WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR AUGUST 2023

Whidislander wrote: »

ginnytez wrote: »

I'm always confused with where to post comments on last of month after new link is posted (that truly is a first world problem!)
Terri-thanks for sharing the song-I have always liked "Raindrops keep falling on my head." There was the great scene in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" when it was sung. And Burt Bacharach was so talented (better at composing and playing than singing).
Machka-hope you stay safe during your wicked weather. And thanks for clarifying map-like Lisa I was very confused!
Kylia-good to see you and Karen popping in.
Margaret-I find myself in agreement we gather too many things. I used to think my mother did because she was a depression baby-I don't really have an excuse. I do find the 10 minute patrol at bed time to be helpful.
Heather-glad you were able to dodge the heaviest of the rain.
Carol-hope your ankles and knees continue with improvement-it seems like they have been bothersome forever.
Rebecca-your comment about the boxes being organizational hoarding made me smile-and I may be guilty of some of that-but I use cheap boxes.

Felt pretty good again today. The medication change does not seem to be hurting me and I definitely have more energy and fewer aches. Hope it continues.

Need to put a few things away. Work from home day for most of tomorrow.

Take care all,

Ginny in Ohio

I bought that photo organizer, (my second attempt as my first ones were photo boxes for eldest and youngest sons). The thought of going thru 7 albums is a bit daunting! I am glad I went thru the albums for middle son first and made a photo box back in 2016. They say the middle child always gets the short end of the deal. I had made a box for him, removing baby thru high school from the albums. I then put index cards to the back of photos that were a bit sticky on the back. I separated each different place we lived by a taller index card, that had our address, dates we lived there, and school he attended. Might be nice when he gets older.
When I was down at my sisters I bought a plastic photo organizer

I had sent one to our middle sister because my eldest sister didn't want to go drop off 5 photo albums we borrowed from middle sister last year. Sending them back by mail would have cost a pretty penny! So I removed ones I thought she would want to keep, albums that were my grandparents, my fathers, took copies of ones I wanted, and gave her back the originals. She had mentioned she wished another one, so I am sending her thus one. I figure when we pass, the boys will get together and go thru photos anyway.💖👍
Before I learned about what minimalism was, I bought some of those collapsible canvas cubes. In various colors. They were at the dollar store, so not a big investment. I have my art supplies in some, and batteries & bulbs in others. I do like that when I think of anything I have, I know just right where it is. Why that makes me happy, is a puzzlement!😂
Rebecca
Whidbey
Wa

LisaInArkansas wrote: »

Rebecca, those pictures are just lovely... Just looking at Athena's smile and carefree demeanor, too, in her last few days as an only child. They'll all do very well.

Whidislander wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

Whidislander wrote: »

ginnytez wrote: »

I'm always confused with where to post comments on last of month after new link is posted (that truly is a first world problem!)
Terri-thanks for sharing the song-I have always liked "Raindrops keep falling on my head." There was the great scene in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" when it was sung. And Burt Bacharach was so talented (better at composing and playing than singing).
Machka-hope you stay safe during your wicked weather. And thanks for clarifying map-like Lisa I was very confused!
Kylia-good to see you and Karen popping in.
Margaret-I find myself in agreement we gather too many things. I used to think my mother did because she was a depression baby-I don't really have an excuse. I do find the 10 minute patrol at bed time to be helpful.
Heather-glad you were able to dodge the heaviest of the rain.
Carol-hope your ankles and knees continue with improvement-it seems like they have been bothersome forever.
Rebecca-your comment about the boxes being organizational hoarding made me smile-and I may be guilty of some of that-but I use cheap boxes.

Felt pretty good again today. The medication change does not seem to be hurting me and I definitely have more energy and fewer aches. Hope it continues.

Need to put a few things away. Work from home day for most of tomorrow.

Take care all,

Ginny in Ohio

I bought that photo organizer, (my second attempt as my first ones were photo boxes for eldest and youngest sons). The thought of going thru 7 albums is a bit daunting! I am glad I went thru the albums for middle son first and made a photo box back in 2016. They say the middle child always gets the short end of the deal. I had made a box for him, removing baby thru high school from the albums. I then put index cards to the back of photos that were a bit sticky on the back. I separated each different place we lived by a taller index card, that had our address, dates we lived there, and school he attended. Might be nice when he gets older.
When I was down at my sisters I bought a plastic photo organizer

I had sent one to our middle sister because my eldest sister didn't want to go drop off 5 photo albums we borrowed from middle sister last year. Sending them back by mail would have cost a pretty penny! So I removed ones I thought she would want to keep, albums that were my grandparents, my fathers, took copies of ones I wanted, and gave her back the originals. She had mentioned she wished another one, so I am sending her thus one. I figure when we pass, the boys will get together and go thru photos anyway.💖👍
Before I learned about what minimalism was, I bought some of those collapsible canvas cubes. In various colors. They were at the dollar store, so not a big investment. I have my art supplies in some, and batteries & bulbs in others. I do like that when I think of anything I have, I know just right where it is. Why that makes me happy, is a puzzlement!😂
Rebecca
Whidbey
Wa

My father has been scanning family photos and I have scanned a lot of my earlier ones too, years ago. So I don't have albums anymore. But I may have hard copies of some photos in one of the boxes in the office ... or maybe my parents have them.

