CELLAR MADNESS, NEVERENDING

The cute 1946 coffee pot?   Well, I didn't win the bid. Someone outbid me, and when I attempted to increase my bid, I got to $8.50 and counting, so I stopped, and let the other bidder have it.  I didn't really need it as I would have used it decoratively.  I continued to look for something that would go with my quirky girls, and I found it!   A sweet light blue polka dot coffee/teapot that I can actually use.  Here's the set so far.   I found a pretty small bowl in my cache from the cellar that goes nicely with the set (bowl is not pictured), and on its way is a set of two darling harlequin baby clowns that will join the set.  I'll post a new picture in my next post.

What in the world does this have to do cleaning out my cellar?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  That's what happens when you segue. 

Ok, back to the cellar.  It looks great, but I have a table full of "junk" in the basement that needs tending to.  I have to part with most of it and am struggling with that thought.   

I did manage to hang the 3 cassette tape racks (each one was 2' x 1.75').  Vinnie didn't want me to get rid of them, so I found a bare wall in the basement that was perfect for them.   It wasn't without drama.   I got the bright idea to hang them with alien tape.  I hung them up, and all was well for about 3 hours.  While I was in the kitchen cleaning up the dinner dishes, suddenly, CRASH!  Ohhhh, man!  Yes, it was one of the racks.  It suffered some damage in the fall.  The backing came off, and there were cassettes scattered everywhere.   What a mess.  A second rack was coming loose, so I took it down before it could fall.  I was so discouraged, I couldn't face fixing the problem, for a week.  I finally went down to the basement yesterday to rehang the racks.  I was able to reattach the backing on the one rack and got both racks hung up with the one rack that didn't fall.  So finally and once again, all three were back on the wall.   I added two drywall screws to each of them to avert any future crashes.  Sometimes success comes after failure and not giving up.  There's always a lesson in life.

From the cellar floor to a basement wall!

That's the extent of my recent progress.  More to come...stay tuned.

CELLAR MADNESS, CONTINUED

Not a whole lot of news on the cellar purge.  I am about 75% finished, and I need to figure out what to do with a table full of junk that should all be tossed.   I'm thinking about putting it out in my driveway with a big sign:  Free:  take what you want, but leave the table! 

The most shocking revelation was how many candles I have.  I swear, more than a couple hundred including a bag of tea lights.    I never throw away a candle if there's any life in it at all...may come in handy someday. 

This week was a nightmare.  I had a stubborn clog in my kitchen sink that took the plumber a couple days to find and clear.  I had him fix a leaky drain trap in the upstairs bathroom while he was at it.   Then there was the home appraisal for our refi (lower interest rates!).    I did several days of prep for that including fixing my bedroom ceiling which suffered some water damage a few years ago from the Central A/C unit in the attic.   The A/C was replaced shortly thereafter, but I never had the ceiling repaired.  I discovered that my bedroom ceiling is wood, as this house is almost 100 years old.  I managed to patch all the scratch coat but wasn't able to paint.  Why? you ask.  Because I bought the wrong dang paint.  I bought a "base" paint and thought it was white.  Wrong!   A base paint needs pigment, regardless of color.  Lesson learned.  Preparing for the appraiser also forced me to patch all the cracks in the cellar floor.  I used DryLok "Plug", a quick-drying concrete product.  Today the appraiser came, and he was in and out in 1/2 hour.  So I spent the rest of the day relaxing, except for the part where I went back to Home Depot to exchange the paint (sigh).

 And lastly, I found a cute coffee pot from 1946 on ebay.  I bid $4.95, and I'm sure I'll win the auction.  I can just see my 4 quirky girl cups gathered around this coffee pot.