One of the best (and worst) things about packing up a house you/your family has lived in for 50 years is finding things you held onto, thinking you’d value them so you couldn’t get rid of them.
Well, I’ve found a ton of stuff. Some mine, some my brother’s, a ton of mom’s. Not so many of Dad’s things.
Among my things was a little autograph book from when I finished Junior High – Ursuline School in Athens.
The poor little book was falling apart but I photographed the autographs for posterity. A lot of these people I don’t remember or have lost touch with over the years, some I’m lucky enough to still have in my life.
Peter Pontikos is still in touch with my brother.
Valerie is still one of my besties!
Ditto for Jeffrey!
And Zina. I had stayed in touch with Christine as well but she passed away. 😦
I can’t remember who RJ is but I hope he’s ok.
My darling brother!
One thing I always say is that I never win things. As in luck. I have won lots in my life, but always for work I’ve done. This was the second thing I won in my life – an essay competition.
That same year I won a drawing competition for an animal welfare society with a poster showing a puppy who just wanted a loving home. We never got the poster back. Mom still laments its loss.
The stack in my old bedroom.
Today was another day of packing and stacking. Well emptying cupboards and piling up things for mom to sort through. I am trying to be ruthless but you know mothers… I have to make sure I’m not giving away anything she wants to keep. So I piles tuff for her to check out. And only toss out what is obviously not worth keeping.
Today was a nice day. Not too cloudy, not too cold, not windy. I figured it was a good day to head on downstairs to put together the 2 Ikea items I’d bought: mom’s bed and the shoe storage cabinet.
Well, I got the bed put together. Not without casualties.
First thing I noticed when I opened the boxes was the instructions said it was a 2 person job. Still, I persisted on my own using the new ‘elevator clap thingies’ I got online and some bits of timber to hold up the ‘other end’ of the side bits.
I have no idea how long Ikea experts are meant to take to do this, but it took me about 3 hours. And things didn’t go so smoothly.
The casualty was the footboard. It was so hard attaching the side bits to the head and footboard I had to use brute force. By that I mean I used a hammer and some cardboard and pounded the crap out of it to bring the bits close enough to ‘screw’ together.
The cardboard was meant to protect the baseboard from the hammer. It didn’t work as effectively as I hoped…
By the time I was ‘this close’ to finishing I was so frustrated I hit quite a bit harder than was necessary and this is the result.
Mom’s pristine new bed isn’t as pristine as it was meant to be. I can hide the damage with a bit of filler and a bit of paint, but sheesh. I am so annoyed at myself.
Note to self (and other pounders): use a bit of wood, not cardboard to stop damage. Too late for me now. I’ll keep it in mind for next time. Then again, surely it wasn’t meant to be so hard to put the two pieces together…
Needless to say, I didn’t get to the drawers that fit under the bed, nor the shoe storage unit. Tomorrow is another day.
While sorting the chests and boxes upstairs in the laundry I discovered a stack of old sketchbooks and drawings from my childhood and teens.
Some of the stuff is very childish obviously, but what amazes me, looking at them now, is how I had such a great sense of proportion even as a 10-11 year old.
Here are some of the drawings from the age of 10 to about 13. I had a thing for fashion (thank you Betty and Veronica), horses and dogs (surprise surprise!)
Pitsos was the donkey who delivered fresh vegies on Paros.
The view of Souvlia from the main road.
Then there were the Holly Hobby years, when I sketched little girls everywhere and made hand painted cards for Christmas…. (I was also very much into letter writing back then.)
Here are some later drawings. Some were obviously home projects, others ‘en plein air’ and still others copying from magazines or whatever else took my fancy.
Using cut outs.
Cut outs and pastels.
Self portrait.
Parikia, Paros
Parikia, Paros
Parikia, Paros
My punk days…
This post is already very image heavy it will take forever to load and I apologise. I’ll share my life drawings in a separate post.
Somewhere among all the sorting and searching and packing and getting rid of stuff, I took the time to make a little Christmas display for mom. I’d seen this on Pinterest and though mine is nothing like it, not vintage, just cheap dollar store decorations, it inspired me to make my version.
This is how the frame looked before I painted it white. Too gold for me. Now you can only see bits of gold.
I added two photos of the grandkid/great grandkid for mom and voila, a little Christmas in our 70s kitchen.
The little trees and little house light up.In my clearing out of old drawers I found this key. No idea what it’s from but I love it!
The beauty of this frame is that it can be used for anything, any time of the year. All you need is imagination.
Meanwhile I’m working out daily. Up and down 2 flights of stairs countless times. With weights (bags and boxes). I’ll have a body to die for come spring. And no gym fees!
Today I went up and pretty much finished the laundry phase of the tidy up. My theory is that once the laundry is empty of stuff that’s been in there for decades, there will be room for newer stuff mom can’t bring herself to get rid of.
Actually, I’m still storing old stuff in there – stuff I brought from Australia that don’t fit in my little house, old photo albums and sentimental stuff my brother and I both left years ago etc. The only stuff I’m getting rid of is the stacks and stacks of old clothes, linen, towels and bags etc. Things which were stuck in there and forgotten. Some of the stuff is still in its original wrappers.
