Hello everyone! Tillie his I love hearing about your dollhouse!! So wonderful!

Snow Day! Congrats SubC! Good for you to work on house! Someday we will have time to do things other than sorting and purging and making tough decisions, etc. I'm convinced of if!

Welcome back, Mar! What types of things do you need to tackle before LL comes over? How can we help? Just remember to do the important things first.

Tillie I had a miserable night's sleep. Work still wasn't great today but not as terrible. A number of people gently approached me to see if I wanted to talk. That was nice I thought. I didn't talk other than thanking them and telling them I thought it would work itself out. I did have a coffee with someone and ran the situation by her and she was able to give me a different perspective and a way to let go of some of the bad feelings. So I was lucky.

I just got in and I'm proud of my pike of boxed dishes and I'm trying to figure out how to get them to the car for donating. We are having massive rains and our snow is melting away!

We have a long weekend. I will get a day to myself.

Oh!!
I used to have a big doll house, it was beautiful. My mom made it when I was a girl.
But some years ago we had to move and disassemble the house. Now everything is in boxes, somewhere in our new home :-/

Hello all!

It's been a long time without posting! I'm glad to be here again.

Currently we have a little "crisis". Our landlady is going to come next Sunday and I don't have finished ordering and cleaning the house. I have now only 2 days. Hope I can finish on time ...

Tillie, I am so glad you are having fun. I am going to get there!

I can envision a day when I have a snow day and instead of "I can spend a couple of hours working on the basement" I think "I can work on that sewing/craft/hobby project."

That's great Subclinical :D
Would be so nice if you could have your favorite toys all unboxed and displayed to enjoy.
No matter how old we are we will always need to play.

Have been playing with my new doll house furnishings.
Decided that the carpets must be replaced with something a little more posh to go better with the posh new furniture.
The wall paint and light fixtures are still alright.
Just the carpets need replacing.
Also decided to re-upholster the settee and two occasional chairs.
The antique white on them now is too stark of a contrast with the deep mahogany wood.
Anyways, I am having a BLAST! ;D

Along with putting away Christmas decorations, I have been wandering around the basement, rearranging things and thinking.

I asked dh about taking out a fairly useless closet (wide, shallow, narrow door) to create enough wall space to reassemble my doll shelf.

Dh was opposed to removing the closet, but helped me figure out a way we could reconfigure the basement so that the shelf would fit. I still have some more work to do before that can happen, but it is definitely something I could achieve before spring.

SNOW DAY!

Putting away Christmas decorations.

Good Morning Everybody :)

Hi Tatoulia :)
Good luck getting the trash out for pick up today.
Sorry about your terrible day and hope things have settled down by now.

No Rain forecasted for today. Scattered clouds, not too cold.
Everything is sopping wet and the humidity is high from the rains we did get.
No plans for today. I'm tired and think a slower more relaxing day is in order.

Great work, Tillie! Glad you were able to get the laundry hung today. So envious of your cleaning and maintenance skills. I'll get there, you are a great role model.

We are expecting to get torrential rain this weekend.

I had a terrible day at work. Will write more later. Tmr is garbage day and I hope to get mine out in time. B

Good Morning Everybody :)

Got two loads of laundry out hanging on the clothes line.
The outsides of the kitchen cupboards need to be washed.
They look too dusty and have finger prints.
Since they don't go all the way up to the ceiling I need to do the tops too and the few decorative items displayed up there.
Shouldn't take long to do then I can play this afternoon. ;D

Made my soup today. Turned out good and very satisfying.
Weather prediction for tomorrow is no rain so I can finally hang out laundry.

Checking in on you CM.

Hang in there and rest CM.

I am sorry about your bunny.

CM I am so, so sorry. My heart breaks for you on the loss of your bunny. I will join you in your prayers. You know that we all care for you deeply and completely understand that you may not be able to post. And remember, you don't need to read our posts in order to post. Just do what you can and when you can. We will be here for you.

I am so, so sorry. You are a good, loving person and you deserve peace.

Much much love.

CriticalMass

((((((HUGS))))))
SO very sorry :(
Please take extra good care of yourself.
Be kind and gentle with yourself during this time.
You are never far from our thoughts and prayers.
((((((HUGS))))))

Good Morning Everybody :D
Tea "clink!"

Hi Subclinical :)
Swimming and biking.
Great exercises!

Hi Tatoulia :)
WooHoo! you are doing FANTASTIC!
Keep making your consign/donate piles, that snow won't last forever. ;D

Love reading about all your doll houses!
I always wanted one but never had one until Steven's mother died.
It was out in a rotting falling down shed in a deteriorating cardboard box.
All in pieces, full of dried mud and reeked of mildew.
I cleaned it up, treated the mildew and sealed the entire thing with a coat of exterior house paint.
Put it all back together and painted it properly inside and out.
Wired it for lights and have been slowly finding and making furnishings.
Now I get to slowly redo all the rooms, play, play, play! ;D
But first I must make split pea soup and do all the cat related tasks and clean up the kitchen and some other miscellaneous chores. ;(

Hello friends,

I've been wanting to post for such a long time now - we had that crazy weekend with the plumbing and then I started cat sitting. And I've been trying to keep my spirits up but sometimes the busy-ness of running back and forth, trying to keep track of things like gloves and sunglasses with my brain half fried has been hard.

And then yesterday evening my roommate noticed that one of my bunnies had eaten a 2" piece of linoleum. They've nibbled at it a little bit but this was a lot more. Didn't know which bunny because it happened in the daytime.

Well, this morning we knew which bunny - my girl was not well. I was ministering to her but it didn't look good. Having had bunnies for so many years I've developed knowledge and instinct about these things. I knew, too, that if it was that bad, even a vet wouldn't be able to save her. She died around 8:45 this morning.

