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.

Crossed Tatoulia - glad you gave the shredder!

Is pumpkinless pumpkin bread basically cinnamon bread?

The dresser is turning out to be harder than I expected.

I did the laundry (well, not all the laundry, but what is left is mostly underwear, and definitely not t-shirts or jeans.)

I used doing the laundry as an excuse to watch videos and eat ice cream for two hours.

When I put the laundry away, I found another farm bureau T-shirt. 14.

I also discovered that I have 12 OTHER shirts I can wear to school - including TEN actual school shirts. I put those 12 shirts, plus the SIX pairs of jeans I can wear to school in the bottom right drawer. Neatly. It shuts. It would be better if there were five pairs of jeans, because the top pair rubs lightly when the drawer opens and closes. But, they are rarely all clean.

So, normally I put a "good" pair of jeans on right before I leave for school on Tuesday or Thursday, and wear them again the next day if they still look clean. I teach 4 days a week. This means that I could actually go three weeks without doing laundry or running out of school clothes - without even wearing a farm bureau t-shirt.

I put my two least favorite farm bureau t-shirts in the donate pile. Leaving 12. I put the 12 on my bed and left just a neat stack of wordless shirts and one of jeans in the drawer - which closes easily.

Then I went through a top drawer, which was all t-shirts.

3 for the cleaning rag basket, 4 more for the donate pile, and two for the bin of t-shirts that I still believe I will someday make into a quilt.

I put the t-shirts to keep, including the farm bureau t-shirts, back into that drawer. The drawer is over full, but not hard to open and close.


This leaves my "pajama" drawer (not too full, but might take some time to clean it out with dh help now that i've lost some weight. ;) ) underwear drawer - which is basically fine, and shorts - which I will worry about in the spring since the drawer is neat and not overstuffed.

And the top of my dresser - which looks like someone dumped a couple of large "all items 25 cents" boxes from a rummage sale on it.

Okay I'm going to make a light vanilla glaze for my spiced bread and muffins.

Oh boy!

I got dressed and went for a walk to see BF. He gave me his shredder to use for now.

It's cold but very very sunny.

Hello SubC and Tillie! Always post as much as you want! I love those days where I'm accomplishing a lot and posting gets me through it!

Great work on the shirts. I don't own a lot of clothes. I never have. I just try to buy classic pieces and make them work. I own two pair of jeans right now. These are ones that I wasn't able to wear before and I've gotten rid of the bigger ones. The two pair are fine for me and my lifestyle.

I did one load of laundry but then someone put a basket down there so Im only doing the one. Would have loved to do a few more but I'm fine.

My pumpkin bread is baking but guess what? As I wrote this I realized I forgot to add the pumpkin. Holy cow. What a waste. Let's see what this even tastes like.

Oh gee whiz.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
Post all you want.
We all love hearing about your days.

WTG! finding two not decent enough t-shirts to let go of!

Try removing the Farm bureau shirts in colors you don't even like, set them aside and see how the drawer looks.
Does it close? Is there room for all the jeans?

Sorry schools are closed but glad that kids & faculty are staying safe at home.

I may post a lot today, sorry in advance. It's cold and I want to go to school! (Whine)

So when I went upstairs to get dressed, I decided to pick at my dresser - I chose the drawer I got my jeans out of. It is supposed to have jeans I don't wear to work (two ratty pairs and one too tight I haven't given up on) and t-shirts without words.

So, when I thinned it down to that - making a mess on the bed - there was a lot of extra space in the drawer. (I am wearing 1 of the 3 pairs of jeans) Since I have another drawer that is just t-shirts and won't actually close, I dumped that on the bed. I determined that I have 13 farm bureau t-shirts.

I wear farm bureau t-shirts to fair (9 days a year) sometimes to school on Fridays (34 days a year) and to random farm related events/activities (let's say 4 days a year.) But I also wear other t-shirts at fair and to school on Fridays. I stuffed all the farm bureau shirts into the drawer, but now it doesn't close easily (and i'm Wearing those jeans) and, if I keep all those shirts, I will wear them at most 3 times a year each.

But my hoarder brain says "they will wear out!" And my sensible brain says "they often have last year's shirt for sale for $5 at the farm booth at fair. Which is where you got half of these. Some of them aren't even colors you like. What is the worst thing that would happen if you had no farm bureau shirts?" Answer: people would not be able to look at me and instantly know I was involved with my county's agricultural outreach.

