Heating Update

A couple of days after I had gotten all the radiators uncovered, I went to turn on the heat. A couple of radiators made the effort to come on, but most stayed cold. I thought it might have something to do with the thermostat, but none of my fiddling with it helped.

I didn't have a chance to talk to the property owner before the weekend arrived, and we toughed it out for the weekend. Luckily on Monday the property owner had a plumbing guy there to fix the upstairs heat which was also broken. About half an hour after the plumber left our apartment was toasty warm. We are all happy.

On the unpacking scene - I am getting castoffs ready to bring to a friend for a sale to benefit homeless animals. That same friend and I have a "date" at Ikea in early November to get the bookcase that another friend has offered to help build. I will give my friend the items when I see her! I think she will be leaving with 5-6 boxes from me!

No Box of the Week Yet, But....

Today have unpacked several boxes, and when I've gotten to the middle of each one I have thought, "This box would have been a good container of the week." What would make them good candidates? Each box had an odd assortment of items as if the stuff was just thrown in there willy-nilly. It's not surprising because many of my boxes were packed in a hurry, either while I was moving, or just before some event such as company coming when I was just trying to get stuff out of the way.

Some things I've found today:

• photographs which I've put in a box of photos
• a playbill and tickets from a 2004 production of the Nutcracker, most of which I've put in the recycling bin
• a satiny sleeping cap which I think came from my friend Rose's stuff which has gone into my box of clothing for a yard sale or donation
• a manual for Sims people program from several years ago
• a box of junk and costume jewelry
• a music box which smells a little musty inside and has some costume jewelry inside
• a pair of cream color tights which I think nobody will miss when they go in the trash
• two 33 cent stamps

Some other unpacking news:

• I finally figured out how to utilize a file cabinet that the not-so-brilliant movers blocked with an air conditioner: I moved my bureau over a couple of inches and then angled the file cabinet since I can't really move it myself. I cannot move the air conditioner, but hope to have someone help me put it under the window where it will go next summer. Then I will cover the box with a tablecloth or pretty piece of fabric.
• A friend of mine has offered to help me put together a bookcase so I just have to go buy one.
• I found the cord to plus my printer in, and now just need the cord that goes to the computer and I will be able to print at my house again! I can, however, print photos from memory cards now!
• The kittens continue to enjoy the empty boxes that I hav given them.
• The kittens have become more and more attached to Ree; I seem to be nothing other than the one that feeds them, scoops their litter, and gives them treats.

Making More Room

On last Wednesday and Thursday there was a flurry of activity around here as I readied the house so as not to be too embarrassed when kitten-sitters showed up. Ree, my mother and I were going to a large agricultural fair Friday and Saturday because Ree had five photo entries, plus she was going to help a girl who was doing a visual presentation. Since the fair was two hours away we were going to stay over two nights.

Luckily, the weekend before Ree had been to a horse show, showing model horses and photos so I used some of that time to drop the photos off at the fairgrounds. The two venues were only a half hour away from each other. I'm pretty sure these are the last two photo contests for a while. It was interesting to see that in one of the competitions a girl had entered two of the same photographs in three competitions that Ree entered, although she was in a different age group in one contest. Ree, however, entered different photos in each competition so everything was fresh each time.

Back to news of unpacking - I am happy to report that we can now see over half the floor in the dining room. Boxes are piled fairly neatly around the perimeter of the room. My bedroom is also much better with the closet stacked neatly with boxes, and boxes put under the bed. While moving things around I also made time to unpack some boxes which was good because some boxes had quite a bit of empty space.

In the kitchen I have made quite a lot of progress; most of the boxes are gone! I have placed a small Elfa drawer unit next to the stove where I have started to put the small cooking pans as well as the muffin tins that I am keeping. I will fill up one drawer with muffin tins, then I will donate the remainder to the pet organization that our kittens came from. I had to put something beside the stove or otherwise the kitties can get behind it which worries me greatly. I am only going to put things in the drawers that won't be affected by the heat of the oven. I intend to bake soon, maybe even before the end of this week.