Right now, after her funeral at 1:00 at the shelter where they have buried my other bunnies, I'm going to try to simplify as much as I can in my life and I may or may not even be online much. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I'd been about at that point anyway - feeling like I was having too many things to do, too many people to respond to, just TOO MUCH and that my mental health is kind of teetering on the brink. If I can pray and take it easy, though, I think I'll heal.

I will be thinking about all of you and if I do feel an urge to post, you know I will, and you know I'll be back before long because we're all a team. God bless you and I hope all goes well for everyone. CM

Tillie! The dollhouse sounds beautiful! Congratulations! Your dollhouses sound beautiful, too, SubC. My dollhouse (made by Grandpa and was a Midcentury Modern beauty, is long give. I have some of the furniture but not all. I remember so clearly that Christmas morning coming downstairs and finding it with my sister. And I can remember the wrapping paper and how the furniture was wrapped and placed inside the house.

Congratulations on your find, Tillie.

Well I have two glasses, etched and very beautiful from Neiman Marcus that I will consign. I had four but long ago threw out one with a chip. I will keep one because I'm not ready to give it up. I've also id'd a knit throw to donate. I'm on a mission here. I'll have to be ruthless with the coffee mugs.

I'm going to need neko loading up my car--not going to be easy to do as there are tall snow banks everywhere. I will figure it out somehow. In the meantime I'll keep making up boxes and piles.

THANK YOU SubC for a potter's perspective. I appreciate it.

Tatoulia, fantastic decision making! Delft is one of those things that is very pretty, and you are either deeply into it and have a big collection, or keep a couple of high quality/meaningful examples. Tourist ware does not belong in either group. The potter has spoken! ;)

Now, want to talk mugs? Dh is threatening to cut me off to a one in, one out plan.

Tillie, that is amazing about your dollhouse find! You deserve to have beautiful things around you. Good karma to the thrift donator!

I used to have two dollhouses. One is a very sturdy wooden 4 room cabinet box style my great grandfather made for my grandmother. It has painted block type furniture and all the children have played with it over close to 100 years.

The other one was a fancy one with fancy furniture that I made from scratch when I was a teenager. The movers smashed it 20 years ago. I had three kids under 5, and the furniture has been boxed up ever since. Someday I will build a new house. Maybe with a grandchild.

Work has me really busy these days, so not much else happening during the week. Not biking this morning because I returned to swimming yesterday after work. Wednesdays and Fridays are long school days, so I will probably double up (bike morning, swim afternoon) on tu/th and rest on w/f

YEA! WAY TO GO Tatoulia! :D
I'm so happy you are enjoying your new dishes.
Coffee cups, pens and clothes hangers seem to multiply in the dark.
LOL :D

Got groceries today, tomorrow I'll make soup.
There are no shops anywhere near here that sell craft/hobby supplies.
I am always looking for any doll house items at the thrift shops.
The things have to be the right scale for my doll house and it would be easier to find hens teeth.
Today there were two small deep shadow boxes fitted out like rooms with exquisite furnishings.
A parlor and a bedroom, eight pieces of finished wooden furniture in each room and lots of tiny accessories, including a gray striped cat.
The tiny drawers all open and the doors on the china cabinet and grandfather clock open.
My doll house will now be so beautiful, not a mish-mash of assorted scavenged bits & bobs.
Over one hundred dollars worth of miniatures for only sixteen dollars.
I fear that I will soon wake up and find I only dreamed this.

Delft is in consignment bag. No need for it. It's not useful and it can't hold a candle to my two plates. I did it.

I've now washed all the new dishes and have packed up all the old ones. I cleaned one of the shelves and put down a freshly washed dish towel. The new white dishes are so clean and nice. I ate off of a new plate tonight and really liked it. My new tumblers are great too. I started to keep a few of my old dishes and eventually settled on two of the tea cups and saucers. My new set has coffee mugs, no saucers, and I was long enamored of the cups and saucers from the dishes. I tried to keep a certain shaped bowl but got over it. I also have to get rid of some coffee mugs--I feel like I just did that two years ago and now there's a new herd of them. I will have to cull those. I don't need this many coffee mugs.

While in the cabinet I pulled down a small box and saw some miniature items I haven't seen in probably 20 years or more. Some of the things are wrapped to go to consignment store such as some small candle holders, two pins I'll never wear and two miniature Isleta NM pots. There are four of the pots and I am keeping two. There were a couple of tiny little pieces of Limoges and one piece of blue delft that I will keep, all gifts from a far away boyfriend who used to travel. I may end up consigning the delft as I have two pieces that I love madly from other sources (both are plates and one is my birth plate) and I'm not sure I need this little vessel although being probably 35 years old it is fairly decent quality although obviously made for the tourist trade. It holds no meaning I just like it. I'm actually on the fence which makes me think I should just consign it. Help please. Tell me to consign it. Just tell me to. I'll feel better.

Ok goodnight dear friends. I'm moving forward. With your help, as always.

Good Morning :)

Really loved your latest posts!
A lot of fantastic thinking going on there. :D

Hi Subclinical :)
WAY TO GO!
And a BIG WTG! for your DH for how he is managing the spaces. ;D

Hi Tatoulia :)
WAY TO GO!
YEA!!! for new dishes!
My rocking chair has a small quilt on it only because the cats sleep there and by removing the quilt a human can then sit there without getting all covered in fur. LOL ;P

Planning to go to the store today.
It's almost 9:30am.
I need to get some food. Want split peas and other fixins to make soup.
Not raining right now and there is some sunshine.
But first I must get dressed and do all the cat things.
:D

Tatoulia, that is the great thing about this group.

