Well, thanks to circumstances, it seems like 2015 is going to be the “finally got around to doing…” year.
Today, I finally took down all the Christmas lights outside. Most of the ones around the windows out front were dead/dying anyway so they will go to the land of dead tech. I salvaged the 4 or 5 strings of newer LED lights. I also finally removed the solar powered multicolour lights from the cedar bush and the big tree out front (the ones that worked like a hot damn in the summer and barely at all in the winter). Some of the strands were so brittle they snapped as I was unwinding them from branches, but I did salvage two full sets. I am sure someone will have a good use for them!
I’m also making lots of progress toward the 26(+) boxes of crap I wanted to clear out. There are currently 7 downstairs and I will aim for at least 10 by the end of the weekend, all destined for thrift store donations. I’m also going to deliver a box of yarn to someone who can make better use of it than me. I’m not quite ready to get rid of my fabric stash… but I am thinking I might have just enough materials (backing, batting, and flannel) to make the lap quilt I’d planned, and to do that sooner than later.
One of the frustrating things about sorting is realizing just how many little things have been stashed in places where they don’t belong. Of course this also leads to discoveries like the one from the other night: an accidental time capsule of papers from fall of 2010, including some of Kiddo’s artwork. I took one of those pieces of artwork (drawn on the back of a Smoken Bones kids menu) and framed it. I think I will frame some of the other pieces too, rather than file them away in a keepsake box.
Astronaut with fairy wings, rocket boots, and an astro-cat. By Alice DeWolfe, age 9.