I am going to have to revisit that drawer.

On the positive side, I did accept that two of the no words shirts that are incredibly soft and colors I like have to go. Not only can I not wear them in public, I can't wear them at home if I might encounter a male person who is not my husband, son, or father. And my father would probably be embarrassed. My dd gave me two new shirts this year that are just as soft. (I put them in my pajama drawer they are so soft! But I could wear them in public)

So, two shirts into the rag bag and the beginning of a self pep talk.

I got six new t-shirts this year. Three of them are to wear to school.

School is closed again. I was fine with yesterday, but now I am disappointed. And I won't swim tonight because it is just too much driving only to swim.

We are supposed to get three inches of snow overnight. I'm not sure what to do about the trash because it does not have lids. Honestly, I only have one can so far - even with The Great Laundry Room Cleanout, but I was thinking about trying to get the studio barn warm enough to work out there for a while. Not to do pottery with wet hands, but I can sort and organize in my coat.

Or maybe the basement or my dresser depending on how sunny it is.

-8 here. But the wood stove is roaring.

Tatoulia stay warm!

Hi Tatoulia
GREAT! that you no longer feel sad for items! (((HUG)))

I was just thinking...
If your donation center refuses it (call & ask)
Could you announce on a place like free-cycle and leave it sitting out by the curb?
Somebody would take it and save you from having to drive it somewhere.

There must be a way to reprogram the ROKU to make it back to Factory settings.
Turn it on and check out the settings.
Steven gave me a used thrift shop ROKU and I went into the functions and reprogramed it for my youtube and Netflix.
Then he bought me a new one at WallyWorld and took back the other one to use himself but he can't figure it out. LOL :D

Your cleaning Fairies are just so sweet and you are so sweet to them.
Such a wonderful arrangement.

I'm glad you stayed inside today since BF is much better.

My 100+ year old house has no insulation really either.
I saw that up close and personal when I was running electrical wire through all the walls & ceiling.
But as a tiny one room house with a cast iron wood burning cook stove I bet they were comfy in Winter and miserable in Summer.

Well kitty and I napped after work tonight. And now we are up! Tillie I am taking your very good advice to get the house as warm as possible tonight to help me through tomorrow. I'm mad at myself for never leaving the house today. BF said he was fine and didn't need soup and I must tell you, he sounds like himself again.

When it comes time to work on my walls here, I will have insulation put in. Very cold house. Always has been.

I will lay out (but not measure) what I need for baking tomorrow so I can start early and keep the house st a reasonable temperature.

SubC you did remarkable work today! What a great feeling.

Started to feel hurt that my analogue flat screen isn't a good match for donating. Then I remembered I don't feel hurt about objects any more. Knock me over with a feather!

House is so clean and I'm so happy. One of my cleaners today said she loves her job. There were three of them today and one went upstairs to clean the neighbor's house. They brought me delicious chicken pies and I had one for lunch and I will have the other for lunch tomorrow. So good. They are very nice to me. One showed me a picture of her wearing one of my dresses to church on Sunday.

Love you all. Motown, I feel the same way you do-thatvits great to have good friends here.

Stay warm, people. SubC do you have school tomorrow?

Good Afternoon Everybody

So much fun reading your posts! :D

Hi Tatoulia
So very sorry to have to tell you this...
But almost every place on the planet now refuses to accept analog television sets.
No matter what, no exceptions.
But they can go into E waste. Electronic waste pick ups.

So relieved BF is back to his old self!

YEA! for cleaning fairies who also help move smart TVs!

So glad you may only get down to -20 without the wind chill factor making it -60 below.
Stay warm.

WAY TO GO! Subclinical!
For clearing and removing the annoying shelf!!!!

Now you won't resist going over in that area.
A utility sink is so useful for so many things.

I do the same thing with items I used to use but change things around & don't need them any longer.
I put them aside for a while to see if they will be useful somewhere else before I let them go.

Happy you stayed inside and puttered around where it's warm.


Thrift shops always have dozens of pristine cloth napkins.
I think people get them as gifts or inherit them but don't want to use them.
This way I can enjoy using them and not be upset should they get stained or ratty.

