Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
Buying a bouquet of fresh flowers falls under the category of "self care".
So they don't count the same as spending on nonessentials.

Hope today is an easier day for you.


Been awake since 3:00am.
Just couldn't get comfortable so I just got up.
We will be lucky if the temperature gets above 32 degrees today.

We have rain here again today.

Yesterday was exhausting. I got three new students spread out over three classes, and my last class of the day had a really hard time working together as a group. I started out trying to perk myself up with some discount flowers (a big bunch for 3.49) and they look nice and inviting this morning, but I barely had the energy to plop them in a vase, and I went on to make really bad food choices.

And I left my desk out two nights in a row. But dh says i'm doing ok with it.

Do flowers count for spending? I also started my Christmas shopping when I was at goodwill the other day. I found a book for my mom, and a pair of grill tongs for my dad and a cute sign they will both like (it ties in to a long running family joke) I might give my dad the tongs for his birthday in July, but the other two items are Christmas themed.

So, today I will do better.

Everybody feel better, and Tatoulia, don't get sequestered. We would miss you!

Hi Tatoulia

YEA! for being selected!
After it's all over with you have to tell us all about it.
Like what were the charges and what you all had for lunch in the jury room. :D

It did take a long time to adjust to it but over the years we have come to some sort of acceptance of the facts.
We very rarely mention it, many people that know us don't know about the murder.


The weather today is ferocious.
Extremely cold, raging winds and period snow fall.
The kind of day you just can't seem to get warm.
I ate buttered toast and dark chocolate almond milk :D

Glad you are feeling, better, Tillie. Oh how awful about steven's brother. I am so sorry. I bet it feels like just yesterday AND so long ago.

I got seated on a jury!! Yay me!!! I need a change of pace.

Good Morning

I slept very well last night.
Went to sleep early and woke up late.
Feeling much better today :)

Another little sprinkling of snow over night.
The mountains have gotten 7 feet of fresh snow this week.
There is a 50% chance of more snow today.

Hi Tatoulia

Hope Nurse Kitty is helping (((hug)))
I have two kitties cuddling me right now.

Yeah, that sounds like it would have been a lot of rowdy celebrating people out there.
YEA! for distributing lasagna at the office instead.

Every time I was on a jury we never got to make a verdict.
They all confessed right after we heard the first bit of evidence.
I would never be picked for a murder trial because Steven's brother was murdered and I am biased now after going through all that.

Feeling better after my shower.
Sitting here in bed.
Had tea and crackers to eat today, letting my body take it easy.

SubC!!! That is fantastic! Wow! How great! I'm so pleased that you navigated the cat "returns" so well! Just cleaned it up, dealt with it, all set! Congratulations!!!!

Tillie take care of yourself. I hope your stomach is quieting down.

I took individually wrapped pieces of lasagne to work today. Ate one with a friend and gave the rest away! It was tough walking to work because the super bowl parade goers had started coming to the city early. I did not go watch the parade. I just didn't want to be with that many people. So I stayed at office and pushed lasagne on people.

I don't feel like myself these days. But someone adorable is sleeping next to me so I should be feeling better with Nurse Kitty by my side.

I have jury duty tmr. Let's see if I get picked.

Hi Subclinical

WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!

Fantastic the only thing on the table was the table cloth and you dealt with the problem completely right away!!!!!!!
So wonderful that things are working so much easier for you (((HUG)))

This entire area is all planted in alfalfa.
Looks like this year there will be a lot fewer cuttings, just like last year.

You were brave and strong donating the coffee table.
Don't look back with sadness
look forward to things fresh and new.


Steven slept till noonish then he went shopping.
He is sitting at the computer in the garage now.
He spends so much time out there because he can do as he pleases.
Due to his health issues he is not supposed to smoke or drink alcohol.
I do not allow that in the house.
He thinks I don't know he is drinking and smoking out there.

Feeling a little better but still weak, tired and a bit dizzy.
In a few minutes I will shower and rest in bed.

Hi Tillie,

I hope you feel better quickly.

And i'm Glad Steven stayed out of stores for a change!

I don't know how many pregnant goats I have. Maybe eight. Only two for sure right now - due in the week after valentines. The dates stretch all the way to June. My hay guy told me it would be a bad year for hay, so I delayed a lot of the breeding.

Tatoulia, I don't really understand the parade thing, but I hope you are happy however it turned out.

Here is a thing that happened today - an hour before I had to leave, I discovered that my cat threw up on the dining room table. Instead of being reduced nearly to tears as I might have in the past, looking at piles of things I cared about covered in cat returns, I shook/scraped off the tablecloth - which was the only thing on the table! Sprayed it and tossed it in my EMPTY washing machine (I did not toss it in the yard or garage for "later") wiped down the table with a dishrag and tossed that in too, and started the wash!

Into the dryer before I left, quick warm extra tumble when I got home, and the tablecloth is back in place!

Also, I took a lad of stuff to goodwill today that included my coffee table. It was hard, but I did it.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Tatoulia
Stay safe if you do go.
Don't worry (((HUG))) I'll be alright.