You actually just gave me a progress marker. There is stuff on both beds right now - laundry waiting to be folded on one and pictures on the other, but when I started dehoarding, you could not sit down in my house. Literally, if you wanted to sit, you had to move a bag or a back pack or a pile of books, or laundry, or....and whatever it was, you had to put it on the floor - or more likely on top of a pile that was already on the floor - because there were no other options. the only chair that stayed clear was dh desk chair.

I just walked through my house. There are two child sized chairs that have dolls sitting in them. There are two folded quilts and a pillow on the bench by the stairs. The swim bag that is coming with me today is on the couch. Every other seat in my house is empty! Even my desk chair in the basement! As is most of the floor space besides the basement (I could completely clear the floors in half an hour, but it would include taking half the stuff down to the basement - where I would put it on the floor.)

Ok, forget the floors - I have stopped storing things on chairs!

Thank you for your post and support, SubC. I am doing better with things every day. You'll be thrilled to hear that it hadn't occurred to me to put recycling in my trash bag. I even put tags from clothes (price tags/hanging tags) into the recycling bag. So in that respect I've been trained. I'll need help getting to a different level at some point.

I envy your space and the bright, light windows. I would love to go into one of those rooms whenever I needed a respite from the chaos of my living space. I have to agree with your husband about stuff on the bed. OH MY GOODNESS -no joke-I JUST HAD AN EPIPHANY. I was about to write how much I hate stuff on my chair at work. I hate it when people put stuff on my chair. Put it on my desk, people. BUT THEN WHY do I have stuff on my chairs at home??!!??

Ok, I have to go to work but you've unlocked something for me.

Coffee clinks from new coffee cup. And sending you all much love.

Shoes. Ug. You have to throw out old shoes. Or eventually someone else throws them out if you pass them on. Or sometimes the sneaker type can be "recycled" into playground mulch - but I am not sure that mulch is such a good idea.

Thank you for getting the special bag! I know it is much easier to just put some recycling in the trash.

I'm glad you are feeling good about yourself and your home.

Laughing about space for an exercise bike - I have so much space! It is a function of where I live vs. where you live. But dh has carefully designed the new space and renovated the old space to minimize STORAGE. So in the new basement, there is a ping pong table - open, for playing ping pong. But there is not a single shelf or drawer. The ping pong paddles and balls stay in a cardboard box on the floor under the table. The exercise bike is in a little part of the basement that bumps out.

If dh would let me put storage/work space in that bump out, I could fit a 6' craft table and cupboards for all of my craft stuff, which would open up the existing basement space a lot. But he says no - that I would simply refill everything to its current level. He may be right. So, until I have actually scrapbooked all the "scrapbook" stuff and quilted at least a reasonable amount of the "quilting" stuff and used up (or recycled) the 3ft shelf of partly used spiral notebooks, and made stuff out of the scrap clay, and passed on some of the toys i'm saving for grandchildren who don't exist yet, etc. I am penned into the space I already have.

And, every time I empty a space, he "takes" it. Very reasonably really, but I get frustrated - example - two kids have moved out, leaving "empty" bedrooms. Dh knocked holes in the walls and installed beautiful windows that fill the room with light and go down low enough to prevent anything (shelf, chest) being placed under the window. I lined the remaining walls with shelves and immediately filled the shelves and the closets. Dh bought queen sized beds and took some of the wall space and most of the floor space away. - creating spaces for our children to come back with their spouses and sleep here - which I LOVE, but then I feel like the space is "wasted" the 350 days they are not here.

We compromise that I am allowed to put stuff on the beds "temporarily" (sometimes for months) - dh hates things piled on the beds, but is comforted by knowing they will be removed and the room thoroughly cleaned several times a year for kid visits.

And so it goes...

Tillie, that stockpiling things that are very cheap and might work in order to avoid buying new expensive things is one of the things I struggle with. For example, for a long time I would buy shoes I liked when I saw them at the thrift store for a few dollars. Because shoes wear out, and they are expensive. But then I had a closet full of old, used shoes. I have managed to redonate and wear out to a pretty reasonable level, but now I need new Mocs and can't find used ones. But I keep telling myself, if I wait for a sale I can have exactly the pair of shoes I want, and it will be new and last longer, and so cost about the same as a bunch of shoes that are "good enough"

I am slowly adding to the list of things I spend money on.
Healthy food
Undergarments
Socks
Shoes

Socks and shoes are new to the list since I started dehoarding. Food has become more generous.

I have also bought a couple of new pants and dresses, but only because I needed them and struck out at the thrift stores.

Congratulations on finishing your painting, Tillie! Great work!

I got three pair of shoes in a bag to donate. I found one shoe that I can't find the mate, which is odd since I've worn it recently. So I threw it out (don't tell SubC). I also threw out two unmatched slippers and I have one orphan shoe that I will need to find the mate to donate it, it's too cute to throw away.

I got my new dishes tonight! I have some in the dishwasher. I also got new glasses. I like big plastic tumblers and got four new ones and will out the four old ones in the donation bag.

I have my garbage out and I got a big recycle bag for my recycling, I'll need to take that out before it's too late.

I feel good about myself today. I feel good about my progress today. I also went to mom's to bring her supplies and I made her bed and I brought her a skirt I bought for myself but is too big and I think mom would find it pretty and nice. I hope it fits her.

So I feel differently about myself and my apartment tonight. I feel great. Thank you all for supporting me and helping me get this done.

Hello Everybody :D

Hi Tatoulia :)
Space is such a wondrous thing.
It leaves you room to think, breathe and just be.
YEA! for Kitty getting her window time! :D
I keep promising mine that someday soon we'll go outside and play.