Steven removed a strand of his twinkle lights from the front yard area, finally.
Then he went shopping at Dollar Tree.
Wish he would make a budget and stick to it.
All his frequent shopping is so wasteful.

:D
Linen napkins are the best!

I did it. I got rid of* the shelf. I went into the laundry room and I moved things around and I threw things into the trash can, and I filled my pockets with loose change, until the shelf was empty.

And then I took it down!

I like my laundry room so much better now! Why, oh why did I let dh put that shelf up? I told him I didn't want it, but it was part of the set and he said "well, we have it, we might as well put it up" and then of course I put things on it and I felt like I was cowering under/away from it every time I tried to use the utility sink, and so I didn't go back there unless I had to and the corner got filled and the sink never got washed.

And now it is gone!

*by which I mean I put it in the basement with the empty bins and other small shelves and containers that might get used somewhere else before all this is over.

Ps SubC I have no reason to buy the napkins anymore. It was just impulse buying and spending money on my part. In fact, one of the gifts I just mailed overseas were linen napkins instead of my usual paper napkins. It makes much more sense to send nice fabric napkins.

Great work SubC! And thank you all for helping me to absorb the worry about BF's health. He is himself today!

Cleaners helped me with the tv in the bedroom.

It is definitely getting colder here but they've revised the low temps in our favor.

I have to get rid of old TV now that the Santa tv is set up in the bedroom. I have no use for it. I think I should take to goodwill. It is small and white and I enjoyed it. It's not digital and I have the digital converter too. I can tape up together with a note. The Roku I need to find a way to erase it. When I gave someone my mother's old Roku, they had access to my Netflix Hulu etc. so I need to make sure this is erased before donating.

The New tv is a smart tv, which is nice. Yes this was BF's way of not buying gifts for Christmas. That and the spa gift certificates.

House is very clean.

Tatoulia, I keep forgetting to say that I too am glad your BFF is improving. So that first.

Next time you are tempted to buy paper napkins you have to think about the trees that were cut down to make them, and the water pollution from the printing process and the giant trucks moving from forest to plant to store and from trash can to landfill, and ask yourself "do I really need to buy these? Will they make the person i'm buying them for happier than subc will be if I DON'T buy them? (But if you must have (a) paper napkin(s) it is ok. Sometimes we can't avoid things)

I am worse than the badger...

I checked my papers and they are ready to return. I have thought about my lesson plans, but not done the writing out. I did a complete (wash, dry, put away) load of laundry, and I have been puttering around.

I started in on the Laundry room. The laundry room is kind of a dumping ground, which is bad, because it has a not stacked washer and dryer, and a utility sink, and in front of them a three foot wide strip of floor between the door into it from the house and the door out of it to the back porch. (The back porch is a concrete slab with an awning roof.)

I took everything off the top of the dryer. I put it away, in the recycling, in the trash, on a shelf (there are two shelves above the washer and dryer, and one over the utility sink that annoys me) on the floor (because it belonged in the laundry room and didn't fit on a shelf) or in the scullery because it needed to go to a different building. I washed the dryer. I put the detergent and bleach back on the dryer.

I picked up all the things on the floor - same redistribution except I didn't put anything in the floor and I put some things in the hall in a box that started out on the laundry room floor. I put the stack of laundry baskets on top of the (closed) top loading washer.

I emptied the utility sink and scrubbed it with just water and a stiff brush. It still looks bad, but - about six years ago, mr kitty had a discussion with a skunk. When ds was told he had to wash mr kitty with skunk-away soap, he looked at the utility sink and decided to take a shower WITH the kitty. The sink had not been washed since. Now, while it clearly needs another pass with leaning products, and i wouldn't wash my dishes in it, but if the cat got skunked again, I would not feel bad about using that sink.

I swept the floor (without moving the appliances or scrubbing grimy corners) and dumped an entire large metal dust pan into the trash can (there were bits and pieces like hair bands and broken clothes pins, not just dirt).

I put the box back on the floor of the room and quit.

