for five generations." Did you know that 30 mg of buckwheat flour contains: 1 gm fat, 21 gm carb, 2 gm fibre, and 4 gm protein?? Also 20% of daily iron. Buckwheat pancakes will be an occasional treat. The checkout clerk was allergic to buckwheat and had to handle it with a plastic bag. A shame. It is such a Quebec crop. I grew a small field once. It was a beautiful sight with its pink flowers and heart-shaped leaves, and hummed with bees! Came home and found places for lots of groceries. Thurs morn - a good time to shop, store was almost deserted! Laundered sheets and remade bed. Defrosted freezer in small fridg. Discovered a good way to have salad: warmed some black bean dip in a large bowl, then filled bowl with torn up lettuce and mixed it up. I do not like cold food in cold weather. So this was a slightly warmed salad. Worked for me. Took de-tox bath!! Even used whirlpool. Spent time on computer, emails and such. Will soon start supper -broccoli for me, asparagus (from New Jersey) for Rob. With very lean pork chops and apple sauce. We may have cheese and crackers later, depending on how late supper is. Funny story: Last Tuesday was my birthday. Rob came home around 8 and we had supper. I did not say a word. After supper, he came in the LR with a cake with one votive candle on it. The "cake" was a big round of triple cream cheese. We agreed to save it for snack time at Quaker meeting. Appreciated by all. I told him I had not been able to turn on whirlpool so he insisted we go upstairs. "But it's late!" "Look for the control." I looked and looked all around the tub. Finally he pointed to the bottom of the tub , "You need to look!" There was a large chocolate cake sitting on the bottom of the tub and I had not even seen it because I was looking for the control switch!! Is that tunnel vision or what!! Scrumptious cake lasted six days of desserts. And I know where the switch is - on the wall. |
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20 Jan 11 - 07:10 PM (#3079010) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage So, you found your cake and could eat it, too! :) Happy belated birthday, Dorothy! I think we dodged the bad weather. It will be cold tonight, but the freezing rain stayed to the north. It was windy in the middle of the day and several people told me about miserable walks across campus. Puttering around the house tonight. Getting ready to do income taxes. SRS |
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21 Jan 11 - 12:39 AM (#3079165) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I visited the garage, brought in the remote thermostat, and after checking batteries, realized that the house radio-operated thermostat was the one with weak batteries. They're both set up now, in and out, and the dogs are in the house because the garage thermostat says it's pretty darned cold out there. I've been texting back and forth with my daughter. I'd love to have her come for the weekend and work on her room so I can spread my sewing stuff out after she packs the stuff she doesn't use. Or not. I suppose I could clear out the craft cupboard in the sun room and put my fabric on those shelves. Either way, some of this stuff needs to go. Stay warm, all, and have a great Friday! SRS |
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21 Jan 11 - 02:04 AM (#3079178) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy We did stretch out after the session, and I am remarkably un-achey. However, regarding the post exercise scoffing, the class is at such a time that when I get back it is past my normal main meal time. There is no way I'd eat before going. It was the slightly leaden pud that laid heavy - the ready meal was a low fat paella. There is a trial class starting the day before my class, at a local hotel's little spa. It's the same teacher. I may go. I have splashed out on some "studio" shoes (lightweight thin soled trainers) as the ones I had were gripping the floor too much. Andrea |
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21 Jan 11 - 07:26 AM (#3079285) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I'm up early, wide awake, after Poppy stood up beside my bed this morning (nudging me with front feet and nose). I thought she had to go out, but she woke me because she didn't like the fire in the fireplace. Since I hadn't intended for one, I didn't like it either! Last night I had a pedestal candle burning in the fireplace, sitting on a plank across the fire log thing, and I apparently didn't notice it was still burning at bedtime. It looks like the candle wick burned through the candle bottom and ignited the plank when the wax was gone. Thing is, there was a wrought iron candle stand with five fat pedestal candles in there, and they were melting and had that plank really going. I put it out and cleaned up the melted wax, but the flue had been closed so it smells like a candle wax factory in here this morning. It wasn't particularly smoky - even with the flu closed air still gets through (that's why the house is so cold all of the time!) SRS |
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21 Jan 11 - 11:15 AM (#3079404) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: SINSULL Please be careful with candles, guys. Too many fires among Mudcat folk. SINS |
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21 Jan 11 - 11:20 AM (#3079407) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Glad your puppy came to tell you about the fire and that no one was hurt and that there was no damage. Scary stuff. More later. Michelle |
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21 Jan 11 - 11:43 AM (#3079418) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maeve I'm so glad you are ok, Maggie. |
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21 Jan 11 - 12:37 PM (#3079449) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine Good job, Poppy! Glad everything is okay. M |
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21 Jan 11 - 01:14 PM (#3079480) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Except my spelling. Should be flue on both occasions. :-/ The reason I never do regular fires in that fireplace is evident this morning - the smell afterward of the fire in the house. I was using candles and reflecting them in a mirror for the fire look, but I think it's time to put this fireplace completely out to pasture, so to speak. Ironic that we were talking about it in the last week. I'll clean up the salt (started with salt to put out the flames, then used a spray bottle to put out the embers - I spent enough time putting out fires for the Forest Service that I wouldn't just pour water on it without knowing what exactly is on fire). Yes, Poppy did a very good job. I realized later that I'd heard them walking around, and had turned over to go back to sleep when they came back into the room; Poppy was the pushy one to get my attention. There was wax everywhere in there, and it had puddled on the hearth, near the baskets I put out the other day. I'll look into the insulation option this weekend. SRS |
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21 Jan 11 - 02:14 PM (#3079518) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Good girls! So glad you are safe, SRS! Paid a few bills this morning and organised the rest of them. Great stuff, Dorothy. You've the beginnings of a fantastic blog IF you are interested in a bigger "audience." Either way, I am really enjoying getting caught up with where you are coming from and what you are doing. I love old places and lots of stuff to go through. Such treasures to be found! kat |
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21 Jan 11 - 02:27 PM (#3079530) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy You were very lucky! What marvellous dogs! Andrea |
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21 Jan 11 - 03:10 PM (#3079562) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre I was supposed to go to a meeting today. I had a sitter lined up, the baby fed and rested (as he'd allow), packed up the diaper bag, mixed up a bottle, gathered my own gear, bundled the baby up and got him into the car seat. Perfect. On time. Ready to go. Car was even warmed up. I am stuck in my driveway! There's about 6 inches of snow there which usually isn't a problem but the ice underneath it all is. So. The baby and I are home today. It's just as well. It's bitter cold out, the wind is blowing and BRRRR. This allows me to keep a strong fire going in the woodstove and time at home. It looks like Toys R Us has exploded in here. Well, at least it did. I now have 2 tubs of toys instead of toys on the rug (larger toys...a little workbench, race track, etc) and a bazillion toys in the playpen. Now Jeremiah has more room to scoot about and stand up if he wants. He had room before but not as much because he wasn't crawling around so I had lots of goodies within his reach. Anyway, it looks much better. I vaccuumed the rugs, did around the edges of the room, scrubbed the floor around the pellet stove which tends to get dusty and icky when Pete brings pellets in with his snow covered boots. I washed the kitchen rugs and have 4 blankets in the wash right now. I have 2 more loads to do today. Made a few business calls and made some headway. YAY. I also signed up to take a finance class. I was able to pay off all my credit cards this year and I'd like to keep it up and learn as much as possible. Anything beyond income in and income out has always been kind of a mystery to me and I'm looking forward to learning more! Michelle |
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21 Jan 11 - 03:49 PM (#3079600) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg I too was concerned for Maggie and grateful she woke up in time. Let's all be careful.... I am glad to find that, with our gas wall-mounted heater (in the same location as the one that burned most of our addition down 10 yeasr ago), set on high-- but only when we are at home and awake and downstairs nearby-- the attic bedroom overhead heats up quickly even on the coldest and windiest days, and even after a really cold night (around zero), up to about 60 degrees. Then the oil-filled rad up there kicks in for a quick warmup to barefoot temps. We had really wondered if we could keep a guest up there warm, economically.... thru the winter. I've spot-checked it enough to be confident that we can. We use that room right now for our money-management meetings, where we are putting more of Larry Burkett's Biblically-based tools and strategies to work, together. (We meet up there about twice a month, which gives me a good opportunity to putter away also on anything up there that needs attention.) We keep the upper door open (gated) to let the heat up and a mouser uses it for egress to keep it vermin-policed. The money-mgmt stuff all lives in a small portable file box, in case I need it or anywhere else. All this took several months to make happen, but it's settling into a nice routine now... and I SO appreciate the job Adrian did to carpet the stairs on the way up there! A nice Xmas outcome was that next year's 2011 gifts have all been bought when we could afford it this year, and 2010 expenses tracked to budget for 2012. This gives us a realistic dollar amount to keep with next year; our giving has increased (in numbers of recipients and in tithing). As we continue to track other expenses for 2011, we should be in a good position to make some bigger $$$ decisions in 2012. ~Susan |
