September 07, 2009

7:35 p.m.

The Day's Labor

What a simply gorgeous Labor Day... I got up when I woke up, had my tea on the front stoop watching a woodpecker finally find the bird feeder, and contemplated the dining room ceiling. I primed most of it yesterday and the edges still have to be done, but somehow I wasn't into it. I decided instead to put together a good sized shelf unit that I used to have in my bedroom behind a curtain. It held all the extra clothes that wouldn't fit in my small bureau. I set it up in the living room just to have some place to put other things away, like extra dishes besides the one plate and one bowl I've been dealing with. I couldn't find the last four support legs so it's one shelf short at the moment. But it helped me empty a few boxes. I need to consolidate the stacks so I have more room in the giant living room. I cannot live in this crowded and disorganized fashion all winter.

I also finally did the smart thing and began labeling the boxes on their fronts, not just on the tops. This way I can see what's in everything without repeatedly unstacking. On those which contain things I won't need for some time, I wrote, "Away," as in, it can be put away.

I had the radio on and took frequent dance breaks.

In the midst of all this, Marc came over to figure out why there is no electricity on the second floor. It took maybe an hour, but he found the short in the ceiling fixture in the back bedroom, which I am inhabiting. There had been water coming in and flowing through the period light. He took it down, capped the wires, did some mojo, and voila! I have LIGHT upstairs! Not in that ceiling, of course, but the hall light works and the one outlet in that bedroom works. I think the one outlet in the front bedroom was already taken apart, so dunno if anything can be plugged in there yet.

That meant that the extra-long, heavy duty extension cord that I had been running upstairs from the mudroom behind the kitchen could be redirected out the front door for use with the HEDGE CLIPPERS. I think these were from the 60s or 70s, and Marc said they're quite excellent. We found them in the basement and he oiled them up. I took 'em outside in the late afternoon and proceeded to chop and rake out a few miles of brambles and bittersweet that were still choking my stone steps. Now they look like:

I'm tired!

Over at Rose's now, and we're about to eat dinner. Work again tomorrow. How quickly this very long weekend passed.