Up In The Air, part 2

Once we decided to go ahead with this goofy project, Wendy's first concern was the garden areas: they were all to be destroyed during the process. We moved some of our perennials to other places in our yard which we thought would be safe, and we borrowed an 8'x30' spot in the yard next door (the house is vacant, and owned by a man whom we've known since he was a small boy), and we borrowed a big honking rototiller to get it ready. We only sliced through the Invisible Fence wire once, and now - after a spendy service call - I know how to fix it. Some of these plants have history: a lily that has managed to bloom on our anniversary every year for the past 20, plants from Wendy's father's yard, from her mother's yard, from friends now deceased from our church, and so on. So far all are surviving, although the poppies are not much to look at (they don't transplant well) and it's hard to say how the tulip and daffodil bulbs will do, as they were moved mainly so they could die down in the normal way. A big hydrangea and a couple of varietal lilac bushes are sitting in the clumps they came out in.

Then came the emptying of the basement. For all that we couldn't keep down there, a whole great pile of stuff required hauling up the rickety steps: Paint cans from most of our most recent interior jobs, and at least one can from the last exterior job (this is great, as we have the color code for new paint which will be needed), plus a few that will need to go to the solid waste recycler. Tools: some of mine, some of my dad's, some of my grandfather's, and some that came from who knows where (anybody missing any?). Food (canned, mostly), pots, pans, seldom-used small appliances. Coolers - I have two or three old-school gallon water jugs. Old lamps that we fully intend to have repaired. Laundry supplies. Shelving. Folding chairs, card tables, and two old wooden rocking chairs. Sporting goods, Christmas lights, cleaning supplies, vases (at least a dozen!), nails, screws, various old hardware that I don't have the foggiest how to use, etc. The cat's litter box had to be relocated. Mercifully, Laura and Ross were here for a weekend and they helped a great deal. The washer, the dryer, the freezer, a couple big tables, and the furnace were hauled out a bit later by the Bobcat guys.

The house was to be lifted as if to be moved, so the old basement could come out. We didn't know how smoothly that would go, so we took down mirrors and wall-hung art. My collection of beer bottles - all Porters, who knew there were so many varieties (40+ bottles so far)? - came off the shelves, as did some other precious items. We emptied our hutch and boxed the contents. This appears not to have been necessary, although I am in our back room addition now and it sways ever so slightly when my wife walks through.