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| Color Changing Solar Butterfly |
M's birthday present to my daughter was this solar powered butterfly ornament for the garden. It changes color when it lights up.
This morning, my daughter took her friend A, whose maid of honor she will be, next weekend, for a pre-wedding relaxing massage. Since she took the car, I decided that it would be a good time to sweep the middle of the garage. I put a load of laundry to wash, put my dust mask on, and went to the garage. This is how the garage looked this morning, when I opened the door, looking straight in.
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| Garage: "Before" |
The section I have been working on, this far, is along the wall on the right:
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| Garage: In Progress - Right Wall |
The wall to the right - side door, the shelving units I've mentioned in previous posts, an old kitchen cabinet (with the ladder leaning against the side of the cabinet and stack of chairs in front of it. Bins of Christmas decorations and bins with old files stashed in the corner and along the back wall.
This morning, I swept the middle area and removed one or two items that were along the back wall. Even after sweeping, the floor was dusty, so, I decided to try washing it down with the garden hose:
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| Garage: Cleaning the Floor |
It was probably not the smartest thing to do as the water seeped under the stuff I've stacked along the left wall (which I am not yet ready to show!), but, it did get rid of that fine layer of dust!
It was a sunny day with a high of 77F; I opened the window at the back of the garage and kept the main garage door open for an hour or so and the floor dried without any problem. I sat outside in the garden and chatted on the phone with cousin P (who is now in Florida) while I waited for the floor to dry. I didn't want to leave the garage door open and go inside the house because I didn't want the garden cats to get in there.
Afterwards, I closed the garage door, came inside the house, put the washed clothes in the dryer, and put another load to wash. Later, when daughter came home, I made us some fried rice for brunch - leftover rice, the last half of an Italian sausage, some of the ground turkey I cooked earlier, and an egg. I also called and left messages for two other cousins, just to check on them.
In the afternoon, daughter and I took a piece of brownie, some oranges, curry leaves, and an almond croissant from one of the coffee shops along the way, to friend R - it was a curbside visit, as usual.
I did the day's dishes and put a pot of rice to boil for dinner (to have with leftover salmon and asparagus). Still need to put away the laundry, but, I am feeling tired!
Today, I am grateful for:
- A sunny and warm day
- Phone chats with cousin P
- Curbside visits with friend R
- A safe drive to and from visiting R
- What I was able to accomplish in the garage
Today's joyful activity was visiting R and taking her a couple of treats.
How was your Saturday? Any plans for Sunday?
The butterfly solar light is lovely. My daughter bought me four solar paw prints which I love. It seems like a big job sorting out your garage. Believe me when I say I would not photograph the inside of our garage as we can't even get the car inside, that has to stay on the drive.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen; the solar paw prints sound lovely! Well, sorting out the garage is a big job because I have neglected it for so long! But, I am determined to get it all cleaned out, this spring!
DeleteI watered a plant yesterday that is wintering in the garage and the water ran down and was getting some of the construction materials below it wet. Good thing that my husband came along right behind me or fixed things or I might have caused some expensive damage. I didn't think things through very well, but I was just happy that I could reach the plants. The workman are using the garage as a staging area and it's more cluttered than normal. Once the construction is done, we need to do a clean up like you're doing.
ReplyDeleteGlad your construction material didn't get too wet and damaged! Your concern was for your plant, but, as you said, good thing your husband was there to fix things. :)
DeleteM is very kind to remember your daughter's birthday! He must be part of your extended "family" now.
ReplyDeleteAh the garage cleanup. We are going to have to do some serious getting rid of when we attack our basement garage. UGH!
We've known M for 29 years, now, and he is definitely a member of the extended family. :)
DeleteThe garage has been the dumping grounds for too long! I don't have a basement or an attic (although there is attic space, it's not "finished" with a floor or anything, and I don't store anything there), so, the garage is where I store things. But, unfortunately, I tend to store too many things! Good luck with cleaning out yours when you get to it!
Your garage is a lot bigger than mine! If I parked my car in mine there wouldn't be room to store anything along the long side walls if I wanted to be able to get out of the car! You've made more progress so well done. Does the side door go into the house or to the garden?
ReplyDeleteI like your daughter's solar butterfly. Will she be taking it back with her or will you be looking after it for her? It was a lovely gift anyway.
