March 2018 Island Trip – Day Four

Today was another fun packed day including:

• Taking two big loads of what is now meaningless stuff to the dump. I found myself feeling angry while loading the truck, and sad as I drove to the dump. I definitely have my father’s penchant for starting and not finishing things. What I don’t have is 7 buildings to house all of my enthusiasms in. And I could give a rip about going to an auction. This is likely what keeps my collections eclectic rather than problematic. 
• I found a treasure in the upper barn. Years ago my parent gave me a lovely oak secretary we call “The Victorian Wassit” due to the ornate carvings it has. Dad told me, 30ish years ago, that he had the door frame (that goes over the shelves), but the glass was broken, and he’d have it repaired and send it to me. After he died, I asked mom if she knew where the door was. She said they’d never had it. Guess what I found today!
• After the second dump run I dropped a small batch of things at the thrift shop, and then strolled around town.
• The hazmat stuff is loaded up in the truck for tomorrow’s drop off on the mainland, and various garbage cans are returned to their buildings. 
• I reinstalled the utility closet’s bi-fold door. And, finally, reluctantly put the vacuum away.
• I finished cleaning the cabinet by the house entrance, cleaned a cabinet in the kitchen, and then washed all the dirty rags. This was symbolic both in the cleansing aspect of how it feels to do all this work here, and that I was simply done cleaning for the trip.
• Visits from:
• The neighbor directly to the north was a nice break. She claimed I accomplished in four days what would take her six months to do. She is exaggerating a tad.
• The referred carpenter, who CAN make the doors for the bathroom cabinet work, stopped in at 4PM. We also discussed cabinet doors for under the kitchen sink, found materials in the upper barn to build the doors, brainstormed over the terrible fit of the entrance door to the house, and came up with a game plan to improve the fit, so the cold air doesn’t rush in all winter. He suggests leaving the actual front door alone, other than to repaint the exterior. The last thing he’s going to do is install a piece of wood between the bottom of the windows and the top of the cabinet I was cleaning last night. this will save me from fixing sheet rock, perhaps the most important of the tasks he’ll do for me!
• A chat with my hubby before he headed out to a hockey game.
• Another round of expired fly cleanup in the shed. What the heck?
• Dinner with the neighbor to the east was a delight. She is a safe place in all that is tumultuous on this path.
• The dishwasher is humming with both its ancient rhythms, and the large aluminum flour and rice containers that are enjoying their first clean since, and I’d but money on this, 1979.