boxofdelights

My sister's landlord is going to turn her apartment into an Airbnb, so she is moving out. She offered me an enormous bookcase that has been living in her office since Mom moved to Maine. Mom brought it with her from Michigan, but the movers couldn't get it into the elevator or up the stairs. It's 94.5" tall, 95.5" wide, in two separable parts: the lower part has cabinets and drawers, and is 26.5" deep; the upper part is four bookshelves, 19.5" deep.

Now, the last time I brought a bookcase into the house I said I was full. But most of my bookcases were freecycled or bought used for ~$10. I wouldn't mind putting one or two of them back on freecycle to upgrade to much nicer furniture. If I let go of two 30"-wide six-shelf bookcases, I would lose a little book space, but gain all those cabinets and drawers. I could store all my collage papers, that are taking up bookshelf space right now, plus all my other craft supplies and tools. I could have one drawer just for seeds!

But there's only one wall in my house that goes more than 95.5" without a door or window, and it has a light switch. I could cut a hole in the back of the bookcase to access the switch, but it would be awkward: the switch wouldn't be right there to hand when you enter the room. Maybe get an electrician to move the light switch? But my house is old and weird. The walls in the old part are lath-and-plaster, not the modern frame construction that leaves space to thread wiring through. Also the switch would end up some place other than right there next to the door opening.

There is another wall in that room that would work if I can tear this thing out of the corner:( the thing in the corner )

On the other side of this wall, there used to be a coal-burning stove in the kitchen. The stove was removed long long ago but the flue that connected the stove to the chimney was left behind and boxed in. I don't know why! I don't know how hard it would be to take it out! Also the floor in that room tilts noticeably along the south-north axis.

It might work as a freestanding room divider in the biggest room, but even that room is only 26" wider than the bookcase.

If I'm willing to lose a window, I could put it on the north wall of my bedroom. The north side of my house is uncomfortably close to the neighbors' house, so that window is already covered with stick-on "frosted glass". Also it is a north-facing window, so it doesn't get a lot of light in winter. The bedroom has a east-facing window, so I don't think it will be gloomy if I block off the north window. It will be significantly more crowded, though. Right now there is a bookcase on either side of the window and a big dog crate under the window. The new bookcase would replace the old bookcases, but I don't know where I could put the dog crate.

Do I want this thing?

While my kitchen and bathrooms were being remodeled, all my stuff was packed into two rooms. The front half of the house wasn't being fixed, but the demolition was going to leave a lot of dust, and all the demolishers and remodelers needed to carry big objects through the house, so I packed my stuff away and taped it off.

Every time I walked into my empty house, I said, what am I going to do with all this space? But as soon as I started unpacking it flipped into, where am I going to put all this stuff?

It seems like good time to try tidying up with Mari Kondo. I'm not going to put all my books in a mountain though. That's the first step -- to get a sense of how much you have -- I can't do it.

I like the idea of taking each book in my hands and judging whether it sparks joy, though. And if it doesn't, releasing it to spark joy somewhere else. I think I'll try that.

I marked all my books "unread" on Librarything. As I go through, I'll switch the ones I have read to "read", so at the end I will be able to see what I own and haven't read. Maybe I will even write a sentence about each of them as I go.

I have a couple more days of just eating whatever is in the fridge. Sometimes that is sad, but today kaberett made me think about squash blossoms. I have cheese in the fridge and tortillas in the freezer, so, a simple pumpkin blossom quesadilla:




I took a break from emptying my house to go to Rebecca Roanhorse reading at the bookstore. Worth it!

+ When I bought this house it came with a very big, very old apple tree.
- Which suddenly started to lean.
+ It didn't fall over and hurt anyone.
- Because it was leaning on the shed, which also began to lean: http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/boxofdelights/833604/58217/58217_900.jpg
+ I found a very competent, honest, and kind tree guy who took the tree the rest of the way down without damaging anything else except an old birdhouse where yellowjackets had been nesting.
- He discovered that the tree had not been taken out by old age. It had been killed by carpenter ants or termites. I thought termites didn't live around here, because the winters are too cold and dry, but I believe tree guy would know.

- Tree guy says that I should call an exterminator to treat the house,
- but I'm thinking that the insects would be even more likely to have infested the shed;
- but I can't ask an exterminator to look into the shed until I make it safe, so I don't know where to start.
- Also I am feeling guilty about not having realized that I needed to do something earlier.