Good Afternoon Everyone
Only 2:30pm here.

Hi CriticalMass
Great to "see" you!

YEA! bunny responded to your tender care. 😉

Yeah, get those plants safely planted so you can enjoy them.

What a bummer about the sink clog.
Hope it's not too difficult to fix.
What I do to keep drains maintained, especially in the bathroom...
Every month or two I dump baking soda in the hole then pour a bunch of vinegar down there.
After all the fizzing is finished I turn on the hot water and let it run for a minute or two.

This helps keep the nasty scummy crap from getting too thick down there.

Hope your doll fascination doesn't derail your budget.
I would like to hear you have been making clothes for the ones you have. (((hug)))

The dining area here is squeaky clean.
All the furnishings have been washed, baseboards and lower third of the walls are washed, things that "live" there have all been washed, carpet vacuumed all the way to the edges.

Taking a break then I will polish all the furniture and put on the clean table cloths.
It smells lovely in here from the Murphy's oil soap.

Didn't want to do all this cleaning because I feel that I am removing every trace of my babies who died, and this makes me so very sad.

It was a crazy morning but it's better now. The bathroom sink wasn't draining. Roommate had already left for work. I got under there and removed the J pipe and got some gross smelly stuff out, and the floor and me wet. But it wasn't the full extent of the problem, so we're going to have to do more. I think it's clogged in the pipe that goes out of sight. Above my pay grade.

I washed the bathmat that got stinky water splashed on it and threw in a couple large towels to keep it company - which reduces my laundry pile.

Then I went to feed cats and bunnies, and roommate's boy bunny didn't dive for his food and seemed lacking in muscle tone. So I gave him two kinds of medicine. In 45 minutes he was chowing down his pellets acting totally normal. He could've just been sleepy, but the meds won't hurt and I'm just glad he's okay.

Was going to help with church sale prep. Maybe tomorrow. Sale starts Thursday. I will do my best to be good. Still on a doll kick. But I hit Pause, mainly due to realization my money was dwindling too fast.

Also been buying some clearanced flowers - mainly vincas. Roommate saw and wanted some so I got her some too. She said "Looks like the Vinca Fairy has been here." I said we are Vincaholics. We need a 12 step program - 12 steps to the bag of potting soil and get those babies planted so they can be happy and grow! 🌸🌸🌸

SubC, your friend Now is probably a cousin of my friend Momentarily! 😂

Tillie, wish you could give Steven a cookie and plop him in front of the TV as needed.

Tatoulia, WTG with the walking. I'm dropping a little weight by tightening up my sloppy areas - night snacking, etc.

Good Morning Everybody
Another cool quiet morning here, Mourning Dove cooing in the garden.

Hi Subclinical
Wishing you sunshine and dry earth (((HUG)))

YEA!!! for bags & egg cartons delivered!
Seaweed snacks are tasty.
You did good on what you brought home.

WTG! for now having enough non aisle space to set up that folding table!
I like the post-it designation for what goes where.

Sorting out, cleaning, decluttering...
all those decisions are tiring and stressful.
And keeping up with dishes and laundry is put on the back burner so as not to distract you from your mission.

You have really been doing a fantastic job of sorting out and organizing the basement.
Make sure to take breaks and to take care of your needs. (((HUG)))

Thank you for addressing the 9 year old's problem.
Your experience and view point is priceless.

Hi Tatoulia
Wonderful to know you are feeling good (((HUG)))
So happy you are able to enjoy the Summer.

Bathroom is still clean!
Plan for today is to 100% clean dining area.
Murphy's Oil soap the furniture, vacuum edges, clean ceiling light fixture.
It's a small space with few furnishings and the only clutter is all of Scooter's toys.

I used to be able to clean the whole house all in one day.
Now I can only manage to do a good job focusing on one room/area a day so I don't suffer for it.
So happy I minimized the garden so I have energy to do more than just water & weed in a week.

It is a tough balance, SubC. I'm amazed at how much you accomplished! You do so much in a day! Truly my hero. Great job getting things out of the house, helping at the good bank, reducing waste, and taking care of your home! You spent 24 hours and did a great job! You'll find the balance where you can take care of your weight, too. You will.