As to the photos and kittens, in case you are wondering - four our of five photos received ribbons at the fair, and Ree did really well at the horse show with the photos and the model horses. The kittens were good for the kitten-sitters. It helped that the kittens had more room to roam as the dining room is fairly kitten safe now. Happily for me it will be easier to empty boxes because now there is room to work! I'm not yet sure how to put a caption on photos so imagine that this one is like a "Where's Waldo?" picture, but "Where's Starkit?" instead. While the photo here was taken by Ree, look for photos by me of the box of the week, a new blog feature that I will implement this week, in honor of Andy Warhol's item of the week. It seems that he was a bigger packrat than even me! Please stop laughing now.

Looking for Homes for My Stuff

There's no way to know what's going to happen when I open up a box, even if I know what's in it. Everything needs a home, whether it's on a shelf, in a drawer, in the box to go to the flea market, in the recycling bin, to a friend or relative, in the trash, or off to be donated to the thrift shop. When I open the box I need to assess what's in there, and figure out how to get it out of the box. Since this blog is about unpacking the boxes, you may be wondering how it's going, or you may not really care, and just be awaiting news of the kittens' antics.

If you care about the boxes, let me tell you that this is a tedious process. Right now I can see dozens of video tapes on a shelf of a small bookcase. The bookcase isn't really the proper home, as this particular bookcase should be holding books, but there are clothes in a large armoire. True, the armoire was originally built for clothing, but in the last apartment it housed - you guessed it - most of the video tapes we own. Also it contained DVDs, audio tapes, and a few assorted items. The clothes in there now mostly come from my elderly friend. Some of them are vintage and my hope is that they will be sold at auction, or to a vintage shop. Some of them need to go to Rose, but her wardrobe at the nursing home is packed full.

This process is like playing one of those little plastic games that are usually used as party favors - the ones where there is one tile missing and you have to slide around the little pieces to solve the puzzle. So I'm just going to try to convince myself that all this angst over where to put things is just good exercise for my brain.

The apartment is getting better for the kitties, too. I don't worry so much now that they can no longer get into the chandelier. The piles are slowly getting smaller, and in a couple of months I will have to make good on that promise to get the cats a cat tree. I don't know how I'll get it home as the large ones are very heavy, but I will have to because they like to perch high up, especially Starkit. The picture of Jettkit that I have posted was taken by Ree. We have several memory cards and I cannot locate the picture that I took to post here. Sounds familiar.

Watch for flea market news. Since I first posted this I have found out that there is a flea market Sunday. I am signed up and will pack tomorrow.

Where I Go, Kitties Try to Go!

Wherever I go, kitties try to follow. Are they trying to help unpack, longing for my company, or just trying to find places to play?I know that Starkit gets lonely because if I want to get her out of a room I just have to close the door for a couple of minutes. When I open the door she is anxious to get out! It takes Jettkit much more than a couple of minutes to decide she wants out. She was just looking into the den because she knows I have been in there as recently as a few minutes ago and she wants in. As soon as she hears me open the door she will no do doubt come bounding back into the living room to see if she can make it into the den before I shut her out. I will try to keep her out because I am working on unpacking boxes in there today. Next post will include a better picture of Jettkit where she doesn't have her eyes half-closed.

It's too bad that it will be too wet to go to a flea market tomorrow as I have found more stuff that needs to be sold! I'm still looking for somewhere to go to soon. I'm also trying to figure out when I can have a yard sale. My last landlady wouldn't allow me to have one, but I will be allowed one here. I am thinking of holding it the first weekend of October so I can have a good spread.