Hi Tess :)
WAY TO GO!!! for being able to lay on the couch and watch Netflix!
Good luck with your Valentine project.
Happy new year to you and please come back real soon. (((hugs)))

Hi Subclinical :)
Great plan to get slowly back into the bike exercise.
Hope it becomes an easy habit that you enjoy.

He went to work today! :D
I finished the painting this morning, cleaned up & put everything away.
About 1:30pm here now and I will shower & shampoo soon.
The problem with Steven's electronics is that he buys them all at the thrift shop and most all of them are broken/defective/worn out.
He wastes a LOT of money by being stingy and trying to save money by buying these used things.
He would spend less money by buying components new and they would also have some sort of warranty.
After he got my ROKU working again my laptop wouldn't go online.
He got that working again but his garage computer wouldn't work.
And so on and so on and so on...
He was installing thrift shop routers, one after another.
He believes his hoard is thrifty, saves money and time.
In reality it never saves us any money. His constant purchases of defective items is expensive when added up over time.
Whole days are wasted trying to find anything or anything that works.
Then there is the added expense of rodent and insect eradication.
Torn clothing and skin trying to maneuver through it all.
Being thrifty would be leaving the money in the bank and only buying things as we needed them.

Anyways,
Dark overcast rainy day today and tomorrow too.
Going to watch movies on the ROKU and do something fun like sew, bead or crochet. ;D

I'm doing laundry and putting shoes away. I'm also identifying shoes that I don't wear anymore. They are taking up space that I need. I keep telling myself that. Space that I need. Space because when I envision what I want, I see space not stuff.

Hello everyone! That's nice you us have room for an exercise bike, SubC! That sounds like a good goal to try 20 minutes every AM!

I bet they'll pick up the garbage tmr AM on our regular pickup. I have so much recycling to go out but the bins are full and I don't have the special recycling bags that we can use as an alternative to the bins. I may pick some up tonight if I'm able to get to grocery store.

I have to run up some cat food to mom today. I'll pull out of my own stash as mom is panicking even though she has plenty of food. Being isolated and alone, she's become quite the worrier so I will just alleviate those worries for now.

Working from home and it is definitely warmer today. Cat has been a little crazy because she is used to a daily sit by an open window and I was finally able to accommodate her this AM. The power of double digit temps!

Also tatoulia Tillie ;)

I'm glad you are making progress on cleaning up and did not have a dish crisis. I wonder if they can get your garbage yet?

Hi Tess! Yay for a clear couch!

Tillie, I hope you get your rocky back!

I am trying a small change this week. Instead of stumbling downstairs and drinking coffee as soon as my alarm goes off, I am trying just 20 minutes on the exercise bike.

When I cleaned up in the basement I moved the bike, and the video screen stand and the little set of hand weights into the new basement space. Dh gave me permission to tu the bike there. The bike is very noisy, but I am hoping that from here it won't bother dh.

I'm doing just a slow, gentle ride this morning because I haven't been on the bike for a long time.

Happy New Year Tess! Congrats on the progress! Good feeling to look back and see what space you've reclaimed. I like your idea of s Valentine's Day goal.

I am trying to reimagine what I'd like and how to get there. I have plans drawn by an artist/designer and I'm working toward them. But I still need to decide what will and will not make it to the final plan. Meanwhile I'm thinking in terms of space and empty surfaces. I need to picture the final product so that I can use it as a filter when looking at each object.

I am also in the Northeast and it has been brutal.

Wishing you well and glad you are still with us!!

Hi everybody!
Just checking in to see how you've all been doing. The weather has been cruel here in the north east. Doing anything takes much more energy than it should. I've mostly been laying on my couch watching Netflix. That may not sound like much to most people, but I would not have been able to lay on my couch and do anything last New Year. So I'm very thankful and proud of myself for what I have accomplished.

Today I started getting caught up on my routine clean up. Tomorrow I'll continue with that. My goal this week is to start making progress on my bedroom it's my problem room now. As a Valentine's Day gift for myself, would like to move my furniture around and update a few things. I need to clean and declutter big time before I can do anything. I'm starting to look forward to it a little bit.

I hope all of you are keeping warm and being productive. This is very late, but happy new year to you all!

Tillie it sounds like the roku is no longer communicating with the wireless at your house. He probably changed the network name or password. I hope he figures out the Roku soon. Such a great device.

I swept the living room today and put away most of the Christmas stuff. I've shredded nearly everything in sight, have run the dishwasher and emptied it and have just finished showering and washing my hair. Hoping to get a few more things done tonight. Tough because still so cold.

Will report more later and hopefully won't be in disguise.

OH MY GOODNESS I did it again. I'm so sorry about that. My identity crises is in full effect!!!!

Hello Everybody :)

Hi Tatoulia :)
Almost missed your post due to the name change. ;D
YEA!!! that you and Miss Kitty made it through the night unscathed!
Wishing you all the best of visits with your brother.
I would bake too just to warm the house but I really don't need all that either.
Yeah, the garbage pick up will happen soon as they are able.
Hang in there.
Happy puttering. ;D

Hi Porter :)
Are you still toying with the idea of living on a boat?
I think you would very easily make the transition. ;D

Hi Subclinical :)
Many, many people are putting off taking down the decorations during this weather.
Some can't even dig them out of the frozen snow for now.
WAY TO GO!!!! for a GREAT start on your 20 hour challenge! :D

Friday Steven started getting a cold.
He now believes that he will soon die from pneumonia without medical intervention.
He also has been re-doing all the internet connections and wires connected to his desk top computer.
I can no longer get my ROKU to connect to the internet.
Everything else works just fine.
He is running around fetching stuff from out of the garage trying to fix the ROKU situation.
He is driving me crazy...
Not painting today, hope to heck he goes back to work tomorrow.
Trying to do a little sewing but he always needs me to do something.
He asks me questions while I am brushing my teeth and then gets angry when I don't immediately answer him.
Exasperated heavy sigh. :/
Anyways, cloudy overcast day. Everything is wet from the rains, lots of frost soon as the sun goes down.
Not a good day to play in the yard.
Oh Well ;D

Quick check in. Glad nobody is freezing!

