Last week, I became obsessed with cleaning the garage and basement.
Now, I'm not saying that you would look at either place and go "Oh
Wow"! That's because you wouldn't have seen how bad they were before I
cleaned. Seriously, all cleaning is relative. Your cleaning compared
to your mom. your mpm's cleaning compared to HER mom. Your floors
compared to a new developement model home compared to a hospital
operating room compared to a science lab. There is always something
cleaner than you.
So my point is that I am WAY cleaner
in the basement and garage than I was last week. And in some cases,
maybe for 25 years. I used my shop vac BEHIND the water heater and I
think that is the first time EVER!
Hey, I've been a bit clutterred since I moved in in 1986.
[Funny
story: The first thing I did when I moved in was nail the metal pan
that held the fruit my sister sent me as a house-warming gift onto a
basement frame board. It's still there]
But anyway, I
went into cleaning mode. I spent 4 hours moving stuff around so I
could vacuum. I brought stuff to the trash can, I brought stuff to the
recycle bin, I brought stuff to a box of hazardess materials. I folded
up yards of that brown paper they use for shipping (great weed-reduction
stuff between plants), I collected odds and ends of board scraps and
piles of sawdust in buckets for future fires, I sorted out all the
various odds and ends on the top of my workbench, etc, etc, etc.
My
basement space in increased by a 1/3 and that's a lot if you think
about it, and my next effort will make equal gains. For example, 5
years ago, I bought an oval maple table at the Salvation Army store that
needed "only" some sanding and refinishing. If I don't actually do
that work THIS YEAR, I'm giving it back to them. And I have other
projects too. The attic needs plywood flooring so that I can fill it
with sturdy boxes for when I more "someday".
I want to
allow for fires in the fireplace too, finding space to move the fancy
tablesaw out of the way of the fireplace heat. And I need more space
for woodworking tools and less for boxes of newspapers kept for years do
be mulch in the compost pile I have yet to build.
I will solve one problem in the basement each week, and finish one good project in the upstairs twice a week!
Daffodils, Trash, And Old Electronics
I finally got about 3/4 of the daffodils planted. I have a front yard island bed surrounding the Saucer Magnolia tree and a 3' boulder ...
2 comments:
Oooh - come on over to my place. I need this kind of 'intervention'. Please!
Great effort. Don't kick yourself about how long it might have taken to get around to it. Pat yourself on the back for getting on to it now.
Megan
Sydney, Australia
Once again I have to agree with a previous commenter. Just be glad at what you HAVE accomplished. When I start cleaning/rearranging, I get it all done at once if it takes all day. That which I have not finished I MAY get to the next day but usually the mood has to "hit" me again. That may take months or years. Why the closets look so bad until their every three years cleaning out!!
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