Still sorting, packing and reshelving

Does your husband (or you) save screws, nails, tacks, and pieces of unidentified plumbing parts, TV wires, and pencils too small to use? We are rearranging the basement storage. Life was easier I think when we lived in a house for 34 years that had no basement and no attic. Now we've had both for the last 19 years, and I swear these mysterious oddies and endies in my husband's tool area just grow! I have one box that is just light bulbs. extra extension cords and surge protectors, and emergency candles. Another box of containers that just hold things together like putty, glue, calking, bonding, etc.

I had planned to buy a metal open shelving unit to store what I didn't throw out, but after pricing them (over $50), the wood bookshelf from our old house that's a little awkward began to look pretty good. Also none of us could remember how we got it in the house and down the stairs in 2002. So we solved the moving problem by just putting it back.

One of the collectors of nuts, bolts, nails, screws of 4 styles and 16 different lengths appears to be an insert from an old desk—maybe walnut or maple. I asked Bob if it was from his grandfather's desk (he died in 1955) which we had when we were married in 1960, or his grandparents' secretary they'd purchased when they got married in 1906. But he couldn't remember. So just in case it's an antique, I moved it to the laundry room where it can accumulate more unidentifiable things.

Am I alone?

What to do with stuff

We had an interesting program at Lakeside this morning on "Organizing 101: Simplify our Stuff" by Chris Perrow. One member of the audience commented that the people who needed to be there, weren't. "No one wants our stuff," was a common complaint.

For old family photos, scanning was the suggestion. One woman used the app Photomyne and found it very useful. Some suggested saving just a serving piece of two of that china you inherited but don't use. Lots of suggestions for various donation sites and sales. My suggestion is that if you like the china use it and don’t be afraid to put it in the dishwasher (although not the microwave since most have silver or gold trim).

For 34 years we lived in a house with no basement and no attic. Now we have both, and have more "stuff." Definitely a first world problem. Since I have a number of blogs I can write about things I donate or give away, and still retain the memory.  Doesn’t always solve the problem, but at least I know I’m not alone.  A number of people mentioned the emotional attachment to their stuff.

Inspiration and perspiration

When I got home from exercise class this morning, I decided to tackle the mismatched storage boxes in the garage. I really don't like storage boxes that say STOR-ALL or Progressive. So now they are either white, green or royal blue. But. . . in order to do that I had to do some shifting and repacking, and thus came across a box full of VHS movies. Other than the Dagwood and Blondie series, most we've never watched. I think most of them used to be our daughter's who is quite a movie buff. I'm thinking we should have a movie night once a week, view them, then pass them on to the library. As it is, I selected about 12 to donate that I knew I would never be desperate enough to watch. I used to have a notebook with an alphabetic list of our movies and TV shows on VHS, but that seems to have been separated from the box of tapes.

Friday Family Photo--The Goff Family

This week we've been bustling about trying to create more storage space. I know none of you ever have this problem. My husband had already talked to one of his favorite contractors about building a slotted storage file to fit in the down stairs shower for our art work. Usually I'm aware of pending projects, but this one I didn't know about until Mark knocked on the door on Tuesday. I was horrified--where would I store our off season coats, I asked. Plus, we've actually used that shower once in 5 years for guests. I launched into planning mode, rushing around looking at all the nooks and crannies. I was completely successful and the shower has been saved. I have one large empty shelf; I've taken two sacks of books to the library sale I would probably never read; some suitcases are under the bed; and I found the photograph of my husband's great grandparents, Sarah and Herbert Goff.

Back: Charles, Herman, Walter; front: Edna, Sarah, Herbert, Eula, Irma
I checked my FamilyTreeMaker database and I did have all but one of these people, but other than their last known address, Crown Hill Cemetery, 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis where they are all awaiting the resurrection, I knew very little, and my husband couldn't remember much. I asked him why his grandmother and one of her sisters had the same married name, but he didn't know. I asked him if he could remember meeting any of them, but he wasn't sure. So, I'll need to call my sister-in-law who is a little older and probably hung around when the relatives were visiting, or maybe might have gone to funerals. From the sleeves, I'd date this about late 1890s. The photo is in very poor condition and appears to have been enlarged from a smaller one maybe 10 years later from notes on the back.

Just by chance, I googled "Herbert Goff + Vernon Indiana" and found this article at a website for the Ironton, Ohio Register, and I'm pretty sure I've found him, plus the name of his father.

Ironton Register, clippings from Oct. 25, 1888: "In a private note from our old friend, S. W. Goff, who is with his son Herbert, at Vernon, Indiana, he says "my first vote was in 1836, when I voted for Harrison. I, also, voted for him in 1840, and will vote for the grandson in 1888."

Isn't the internet amazing?

"Crown Hill is the third largest cemetery in the United States at 555 acres (2.2 km²). It contains 25 miles (40 km) of paved road, over 150 species of trees and plants, over 185,000 graves, and services roughly 1,500 burials per year. It sits on the highest geographic point in Indianapolis. (Wikipedia)." "Crown Hill Cemetery was constructed in response to a movement for a new cemetery in the 1860s. Unlike the tidy rows of pioneer cemeteries, Crown Hill was large in scale and picturesque in appearance. Its massive stone gates and Romanesque Revival waiting station gave the cemetery an imposing quality. The individual stones and mausoleums provide a remarkable collection of sculptural work.[National Park Service]" If you think you may have family there, the data base is terrific. I've only been there once that I can remember, in 1996 for Aunt Babe's funeral, but it is lovely.