Next time I will start with the top shelf. I would like to remove the annoying shelf, but all the shelves are currently packed.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
I'm happy to hear your barn babies are all doing alright and that Mr. Kitty was happy to get back inside as fast as possible. ;D
About 10 years ago I bought an unopened package of Halloween paper napkins at the thrift shop.
I use one for weeks/months under something, here & there.
When it starts looking sad I use it on the counter to mop up any small spills for several days.
Then lastly I use it to clean up kitty vomit.
There are still a lot of these paper napkins, I'll never need to buy any more. LOL ;D

Hi Tatoulia
The stores display those pretty paper items in a way that makes everybody dazzled by the pretty colors.
People overbuying things they do not need is because stores use psychologists to develop methods to make unsuspecting people buy things they do not need.
So happy you are learning to resist their evil mind control. :D

Hope your BF continues to rest and feel better.

Thank you for the reminders the the cold. It's good to see them written out clearly. Will do.

Oh SubC I use cloth napkins ever single day! And I use them with abandon, not worrying if they get stained. I have nice ones that go with my tablecloths for nice occasions. But otherwise I use my cloth ones everyday! They are better on my skin, too. I get dazzled by the pretty paper ones. Haven't bought any in a while. I tend to give them as gifts but which came first? Likely the need to buy paper napkins then oh, who should I give them to? Very wasteful of money and resources, and is the kind of thinking I did back when I was constantly hoarding sale items and multiples.

Kitty and I are up and I'm feeling better today. BF sounds better. He said he slept really well, which is the first true sleep he's had in four or five nights. I'll bring him soup today.

I really want to make your cranberry bread, Tillie, but only have ingredients for pumpkin. And when I'm at BF's today I'll snag the ripe bananas.

I'm glad that through all of you here, I could come up with a shredding solution. I'll gather up more and put in my purse.

Tillie, thank you for the safety reminder.

And Thank you Tatoulia.

It really helps me when I am dealing with trash to think that you guys are supporting me to let it go, and besides, Tatoulia is now compensating by recycling things.

When you can spend again I will talk you into cloth napkins - so pretty! And you get to keep them instead of throwing them away!

The barn is all set with heat lamps and big piles of hay and warm water in the buckets. Everybody was happy to see the warm water arrive this morning.

Mr. kitty whined and howled and decided if I wouldn't let him out when he asked nicely, he would start tearing things apart.

(Here I need to stop and tell you that our front porch us set back between the garage and the breakfast nook.)

Dh finally insisted I let him out, and he ran out, rounded the corner of the garage, immediately came back, and did what he needed to do in the leaves that have drifted in between the porch and the garage. I'll have to clean that up later.

Then he came in, ate his breakfast, and went to sleep by the fire.

Dh is working from home today, so I am being leisurely, but soon I will have to fill the woodbox again and then I will get my desk out.

Hi Tatoulia

WAY TO GO! for not even looking at the pretty paper napkins and other fancy things not on your grocery list!

Staying home and even baking is the best plan.
If you leave and the house gets too cold it will never warm up again until the deep freeze is over.

Make sure kitty has her snuggle blanket right by the fireplace.

Still concerned about BF and really hoping he is alright.
(((HUG)))

If you want some new bread ideas, allrecipes.com is a fine place to read.

We all figured you shredding at the office would be alright, unless you get some paper from that whiny Lord & Taylor. ;P

I have watched videos on Marie Kondo folding clothes.
That's not for me.
Too much time and fussing involved.

Happy the cleaning ladies will be there tomorrow!
YEA! for being more ecologically aware recycling whenever possible.

Today I vacuumed.
There is only a plate, fork and glass by the sink needing to be washed, but not tonight.
There are two cats sleeping on my bed right now and one sleeping in the rocking chair next to my bed.

Everybody stay safe and warm.
Don't be outside for long and keep all your little bits covered whenever you go out.
If you do suspect frost bite do NOT rub the area or place under hot running water.
Get inside where it's warm and allow the areas to slowly thaw out to prevent further damage.

Hello ladies! I am so pleased with our no spend attitudes! I'm finding it easy not to look at the pretty paper napkins and other stuff in the stores. I stick to the food I planned to buy. I feel better about myself. It's also ignoring all the pleas from Lord and Taylor. Their emails seem so whiny.

We are expecting the giant cold freeze. Will be tough to keep my house warm. I may work from home on Thursday and work hard to keep it warm. The fireplace will help it feel cozy.

Great work on keeping the animals warm and toasty! And congratulations SubC on enjoying having more space. I agree with Tillie as to how to spend your time tmr!