Woke up to discover it very quietly snowed overnight.
So pretty .
Had to finally admit to myself yesterday that I'm sick and not just sad & unmotivated.
Planning to spend the day resting, napping and generally taking care of myself.
Some kind of intestinal bug I guess.

Quick hello.
Stupid movies with cats sounds very restorative. I'm glad he didn't go shopping, Tillie. I worry so but I know you've got this. But I worry still.

Not sure I'm going to parade now. Not because of clothing-the shirts were sold out-but because I'm not sure all those crowds are going to be good for my sense of safety. It's about a mile walk from my office to my safe destination. I'll figure it out as the day goes on.

Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Good Evening Everyone

Hi Motown
YEA!!! WAY TO GO!!!
not spending!

So nice of you to get your Mom curtains at such a great price.


Hi Subclinical
WAY TO GO! getting things all ready for kidding!
How many pregnant goats do you have?

So nice that you have made things there so much more organized and decluttered that you are able to find things you need just as soon as you need them. :D

The rain is just coming in the carport not the house.
But now there is a separation of the carport from the house big enough to allow rain down the outside wall of the house.
I have my garden cart along the outside wall there and now it's getting all wet.
The evaporative cooler is situated there too and rain water is dripping on that, but that's alright.
That carport is just a big ugly dirty nasty jumbled hoard harboring pestilence with just a tiny goat path through to the garage so I don't care if it were all blown off to Oz.
It runs all along the South side of the house, soon as you step out on the back porch it's right there in your face.

Hi Tatoulia
Have fun watching the parade, if you go.
Good luck getting back into your regular eating habits.
A few days fighting the phantom hunger should do it.
I've been nibbling too much throughout the days due to the stress of Steven.
Need to get back into eating proper meals at proper times.


Rearranged some clothes in my dresser.
Will see if I like it better that way.
Never got around to any beading due to taking a short nap with a couple of kitties.
Then watched a really stupid movie on Netflix.


Steven slept until almost noon then sat around on his bedroom computer till about 4:00pm then he went out in the garage to sit at his computer out there.
He did not go shopping today.

Good to catch up with everybody! Hoping CM drops by!

Great work everyone! Motown I too love the old movies. I'm glad you found some nice curtains for your mother. It's hard not to spend on stuff for our moms! Tillie I hope you enjoyed your day. I was home, working, then met up with a friend for dinner. Got a nice walk in. It is very warm here. Tomorrow will be in the 60a for the parade and I might actually go. One of our business partners invited me to his office to watch. He generally doesn't like me much (his reasoning is sound) and he hasn't invited me in previous years so I'm pretty excited. I have nothing to wear so BF will either bring in something for me or he said he'd see if BJs has any t shirts. I told him cheap cheap cheap but classy and he laughed. I just don't want him spending too much. Under 10 I told him. He won't let me pay for it so I must keep it cheap cheap cheap (but classy)

I'm struggling with food today. OH SubC you are doing great! I worry about leaving people out too, Motown. But nothing to worry about. We are all good friends.

I had a cup of tea after my salad tonight. I am still hungry but cannot eat I'm only hungry because of all the crazy eating I did this weekend. I need to get my head back into the game.

I got all of my laundry done today.

Motown, we lived in a town with a minor league baseball team for 18 months. It was very fun to go to the games! Dh played church softball and my best friend broke his collar bone diving for a ball, and that is all I know about baseball. Oh, and there was one pitcher I used to like to watch when dh watched the games on tv, because he had such pretty eyes. Dh said he retired.

What movie did you watch?

So far in February I have only bought food (and a scrubby sponge at the grocery store) and some things for my classroom using my classroom budget because they were 20% off during the workshop.

Tillie, please keep your distance from that metal roofing! That sounds awful and very dangerous!

Is the rain coming in the house, or just the carport? Am I remembering correctly that it would be just fine if the carport and all it's contents blew away to oz?

Did you do any beading?

I was so happy that the bin was clean and ready and I could put my hands right on it! So many times I have had "just the thing" but it has needed unearthing and cleaning and maybe fixing. That is why dh was so shocked.

Even when I took ❤️Dd a shelf when we worked on her house - I ended up leaving games piles on the guest bed to clear it.

Yes Tatoulia, dh roasts coffee - it's a hobby, but the coffee is really good. If it would grow here, I would grow it, but coffee needs very rich soil and better weather. We are kind of all or nothing - if we can't do it, and we don't know somebody who does it, then we'd just as soon amazon prime send it to our door (the post office brings the green coffee beans from a small batch wholesaler)

I once lived in a place where I had to drive an hour to buy my kids tennis shoes. Not fancy ones, just any. And then there was the period when I lived in town, but I would take my kid to visit our best friends for the day and when I asked if I could bring anything she'd say "toilet paper." Or "flour."

I wonder how much those times contributed to my "save everything" mentality.

