tired

I’m tired. I feel like I worked non-stop all weekend. Funny how when you are retired, you go out to dinner every night during the week and then stay home and work on the weekend.

It’s not like I worked at a job or anything, just keeping up with my own stuff. I cleaned 2 ponds and filters, washed about a ton of laundry, made a week’s worth of dog food, made cat food, made soup for the humans, unpacked 3 boxes, washed the contents, bought black foamy stuff to line the shelves of the new credenza, went back out and bought double sided tape to stick it down, lined those shelves and put all the stuff on them. I think there was more but it’s making me tired to list it all. Oh, well, we did go to a marvelous brunch at the monthly brunch restaurant Remixto.

Raui investigating

About those boxes… When Mimi and I went fulltime in our RV and sold our house in San Anselmo, we got rid of pretty much all our stuff. It was cathartic, sad, emotional, and when we drove away, ecstatic. The few things we did save filled about a dozen boxes and have been stored in California for 7 years. Mimi got them down here with friends last fall and I was happy to see my cookware again and some of the other stuff.  Funny thing, almost all of it had something to do with eating or drinking.  There were 3 boxes of assorted crystal that have stayed in the garage because I didn’t have anywhere to put them.

It’s good stuff but it is not a set.  I’m not much for things matching anyway.  The good stuff I inherited from my mother I mostly gave to my son.  I’m not sure if he got the glassware, it’s possible my step father never sent most of it.  I kept some rocks glasses that I remember my father having his nightly drink in when he got home from work.  There are 3 of those left, very heavy, cut glass with a small gold rim.   I use this stuff, so it breaks or chips or disappears.  That’s ok.  The rest is stuff that I’ve bought or been given over the years.  I usually buy wine glasses in pairs, more is not always better I think.

all clean and on a lined shelf, mission complete

So, it was nostalgic to open these boxes after so many years.  There was a set of 4 beautiful martini glasses and a silver topped shaker that Mimi gave me for my first birthday after we got together.  There were the cut crystal wine glasses we bought in Ireland.  The burgundy glasses from London.  I had a good time washing them and looking at them again.  In fact, I’m having a little red wine right now from a satisfyingly full shaped crystal burgundy glass that might have been my mothers.   It feels good in the hand.

The hardest part of all of that was measuring and cutting the shelf liner and then getting the 2 sided tape on it and sticking it on the shelves.  I don’t measure and cut very well, I don’t have the patience.  I tried to persevere with this, it’s sort of even.  The double sided tape really only wants to stick to me and itself.  We fought, eventually I won.   I’m more than a little pleased with myself for getting it finished.

I’m happy with the credenza, it moved a lot of stuff that is better being near the table out of the kitchen to the terrace/dining room.   At some point, I’m going to look for a stone top for it.  I’ve got the locations for a couple of stone warehouses here and it will be fun to go and browse.  With a stone top, it can also function as a bar which will make having half of it full of bar glasses make more sense.   I also have to get Mimi to cut a hole in the back of one section for the iPod and speaker cords, that will clear it off better.

I’m really trying to keep things clear, to not accumulate a ton of stuff that I rarely use, to not have so much around that you can’t really see any of it.  I’m no minimalist but I appreciate the look more than I ever have.