Taking stock: a year into Covid 19

Happy spring! We’ve had some great weather. One day last week when we went to go for a walk the temperature outside was 20 and the temperature in the house was 20. Yesterday the last of the snow disappeared from the front yard and I was planning on getting my bike ready to ride to a couple of appointments later on in the week. Then it snowed. I shouldn’t be surprised. This is Calgary and it is March, usually our snowiest month. Somehow, though, I thought we might have gotten away with something this year. Ah well.

I have a sense that this post is going to bounce all over the place so fasten your seatbelts or abandon ship whichever you prefer. It’s been a year since we started wearing masks as a means of slowing the spread of Covid 19. We are still wearing them and I have some pretty nice ones thanks to a friend who is more enthusiastic about sewing than I am. I now keep some medical masks in a plastic bag in each of the vehicles in case I forget to bring one of the cloth ones. I don’t wash the cloth ones all that often but I’ve developed a system of putting a used mask in a mesh bag and hanging it up for a couple of days before I use it again. I seldom need a mask two or three days in a row so I have enough to rotate through them. Now when I go out I check for my wallet, keys, phone and mask.

Another big change this spring from last spring is the advent of Covid vaccines. We had none last year and now we have 4 approved by Health Canada. I know a number of people who have had their first jab. I get mine this week. When I was a kid Christmas Day was the high point of the year and I used to count down the time to Christmas by the number of sleeps. Now I’m counting down the days to the Covid shot with only slightly less enthusiasm. After I have received the shot I think I’ll have my own personal dance party and I don’t care how crazy I look. I’m getting to an age where I figure that I can be called eccentric rather than just crazy.

Since we’ve been home a lot in the last year we’ve been looking at all kinds of things around the house that have been mildly annoying. The more we look at them the more annoying they’ve become so we’re about to embark on another renovation. I think this will be #5 in this house and it will probably be the last one, although never say never. Our kitchen isn’t very convenient so we’re going to swap the kitchen and dining room locations. We’re also going to have the old cement chimney removed. It’s not doing anything useful anymore and the guys who did the renovation of the basement 9 years ago, said it would be easier to take out the chimney when we renovated the main floor. I’m sure there will be days when we wish we have never thought of this but once it’s done we will enjoy it.

Where is the doors go?

Both Richard and I have had a go at the kitchen cupboards and today we took a rather large load of kitchen paraphernalia to GoodWill. Among the things that left the house was a thermos coffee jug that we got as a wedding present. It works really well to keep drinks hot but I’ve probably used it fewer than a dozen times in 35 years. Time for it to find a new home. Also in the box was a brown Betty teapot that I bought at a thrift store as a prop for a musical theatre trio we did a few years ago. People tell me that Brown Bettys are coveted and some folks swear that you can’t make a decent cup of tea unless you have one. This one is in great shape, no cracks and no drips when you pour the tea. Again I might have used it twice so I hope it will delight someone who has a true appreciation for such things.

The kitchen will end up being smaller than the one we have now so there is some incentive to take a good look at what to keep and what to send on. Even after Covid I don’t think we’ll be having any dinner parties for 12 people so we’re focusing on the stuff we use every day or the stuff we like that we use occasionally. We got rid of both of our china platters. I doubt we’ll be cooking turkey for a whole gang. We have a number of lovely cutting boards. ( I have to say they’re lovely because I made them.) If we are in a situation where we need to lay out cold cuts we can use one of those. Also we have a huge round platter that Richard turned out of purple heart and we’re not giving that away.

In this particular purge we are far less concerned about what might happen and much more concerned about how we live our daily lives. Stock the kitchen based on what we know we use and then improvise when other situations arise.

Chaos in progress

I’m going through a similar purge in the shop. I’ve finally decided how I like to work and I’m getting rid of tools and wood that doesn’t support that way of working. I’ve found new homes for some power tools and found new positions for others that make them easier to use. I’ve already started the demolition of the kitchen by taking off most of the cupboard doors and cutting them up to make drawers for the shop. Things that have been piled on top of each other for years now have drawers to live in. I’ll continue to work my way around the shop trying to find homes for things. When I get back to where I started, most of what doesn’t have a home will go out. I’m already tossing scrap that I was tempted to keep. I’m always looking for bits for one thing or another but I simply don’t have room to keep it all so I’ll work on improvising when I can’t find exactly the right piece. I’m also focusing on using up all the sheet goods I have even if they aren’t ideal for a specific job. It’s a slow process but I’m making progress. I’m not saying anything about the state of my study. That can wait until I get another attack of tidiness. Stay tuned. I’m sure there will be some good reno stories coming.