MOVING OUT -- AND MOVING IN

Friday morning, Mike completed the shelving project in the storage shed and pronounced it ready for occupation. I set to work moving from garage to shed to house to shed. Friday afternoon Mike looked into the shed and declared that I would need more shelving. I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, but at this point I’m not ready to say what I need.

Concern for certain goods stored in the shed has been voiced. However, I say the conditions are not far different from those in the farmhouse or in our town loft – cold and damp in the winter, hot in the summer – and things seem to survive. Nevertheless, dolls and my beloved vintage ephemera will stay in the house. The purpose of the shed is not so much for long-term storage (though that will surely happen) but to make useful things accessible. So far the concept is working well, but then, I’ve only begun.

I would say my little sewing studio has heaved a sigh of relief, but alas! if that were only true! It’s still a mess even though I’ve carried notebooks and bins to the shed. Now I have to reorganize the cupboards and shelves and reassign things that have been on the floor to new homes, and that takes both mental and physical effort. Sometimes I just have to close the door and walk away. Sometimes a solution comes to mind when I’m not in the room.

Here we sit on the edge of February, and I have to say that despite my best intentions, I didn’t finish projects as I had hoped in January. I didn’t sew, but I did finish a crocheted “teddy bear” tote for Emerson, who received a second “Build-a-Bear” for Christmas, and I’ve organized an unfinished afghan so that I can proceed with it. I also upgraded aged dolls and have more to do. But of course, the storage shed is a major accomplishment.

Bess relaxes in her favorite place

I said we had plans for the year, and one major plan has already come to naught. We had proposed to Bess that she should have pups this spring. They would have been born in March, which meant we wouldn’t be able to spend time on the farm until after mid-May. However, for whatever reason, Bess wasn’t interested in the suitor Mike chose for her, so that was that. Meanwhile, Mike decided he has misgivings about her suitor, too. Will we propose this to Bess again? Not sure.

A golden sunrise against a dark sky

By the way, here in our valley, the crocus and some daffodils have pushed up through the ground. Surely spring is on the way. KW

KATHY'S STORAGE SHED

“What seems to be the problem here,” queried Mike as he stepped into my very cluttered sewing studio on a day before Christmas. “Oh, I see,”  he said with a laugh as he checked inside the cupboards.

I have been totally unable to overcome the clutter since last summer. “Put away three things a day,” I'd tell myself, but the cupboard was full. My sewing supplies together with stashes of this and that have grown to such an extent that the little room is overwhelmed -- and so am I. And I want more!

 

“Maybe you need a storage shed,” suggested Mike, and I readily agreed.

 

Were it left to me, I probably would have pondered the decision two more years, but Mike gets things done. We shopped several local storage shed manufacturers and chose the one we liked best – Clearwater Barns out of Grangeville. Our plan was to buy the smallest one, but looking over the brochure, son Clint pointed out that we would lose a lot of storage in the drop of the roof and suggested the next size up – 8’x12’. 

 

So, Mike called Clearwater Barns on Monday (Jan. 25), and because a unit in stock met our size and color requirements, delivery was scheduled for today (Jan. 27). Monday afternoon, Mike bought 2.2 ton of gravel, which he then spread over the “shoulder” of our driveway, especially where the shed would sit.

In my dream world, a cute little shed to be my work area / retreat would be lovely, but in the end I opted for just storage. Basically, the retreat, my little studio, is already in place with a comfortable couch, heat in the winter, and air conditioning in the summer, and it’s a reasonably clean place for dolls, books, and other treasures. The shed will take care of overflow from the house in general as well as from the sewing room. Mike teases me about the sewing stuff, but I think he’ll be pleased with the de-cluttering that takes place throughout the house. (I have a plan . . .)

 

Next up: Shelving. The owner of Clearwater Barns suggested using shelf tracks with brackets. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, and Mike thinks a rainy day is just the best kind of indoor work day. He'll have it ready in a jiffy. (Well, almost.) KW