Today I burned the burn box and cleaned out one kidding stall. I started the second one but it started raining too hard. I washed the buckets dsil brought me and put them in the studio for tomorrow. I also washed a stack of rag towels hot with bleach and dried them to have them ready for kidding. (They were very dusty from being stored in a tack box in the barn)

And I dried and put away that load of laundry I forgot last night. I found one more T-shirt for the rag bag.

Just a quick drive-by to say hi to you all! Love reading the posts but unfortunately I can't remember everything and who posted it in order to properly respond. I get so frustrated about that. Anyway, I didn't watch the "big game" either. Hubby and I are not sports enthusiasts at all but I do like a little baseball but that's about it. Instead we watched our one year old little granddaughter while mommy and her big siblings went to a super bowl party. And we watched a movie from 1937. Yeah, we're square like that. LOL!

Also, I have still not been spending unnecessarily and it feels GREAT! My DD told me of a half off of clearance at a local store and I did go check it out. I bought my mom some much needed curtains for her living room and the rods for them. Six tab top panels and three rods for $20.00. SCORE! So now to get hubby to get them put up.

Will try to check back in tomorrow!


Peace, love and what football game?

Good Morning Everyone

Hi Tatoulia
Sounds like a fun time!
Of course you ate too much but it was all so tasty. ;D
You are such a dear daughter. (((hug)))

Hi Subclinical
YEA!!! WTG!!!
Finally, things are more to your liking!

We knew those no longer needed items down there might just be exactly what is needed elsewhere someday soon.


The sun is shining today with only a 90% chance of rain sometime later.
Bit too cold & windy though.
Other than cat related tasks, no chores for today.
Want to spend some time rethinking my dresser drawers.
Maybe I should rearrange which drawer holds what?
Also thinking of doing some beading and watching Netflix at the same time.

The carport roof...
dangling precariously and metal roofing sheets flapping loudly in the winds.
This seems to be pulling on the rest of the carport roof, un-attaching it from the side of the house allowing rain through at the edge now.
So lovely...

Wow! Great progress for you and husband! That is terrific!!! I'm so pleased for both of you! And you had the finishing touch! Great work, SubC.

I didn't know you roasted your own coffee! You and your family do so much!

When we put in the new kitchen, we got a super-duper range hood. I was under the impression that this meant dh would be roasting coffee UNDER the super-duper range hood and we would be removing the old built-in-vent-fan, giant-but-not-inside and I-hate-it microwave from the wall of my scullery.

Instead dh bridged the gap where the hated-that-too range used to be with a board and kept roasting there, requiring the microwave and it's vent to stay.

I have complained. I have left the room a mess. I have expressed that as long as the microwave is there I see no point in making any plans for remodeling the room. Yes, i'm a brat.

I don't know what I did or what happened, but yesterday, while I was at ❤️Dd's house, dh tried roasting coffee in the new spot. When I got home he had cleared all the coffee stuff out of the scullery. (He also moved his giant meat cutting boards from the locations that have been less-than-ideal) he showed me the new set up and said "all I need is some kind of tray that I can put all the equipment in (under the sink! Wasted space! I hate under the sink!) so I can just lift it all out. Maybe I can make something, or look on amazon. It needs to be less than 22" wide."

Zip, zap, zot - down to the basement went subc. Tape measure grabbed from tape measure spot, short recently washed bin with no lid but two sturdy handles measured, up the stairs, and a shocked dh loaded up his new "tray" and tucked his equipment in place!

I did have to give up my very easy spot where I was keeping the little sauce pan that I cook my hot cereal in - that is now the coffee bean shelf, but it's worth it!

Slow start this morning because I stayed up with dh while he watched the Super Bowl (And got so tired I forgot to change the laundry over) and the cat wants cuddles, but i'm Inspired to keep going!

Went out for a bit after the Patriots won tonight. Just to get a little flavor of the excitement. I didn't watch even one minute of it but I was fooling around on twitter when I heard the helicopters overhead, so I knew the game was coming to a close. Then I saw that they won so I headed up to BFs to hang out with him and to do some people watching outside.

I ate way more this weekend than I normally do in a week. Btw the cake was super tasty. So was the lasagne. So tasty.

I bought mom's groceries for her today. I had flirted with taking her out for lunch but I wasn't hungry so when I went into the store I decided to pay for her groceries. I usually buy every other time, plus whatever I pick up for her during the week.

Ok I have to roll into bed. I'm super full and feeling a bit unpleasant.

Good Afternoon/Early Evening

Hi Subclinical
WAY TO GO!!!
All three of you! :D

Scary sometimes how fast a child will grow.
Now all his clothes fit his dresser and smaller relatives get hand-me-downs too.

YEA! for lots going off to donation and good luck with your collection too on Tuesday.
You are an inspiring blessing to them both. (((HUG)))

Hi Tatoulia
OHhhhh lasagna ;P

WAY TO GO! completely cleaning kitchen and doing laundry.

That cake doesn't stand a chance of surviving.

What fun antique "window shopping".
So glad you can educate your friend as to what he has in that etching and can adjust the price.

