My Study Is Unearthed and Fresh Food Bliss
Back when we had The Great Flood this past fall, my study became one of the places where things were put because there was nowhere else to put them. Our house is not huge--just big enough for the two of us--and losing the basement meant losing half of our living space, so we had stuff crammed everywhere. The study is already repurposed occasionally for things like storing tender potted plants in the winter and starting seeds in the spring (Bobby moved this setup to the basement this spring, thank goodness) so that makes things more chaotic. And it's not exactly as though I've had founts of free time this winter to get things in order. Plus--I have to give credit where it's due--I'm not exactly a neat person; I'm prone to collecting a dozen books for a project I'm researching and scattering them around myself and never bothering to put them back when I'm done with them, even if "back" is just on the shelf over my desk. Minute, multi-colored trees also shudder at the sound of my name because the organization of my life is almost entirely predicated on colorful sticky notes. I don't throw these away either when I'm done with them, so they litter the tops of the books piled around me.
Last week, I came into the study to turn on the computer, and I heard a creaking-groaning sound from the bookshelf in the corner and looked over to discover that it was buckling! It was just a cheap thing from Target and held some pretty heavy volumes--a lot of textbooks and literature anthologies--and it was buckling to one side and would have been a disaster, had it actually collapsed, given the mess in the study plus the addition of a couple hundred ponderous books. Bobby and I, thankfully, managed to get all the books off on time and stacked in what few square feet of floor space remained.
This Saturday, we tackled cleaning the study. It was not only disorganized but quite dirty: two humans, two hairy dogs, and a woodstove make quite a dirty mess. Bobby said he was starting to worry that it was becoming a health hazard. It took us most of the afternoon, but we got it cleared out and cleaned out. I found stuff like our power converter that we couldn't find when we looked for it before our trip to England. There are actually cleared surfaces just begging to be covered with BOOKS! and enough floor that I could do a pretty elaborate dance if I wanted to. I think this was the last frontier after The Great Flood, and it is now conquered. I still need to tackle my file drawer, but that task pre-dated The Great Flood.
Right now, I so love my tidy, unchaotic study that I can't imagine letting it get messy again, but I always say that. Maybe I can hold out this time. Maybe I'll reread this post occasionally as a reminder to take a few minutes each week to at least recycle/compost old papers and put away the books I've taken down from the shelves.
Meanwhile, it is that wonderful time of the year for fresh, local--including homegrown--food. We have lettuces, carrots, and green onions from our garden. For the first time ever, our peach and apple trees look like they're going to produce fruit (although probably too small to be edible, since the apple tree only grew taller than me last year and the peach tree still only comes to shoulder-height); both have the most adorable tiny fruits growing on them. Bobby's been outdoing himself in terms of meals; last night, he made garlic almond asparagus and roasted root veggies that included Jerusalem artichokes, carrots from the garden, and onions. Then he made chocolate-iced brownies for a snack during Game of Thrones. *dies from bliss* We're planting Jerusalem artichokes this year for the first time, as well as adding tarragon and cumin to the herb garden.
This post was originally posted on Dreamwidth and, using my Felagundish Elf magic, crossposted to LiveJournal. You can comment here or there!
http://dawn-felagund.dreamwidth.org/295153.html
Last week, I came into the study to turn on the computer, and I heard a creaking-groaning sound from the bookshelf in the corner and looked over to discover that it was buckling! It was just a cheap thing from Target and held some pretty heavy volumes--a lot of textbooks and literature anthologies--and it was buckling to one side and would have been a disaster, had it actually collapsed, given the mess in the study plus the addition of a couple hundred ponderous books. Bobby and I, thankfully, managed to get all the books off on time and stacked in what few square feet of floor space remained.
This Saturday, we tackled cleaning the study. It was not only disorganized but quite dirty: two humans, two hairy dogs, and a woodstove make quite a dirty mess. Bobby said he was starting to worry that it was becoming a health hazard. It took us most of the afternoon, but we got it cleared out and cleaned out. I found stuff like our power converter that we couldn't find when we looked for it before our trip to England. There are actually cleared surfaces just begging to be covered with BOOKS! and enough floor that I could do a pretty elaborate dance if I wanted to. I think this was the last frontier after The Great Flood, and it is now conquered. I still need to tackle my file drawer, but that task pre-dated The Great Flood.
Right now, I so love my tidy, unchaotic study that I can't imagine letting it get messy again, but I always say that. Maybe I can hold out this time. Maybe I'll reread this post occasionally as a reminder to take a few minutes each week to at least recycle/compost old papers and put away the books I've taken down from the shelves.
Meanwhile, it is that wonderful time of the year for fresh, local--including homegrown--food. We have lettuces, carrots, and green onions from our garden. For the first time ever, our peach and apple trees look like they're going to produce fruit (although probably too small to be edible, since the apple tree only grew taller than me last year and the peach tree still only comes to shoulder-height); both have the most adorable tiny fruits growing on them. Bobby's been outdoing himself in terms of meals; last night, he made garlic almond asparagus and roasted root veggies that included Jerusalem artichokes, carrots from the garden, and onions. Then he made chocolate-iced brownies for a snack during Game of Thrones. *dies from bliss* We're planting Jerusalem artichokes this year for the first time, as well as adding tarragon and cumin to the herb garden.
This post was originally posted on Dreamwidth and, using my Felagundish Elf magic, crossposted to LiveJournal. You can comment here or there!
http://dawn-felagund.dreamwidth.org/295153.html