Some things recently unpacked:

• A pile of Ree's comic books
• A few of her wildlife information cards
• Her set of "Weird'N Wild Creatures" cards (complete, I believe)
• Walkie-Talkies in need of new batteries
• Some belts & clothing from my 93 year old friend who is in a nursing home
• Some of her cheap costume jewelry
• A kid's size 6-8 Washington DC t-shirt from about 8-10 years ago
• Floppy disks with photos
• My matchbook collection, which I would sell except they take up little room & I don't think the market is strong enough for them right now
• Cord to plus Ree's cellphone into computer which is great because she has lots of pictures to upload to computer & music she wants to put on her phone
• Charger for my cellphone that my nursing home bound friend usually calls me on because my other number is long distance for her

Some things that found homes, even if temporary:

• 2 of 3 old fishing poles - the 2 bamboo ones have gone above a door; the 3rd has a reel & no good home yet
• Elfa drawers (some drawers put in drawer units already set up in Ree's room, some units set up in den, even if they go elsewhere eventually)

Fun in the Sun

We had a lot of fun tie dying yesterday. There were about 20 people, ranging from baby to adult (the baby didn't participate however) as we tied and dyed at a friend's house. I wish I could have found the bag of plain t-shirts, tote bags and the like, but most of the socks were used anyway. I did end up purchasing t-shirts for Ree and myself on the way. I tie dyed that shirt along with a dingy white one - a comfortable favorite that now has a new life.

While it was hot yesterday, the official heat wave is over I think. We had some rain, but not until after the tie dying was done. Whew! Today it is much more comfortable. Now that the shirts are rinsed, washed and ready-to-wear I am going to do some unpacking.

In case you were wondering about the photos that Ree was working on - 5 ribbons came home Saturday! Next photo drop off is next week, but those only have to be matted so it will be less of a chore. I'm going hang the winning photos in the house because they will take up less space on the walls.

What a Difference a Few Open Windows Makes

Yesterday I awoke without much hope of getting anything done; it was day three of our first heat wave of the summer. I was determined to make some progress though. My first chore, done before breakfast, was unpacking a box of books that resided under the kitchen table. Since the not-so-brilliant movers told me they weren't going to bring my biggest bookcase into the house because they claimed I didn't have room, finding places for books is getting more and more difficult. There must have been at least 4-6 boxes worth of books, along with a few other items so I really wish I had the use of those shelves now.

Today I had to go somewhere that was over a 2 hour drive, and had errands to run beforehand so I tried yesterday to make up for today. I hate leaving the kitties alone for so long so my mother came over to feed them, give them water, and probably to give them some good belly rubs. The key to yesterday was getting more windows open and getting more of a cross-breeze going. The house was much more tolerable.

Here's some of what I accomplished yesterday:

• 2 or 3 boxes of books unpacked (can't remember how many)
• many previously unmarked boxes marked with basics of their contents
• a bunch of boxes moved out of the dining room and into the rooms in which their contents belong
• boxes that need sorting marked with their priority level; for instance some big boxes without many items are now marked priority because they are a huge waste of space
• the dining room made safer for the kitties because hopefully they won't be able to climb up inside the light fixture
• found some tie-dyed items made last year that I can bring for examples
  

Here's one thing that didn't get accomplished

• the blank t-shirts, sweatshirts & tote bags for tie-dying have not been found

Major accomplishments today:

• went to frame-it-yourself shop with Ree to frame one picture and mat a series of 3 (wish I had realize how much time I could have saved in the first place)
• went to agricultural/town fair two hours away to deliver 4 pictures and a story

Pictures of Frisky Felines

It's been too hot to do much of anything; we're having our first heat wave of the summer. It's not too hot to show off the little kitties - or not so little as the case may be. They are not quite 5 months old, but already Jettkit weighs over 7 pounds, and Starkit weighs over 6! It must be that expensive Wellness dry food they eat, although they have turned up their noses at the kitten canned food, and now enjoy AvoDerm complete with avocado oil. Yes, it has avocado oil, although I don't know how they decided that it would be good for kitties. Next week they might turn their noses up at that as well; they are rather particular it seems.

Despite the heat, I do have an unpacking chore that must be done tomorrow because I am leading a group of kids and adults for a day of tie-dying next week. I have to find a bunch of plain t-shirts, sweat-shirts and tote bags. While I myself had put all the dyes, squeeze bottles, buckets, and such exactly where I knew to find them, I didn't do so with the stuff that I would like to sell to people (at cost) so that those excess items leave my house. This time I am going to keep a marker with me while I go through boxes and write a basic list of what's in the unmarked boxes on the outside. This should cut down on time spent digging into boxes looking for stuff. I seem to do that a lot, usually under the watchful eyes of the kitties.