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21 Jan 11 - 03:51 PM (#3079603) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall SRS: candle - animals are terrific! Ancient general Store in Ontario burned to the ground because of a fat candle left in a shallow saucer. How did people survive the age of candles! Of course, many did not. When I used them for my only light, I was hyper-careful. But your fireplace is going to see new life! And your candles will be severely monitored. Michelle: You got it. Sometimes we are just meant to stay at home! Kat: I have no idea how to blog but it is on my list of future things to do. Last night's supper - about 9 pm - turned out to be more. Rob had not, as usual, eaten since breakfast. I need to work on that; even a bag of peanuts in his pocket; he works until his brain stops working then comes home HUNGRY. So, added spaghetti sauce on rice - both already in frig. Yeah, I had some too. But worse - or better! a half a package of choc mint Girl Scout cookies. He needed it. I did not. They were good though. Today, we took the air cleaner upstairs but it would not work. I had to leave as a few minutes up there gave me a headache. He came down about an hour later full of all he had accomplished. Good for his spirit!! And, hence, mine. We WILL be able to use it soon! Meanwhile, I did some organizing in the shed and brought in 3 full boxes, found some good stuff. Most will go back to shed, some freshly washed. Organized some books and added a few special ones. Hard to put books back outside! But I shall tape them well and DO it. Started chick peas in slow cooker in prep for Sunday's potluck - gingered chick peas, a good vegan meal and better if it seasons. Washed dishes, clothes being washed and dried. Need to bring air cleaner back down and see if I can fix it. Tomorrow. Tonight is our cafe night so I am spending afternoon on FB social life and here, also reading current novel. And looking at two excellent books from library: The Permanent Pain Cure by Ming Chew which is very holistic. And More Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things (Readers Digest) is full of good ideas, including chapter on de-cluttering. I think I must buy it as a reference. |
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21 Jan 11 - 06:32 PM (#3079698) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Dorothy, Can you tell me how you make your chick peas? I've never had them cooked...only in hummus or in a salad. YUM. Michelle |
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22 Jan 11 - 02:13 PM (#3080145) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg sOME OF MY NEWISH 2011 ... damn capslock ... responsibilities include traveling to other parishes, as I am this weekend. I am VERY pleased to find that all the decluts and dowsnizings DO result, as I'd hoped and prayed, in being able to do it with minimal fuss and prep time. A big TBTG and to olddude and others, onCat and offCat, for tools and other resources! ~S~ |
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22 Jan 11 - 04:25 PM (#3080236) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: GUEST,mg I have never tried roasted chickpeas, but they sound like a great snack alternative to chips etc. Here is my chickpea recipe..no cooking and I go out of my way in Seattle to get this..my version of salad from Pagliacci in Seattle. Chopped Romaine lettuce and don't listen to people who tell you you can't chop lettuce or dire things will happen. On the scale of bad things happening, this is very very minor. Lots of chick peas from can. Chopped up salami, red onions and red pepper. Grated white cheese..mozzarella I presume. Creamy Italian dressing. It is so great. mg |
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22 Jan 11 - 05:05 PM (#3080269) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage That sounds wonderful, Mary! My cousin used to make a good salad that was mostly chick peas (canned, or cook your own), sliced red onions and tuna. That was it. Rinse the peas, then some onion slices (slices or chunks - they're not chopped) and then use a can of tuna that comes in oil, not water. Drain off some of the oil (keep it for tweaking), but pour the tuna over the chick peas and onions. Use salt and pepper to taste. The oil from the fish becomes the dressing. Today is mostly kid stuff. My son's phone died three states away and I have to arrange to get a new phone to him. It can or might involve paying down the existing contract (at a prorated level since we'll stay with the company) then setting him up as an authorized user of the account so he can sign the 2 year contract to take his phone home. There's a "thank you" bonus available, apparently I'm close enough to the end of two contracts that they want me to stay. I've had this company for 15 years, I think we're a safe bet, but the bonus would be nice. Weather cold and bright, sinuses making themselves felt. Sudafed time. It still, annoyingly, smells a bit like the fireplace ashes in here. I've heard a couple of "near miss" candle stories since my little misadventure. (One wonders that there are any Swedish women alive today, what with that candles in the hair thing they used to do on the holidays.) I've been waiting for my son to email back - since we can't text or phone, our communication is hobbled. I can make a few account adjustments and if he sleeps the day away, he'll have to wait till tomorrow to get the new phone. I could mail my son my old phone and they'd put it in service for him, no charge at all. But I suspect he'd resist that easy step. :) I moved furniture around the house again last night. I have the dining table back in the corner near cabinets and shelves, it looks better the computer. I am thinking about putting the TV on the hearth, but only if I can keep the cool draft from coming through. I'm afraid a moist draft wouldn't do the electronics any good. More calls to make this afternoon. I had a lazy morning in PJs until several pairs of jeans came out of the dryer. Now I need to run to the store. SRS |
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22 Jan 11 - 05:46 PM (#3080297) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Check the sodium in the tuna...you may not need any added. Anything canned usually has a lot of sodium. I had a chickpea salad a friend made which was really good. It was cooked chickpeas stirred up with oil, a tiny bit of mustard and onions, I think, and chilled. I was surprised I liked it because I do not like mustard, but it was just enough to give a tart tang. We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to look for a nice set of silverware and high ball glasses. Yuck..all their stuff was plain and ugly and/or wrong size. We've had mix-max sets over the years and have decided we just want one new set of each, so I am going to see if we can match some of the stuff we already have as we really like them. I've already found the Anchor Hocking glasses online. |
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22 Jan 11 - 07:08 PM (#3080336) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Too cold to go anywhere; too cold inside to do much. Spent most of afternoon on love seat with feet up on heating pad. 14 outside. almost 60 inside. Unless I keep moving, I freeze up! I did put together casserole for tomorrow and it simmered in crock pot all afternoon. Now it is off til bedtime when, hopefully, we will remember to turn it back on; it needs to be hot when we go to meeting as there is no way to get it really warm there. The flavours will be well blended! I also managed to keep up to the dishes and put the washed and dried fabrics into a box to go back out to shed. Two boxes ready to go out but not until it is warmer. Obviously we do not have much heat in here! I am not going to open the door! Caught up on FB, emailed a newspaper reporter re contact for Steiner school she wrote about in Friday's paper. They may need a new venue; Rob may have one - if it is suitable. It is a French School but obviously they speak English as the article was in English paper. I still need to think about: volunteer work nearby, pref in school, writing on a variety of ideas which have accumulated over the years, contacting newspaper to see if I can get them to do an early spring article about raccoons - when not to bother babies as they are prob not orphans, how to care for them or where to take them if they really are orphans, etc. Do it now, Dorothy. |
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22 Jan 11 - 11:07 PM (#3080427) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Wrote email to a reporter we know slightly. He met Frick, our raccoon, when he did an article on Rob's attack. Then I wrote four pages about raccoons. That is a good beginning. There is so much yet and Rob needs to remind me of some of it. Having those two kits in our home for four months was incredibly rewarding. I look back and wonder. It just never occurred to us to put them in a cage!! Back to it. Just thought of more stuff. |
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23 Jan 11 - 12:08 AM (#3080438) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I spent my day researching the variables for replacing my son's dead cell phone. He's three states away, so I have to work out the ability for him to sign the contract as an "authorized user" on the account, or get it here and send it there. In the end, he agreed to use my last phone for a while. We'll run the plan contract down some more, reduce the damage as far as buying out the rest of the contract in order to be in good standing to set up a new contract with a new phone. I suspect he'll suffer from "fat fingers" with the tiny keyboard on mine, but it will do in a pinch. I didn't buy insurance for any of our phones, but I am thinking I might for his, since he's so far away much of the year. Someone suggested that he should just take what I offer, and I suppose in a barebones situation, that could be the case. But he did a helluva lot of work to have great grades and to win national scholar status, and as a consequence, we sent him three states away to college. He was accepted at the University of Texas, and I think he'd have gone there if there had been equal funding. Since it was in his best educational interest to go to a Tier 1 university, he's gone out west. And if I can help him avoid homesickness by having the connection to his old friends from school via text, computer, etc, then I will do it. He uses the text all the time, so getting him to go for a few days without a phone and wait for this one was pretty remarkable. I'm glad he understood the finances of the thing. I'm watching one of my NetFlix disks tonight, and have been working on the kitchen. I took out some of my frozen okra to bread and fry for dinner tonight - I was reading a recent Martha Stewart Living and the woman who writes some of the gourmet cooking articles said she prefers fresh veggies, but she does like frozen okra for things, it's one veggie that does freeze well. I am encouraged to grow more next year, and we can all (in our neighborhood) freeze it. :) I know breaded fried okra is simply a vehicle for delivering crispy oily breading into the meal, but it is wonderful! For exercise today, I didn't get out, but I did decide to use the one step in my house as a step exercise place. I spent five minutes listening to the news and stepping up and down. I may switch and use the taller stool, get more of a workout, but I think I'll have to do something like this for exercise on these very cold days. SRS |
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23 Jan 11 - 02:08 AM (#3080459) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy Went for a gentle stroll yesterday afternoon around the graveyard across the road. Some of the graves go back to the mid 1700s, which means there will be older ones. The village hit its age of prosperity in the mid 1700s, and probably before that, not many could afford stones. Earlier in the day I walked the half mile or so down to the farm shop, which has reopened after its winter break. On the way I called in at the stove shop, and to cut the proverbial short, Ernie came round at lunchtime, and I am now having a multifuel stove fitted in the living room in just over a week. I also discussed the dining room chimnet breast, and the possibility of refitting a restored cooking range. He said they were quite hard to come by but suggested opening it right up, like an ingle, and fitting a small stove with maybe a little seat either side. It would certainly make the room look bigger. Cut up some more of the shrubby stuff I cut down last week, and that'll go to the tip in Berwick tomorrow, when I go in for my eye test. Andrea |