I thoroughly enjoy "window shopping".
So many lovely things to see and just like at a museum, we do not buy them, just appreciate them.


Thank you both (((HUG)))
At least I have all of you understanding people to tell my troubles to.
Really does help.

Not much rain today so far but I think this evening & over night we will have rain.
The clouds are so dark & thick & fast moving.
Cooked and cleaned the kitchen.
Been watching stuff on Netflix as I worked too.
So many new things on Netflix.

Isn't that amazing, SubC, how we are all learning together and impacting other people's lives! Great work!

I just put in a load of sheets. Generally Sunday's are busy evenings here for laundry and since I can do during the week, I don't like to be a pig. But then again, it was getting to me.

I completely cleaned my kitchen after decorating the cake. Of came out pretty good and I bet it will be delicious. I brought it to BFs earlier today and reminded him tonight to be sure to cut it up and serve it. I think he's doing wings and pizza tonight. Not sure.

I'm home from taking mom out and I have a lasagne in the oven. So I guess I really am feeling bold. I haven't made lasagne in years and years. It smells really good in here.

After I eat and finish my one load of laundry (I won't do two tonight as that will be piggy), I'll put on my pjs and choose a movie to watch.

Tillie that is such a terrible waste re Steven. Those compulsions are so bad and the effect on you must be so depressing.

I took mom antiquing today. We didn't buy anything and I didn't feel like buying anything. I took a good long look at the things that I would have purchased if I were still buying with abandon. There was an etching by one of my mother's favorite artists and they didn't know what they had. I knew the etching by sight as his work evokes a certain feeling. Seeing the signature confirmed it. My mother said if I wanted to buy it I could keep it at her house, esp where it was greatly undervalued. I said no, I have the artwork I like. I have two of his pieces in my home and will inherit a third when my mother passes on. I will, however, call my friend at the shop (he wasn't there today) to let him know who the artist is so he can price it and also have some background on it.

It's so nice to be spend free in February. Such a good and solid feeling. I have no temptations whatsoever.

Tatoulia, that cake sounds worth going to a Super Bowl party for!

Tillie, i'm So sorry about Steven and the shopping. I wish I knew something that would help.

❤️Gs and I spent the morning here with dh and the afternoon at his house. We cleaned up all the clothes (and a few toys) on his floor so we could set up his new train (Christmas present) and while we were at it I sorted out his drawers and we made a stack of too small items for his cousin. Everything else Is neatly folded and now he can put his clothes away. He went from a 6 to an 8 in the last month! Some of his shorts were still 4T.

❤️Daughter is still working at it and had me drop off a box and a garbage bag at goodwill on my way home. I'm planning to take my own trip on Tuesday.

She started a load of laundry as soon as she got home and told me she is keeping up with it, which is allowing her to start purging extra clothes. I'm still really proud of her.

Good Morning Everyone

Hi Subclinical
Happy the workshop was wonderful. :)
It will be interesting to see how the glazes fire up.

Hi Tatoulia
Raspberry filled chocolate cake is one of my favorites.
Good luck!
Even if it looks lopsided I am sure it will be delicious. :)


Another drizzly day.
The mountains got a lot of snow.
Planning to do a bit of cooking today.
Shredded chicken, egg noodles, white sauce, Brussel sprouts on the side.
Getting discouraged and deeply depressed by Steven's behavior.
Constant shopping, constantly sitting around at the computer playing games.
But I have to keep on doing what I do or things would be so much worse around here.

Good morning!
I baked the cake layers last night. Now I'm softening the butter for the icing.

I have to try to shape the layers into a football by taking an inch or so out of the center. Wish me well.

Taking mom our in a bit. My laundry is piled up (for me) but I cannot be distracted while trying to do the cake. Time will tell. I'm also going to attempt a raspberry filling between the two chocolate layers. I am feeling bold.

Quick pop in - workshop was wonderful!

Sil brought the buckets but decided the glaze would not wait safely in the car at these temps. Good call - I didn't think about that. So, I can prepare for it.

Yes, I can test fire small samples, but it is a bit like a recipe with no cooking time or temp. Also I have to fire them in little containers so that if they get too hot nothing bad will happen to anything else in the kiln.

I will start at the lowest temp, but then jump to the next standard firing level, so I may over fire and have to back down.

I have to make test tiles and containers for all the temperatures.

But now I need to sleep - I have my heartgrandson all day tomorrow.

Oh, forgot to update...
Steven stayed in bed until after 1:00pm
then he went shopping, again.
On is way out the door said he had to go get a battery for his watch.
Returned with several plastic shopping bags of "I don't know what".
I know watch batteries aren't that big.

Hi Tatoulia
You are welcome (((hug)))

WAY TO GO! getting the usual regulars done!

YEA! for shredding.

That maple cranberry glaze sounds so yummy.
Something that I like to use in my quick breads instead of vanilla but is hard to find out here is called 'Mapeline".
Gives everything just a hint of maple and smells wonderful when baking.

I guess the ball game is tomorrow?
Are you still doing a football cake?