It's Miserably Hot Again!

You know it's hot when the kitties are lounging about instead of making mischief. The bad thing about this is that when the bedroom is finally almost decently cool, the kitties come "alive". It was Starkit who sprang from inaction at 3 AM to attack one of the mini-blinds, making an awful racket. They are very nice name-brand mini-blinds so I don't really want either kitty to demolish any of them, but Starkit was making the attempt. So, a few minutes after 3, I grabbed the "Bitter Yuck" spray, made sure I didn't have it pointed towards my face, and gave that mini-blind a good spraying. Then I took her to bed with me, held her for a minute until she sprang back into action. She headed right back to the mini-blind. This time the attack didn't last long. I won that battle, but fear I have not won the war.

I certainly haven't won the war of unpacking; I'm still up to my eyeballs in boxes. Ree and I spent a couple of days trying to get her project ready - photo entries for a county fair. I bought inexpensive frames and tried to put screw eyes into them for picture wire. Most frames, however, are not made for attaching picture wire. I hadn't looked up anything on YouTube, otherwise I might have seen the D-rings. My mother, Ree and I finally went off in search of them. I found something similar, so Ree was in the back seat with the cordless drill, my mother was in the front seat with the picture wire, and I was trying not to go so fast that I would get a speeding ticket. We were about 10-15 minutes late and were not able to get the photos entered, all because of the difficulty attaching picture wire. I could spend about 5-6 times per photo and have them all professionally framed, but it's crazy to spend that much when this is for a junior category with a top prize of about $5.

We're looking for another fair to enter the photos in. We're also waiting for the weather to cool down so I can do some major unpacking. Hope it's not as miserable where you are. Look for kitten picture on Tuesday; I have already taken some, but have to get to bed now as I have to get up early. I won't mind as the car has air conditioning!

Where are the Picture Frames?

Three or four years ago I had a great decorating idea - I was going to turn most of my wood picture frames gold with this gold rub that I got at a nearby craft shop. The goal was to have a more unified look since I have many different kinds of frames. Somewhere in a box there are one or two frames with pretty gold rub on them, but there are more frames without. I went in search of this box of frames yesterday and today because Ree needs some frames for a project she is doing. It would be nice to save money and space by borrowing some of the old frames that have photographs in them, as well as using some of the empty frames.

You may have guessed by now that I never found the frames. It's not that I didn't find any frames or pictures, I simply didn't find the box that I know contain suitable frames for the new photographs. My guess is that it's buried deep in the dining room, possibly near some paperwork I really would like to find.

What have I found instead? Here are just a few things:

• Kitty in a chandelier - to be honest, I didn't see this, but I did see the light swinging shortly after I heard Ree telling Starkit to get out of the dining room light fixture (I dont know if it's actually a chandelier, but I think it might be original to the house so I have to move quickly to get the nearby piles of boxes out of the way)


• A small box inside a big box with picture hangers, as well as some mini-blind brackets that I bought for the old apartment that I had wanted to leave for my former landlady so she could put the blinds up that had fallen down over the years


• Framed photos, unframed ones, and framed counted cross-stitch pieces that my sister had made for us several years back, nothing with frames that will work for this project

The "chandelier"/light fixture has survived another day!

Flea Market was NOT Helpful

On Sunday morning I left my house with high hopes. I was going to unload most of the tins, and sell some of the other wares as well. It was to be decluttering heaven. Instead, the flea market was not helpful. Not only did I not make a profit, I came home with almost everything I set out with. You may be wondering how many tins I sold - twelve! Somehow, even though I sold those twelve I have more than I started with. My mother found some tins that my father had bought on eBay years ago, so I took some of those as well. I think that out of twelve tins, seven were one that my father purchased.