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23 Jan 11 - 03:05 AM (#3080468) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage We have graveyards that go back that far, on the east coast mostly, or at least, those around the earliest explored edges of the continent. New York City's Trinity Church has some early American history represented in those headstones. And when I lived in Kentucky, and drove around Kentucky and Tennessee, the eastern seaboard "logical extensions" (and in the earliest days, actual parts of those eastern states) we would find rural graveyards that oozed history. One, I think in Tomkinsville, TN, or a name like that, had Daniel Boone's sister's grave. Rural royalty, so to speak. I put on one of my all-time favorite movies tonight, a madcap comedy from 1936, and worked on the mantle. My Man Godfrey with William Powell, Carole Lombard, and Eugene Palette. As I laughed along I took down the crystal and replaced it with baskets, on the mantle and the hearth. Looks very organic, textured, and colorful. (It would be nice to have a very old inglenook, but I'll make do with American Indian baskets on ugly limestone). SRS |
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23 Jan 11 - 11:15 AM (#3080657) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage More computer work today, after cleaning the kitchen (it was a mess!) And I've been thinking about my phone transactions yesterday - there were lots of variables, the bottom line is he'll have a phone for a while. And it doesn't have a slider (that's what failed on the last phone). Neighbor just came over to borrow an ethernet cable for her brother who is visiting. She has a wireless network but forgot her password, so he's going to plug into the router. I can see her wireless network with my laptop, but I'm not going to try to break in, unless she needs me to reset the password. ;) Taxes and bills today. What fun [NOT!] SRS |
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23 Jan 11 - 12:20 PM (#3080722) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: GUEST,mg If you come across old graveyards it is very nice to take pictures of each headstone, or as many as you can, and submit them to some of the find a grave type sites...very good for families doing genealogy etc. mg |
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23 Jan 11 - 01:22 PM (#3080766) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I found a listing online of the graveyard where my father's parents and many ancestors are buried in Pennsylvania. And there are a bunch more in Connecticut. Neither of my parents has a grave marker, both were cremated and ashes scattered. SRS |
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23 Jan 11 - 07:23 PM (#3081045) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Got up late and took casserole to Meeting. Potluck is NEXT week. I knew it was the on 30th! So we all had some for lunch. It was 5 F this morning only six people braved the weather. So cold in the house I am wrapped up with heating pad on feet, reading and computering. Rob is trying to get a couple more small heaters working. I, like a dunce, kept showing him things on Maeve's sound site! Much more interesting than getting an old heater to work. In other words, nothing much is getting done around here. Too Brrrry! Supposed to improve on Tuesday. |
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23 Jan 11 - 08:28 PM (#3081088) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing We managed to get a few things done, today. I missed out on last night's sleep, so I didn't do too much, but Morgan came over and helped a little bit and Rog was a trooper. We did get our sheets washed and changed, plus all of the clean dishes are put away and the house was swept. I have bills ready for tomorrow morning. Hope I get enough sleep to think clearly when I pay them.:-) I am off to go look at old silverware patterns. |
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23 Jan 11 - 11:55 PM (#3081179) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage The kitchen is now clean, and I picked up a beautiful bouquet of several types of flowers at the grocery store this afternoon. The counter needed something living and colorful. Laundry in, linens changed, the usual. Still paperwork to do, some is underway this evening before bed. SRS |
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24 Jan 11 - 03:42 AM (#3081217) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy One of my contacts in York is photographing headstones for that resource. The chancel of the church is mediaeval (it had a major rebuild an enlargement in the early 19thC) but there are tales of a Norman archway being found then. Cetainly there are some chevron carved stones incorporated in and around the present chancel arch, and 2 worn animal/Agnus Dei type figures in stones to the left. They are facing each othre, so may have been either side of something once. Didn't get much exercise yesterday apart from eventually building the small flat-pack shelves and side table I bought last month, and which have been propped up in the bedrooms. Now the shelves are up, I can get the "best" children's books out of the box. I have to make a plan with regard to all the old photo albums, which are still boxed up in the spare room. I'm afraid it's ironing this morning. Andrea |
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24 Jan 11 - 11:49 AM (#3081453) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Below freezing temperatures (minus 12 this morning) created a few problems in our home. The bathroom sink and washing machine drain are frozen. The kitchen sink and tub are fine so we do have water. YAY! I decided to give the baby a bath in the kitchen sink this morning because that's where the woodstove is so naturally that room is warmer. Jeremiah LOVED playing in the sink and quite honestly, it was easier to give him a bath there than in the tub! I also washed some clothes in the kitchen sink this morning. I have an out of town appointment tomorrow and wanted to make sure he had the two outfits I want for him to be ready. They are now in the dryer. The other night my husband stayed home with the baby and I went out alone for the first time in a long time. I thought I was going to go north to various shopping centers (about 30 miles away) but decided to stay local instead and went to Walmart where I had 358 prints made up. I decided that there are several people who are wanting photos and I hadn't gotten the pictures from November OR December done...so I spent my time at Walmart picking pictures out and waiting for them to be printed. I had a 5x7 family portrait made up and an 8x10 of one of my favorite shots of Jeremiah...frames too. In a little bit, I'll bundle up the baby and head out to do some grocery shopping. Stay warm everybody! Michelle |
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24 Jan 11 - 12:26 PM (#3081481) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage This morning I finished a few small daily chores - and did it in a very pretty environment - those flowers I picked up yesterday are lovely in the morning sunshine. It's gray and drab in the yard but I took out the watering can and put water on my potato mounds and watered the onions. I won't have crops if I don't water. I started reading a book a few days ago, so far I've read only the introduction because it is one I was reading while soaking in the tub. But I've moved it to my desk and will read it through. It is The Procrastinator's Guide to Getting Things Done, written by a professor on my campus. I have a copy from preparing for her talk to the Friends of the Library. As I read this book's introduction I realized that time management and prioritizing tasks is the next stage - we're all always busy, we're all always getting small things done, but a lot of that is out of order, is meant to put off big things we don't really want to do, even if they urgently need to be done. I'll report pithy statements or small paragraphs, and see if it moves our conversation in different directions. We might end up with really short lists, or prioritized lists, or sub-lists, or no lists at all. Here's something to get us started with: There are many kids of procrastinators. I am not the blissful type. I can't procrastinate and just relax and do nothing. Even when I decide to put something off for a while, my brain sends out periodic reminders that things need to be done. It is really quite annoying. I am not able to enjoy the peace and quiet that procrastination is supposed to provide. The whole idea behind procrastination is that you can at least temporarily free yourself of worry about a task until you are ready to do it. Most of us realize what we're doing, but we need to find a way to change the behavior that keeps us doing it. Let the adventure begin! (This book is inexpensive and available on Amazon, but if anyone would like a copy signed by the author, I'll find out if the bookstore has signed copies, or I can pick some up and ask her to sign them. We can do PayPal or something to cover the cost, and I'll pay postage.) SRS |
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24 Jan 11 - 12:54 PM (#3081512) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Ok Stilly but won't we always have things that we want to get done? If I finish my to do list for today or for this month or even the year, I'm still going to have things that I want to get done. I do have 3 or 4 large projects that I'd like to get done that are on my mind (not daily though) and 2 of them require warmer weather. For me, my first big thing that I NEED to get in order is my medical billing stuff. I have a payment plan worked out with the hospital but there are at least 100 letters stacked neatly in a pile. I want them in a binder, organized by doctor, date and procedures in direct connection with the insurance statements for each thing. I suppose it would take me the better part of an afternoon, all spread out on the table or floor. I just don't want to do it. I just need to suck it up and make a day of it and get it done. That's what I'll start with for my big project. I have a binder and several folders that fit in the binder, page protectors, dividers....everything I need to get it organized now I just need to DO IT. Anybody else? Michelle |
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24 Jan 11 - 04:17 PM (#3081630) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: GUEST,mg Sounds like the binder is a good project for someone with secretarial skills who has offered to help..just tell me what I can do she said...I would hand it over to someone and tweak it later..well, I probably would not tweak it but would definitely ship this task out. mg |
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24 Jan 11 - 04:20 PM (#3081632) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy Yep. That's me. I KNOW I have to get prices for the building work, but I don't want to know, because I know it's going to hurt! However, the not knowing is more than likely causing more angst, because my imagination takes over. I'll be getting more exercise tomorrow as the car is going in for some work, and I have about a mile walk back to the house. Tomorrow night I am hopefully going to a morris practice, if the two who live in the village are going. Andrea |
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24 Jan 11 - 05:31 PM (#3081683) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg 17 below here this AM-- Hardi sez it's a record. It did provide an interesting opportunity to see which things are affected by cold and which by WIND and cold-- what froze and what did not. An achievement today: a program I presented yesterday became a parochial pilot program and a report for the diocesan website, today, with pix and audio available. Work of several years of many people paid off in the synthesis of a whole LOT of pieces, BOOM. And I got the Monday upstairs chores done PLUS a little light reading in, too, after having slept in-- brain finished the heavy lifting in my sleep. TBTG! ~Susan |