Been a nice easy day here.
Been raining off & on but the wind has died down.
Did the usual daily stuff, scoop & sweep, wash dishes.
Watched "Silence Of The Lambs" on Netflix.

So nice that I don't have to work in the garden all this month.
But that doesn't mean me & the cats can't play out there when it's nice out.

Scooter is being a pill today, pestering everybody.
I think he needs to go outside. Evil grin ;$

Very relaxing day. I went up to see BF then took a walk. I stopped at grocery store to buy some milk. It was crowded! Everyone's getting ready for their super bowl viewing. Im just out of the shower and trying to decide which movie to watch. I love streaming my movies!

Bed changed, dishes in dishwasher, recycling out. I'm really happy to have you in my life. I've shredded the mail. I'll taje the shredder back to BF later in the week.

I love hearing about your garden and the tasks you undertake to keep it nice. I'm proud of you for showing us how to continue to enjoy our things and how to adapt for our changing views and physical capabilities. Thank you Tillie.

I've got nothing to do and all day to do it. I'm changing my sheets now and heating up some squash with a maple cranberry glaze. I'm hungry.

Was evaluating my little garden/yard yesterday thinking about what needs to be done next.
Well, all it needs now is things I do in the Spring.
In Autumn I don't rake leaves out of tree wells and flower beds, I leave them till Spring.
The bit of grass needs raking/thatching but that is for Spring too.
Fertilizing everything and treating the 2 Ash trees for borers is a job for the Spring.
The weed barrier cloth can be laid in the Spring too.

So I'm all caught up with remodeling and minimizing and transplanting the areas.

Should all be so much easier for me to maintain now.
Now that I am older and less physically capable to manage too much yardwork any longer. :D

Good Morning Everybody

Hi CriticalMass
WAY TO GO! for reasoning with that "Wanter" so you can pay off the debts.

One thing I have noticed in life...
So many of those people/families who seem to afford to just easily purchase whatever they want whenever they want it,
really can't afford it.
They have thousands of dollars of debt and just keep accruing more and more.
They have everything but own nothing, it's all on credit cards.
That nice big house, that nice new vehicle, those nice new clothes, the biggest & latest electronics, etc.
All of it on unpaid credit debt.
Then when things get too far out of control they file for bankruptcy.
The house goes into foreclosure, the vehicle is repossessed.

Better to pinch our pennies, ponder every purchase and live within our means. (((hug)))

Hi Subclinical

About the Uncle glaze...
could you make a few tiny sample tiles and put them in when the kiln is running for other projects to test how they turn out?


Citric acid/lemon with salt added sometimes works.
One thing that doesn't work on rust is bleach.

Have a wonderful time at the workshop today!


Hi Tatoulia
Lord & Taylor need to back off and "get a life".

Not spending does help to build self confidence and stamina.
Denying immediate gratification makes us stronger and wiser.
Eventually, it helps us to realize and appreciate what we do have and what we really want out of life. ;D


Cold dark windy rainy day.
Good day to stay inside.
Running low on fresh produce but still have enough food to last maybe till late next week.
5 oranges, 2 lemons, one grapefruit.
But I have frozen and canned fruit & veg.
Hoping my staying home, accomplishing yardwork tasks would inspire Steven to do the same.
It's not working... :(

Ok I should really read all the posts as I see that SubC has been discussing staying with a project. Also I'm so glad your health is on the mend SubC. You've been through a lot. Finally, Tillie, I'm afraid Lord and Taylor is going to come a missing persons report. Their emails are sounding more and more desperate. I am loving not spending unnecessarily. This makes me feel strong and wise.

Ooooh! So much to catch up on! I have a freshly brewed cup of coffee to enjoy the posts!

CM first of all I want to tell you that I'm proud of you and your pay stub conversion project. You thought it would be a few hours, it's a much bigger project than you've estimated, and you didn't let that defeat you. You've forged ahead. I'm so proud of you. I think we as a group either overestimate the amount of work (shampooing the carpet is a big task) or underestimate (this should be wrapped up in an hour) and it's easy to forget that we want the task completed based on the task and not whatever faulty time estimate we've decided upon.

I'm going to enjoy my coffee and catch up. I brought some of the bread and the muffins to work so I could feed the critters on my way home. The in-office critters ate all of it. Heated it up, slathered butter, and enjoyed. Even our cleaning person had two of the muffins. I was pleased as punch. I still have a slab here and will distribute it during my travels.

Thanks CM. I looked up the product, and then I looked up the ingredients. I think i May try citric acid and rubbing alcohol. The other stuff was a little scary.

I think as long as you keep feeding the badger pay stubs you can whine as much as you want. Look how cute he is!

I am going to a free all day teacher workshop today that includes breakfast and lunch! (It will cost me 2 gallons of gas, but right now that's about $4, so pretty good deal. AND I sort of need to go grocery shopping afterwards and there is a good grocery store literally next door.)

I only "sort of" need to go grocery shopping because we are only out of food that dh eats. I would have no problem waiting at least another week, but he is sure there is no food in the house.

