Spring challenge

Happy equinox, everyone. Time for spring cleaning, working on the garden, and pollenpocalypse.

Lost track of time lately, 2026 has been a decade of a year so far.

This list will increase as I think of things

March project 50% done
April project
May project
June project
Sort and put away winter stuff?
Pull out summer stuff?
Logistics on epic summer trip

Winter and summer gear tasks are questioned since I'm not sure if we will have warm enough weather to put away the winter stuff or be hot enough to pull out the summer gear. Living in the mid Atlantic means going through all four seasons in a day and needing several wardrobe changes to get through it. At least I'm sneezing non stop through the pollen.

If I get most of the branches, sticks, blown-in trash from neighbors, and misc. yard crap removed before we leave to go up East the third week of April, I'll be happy! Heck, if I get our Christmas tree unlit and down by then, I'll REALLY be happy, lol. At least THAT tree is inside and not subject to rain, sleet, snow, or winds that feel like they'll take you to Oz! (none of which explains why it's still up, actually... :|( :|()

we cleanedout the garage today. Swept the floor of all the leaves that had blown in. Got rid of one piece of furniture, various cabinet doors that DH was saving for reasons I cannot understand, and a big old victorian picture frame. I’ve been hauling around for decades. It has a provenance that is interesting, but I don’t do Victorian anymore since I no longer live in a Victorian house.

I got DH to take photos of two sets of French doors he says he’s going to sell on eBay. These of course, came from an alley in the city of St. Louis. They are lovely old doors, but we have no use for them.

I’m stuck with a set of bedroom furniture, an oak dresser, and a grandfather clock in the garage that I will never use at my house ever and DH refuses to get rid of them. ugh.

I have spent days this week trying to set up the laptop- it is a year old! I finally got serious and it has been a real challenge. My goal was to tidy up all my folders etc. before moving them over...a huge challenge in itself for me., so they are sort of tidy but installing them has been not very straightforward. I got my writng folders and documents onto the laptop and am currently loading up the pictures. But I forsee real frustration. Had to buy a hub for more usb ports and a stand because it was hurting my neck...haven't put that together yet. The dining room table needs clearing...And this should be on the rant page!!

So far, I've put in a couple hours on the yard the last few days, and I can see a bit of difference, even if no one else can. The weather's been great for me and yard work - in the low 60s, cloudy, not much wind. But things keep interrupting. And I get a lot of cat help, which significantly adds to the time it takes to accomplish things, lol.

nswef, kudos on tackling the laptop. that sort of stuff stresses me to the max!

Good luck with the laptop! It'll come together... eventually. lol

March project 50% done
April project mending and catch up
May project TBD
June project scrap quilt
Sort and put away winter stuff
Pull out summer stuff
Logistics on epic summer trip
Emptying of the storage unit



Remember a few years ago when the challenges were focused on storage unit cleaning due to future basement work? I asked about it at the annual meeting last October and everyone looked at me like I had three heads. I'm used to that look, and figured the storage unit needed cleaning anyways and made a nice pandemic project.

Turns out it's happening next week. Received the email Monday afternoon and hope to get more details at the monthly meeting tonight. We're supposed to get a schedule for the work and deadline to empty. Bright side is it's emptier and most of the winter stuff is still in the condo. Was hoping to put away the super hardcore winter stuff we actually used this weekend. The heavy winter coats are at the dry cleaner. Peak cherry blossom is expected any minute now, so the chances of a snowpocalypse is low. Now the plan is leave it all in the spare room and hope no one needs emergency crash space between now and when we get the all clear to use the storage unit again.

Epic summer trip is part vacation and part my birthday gift, we're going to a convention out West, and other surprises. I was told so I can request time off work. Finished the glove and started on the second one.


Looking

I have so many to-do lists this spring, that I'm having a harder time than usual coming up with my spring list.
For example, I have a "Mom List," and a "People-y Things List," and then the more usual spring tasks. I have been getting things done though. From the Mom List, I arranged her furnace cleanout, I cancelled her Xfinity, hired a probate attorney, and had a preliminary meeting with a realtor. As you know, we have donated and given a lot of things away already.
People-y Things is a list of people with whom we've committed to get together, as well as a few of Mom's godchildren that we need to meet with to give them a piece of jewelry from Mom.
At our house, I've already started my seeds, and we've put up the hammock, wind chimes, and connected our hoses (DH did the hoses).
So I think I'll pick some top things from these lists, and incorporate it into my "Spring Challenge List."

• Clean out Mom's house
• Remove Mom's weathervane and have it put on our house (a nice copper codfish)
• Cull Mom's files
• Do at least four things from the People List
• Wash windows, etc.
• Clean closet
• Garden cleanup
• Plant outside containers
• List at least 6 things on eBay
• Get HVAC contractor in to give us a quote on A/C retrofit