Michele, good to hear DD et al are out of the woods. A bitter sweet relief that you don’t have the stress of caregiving, it’s still hard…. Sounds like your sister has a a great trip planned. I’m still not brave enough to travel. We opened the pool this morning, it’s a little greener than I hoped, no the time, chemicals, and $$$ won’t fix.

Yes Lia We were to split up the caregiving for my mother.

My brother and Larry were taking me and OH out to dinner last night for my 60th (that was last month) which kept getting put off…..postponed again…My brother not feeling that good and worried about this %#*ing increase. Me too but still….. I am so sick and tired of this

Michele, I am glad they are feeling better….it sounds to me like you need a trip to Brittany!

“Sick and tired of this”…yup. Like Ladma I am also going nowhere. I’m not having guests in my home etc. etc. At least the warm weather seems to have finally arrived. I’m taking the day off more or less as it’s going to be quite warm but I think I’ve been overdoing it a little bit in the gardening category. Last night the painkillers were not doing their job. I would go down and take a nice walk on the beach but I bet you it’s packed. No visiting with the grandchildren today either…I’m going to save that for tomorrow when it’s supposed to be rainy. I’m actually glad it’s going to rain all next week we need it. And I need a body break! Maybe I’ll be able to chip away at that staircase✍️😜. I bought a couple of little solar lights for my staircase and they’re quite cute. Unfortunately they don’t photograph very well but they’re quite charming at dusk and they come on nice and early which some solar lights do not. Did I mention that I found my special bracelet? I thought I had lost it but it was in amongst the trash in the garage and I fortunately spotted it. It must’ve fallen off when I was doing some of the recycling.

Good thing you found cuz somebody else would want to do it I like those steps I know I seen him before but I'm going to say it again I like those steps and that light

Lights are very cute. Did you have the brackets or did they come with. It takes us a lot longer to spring back, Lia. Ask me how I know 🤣😂.

No, I collect brackets...lol...lights are just inexpensive variety store items about $5.

Feet up...something I am making myself do once a day. Seeing osteopath next week. Missed last appointment and could be diet related too. I never know why some days are worse. Pat says exercise... BUT not too much. Uh huh.

I hear you. I thought I had the swelling under control but the minute I eat something the swelling creeps back. I’m so frustrated. Is osteopath for arthritis or swelling you’re experiencing.

My sister just sent me a picture of the garden of our former patio home. She is enjoying the garden my husband and I planted. She bought our patio home when we permanently moved to the gulf coast three years ago. I am so envious of her garden.😭

My iPad is reading our discussion. This popped up on my Flipboard feed. https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-clean-outdoor-cushions-37080197

Grrr.

How convenient Ladma…😵‍💫

It’s actually a pretty good article. L O L

Gls nothing like photographs of the garden that you planted that someone else is enjoying. Now that would be a tough pill to swallow. At least she’s your sister…

SeaJay The osteopath treats my congenital scoliosis. The curvature in my spine twists my body in such a way that it puts pressure on the left hip and therefore all the way down the left leg. In other words my alignment is off. According to the physiotherapist I don’t have arthritis. (according to the doctor and the x-rays I do have arthritis and that was quite some years ago so… I guess the bottom line is I don’t have arthritis that the physiotherapist can detect by twisting my joints around). I’m therefore left with the conclusion that it’s the curvature in my spine. Then there’s the vascular insufficiency which I guess is what’s causing the swelling in my legs. However that’s complicated subject and it’s really hard to find out any good information about it as you likely know. It does seem to be vaguely related to a number of factors that are hard to track down including how much time I spent standing, whether or not you wear pressure-treated socks, diet, and the kind of exercise that I am doing. That’s a lot of variables.

I will say that after a day of more or less behaving myself, not doing too much sitting, eating no dairy, no chocolate, no caffeine, and doing some light exercise (but not a lot) my legs feel somewhat better. We’ll see how I sleep tonight. All very boring.

Today’s excitement was a carpenter ant in my bed when I went to make it this morning, a weird bug in my bathroom sink, and a queen hornet looking for a place to start a new nest as well as a porcupine this evening climbing high up into my Norway maple. If you’ve never seen a porcupine climb onto delicate little branches you don’t know what you’ve missed. They are in their element in a tree. Who knew?

Beautiful full moon behind the old Elm tree up on the hill at my neighbours house. My favourite tree in the neighborhood.