For breakfast there is toast, butter, and jam, French toast with syrup, eggs, milk, oatmeal, raisins, and honey, or rice pudding. There are no English muffins. There is a box of processed cereal, but it is not the kind he likes. There is no orange juice.

Etc for the other meals of the day.

My son in law is also coming to the workshop. He is bringing me empty cat litter buckets and a bunch of partial buckets of glaze. These things go in the studio barn.

The cat litter buckets will be one in, one out - I have a lot of dried clay waiting to be reworked that is in buckets without lids or dish pans or bins. So that clay will be moved to the buckets, and those things will either be washed and repurposed (bins, dish pans) or sent away with the trash (lidless buckets) once I actually use the clay, the cat litter buckets can go to school for next year's classes - there are always buckets that need to be replaced because they no longer seal well or are visibly broken. And the school has a dumpster.

The glaze is a bit more problematic. It was made by dh uncle. I like the glaze, I adore the uncle. The glaze is not adequately labelled by firing temp and the uncle is no longer mentally able to figure such things out. So, there will be a lot of trial and error to get it to work. And the buckets are really big for the amounts remaining.

But some day they will be empty and hopefully I will have a few pieces I like that we "created together" it's a priority, because I would like to show him, and there is not much time. Perhaps not enough, but there will still be other people to share it with.

Anyway, all that to say I am probably filling the little space I created yesterday right back up. But there is always Monday.... take good care of the badger.

SubC, when I worked in a fabric store we carried the "Stain Devils" by Carbona. I've not tried them but there's one for just about everything except badger puke (tough luck there, Tatoulia).

Carbona Stain Devils

Went on my payday errands and my "wanter" was wanting to be comfortable enough to buy whatever, whether groceries or fun stuff or minimalist storage and decor for the dream living quarters in my imagination. I reasoned with the wanter pretty well, and I know I need to work on not envying people who have enough money that they don't have to overthink every purchase.

I think working through the pay stubs from my jobs has made me more aware of these matters again. That, and being in the grocery store and seeing people just picking up items and putting them in their carts without wondering for ten minutes whether the item might be cheaper elsewhere or if it should wait till the next payday. I know this will all get better soon; I'm paying off back rent from when I had the money pit van. So I will try not to have a pity party about it!

I don't want to have to sic the badger on myself for having a whiny attitude!

HAPPY FEBRUARY EVERYBODY!

Hi Subclinical
GREAT to see you posting! :D

Homework on a snow day!?!?!?
I can hear the whining from here LOL

But you worked so much harder on "homework" than any of your students!
WAY TO GO!
You tied up a lot of little loose ends today! :D

The sunshine shining on the backs of the curtains may lighten the rust stains a little.
Simple Green might be the best/only thing to use.

Wonderful that you caught yourself hyper focusing on untangling the kite string.

When you were sick for so very long we can all understand and sympathize with things being put away "close enough" to where they go.
WTG! for getting them in the right areas! (((hug)))

Good you tossed the old fabric paint, it has a tendency to separate over time.

Badger has no reason to nip at your heels. ;D

YEA!!! CriticalMass!
You seem to have managed to tame that badger somewhat.
Did you use a whip and chair?

Been doing a whole lot of this & that around here today.
Had sheets, pillow cases, towels & wash cloths out on the line this morning.
All in now, folded & put away.
Cleaned the filters on all the space heaters that have filters.
Put up some short decorative wire fencing around my new minimized flower beds in the garden.
Hope it keeps random cats from pottying in there.
Turned the page on the calendar to February.
The clouds have been moving in all day and just keep getting darker & darker.
The winds have started picking up.

SURPRISE!!!!
Steven went shopping today, again...
There is so much needing done here. >:(

I worked through the last two afternoon classes - even though I don't teach the second one unless I sub for math, and my drive home time.

I have 2/3 of a trash can, a recycling pile almost as big, and the curtains are only noticeably stained on the back where the hooks go - they are drying over shower rods.

I threw away the whole box of partly used fabric paint without even checking to see if any of it was still good - it was last used 4 years ago, and bought long before that.

I found two more things to ask the kids about, and I put a lot of stuff away (I am realizing that there were a lot of days when I was sick that I just walked toward the area where things went and then put them down on the nearest flat surface - or the floor.) And then later, when I started feeling better, I didn't fix it, because it was too hard to get to where the things needed to go.

I worked hard today. Send the badger somewhere else!

Lol! I didn't see him before I started posting.

Better go search the barn for some badger-be-gone!

So, I puttered around the house, read on the Internet and did dishes and light housekeeping until 9:30, when my classes would have started.

Turned the heat on in the barn, washed all the bins and lids from the garage in my "new" utility sink, and went out to work around second period.

I tasked myself to start in one spot and just move forward until lunch (it's a school day, so "lunch" means 12:15)

It was harder than I thought it would be. So far, I filled a small wastebasket, got bogged down in untangling a kite string (stopped myself and just brought the kite back to the house) put a bunch of stuff away (including some in my new, flat, labelled drawers) identified a largish box of random sized cedar shingle pieces that I thought would be great to use for a fairy garden house - but I think I can accept using them for woodstove starters instead. And found the cow curtains.

