Re-reorganizing

 If my parents had some kind of shady past that they kept receipts for, I feel like I would have found them with this last box I went through.  Mom kept pretty much everything when it came to receipts and cards and mail.  In my case, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.  If I ever had any doubt that I was my mother's child, that would be gone too.  I now have some of the hospital receipts from her stay when I was born.  I found some for one of my brothers, but not the other.  It is quite possible that I just missed them.  Had my birthday not caught my eye as I was going through the papers, I wouldn't have seen mine to save it.  Will I continue to save it?  No.  It is currently with things to keep, but I plan to go through many things again and scan or photograph them and then get rid of the paper.  Having this box behind me is huge.  Other things I am happy for today:

• Keziah and I reorganized the piles of boxes that I still need to go through--again.  I touched almost every single one this time.  There are only a couple more that I expect to be horrible like the one I just finished.  We did a sort-books, craft, photos/genealogy, and misc.  The craft and photos/genealogy are going to stay where they are for a bit.  Ideally we are going through the book boxes tomorrow for the last official day of downsizing.  After at least one day off (Easter) I am going to try to continue doing a box a day.  It feels good to have a little more of a plan for which boxes to go through next.

Today before the sort.

Today after the sort.

• Watching the cats play on the toys that Keziah has purchased and built for them.

Nanni and Winston.

• Before dinner I took a nice walk out back and around the yard, about 1.6 miles.
• The garlic is starting to come up.

• There are shades of green starting to show.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from today.

• It is Minecraft night.  

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Stay safe.

Turning Dirt

 Three boxes went through today but nothing as fun as yesterday's old pictures.  Most of the things I got rid of.  Well, there were a bunch of old clothes and pieces of fabric that went back into a box for Keziah to use.  It is still gone from my list of things to sort.  I found one of my favorite skirt sets and it is in the box for Keziah.  It will never fit me again and will probably not ever be in style again either.  Honestly, this is me, it was probably not in style when I made it.  Other happy things for today:

• This morning I went to see a friend and shovel sheep manure.  It has been over a year since we have seen each other (pandemic) and it was a nice visit.  Also, I got more manure for the garden.  I borrowed a spindle of hers last time we saw each other, had it in the car, and I forgot to give it to her.  Guess I'll have to help her shovel again soon.  
• After talking with Zed about getting a tiller, I went out to the garden with a pitchfork and turned some of the dirt.  I may be jumping the gun.  Last year I felt like we started late, this year early.  The ground wasn't frozen at all.  This is the part of the garden that I had insect problems-squash bugs and squash vine borers.  Disturbing the soil may reduce the number I get this year.  The squash will also go in a different part of the garden.  It is a nice feeling to have this started.

This is the first of three rows I will need to do just to
get the area that I had squash and pumpkins last year.

☮

Currently listening to: Goodbye, Things, by Fumio Sasaki.
Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Stay safe.

Five Boxes

 With the help of my daughter, Keziah, we went through a total of five boxes today.  Some of that got put away, some trash/burn/recycle, and there are two quite full boxes ready to be donated.  The place where the boxes are has enough room in it now that Keziah can set up a little studio space to do her art.  Other happy things for today:

• One of the things that I unpacked was an evening dress that I think I got to go out for New Year's Eve quite a few years ago.  I'm keeping it.  I'll have to find a reason to wear it, or make a reason, but I am keeping it.  
• It was windy enough out today that I didn't feel safe taking a walk outside.  Things were flying all over the place.  Instead, I stayed inside and worked on a latch hook project and listened to my audio book.  I finished the book, Quiet.  A great deal of research went into that book.  There are many aspects to being an introvert and this book delved into them and did so from different angles.  Working on the latch hook and listening to a book was a great way to relax after going through the boxes.

This latch hook was probably started when I was a teenager.
I did five or six rows today.

• Cats.

☮

Finished listening to Quiet, by Susan Cain.

Stay safe.

Palm Sunday

 Yesterday I got the Covid vaccine.  Other than a sore arm from where the needle went in, I don't seem to be having any adverse effects.  There have been aches and pains, but nothing that I can point to and say is different than other days aches and pains.  Yesterday I helped move a couch and this morning I took a four mile walk. These things can also bring aches and pains.  I've been keeping track of my temperature since last October and there is no big change there either.  I do feel like I may be having allergy issues.  I don't think I can attribute that to the vaccine either.  All this is to say, "so far, so good."  Other things that I am happy about:

• During my four mile walk I remembered to listen to the audio book that is due Tuesday.  Just under three more hours to listen to.  
• I noticed buds on some of the plants in the front of the house.  I don't remember what came up there last year.

