Things that Had to Get Done

Instead of writing, the past few days. I’ve been too tired to write plenty of times, but too often in the last three days I’ve been too tired to even read. As someone who will read the back of cereal boxes and nutrition labels when there’s nothing else handy, this was disconcerting. But that’s what happens when you put in 13+ hour days cleaning, moving, sorting, transporting, etc. Augh.

Warning, from here on in it gets ranty.

Two people to clear through the detritus of over 25 years of someone else’s accumulated stuff is just not fair. We’ve been working on it constantly – and I do mean constantly, every day, every spare minute, for hours a day – since the last week of October.

(Yes, I did NaNo while working full days at this. I’m a writer, we’re all insane. But that’s probably why I still need to figure out at least another 20-odd K of the draft.)

So. In the past 3 days alone, I have cleaned. Cleared everything we do not actively use from the kitchen drawers and cupboards, including some pretty but heavy handcrafted ceramic bowls and way too many carving knives. At least I think that’s what they were. They were long, sharp, pointy, and never used. Cleared out some cast iron including a muffin pan and tiny cauldron. Located, put together, and cleared out bits of jewelry no one was ever allowed to wear. Helped pack up all that, some other stuff, and a Hoosier cabinet and transport it to an auctioneer. With luck that may bring in some needed household cash.

At least as much time and energy these past days was put into safely disposing of stuff we couldn’t sell, such as old wool dyes, assorted stuff used for the dyeing, and over 75 cubic feet of wool and other fibers.

…No. Not joking. 27 bins of this stuff, each at least 24″ by 17″ by 12″, and several larger than that. 75 cubic-frigging-feet of it.

(I suspect Genjyo Sanzo would approve of my language these past 72 hours. I suspect that means the vast majority of polite society would not. Ah well.)

But after over 3 months of tracking people down, “We’ll call you back later”s, and so on, we finally found spinners to take it, and I delivered the last 9 bins yesterday afternoon. Thank God.

If I sound bitter – well, yes. That wool has been sitting around for years, in most cases decades, barely used. But it had to be cleaned, stored, worked around… in short, it got better care and tending than the rest of the family.

When you treat things better than people, something is not right with your world.

But it’s gone now, hopefully where someone else can use it. Or fight over it. Right now, I’m too tired and sore to care which. Important thing is that the wool being gone means there’s finally enough room to unearth the floor looms that haven’t been used since 1995, take pictures, and hopefully auction them off as well.

…Yes. Floor looms. Plural. Augh.

We need to get this place totally cleared out so we can list it with a realtor. Hopefully by March. That may be too ambitious, but we’re going to try. We’ve already been at this three months, while simultaneously juggling every emergency call from hospice care, and… the two of us actually doing this are very, very tired.

(There’s two other siblings who should be involved, but each has said they “have their own problems”. They’re planning on just sitting back and swooping in for the final inheritance. *Wry* Boy, are they going to be surprised. Ain’t gonna be none. Not with the needed medical care.)

So. Yeah. Tired. A bit bitter, knowing all I can do is clean and sell what I can so the survivors don’t end up completely broke in the aftermath.

But the wool is gone. Someone might use it, and be happy. I’ll take what I can get.