It finally warmed up enough here today for the water I put out next to the heat lamps to stay liquid all day - that is a relief and a huge break!

Dh suggested that since it has been so horribly cold I should put off packing up the Christmas decor a week. So I am still enjoying the tree.

I finished the first hour on my 20 hour organization challenge. Basement looks a bit better.

Going to the gym.
I guess with dishes. It's like. I don't know why it's so hard to have just a few. But when I cook breakfast lunch and dinner,

I almost never clean as I go. So I eliminated the large cash of dishes for a stark minimum.
If I want to eat on plate there is only two to choose from. If theyer both dirty it's easier to clean them both than only one.
And typically what happens is I keep one in the strainer cleaned and as I'm cooking something I clean the dirty one and swap them.
I have two Pyrex bowls and two pryex pie plates. Two forks and spoons, one knife. Plus one frying pan. And a pizza pan.

I have a entire hoard of dishes in the cabinets too nanyang to mention. But I only keep out the minimum ones . I like to clean the kitchen with the windows open for better light.I just don't know what it is. I'm just drawn to it , I enjoy cleaning it on the weekend mornings, but after sundown. I nearly loath the thought of being anywhere near the cold sink.

I guess it's a thing where we have find our own way. For instance, I only have very large beer mugs. Not for beer exclusively , but because it's the only glass I can fit my hand our fist into. Eventually once the dollar stores started selling beer mugs for $1 .any sign that glass got icky and I just throw it out.I have 100 in the basement In large ziploc bags so that when quit selling them I'll be good for awhile. It's weird , I find them in weird places , out bybthe grill fire pit , by the railroad track, by the latrine, on the front porch, I find myself watering plants that don't need watering as there is about 15 mugs outside.then eventually Thry get too bad and get put in the trash bin . Unless I'm on a spiral clean , where I just go from room to room clearing and cleaning in clockwise motion sround the room ending with a third turn around organizing.
I used to do it by making a let , but I made very little progress. Til I adopted the clockwise method, Becauseonce I started I simply just wouldnt stop or be distracted until it was completely finished . Except in rooms where family had conditions on where and why they had their stuff there. The house so empty of clutter now it echoes like an empty cave.

We made it through the night. Very cold but I left the water running and checked on the house throughout the night. Miss Kitty came under the covers and we were toasty. I now have my bedroom drapes drawn so the sunshine can come in. We have warmer weather ahead!!!

The two of us could've gone to BF's house, which is very well insulated and has terrific heat. But I was worried about the house. He offered to take just the kitty but we were fine. I have lots of blankets and warm beds for her.

I will see brother later today. I'm going to run dishwasher now, if only for the heat it will generate! I will cook later on tonight.

I'm tempted to bake but then I will gorge on the freshly baked goods.

I am going to go work on my kitchen while I finish up a cup of coffee.

Let me know how the painting goes--I understand not bring able to enjoy the relaxation of a project with someone underfoot. I normally can't even do my groceries while doing with my brother and/or mom.

I think I'll put on some music to putter by. I haven't looked out back but I suspect the garbage is still there. I haven't called the city because honestly everyone is doing what they can after the storm. They know they didn't get to it/not up to me to mention it.

I had to work on Saturday , yesterday. So my weekly fasting plan didn't start as planned.

But it's Sunday and I got up out of bed at 6am and fixed an omelet . That's one thing I can extremely well, but now focusing on doing in a way that focused on extreme Heath food omelet .

Hmm , i know I can go on and on about subjects that are of mine own intresten even when other haven't asked about any of it. Not just here on this thread. So I try not too , at least not just ramble , I'm trying.

Anyway I'm focused on extreme nutrition uptake, as a hurdle I want to conquer. For reasoning that losing weight often coincides with malnutrition. So if I have extreme nutrition uptake , I'm more likely to benefit from the meals that I am eating more than the meals ive reduced. While other can simply press on with a fasting lifestyle, I struggle badly, and eventuallly binge. Then that's when the germaphobic issue start in the kitchen. Triggering the spiral from one dirty spoon to all dished dirty and stacked on the counter.

So I'm a work in progress, #1 I want to lose weight and be healthy while doing it.
#2 minimize cooking dishes so I stay on top of kitchen clutter and never feel overwhelmed in the kitchen.
#3 incude the nutrition knowledge I've gathered into meal plans that fit wieght loss , but also muscle building,strength training, and maintenance . Or basically writing my own guide .
How To Fast Lifestyle Before, During, and After

On the way home yesterday I stopped by a foamwerk business. Hoping I could spy into their dumpster. I was caught by the security guard. I was nice and explained what I trying to accomplish with making the model homes. As I was talking to him a man drove up in newer model truck and asked the guard if everything was ok. The surprised me by asking the man if I could have some of foam from scrap bin inside. I was shocked , they opened a garage door and I was in foam heaven. I mean if there ever was such a place. It was foam heaven. I quickly gathered up exactlly what I was hoping to find and filled my car up with. They were very nice about it. We quickly depated. I werked on it for about five hours in what i call hyper focus .

I'm working on a combination of storage container, abobe wall, and foam core metal panels. This model is set up for a high school graduate. Of 18 years old.
1 Have a job and a van.
2 mortgage a property that has a septic tank and foundation built.
3 buy storage container
4 fill storage container with either adobe wall making equipment or foam core panels.