It is expensive to have my laundry done for me. I wouldn't want it every week. Way too much $$. Plus, I like to dry my things on low and I bet they use high. But it's a good service to have when there's a problem here and it keeps me from being frustrated. So I'm adapting and then should be back to normal in a day or two.

Off to work soon.

I am sleeping (and waking!) so much better now that I'm walking at night. It clears out my brain and my body feels so much better.

Need to finish getting ready for work, then off I go!

Have a great day, everyone! We are expecting rain today. SubC these grey days are so tough. See if the music can help today. Tillie, I hope you're not sore or aching from the rigorous bathroom clean yesterday.

Tatoulia, good for you walking! I hope your dryer is fixed soon. I know you are trying to not spend money because of paying yourself back from the debt, but I am happy to see you spending money on making your life easier with fluff and fold and your cleaners instead of on things.

Tillie, i'm glad you got the bathroom cleaned. Sorry for the resistance. I am enjoying your yard from afar. Mine is soggy and under a layer of water again, with rain predicted every day in the ten day forecast.

I went to volunteer at the food bank yesterday. I had a huge pile of bags and egg cartons I had collected for them, and I wanted it out of my house. (It took me two trips to carry it all in)

I also took them 8 little bottles of fancy shower gel one of my kids had gifted me. They were all sealed. It was good timing, because they were out of hygiene supplies except for laundry detergent and dish soap. So the first 8 families at least got a shower gel.

I brought home two plastic grocery bags stuffed with case wrap to drop at the plastic recycling at the grocery store, one plastic grocery bag of seaweed snacks that they were sure nobody wanted because they weren't being taken and they were "best by" today (I like them, and they are crazy expensive) one bag of pita bread (used a piece for my sandwich) three oranges for dh lunch (they had two cases and they told all the volunteers to take some because they weren't going very fast and they have been sorting out spoiled ones for a week) and four 1-2 serving clamshells of sliced up fruit or fruit salad that they were going to throw out because they didn't think it would make it to Thursday.

I cleaned up a little in my pottery studio and freed a folding table to carry down to the basement (I have enough non aisle space to set up a long folding table in the basement!) and started sorting out cabinets. I didn't discard anything but trash though.

I am putting post it's on the cabinet doors to identify what goes in there. Nothing "for now". "Now" has to get his own storage. His stuff goes in the messy pile on the floor. I asked dh about putting cabinets up over my chest freezer (we will eventually be removing cabinets from the old kitchen) and he is thinking about it, so I stuck two post-it's to the wall that say "freezer containers" and "lightbulbs" (might add "paper towels" - dh uses those)

I am snacking a lot from the stress of cleaning out and I have not been exercising. It seems like I can only handle one area of my life at a time. My weight is climbing again and I am stalling out on my closet. And I am getting behind on dishes and laundry. I will try to catch up on those today.

Mostly I am in the "crash" phase that comes after progress. The lack of sunlight is not helping. I need to remember to put music on.

Malls are great places to get in walking.

WTG! for the hangers out for picking!
I'm sure they were snapped up immediately.

Having fluff & fold available while the dryer is down is wonderful,
but it costs more than doing it yourself and you have no problem doing it yourself when there is a working washer & dryer.
I think you have been doing great keeping things all washed and I'm sure you know how to fluff when they come out of the dryer.

;D

I enjoy bringing in the laundry, fluffing and folding it and smelling how good it smells.

Cleaned under the bathroom sink and the kitchen sink today.
Did a bit in the garden, some plant food and watering & a little chewing bug (cut worms) eliminating.
Hosed off the honeysuckle because spiders made webs ALL over it and the Russian Olive tree dropped a million flower petals on the webs and it looked terrible.

I went for my walk early tonight. I'm sweating. It is definitely a little boring in the mall but I do think it's the easiest. I'm not crossing streets, there are plenty of stairs to climb, etc.

Ok to the shower. Garbage out, kitty's box has been cleaned and I've taken the recycling out.

