Two Days. Two Big Projects.

 This used to be a flower bed. It is now overgrown and I want to turn it back into lawn. However, I need to transplant some of the plants into other beds before I take the weed whacker in. I have to mark these pink lupines as an example, so after they are finished blooming, I can transplant them or give them away to my brother in Smiths Falls. Most of my other lupines are purple, so I will not need to mark them. 

Monday and Tuesday remained  overcast, wet, dreary and COOL  (temperature wise), and yes, rainy as well. After working on Sunday to load up the dumpster, I was feeling tired and sore, and the last thing I wanted to do was continue the work loading up the dumpster. But I pulled on my big girl pants, went down into the basement and cleared it out. You might remember when I first went down there earlier in the year to clean out boxes and bins of STUFF before having the problem of the flooding fixed.( It turned out to be a broken motor on the furnace pump that redirects the condensation that builds up in the gas furnace.) Anyways, all those items were brought upstairs and dealt with at the time so that nothing went back downstairs. It also led to the eventual cleanup of the shelves leading down to the basement and all the hardware being sorted upstairs in the entrance room. I threw out a lot of stuff and collected lots of "toxics" that I was able to load into the van and take to the Recycle plant last month. It was a HUGE job that went on for weeks. However, I left an old carpet and lots of wood down there because I knew that sometime this summer I would bring in a dumpster and I could get rid of it then. Besides, I was deadly tired of working another day down in that dungeon. UGH. UGH. So Monday was the day and I did not stop until the basement was cleaned out....not the sweeping up, mind you. That is for another day.

Yesterday, my carpenter friend, his wife, and young adolescent daughter came over to help. My friend got my small travel trailer opened up. I had not been able to get the door opened on that. My husband and I traveled across Canada one summer and had a wonderful trip in this little trailer for two, but I have lots of photos documented to remember that time. Yesterday, we got everything out of there. Most of it ended up in the dumpster, and some will go into the yard sale. I am giving the trailer away to another neighbour to use as a hunting cabin. Then they helped me take all that wood from the basement from the back of the house where I had piled it up, to the dumpster. I signed over the ownership to the van into his wife's name. We measured up materials to build the back deck so that when I am ready to proceed, I will know how much to order. He is scheduled for brain surgery to remove 3 tumors and open up his skull at the temple, this Friday. He still remains positive but is keenly aware of the risks and possible outcomes of the surgery itself.

After they left I felt emboldened to don my gloves and mask and attempt the project I have been avoiding for days. I was going to tackle the attic. What a mess! I removed the filthy bins and took them downstairs outside the  back door. I knew the stuff inside would be clean and untouched. All the cardboard boxes it seemed were torn apart and strewn everywhere. The contents of the boxes were underneath shredded newspaper, Styrofoam insulation and pink fiberglass insulation.  I was down on my knees looking for the contents (mostly china dishes) and repacking them into boxes and bins before bringing them down to the kitchen. I bagged most of the "crap" into three big garbage bags. (And by crap, I am also referring to raccoon feces). Now that I could see where I was walking, I was able to drag out all of the larger pieces on my own. Those pieces were dusty but clean. Fortunately, the feces were contained to the "litter" they had created on the floor, which was now all swept up. There is nothing left inside the attic.  The job took several hours but it is a big job done.  In the attic I was sweating, so I was thankful it was a very cool day outdoors. I couldn't imagine having to do the same work on a hot summer's day. I stripped off the mask,  stepped out of my clothes, threw them into the washer,  and hit the shower and washed  my hair. I washed up all the dishes, TWICE, in bleach water and then through the dishwasher. Amazingly, only one teacup lost its handle. Today I am left with the task of taking that stuff I left outside the back door out to the dumpster.

It looks like I could open up my very own tea shop, but these are all inherited from family. The yellow one on the left is the broken teacup, but with a little glue, I will probably still use it to grow a succulent inside. The rest of the dishes I washed (not shown) will end up in the yard sale. If they were in the attic, I definitely won't miss them, but I have often thought about these teacups. I MAY hang on to them for a bit longer.

Going up and down the staircase, first to the basement, and yesterday to the attic, has been really hard on my knees. But it feels wonderful to know that I did these very difficult tasks. *patting myself on the back*

The dumpster is filling up. The company will be by Friday morning to take it away for me. I don't know that I can find too much more to fill it up, except from the shed perhaps. I am quickly running out of steam, but I am hoping my son can come out tomorrow. He may have to go into work. This afternoon I have a doctor's appointment, so cannot see myself wanting to do too much today. I will probably take a break.