Fortunately when I found the cow curtains it was lunch time. My mother in law made the cow curtains for my dd when she was two. They are blackout curtains. Dd woke the second the sun nudged the horizon, and her new brother hardly slept at all. I was a zombie. So, mil, in one of her rare moments of actually doing something that helped me when trying to help (when she gets it right, it's amazing - it's also rare as hens teeth, and when she doesn't it's awful.) took dd to the store to choose fabric and made the curtains. When dd was two, she was obsessed with cows. The fabric is grass green, printed with black and white cows in an apple orchard. And the curtains hang on those metal hooks.

When we moved, dh had a new job working shifts, so we put the cow curtains in our bedroom. Then we moved again and again and never had windows they fit. I'm pretty sure they would fit the newly(ish) installed windows in one of the guest rooms.

I never took the hooks out.

And at some point the curtains got wet.

I managed to remove all the rusted pieces of hook, and most of the rust stains are on the white backing, and they are in the machine for a second time with simple green pre-scrubbed in with a toothbrush, which seems to be helping a little (?) but does anybody know how to get rust stains out of green cotton fabric without getting the green out?

Yeah, so that and eating and a video pretty much used up lunch most of third period. I should go back out.

Here you go, SubC - hoping the resizing worked this time:

I'm sorry CM, but you should have thought about this before you GOT the badger. He's your responsibility now.

Actually, I think my dh might be willing to foster him for a few days. School is cancelled AGAIN! (I am so annoyed.) and before he left this morning, when I was whining about how it was probably going to be cancelled - for three measly inches of snow!, he said "well, it's going to be warmer today, so if it is cancelled, you can get out in the studio and fill some more trash cans. AND we should be able to finish off the garage in a couple of hours."

<insert tone of overtired toddler> I don't want to do any of that! I want to go to schooooool!

Anyway, don't give up CM! Just keep going and the pay stubs will disappear!

I love that t-shirt! My kids mostly did sports where the thing that got moved was them. Although dd1 played lacross. Only she was the goalie, so in her case it was "go sports! Stop the thing from going into the other thing!" And, if you're wondering, it's a lacross "stick" not a racquet.

Ok, off to assign homework on line. They will love me so much!

Hi CriticalMass
Good luck finding a magical solution at the cat show.
I don't mind cats being snarky toward each other just as long as it's just attitude and language with no physical violence.
Some cats just really don't like cats.

Ground hog day is alright.
But giant badger day was so scary! ;D


Tatoulia
You had me laughing till my eyes watered!
You made ducks choke?
When I lived on the island I fed the ducks everything and none ever choked.
The spice in your pumpkinless bread won't hurt the birds.


Hi Subclinical
That's so true.
We just have to keep going.
Quitting is really not an option.
We all have hopes and dreams that are worth going for.

I'll have to catch up on a few posts later. Since my bunny club meeting Sunday, this week got busier than expected with things that came up. I haven't made as fast of progress on much of anything as I had anticipated. Plus having to feed the giant badger and clean his litterbox. Gotta keep him in tiptop shape in case I need to deploy him again!

ROTFL!

Almost done with the pay stubs - I was thinking it would take about 3 days and it's been about 3 weeks. Some of that may be my infamous inability to estimate time that a job will take. But interruptions are to blame for much of the delay as well. It's annoying.

Tomorrow is payday and a gazillion errands day. Saturday roommate and I will go to a cat show - maybe someone there will have a magic method or potion or something to get the two cats here to get along.

Sunday is the Super Bowl and I meant to look up who is playing against New England. I'm more of a baseball gal, can you tell. My roommate is totally a bookworm and not into sports at all. There was a T-shirt in a catalog we laughed at - it says "Go Sports! Move the Thing to the Other Thing!" That sums up her attitude in a nutshell.

Oh, and Saturday is Groundhog Day - the little bugger better not see his shadow!

Happy February!

Oh my.

I didn't know there was going to be an evaluation!

I am feeling pretty good about January. I had some goals I have not met (and one I never started) but I am not exhausted or sick, my environment is better, I met all my hard deadlines, I feel like I am in better shape - and I actually went to the doctor! - and I took 20 garbage cans up to the road, plus three and a half bags of insulation!

I even put all the Christmas decorations away already!

I have been reading the blog "a slob comes clean" and she said, the difference between "this time" (when her house actually got better over the long term) and "all the other times" was that "this time" she didn't quit.

I think that is the biggest thing - setbacks happen, but you just keep going. We will get there, as long as we don't quit.

Tillie I think we all had a terrific month! We did it! And I'm looking forward to a spend-free February!

Tow bags?he brought home two bags? Oh that's awful.

SubC I will take the bread to the Boston Common tmr on my walk in to office. Is the cinnamon okay for the birds? Hey out squirrels this winter are so fat and well fed. They are looking overweight. They and the birds will eat my bread.