I've been talking with my sister today (Sunday) and ordering some of the things I need in the house. It's proving to be an expensive month!
It is supposed to be a 2-car garage, Eileen; if I were to park 2 cars in there, there wouldn't by any room to store anything else, either!
DeleteThe side door goes to the garden; it's a detached garage.
I think my daughter will leave the butterfly behind. She has just one window in her apartment, which faces north and doesn't get a lot of sun; I don't think the butterfly will get enough light to work well.
I hope your sister is feeling better and you are able to get all the things you need. I put in a small order of groceries, which I will pick up, tomorrow. :)
You are really making great progress on your garage! Today I worked in the garden, pruning a few shrubs and cleaning up some of the bird seed shells on the patio. It was 49F, sunny and warm! It was so nice to be outside for a while without having to bundle up. I was wondering what to have for dinner. Stir fried rice and sausage sounds lovely! Thanks for the idea. Celie
ReplyDeleteI'm chipping away at it, Celie! Sounds like you are getting your garden ready for spring! I'm glad you got to enjoy some sunshine and warmer weather. :) Hope you enjoyed your dinner! :)
DeleteWell, that garage is keeping you busy and it is good that you have such a lovely temperature to dry the water after you hosed down the floor. Sitting outside on the phone sounds good, too. I like to do that when it isn't freezing outside. : )
ReplyDeleteI took in a live-streamed mass this morning, then made BLTs for lunch. We put our clocks forward this weekend and I changed them early yesterday evening which made it a short evening but didn't feel so bad this morning. I thought about a walk this afternoon, but getting out to the road on the icy driveway puts me off, and a nap sounds more appealing! DH has been in and out of the evaporator room in the shed, setting up equipment from the basement, ready for when the sap runs, so he doesn't want to walk.
I've plenty to do in the garage! I took the day off, today, though, to run a couple of errands with my daughter. But, I'll do a bit more, tomorrow.
DeleteWe put our clocks forward, today, ourselves. I like having more hours of daylight! I hope you enjoyed a nap and you can go for a walk on another weekend, when the driveway is not quite so icy! Sounds like DH was very busy getting ready for the sap to run!
The way you talked about your garage, I was expecting a lot worse! You have done a good job cleaning it out and don't have far to go now. It looks really good and it's a nice useful space.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the idea for the boxes of files? Do they have to stay?
Paperwork is such a struggle, isn't it?
Up until this year, I have kept every single tax return I have ever filed. My goal for the year is to get rid of them so I've slowly been doing that. Going through every piece of paper, shredding and tearing things up.
It's been quite an experience, sort of like reading old journals! lol
The IRS says we only need to keep 3 years. I had heard 7 but I guess that's only for certain loss claims. Still, I may keep 7. What do you do?
I am up to 2007. The returns in the beginning of my life were so simple and small!
For my declutter list, I count each tax return as 1 item as I finish it and one shredding sessions as 1 (in case your curious ;)
Well, you might have noticed that I didn't post pictures of the wall on the left! That is what I'm calling my wall of shame! :D So far, I've only shared that picture with a friend of mine who has known me for a very long time! I did do a bit of cleaning of that area, this morning.
DeleteThe boxes of files - there might be one or two boxes of stuff that can be shredded and tossed. But, I am keeping the others for the time being. Yes, they include old tax files! LOL. I, too, have kept every single one I've filed, I believe. I probably don't need to keep them, but, I will. If ever anyone accuses me of not paying my fair share of taxes, as an immigrant, etc., I will have proof that I did! LOL.
The solar light is so pretty. It's just the sort of thing Lily would love, so I'm going to see if I can find something similar.
ReplyDeleteYou're doing a great job with the garage. It must be a useful storage space. X
I hope you are able to find a similar solar light, Jules. It will be so pretty in your wildflower garden!
DeleteThank you, I'm chipping away at the garage! I don't have a basement or an attic, so the garage (and the shed) are my storage areas. Unfortunately, I've allowed myself to store some junk along with other items and that has created a big mess!
That butterfly looks gorgeous. M is a really good friend.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very pretty ornament for the garden and, yes, he is a very good friend. :)
DeleteLove the flutterby! Oh this reminds me that we need to give our garage floor a good spraying down this spring. There is always something to add to the chore list, isn't there!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's what I often call them, too! Flutterbys! :D
DeleteYes, there's always something to add to the chore list! :D