January Has Arrived and Settled In

 No matter what kind of start I have for the new year - ANY new year - something in January comes along to interrupt my excitement over a new start.  It's usually weather related.  

I never got really organized after Christmas, but I did get the garage cleaned out enough to get the car in - if I get help moving a couple of things to a different corner.  I tend to think I have to wait until someone taller or stronger comes along, and that's the smart way, but then I never do catch them at the right time, or the taller and stronger ones are in the middle of their own projects.  

It's an extremely ugly little room with no insulation but some protection from the elements.  Looks like it needs sweeping again already.  I need to get rid of the desk and foyer table, and the car will just fit.

Ryan built these shelves and put them in my other apartment's garage and just pulled them out and repositioned them here.  

The hot water heater is behind the white cabinet along with extra bins.  I'm so relieved to have pared down my belongings to things I really need or want others to have.

I'm willing to gift the freezer to anyone who wants it, but I haven't advertised it yet.  It's pretty old, and I would feel bad if someone lost some valuable food because of it.  I very rarely open it more than 4 or 5 times a year, so it might have some good years ahead.

When a friend moved away a few years ago, she gave me these sturdy shelves, which I put right outside the laundry room door.  They're so convenient to use as an overflow pantry, shopping bag and mailing things storage, toys, and the few summer things I find I need during that month of warm weather.  A recycling can is to the left of that door, and it's nice in cold weather to just open the door and toss boxes and papers out there until trash day.

This table is usually hanging from hooks, but it's too nice a staging area for groceries and a craft table too hang up for long.  There are toys underneath and bikes and scooters hanging above everything.  

After I had cleaned up and put up all the Christmas decorations, I realized that the top shelf of the hutch still had Christmas plates up there, and I couldn't do a thing about it.  No climbing on chairs or stools for me.  No over-reaching and accidentally dropping one on the glass shelf and breaking it.  At the first of the week when Noreen was here and we were drinking tea/coffee/wassail and eating the peanut butter and oatmeal balls she brought and having a nice catch-up visit, I decided to take advantage of her being a lot taller than I am and asking her to take down the top shelf things.  She was glad to, of course, and that was the final transformation.  I haven't quite gotten the things into the bins in the garage or decided what I'm going to replace them with, but a tall friend is nice to have.

One of my favorite toys I got for Christmas was this:

 It looks like a miniature concrete mixer/igloo, but it's a super-duper fancy cat litter box - one that sifts through the litter every time they use it and makes a neat deposit in a smaller pan lined with a plastic bag underneath.  Not only do I avoid that terrible left knee pain caused by bending down and making a lot of scoops, but it doesn't smell and the cats have to love stepping into a clean box every time.  When I see what they had to wade around in if I just left it for one day makes me sad for them and for all cats.  My cats have enough perks in life for them not to be objects of pity though.  They are free to snuggle in front of the fire or on the bed all day long and sleep just as much as they want to. They have 3 different outdoor scenes they can keep an eye on without even getting cold.  They sometimes don't even have to ask for their food; it just appears in little bowls as soon as we wake up.  The worst they have to do is meow obnoxiously for the afternoons pellets - not from hunger but from the excitement of hearing the tinkle of the food into the metal bowls and knowing they're superior to the human.  

The young people in my life are very generous to me, even though I don't deserve it.  They seem to know what I need before I know it myself.  For the joy of having beautiful and delightful children visit me several times a week, I get catered to and clearly appreciated.  I hope they know how much I appreciate them too.  I do my best not to have to ask for anything, so they make their own decisions about what I need and bring me servings from the restaurants they visit and offers of picking up groceries or driving me places I'm not comfortable driving. Most importantly, they allow all these little girls to chatter and play and dance at my house and allow me to eavesdrop on their extremely funny conversations.  

Anyway, we worried that my cats wouldn't take an instant liking to their new contraption, but they absolutely did.  When they jump out, they stand just outside the door and wait for the littler mixer to start turning, which is enjoyed a lot.  They probably only miss the ability to linger in the box, scratching and digging and causing me to have to vacuum every day.  I'm going to work on the app that allows you to monitor when the box needs emptying and to talk to the cats when you're not there.

It's a good time of year to have wassail and coffee from my new little stovetop coffee pot.  

The wind has howled for too long, and the snow has piled up, but it's not over yet.  I think in a couple of days we'll have some warmer weather. but it will still be January and many months to go before spring.