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24 Jan 11 - 08:19 PM (#3081805) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I have things I could do for work that would be an improvement, those are voluntary but needed, and that's one set of stuff. And I have to finish things that came to an abrupt halt in 2005 - I lost the momentum on finishing tile work when we had the burglary. It took literally a year of work to finally finish the paperwork for that. I've said publicly that I'm reading this book, and what we're responding to now is just the introduction! I'll read more every day or two, and maybe we can all take things from it to help shift how we do our decluttering in with everything else we're doing. I know what I want my house to eventually look like - and I want my life to be as tidy as my house, as fluid for coming and going. Are there things I can identify now that will help that happen? I'm sure there are. Stay warm, everyone! July seems a long way off. I am amazed at how good those beautiful flowers make me feel; I'll get a big psychic bang for my $10 at Kroger. :) I'm going to clear clutter from the breakfast table and move a couple of the flowers from the big bouquet to a slim vase on that table (I put the flowers in one of my tall crystal cut-glass pitchers because I didn't have a vase big enough). SRS |
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24 Jan 11 - 08:54 PM (#3081820) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage There's a thread for this story, but it hasn't had many hits. It's beautiful. |
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24 Jan 11 - 09:38 PM (#3081844) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg ...what we're responding to now... Might seem like I am, but I ain't. (What book-- I missed that whole thing.) ~S~ |
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24 Jan 11 - 09:47 PM (#3081845) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Another dreadfully cold day 2 F this morning; 48 in the house. No cold water in downstairs but OK up in the bathroom. We have spent the day working on organization. We had to move a lot of things so Rob get at electric circuits and get some heaters working. Even with the baseboard heater in the kitchen finally connected about 4 pm, it is only 56 in there. He is still working, trying to close the ceiling which is bleeding our heat. The upstairs is warmer, and closer to being habitable! Air cleaners are both working - one up and one down! We took a TV and mudcat break. He has never read any of it but got caught up in the hawk, movies and, finally, read SRS' post on procrastination and went back to work! I made breakfast, lupper, and a crockpot of split pea soup, helped with organizing, vacuumed and took throw rugs out an beat them against the stone wall while the sun was on that side of house. I'll have to clear the bed of a few things before sleep. But I gave out about five and retired to the TV news and computer, perusing FB and mudcat. Now to reading book. Just remembered books were due at library today. Will take them before they open tomorrow. The return bin is on street. AFter it opens, I have to take them to second floor. Of course, I will have to go back after 1 pm to get more! Cannot bear to be out of books. Wednesday is supposed to be warmer. Actually, I remembered this morning that I once took lots of B vitamins and got warm when living in a cold flat. SO I took some this morning and I think it did help. So did long johns - top and bottom! Being cold is exhausting. |
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25 Jan 11 - 02:29 AM (#3081915) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage This post names and describes the book I'm reading now. Tried to switch electric companies this evening, but I think it didn't go through. I'll call tomorrow to ask before I try again. No point in signing up twice. The new company will be about 20% less than the last one. And the last one's prices went down, but they have a higher cancellation fee, so I'm switching just on the principle of the thing. SRS |
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25 Jan 11 - 07:44 AM (#3081996) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy I noticed some little daisies trying to flower in the roadside verge this morning, and some buds starting to swell a wee bit....holding breath now, hoping the weather keeps like it is at the moment: about 6-8C. Andrea |
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25 Jan 11 - 10:47 AM (#3082118) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I have two christmas cacti and one of them put on a few buds but nothing actually opened. I asked a co-worker, whose cacti usually bloom beautifully, and she said she figured out that when they start to send out those buds, give them a lot more water. So when the kitchen cactus started putting out buds last week, I started giving it more water. I'm afraid a christmas cactus blooming in February may mean we have six months more of winter. . . I called the new company, the order did go through. Their application process fizzled but saved my info. All things being equal, these folks are only .01 cent cheaper than the power rate I could negotiate with my current company, negligible as far as my bill is concerned. I'm switching because the new company has a clearer bill with a graph of what you spent in the 12 previous months. Obviously they won't have the other company's info to do that right away, but over a year, and if their prices stay competitive, this might be the company I'll keep longer. The Stupor Bowl is going to be here in a couple of weeks, so everything we're doing at work seems to be referenced around that--they'll be making use of our parking on campus for some of the staging during the day. My ex works in downtown Fort Worth and is trying to figure a strategy to get to work without mortgaging his house to pay for the parking. (He insists he doesn't want to ride the bus, but that sounds like a fine idea to me!) I have to be in town several times next week, one of those times puts me near ground zero, where they're closing streets and setting up pavilions and such. I've put a call in to my hairdresser to ask if there is a preferred route to reach her. Private helicopter, perhaps. :-/ SRS |
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25 Jan 11 - 01:15 PM (#3082199) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Up to 11F so far today. Every degree it goes up outside means another degree in the kitchen - up to 60 now! Upstairs is a bit warmer but nothing is up there yet - except the tree which did not freeze. The only heat up there WAS from down here - why it is cold down here; it all was going up!. Tree seems quite happy. Rob is working on the hole in the kitchen ceiling so the whole room is in a mess - bits of styrofoam and dry wall. He brought down a bucket of water -NO water down here today - and I can wash a few things. I have a couple gallons of distilled water for tea and cooking. Breakfast the the remains of last night's supper. I cleaned up the major debris from the ceiling and am staying out of the way. Took books to library. Maybe I will just finish the current one and keep warm today. And start another pot of soup. Yesterday's is almost gone. Oops, and go to the store for more veggies. Will do. Also research instruction booklet for air cleaners. Poor things are working hard with all this dust. They might need new filters. Also need to order more green tea from Frontier and tinctures from Eclectic. Here I go... |
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25 Jan 11 - 03:09 PM (#3082264) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Michelle, I'd have someone else do the binder. It would be too soon and bring up PTSD symptoms which I didn't even realise I had until last year's depression and start of therapy. NOT saying that is where you are at, but just a caution. kat |
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25 Jan 11 - 03:41 PM (#3082281) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: GUEST,mg Plus you might have papers all spread out and baby thinks they are lunch, toys etc...mg |
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25 Jan 11 - 04:17 PM (#3082310) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage That paperwork does present a challenge - it's very personal, so whoever sorts it needs to try to go by the dates, subject, however you want it organized, without reading all of the details, or on an emotional front, being swamped by it. At the same time, it needs to be done because if there is one thing that most of us know, insurance companies yank you around. You need your documentation in order for when they mess up on paying a bill. After my cancer surgery (which happened quickly and involved a lot of different doctors, anesthesia, etc.) the stupid hospital turned me over to a collection agency for a bill I didn't know that the insurance company hadn't paid and I never received. It finally took a conference call between the three of us for the insurance company and hospital to get down off of their respective high horses and settle the matter. I didn't owe the money and was annoyed at what could have been a black mark on my credit. Today I'm annoyed by what seems to be a stye in my left eye. Hard to keep from poking at it (even with a hanky if my eye tears). I need a nap. SRS |
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25 Jan 11 - 06:44 PM (#3082406) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: GUEST,mg There might be a medical records way that is preferred as to how to do this..chronologically? By specialty? By insurerer? I don't know but it might be worth asking people to research this for you..and even hiring someone with a medical records background to get it in preferred order. And for someone looking for a part-time supplemental income...there sure is a need for this sort of assistance, as well as seeing things are paid, etc. mg |
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25 Jan 11 - 11:42 PM (#3082513) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I think I arranged my bills by who sent them, and then in each of those categories they were chronological. And there were tons of them, even for my 2 relatively little surgeries (vs the chemo and followup that Michelle has experienced.) Then I could pick up the folder for that provider when I made my calls. And of course the insurance company swamped me with paper along with all of the bills, so they had their own folder. How about starting with asigning a folder for each entity, then sort the stack by who goes in what folder, simply based upon the type of paper, print type, etc. Don't read it, just put like forms together. You get to where you recognize who sent what by the stationary and form design (if this stuff is separated from the envelopes). Big sort now, file each of them in order later. Then add to the folders when new stuff arrives, don't let it build up. I remember now - I created an excel spreadsheet. Once the papers are in order, you could put them in a spread sheet, then refer to that when needed. Do only as much as you can comfortably handle, then set it aside for a while. But don't forget to come back, you have to keep these folks on task sometimes. SRS |
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26 Jan 11 - 07:44 AM (#3082635) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: GUEST,Bizibod Try rubbing stye gently but frequently with gold ring. It's an old wives remedy, don't know why it should work but it has for me over the years. Here in UK there is a cream "Golden Eye Ointment "- see the gold connection- never had to use it, but it's formulated for styes. Hope yours is shortlived. |
