Getting Stuff Done

I try to do something useful around the house or yard every day.  I don't mean routine house duties like daily/weekly cooking, cleaning, laundry.  More like some specific project, and it doesn't have to be major; like cleaning out a whole closet, washing all the windows, organizing the basement workbench, inventorying my garden seeds to order replacements, weeding a section of the flowerbeds, etc.

Being retired tempts one into an "I'll do it tomorrow" attitude, and I found myself slipping into that 2 years ago.  And I will admit then when I get a really major thing done, I may take the rest of the week off (like when I had a new roof put on one week and new siding the next week).

A good example is when I collected stem cuttings of my butterfly bush, my Catnip plant, and a Wave Petunia last month.  Most of them are growing and I will have some great replacement plants this Spring.

So I was pleased to get projects done yesterday and today.

Yesterday, I managed my new seed order.  I have a system for storing seeds.  Years ago, I obtained plastic vials to store seeds in.  I drilled holes in a piece of plywood to hold them, and wrote numbers on the vials with a marker.  A sheet of paper identifies all the vials by number, seed, and year.  I keep the tray of vials in a basement refrigerator (along with bulk foods and beer).  So, yesterday, I took out the tray, added the new seeds to empty vials, and updated my list.  I nearly lost my list one year, so now I print three copies.  One goes in the seed tray, one in a looseleaf garden journal, and one in the index card box that has my planting/transplanting schedule by weeks from last frost date.

Today, I heard a weather report that suggested we would be getting 3-6" of snow tomorrow.  Three Winters ago, we had 3 major snowstorms adding up to almost 4'.  That Spring, I bought a good snowblower (on sale cheaper then).  I assembled it, added gas/oil and tested it.  It ran well.  Then it sat.  Never got any snow worth even removing since.  But I left the little bit of gas in there...

So I was doubtful it would run today.  I had to re-read the manual, added new gas, checked the oil, etc.  It took a few tries, but it started.  I ran it 5 minutes to make sure it was working well, turned it off, let it cool down, and set it in the garage ready for use.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...  I'm ready (so I bet it doesn't snow, LOL!).  But it was a good satisfying project for the day.

Tomorrow, the project is all errands.  New fish for the aquarium, a few hardware supplies, pick up shortened pants from a tailor, bring unliked catfood to a donation center, etc.  Friday will be a recycling day.  I have 300 pounds of used kitty litter, boxes and newspapers, uncompostable trash, and bags of plastic.

I figure that getting one useful thing done each day adds up, and I intend to make this a productive year!