Current Mood : Possibly catching a cold...(atchhooo !)
Another early morning - but I was home, instead of in a garage ! DFIL ended up not going to the AirSoft games, so I had two free hours between Beloved Hubby leaving and Dearest Son arriving. I seriously considered going back to bed, but instead, I puttered. Hung up a few stars in the kitchen that had been outside my Lab door, opened Molly-car's trunk and retrieved the (mostly useless) gate I snagged from Uncle's garage, and took care of a few little jobs I'd been meaning to get done eventually. The star basket I used to have hanging up is now holding flea treatments that kept falling off the top of the fridge, and it kinda looks nice up there. I still have one star basket to do something-or-other with, but all the rest are either donated, sold, or repurposed.
I snagged the gate from the garage Thursday, hoping to use it to block Friday from my Lab, and still leave the door open. Unfortunately it's really old, and the tension rod probably gave out five years ago - all I can do is prop it against the doorframe. But it is a bit easier to negotiate around than the milk crates I was using. What I'd really like is the top-of-the-stairs swinging gate we had when Dearest was a baby. Not even sure if they still make them. I'll see what the local stores have. It doesn't have to be heavy-duty, it just has to keep Friday out. A plank of wood tall enough would work. Hmmm...
Anyway, I spent a good part of the Lab morning and early afternoon filling up my new rolling cabinet ! I really like it. I shoved all the fabric scraps in the bottom drawer, and the shoebox of fabric with the new pieces in the middle one. The top one is a junk drawer - with bits and pieces of doll clothes needing repair, tutorial printouts, random notions, you name it. The damaged doll clothes were in a small Lucite makeup case, but that's empty now, and I'll probably donate it. Decided to go ahead and ditch a few doll clothes while I was at it. So, a bit more space ! And some stuff to donate. I swear, I could have a yard sale every time I get into a cleaning mood.
I think I know what's going on with my sudden drive for organization again. Heck, I watch two 'Hoarders' shows - that's bound to affect how I see my piles of stuff. Beloved was surprised I wanted a storage cabinet, but part of me honestly believes that the main difference between hoarders and collectors is storage organization. Most hoarders, if they organized their stashes, could easily pass for collectors, have the stuff they love, and have living space. Long as they take out the trash ! I know I hoard - dolls, fabric, books, and other silly things - but if I can keep it organized and picked up, it doesn't look like a hoard. Even though we all know it is.
Beloved brought home lunch, and fixed the old gate - turned out that it worked, I just didn't know how. It screws out to fit the doorframe, and back to allow passage. I can deal with that. I enjoy not having to spend money and finding something that'll work as a garage freebie. And Beloved's happy too, since he doesn't have to custom-make me a half-door ! Even DC is OK with it, since he can easily jump the gate to escape Friday. I was worried the gate was a bit high, but DC's a cat, he can jump over anything. The milk crates were probably more of a challenge to him than the gate is.
Once the new cart was loaded with stuff - including most of the upper cubbies - I figured it was high time to clean out my pattern cabinet. I've been shoving stuff in there any ole way, and one shelf was nothing but unsorted pattern pieces. I grabbed Beloved's old business cards and went back in. Those cards come in handy, long as there's nothing written on the back. They're just the right size for the contents pockets on the new cabinet's drawers, and I've used 'em before to label the pattern cabinet. I figured this clean-out would shuffle many drawer contents, so I could use more business cards to update the labels. Then store any leftovers in a cart cubby.
Two hours later, I had a bag of trash, a few more donations, and a well-labelled pattern cabinet and cart ! All the pattern pieces were filed correctly, a buncha stuff I'd held on to for no other reason than it was mine was gone, and I freed up a whole drawer for other stuff. Now, when I'm watching a design stitch out, I can flip through a magazine, since there's space for them now. I can find all the doll hair care items, and my little 'office supply' drawer is nice and tidy. I probably still have about 50 old business cards, but I'm sure they'll be used eventually. Beloved couldn't believe I still had them - or how I used 'em !
There's not a lot left to clean in the Lab - there's doll clothes to put away, and I have to bag up donations and put a milk crate fulla stuff elsewhere in the house. But after that, the Lab's ready for business ! I hope to get to the doll clothes tonight. Found out the Disney Princess plastic placemat I got at Dollar Tree last week is the exact same size as my rotary cutting mat, so I may use it as a cheery cover. The cutting surface is a bit tidier now, since the tools I had on it are now in the cart. Should be easier to cut fabric out now.
And after all this cleaning, I really *really* wanna sew something !