• Again, I enjoy editing all the video footage with Zed.  I don't think it is just the adult beverages.
• While editing there was a video that popped up on Zed's computer and started to play.  This same video started to play on Thursday too.  Zed keeps putting off watching it.  The video is about procrastination.  🤣

☮

Currently listening to Quiet, by Susan Cain.

Stay safe.

New-To-Us Couch

 Today I said goodbye to the couch I got from an aunt (now deceased).  Some of the legs had broken and the frame as well.  I'm not sure how long she had it, but I've had it for over five years I think.  Before seeing the cracked frame, I considered trying to have it kept in the apartment.  For the last 39 days though, I've been getting rid of at least one thing a day.  It isn't always easy, but it does seem to be getting a little easier.  It was easier for me to say goodbye to the couch today versus how it would have been 39 days ago.  Other happy things for today:

• We were able to get some sheep manure from a friend.  This will help the garden grow.  If all goes well, I will help that friend later in the week and either get more, or help someone else get some manure.
• Some of that manure went right into the compost bin.  I'm hoping it will help the compost break down faster.  While at the bin Zed noticed a crocus nearby.  There are a few coming up in a part of the yard that we didn't do much with last year.  Since we moved here last April, the flower was most likely already gone.  They are one of the very first flowers to come up in the spring.

One crocus so far.
There seem to be others to the left of that one.
Maybe after the rains I'll rake there.

• This afternoon Keziah brought a friend (Keziah's mother-in-law) and I to get our first covid vaccine (Pfizer).  We had an appointment and got there early.  There were no lines and we only had to wait (maybe two minutes) at the last station.  The process was relatively painless.  Even the shot didn't hurt much.  Tomorrow, who knows?  Today it went well.  Our second shot will be April 26th.
• While we were getting vaccinated Keziah got us Blizzards from Dairy Queen.  I love the snickerdoodle flavor, with extra flavor.
• As the sun was setting I went outside to appreciate it.  

• As the orange sky was darkening in the west, the nearly full moon was rising in the east.

• Saturday night was a pizza and movie night for us.  We all piled onto the new-to-us couch that they picked up today and watched Thor: The Dark World.  The couch is about fourteen and a half feet long.  Gideon says that it is a perfect couch for social distancing.  😃

There is room for two more people at the end-
or two cats.

☮

Currently listening to Quiet, by Susan Cain.

Stay safe.

New Growth

Instead of one box, I emptied two today.  If all goes well, I will attempt two going forward, depending on what else is going on during the day.  There are still quite a few boxes of my former life that I need to go through and decide what stays and what goes.  This is good and all part of the process.  Other happy things for today:

• Keziah and Zed found a used couch that they will be picking up tomorrow.  Part of today was spent removing the couch we had.  That couch has some broken legs and has been sitting crooked for a while.  Half the living room has been spring cleaned in preparations for the new-to-us couch.  
• This afternoon I took a walk out back and then up to the nearby conservation area.  It was very refreshing and birds serenaded me most of the walk.
• When going by a swamp that had a blue heron last year there were a pair of ducks this year.

Believe it or not, there is a duck on the ice.
Hard to see with this picture.

• There was also a beaver.  At least I am fairly certain it was a beaver, swimming in the water.  I didn't see the tail, it could have been an otter.  There was enough distance and vegetation as it swam away, I just couldn't get a good enough look.
• As I entered the conservation area, instead of the smell of snow, there was a faint smell of the pine trees that grow in that area.  It was a lovely scent intermixed with the general moisture in the air.

• On the walk back home there were some rain showers.  Just clouds passing over and clearing the air as they quickly blew by.  It wasn't quite late enough in the day for a rainbow.

I love how the camera was able to capture the raindrops as well as
the sun shining on things.

• Some of the buds on the lilac are getting bigger.

• The forsythia too.

• There are also daffodils, daylilies and I think tulips (I planted a few bulbs last fall) that are breaking ground.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Wash your hands.

 

Dice

 For this time of downsizing I go through a box every day.  If I don't find anything to get rid of, I go through another.  Today's box was one that had very little that I wanted to get rid of.  I did find a few things though.  Other things that I am happy for:

• One of the things I found was my bag of dice.  We have been playing D&D and we were always using Bel's dice.  Now that they are on the way to Texas, I found my dice!  Once they are settled I think we are going to try to play over the internet, I'll need the dice then.

