Friday, December 1, 2017

Travelling back in time...

I have been slowly, but resolutely be making progress in my downsizing/organizing/cleaning up my "ahem" storage spaces AKA shops.

I would not reccomend such a heater in a power tool shop, because of the dust generated, but in a hand tool shop, it's working just fine to keep me toasty warm... within range

Oh so true!
"If I could live my life over,
 I'd make the same mistakes, 
but I'll start sooner"

Long overdue, I know, but to me, it can take forever because as I sit down to go thru a box, I can get lost in a whirlwind of memories....

And sure enough, when you go thru boxes that have been around the country and back, you are bound to find all kind of small reminders of days long ago...
For such is the life of a former military man, you pack away some of your life, awaiting yet another destination.

Carleton Place Ontario 2003
6 months after we bought the place...
Somewhere in there there is some sort of future shop.

Funny the stuff we put away thru the years... Some of the kid's home crafted Christmas ornaments (our kids are now in their 30s and 40s :-), Christmas cards, letters, etc. Of course, before I part with anything I have to read it one last time.

So yeah, it can take a while... But I find solace in knowing I am not alone, many have worn these steps before me and, yes, I am loved once again!


I received my new garage windows earlier this month, but it is getting obvious , that it is getting too cold, too often, to put them in now.
The new front door got installed, but these windows will have to wait till Spring.
That meant storing and protecting them for a while, which in turn spurred yet, another round of purging in the garage, another area in badly need of "downsizing"!!

This area was the first and easiest to organized.

Seeing that pot, the first one I burned, since taking over kitchen duties when Heather got sick, sent me back a few years...

Bought that set for Christmas 1986.
I since burned another pot before I got wiser...

Not sure why I kept it after I replaced it, but it has to go...

Similarly, in my hand tool shop downstairs, a few recent acquisitions are begging for a proper space. One of them being my new to me Post drill, a Champion Blower & Forge as of yet unknown model, but quite a beauty. I need a post in my shop :-)


And of course, need to clear up the wall area where the Boring till is gonna go, so more re-shuffling and cleaning.

Another recent contender for shop floor space is an organiser Jean got me.

Slowly moving hardware from garage to my hand tool shop 

I had to move stuff off the wall to put it in, but I still need to re-arrange more stuff around and find a place for the post drill

Not to mention, I still have to update my shop lighting

So, slowly but surely, life is moving on, and so am I.
I reccon I should be done with my re-re-re-organizing by ... All bets are off :-)

Bob, a tad nostalgic, but OK

2 comments:

  1. Hi Bob

    I have the same issues when I have to go through stuff that have been tucked away for some time, sorting through memories take a long long time. And I think it should!

    I think that reflecting over small stuff and remembering things like Christmas ornaments and the like is a healthy sign that we are not born insensitive.
    But it also feel good to once in a while go through a pile - and when done, you can some way or another put it into the memory section of your heart and remove the physical parts.

    So I would suggest to just take your time and enjoy the job.

    Brgds
    Jonas

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  2. Bob,

    It can be good to look back on a life well lived, even if sometimes bittersweet. Careful with the discards even if it means continuing living and working with 10 lbs of stuff in a 5 lb shop.

    ken

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