Yesterday I worked on my hangers. I have lots of nice hangers but honestly too many. They crowd the rod and are empty. So I made a nice bag of hangers, plastic. And put in a clear bag and out back. I'm sure they are gone by now. People go through the garbage and I make sure things are nicely done if the intent is to have people take them. If not, the clear bag and the hangers will be taken by the recycling people.

The dryer guy didn't come today. I'm so glad I've made peace with it. Thank just don't want to get lazy and always have my sheets and towels done for me. But it is tempting.

WTG on overcoming the obstacles and getting the bathroom clean!!

Good suggestion for the boxes-i will get some next time I'm near a garden store or a Home Depot. Just a little filler

Each box has a bright pink geranium, two white with pink tips geraniums, a little painted plant (green and pink) and two ivy. I'll tqke photos but they look empty right now.

Hi Tatoulia
YEA!!! for flower boxes!
What kinds and what colors?
Alyssum is a good kind of flower bed filler.

WTG! keeping up at the "fluff & Fold" while the dryer is being fixed!

Honestly, it should NOT be so difficult to get a bathroom clean!!! >:(

Steven kept wanting in the bathroom and in my way all around.

I swear a toddler is so much easier to deal with.
Just give them a cookie and sit them down in front of Sesame Street and they leave you alone long enough to clean the bathroom.

That is the reason I let the bathroom go for so long.

But it's done now.
Even took down & washed the shower curtain.

I dropped off my towels and terry bathrobe yo be washed & dried. Big relief off of my shoulders.

Hello everyone!

I bet the moon was beautiful. I've planted my window boxes. I could use a few little plants to put in there so may try to find today.

Much better on the humidity today, which is a relief. I'm going to check downstairs to see if the dryer had been fixed. If not, I'm taking my towels down to the fluff and fold.

Will report back in a bit!!

Good Morning Everybody

Another quiet cool morning here.
Drinking my tea, Scooter right next to me.
Soon as I am done here I will clean the bathroom.
Not a quick clean but a real good all around scrubbing & wiping down.
Then the bathroom will be back to only needing a daily tidying up for a while.
Then I will see if I want to work on/in another area.

Hello
I should be sleeping but the moon is too beautiful and bright.

I think cats like that rich loamy smell of potting soil, I know that I do.

You're welcome Subclinical (((hug)))

Tatoulia, glad there were people standing around on the street so you weren't all alone on your walk.

You have developed a lot of great life habits.
Dishes and laundry are things that are easy when we keep up with them but can become big monsters when let go for too long.

I like to stay caught up on them so that if I'm too sick for 3 days it's not too hard for me to get caught back up.
Not much worse than laying sick in bed worrying about a huge mess waiting for me.

Ok I did take my walk and it was fine. Still a surprising number of people out. I bet because of father's day. People were outside of bars, having cigarettes. I walked down to the mall and then just strolled between the two, then walked back. I needed it.

SubC it is remarkable how far you've come! So proud of you!

Tillie that is so true. Some days we have to count even feeding the cat as an accomplishment! No argument here.!
I picked up my sheets from the laundry today. I may drop off my towels tmr. I'll get back with the swing once the dryer is fixed. For now, I just want it done. Clean laundry and I can think. I feel that way about the dishes now, too.

😊 thanks Tillie.

Tatoulia, I am glad you have your flowers. Mr. kitty can go outside whenever he wants, and he STILL digs in potting soil when he finds it. Wonder what they like about it....

Hi Tatoulia

A dark rainy Sunday night without all the other usual people out & about is not a smart time to take a stroll alone.

YEA!!! for the flowers & bag of potting soil!!!
Looking forward to reading about your gardening adventures.

Cats love the feel of quality dirt through their fingers.

WTG! helping your Mom have her Summertime clothes and bedspread!

Many days I have to count dishes, laundry, cat tasks because at least I am keeping up with something and not just falling behind.

I still need to catch up on some house cleaning.
The tidying up things is great but after a while it's just not enough and I need to do more.

My Dearest Subclinical

😀

Great plan, SubC! And I understand about not "counting" certain things. For me, doing the dishes and doing laundry aren't really achievements since they are now ingrained in my system. But there are still days where I need to count them!

Very rainy, very humid today. I really want to go for a walk now but I don't know if BF will object. I hope not. He can't join me and I don't know if he'll feel that a rainy Sunday night is too desolate. I trust his judgment.