Motown you are doing a good job! I know it's tough to see process but keep moving forward! We can do this! You will find yourself picking up steam.

Right now I have a bag with a skirt and a towel in it, to go to goodwill. Oh! Two women I know have now done the Marie Kondo closet cleaning including folding the clothes in her fancy way. I have yet to watch her show but I did see a tiny clip where she was folding things extremely carefully. Not for me but God bless her. I just can't agree to fold my camisoles that way.

Cleaning ladies tomorrow. Then I'm going to bake Wednesday night and maybe again on Thursday day to help keep the house warm. I'm nervous but I've been here a long time and I'll find a way to keep it warm. Esp with new fireplace.

Tillie tell the kitties I say hello. Bf is doing better today. He said he was in a lot of pain last night and this AM but he spoke with dr and now his mind is reassured and I think his pain has lessened. I saw him for just a minute or two tonight. I'll bake him some pumpkin bread. I also noticed some ripe bananas at his house so if he still has them I can make some banana bread too. Anything to get the house temp up! He did say he'd take the kitty to keep her warm but I'll find a way.

Take care dear friends. We can do it!

Oh! I spoke with the mailroom and they don't mind if I put my shreddables in the large bin or if I shred them using the shredder. I'll do shredder since I don't want to cost the company extra money. So that is out of the way. I will put my shredder basket in the recycling bin and find out if the city wants the part with the machinery. LOOK WHAT IVE LEARNED FROM SUBC

Hi Subclinical
I think you should just putter around inside the warm house tidying up a few of those areas you mentioned.
Nothing strenuous or time consuming but you will see a pleasing difference.
Stay out of the cold barn studio.
Schedule a two hour break, grab the popcorn and watch a movie in front of the fire.

Staying out of stores counts, WTG!
I'm alright with the cat being unhappy.
How are your barn babies doing?

You are absolutely right.
Nobody should ever sneak and throw out anybody else's stuff.
Worst of all that destroys any trust they ever had.


Hi Motown
WAY TO GO!!! for not shopping!!!

It always seems darkest before the dawn.
Keep up the great job you have started and eventually things will get better.

Plus staying away from the thrift shops will increase the money on hand and help to reduce the amount of unneeded things in the house.
But you can go by the thrift shop to drop of a bag or two, just don't look inside the store. ;D

School is cancelled tomorrow!

So, now I have to decide what to do with my time bonus before I accidentally choose "lie in front of the fire, eat popcorn, and watch videos"

No brainers -
check last friday's papers so I can return them
Last lesson plan for Friday morning.

But then, so many possibilities. My weekend is going to be very busy.

So,
Lesson plans for next week?
Long uninterrupted deep clean in the studio barn (May take a while to heat up)
Tackle one or more of the problem areas i've been noticing lately (my dresser, the master bathroom, the dreaded scullery closet, the laundry room) or even the basement?

What do you think?

Wow Motown, good job! I don't know if I could h ave resisted an offer to take me thrifting and buy me presents!

I'm confused about the daughter thing - is this the daughter who was living with you? Do you mind sharing how many kids you have?

Tillie, kitty will stay with the person who has the fishy treat bag no matter what, but yes, I use it to trick him into being closed up when I need to. He is very unhappy right now.

I want to thank you guys again for being here and for being so supportive and nonjudgmental. I got into a discussion on another site where I said that I don't think waiting until your spouse goes away for the weekend and then throwing away their stuff behind their back and moving things around in the hope that they won't notice is ok. Even if you believe, and most of the world believes, that the stuff is trash. And that if you do that to a hoarder it can make things worse. And people got angry and I do not feel very welcome there right now.

On a lighter note, I nospended my class today by using some paper cups another teacher had leftover instead of buying a new pack. I had to ask in three classrooms.

I also nospended me, but I didn't make an special effort, I just didn't need anything or go to any stores.

Oh just look at all of taking this spending freeze seriously! I'm proud of us. Sunday was a pretty day here and my husband suggested/hinted that we could take my mom out and go to goodwill. He even offered to pay. But, although I know she would have enjoyed it, I said lets not. I don't have the money to spend and neither she nor I need to bring one more item into our already crowded houses. I get my hoarding tendencies from my parents as they both lived through the great depression. We have always tried to live frugally so the whole waste-not, want-not adage is permanently stuck.