I'm so glad my father is scanning the older photos so I don't have to sort through them!

One of the goals with my office clean up is to digitise as much as I can.

That's my type of minimalism ... put everything on computer! 😀

M in Oz

We have two huge albums each like a ft thick. One is our Renaissance faire days, and the other is our SCA historical reenactment days. Both can't be scanned because husband wrote in them, and lots were glued with fun memorabilia. So there that. I have two pizza boxes (new), that were a box of 20 my husband got for his board games. One for mom, one for dad. Much of what I have from them are items that aren't really scannable. Plus there's a part of me that like the feel of the old photos, letters etc. But at least I only have a small container. Nice of your father to scan them.👍
Rebecca
Whidbey
Wa

Whidislander wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

On Minimalism ...

My husband and I have both downsized dramatically twice in the early 2000s.

I got rid of about half my stuff in 2004, put the rest into storage, and then spent the next 3 months living out of panniers while cycling around Australia. Then I returned to Canada, lived in 2 rooms in my parent's basement and got my Bachelor of Education.

In 2009, I got rid of about half my stuff. I got it all down to what would fit in a mid-sized bathroom and had that shipped to Australia.

Meanwhile, my husband got rid of more than half his stuff in 2005 and travelled to Victoria to follow the Harvest Trail by bicycle.

Then in 2009, he set up a very small house in preparation for my arrival ... and lost almost all of it in the 2009 Victorian bushfires.

When I arrived in Australia, we lived in a small shack at the back of the property where he worked for a year, with practically nothing. Electricity came from a generator and later solar panels. Heat came from a fireplace. We cooked food in the fireplace or on a Coleman stove. Water came from the rain. We were 2 kilometres from "the grid". It was a very interesting first year together!

After all that, we decided we wanted stuff. So we've filled a small 1140 sq ft house.

I don't have any desire at all to get rid of stuff.

However, I do want to organise the office ... eventually. That is a BIG job.

(I've been hoping for a miserable weekend this winter where we have to stay inside and do inside stuff, but that hasn't happened yet. When it's nice out, I want to work in the garden, not inside.)

A couple years ago, I managed to find time to organise the dressing room, bathroom and bedroom. I'm reasonably happy with them, although I could tweak a few things. It would probably take me a day or so.
The lounge room isn't bad. Once the office is done, it will be better because some of the things out here actually belong in there, but there's no point putting them into the office now.
And my husband surprised me yesterday by doing some fairly significant tidying in the kitchen, although it still needs ... something. I'm just not sure what it needs. I don't go in there much.

And then there's downstairs, which is basically a garage we use as a basement ... as a workout room. It's less than half the size of the main floor. One day I'll have a look at what all is down there.


As for Time Minimalism ...

Sometimes I wish I didn't have deadlines and things I need to do, attend, follow-up with, etc..

Sometimes I feel it's all too much.

Sometimes I wish I could come home in an evening and do nothing. I enjoyed taking a few days and retreating to a cabin in the middle of nowhere last month where I slept, read, and coloured. I needed a break like that.

But right now, Opportunity has dropped into my lap and since I've got at least 11 years of work left till my "official" retirement date ... and maybe longer, I want to make the most of Opportunity. Something has happened I began to believe would never happen ... and I'm enjoying it. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm planning to make the most of it while it's here.

Meanwhile, I am making choices of what can stay and what can go. The chiropractic thing I mentioned a few posts up, for example, can go.


Machka in Oz

Having that first year off the grid, well I am awed by that. I would have been a wailing woman in the corner. I appreciate nature, but I need to be separate from it. When we would go Renaissance historical camping I put MANY layers in the tent. We had an inner flap of the canvas bell tent, and first layer was plastic holding down the flap. Then came a blanket that I sewed together a BUNCH of Gerber cloth diapers together. I had dyed them different colors but a great moisture wicking layer. Then came many blankets of various sizes, the finally the top layers, heavy Korean mink blankets (not real mink, like a heavy fleece blanket. No bugs in my tent! The inside of the tent was large enough to fit 4 sleeping bags. Nightly my husband would light incense in the tent, so no bugs would wanna venture in.
I will state that you have an admirable work ethic. In everything you do, you plan what needs to be done, and do it.👍. I know those facts can weigh on you, but you have tools set in place to help you thru. You inspire me to be more.💖🤗👍
Rebecca
Whidbey
Wa

Joy1580vb wrote: »

Machka, my garden is really doing well this year. Will be picking my peas in probably another week and a half. DS and family are here next week so will be spending time with them for a few days. They are flying in from Ontario and have been a bit busy getting ready for their visit. Usually do a lot of baking but decided not to this year as I usually end up with a lot left over that I don't need to be eating and neither does DH. Will be making cinnamon buns with my granddaughter as that is something we started doing a few years ago. I think she was 6 when we first started....she is now 12 and loves baking and cooking. My DDIL is not a bread maker so I am quite pleased that I have been able to show my granddaughter how to make the sweet bread dough and form the buns. We usually freeze some and they take them along for the flight home. A nice memory of Alberta.
Joy