Monday, July 25

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

Decent weather. We had a short, intense burst of rain, but it didn't make things muddy.

I got a few things done (after much procrastination).

My husband put some old cupboards (salvaged from our friend's house demolition a few years ago) into our sea can. There they have sat. I asked my husband what we were doing with them, and he said "just taking them apart to save the wood".

I am trying to empty the sea can, so today I tackled taking those cupboards apart. There really wasn't much wood worth saving. It was all MDF (particle board) and glued together, etc. I saved some, then called my husband and told him I was taking most of it to the dump because it is useless.

Then I got it all on the truck.

We also have our old toilet, which has been sitting in the same sea can since the demolition of our trailer. I asked my husband if we had any need/use for it. He said no. I asked if he thought Habitat for Humanity would use it, and he said he didn't think they would take it.

So we have had our old toilet sitting in storage for three years, for no real reason at all.

THAT went on the truck, to be taken to the dump.

I assessed a few other things there, that might be useful to Habitat for Humanity, and if not, they're next to go to the dump.

My husband cut down a tree in the horse pasture a few years ago, and left the logs stacked there for a year or two (or three?) until I mentioned that either he picks them up or I'm taking them to the dump.

So he picked them up, and then left them sitting on the trailer. So today I split the ones I could split, and stacked the rest in our wood shed. I was kind of pissed off that he did go pick them up, but couldn't be bothered to do the whole job of splitting it and putting it away. This is fairly typical. He often does just half of a job.

Like cutting up the fallen tree in the first place, but leaving the stack of logs sitting there for three years.

Then I cut down a thick cluster of saplings that have sprung up in an area that is meant to be a clean row of mature trees. The people who planted the trees planted them too close to the fence on the property line, and it is very difficult to mow between the trees and the fence, so saplings get established there the moment you turn your back on it. Anyhow, I got a whole bunch of them from one area. I had to make sure to cut them all low enough that I could mow over that area.

Then I pulled weeds for about half an hour.

I got everyone out into their pastures for a while.

Roxy was delighted to find out that rotten potatoes smell much like a dead animal, and proceeded to roll in them.

Today I learned how the Italian prisoners who started out being at war with the United States at the beginning of WWII, ended up working with the United States after the overthrow of Mussolini.

"The Italian Service Units or ISUs were military units composed of Italian prisoners of war (POWs) that served with the Allies during World War II against Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan from May 1944 to October 1945. The armed forces of the United States captured many Italian soldiers during the North African campaign Operation Torch, which started in November 1942 and sent 51,000 of them to the United States. After the signing of the armistice by the Badoglio government in Italy on September 8, 1943, and with Pietro Badoglio and the Kingdom of Italy officially declaring war on Nazi Germany on October 13, 1943, the Americans began to see the POWs as potential allies. The capture of Rome by the Allies on June 4, 1944, motivated many POWs to change sides. About 90% joined Italian Service Units, which operated in the United States and overseas.[1]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Service_Units

Funny to think it was still the Kingdom of Italy at this point. I think I remember that from an earlier post of mine.

Comments

[ratunderpaper]

That's a lot of work... as soon as you said "salvaged kitchen cabinets", I thought: MDF. Is the hardware nice enough to salvage?

Good on you for getting rid of so much hooey in one day. And, I assume, washing the dog.

Now that the sunroom is finally restored (except for panelling), I will move to finish the basement bawth that I started renovating (last summer) and that no-one has touched since, not even to clean up. The cans, trays, sandpaper and assorted hometime junk is all exactly as I left it. The only change I see is an empty garbage can that has been filled.

[gottawonder]

They were built by our friend, and they did not have the doors. There WAS some good plywood, but there was so much glue used that some of them would not separate from the rest of the material. What I did manage to separate has lots of those staples in it.

This friend has given my husband a few things that HE felt guilty about throwing out, and just gave it to us instead. Sometimes my husband just takes things because someone else feels guilty. He takes things like that from his parents, too. His Dad just shows up with parts of an old project and hands it to my husband so that we have to throw it out later.

The toilet annoys me. Why even put it into the sea can if you didn't think we were using it? At that time, we had truckloads going to the dump every day, why not just toss it on the truck instead of leaving it for me?

The other thing, is that I am the only one who goes back to these storage areas and says "why do we still have this, are we using it?". My husband might do that if it is his main garage, but not if it is either a pile outside or in one of the out buildings. Our whole yard could be full of shit and he would be able to ignore it.