On top of not having a successful day, I came home to wild kitties. They are not used to being alone so long, and they don't particularly care for it. They are not allowed the run of the house when we are gone for more than an hour or two. As you may have imagined, they came bounding out, spending the next twenty minutes or so careening on slims paths between boxes. So I fed them their canned food which slowed them down for a few moments.

Progress of the Shelves that Are Supposed to Hold Craft Items

Perhaps a picture really is worth a thousand words. Before this photo was taken there were many, many tins here, which was a huge waste of space. While the shelves are not yet being used for their intended purpose, they are currently being used for a holding area. Down below, on the bottom shelf as well as below it, are bags of fabric and some other items. The whole unit is about 6 feet wide.

Within the next 24 hours I will post the flea market update (the kitties do not like spending the day without human contact I think), and more of my unpacking adventures. Also, I am going to take pictures of Starkit and Jettkitt on and in boxes. I will post a couple of the best ones so you can see for yourself how adorable the little rascals are.

Hercules I Am Not!

Yesterday I made a potentially dangerous discovery lurking above eye level - a box. "A box," you might ask, "isn't what this is all about?" Yes, this blog is all how there are too many boxes because I am too much of a pack rat. This one box was scary because I had to reach above my head to get it, and, un-beknownst to me, it weighed about 30 pounds.


Who would do such a thing? Who would put a 30 pound box that high with a weakling and a child in a house? I don't know, but I have a likely suspect - one of the movers. I had some not-so-brilliant movers who may very well have put that box up high. I did have some other helpers, including some movers to finish the job when the first ones mucked up the packing of the storage units, but they didn't really bring more than a couple of things into the house. Not only was it too high for a heavy item, since there were many light tins on the bottom shelves, heavy things should have been put on the bottom shelves or on the floor. This should have been a no-brainer.


My advice to anyone planning on hiring some not-so-brilliant movers - don't! My advice to not-so-brilliant movers - wise up and don't put heavy items high up where people can get hurt getting them. Just imagine what would have happened if little kittens had been lurking when the darn container of doom dropped to dining room floor! If I had not been careful, this could have turned into "Disaster in the Dining Room", and made this a gloomy post that even Hercules wouldn't be able to fix.

• Flea Market Report: I have more than 4 boxes full of tins for Sunday
• Found: most of my silverware and my large frying pan
• Unpacked: a box of books, kitchen items
• Nearly Full: the Elfa shelves
• Still Curious: Starkit and Jettkit

A New Look & More Unpacking!

Ree suggested that I change my blog to brown to match the millions of boxes it seems we have in the house. I hope you like it!

I now have about 20 more tins to sell, including some duplicates. I have been hard at work on the Elfa shelves - they are now a mix of tins, crafts supplies, a few odds and ends, and some boxes that just happen to fit in the right place for now. Many of the craft boxes are too tall so I will be transferring things to shorter boxes as I have them available. Others, as you may imagine, lay underneath big piles of other boxes. I figured that it was better to have well-packed shelves as I can finish the organizing later. Making more floor space is one of my goals after all.

We have been doing well in the kitchen despite too many boxes; success is being measured by the fact that we actually eat most meals at the kitchen table instead of on TV tables in the living room which we mostly did at our last apartment.

The kitties are enjoying the boxes still, and we have been opening windows for them in most rooms, except the bathroom and den which they are never allowed in. The black tiger, Jettkit, has begun to fetch toys. Starkit has found a deep hiding space down amongst the boxes. She likes to dive in there. (Those are their Warrior names.)

Too Hot Here to Do Anything!

The bedroms are 87 degrees. There is no unpacking going on. Today's priority will be getting to more windows and getting more fans set up.

Hopefully I will get some boxes unpacked soon.

Where Did Monday Go?

I woke up early because I had to go somewhere. I thought I would be back early enough to do a lot of unpacking. Boy, was I ever wrong! One errand turned into several, and a couple of those were at least three hours long. I came back a couple of times during the day, mostly to marvel at the kittens' energy levels.