I choose foam core panels because they are a pre insulated prefab wall. That doesn't need any further labor applied . No painting or treatments. If the storage container is 56 feet long.
Then the foam core panel can be nearly as long. So when they two are shipped at the same time to the property they are instant shelters. With intent to capture drinking water. And be roof ready on one side and ceiling ready the other. Where other panels are used as intant walls that don't need further labor , no painting.

Then like paint by numbers. Each step is well explained on phone app. Applying 30 hours a week on the project . So that full time employment can coincide with the build. Nearly primitive at first but as goes Installing better feature.
Using several storage containers as fast rooms. Filling them first ith construction equipment, then filling them with appliances, and other feature that require professional installation. Those installations can be installed off site prior to being shipped to site. One may think of it like a
The containers are a small train. A dinning car, a sleeping car, a cargo car, a bathing car. Once they reach the destination they can be configured in thousands of floor plans, but the first few need to provide minimal living and work space. It's important that they help to create a year round ability to continue adding 30 hours of labor per week.

So a single person could add up 390 hours every three months , if able to add $150 week to the project. Then every three months add approx $2,000.

Once the ground floor is constructed , topped with foam core.
A second and small third floor is constructed out foam core.
With simple A frame being the simplest to construct. Bought as needed or when It can be purchased cheaply or afforded.

In this was an owner builder could build a 10 person hone with in ground pool in 5 years. This leave a few other options on the affordability .
Buy the original property morgage as 10 year loan.
Pay as you go build , roughly finished in five years.
Can wait to get another mortgage to Finnish building or after the original property mortgage is paid off. The goal is minimize intrest payments, but also make it difficult to default.
Life happens , people get hurt, sick or just loose their jobs to no fault of their own. Using insurance to deal with inability to pay the mortgage for 6 months, but also a much lower mortgage payment for only the cost of property, foundation, and septic system or sewer connection.

If the homes are built in an affordable way, butvalso built to last hundreds of years through many natural disaster. It's at least an alternative to rental living, or stick built homes that are vulnerable and expensive. Only vulnerable to war.

I was so extremely happy to drive away from the foamwerks with all my new supplies . The manager , the guy the truck , gave me his card and asked me to send him some of my ideas if i wanted too. I didn't bring up the part about using urea to power flying bicycles from launch pads in the pool.
I though maybe that was too soon.

So today I'm just in the basement cleaning and orginizing.
Basically their just 8ft long strips 1x1. They are better than Lego or wooden sticks because they are flexible and can be pinned together or glued. But in my basement. They perfect because they are water proof.

My raise I got in November makes it so I can afford. My home, but just barely. I can pay the rent, the utilities on monthly budget, car, car insurance , gasoline to work. And about $40 left for food. So I'm happy that I'm more stable for at least the next 5 months.
On days where the temps are above freezing 33* , I turn off the furnace and use a small space heater in the smallest room in the house. Is a safe infrared heater, it turns of when it gets 73. But I also have inside a small bunk bed I covered like a tent. My December utility cost was only $47.
so I got to add $153 to my utility budget.
I know Jan will be much higher because I've been running the furnace to avoid ruining the pipes.

I have scheduled poker party scheduled for Jan 20, and Feb 17. I didn't think about , but it will interfere with weekend fasting plans, but I think if I'm careful I keep it near my BMR . Where I fast, binge, fast, where the total 3 day period is equal to eating normally for three days. So I'll need to be exercise ready to bring down the fat levels in blood.

Ok. I'm leaving my man cave. And really need to clear out and clean my car.even though it's very very very cold out there. Again I'm having a happy Sunday morning .

YEA!!! for frozen garbage! ;D
I like that my trash can is frozen too and no flies anywhere.
Happy your conversation with brother went well.
Thank you, my kitchen does look a lot nicer.
Didn't put the last coat of paint on today, Steven was underfoot all day long.
I don't want to paint with constant interruptions.
Did hem a pair of jeans that I plan to wear when working out in the yard.
Had O'Brian hash browns and eggs again for supper :)

Thanks for the support, Tillie. I felt a lot better when I realized I was the one worried about the dishes. I talked to brother and told him I'll take his big clothes to goodwill tomorrow and I'll pick up the dishes to get them out of his way. It went well.

Tillie I bet your kitchen seems so open and bright! Congratulations on finding a way to improve your space even more!

Bitterly cold here. I'm glad you had rain. I think we are expecting more snow next week/-nothing significant I hope. I notice the city didn't get our trash yesterday and I bet it'll be tmr til they are able to get. At least it's frozen and not smelling!

Good Morning Everybody :)

Hi Porter :)
Many times hoarding and squalor tie into lack of proper nutrition.
When people can't use their kitchens they don't eat properly.
They gain weight from eating prepackaged and fast foods.
Their health in general starts to deteriorate.
When we are weak and sickly it's almost impossible to make good rational decisions.
The clutter keeps growing, the rodents and insects take over.
The home appliances and fixtures break down but they can't have repairmen in out of inaccessibility and embarrassment.
Everything just snowballs until it becomes the photos we see of the extreme hoarded homes.

Hi Subclinical :)
Taking good care of ourselves is the first step in getting our homes and lives in order.
Eating properly, getting enough sleep, taking time to rest and play between tackling problem areas.
Being forgiving of ourselves is very important.
Not allowing the past failures hold us back and keep us from moving forward toward our goals.
Letting go of past hurts and grudges too because they can keep us down and defeated. (((HUGS)))

Hi Tatoulia :)
Just read your update before posting this.
WAY TO GO!!! ((((HUGS))))
NO! I do not want you to go out in this weather.
The dishes to donate will keep just fine until the weather breaks.
Sorry you didn't listen to BF and bring your dishes home.
Hope brother settles down and realizes it's too dangerous to go out on the roads today and that he doesn't exact his revenge on your dishes. (((HUGS)))

Gently rained during the night.
I slept very soundly, rain does that to me. ;)
My plan for today is to put the last coat of paint on in the kitchen.
Then I can put away all the painting supplies and this project will be finished, YEA!