My pile of stuff to donate is growing. The pile of stuff for mom to sort through is growing. And I’m listing the odd thing on Facebook. A lot of stuff would sell well in a garage sale, but we don’t have those here, and FB isn’t a good place to sell things worth little money. Athens is too big for someone to drive to pick up something unless its worth it.
If the weather is good tomorrow I’ll have another go at the ivy. Well, after I finish up upstairs, photographing and listing.
For today I’m done. Tired. Sore. Worn out. But satisfied that things are happening.
z
Update:
I found some old baubles so I was able to give the frame a more vintage look after all!
Today I can actually say I got a few things done so I’m proud of myself. And sore.
Yesterday mom went off with her youngest sister to her country place for a few days. It’s easier to work without her here… I just put on some rockin’ music and get to it. Today it was Johnny Cash. On the other hand I can’t ask mom what to keep and what to get rid of. Mind you… that’s probably a blessing. Mom would want to hang on to just about everything… cause we might need it, someone in the family might want it, etc.
I started the day by sorting through a few more cabinets and lining up crockery and glasses to see what she wants to keep and what to give away. There’s a LOT to sort through. Back in the old days family gatherings and parties often included up to 50 people – so you can imagine the amount of crockery and cutlery needed for that. And most of it’s still here, in cupboards.
I started boxing up my brother’s photos, souvenirs and posters for storage. Those were easy.
I made up bags and boxes of things to give away and a bag for rubbish and put them in the stairwell for easy access to ‘outside’.
I measured and ordered a shoe storage unit for behind the front door downstairs and a couple of other small things from Ikea. I won’t be going overboard with shopping as mom wants to keep and use as much as possible what she already ad.
I then tackled the ivy. It was a lovely sunny day so I figured best to move outside while the weather allows. Dad made a carport way back when and put metal across the top and grew ivy over it. That ivy is like a tree now, its so thick in placs. It’s time for it to go. Once its all cleared away I can get the railing repainted and can start planting pretty things in the garden.
The thing is, since there are wires everywhere holding the ivy in place you can’t just hack away at it with a hand or electric saw. I decided the way to tackle it was to cut and break off as much as I could by hand to enable me to see the wire and metal. That way I can attack the thicker bits with my reciprocating saw later.
While fighting ivy, a gypsy drove by shouting out about taking away old metal things people don’t want so I called him over. We get that a lot here. Guys in trucks and utes go around neighbourhoods playing recordings saying they will clean out basements, rooftops, yards etc and take away anything you don’t want. Some will take furniture and just about any household items. Others will only collect metal. Sometimes they charge you for doing it, other times they will only take things which have resale value for them. The guy today took some old metal chairs I needed to get rid of, some old radiators, some odds and ends, plus the bags and boxes I’d already put on the staircase.
As a favour, he took a load of things down to the rubbish for me, heavy stuff I couldn’t move myself. He wasn’t interested in furniture so I’ll be calling another guy about that later.
I called the electricity company again and put in a complaint about them taking so long. Not a thing back from them yet. Again. And still no news from the natural gas people either.
All in all a pretty productive day. Meanwhile enjoy some pics from today.
Stage 1. After removing SOME ivy. This is what it looked like from the gate to the renovated apartment looking toward the carport.Tossing ivy cuttings into the run-down little garden as I go.Stage 2: you can see into the carport now.Stage 3: light inside the dark and damp carport! Still tons of ivy to remove.The bathroom is finished!A bar for mom to hold onto.The smaller window. Greeks and windows in showers… I don’t know…The bathroom really is tiny. Still need to get and put up a shower curtain, but love the hooks for added hanging space.Kitchen finished. Dishwasher in place.
So that’s about it for today. Tomorrow is a new day and I’ve barely made a dent in the things that need doing.
Well, since I had the paint and the stencils out, I figured I’d knock something up for mom’s new place. She’s always had a key rack by the back door in the house upstairs but that wouldn’t fit next to the front door in the downstairs place. I needed something taller and narrower instead of long and narrow.
This little guy will sit behind the front door so that mom can hang her keys in a safe place away from the open door.
Its nothing special, just a piece of old plywood I had lying around. But it will do the job.
There’s been a lot of trouble with the radiators in Athens. Mom left here on Sunday and she was only able to get heat on last night. Lots of calls to the plumber who’d replaced the water tank on the roof (holds heated water for the radiators). Lots of waiting for the plumber to come to take a look. A couple of visits from the plumber’s partner which didn’t fix the problem.
And me on Paros, with no knowledge of how radiators work, how to check the furnace, what to do other than get frustrated, worried for mom and make calls. There’s not much else I can do when I’m so far away – plus (as I kept telling mom) I couldn’t help even if I was there. If you showed me a donkey and a furnace and asked ‘which is the furnace?’ I wouldn’t have a clue.
Well, ok. I would. But only cause I know what a donkey looks like!
Sheesh.
