A Cleaning Sunday Leads to a Cleaning Monday

Yesterday DH and I spent two hours cleaning the breezeway. This small area between the garage and the house is where we will be setting up my jeweler's bench. Because it has no heat, it's a place I'm only going to be working in approximately six months a year. Still, it'll be nice to have things a bit more accessible than working from two completely separate locations. We still have work to do in the area, but it was a very good start. 

This is NOT our house, but it is a good example of a
breezeway - an area between the garage and the
house. Our breezeway is being re-purposed from
a general "junk" space into my metal-working area. 

Among the things we uncovered were several baggies of black walnuts that I had set aside for fabric dying. I'm quite happy about these, I had completely forgotten I owned them. My other natural dying materials are stored in a "cool, dark place" per instructions. I took an intensive week-long workshop more than two decades ago on natural and reproducible dying techniques from an amazing spinner and weaver. I learned a ton and have a lot of dyes and natural chemicals still left for playtime. Yippee! 

Spectacular colors can be achieved with natural dyes. Of course,
some of the dyes are poisonous, so you need to know what you
are dong, and also need to have good airflow. We did the workshop
outside using portable propane stoves. Breezy days were difficult. 

The back of Minion is now filled with blankets and comforters that I need to take to the dry cleaners. Even though my washer can now accommodate a large comforter, I prefer to have these dry cleaned to make sure I don't have any insect problems with them. I won't have a chance to drop them off until Wednesday, but I can search out which dry cleaner in the area I want to bring them to. 

This issue of "Life" magazine from December 1969,
sells on eBay for $20-$70. I think it's on the top of my
box. Those eyes are unmistakable. 

I also have four boxes that I need to go through on Wednesday. One is all old issues of "Life" magazine, and it's looking as if the cover on the top issue might be Charles Manson. That would actually be pretty cool, and might also have some value as an after-sale item. I'm sure most of the issues won't have value, though. Still, I'll go through the four boxes as quickly as possible because we're trying to move right along and get things done. 

The drawers all have paperwork in them, so DH
will pull that from the drawers today and start to
cull for shredding or keeping. 

Today we're bringing more boxes over to the shop. The file cabinet DH wants to bring home is next on the agenda, so he'll be emptying drawers, reviewing their contents, and then pulling the drawers out completely, ready to get the framework removed when we shut down for the night. It won't be easy, but we'll get it done. He needs it for our library area. 

So on we go - consolidating, throwing things away, reviewing whether or not to keep things, and finding the right places in which to put things. He's great with the spatial arrangements, I'm a bit better at actually throwing things out. It's a balancing act. Here's hoping your Monday is awesome and fun. I'll be back tomorrow.