I'm not sure what the kitties did for entertainment while they were alone, but tonight they have been wild. They have been running, wrestling, running, wresting, and sneaking into rooms they are not invited into as soon as doors are open a crack.

• Unpacked: not much! Not even the "Baking Essentials" box
• Unpacked: a bag of my younger daughter's books, a crate of tins, separated into keep and sell, some of my younger daughter's accessories & a pair of shorts I was wondering about
• Unleashed: kitten power

Where Were the Torrential Downpours?

Today I spent more time trying to declutter the photo files on my computer than anything else. I know that I was supposed to be decluttering my house by selling items at the flea market, and I did drive there with that intent. But, the weather report called for a terrible storm, and it was raining pretty badly when my mother and I arrived. We nearly stayed, and we are now paid for next week.

After giving up on the flea market, we went to Walmart, and had coffee and breakfast at Subway which I didn't even know had such things. I had a hard time not filling the shopping cart - I just got a couple of more SD memory cards for the camera, a pair of pants for my elderly friend who is in a nursing home, cereal and juice.

• Unpacked: a box of spices and other assorted stuff, including some tubes of frosting which I discarded because I don't know how many years old they were
• A bag of towels which my mother had taken to her house to wash when we were moving, and which I was curious as to their whereabouts
• Found: a box marked "Baking Essentials" which the movers never considered putting in the kitchen, and which will be the first box unpacked tomorrow
• Brought back: my big recycling bin from my mother's back yard, which I started filling with paper and boxes
• Well-behaved today: two kitties, unless they've done something I haven't yet discovered
• Never arrived: the big storm!

Some Success Today!

Today was better than yesterday as far as getting boxes unpacked. I completely emptied a couple of boxes, and partially emptied more so that I could consolidate some items. The kitties have been having fun, and my little black tiger (yes, black tiger) got shut in the den for about an hour today. She knows how to find the darkest shadows.

Whoops! I just heard boxes go tumbling in the dining room. This can't be good.

Luckily the kitties are okay, and the stuff is as well, although now I have another box that's a jumble inside. Back to today's unpacking....

• Found: a couple of boxes of my younger daughter's model horses, model horse accessories and stuffed horses (amazingly bringing a smile to her face)
• Unpacked: some tins, an odd assortment of comic books, & small vintage items
• Unpacked: a pair of pants & a t-shirt that should have been in the laundry long ago
• Unpacked: videos & controversy as my younger daughter resists selling anything
• Packed: tins to sell at the flea market tomorrow, although I had to take out a couple when I found them on eBay for a lot of money ($43.99 for one of them)
• Packed: my car for the flea market, mostly with stuff I have in my mother's garage

It's late; time to hit the hay!

Not Much Unpacked Today

This morning I awoke with the intent of unpacking several boxes, some more of my kitchen, and putting aside some items to sell at the flea market. As you may have guessed, I didn't do much unpacking. I did do some investigating in the front room (den, I guess) and took a few things out of a couple of boxes. I found one of my younger daughter's model horses, so she was happy about that. I have cleared a path to her saddle rack, which is good because she has a riding lesson tomorrow and she needs to bring a saddle with her.

Here are today's items:

• an unopened bag of cat food - not for our kitties, but for some nearby feral cats we feed
• paper napkins that I have been looking for
• sandwich and storage bags, plus aluminum foil
• a sheet I needed to make a set

While I didn't bring much out of the front room, I feel like I accomplished a little. The kitties enjoyed watching me from outside the room. There are French doors so I was like a side show for them. Well, maybe they just wanted to join me, but there are too many places for them to get lost in there still.

What's a Pack Rat to Do?

Let me introduce myself - my name is Joanne and I am a packrat. I am a bon-fide, genuine, dyed-in-the-wool, third-generation packrat. Being a packrat is emabarrassing enough, being one and moving is mortifying. From the looks of it moving's not much of an accomplishment; there are dozens of boxes here and two portable storage units with more of my stuff. I am going to unpack at least one box a day. This blog will be about what I've unpacked, and where it goes next. Please join me as I try to unpack, and hopefully unload some of my stuff.

:-)
Joanne