Reading about Phil's tinkering with washing machines made me think of our somewhat recently new machine. In all honesty, it was cheap. Our last washing machine we bought from a guy in town that used to have a small shop selling used washers & dryers. But the old drum was rusting out, and by the time it stopped spinning, he had retired and closed up his shop. No one local does such repairs now, and with the drum as it was we took the plunge on a black Friday sale. I don't hate the new washer, but I'm not fond of it either. I would have rather gotten another used one, but at the time for the cost Sean thought it best to just get a new one since it wasn't so different from what folks were selling used on CL. (I wish I was joking, but here used machines are a hot market so the prices are near to cheapest new from box stores.) I think that when this one goes (and given how cheap it was, I know we'll be lucky to get ten years out of it), I'll be looking to get another old one--but this time I'll check for rust!
Now that the worst of the Xmas rush purportedly is spinning down, I'm hoping Sean will start picking up some of his chores again next month. So I've been poking around at all the bits that just haven't been gotten to, as it were.
I've been working on seed saving from the Grandpa Otts we grew last year. I'd never worked with these before and though it's not difficult, due to the volume it's more time consuming than I'd realized it would be. Most of the rest of the saved seeds were done long ago. I've been trying to remember what one little bowl is, but am coming up blank. Somehow the scrap of paper I had tucked underneath took a walk. Next time, I will put them directly in an envelope with the name penciled on front!
After I finish that, I'll be installing the rails for the new-old not oak file cabinet. Then I won't have any excuses for why I haven't gone through the old paperwork (both from the old file cabinets as well as in boxes) because we'll have more room for it to be stored more functionally. I also need to put the remaining filing cabinet on Craig's List to get it out of here. Moving so often really was a mess because we just never got around to unpacking all the boxes overall since we knew we'd likely be moving soon after. Even when we came here, because we knew we'd be looking to buy a home near when our lease would be up. Tax time is coming, and I don't want to be surrounded by boxes in the office with their contents still needing a home. It's bad enough that Sean is terrible at filing paperwork, and I've just not been on the ball about whittling down the piles that form on his desk. Then maybe we can FINALLY put the area rug back down which will need a good cleaning as all the rugs will since we still haven't done any since moving in here. I still haven't figured out how to unfreeze the one metal wheel on the other office chair we picked up. I think I need to just soak it at this point because doing the spray/wire brush just hasn't done much to help. My desk chair's upholstery where it was worn has finally started to give its last gap in the usual wear spots on both arm rests and seat. I'm planning to use old jeans as fabric for that which we have plenty of since Sean's work is so hard on clothes! (Rural carriers don't have uniforms--they were everyday clothes.) This might sound odd, but the wear is on very specific parts of the jeans that quickly wear down to rips/holes. Then there was the oddity of one pair he bought at Salvo. The first time he bent down to pick up a heavy box, the seam at the crotch gave out.
So that material is near perfect otherwise. I have managed to organize the office somewhat so far this winter, but there still is far to go.
Although I initially wanted to tackle painting the office and then working on refinishing what pieces need it in there, we both feel that making the kitchen more functional for our level of cooking and baking is more important. So I guess that's why this is on my mind at the moment, especially since the kitchen floor desperately needs some sort of attention. I already know how that will start the ball rolling on the entire room, and it will likely take a very long span of time to do it all. It will also just be a matter of time before we start pulling up the remaining cheap fake wood vinyl planking left in the dining/hall, and we have no way of knowing whether the -oleum in those areas will be damaged as we found in the kitchen. Because of how they adhere together and how brittle the tongue portions are, there's no way to just take a peek and put them back down even around the edges of the walls.
One thing we had received while getting something else from a family that was downsizing for a move across country was what was their kids' bureau and a short dresser set. Very modern and somewhat cheap make, but the bureau has been acting as further storage for baking items, given the size of the kitchen. The dresser has just been in the spare room and not being used since we've had no overnight guests. I'm at the point where I want to regift them to another family that might need them more. We've since picked up a few things that could temporarily fill in for the bureau until we get around to building more cabinetry for the kitchen.
Next, I finally remembered why I never finished the rain chain I was working on. When we had picked up a bunch of stuff (both free and dirt cheap from yard sales/second hand shop) that were destined for the craft room, both of our sides are just a mess. Buried deep was the partially finished project I was wondering where it had gone off to. I can't currently reach it, just managed to spot it. What made me groan was all the wasted space in there because Sean has a habit of only putting things one box high. So I've got a lot that's in the way to make enough space to finally start sorting out that room, plus some of the furniture bits we had picked up were just placed haphazardly because Sean had planned to paint a mural in there which he has had no real time to do. Prior, I had only been working on my makeshift "work table" that's made up of the one old counter top we picked up curbside around the corner plus the base was another random pickup we never permanently attached it to--it's just been resting on top for the time being which isn't really sturdy or safe. We had also picked up an older fashioned but modern made corner desk, and for now I just need to get it put back together and in place. Later I'll worry about whether to modify it to blend better with the feel of that room.
Until things get back to a true "normal" for the post office, although I have the bigger projects lingering in my mind, I'm trying desperately to be focused on the smaller bits like finishing the unpacking which has stalled. It's hard to believe that we've been here going on four years this March, and in just one case we have yet to fill all the shelves on bookcases we got our hands on two years ago because back then we weren't sure if we like the arrangement of mismatched cabinets. So the library is littered with boxes blocking said cases and piles of unpacked by not shelved books.
So unpacking what's in there would be the last thing I might manage to get done before the weather warms enough to make me think of trying to start seedlings indoors. I'll worry about arrangements much later down the road.
I have no idea how far into this list I'll get before we're wrapped up in the garden, trying to make up for all we couldn't get to with him so busy last year.
Meanwhile, someone has 40 "pieces" of windows on Craig's List for free. And some of the sashes match the style of ours. We're seriously considering adding a three season porch along the back of the house, and these would be a fantastic find. Especially if some of the wood I'm seeing in the pictures is indeed other parts of those windows. I need to go write an email...