I complained to my daughter just now that the month of January is just about over and I have nothing to show for it. I am no further out of debt and no further out of my cluttered house. She assured me that sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. I wish my hubby would be on board and supportive. but at least sometimes she is in my corner.

I hope all of y'all affected by the cold weather stay warm and safe to the best of your ability.

I just have to say again that each day when I log into this site I am so grateful for each of y'all and that I stumbled upon this site.

Peace, love and no spending!

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
WAY TO GO!!!
All your hard work paid off!
No having to move things around to make room for the truck and nothing out in the yard to worry about too!
YEA YOU!

You might even put Mr. Kitty in another room and shut the door if you think he may run outside when you're going out.
That's what I sometimes have to do with Scooter.

Having been through a couple of winters of -35 degrees I know how hard this freeze will be for everybody.
My thermometer only went down to -35 degrees and I was told that the official temps were even lower.

The first time you inhale that cold the inside of your nose freezes.
Then your eyelashes freeze.
High school kids were all getting frost bit ears walking short distances outdoors.
Then our power went out...
Our water pipes to the house buried in the ground froze solid.
All over, homes & businesses & public offices had pipes burst in the ceilings since they had fire sprinklers.
It was a miserable disaster.

Stay safe.

Cold dark cloudy day here with 50% chance of rain.
Still have enough food & stuff so no need to go grocery shopping yet.
The more I stay out of stores the less tempted I am to buy anything nonessential.

Tatoulia, I am so glad your bf is feeling better. I always worry more when dh is sick. People who "don't complain" are hard on those of us who really want to know how they are!

And I think shredding a few things at work is perfectly fine. Comparable to packing your lunch and using their trash to throw away packaging. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but you are being tough on this spend nothing challenge!

Tillie, I have fleece lined bibs and a barn coat with a drawstring hood and a scarf for my face. Also, the barn is less than a two minute walk. I will fill the water buckets in the laundry room so I don't have to stand outside. The hard part will be keeping Mr. kitty inside, but I have a little bag of fish flavored treats to distract him when we go out the door.

Last night the wind was so bad small branches were blowing out of trees. dh went out and put the truck in the studio barn. I was glad to have the truck under cover, but not so glad about dh going out! But I realized:
1) there was room to put the truck in the studio barn and I didn't have to run out and shove things around.
2) there was nothing left out in the yard that I was worried might blow away!

Yay me!

So glad he is feeling better.
Now he should still take it easy & rest
but men will do what men will do.

Happy you can worry a little less tonight (((hug)))

What a bummer the shredder is down.
Did the motor burn out or is it just frozen or maybe it is permanently jammed?
Picture me kicking the darn thing across the floor.
So good that you have a shredder to use at work.
Just start a bag of sensitive papers and take it in with you when you go in.
Right now is not the time to buy a new one. :(

Heard from BF. He's much better. Was at dr and all went well. I've been worrying myself to death. The neighbor who helped me with my groceries had seen him as he was leaving the garage and I asked her how he was and she said, he's a man of few words. I knew he'd been feeling poorly.

Thank goodness he's feeling better. I've been sick with worry but I can't push him.

My garbage is out. What a good feeling. I'm doing a little puttering. My shredder broke. I'm furious. I bought it last year. It was the cheapest I could find. I'll bring my papers to work and shred them there for now. Before that, I had an expensive one that lasted a very long time. I don't know what to do so I will shred at work for now. Just each day's mail. Won't be difficult. I'll use our shredder rather than the giant bins where the company pays to have things shredded.

Ok my worry level is lessening.

LOL Tatoulia :D
That darn badger sure is a booger to clean up after.
Next time, remember .
You do NOT want us to use the badger.

How's BF feeling? Any better? :(

Hi Subclinical
I was afraid you would get that deadly cold snap there.
Make sure to cover your ears too when going outside.
I love watching cows catching leaves in the wind.
Take care & stay safe (((hug)))

Hi Motown
the 20 is pretty darn cold too.
Fingers crossed your daughter & kids stay warm & safe.

Nothing to report here really.
Quite a boring day.
Kitchen is all clean, again.

Steven didn't go shopping today, YEA!!!
He just sat in his bedroom all day playing on the computer.
He recently relocated to sit in the garage on his computer in there.