Friday, April 13, 2012

Looking to the Weekend

The modules for my raised bed planter boxes arrived in record time.  My husband and my youngest son will be assembling them tomorrow.  I am very excited about this and can't wait to fill them with soil and compost and peat and leaf mold.  I am thinking seriously about emptying the richer soil in my large round terra notta containers into the raised beds and refilling one of the containers with a sandier soil mixture suitable for growing carrots.   I miss fresh baby carrots.   The other container will be used for lettuce since I'll be able to put it on a wheeled water well and move it to shadier spots when the weather starts to warm too much for ideal lettuce growing conditions.  I have even looked up directions for making a cucumber frame for use in one of the raised beds.  I am so looking forward to gardening again.  It's been too long!

The Redwork section of the Band Sampler thus far
As to my plans for stitching yesterday, things didn't go as well as I had hoped.  I am still plugging away at the redwork section of the bottom band.  But I hope to finish that section today and get going on the tree motif.  I got side-tracked by some literary nostalgia.  In doing some of the Spring cleaning, I came across my daughter's complete set of Anne of Green Gables books and nothing would do but I should settle in to reread this classic series.  Cleaning was suspended, stitching ignored, but I spent a very pleasant afternoon and intend to continue reading all about Avonlea and Prince Edward Island for the next little while.  I have decided that at my age I should spend my time doing things I enjoy at least as often as I do things I ought.  That's my justification for leaving some of the Spring cleaning till Summer.  The real purpose of the Spring cleaning urge, anyway, is to gather up all the extraneous stuff that Bill and I have accumulated in the past three decades spent in this house for one huge yard sale.  The neighbors will probably think we are getting ready to move but in truth I am only looking to declutter  the closets, cupboards and the junk room and make this house easier to maintain.  And it won't hurt to make a few dollars in the process.  As we get older there are so many things we no longer use or need.  My husband's complex of arthritis/gout/rheumatism all prevent him from being the handyman he once was, so all the power tools can go.  We have books we have accumulated, books we have inherited and books left by our grown children.  We have all sorts of odds and ends of housewares and giftware that just gather dust or take up space in cupboards, never seeing the light of day.  I just want to trim down our possessions to a reasonable degree.  No more overflowing closets or untidy junk rooms.  I would like to have the space to bring some treasures ought into the light but first I must weed out the unnecessary to make room for the cherished!  And if, in the process, I find a few old friends to reminisce with [like Anne] then I shall enjoy the chore all the more.

6 comments:

Edgar said...

I love re-reading books - what a treat!! Sounds like a plan... decluttering..

Rachel S-H said...

Good luck with the decluttering. One of these days I am going to take a literary trip to Avonlea!

Unknown said...

I love Anne of Green Gables and all the other books in the series. I have my Mother's old copy which she received when she went to Sunday school many years ago and my Mother has the rest of the set at her home which will one day become mine.

Vickie said...

Oh Riona, I just decluttered my chart stash. It is a good feeling when done and over. Me and the hubs have been slowly getting rid of things too. :)

Margaret said...

Riona, I too love Anne and a visit to Prince Edward island is on my "bucket list". So pleased you enjoyed the company of Anne et al.

Anna van Schurman said...

You're doing your kids a real favor! (My parents' move out of their house was a nightmare because of all the CRAP!) You know, November 22 is National Decluttering Day. So it doesn't have to be spring! :)