Frozen Treasure

Last weekend I finally built-up enough nerve to perform a chore subject to a great deal of long-standing procrastination.

I defrosted the basement chest freezers.

There are three chest freezers in my basement and with the delivery of fresh venison to the guys from deer camp the smallest of the three was empty.  Between that and a couple of coolers I had the capacity to offload the contents of the remaining freezers and defrost each.  Freezer #1 on Saturday and freezer #2 on Sunday.  Freezer #3 is unplugged and idled until needed.

I have to say I felt a bit like Howard Carter opening King Tut's tomb; especially the top-loading chest and the hidden treasures that had found their way to the nether region of the bottom.  Smaller in quantity than I initially feared some items were so old they were discarded.  

And I had the opportunity to inventory, consolidate and rearrange the contents into a more organized fashion by application of baskets and boxes.  

And a suggestion by my lovely wife (the brains of the organization) each freezer now sports magnetic dry-erase boards on the door listing the quantity and contents of each.  

Inventory at a glance and an opportunity to really scratch my obsessive compulsive disorder itch!

First World Problem

And likely one of the finer examples of American excess that you will encounter today. 

We’re in the throes of downsizing (again) and have to combine the contents of two households – a city apartment and a country home.   

Imagine all of the usual and customary mundane accoutrements that accompany everyday household life.   Underwear, socks, cookware, flannel pants, moccasins, flatware, toasters, kitchen spices, baking ware, condiments in your fridge, charging devices, toasters, Band-Aids, printer/scanners, cleaning supplies, counter stools, coffee makers,  not to mention glassware, towels, toothpaste and leather armchairs.  Multiply everything by at least two-fold.  It is insane.  If anyone paid a visit they would probably be thinking – these people are hoarders.  They need an intervention.  Maybe therapy too.     

I’ve been making steady progress and got rid of a vehicle yesterday.  The good news is that much of this is consumable product and will eventually go away by means of ordinary attrition.  It is obvious I will not be purchasing any aluminum foil until early 2021.  And several worthy charities get the rest – including a set of Calphalon cookware and Chicago cutlery.  

Raising a toast to Marie Kondo…..

A Place For Everything And Everything In Its Place

Here's one for the old organizational chart.

It took a rain day last week to check this off of the list of chores - assembled an inexpensive metal shelf unit and further organized the basement workshop.  This would be the basement workshop that sports the cool, new LED workshop lighting to better see everything.

Now I got my workbench back since all of the clutter is off of it and either discarded or put in its proper place. 

click on images to enlarge

As evidence of the utility of this organization The Frau asked if perhaps I had a three foot length of small chain that she could use for an outdoor project.  I did.  And I knew exactly where to find it.  With the other lengths of small chain in the used hardware section. 

A place for everything and everything in its place.

Order Out of Chaos

A week ago I posted  a picture and description of the ingenious and positively brilliant scheduling device that The Frau placed on the back hallway of the house.

It worked like a dream.  Who needs a smartphone when you have Post-it® Notes, paper, extra tape and a blank wall.

The grand kids did a fine job of rolling with the ebb and flow of our unstructured scheduling, last minute changes and the vagaries of the weather. And when we got down to the last day there were only two leftover yellow sticky notes remaining:  Making Bread and Running Thru the Sprinkler.

With the exception of a loaf of bread and the sprinkler we accomplished everything we planned to do plus some unplanned events that materialized out of nowhere.  Everything including the Roaster Chicken!

click image to enlarge

The ten activity-packed days literally flew by in a flash and daughter and the grand kids are gone now.  As a consequence things have grown quite a bit quieter and it's going to be a lonely adjustment without a five year-old waking me up for breakfast in the morning.

Truthfully, I'm plum, worn-out. 

Order Out of Chaos

With a five and fourteen year-old grand child in the house for a week and a half The Frau devised an ingenious scheduling device.  

click on image to enlarge

On the wall of the back hallway are sticky-notes for activities on the wish list.  A huge range of possibilities ranging from boating to roast chicken or picking cherries.  The vast range of possibilities can be shifted physically from day to calendar day.  The kids are largely responsible for the list with input from the adults.  The simplistic beauty of the organizational calendar is its flexibility.  For instance yesterday the boat battery was not charged to a reliable level to risk a three hour cruise so beach day was an easy substitute.

Order out of chaos.  The grand kids are wearing me down...

The Workshop

Basement workshop is almost complete.  Tools unpacked, sorted, organized along with duplicates given away to good homes or charity.

Cordless power tools need to be returned, a pile of hardware moved, shop vac and the Ryobi table saw installed.

Progress.