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26 Jan 11 - 02:31 PM (#3082833) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg LF, This is an expansion on the KISS/Easy Does It philosphy. At the Red Cross we sorted all bills by date due, because there was often a $$ incentive to pay by a certain date. Since medical goes into your credit reports, it's a good idea to keep dates foremost. (And sometimes a loan to pay a biggie off at once is actually cheaper than the vendor's revolving finance charge, if you have to let an item sit unpaid for a long time.) Office supply folks have sorter-thingies (accordian files) tabbed by dates or A-Z; I have an old one I have re-tabbed many times for different uses at different times. (Now I use removable tabs I get at the office supply place.) When I was a file clerk for Shell Oil customer billing-- back when paper was actually used and KEPT, for every credit card use at a gas station, oy!-- we similarly depended on accordian sorters to make fast sense of a large pile of paper. After the first sort-- which really, truly only takes a few minutes-- you would sub-sort the items that you have put in each pocket. ("Pay now," "Pay Soon," "File," "Toss" because already paid-- or whatever categories you choose for your first, meta-sort.) I use a highlighter when I open the financial mail to make it easy to spot the account info or due date I will need to spot, later, because every damn invoice has their info in a different place. Anyway-- to keep a large and unpleasant job manageable, what you do is sort first in a meta-category sort, and then break it down, pile by pile whenever you can stand to do it, into smaller sub-categories. So you should only need to spread it all out LATER after you deal with it-- for now you just would sort it off its current pile into some sort of sorting thingie. Ninety percent of it you will throw away all too soon-- burn it to prevent ID theft!-- so making file folders NOW is a waste of time and paper. I have helped friends (and they have helped me) when one of us has had this kind of pile to deal with-- just a second person QUIETLY sitting by in case baby, door, or dog need fast attention.... or a second pair of hands to bring piles or scribble notes... a QUIET person who is not in need of attention that day-- and can just barter it-- is best. The kind who can sit comfortably in the midst of a mess and not try to make it look neat at the expense of YOUR needs. ~Susan |
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26 Jan 11 - 04:10 PM (#3082907) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Kat, I'm pretty sure that's why I keep putting it off, I just don't want to re-live it all. I have plans to start it later tonight. Bit by bit. It just NEEDS to be done. I can do this...I just don't want to. :p Today I did some chores, made a pot roast complete with LOADS of carrots (which I love), onions and potatoes. The washing machine and bathroom sink drains have finally thawed out. It's amazing how much laundry piles up in just a few days. It'll take me a day or two to catch up. My husband had he day off so really we've been hanging out mostly and playing with the baby. I made Manwich (with lean beef, as much fat was drained and rinsed off as possible) and cauliflower. It went together really well, the vinegar of the Manwich with the bland cauliflower (ok..some garlic). Michelle |
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26 Jan 11 - 05:31 PM (#3082963) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy My pharmacist daughter told me to use Goldeneye when I had a stye. There's also Brolene. Don't know what they'd call 'em over the pond. However she did also say that styes often get better in time by themselves. Sorted the bookshelves a bit more today and unpacked the photo albums, while waiting for the man to come and fit a new electricity meter. I took a few very old children's books and a couple of special editions to Barter Books in Alnwick (where you can trade in books and get credit to buy others - it's massive, in an old railway station). I have £38 credit now! Andrea |
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26 Jan 11 - 06:47 PM (#3083010) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg LF. Pardon me: A woman strong enough to beat cancer this far is strong enough to sort some paper without reliving it all! You choose where to put your attention, as we have so often discussed. If you put your attention on the fact that YOU ARE ALIVE to DO it, the sorting will probably go pretty easily. ~Susan |
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26 Jan 11 - 06:55 PM (#3083016) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Turns out the eye problem was an early case of pink eye and my doctor's office gave me an ointment for it. Susan, that's a great idea about the highlighter on the bills. Several times I accidentally paid the wrong amount (adding the penalty because that was the most prominent number). I got credits, that wasn't a problem, but it's better to get it right the first try. Highlighter would fix that. I want to report a little about this book Getting Things Done (mentioned above). I haven't named the author because you can look her up, but I kind of want this thread to fly under the radar, if someone "out there" Googles the author. The title alone is less likely to pull this to the top of a search; Amazon has that covered. As I read this book I'm realizing that our almost-two years of decluttering intentions, while they do represent real progress, also illustrate classic procrastination scenarios. We all know that, and that's a feature of procrastination for most people, they're aware to some extent that this is going on. The author notes that the term itself has a negative connotation, akin to "lazy," but it isn't the same thing in any shape or fashion. We're always busy, but often the things keeping us busy aren't what we really need to do. This book approaches procrastination from a perspective called cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT. IT is a type of psychotherapy that has been proven effective in the treatment of a variety of disorders such as depression and anxiety. The anxiety we feel regarding things we know we should have done is self-inflicted, though there are many times when we know we can get away with procrastination and there are few or no consequences. That doesn't mean we aren't bothered by it. We pay a late fee, turn a paper in a little late. The IRS gives you an extension if you haven't finished your taxes in time, etc. Though we can get away with it a lot, we keep reminding ourselves of our own shortcomings until these tasks are finished. (These are examples she gives.) The first chapter asks the question "Why Do I Procrastinate?" and gives us a look at what happens. Procrastination occurs when you start a task like paying your bills and the nfind yourself cleaning out a drawer instead. It's also those times when you find yourself spending more time getting ready to do a task, like straightening up your office before you work, than actually doing the work. It is like driving down the road toward your destination then turning off in another direction at the last moment. "Procrastination is a roadblock on your life path. It slows your progress and sometimes takes you off course altogether." Hitting the snooze button repeatedly, but then having your brain race as you think about all of the stuff you have to do during the day. There is a level of that "guilt and self-loathing" that goes on. "While we are procrastinating we are watching ourselves do it. We are criticizing the behavior. We are filled with guilt for putting things off. There are a series of small quizzes (five questions each) that help you see where you do it most, a little, or at all, and when I run that quiz I see that I need to work on most, but not all, of this. This is a problem. The book is broken down into chapters based upon the sections of the quiz; I think that if I work through the shortcuts she offers to start changing my behavior that it will impact more than one category at a time. (The quizzes are General Characteristics, Avoidant Type, Disorganized Type, Self-Doubting Type, Interpersonal Type, All-or-Nothing Type, Pleasure-seeking Type). Where does this take my decluttering? It means I need to look at my lists, and not simply stop at making the list. And I need to tackle some of the bigger things without letting the little ones distract me. It means taking strategies I've figured out for myself and learn how to make them more effective. And I think it means drawing better lines between work time and non-work time. It all tends to be work time. SRS |
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26 Jan 11 - 07:44 PM (#3083042) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine Thanks for the interesting observations, SRS. I've come to recognize that distractions are a problem for me, too. One thing that works (to some degree) is getting everything assembled into a "prep" area ahead of time. I may not get to it right away, but at least everything is ready when I finally decide that the time is right to tackle it. That helped when I was getting ready to paint the kitchen last summer. Maryanne |
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26 Jan 11 - 07:49 PM (#3083043) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Funny you should bring up CBT today as I had an interesting conversation about this just yesterday. Cognitive based therapy vs. Acceptance & Commitment. Michelle |
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27 Jan 11 - 09:10 AM (#3083303) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg I do not think I have been procrastinating for the time we've been doing this; on the contrary I have been marching thru a series of major decluts and keeping the new habits well within my daily routine. But CBT is a great approach that may help with other stuff, now that I can GET to it due to having organized my time around my goals. ~Susan |
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27 Jan 11 - 09:33 AM (#3083316) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Not everyone, but there are a lot of us who find ourselves washing dishes instead of doing some bigger task that really does need concentration and attention. And we don't all occupy the same point on the sliding scale of how often and and troublesome this behavior is for us. I find it to be a problem. Sounds like some heavy weather has moved over the top of some of our folks. Stay warm and dry, all! SRS |
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27 Jan 11 - 09:59 AM (#3083328) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy Procrastination and Prevarication are my middle names! Andrea |
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27 Jan 11 - 10:03 AM (#3083332) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy However... I took 6 more boxes and packing paper to the tip this morning. I rang 2 builders this afternoon (and had to leave messages) plus the planning officer to ask about the archaeological survey (she wasn't there either, so I emailed her instead). Andrea (just chilling now as I ache from morris on Tuesday, and it's Zumba tonight...plus a ceilidh tomorrow) |