I've been trying to get him to sort through his tools in the garage, because he accepted a ton of stuff from his Grandpa and his Uncle (both deceased). A lot of what he took is not useful to him, just sentimental. Sentimental old tools. He can barely even use his garage because it is so crowded with stuff. He can't find anything, and there is no space for using the saws or cutting sheets of lumber.

[ratunderpaper]

Ha ha - I have seen "sentimental old tools".
What are you doing with that old hammer? That's my birthright!
Oh, OK.
Well, you can use it, I guess, but be careful and give it right back to me!
Yeah, we might want to do something wild and crazee with an old hammer. Better think twice about that.

[gottawonder]

I don't even know if he feels personally sentimental about them. They just belonged to his Uncle and Grandpa. I don't know if he used any of those tools as a kid, or saw them use them. I honestly think that he just took them because no one else knew what to do with them.

[ratunderpaper]

Sometimes it's nice to have the old relics that have accomplished a lot in their earlier days... but they have to keep working. They can't sit in boxes or on shelves.

This past Christmas I was given a theatre card signed by David Hockney. I have to frame it (probably in one of those glass frames I've been keeping for a million years) and hang it in the window of the sunroom in the fall and winter, when the lily-of-the-valley takes a seasonal break.

There's a David Hockney poster in the sunroom, too, over the daybed. So - a theme.

[gottawonder]

I think it would be fine to have a few of the tools that mean the most. After that, it is making it harder to have the shop organized.

[cf2princessawnw]

Smh... :) You work SO hard and do SO much. Yes, I know on one hand this is coming from a woman who's daily life is an incredibly struggle to exist through and by the world's eyes does little to nothing. But, for that reason, I can see since I can't do as much. And I see what other people do, their reactions to their lives and what happens etc. And you really do a lot of hard work in a given day. Even though I know it's incredibly annoying and frustrating and angering even, what you are finding, and you've every single right to feel that way and more! Separate from that, dang girl, applause that you can be annoyed... and get it done. frustrated... and you are completing what a man took on as a job... and doing it better lol... and angry... but wielding your power and ability to make your home as you want it. You should be really proud of you! :) I mean that. <3

[gottawonder]

Well, my day to day life isn't really a struggle to exist. I would go on existing quite nicely if I didn't do all the work around the yard, I would just have a jungle of a yard.

To the world, I don't do that much, that's true.

Something to consider though, is a LOT of people work pretty hard physically every day. Nurses, people who stock the shelves at stores, people who cook for a living and are on their feet all day, waitresses, janitors, veterinarians, lots of people. They work all day, and still have to take care of their homes, their kids, their pets, their parents. I am not unique in having work to do.

Farm women work on average, a whole lot harder than I do. I only have a few animals as a hobby. There are women out there pulling calves at 3 am in the barn for days on end, or up at 6 am feeding and cleaning, and then cooking for a crew too.

It's just that this house never seems to be done, and the progress is really slow. It bothers me that there are two week stretches where my husband is away that very little happens.

Then when he is home, we can't do much for fun things, it all has to be thinking about the house, or working on the house, or sitting there trying not to be anxious about the house while he is dorking around on the computer.

I get angry that so many things are getting neglected, like the piles of crap all over the place (getting better all the time) and the things I keep finding that should have been taken to the dump that are cluttering up our lives. Clutter that makes other jobs harder because you can't find anything, or there is no room to work.

I normally SHOULD be doing a lot of yard work, since big yards take lots of work. That part is normal. Working in the garden is normal, but very frustrating because of my own stubbornness. I don't like to use Roundup or anything, so the weeds are nuts.

I do get tired of being alone a lot, and it makes it seem like all the work is up to me after a while.

[gottawonder]

I re-read your comment, and I see that you were saying that "from your perspective, as a person whose day to day life is a struggle to exist".

Though I do a lot of physical work, I want you to know that for a long time now, I have been in awe of YOU. I don't think about things like getting dressed or showered, or daily tasks that almost just seem like things I have to do just to start my day. You have to work to accomplish these tasks, as well as do your best to orchestrate your own care aides, to live with your family and deal with privacy issues, and on and on.

Your challenges would make life very difficult, and I would find it very isolated and frustrating because of the inability to go outside whenever I wanted to, or to have much autonomy.

I have never felt that you "do nothing". I see how, while our challenges are all a matter of scale, that you face challenges that would make most of us back down.

You too, work to make your space yours, and you work to find and define yourself, and you work to create boundaries and connections and to do your best to live life on your terms within the parameters set by uncontrollable forces.

You should be proud too.