You've reminded me of something. Many many years ago a loaf of zucchini bread cake out terrible so I took it to the Public Garden to feed the ducks and they started choking. So I threw the rest away. Lesson learned. I hadn't thought of that in a long time. This stuff is dry. Don't expect the choking this go around.

I'll buy more eggs for the weekend and will make some with pumpkin this time. I have enough eggs to bake a cake but not to do that and pumpkin bread. So funny.

Hi :D

Hi Tatoulia
Hope BF gets a good report from the doctor.
WTG! keeping your desk neat & tidy!!!

A football cake sounds festive for the game watchers.
I tried to understand football when back in high school but just couldn't get it.
YEA!!! for recycling out and donations in the car too.
So sorry about your pumpkinless bread (((hug)))

Hi Subclinical
Yes, things get so very brittle when they are frozen solid. ;D
WTG! for good test results from your doctor!!!
We all knew you were just absolutely miserable for a long time. (((HUG)))

Steven returned home with only two bags of stuff, that I could see.
He may have left some stuff in the truck.
He bought me some weed barrier cloth.
I already have more weed barrier cloth than I need.
Oh well.

... Summary of January...

I think we all did very well this first month of 2019.
We all got to some big projects.
We all did a LOT of smaller projects.
We all got around to those daily things like dishes & laundry.
We all took very good care of our fur babies.
We all may not have stuck to eating healthy or in moderation but overall we did alright.
We all were very conscious of not spending on unnecessary things.



So, what do you all think? ;D

Tatoulia, crumble the bread up and spread it for birds. Dry bread will be good for that and they desperately need the calories right now.

Good job on the donations!

Tillie, I hope your neighbors well turns out ok. And Stevens shopping trip disappoints him (instead of you)

Since it was so warm out (all the way up to 14 degrees) and I can reach my utility sink, I decided to dump the bins of various types of dirt I used in my classroom last spring and then left in the garage. I was fussing at myself for just leaving them there, and then I remembered the look on my doctor's face on Monday when she looked at my previous blood work and the way she said "well, you weren't in any Immediate danger. But you must have felt really lousy!" (New results came back great btw. :) )

Tip - if it is 14 degrees outside, up from -8, and you bang a plastic bin on your knee to get the last of the dirt out, you will not have to wash it. And you will be glad you have trash service.

We cross-posted. So dry. The bread is so dry. I'm thinking about not icing it and just letting it go. An important part of my weight loss is not treating my body like a garbage can. So dry. Little spiced cardboard.

Tillie it sounds like you had some fun outside! Too bad the kitties got so spooked! My scaredy cat has taken to hiding under the blanket. It's pretty cute. Oh Steven. So sorry.

You are doing a great job, SubC! Good work finding more to donate! When I went to see BF I brought a bag with one skirt and one towel in it and put it in my car to donate.

I took my tv box out to the recycling bin and I took one other bag out back. I have more to go but I was concerned because I was taking things out earlier than we are supposed to. So I'll take the rest out in the AM.

I just finished getting the dishwasher loaded from my baking adventure. I was able to keep the house at a very good and reasonable temperature today and for that I am grateful.

I did get one load of delicates washed this afternoon. I have hung them to dry.

I had a very satisfying work day, too. Im glad some of my worries have quieted. BF is at dr now. He did not want me going with him.

I am going to bake a football cake for when he and his peeps are watching the Super Bowl. I'll be doing something else entirely. I don't understand football and I am not a fan of advertising either.
I might read for a bit. I did some shredding with his shredder. It's working fine. I'll get some done here and then go back to my plan of using shredder at work.

I'm still keeping my desk clean and clear. My dining room table is also clean and clear. Ive been good about both of these places.
Still. It spending and I don't miss it. It seems like such a waste. My dinner plans tonight are cancelled because she was worried about her pipes. I can understand. This is a tough weather pattern.

Good Afternoon

Hi Subclinical
YEA!!!
You did great sorting out the drawers.
Things like clothes drawers are hard.

Happy you took a few hours off to watch videos & eat ice cream. :D

Hi Tatoulia
I am concerned about the moisture level of pumpkin bread without pumpkin.
Sorry but you had me laughing out loud with that faux paus.
YEA! for a shredder loan! :D


Went outside this morning and did a lot of raking stuff into the garden cart and taking it off to the side yard and then finished with lilac pruning & cleaning of spent seed pods (dead heading).

Just now 2:00pm
I ate a little and am resting up before I shower.
The cats joined me for a while but got scared & went inside.
Neighbor is having some work done with large machinery and men yelling to each other over the noise.
Steven came out and was perplexed as to what work she was having done.
Exasperated I answered him that that big huge tall rig was a well digger so it is safe to assume she is putting in another well.
He said that was a bad place to put in a well.
I said that considering it's right out by the horse corrals it's a great spot for watering livestock.
Steven then left to go shopping, again...

The day is beautiful.
Clear blue skies, no wind, mild temperatures.
Forecast is this weekend Winter will return with more snow in the mountains.