• Another thing I unpacked is a book on herbs that belonged to my uncle.  There were also a couple books about the Appalachian Trail and some craft books.  I rearranged some of my shelves to make room for the unpacked books.  There were two that I decided to put into the donate pile that were on the shelves.
• Somewhere in the middle of all this recording and downsizing I realized that I probably have at least 46 shirts that I could have worn during these 46 days of downsizing during Lent.  Today while looking for a shirt I found a sweater and a button-up sweatshirt that I no longer want.  More things going away.  I've definitely found places for more things to go than I have gotten rid of.  It is a talent finding room for all the things.
• After asking Keziah a few times to go for a walk with me today, she finally said yes.  Then, because Zed was going out she said no, someone had to be home for Gideon.  Zed didn't need to leave right away though and wanted to go for a walk.  In the end, all four of us went for a short walk late this afternoon.  We saw a mountain in the distance that looks like it has ski trails on it.

• Nanni, the brown tabby, decided that she wanted attention today.  She came out of her little box and down the banister so I could give her some scritches.

• Since Zed was out, the rest of us watched a movie during dinner.  We decided on something that we thought Zed had seen and chose Escape to Witch Mountain.  It was one of my favorite movies and books as a kid, Keziah's too.  Gideon really seemed to enjoy it.  I wonder if I will eventually unpack my copy of the book...

☮

Currently reading: The Burgess Book of Nature Lore, by Thornton W. Burgess.

Stay safe.

Sounds

 For whatever reason I woke up early this morning.  Then I had a hard time getting motivated.  Once I did, the day seemed to go well.  I spent a little bit of time researching O.K.; if all goes well, the exchequer things I have been working on are done; and I went through a box and got rid of some things that, a few months ago, I would have held onto.  Other things that I am happy about:

• Yesterday while walking with my friend, Amy, we were talking about how I sometimes don't remember all the things that I want to write about when I finally sit down to write.  She suggested that I make notes during the day.  I haven't had much luck with thinking to do that, yesterday she reminded me.  Today I remembered on my own.  
• When I walk along the street is it very loud.  There is a dead end street that I go down and the noise level drops considerably by the time I am about twenty feet in.  I take my headphones off then to listen for any birds.  On this day, the smell of melting snow and sound of the small waterfall flooded my senses to help drive away the street noise behind me.  My attention steers away from the car sounds and book I was listening to and turns to the surrounding nature.
• As I get to the end of the street and enter the trail the birds sound their alarm to warn of my intrusion into their environment.  I hear some skittering and see a chipmunk farther along the trail go for cover.
• At one point, I hear a noise to my left and there is a chipmunk that decided to peek out to see what the fuss was.  I stopped mid stride to watch him.  He allowed me to take a few photos and as I started to walk away he quickly hid.

Close up.

• The moon rose during the day.

According to the internet,
it is in the Waxing Gibbous phase...
Not that you can tell by the picture.

☮

Currently listening to Quiet, by Susan Cain.

Stay safe.

Sleep is Important

As the days get longer I want to wake up earlier.  I believe that last night was the first time I got into bed before eleven since January.  The only way that happened is by writing this blog earlier in the evening.  I'm not sure if I can make that happen always, but I think I should work towards it.  I'm fairly certain I have come to this realization multiple times.  People tell me that sleep is important.  The ice cream place opened today.  Writing this I can hear people talking while waiting in line for their orders.  They close at nine, at least this time of year, so that doesn't keep me up.  I'm glad that they are carrying peppermint stick ice cream again.  It's my favorite. 

Yes, we got ice cream after dinner tonight.  We were also their first big order at lunch time today.  Other happy things for today:

• Thursday was Bel's night to make dinner.  They are leaving on Sunday to go back to Texas and I requested that they make beet burgers.  I really enjoy the beet burgers and the bean burgers that they make and I was curious which I like better.  Turns out the burgers are different enough that I have no favorite.  They are each delicious in their own way.
• Zed and I are editing the downsizing footage we have so far tonight.  We crack each other up.  Hopefully this will mean less edits on Sunday.  It does mean I won't be in bed by eleven tonight.
• After dinner Zed, Gideon, and I went for a walk that ended at the ice cream stand.  We only spent a few minutes out on the property because it was wet, muddy, and sprinkling.  I wanted to show Zed a tree that had fallen sometime over the winter.  The tree actually landed on another tree that we may be able to save.  I took some pictures of the brook and some trees.

The brook could definitely use some clearing.

It looks like the downed tree was right over the brook.

Paper over rock.

• Along the walk Zed noticed some droplets on a branch and Gideon asked me to take a picture.

Some of my favorite people.

☮

Currently reading: The Burgess Book of Nature Lore, by Thornton W. Burgess.

AND
The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Stay safe.