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27 Jan 11 - 11:49 AM (#3083394) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Feels like a spring day! 26 F today. Kitchen still a mess. "Could you please...?" Hopefully today. He did not finish K before starting on hole in ceiling of powder room. However, it has helped; I know because the upstairs bathroom is no longer warm from heat escaping through the holes! But it's OK and the upstairs sitting room is warm enough. The tree is very happy. The beautiful blue velvet Victorian sofa, upstairs, now has three beautiful-on-it pillows which were clutter downstairs. I almost took them to thrift shop but something held me back. I don't know where Rob dragged them in from, a few months ago, and several others, dragged in, went to the shop but these are deep burgundy with goldish embroidery... There is a not-Victorian armchair up there. "Did this come out of the trash?" "I LOVE that chair!!" I will have to find a throw for the very ugly-to-me but, apparently, very comfortable chair! Rob had to rush off and do business related stuff today. I showed him SRS' posts on Getting things Done. He will read "anything"! All I have to do is put it in front of him. Last night he read back through posts and saw mine. "It sounds like we are indoor camping?" "We are." I do think those posts of SRS' are helpful. They address the whole situation so well. I have done what I planned on Tuesday. Yesterday, I was car-less. Rob needed it to get to work but did not bring it back at 2 pm as I suggested. About 6 he wandered in and we visited with my sister in law on Skype. Then he went off again. Still no car. So I made chili (vegan), something I have not done since I had a luncheonette in 76-77. It came to me in a flash of light, I found a recipe on line and put it together for our late supper. It is excellent. Rob suggested I make it for Sunday's potluck. Nice change from gingered chick peas! During the afternoon, I finished the last novel in my pile, did FB stuff, took a de-tox bath and was in recovery when Skyped. I am comfortable with what I am getting done. Today I will be able to put more stuff into shed - necessary to keep but not indoors. Also take out the burgeoning compost. Nothing like a spring day to energize one. Hopefully my car will return so I can get needed veggies and some other items. Also need to go to the library. When work is done in K, I will clean up mess and put it back into the closest possible semblance of order. I keep adding things to the big bag for thrift shop but have not gotten out that way. Upstairs will slowly come together. Rob hopes to have his new office by next Tuesday's visit from OT. Dominique gives us both hope/support and him a better sense of goals. Noted Andrea's long trip for plumbing supplies! Living in the city does have some advantages. But I sure would have loved a wood stove this week! Off to the shed, I go! |
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27 Jan 11 - 02:34 PM (#3083495) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy All being well, if Ernie at the stove shop gets his act together, I should have one next week (smug mode engaged!) Andrea - Who is now going to go soak her Zumba'd body in a hot bath. Half the class disappears into the local WW meeting down the road straight afterwards! |
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27 Jan 11 - 03:59 PM (#3083560) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Spent two hours re-organizing/checking boxes in the shed. Climbing around over boxes and moving them into their own category area, I was thankful that the shed is strong enough for me to use the structural pieces for assistance, carefully. Found things which have been on my list for a while. Also took out all the stuff that could go out there and found space that did not interfere with continued organizing. Brought in some useful items and found space for most before lunch. Now I am watching the wonderful Little Mosque on the Prairie. Then I will phone Rob to see if I can recoup my car so I can shop and go to the library. |
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27 Jan 11 - 06:15 PM (#3083650) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre More laundry for me today, dishes done, etc. I did not sit down with all the medical paperwork yet but it's simmering in my thoughts and I now give it a passing glance and thought as I walk by. It will happen soon. Had lunch with a friend today who hasn't seen me since my hair really started coming in..that was kind of fun! I cleaned out my car and part of the bathroom too. Leftover pot roast with carrots and baked potato here for dinner here. Any remaining meat and veggies will be made into soup tomorrow...my favorite part! I also did some rearranging in the living room as Jeremiah is crawling and exploring like crazy. I turned his pack and play sideways to block the slider, the dog bed is blocking the stairway, his hoppy is blocking the glass door on the entertainment center, a fireplace screen is blocking the pellet stove..it's a regular maze around here. No matter. My little one is happy and safe! :) Michelle |
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27 Jan 11 - 07:35 PM (#3083695) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Dorothy, I'm glad these remarks were useful! The author challenges we procrastinators to not put the book down after the first chapter, but to leave it in plain sight, even "keep it in the bathroom and read it when you have time to spare." Now isn't that a euphemism! But I do read in there quite often. ;-D I've checked in at Mudcat a couple of times today, but I know that once I start writing in the thread, I am totally distracted from what I was doing before. As I start out the program in the book, I figured I'd better keep my visits brief. I finished two projects today that I've been working on for a week or more. And I saw myself doing it - this is like the fish suddenly able to see the water it swims in. I pulled up two documents this afternoon that I had to merge into one announcement. As I pulled them up I had a mental "ugg!" thought, and found myself doing the old routine of getting up out of my chair (which would NORMALLY lead to heading into the kitchen for something to drink, swinging by the back door and give the dogs a pat, and off to who knows where before getting back to the computer). The thing that comes out early in the first chapter of shortcuts and techniques is what I would simply call "Name it when you see it." I saw myself turning away from a boring task and gave myself the opportunity to get a drink of water then come back in and sit down and actually do the boring task. And this is the second of these today. So though these are baby steps right now, I do feel good that I finished these two uninteresting but necessary projects. I also had a personal task to do, I'm still juggling phones for my son. He needs the extra alarms on the newer model of the phone I had here for the house, so I swapped out the account so that phone that is now in the mail (posted at lunchtime) is the one that he will use, and I have an older phone put back into service for the house number. I use it rarely and I don't need those alarms, etc. I made myself do all of that - from contacting the phone company and switching the phones - to the postal end of things - all in one fell swoop. I'm not reformed yet, but it feels like it was a good day. I have things to do around the house and for myself this evening, so lets see how the "name it when you see it" policy works for chore avoidance. SRS |
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27 Jan 11 - 08:52 PM (#3083738) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Phone call worked. R came home for lunch (4 pm), drove me to my car. Hey, my first ride in the "new" truck. it is so much better riding in something one does not expect to fall apart any minute! Then a quick trip to the library, which was closing soon. Then minimal groceries. I'll do more tomorrow. Supper is cooking. We are watching David Suzuki's two hour program on the Alberta tar sands, a crime against the native people and the entire planet. The newspaper reporter whom I asked about doing an article on raccoons, responded that h would be delighted. He met Frick when doing an article on the story behind R's assault. Another reporter whom I contacted responded with phone number re Steiner school. Ask and... I feel good about these things. I DID it. |
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27 Jan 11 - 09:06 PM (#3083741) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage I've looked down on the tar sands in Google Earth. It's huge and toxic - what a waste, and all of that oil is probably consumed in the U.S. by folks who don't have a clue about the environmental mess to get it. Laundry and some repotting of stuff on the potting table I moved into the house last month. It is handy, but I have to remind myself to do something with that dresser sooner rather than later, or I'll be back to difficulty reaching things, like when the grizzly bear rug lived in there. This evening I pulled together a couple of paperwork things I've been moving around and putting off. Definitely procrastinating on calling and updating insurance again. My mortgage tyrants always insist flood be at same level as house replacement, but the upgrade isn't built into the flood policy. Every year the address a flyspeck of a problem with a sledgehammer of a letter and a draconian solution if I don't respond quickly enough. No wonder I put that one off--as one of the quizzes suggests, I don't like to be told what to do! My watchdog reporter suggests in his book (I read it last year then reviewed it) that you give yourself 15 minutes a day to tackle these things that you'll soon put many things that bug you to rest. So that's what I'll do tomorrow. SRS |
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28 Jan 11 - 12:20 AM (#3083804) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage not "the address" but "they address." Filed some things, now I'm off to bed to read a little. SRS |
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28 Jan 11 - 09:26 AM (#3084016) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: maire-aine Whine alert! I've had it with winter. I'm tired of shovelling snow (granted, we haven't had nearly as much as the folks on the US east coast). My boots make my bunion hurt, so I can't even go out walking. I want winter over with, soon. Thank you. End of whining. Maryanne |
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28 Jan 11 - 10:08 AM (#3084055) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Understood, Maryanne! It's way better down here and I'm ready for spring to encroach on winter. In the self-improvement exercises, I clearly heard the procrastination dialog this morning when the alarm went off: "Hit the snooze button just once, that's all, just once, you won't feel so sleepy in 7 minutes." Hit it a couple of times before I made myself stop doing that. Aarrgggh! |
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28 Jan 11 - 04:17 PM (#3084274) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall SRS:You may be interested in this site which the Canadian Quakers have posted on the tar sands. It is interesting to me that the TV in the USA and Canada are so very different. We watched Suzuki's program last night - two hours on the tar sands. What a horror and a travesty. http://qewnet.ning.com/forum/topics/alberta-tarsands-background?commentId=2579847%3AComment%3A5641 I just finished watching Little Mosque on the Prairie, a wonderful show about small town life in the Canadian midwest - where Muslims and Christians live in relative harmony. It is shown in 80 countries so I was surprised when I posted a comment on FB and a friend (US) thought I was making a joke. It has been on four years and is tremendously popular. Talked with someone, at length, this morning about the article on raccoon care. She and her husband rescued them for years. So today, I went to thrift shop, took big bag of stuff and came home with four useful items. Also bought some groceries. I wonder if this particular store refers to me as Ms. 50% off as I usually only buy things which are marked down. Very helpful to the budget. I only go there for that reason. Another springlike day! However, I have no illusions. We had snow on 7-8 May last year, after a mild winter. So I shall enjoy this but Saturday is downhill again. At least our water is thawed. I took another detox bath today since I felt so much better after the last one and felt not as good today. The dust does get to me. The ceilings still need work; R has had to focus on business. I killed a lamb's wool sweater while the cold was off in the laundry. It was WARM! But I have other warm sweaters. Oh well. I keep up with laundry daily and the dishes. Bills always get paid but I don't have many. My environmental sensitivity is my only health issue; I depend on a friend and what I have learned myself over the years to keep that under control - hence the detoxing. NOW, get dressed, read for awhile. Cafe tonight for our social musical event of the week. |
