Order and Happiness Has Been Restored to the Basement

Posted by liz on
This picture makes me happy

I don’t know what happened to the basement (which is where I do most of my work during the winter months). Somewhere along the line, the basement became unmanageable. And then it spread. The garage became unmanageable, too.

[I attempted to write a paragraph explaining what I think happened to create such chaos in the basement, but then I realized that you probably don’t really care about that, do you, Reader?]

It’s impossible to do good work in the middle of such disarray, and I’ve been hoping to bring some order to it all so I can get back to working happily along, but I became paralyzed by disorganization. I couldn’t even begin to make sense of it all.

I’ve been publicly complaining that I can’t seem to tackle the basement. I thought that perhaps peer pressure might help motivate me. It didn’t. No one really cares about my basement. A couple of weeks ago, I bought some industrial shelving at an estate sale. I thought the shelves might be my answer, but they sat in a pile all disassembled and only made matters worse. I grew in a funk about it.

And then Deb got some free time and some energy, and she directed all her powers to restoring order. First, she cleared the garage and rearranged it. Then she took on the basement. It’s an ancient basement, and the ceiling is low, so she spent days stooped over and banging her head on rafters when she forgot and stood tall. While she did all of that, I took care of the leaves. I think she wanted me out of her way…which was fine with me because I am hopelessly ineffective in that basement right now. I raked every leaf in our yard and from our gardens and from every nook and cranny and mulched every last one of them while the basement transformed.

And now the basement looks better than ever. The floor is clear. There is order. I can breathe and work down there again.

No, it’s not complete. I have been given a list of basement-related tasks to accomplish this week, and from what I’ve seen of Deb’s determination these past few days, I had better check those things off my list lickity split or pay the piper.

 

To Do 11/10/2011

Posted by liz on

I do not have the knack for working ahead of the weather. I’m always already late.

You see, Reader, I’m the kind of person who reacts to my surroundings. Some people (like my mother) have already purchased and wrapped their Christmas gifts. Is it any wonder I’ve got a bit of a complex?! Bees, too, act in preparation for what lies 3 months ahead. I’m always so surprised that it’s already 3 months later.

Here’s a list of things I need to do pronto:

  1. add the shim atop all hives
  2. continue to feed but also add granulated sugar
  3. place Styrofoam on both the top and bottom of the hives
Things to do to prepare for spring:
  1. organize my disorganized basement
  2. order woodenware for the additional hives
  3. hammer and nail and staple all that the equipment together all alone in my basement until my hands fall off
  4. (really, the above is sort of therapeutic for me)
  5. find a couple of out yards that can handle 20 hives each

To Do 8/5/10

Posted by liz on

To Do 8/5/10

  1. Build all the medium boxes stacked up in the basement before the wood warps
  2. Finish all the frames in the basement
  3. Rework the hive stand with cinder blocks and 4×4’s
  4. Order the Top Bar Hive from what’s-his-name I met at the conference
  5. Buy a good table saw
  6. Buy rough-cut lumber
  7. Start making Top Bar Hives for myself and friends
  8. Decide whether or not to collect the bees the guy in Mt. Lookout called me about
  9. I mean, there are a hell of a lot of bees somewhere in his attic. I saw them. I just can’t figure out where the hive is
  10. And once I find the hive, I don’t know how to cut into the attic to get at them
  11. Deb says Rick could figure out that part…all I’d have to do is get all those bees into a box :) (sorry about the yellow smiley face. I hate it, but I can’t find a way to keep WordPress from transposing my quiet little colon : and parenthesis ) into a big fat yellow smiley face. What a stupid idea)
  12. Call Rick