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Saturday, June 20, 2015

A Scary Place...

I am in the attic now, and I feel a little bit like Alice in Wonderland. I have a flash light since there is not an electric light in that dark and dank place. Boxes loom before me, and I fear I may fall into a "rabbit hole'. I feel a hundred eyes upon me, and I am relieved to find out that they belong to stuffed animals, not mice, though I know mice have visited the attic. They have carried bird seed up there to eat at their parties. I hope they are cute, like the mice in Cinderella. I'll let you know if I get an invite to their party, though all is quiet now..........I must gather my fearlessness and venture forth again.

Oh my aching back. Working in the attic is much harder than working in the basement. To carry on the analogy of my fictional friend Alice, the door I go through is much smaller than an ordinary door. And then because I am so big, I must bend over to extricate boxes from the attic to my room, which by the way was once part of the attic. There is no way I can just work in the attic, but have to pull out the boxes to go through them. Then, there is the part where I travel from the upstairs to the basement....with the bags of junk. If I was going to do it again, I would never save anything. And starting now I vow not to hoard.

A few days later........I am defeated. The scary place has wiped me out. I don't know how Alice got through all her adventures without taking a long vacation. Well, she was fictional, and maybe I am too, a figment of my own imagination. I have been spending too much time in the attic and the cobwebs have clogged my brain.

At this time my adventure in the attic has come to an end. My back just can't handle it. I think I have half of the Captain's family's stuff still in there.....but I can't move any more boxes.. H did say she'd help, so I am formally taking her up on the offer.

For now, the little door is closed for another season. I shall leave it to the mice, if I haven't disrupted their life style. (Wouldn't that be a wonder?)

A rabbit just ran by with a big alarm clock saying he was late for something. I am too! A cup of coffee. It's a good thing I am not a taker of heavy drink........... Hey, wait for me Rabbit!!!!

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Catching Up

     For eight days minimum, I struggled with cleaning up my basement. It has been a repository for everything that we didn't know where else to store it . Piles upon piles of boxes, old things which I hadn't seen for years, and of course the wet, mouldy stuff that had been through the various flood times. Box after box of stuff the Captain apparently thought would be useful 'sometime', but instead it lay wet and rusty and not good for anything. There were also quite a few cases of empties, quite a few! I would be embarrassed to say how many.

It took determination I didn't think I had, but finally it was done. Not perfect, but done, except for getting these boxes to the recycler. I knew this was a big burden and through the hours of cleaning my mind tried to decide how I was going to take all this stuff.

This is where a fantastic friend and neighbour steps, or rather drives into the picture, pulling a large trailer.  Sadie's friend L, his wife J and a friend of L's came to take care of my burden. A couple of hours later, my basement was empty of all the things that needed to go.

What do you say about friends who will stop the important things they are doing, to help another friend with a big mess. I just felt so overwhelmed with thankfulness. It is hard for me to ask for help, but I knew I couldn't do it on my own. L was ready and willing to help. He and J are like that. They are the kind of people who notice when something is not right and are there to lend a helping, caring, loving hand. Their children, now grown adults with families of their own are very much the same way. There are two loving, caring daughters, and one son. I might also say that L and his son M have been great helps to daughter D, and when the Captain was farming he too was a recipient of their help.

Sometimes, thank you just doesn't seem enough, though that is all they ever want. They help because they want to, because they are friends. I can not think of any way to express my thanks, other than a big hug and a sincere thank you. I get overwhelmed with their kindness, and I cry. That they would do for me because they care. Quality people. Quality friends. I'd adopt them if I could.

Today I have been doing odds and ends of things in the basement and the yard. I fear I may have overdone it with the basement, because I just can't seem to get up any sustained energy, and after only 15 minutes, I have to rest. If I sit on a stool, I can weed for longer but pushing the wheel barrow and carrying things just cause the back pain to grow. I am thankful that after I rest for a while I can go back to it, but oh how I wish I could do what I want without the pain. It would be a nice difference.

Of course when you work on one thing, the other things that need doing are left to do their own thing. Thus, my flower garden small though it is, has greened up with weeds. One weed is driving me crazy, and it isn't the dandelions. It is like an elastic strand, with leaves. I must see if I can find out what it is. I also want to take some pictures before I finish this post.

Just one picture now. Peonies are getting ready to bloom 
and iris I transplanted last year are blooming.
Garden is far too full, but it is the only place I have.

I'm off to see youngest granddaughter in her final choir concert.

It was rainy this morning but has turned into a beautiful day.

Be thankful for those special people
 that the Good Lord puts in your life.