This weekend I finished a couple of cleaning projects that have been on my list for a while: tidy and organize the downstairs closet, and swap out winter coats/shoes/scarves/hats for spring ones.
The closet was a mess, had gotten to the point where we were just opening the door and throwing things inside. I basically pulled it all out into the hallway. Mainly it consisted of outgrown baby clothes and Freya’s old baby toys. I sorted all the clothes into piles: Spring (consignment), Fall (consignment), donate, and gift. Then I put all the toys into a box until Audrey is a little older. The closet is now sorted and the carpet is visible.
I pulled out a couple spring jackets and pairs of sandals, then replaced them with my warm winter coats and my boots. Springtime coats and shoes go on the rack behind the door and the shoe shelf beside that. It has to be out in the open or it won’t be worn. Finally I sent all the winter scarves and hats and mittens up to storage in my bedroom closet, and brought down lightweight scarves and my gardening hat and baseball caps.
Baseball starts today!
Anyway, it’s just one of those seasonal chores I’m glad to have done. I also sorted all Freya’s stuff, putting aside things she has grown out of for her sister to use later. There was a sense of finality in sorting Audrey’s clothing, each round of baby sizes will be our last, no more holding on to them for an impending child. I have saved a small handful of things: shirts both sisters have worn, tiny knit hats, the first baby onesie I ever bought when I was 12 weeks pregnant with Freya (she wore it in the hospital and I think Audrey did too). But I won’t save much of these things. Just like I don’t save all of Freya’s amazing artwork. There are episodes of Hoarders about mothers who have done this, and ended up in a filthy house stuffed with mountains of “memories.”
Today Audrey and I visited Home Depot together to look at paint chips and flooring. I picked out some hardwood at $3.50/sq ft, and then looked at some color combos pairing a dusky rose hue with light gray. I can’t decide if we’ll go in that direction or maybe something cooler like green or blue with light gray. The saturated color will just be for an accent wall that surrounds our pantry door; we’ll only need a quart. I think the main walls will need to be light to contrast the dark cabinets as well as match with our pale gray granite. Nothing was purchased or decided, but we’re on a deadline now, so we’ll have to decide pretty soon. The paint needs to go down before the cabinets are installed, or we risk paint smears on the beautiful new wood.
Springtime continues to blossom. I can feel it now even when the sky is overcast, it’s like the air smells different. The frogs nearby sing at dusk and into the night, and after a period of silence, the birds start their chirping as the black sky begins to fade into blue. Trees are exploding with buds and flowers, and pretty soon we’ll need to figure out our very modest vegetable garden. Carrots, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, strawberries, pumpkin?