Michele, glad DD and family seem to be on the mend. Your family has suffered enough stress. Lia, not only have I not seen a porcupine climb delicate branches, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a real life porcupine! We had our own wildlife adventure here yesterday. I went into the garage (without my glasses) and saw/heard something bouncing off the ceiling. "Dam,"I thought, "that’s one huge wasp." Ran into the house, put on my glasses, and summoned enough courage to peek into the garage. A hummingbird!!! I rarely see them here, and certainly not in my garage. The garage door was open, but the poor little bird kept bouncing off the ceiling, occasionally resting on the door opener. We took out the windows and screens. Bird came close to freedom, but nope. Eventually we got a rake, gently raked the bird off the ceiling, and it found it’s way out. I wish I had a picture, but DH said we weren’t interrupting our sensitive mission for Houzz photos, lol.

Yes, hummers can get oddly panicked in garages. I have had it happen. Glad you got him out. They are so delicate.

Oddly, porky pines look more like panda bears when climbing! They elongate and you can see their legs! Very destructive though. I will have to wrap the bottom of the tree or it will get overly pruned.

We were gentle, but I’m consumed with guilt for using a rake with the hummingbird and a broom to guide the frantic baby squirrel that got into Chef's apartment in the wee morning hours.

Someone mentioned carpenter ant…i would worry about that …they can do a lot of harm in a wood house…and you don’t always see the damage til they have done some damage….we also have a humming bird challenge as we have big windows that mirror the outdoor views…they fly right into the window…get stunned at best…worst…they don’t survive…☹️

Porcupines are at least lovely to look at….Possums on the other hand…their best look is mangy. Our native marsupial, but so much less attractive than the Australian ones.

I had an Australian possum coat once. It was really pretty and warm for the St Louis winters working downtown. 🥶

At first glance your ‘porky pine’, as your above post called it 🥰 looked like a bear.

Geez, I thought it was a bear too. 😂

Me too!

They look amazingly bear like, when climbing. But I saw the quills. I may stall on the tarpaper to get more photos. They have a cry that sounds just like a baby when distressed. At apple harvest time I hear them in the trees, a high pitched crying noise. Fighting over apples? Dunno.

Today is three footer and YGS day. Yaaa! Finally not sick...

Many moons ago, in another life, (my twenties to be precise lol) I was a puppeteer. Wrote plays, some even produced by local NS television and distributed hither and yon. Part of that era was a travelling theatre and a dozen or so very detailed puppets my ex husband and I created.

We were going to start our own troupe and then...children, and moving here, and life, shelved that. A friend is taking the puppets and theatre, as she runs a non profit that can use them. But it is amazingly hard to let them go. I will post photos.

Btydrvn I could write the book on carpenter ants. I spent thousands repairing an entire wall in the studio. Like everything else here, one hopes for the best. My well is in the basement. I cannot spray all around the house. I do various deterrents and hope that that is enough. All I can do.

Haha...at last...my decor niche. From Architecture Digest .com. I will see if I can find the link...lol.

Marianne also views cluttercore as a direct rejection of minimalism and a way of embracing “showing off the things you love,” pointing out how this is one of the only trends that “names an approach and a feeling.” She adds, “That individualism is so rare in viral aesthetics and is key to what makes cluttercore special.” At a time where imitation is hard to avoid in the world of interiors, this trend offers a new style where the decor can’t be duplicated. As Marianne bluntly states, “Maybe it’s someone else’s nightmare, but it means I get to live inside my own head.”

“I think we’ve been told we need to declutter and get rid of stuff for so long that these densely layered, super personal interiors are total eye candy,” Hannah says. “There’s so much to look at that makes you smile. Isn’t that so much more interesting than a boring white room with some objects and unread books artfully arranged on a shelf? When you look at a cluttercore space you learn something about the person who created it and you want to know more.”

For those of us who identify with the aesthetic, there’s no method to the madness though; you either have it or you don’t. Cluttercore is not something that can be taught, it’s simply a way of being. Marianne strongly agrees, asserting that “you don’t choose cluttercore, it already chose you.” Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and clutter is a thoughtful form of curation.

Here are the puppets I made in my salad days. It’s amazing how hard it is to let go of a dream that one had that didn’t materialize.😢

They are rod puppets which you may not be familiar with. The hand goes up underneath the costume and holds a small rod that comes out from the neck that controls the head and then the right hand controls the two rods that controls the hands. It’s based on the Indonesian Rod puppet.

Here are the strange characters, villains or otherwise. Some of them are somewhat damaged. Not surprising. I used to use these in my classroom for demonstrations when we made puppets together and they’re a little worse for the wear some of them.

These are all made out of the same clay that I make my masks out of and painted with acrylic. I switched over eventually to plaster bandages which works way better and is much more durable. Definitely the way to go with younger children.I was going to keep these with an eye to my grandchildren but then it occurred to me that it would be more fun to make our own.