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29 Jan 11 - 11:34 AM (#3084704) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Saturday and it's warm and sunny. I'm working in the house this morning, then headed out to lunch with friends. When I return, I'll do some yard work. Last night I dusted around the whole house with my industrial dust mop. I hadn't used it for years, the cats peed on it a couple of times so it was washed and put away (there are no cats now). SRS |
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29 Jan 11 - 12:44 PM (#3084742) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy It's 2C here ar the moment, and it's starting to get dark. Somebody was mumbling about the proper cold weather coming back next week...Lovely! I got sick of shovelling last month. We're clear at the moment. I don't want any more Winter! Yesterday felt like Spring. then we had a hard frost last night, and it hasn't really warmed up much all day. Anyway...had a builder round today. A local bloke. He did the estimate about 4 years ago, but can't remember what it was. However, he knows the architect, and how the planning regs all work. He's going to get as much info as he can, and says he'll probably get the quote to me in a ccouple of weeks. The going rate for new builds is about £1000 per square metre of floor. I have a 2 storey building with, as a guesstimate, about 25-30sq.m. Then there will be the cost of getting all the demolition off, and materials onto the site, as the access isn't very easy. He reckons the prics shouldn't be a lot different to what he quoted before, as materials and labour costs haven't changed much (although the VAT has just gone up to 20%). One thing though, I liked him as a person, which is a good start, I suppose. Andrea |
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29 Jan 11 - 05:12 PM (#3084875) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Very busy at the regional recycling depot when I went by to drop off a big bag of stuff. I had to wait in line about 15 minutes to get into the place. My village is now accepting quite a few recyclables, so I'll start taking them over there more and take just the items that they don't take over to Fort Worth. I swung by the swap area and found a dozen terracotta flower pots to use to start seeds for my garden bedding plants. Sprinkled a bag full of flower seeds that a co-worker brought in for a gardener's exchange two autumns ago. I figure most of them will still be viable, and after the scraping the village public works guys did under the trees in the wild area across the road from me this week, it needs something! By scattering them I cleared a bag out stuff out of my sun room. It's 76o today, so the only reason I'm in right now is that I'm giving my eye a few minutes to stop feeling so smeary after putting in one of today's doses of ointment. I have several eBay items to fool with this evening, particularly if I can find the boxes they originally came in. Looks like a trip to the attic. I'm sure I kept them. SRS |
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30 Jan 11 - 05:55 PM (#3085504) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg I think I finally have the energy-hogging spare fridge emptied this time, to be hauled away as soon as I can arrange it. It was ancient when we moved in here and time has not improved it a bit. The newer, efficient freezer and the less-bulk-type shopping we do now means we do not need the overflow space anymore. Later this evening we're FreeCycling=-in two kitteh-condos to help the warring felines reach equilibrium. The latest cat added is not willing to be friends with the two here-first cats, who do love to snuggle together. This will provide the UP space Katy is longing to occupy. One of the condos will go in the snugglers-only zone-- replacing a couch that I believe will soon need to yield space to a workout machine we're looking at for ME. That couch was nice to sleep on, but it's past time for buh-bye to it. Keeping the cushions for dog beds and the couch will join the porch-nappers department. The other, taller condo (two sections) will come into the main house. This FC also includes a pack of nice notecards also-- I go thru so many that I can never seem to keep up a supply! ~Susan |
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30 Jan 11 - 06:57 PM (#3085547) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage This procrastinator reform process can be a bit wrenching - conflicting voices, the old "you don't need to do it now" one is doing battle with "if you do it now, you won't need to worry about it later and you can enjoy some free time for once." But I have made progress. I read a bit yesterday and again today, and I'll share a few points. She says to "stop the 'shoulds'" by rewording the internal dialog. For example "I should stop procrastinating" -> "I will feel better about myself if I make some progress." I should be on top of things -> "I like feeling organized." These and several others are intended to help the readers push themselves into doing the activity they are considering ignoring. They're also meant to help stop the self-critical tone we may have learned from parents or teachers or others in childhood ("you're lazy!") and have internalized as adults. Negative emotions like guilt and negative thinking like self-criticism can affect your actions. They keep procrastination going instead of stopping it. . . . You can increase your chances of overcoming your tendency to procrastinate if you can get past the haibit of beating yourself up. And the one that I have been the master of for way too long: Stop Making Excuses. This is the next chapter, I've just started. I've been aware assigning blame to everything but myself. Too many red lights made me late, waiting for the kids made me late, finding a parking space made me late . . . things misplaced, when if I'd simply put them in the correct file folder when they arrived, or paid it when it arrived (of course, having the money is a limiting factor on this one) would have made things easier. I have to go walk the dogs. This is good for them and for me, and so the last point I'll make is that as I work through the chapters in this, I realize that the work I do in one area is also happening in others. And I need to make time for myself as much as I do for everything else I've been putting off. So it's out the door with the girls for a sunset walk on this pretty evening. SRS |
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31 Jan 11 - 12:51 AM (#3085683) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage The walk with the dogs was wonderful, we were out for about 30 minutes and did some of the cross-country travel that they adore. We headed into the woods near my house, came out on the other side past the new houses, and walked up the hill and back down to the house. This evening I finished the last of the paperwork for my tax preparation. It took a while to line up the numbers for the various donations to Goodwill, our local charity shop/thrift store (I keep photos of everything I donate, and a few were difficult to find- until I remembered they were eBay photos of things that didn't sell). During the search I was able to tidy my computer photo files and I'll defrag the computer this week after so much clearing out. I dumped several gig of duplicate files and working files I don't need any more. Feels good! So, I have several appointments this week and I will remind myself that it is just as easy to be on time as it is to be late. And I'll remind myself that it is nice to finish things and move onto new projects, rather than let old ones nag at me. This includes the taxes - I'll start them tomorrow evening. There's no saying that they'll go fast, but it isn't a complicated year like some, when there were divorces or estates or lots of medical bills. SRS |
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31 Jan 11 - 02:44 AM (#3085706) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: mouldy This is a week when I can see myself staying in quite a bit, as I am expecting Ernie for the stove "early" this week, and Brian for the loft hatch. No time and day for either of them. Both said they'd ring to say when they were coming. However, having had a visit to Marks and Spencer yesterday, I have decided to have the first wardrobe de-clutter of this house. Andrea |
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31 Jan 11 - 09:36 AM (#3085846) Subject: BackBlog: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg This will probably sound to some like it was procrastinating, but it wasn't-- this denominational life has a rhythm I know well and work with. This is the time I have waited for, to update a blog I tend for someone else. I have a pile of raw material to edit and post, and then I will be training that person whose blog it is to post his own updates in future. Why there is a backlog-- LOL, backBLOG-- is because we knew there would be little or no traffic there until the site that points to it got more traffic, which is occurring now due to other site work there that is near completion (mostly search engine optimization). The BEST paRT OF THIS IS THAT THE GOALS WE SET FOR THAT SITE ARE REACHING FRUITION, sorry capslock ... with a couple of new volunteers to help gather and submit content for the site, about to be trained to come on board. A structure for that took some time to mature and I'm thrilled that as soon as it was possible, the BEST peeps to carry on that part of the job immediately came forward (because sometimes that step takes years). So it's going to be FUN to slog thru the backBlog stuff because I CAN see the light at the end of that tunnel and it is not a train running at me, but a clear view to the other responsibilities that have been warming up on the front burner. Anyway later I'll post at least a word count on the backBlog and have a clue how long it will take to post it all. ~Susan |
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31 Jan 11 - 10:41 AM (#3085884) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: LilyFestre Today I am measuring the area between the living room and the hallway. We have a post and beam house and as such, it is very open which is lovely and part of the reason we so loved this house when we purchased it. However, Jeremiah is now exploring freely which keeps me running. It's WONDERFUL that he is exploring, crawling, growing and just about walking but naturally we want to keep him safe. So. We will be putting up a half wall between the living room and hallway so as to create a door way area that can be gated to keep him in one room. The side of the wall facing the living room will be wainscoated. The top will be hand planed oak from Pete's grandfather's homestead. The side facing the hallway will be shelves that have a door to keep anything on the shelf free of dust and dog hair. My goal for the week is to empty the living room of anything that is not essential. Pretty things can be boxed up or moved to our bedroom. Videos/CDs/DVDs can go to my office. Magazine baskets will be sorted, unwanted stuff going to the House Of Care where people have nothing to do but wait for an appointment, procedure or loved one....reading material is always welcomed. Both baby and mama are bathed and dressed before 10:00am...a record around here! I did some major coupon clipping and sorting last night and during the baby's naptime, I'll match up the coupon to the sales. Later today we go grocery shopping. The only thing in my cart that will not be on sale is milk. Tonight I am looking forward to a class in finance. :) I'm interested in a new perspective. I am contemplating a swing by my dear friend Tracy's house as I have a mountain of baby pictures for her that she has patiently been waiting for. Jeremiah and I will also start to make our Valentines today. :) Michelle |