Ok I took back my power--in my mind. I was going to see brother tmr anyway, so I still will and I'll be nice about it, and I'll get my dishes at the same time. I gave him the power in my mind and I took it back in my mind. Problem solved.

Oh CM so sorry about the plumbing issue. So far we are okay here but very cold. Tillie we must embrace those few and far between moments of normalcy and praise.

Since I got my brother his new apartment, he's let go of his trash hoarding and his otherwise hoarding. It's been very good all around. Today he's aggravated because he wants me to take him out and I'm leery of car's ability to hold up in the single digit temps.

Back to brother's hoarding: he couldn't let tvs or computer monitors go. Now he has just one tv and I've cimputer monitor. He actually gave his other tv to a neighbor whose tv was in terrible shape. He gave the roku that went with it too and now his neighbor has access to all that roku offers. It's been good to see that development.

I would love to get rid of my dishes today but I simply cannot carry them to the car in this cold weather. There is no parking by my house as we just got hit with a big snowstorm on Thursday. I will continue to box up.

Oh great my brother is now being nasty and treating me like an employee. I just told him I don't work for him and he's trying to provoke me. I'm worried now about my Christmas dishes. My BF told me to take them Christmas Eve.

I think diet ties into hoarding because at least for me - when I am at a good weight and eating well I have more energy and stamina. This helps me make good decisions and do the physical work of cleaning out. It also makes me feel better about myself so that when I slip up I can be more forgiving and start again instead of falling into a downward spiral of negative thinking.

Planning meals and then preparing them and eating them is a big deal. It is something I struggle with over and over, but when done well it avoids overstocking up and food waste, which are two big hoarding issues. It also Reduces trash from buying food - which is a personal trigger.

Milestone.
It's Friday I ate all the extreme anti oxidant foods I bought this week. I can't say Fasted, but I didn't gorge . Fasting for weight loss is a bridge too far for me at the moment. Due too my job as an auto worker. It's strenuous at times and requires stamina and energy , but the days are divided inti 4quarters and I never know which quarters are the high stamina ones.

So for now I'm trying to limit what I eat outside of work. Which is boring for home meals. But does give a greater opportunity to expand my meal menus. Yes, I have time for practice , practice , practice,.

In warm weather I seem to cook outside almost exclusively.
Grilling salmon on fish days, and steak on steak days.
After eating all the salad fixings. The week seems to just start all over again. But since it's winter veggies are more expensive.
Ive been working on perfect balance Hummus type dip.
I know this isn't hummus, but I improvise the balance of health foods into it ,

Instead of tahini/sesame .14 half Walnuts ground down into oily paste
Instead of chickpea only, I use red beans half and half . Splash in a little tumeric and black pepper.
And either stuff into mini peppers or just dip with the peppers
If it's too salty I add just a few fresh blue berries , and walla magic . Ugh it's makes me stinky, so it's just a way start my weekend so I'm not offensive to my co workers.
I'm trying to set up the homemade hummus to be my fasting food , but it's high calories so it's gas a specific spot on the weekend. After a 24hrs complete fast or 36hour semi fast .

What I leaning toward is not starting my fast on Monday's , to adjust to the demanding working conditions. To start with my last lunch of the week as zero hour . So
Day 1 start Friday 10:30. I'll energy for working.
The next marker is eating just before starting Monday 6am.

So I'm trying to fit the best fasting situation/s into the 57½ hours between Friday lunch and monday clock in.

Friday 10:30 am nuts and berries on salad.
Fast
Saturday 10:30 am. Hummus, greens, shrimp
Saturday 6pm evening steak dinner. Followed by exercise
Sunday 6 am Omelete made healthiest light workout.
Fast
Monday 6am Protein drink,1boiled egg, green tea, dried fruits.
Monday 10:30 nuts berries on salad
Monday 6pm dinner shrimp 600 cals

Tuesday 6am Protein drink,1boiled egg, green tea, dried fruits
Tues 10:30 nuts berries on salad
Tuesday dinner 6pm lemon pepper chicken

Wednesday6am Protein drink,1boiled egg,greentea,
Wednesday 10:30 nuts berries on salad
Wednesday bananaNutbread, salmon, sweetpotato,TurnipGreens

Thursday Protein drink,1boiled egg,greentea,driedfruits
Thursday 10:30 nuts berries on salad
Thursday dinner open
Friday Protein drink,1boiled egg,greentea,driedfruits
Friday 10:30 10:30 nuts berries on salad 35g protein


Ok I didn't plan to plan, it just happens sometimes.
How does tie into hoarding? Well, hmm.
If I'm not keeping the kitchen clean and clear , I'll be so disorganized I'll fall back into something simple.
Soi have to keep goto items like. Shrimp ready to eat.


..

In the past I was on message board forum for fasting , my goal was to lose wieght, but I found more reasons for fasting. Like gut flora, immune building, lowering protein to cause lower rates of hghf-1, DNA repair mode, lower a1c.

Taking a long hard look at fasting in why I should do it like a weekly thing or life, or is it fad?
So on that forum, I felt I was over posting, so I would try and earn an opinion by researching relevant or tangent to fasting or weight loss and add it my daily update. So for two years I gather a good deal of knowledge, especially once my wife was diagnosed with cancer, I had a my finger tips doctors and nutritionists that I could pick their brains.
They still don't know exactly how it works, but fasting can be a factor in longevity. How to live to 100 and still run a 26mile marathon? Smaller portions.
Taking in only what you need. Not over eating protein , adjusing protein when age changes meabolism.
Constant intake of antioxidants.
Walking 15,000 steps a day
Fish two times a week.