I bought my flowers! They are out in the hallway and I'll plant them tmr. The dirt is also in the hallway. Kitty will open the bag of dirt and dig through it, like she's trying to tunnel her way out.

I helped mom get her summer bedspread out today as well as her summer clothes.

Will catch you all later.

Well, I managed to get the new cookie molds tucked into the cabinet with the old cookie molds, but that whole cabinet is slated for a clean out.

I had actually sorted through the collection and pared it down about two years ago. My original idea was to hang about four of them at a time over the kitchen window and switch them every season (get up on a step stool, switch the molds, dust the molding, wash the window...) but I think most of them are too big to fit in the space now that the molding is up. Also, I have not yet run the idea past dh.

I like the two new ones. There were two other ones I didn't buy. I might able to get rid of some I saved on the last go round, but i'm going to deal with that when I get to the cabinet.

Tillie, I am only counting things that are in the house because I am working on getting the house in order, and I am not counting things that should have been recycled a long time ago, because those things aren't really hard any more. The things should be a little bit hard so that I feel like I accomplished something. (Otherwise, I could go eat the bag of candy in my desk, throw away the candy wrappers, and be done. 😉 )

I am tired tonight because of not sleeping well with the tornado warning last night.

I love you too (((((HUG)))))

Hi Tatoulia 🙂

I was thinking she may lay out all the cookie molds.
Rate them from most absolute favorite down to Ho-Hum.
Then maybe what she keeps would all work in the kitchen space she wants to decorate with them.

???????????????

WTG SubC!!! You are doing GREAT! So proud of you! If you don't have any use for the new cookie molds could you just donate back again? I've been known to do that. I used to buy tons of dishes, not all would make it out of the car, so I'd go ahead and donate back. JUST A THOUGHT and not taking away from your accomplishments !

Tillie you are so clever. I love you so much.

WAY TO GO!!!! Subclinical!

You are doing FANTASTIC!

OK, so you aren't counting some things but they are still decisions you've made, acted upon and they are no longer there!

To me it ALL counts as a plus because you are now minus them.

😀

4 soap molds, a bath puff, a bowl, a box of fragrances and colorants, and two more pairs of tights.

21.

Plus I put a couple of things from the soapmaking box into the recycling.

I don't really have a plan for the cookie molds either. I wanted to hang them in the new kitchen, but there are too many and I am no longer sure it will work.

I feel bad about buying the things, but I still want them.

I found a dress and an (unopened) pair of stockings to donate.

So I am back to 12.

I also found a bag of cardboard tubes, which I put in the recycling, but i'm not counting, and sent Dd home with six flower pots, which i'm also not counting since they were just lying around the yard. Yard looks a bit better though.

Good Morning Everybody

Hi Subclinical
That's GREAT that you all were able to easily walk down into the basement and were able to sleep on the mats!
I've been through 3 twisters here in 25 years.
First two I had no warning but the last one the TV had the emergency alert in time for me to know.
That last one hit me on the edges of it, ripped carport roofing off then went onto the airport where it threw a crop duster plane into a hangar, destroying the plane and hangar.

Very glad you experienced nothing more than that heavy rain. (((HUG)))

Looks to me like the only item you bought with no future plans for was the meditation bowl.
Maybe you will take up using it to meditate? 😉

Hi Tatoulia
Happy to hear you no longer feel the desire to stock up on things!
Especially living in a city where things are easily obtained.
I have a spare light bulb for the pantry because if the bulb goes out I would need a flash light to find anything in there.

Since I am down to "One in-One Out" for socks & underwear that makes it easier to not buy in multiples.
Except when I buy a package of panties that comes with 3-4-6 pair.
That's when I am getting desperately low. LOL 😉
Sometimes they are not made very well and all start to fall apart at the same time.

Good luck getting your flower boxes all set up.
Hoping Miss Kitty doesn't decide to play in them, mine would.

Slept in till 9:30am!
So quiet here, just the occasional Robin talking.
Taking it slow & easy this morning, no pressing chores to tend to today.
There are some dishes to wash after brunch.
Planning to just enjoy the day and not fret about anything.

