It's time to go, this-old-house, 215/365

On August 20, 2012 I started this blog. My idea was to get rid of something every day that year, and write about it. What a crazy goal but I did pretty well and over the years posts have come and gone.

      My husband and I continue to get rid of stuff to keep this old house from overflowing with treasures from 54 years of marriage. We’ve rented a couple of dumpsters, given stuff to our kids and the church fair, and carted off treasures to Goodwill and the town dump/put-and-take.

    Now we are at it again in earnest--serious earnestness. With our birthdays catapulting us smack into our late 70s, we figure it’s time to move from this old house of forty years to a condo. We figure a condo will give us the independence we love, and should definitely be easier to maintain than this old house. If nothing else, we won’t be dealing with steep stairs all the time, and the kitchen pipes won’t freeze.  

      Case in point. Today, on my 78^th birthday I am still agile enough to carry dishes to the upstairs bathroom sink to wash them, and I have faith that Jim and I will be able to do so for the next two weeks until this New England freeze runs it 

course.  

   

 So, we’re back, letting go of stuff. Stay tuned. I'm more than half way to 365 days of purging. 

 (Those are dishes and a pitcher of water at the top of the stairs.)

It’s time to go, volumes of old books: 210/365

     Many of us have sets of books from long ago. Ours were handed down by my in-laws. All with works of James Fenimore Cooper, (as well as William Shakespeare and George Elliot). As I boxed the volumes (there must have been 40volumes but I didn’t count) I thought of these prolific authors, writing long-hand--no computer, no multiple drafts. It was a different way back then with pen in hand, Cooper in the nineteenth century, Shakespeare in the sixteenth and early seventeenth.

     We will store these books in the barn until our son takes them away to hand down to his children. Meanwhile, the shelves are empty, ready to be filled with a few books we are not ready to get rid of yet.  

Day 171/365 It’s time to go, junked-up parlor

     Sorry for the hiatus but we’ve been organizing more than getting rid of stuff. The old parlor has been transformed into The Reading Room. My part was to clear the shelves and let go of some of the books. My husband did the rest, and without accumulating new stuff I might add. Instead. he rearranged furniture, hung up pictures, vacuumed, and added a few choice interior decorator touches.

    Here’s what he sent out to family.

The front  room at 16 Concord Road has been thoroughly cleaned out and remodeled. In a brief dedication ceremony  Camp Fisher managers decreed that it is now and forever more known as The Reading Room.

The Room been completely refurbished with period antique furniture, including the old Eberman kitchen table and Stevens family writing desk, plus unique select items from the Sudbury put and take.

 Now warm and inviting, The Reading Room invites Camp Fisher guests to come and stay awhile, drop their cares and enjoy a good book, write a letter, practice on a musical instrument, or create  pictures and  sculptures.

The Reading Room easily converts into a guest bedroom when necessary, and is expected to be in great demand over the holidays.

Day 163/365 It’s time to go, desk

     I’m still in a lull. Why would I want to clear out stuff during these pristine summer days that invite me to walk and read? You don’t have to answer that one!!

      Today we’re taking a little desk that my husband found at the put-and-take to our son. It’s a birthday present that costs of nothing, but he wants it, and as the expression goes, ‘It’s the thought that counts.’

      And then there’s the lamp. Everyone’s first choice!!

    We’ll be returning with our grandpet Scuppers, who is coming for her grandcation while the family is on their vacation. In a couple of weeks we’ll let her go.