I made a list of all vitamins and minerals to research and post. Collating details on the top organic sources for each one on the list.

Whichones cancel eachother out?
Which combinations synergies more nutrition uptake than individually?

Lol. I'm still a terrible cook.

My observation?
The forum and research was my creative outlet.
What I came away with.

Fasting lowers protein intake.
There's no human requirement for carbohydrate .
If we survive everything else cancer is what will bring down in the end, but we can prevent it for as long as possible and fight it with foods too.

So we slow down aging by eating less protein on the cellular level.
We also use anti oxidants to keep cells healthy at the cellular level lends to lower rate of daughter cells proliferating DNA errors.

So if we eat foods that help us on the cellular level divide less cells, but also at the sametime, of the cells that we do creat with less errors.
Through in nutrition that helps identify errors and nutrion that helps repair are discard err red DNA cells.

Fasting is the only thing that creates that envirionment.
DNA mode. It take practice , practice, practice.


Why is that the direction I took. Because after 20-30 lbs of fat loss the body adjusts the metabolism, fat loss decreases it rate of loss and it be a long plateau of being hungry, With strong Likley hood of rebounding. Ugh right?
However if the focus then becomes 15lbs fat loss per year, while try the longevity trek.then the " dieting is extended over a 5 year period. Long enough to get better at exerting the fasting induced DNA repair environment.

Then there other aspects, how to heal muscles and organs.
How to build muscle, but not stress the heart. Inflammation and cholesterol balances.

It enough just to find a lonely little kitty and just seize the day.
I bought a lottery ticket.
If I win, I'm helping all of you.
Beside my wish list. What I want to donate to is the rep,antingbof trees in Africa to help give a permeant multination reserve for the elephants and rhinos.
And to continue work on making the









Monday 6pm

Hi CriticalMass :)
That's a great idea for the worm out laundry hamper.
Plus cats always enjoy playing with things that weren't meant to be cat toys more so than actual authentic cat toys. :D
Sorry about the plumbing problem, hope it's resolved quickly and financially painlessly.
About every two months I put baking soda and vinegar down the drains followed by letting the hot water run for a few minutes, to help keep them clean.
Plus it's fun to watch it react.
One of the first things I did with Eowyn was test her hearing. She hears very well. :D
Both her eyes are blue and I knew about the possible deafness.
Did you know that pure white (albino) cats with one blue eye and one green eye are always deaf?
Happy your jeans still fit. YEA!!!
Mine do too so I know I'm doing alright. HaHaHa ;)


Something very weird happened today...
Steven actually commented on the newly exposed freshly painted wall space.
Said that The paint job was very good, looked very nice.
Said that the open area looked much better than how it had looked before with the cupboard up there.
He is normally someone who hates even the smallest change and he never compliments, just complains.
I accepted his compliments, said thank you.
Hope this shows he may be ready to make a few more positive changes in our home. ;D

Tillie glad the cabinet will have a bright new career as a yard equipment holder

Tatoulia, hope the pipes and you keep safe! You too, SubC - sounds like you're facing some SubZ! Yikes. I don't like that frigid frigid weather.

The holidays do make for a lot of break in routine, and I'm getting more like my mom every year; she used to say she'd be glad for life to get back to "normal." My life has very little "normal" in it, but at least back to a "routine" would be good enough.

Hi Porter, sounds like little kitty's earning her keep very well. I agree with the others - she'll probably hunt fine on a full stomach because they just can't resist the movement of prey.

I'll tell everyone what's a great toy for cats, too, I discovered by accident: Memory wire. I get those mesh pop-up clothes hampers from Dollar Tree store. They only last a few months, but are the easiest thing for me in this limited space where I don't have room to put my rigid plastic laundry baskets.

Anyway, I just pulled on the wire sticking out of a torn up Dollar Tree hamper and the cats went nuts. There's something about how memory wire bounces in the air. So I've been saving it (what our cats don't need I'm going to use to make some cat toys for friends or the Humane Society). Also the mesh can be stitched easily into bags to fill with shed bunny fur and hang out in the spring for birds to nest with.

Tillie, can Eowyn hear? I know most blue-eyed white cats are deaf. Glad Gimli is protective of her.

I don't fast for entire days but if I eat a large meal it's usually lunch, since that's when I sometimes go out with my quilting buddy, or cook something I can't cook with roommate home due to her food allergies. Then I eat a very light supper - toast or rice crackers or something, maybe a dab of yogurt, and some fruit. I have the occasional candy or cookie (those "C" foods Tillie mentions!) - have been more into that with the holiday abundance, but slowing down again, trying not to stress over it; my jeans still fit. I think switching it up does trick the metabolism into not hoarding fat, LOL!

Well, I've been getting into the groove as best as I can with the new year. First few days felt like I was spinning my wheels a little. Part of that unsettledness was waiting for Wednesday which was payday, and organizing the bill paying and such that goes with it.

And, I got a call from the friends I cat sit for; going to be doing that starting on the 8th. Hoping it goes smoothly. It used to be easier before I was also doing my roommate's dog's midday potty break, because then I could go in the morning and spend most of the day with the cats (it's across town), and be back to my bunnies (and these cats here) in the evening. But now I have a shorter time with my cat sitting cats.

We already have a big crisis, the first of 2018 - the bathtub wasn't draining. Plumbing guy (also our mechanic) came today, snaked the backyard line and got a couple clogs. So far so good, seemed simple. Then he came inside to do the bathtub on down. Hit an obstruction and is going to have to go into the pipes themselves. It's going to be a mess both of logistics and money. Sigh.