Sunny Saturday morning: kitchen garden with view of fire pit and laundry.
I have grape tomatoes on the vine already!
And more jalapenos!
Yesterday I began my #1 summer project, which is to deep-clean and reorganize our sons' old room. Both boys shared that room from 2008, when we moved in, until 2015, when the Fire Son left for college. Since 2021, when the Viking also left for college, that room has been only sporadically inhabited, by both sons at Christmas, by the Viking for a couple of summers. It's a truly cavernous room, and it was never tidy or nice. We did repaint it a couple of times, and the navy blue we painted it last time seems to be holding up all right for the long term, a color we can live with.
All I did yesterday, basically, was sweep and dispose of actual garbage and broken stuff in the room: a broken suitcase, for example, and a decrepit desk chair (one of two, just taking up space). And I thought. There's a lot that could just move out of the room altogether. The Viking's dresser is falling apart and could be curb-marted, and the clothes that both of them have left behind (and seem to wear sometimes) consolidated in the Fire Son's larger dresser. The other desk chair really could go. There is an old desk in the dormer alcove that has done nothing, in all the time it's been there, but collect detritus on its surface, and that too, I think, could be banished. That would give us some space to play with.
Here, from various angles, is the room as it looks right now (a case study in neglect, but it has looked worse):
Today I'm going to the store to procure a bunch of large plastic storage bins, plus some bubble wrap. My first aim is to pack up --- with his permission --- the Viking's Lego builds. They've been there for years, and nobody has wanted to touch them for fear of breaking them, so dust has built up in that room like you wouldn't believe. I can wrap them in bubble wrap and store them in a sturdy bin, and then gather up all the loose bits and put them in as well, and that will be a major task done.
Another thing I want to do is repurpose those bookshelves as window seats. They are solid wood and very sturdy, so I think they'd work. I'd simply store books stacked to fit in vertical shelf spaces rather than horizontal. Possible the Fire Son's vinyl records, currently housed on that farm table in the corner, could fit there. Then I'd put the table in front of the window, where the Viking's low dresser is now, so that it could be sat at, as a table, from both sides.
The punching bag on its stand could go in the corner currently occupied by the table.
I'd like, eventually, to replace that twin bed on its Hollywood frame with another daybed like the one in my study. Actually, I'd like to replace that futon with one as well, because its frame won't fold down anymore, so it's kind of useless as a double bed. One thing at a time, however. I think I might turn the twin bed to position it on the wall adjacent to the futon, the wall currently occupied by the bookshelves, so that theoretically people could sit on both the bed and the futon to converse comfortably.
I might put the tall dresser in the corner currently occupied by one of the bookshelves. Then I could stack storage bins on the wall where that dresser is, next to the closet.
My idea is for this enormous room to function more like a studio apartment. Eventually, assuming the husband ever retires, this would become his office, because it's big enough to hold all his bookshelves: the ones in his current home office plus the ones in his office at school. But for now, it needs to work as guest space. For the time being, it will be a guest space defined by Star Wars posters, but it will be a cleaner, nicer, more pleasant guest space.
Things that really need doing:
*broken ceiling light fixture needs replacing
*broken lamp shades need replacing
*extraneous furniture needs to go
So, not all of that will happen today, but I am going to get those bins and work on decluttering and dusting.
Wearing today:
*Wool& Sierra dress (XS) in Iris Blue, bought January 2025, last worn May 17. Wears in 2025: I believe today is #26, wowza wowza.
*Thrifted Wonderley tencel shirt, second year of wear
*Secondhand Xero Oswego walking shoes, second year of wear
I never love closed-toed shoes in warm weather, but with all I'm doing today, these shoes just make the most sense. And it's not bad to give my default sandals a little rest. This dress is fast becoming my Saturday uniform --- both Sierra dresses are good for knocking around and doing home or garden projects.
Day 4 hair in a braid to keep it out of my way while I work. I used some extra spray gel to smooth it down before I braided it --- that helped me separate it into three sections more neatly to braid. I'm so glad it's long enough for me to be able to do this again. I don't know how to French braid or do anything fancy, but a simple braid is the world's best default hairdo and worth learning to do if you don't know how.
So, anyway, the dog has been out, I've watered the garden, I've hung laundry, and in a minute I'm going out to procure these bins, so that I can get to work upstairs.
BEDTIME UPDATE
WHEW, what a day. I went to Walmart and bought plastic bins, plus a set of those vacuum storage bags, figuring that I would be emptying a lot of dresser drawers, plus bubble wrap for wrapping Lego Star Wars models.
Much got done today. We still need to haul a couple of pieces of furniture to the curb. There's still one surface in need of clearing. We need to reassemble a bookshelf that fell apart when I moved it --- but the pieces are solid wood, not particleboard, so it's worth saving. I haven't taken any progress photos, but the room upstairs is MUCH cleaner --- I moved furniture to clean baseboards and swept the floors, and I will vacuum once things are in place. Most belongings are boxed or bagged (and labeled) and either stacked neatly against a wall or stowed in the closet. I need to take the steam cleaner up to wash the windows, and I need to procure another spring rod, because I broke the one I bought today, trying to hang curtains on the dormer window. I might actually get a lighter curtain for the dormer window anyway . . .
I worked all afternoon in that room, from about 1 in the afternoon until 6 in the evening. The husband proposed that he take me out to the pub after all that work, and reader, I did not say no. I put myself in the bath and washed my hair and body in record time. Didn't bother drying or styling my hair, just braided it wet, put on my clothes, and out I went.
*Wool& Brooklyn (S/Long) in Pacific, bought May 2023, last worn May 9. Wears in 2025: 5
*Thrifted Loft jean jacket, owned . . . 6 years? 7? I really don't know. More than 5, fewer than 10.
*Thrifted Crocs sandals, year 2 of wear
It was good to wash off all the sweat, dust, and cobwebs. That room: ay. It was full of stuff, and it had been a while since I'd done a real deep clean. The husband replaced the broken ceiling light fixture, too, so it's looking a lot better than it's done in a long time. I want to find a rug, maybe in a pattern with some red, for at least half the floor --- that would add a lot of warmth and make the space more inviting than it's been. It will be a pleasant room . . . SOON.
But now I'm wiped out. Mass tomorrow at the Abbey --- I'm looking forward to being home again on a Sunday.