Anyway, seems its sorted now, but I’m reconsidering waiting till next week to leave for Athens again. I’ve already started getting my stuff together in order to go on Friday.
I had this small shelf for a long time and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. Then somewhere along the line I decided it was time to make another of my little wall vases. I used to make things like this in the past (click here to see one of them) but its been a long time since I’d made one.
This time I couldn’t find a metal strap clamp thingy big enough to hold the empty jar so I made my own holder out of an old belt.
I told you I have tons of things ‘on hand’…
First I traced the stencil onto the wood and tried to burn the pattern into it but that didn’t work. I don’t have a wood burning tool, and trust me, a soldering iron just doesn’t cut it.
Next I transferred the pattern using black paint but hated the look. Even after trying to distress it.
As a last resort I decided to just repaint the whole thing. I had the kitchen cabinet colour I’d mixed up for the pull out bottle drawer I’d made a while ago, so I just used that and some leftover grey paint. As a result it kind of blends in on the ‘living room’ side of the cabinet.
Recently I framed and put up these two beautiful photos I’ve had for years. They are the two most beautiful girls owned by a friend of mine in Tasmania – both are long gone now but I remember them every time I look at the photos: Paris and Polly.
The most amazing thing about the photos is the incongruity of it: two standard poodles on a flatbed ute* outside a country pub in a small town in Tasmania. Not a sight you see every day!
*Flatbed ute: a truck with a tray in back, usually holding a kelpie or blue heeler.
Since I had the camera out I couldn’t resist taking a photo of one of my favourite spots in the kitchen – the shelf just over the sink with my collection of old crockery and the cute little bird salt and pepper shakers I’ve had for years. Some may remember them from my easter sideboard a few years ago.
Its nice to take a walk down memory lane… It all seems so long ago now!
This is what I’ve been working on most lately. In case you were wondering. Little puffy pouches to hang around your neck on cords of waxed cotton or leather.
I make them using all kinds of fabric scraps (I have a whole suitcase full of small scraps I’ve been collecting for years) which are too small to make much else out of. Plus some recycled beads, gem stones, trinkets, buttons and old lace. Oh, and the occasional chandelier crystals.
Basically whatever I have on hand. And I have quite a lot on hand…
The cords are mostly new, of course. As is the odd bit needed to complete each piece.
They make great little gifts and I have someone interested in buying a lot of them for his shop next year!
I also plan* to set up an Instagram shop but have run into all kinds of trouble – I once tried to set up a Facebook shop and, despite trying to follow all FB and google instructions, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do it. Cause the links/buttons/whatever are never where they say they are for one thing! I’ve tried just about everything and I’m about to scream!
(*Plan: something we make to convince ourselves we have some control over things.)
Meanwhile I’ve been preparing my tiny home for going away for a month or so. I’m not leaving straight away as I have a couple of appointments which have delayed departure, but I will be going soon enough. I figured it was time to basically tidy up and pack away things I don’t need on display gathering dust.
You wouldn’t think a tiny place like mine would take so long to organise. But it does. I’m still at it.
Mind you, for me tidying and organising is an adventure in meandering distractions.
“I better start by packing away the objects on that shelf.”
“Oh look! I forgot about that xxx! I’ll find a box to put it in with others like it.”
Two hours later I get back to packing away objects on the shelf. Or not.
In that vein, I’ve bought and hung new (cheap) eyelet blockout curtains on the bedroom balcony door. Something I needed in summer… but at least it will keep the room warmer in winter as well.
I put fertilizer in my pot plants. Good thing. It rained for a couple of days straight. Constantly. Not like here at all. Normally we get a downpour which floods the place but only lasts a few minutes. This was good watering rain. I hope we get more, we sure need it on a dry island where the population explodes in summer.
I bought some cheap plastic tubs (like the kind you use to cart washing around) and put some of Lainee’s old cushions (I make new ones each winter using old pillow stuffing) in them and placed them in the only under cover area around my place so the the stray cats have somewhere dry to sleep.
I must remember to toss out the old cushions from the cat houses I have on my porch and put in new ones (ie, Lainee’s old ones – I have heaps of them).
I took out my measley Christmas decorations and put them out. Considering whether to put out the fairy lights. I normally hang them all over the bookcase. I wont be here for Christmas but I may as well enjoy the Christmas spirit while I’m here. I never do a Christmas tree, but I love fairy lights. I’ve already lit the outdoor ones.
I’ve made a key rack for mom’s new house. And finished another project I started a couple of months ago. I’ll share those soon.
I’m also thinking of rearranging a few things in the place. I mean, I have a gorgeous shelf which was given to me by a good friend and there really isn’t room to put it up. I want to make room for it!
So, as you can see… I keep busy.
I saw a Tshirt on Facebook which I really want. It says: “In my defense, I was left unsupervised”.
I must have it!
Just like the old one I have which says “I make things cause if I don’t I get sad”.
Anyway enough blabbing on for now. I have things to do, places to go, dogs to groom, electricians to oversee and meetings to attend.
junk4joy 