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31 Jan 11 - 04:35 PM (#3086114) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg About 4000 words later, the blog is updated with all the entries I had received, and the training elements and process have been determined. (The date for that is later this week.) There are probably still more entries I will receive to be woven in-- but hopefully not on the puder with the hard disk that is about to crash, because the work itself went much faster than the CPU did. OTOH it WAS nice to be back in the home office with doggeh, sun, and lunch-- and I finished a good book waiting for the CPU to catch up! :~) ~S~ |
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31 Jan 11 - 06:55 PM (#3086227) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Michelle, I think all of us with kids have been watching to see when the day would come that you'd have to start moving stuff up, getting the gates, locks, covers, etc that go with a roving baby. I'm glad to see he's developing normally, but it does mean you're really on your toes for a while as he explores his world. :) Dropped my truck at the dealer for some work. I've been smelling gas, something you're not supposed to unless maybe you're at the gas station. Hopefully I'll get it back tomorrow, but with the weather headed our way, it might not be until Wednesday. The switch on my electricity provider went through, and a note came from the state board that oversees these things (They're in place in case someone grabs accounts without proper authority.) Insurance taken care of. That's the financial housecleaning that needed doing. Now for some scanning. SRS |
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01 Feb 11 - 01:13 AM (#3086389) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage The awful weather is headed this way. But about sunrise we'll know if school and work is canceled or if the weather missed us. Prediction is getting so good now that they can almost tell you the hour the rain will start. Dishes are finished - I was going to put them off, but that line about doing things because there isn't a right time for a lot of these chores that will ever happen. I did them tonight so it will be a clean kitchen in the morning. I didn't start taxes tonight - yes, I put it off, but I did other things. Tomorrow the taxes are first thing if work is canceled, otherwise it is an evening activity. The dog houses have been emptied and fresh was installed. Their heater is on, and tonight they'll be fine, it'll start getting really cold tomorrow during the day, with the coldest weather overnight on Tuesday and Wednesday. They'll come in the house those nights or if the days are really cold. I had to use the neti pot to rise the dust and hay out of my sinuses, and I've still been sneezing. I can hear the rain, it's time to go to bed to hear it on the roof and window. SRS |
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01 Feb 11 - 02:37 PM (#3086748) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg I have the rest of the backBlog material now, and have edited/titled about a dozen entries (about another 5000 words). If the ice doesn't knock out the 'net tomorrow I'll get them UP. Then there are a few more whose content I can plunder for other uses. ~S~ |
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01 Feb 11 - 03:52 PM (#3086784) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall That is an awful lot of words to deal with, S.!!! I had an opening on Sunday. It occurred to me that although I have many bits of paper around with ideas and, also, partly started writings, I am not getting it done. Is it important? I went through the thought process of "If I wait for a clear leading, or to be "kicked by God", I might never get anything done. That Quaker saying, "way will open when I get out of my own way" is on my mind. Also the consideration of why we do things. The bank manager will not wait for a clear leading before one pays their mortgage! But, that aside, Why do I do things? What is important to me? Is this procrastination or simply a detour that I have been following? More the latter than the former, I believe. I say, "I'm retired. I don't have to do anything!" That is largely true. However, I pay the few bills because it is necessary. I buy food and cook meals because I want Robin to be as healthy as possible (and me). I am actually learning to cook again after years of being alone, cooking healthy but bare essentials. R is willing to eat the same thing everyday, as am I, but, I have found, he enjoys different things also. So I, who used to cook for 25-50 with no effort, am re-looking at that aspect. The veggie chili has been a big hit, both at home and at the potluck. Encouragement - which we each need. Today I printed out the recipe and put it in a plastic sleeve, with others, that were floating around loose, on the opposite side. And there was a page of cranberry recipes floating so I used another sleeve for those. And then put the sleeves and some other items where they are meant to live, where I will find them more easily next time. Organized food stuffs in the K and some other items around the house, trying to get as organized as currently possible. Realized, not for the first time, the more I get done, the more I get done. The corollary is that the less I do, the less I feel like doing. The K ceiling is closed in. I had to leave home on Saturday to avoid the dust so I shopped at the market and then read in the car. It was not too bad when I got home but we went out for supper so the dust could get sucked up by the air cleaner. Sunday, Rob went to smooth the plaster and the dust gave me a headache in five minutes. I went ballistic. Realized that I perceive dust as "my worst enemy". I have been sicker from dust inhalation than anything else, by far. To the point where seeing dust on TV would make my gut start to knot and I had to talk to myself, "It's only on TV!" The rest of Sunday was a relaxed day, after meeting, potluck and a meeting to consider the role of the clerk, we came home with a f/Friend who has become quite special to us and we just sat and talked, with tea and cheese and crackers. We agreed to do this more often. She was our first invited guest. We knew she could deal with our indoor camping, non-judgmentally. I asked Rob to put off refining the plastering until we get to the actual "remodeling" of the K. It occurs to me that I need to start thinking about what that new K could look like. Add this to the other tasks that I WANT to get done. Doing things because they are important to me, therefore, I need to do them because I want to do them. Because I will feel good - more contented, more fulfilled, more useful.... I thought this morning that I am waking up from a long nap. It is time to wake up and start pedaling instead of just coasting along. I might be around this land for another 20 years. I can't just sit and read novels! I can't because that is not the way I WANT to SPEND my life. The last few days, I have had tolerable conversations with toxic bro who has stopped phoning too early and too late. I must email him and thank him. Also, if I copy these posts to file, "Stuff of life", it will give me a handle on where I am right now when I come to write more for myself later. |
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01 Feb 11 - 04:12 PM (#3086802) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: katlaughing Also, if I copy these posts to file, "Stuff of life", it will give me a handle on where I am right now when I come to write more for myself later. That's a great idea, Dorothy! Also, I would be careful sending a note of thanks to toxic brother. From my own experience, it was seen as a boundary being re-opened and they went right back to being intolerable. Positive feedback/re-enforcement doesn't always work. I took a few days off from all electronic media. In the meantime, we kept up our usual weekly chores and I did a couple of rounds of qi gong as well as rested a lot. Still only back on a ltd. basis for a while longer. |
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01 Feb 11 - 05:56 PM (#3086838) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: wysiwyg That is an awful lot of words to deal with, S.!!! What I enjoy about it is also what makes it hard to deal with-- whenever I copy-edit, I go into the reality of the writer-- have to, to make any adjustments that fit the voice of the author. Sometimes it's hard to back out of that reality and get back into present-time, but it's always worth the trip and I always learn much more than I give in the work. I also find that I am well into the realities of the people who will ultimately read the material-- what will they pick up on, wonder about, care about, etc. In this case I found out that a good number of pieces to work with at a time would have been 4 or 5-- not 10-12! :~) But the backlog is well on its way to being done, and they will not pile up again, now that I have been able to identify another volunteer and the process to follow. DP, if I might offer an observation-- you seem to be traveling at warp speed. I'm impressed. You seem to know your own process quite well. ~Susan |
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01 Feb 11 - 06:49 PM (#3086873) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Stilly River Sage Here is the February thread. |
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01 Feb 11 - 08:55 PM (#3086925) Subject: RE: BS: Welcome 2011: Declutter & Accountability From: Dorothy Parshall Thanks, S. I need to keep those thoughts handy to keep up a momentum. Kat, I have not yet felt led to send that email. I hear you! The schism between bro and me is very hard on Rob, a peacekeeper. Bro is in some ways fragile, but in others a steamroller. I will give the situation time to season some more. It sure is wonderful not to hear the phone at 8 am when bedtime was 2! Decluttering is also getting rid of extraneous and/or unnecessary distractions/disruptions. Because I need silence so much, I am fairly good at that but Rob has been trained since birth to cope with bro. I am a trainer/mother/therapist/coach. Rob answers the phone less and hangs up more often because I have encouraged it. I actually set out on a training sort of program: training Rob not to answer the phone if he does not want to, to hang up if bro becomes abusive. I turn off the ringer on our home phone for the night. If he is desperate, bro can leave a message on home phone and we hear it; if it is a crisis, Rob can respond. There was one in the middle of a night recently when bro was feeling really ill. Rob called back and went to spend the rest of the night with him. Other times, the messages are usually ignored. Bro is "a drama queen". He is almost 70 and not ill but does not take care of self - not enough sleep, falls asleep on the mouse pad! I also know that if the crisis is severe, he can phone my cell phone. I think I have the bases covered! He is Rob's last close relative. They have lost both parents in last three years. Rob may not be strong enough to lose his brother; He recognizes he is an abused bro and a co-dependent. We work on it in the light of this knowing. I would love to de-clutter the bro out of our lives completely but it would be counter-productive right now. They are also business partners. So we learn better coping devices and get better at following through with them. And bro is getting less demanding as he realizes he is not going to have what he wants - total control. Too bad his parents could not do that 69 years ago. what to keep and what to let go of.... Which ropes to hang on to and which to let slide off the deck. I've started a new bag for the thrift shop which is full already. I took two more boxes of stuff into the shed and sorted lots into better places. Filled one cupboard with canned soups or meals, sardines, such and showed Rob, "if I am not here..." Put a crocheted throw on the LR chair; it brightens it nicely. And bought 3 African violets, repotted them into Af. violet pots and said "hello" to them this morn. So perky! Planted some crocus bulbs in a shallow bowl; they missed last fall's planting. Groomed and watered the foliage plants and turned them some. Growing things are such a joy - plants, children, people, raccoon kits... |