Hello everyone! I'm up and have fed the downstairs cats. I just got out of the shower. It is a bit dark and looking like it will rain. I will walk, undeterred.

Tornado warnings used to scare me so much as a kid, when I lived in Illinois. I'd be all nervous and my stomach would be upset. We'd be in the basement and I'd be scared. I can still feel the type of beautiful weather that precedes a tornado watch/warning. There's something tinged in the air that I can feel. I'm so proud of you for having a clear path to get to the basement and you handled the water seepage so easily! Congratulations!

Tillie I hope all is going well with you. I did get my lightbulbs. We have the nice LED ones that the electric company gives away to businesses, so that the shop owner can in turn sell for a modest price (under a dollar). So closet light is working and I'll probably do my ceiling fan in bedroom once I'm changing my sheets. I'll want to clean the ceiling fan and I don't want dust in my bed. Since cleaners changed on Wednesday, I'll change my sheets this coming Wednesday.

My need to hoard lots of things is gone. I've eliminated buying multiples on a whim. Another thing I do now is if I'm buying something that normally and rationally is purchased in multiples (underwear, socks, etc). I now buy one, see if it works, and if so, buy more. That has eliminated lots of things that don't fit or don't work. Plus, going to the store more than once means I get more walks in!

I'm also taking my time in purchasing a new a/c. I know the one I want, I'm just waiting a bit. Trying to stop the feelings I used to have of urgency. It's helping a great deal.

Ok hopefully will get my flowers today. I'm not sure I'll want to drive if it starts to rain. But I do need time with mom so we shall see. Still early enough.

Wow, lots going on here yesterday.

CM, good for you for finding stuff for the yard sale! And organizing!

That is great that you shifted the logjam too. It always helps to come at things from a new angle.

Tatoulia, i'm Glad your are getting your laundry done. And so much walking! You sound like you are doing really well. I'm sorry you had to get sick to decide that you were just going to avoid being stressed. I hope you get into the habit so that you keep it up when you are better! Kitty cats, walks, flowers, and fluff and fold!

I hope you get your lightbulbs soon too. I don't know about you, but having lights out is hard for me.

Dd And sil we're camping this weekend and a really bad storm rolled in, so they packed up their tent and appeared at our house for dinner. (They had good with them and helped cook.

Last night we had a tornado warning, so we all just took blankets down to the basement. Fortunately there was no tornado here, but we just took our blankets down, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Walked right down dh path and slept on the exercise mats in dh shop and I wasn't stressed at all.

The rain was bad enough that water came into the basement - including the messy side of the basement, and I just dropped a couple of towels on the floor and ignored it.

Now for confession time. Yesterday I went to a pottery fair, and I saw some nice things and got lots of ideas and didn't buy anything. But then, I stopped at goodwill's half price day. I got a portable file box with a handle which doesn't count because i've been planning to get one for my classroom for our silk screens (I will even use some of my hanging folder stash to set it up) but I also got a giant rooster cookie cutter and a textured glass dish - which will both eventually go in my classroom, but I think they will stay in my workshop for a while first, so I have to count them. And two stoneware cookie molds for my already too large collection which is currently in the basement with nowhere to go, and a little brass meditation bowl, which I have no idea where it will go, but it was so cute and so cheap... so that is 5 and my net total is back down to ten.

Hi Tatoulia

So nice baby sitting sweet babies. 😀

YEA! for light bulbs!
Steven has a huge amount of light bulbs but he never has the right ones that I need.

Looking forward to you having the flower boxes.
Having living plants, there is just something satisfying about it.

Way To Go! for walking!
Such an easy and enjoyable way to get exercise.

I haven't showered. I met up with BF and we went for a walk. A perfect evening out. I'll shower now. I just needed more of a walk. If I had brought my phone I may have kept walking even further but I didn't have it so I just came inside.

I bought new containers so I can make my window boxes. I'll get soil and plants tmr. I can't go another year without flowers. It's been two years now. When I first moved in, I would change them out three times a year. So I'll have to get them going. I'm hoping for some geraniums and some petunias. Don't have an idea of colors. Sometimes I have to see what's left.