Food

 After being up way too late last night Zed and I finished the editing on our YouTube downsizing video.  We both agree that we are waiting too long to work on the edits but haven't come up with a good time to work mid-week yet.  I'm happy to say that I at least went through my recordings for today and narrowed down which takes I plan to use.  Yes, I sometimes record parts multiple times to get something right or attempt at clearer words and not stuttering.  Other happy things for today:

• Monday is my night to make dinner.  I decided to make something that I have made in the past and Googled for the recipe.  I found something that I thought was the right thing, it wasn't.  Thankfully it was still good and came out close enough.  The others couldn't really tell the difference, when I looked up the original recipe I used it had lime, something this one did not.  That made a huge difference in flavor.  Glad it was still a good recipe though.
• I had apple pie for breakfast.
• More geraniums have sprouted.  I am hopeful that there may be enough to plant for Memorial Day.  I am also hopeful that more will grow if I plant them.  😊

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Stay safe.

Reflections

 Sundays have become editing days for the YouTube downsizing thing that Zed and I are doing.  This week we did one day that will take a bunch of editing above the slicing and splicing that we have been doing anyways.  That is still being worked on as I write.  Downsizing is hard, but I feel like putting it out there, even if no one watches it, is helping to keep me going with this.  The more I sort through these things, the better I am feeling about my life.  Other things I am happy for today:

• Free media online that can be used on the YouTube videos.  These are such a blessing- thanks to anyone who does this.
• Folke and our guest were sitting on the rocking chair porch with the sun shining.  They were singing.  I could see Folke through the window and her reflection and got some neat pictures.

• Bel set up a new outlet in the cellar for me to use for the plants.  This puts the power closer to the plants and no longer behind the banister. 

• Bel, Folke, our guest, and I went out back for a walk.  The ground is a mixture back there.  Some places it is muddy and in others it is ice or snow.

☮

Currently reading:Currently reading: The Burgess Book of Nature Lore, by Thornton W. Burgess.

Stay safe!

Boxes, boxes

 In my effort to downsize I am going through one box a day.  Somedays the boxes contain things that are harder or more time consuming to go through.  This week has had its fair share of difficult boxes.  I realized that there will be fewer and fewer easy boxes.  At this point, if I haven't gone through it, it is most likely because it isn't easy.  There are many things that belonged to my parents.  My mom kept more paper than I have and it is hard to go through some of those things.  There is a part of me that wants to save things because she did.  Some days it is easier to squelch that part than others.  BUT, I am doing it.  I am doing the thing and saying goodbye to a bunch of stuff.  Keziah and I went to the apartment where my boxes are stacked today and found at least five boxes that we had gone through previously that were already slated to be donated.  They will be gone tomorrow.  We had done the sorting, just not the removing.  Someone else will enjoy these items and that is good.  Other things I am happy about:

• At one point during sorting I left the room; when I came back, Winston (orange cat) had found the one empty spot on my bed to take a nap.
• Sometimes I read my horoscope.  This morning's seemed to fit, at least a little, so I share it with you now.

• My mom used to make dolls and stuffed animals.  Sometimes she did this really well, other times not so much.  Today we said goodbye to the doll in the picture below.  The clothes the doll is wearing belonged to Keziah when she was a toddler.

The doll's sweatshirt says: Around here I'm the big cheese.

☮

Stay safe!

EdIt DaY

 Happy Sunday!  One of the things about being unemployed for me is that parts of the days just run together and other parts are specific to the weekend because other people do have day jobs.  I was hoping, since it is the weekend to take a walk with someone from the household.  It didn't work out that way.  People slept in, had errands to do, or online meetings to attend.  That is fine, I went on a little walk myself and listened to the audiobook.  While walking I also played a little Pokemon Go.  One of the options is to take a picture of my "pet" Pokemon.  When I did this today my picture was photobombed by another Pokemon.  Thank you to the people who designed this feature, it put a smile on my face today.

I caught that Smeargle, too!

Other happy things for today:

• Keziah and I are the people who had online meetings today.  In one of them I got to see the little young children of two different friends.  One of these is old enough that I met them before the pandemic, the other not so much.  So cute!
• It turns out that Zed's parents had some things for gardening that belonged to Zed and he stored there before we moved.  There is now another heating pad, more seed starters and a grow table with an adjustable light that just needs a bulb (I hope).  I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can plant.
• The new thing to do on Sunday is to edit the footage for the YouTube channel and downsizing.  We really need to do more during the week.  We are having fun going through and listening to voices speeding by as well as bloopers.

☮

Currently reading: The Burgess Book of Nature Lore, by Thornton W. Burgess.
Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.
Currently listening to Quiet, by Susan Cain.

Stay safe.