Three characters are missing as I passed those along to her already. Some of the ones that were in better shape but you get the idea. This little wizard is made out of the plaster bandages.He’s also a little banged up but easy to repair as unlike the Self hardening clay he doesn’t break easily.

I won’t be giving up the wizard! Well there’s that fragment of the past drifting on down the stream to another life.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/cluttercore-chaotic-good-tiktok-trend?position=4&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pocket_hits&utm_campaign=POCKET_HITS-EN-RECS-2022_05_13&sponsored=0&fbclid=IwAR0lOt86Cj2pAWHwoqMUZW5Ey6BUDke-C0NoGWBIeDbh8WmZUlTO2hpU71s

This is the article I was mentioning…lol. There’s some links in here which I will have to look up of various examples and see if it truly is my style…😂😂

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/cluttercore-chaotic-good-tiktok-trend?position=4&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pocket_hits&utm_campaign=POCKET_HITS-EN-RECS-2022_05_13&sponsored=0&fbclid=IwAR0lOt86Cj2pAWHwoqMUZW5Ey6BUDke-C0NoGWBIeDbh8WmZUlTO2hpU71s

that is definitely not my style..clutter like she has there is too much for me..I wouldn't be able to sleep:) I have too much stuff already and I try a bit at a time to get rid of of them

Those puppets are interesting. I am sure the kids had fun making them

I have no words for the clutter. A tiny NY apartment with no closets. STOP buying shoes. 😂🤣😎

I am just now waking up (as per usual). Much too much to take in let alone process. For now, just about the puppets. Liasch Liasch, of course you once had a puppet show! What a Wonderful Weirdo you are! ❤️

No, just NOOOOOO . I’m by no means a minimalist, but I did find myself carefully editing what returned after a remodel a few tears ago. Things only returned because I loved them, not because they’d been occupying a certain space for 20+ years.

I have read about ClutterCore. Thought of you. (and me)

I like a good amount of clear space, clutter makes me anxious. I don’t even style my coffee table. I have coasters and the tv remote on it. I’m not a minimalist, though, like Lisa, the things I like are out. It probably helps that I don’t like shopping, it avoids temptation!

Those puppets are fantastic!!!!!

Love the puppets, it is good to give them a new home, and let them spread joy again.

Yes those darn carpenter ants

Lia, your puppets are wonderful! I can understand why you are anxious to donate them. I had two collectible doll collections I had to transfer to two nieces when we permanently moved south 3 yrs ago.

Oh, Lia. The puppets are outstanding. Couldn't you buy cheap wooden yardsticks at Lowe's or some building store (usually about $1 each) and put them up inside the puppets and then find an old umbrella stand to set them all into? They are truly sculptural works of art and I hate to see you part with them. Not a great help when you're trying to declutter, am I?

Jay, I thought about displaying them. Yes essentially they are works of art. I certainly put my soul into them at the time. They’re tricky to display but likely not impossible. However I have decided that I am moving on. Even though it is slightly heartbreaking. The thing to realize is that I also have a large portfolio of water colour paintings that I also need to distribute somewhere somehow. FYI peeps I haven’t actually looked at any of the pictures of those spaces in the article! Least you think I’m a fan of clutter I certainly am not. I consider that my space is fairly well curated and I like it when it’s neat and tidy. The only reason it’s not that way is because I’m somewhat lazy.

I’ll have to take some photographs of the artwork so you can see what I’m up against.

Ladma, too much clutter makes me depressed or irritated or both!

Hmmm… yes that certainly is a lot of shoes. She must wear a different pair every day! I take it back I don’t think I’m a clutter core personality type. I think what caught my eye in the description was the concept of having the things you owned be personally meaningful and that that’s the basis for the aesthetic.

I read a helpful tip a few years ago that advised taking pictures of objects you don’t want to part with and creating a photo album. Takes up less space but you still have the memories.

Lia, your puppets are not simply visual works of art…they are meant to move and tell stories…I love museums, but I prefer historical homes….you should$ be able to get some videos of your art in action….and share it live with the descendants.

Fiss, exactly my rationale for giving them up! This organization (The Deanery Project) has a constant infusion of young artists, often with puppets as a vehicle for storytelling and messages about environmental issues.

So yes...puppets are meant to be moving. I wish I could show you video of these in motion.

Amanda, that's why I took photos, but Fiss has the right idea...needs to be a video.

Spent day with the grand kids, mostly working with them all on the front garden which was started last summer. Soil amending and moving a few things around. It is coming. I am not a big fan of the boxwood which are a hedge at the back. Leaf miner and roots creating issues.