The Great Clear-Out of 2014 – Daisy and the Flute

Since I had to empty out all the cabinets, the china closet, server, wall units, etc. for the renovations, I got the bug to start paring down.

You don’t realize how much you’ve accumulated over the years until something like this happens, and suddenly you’re faced with the reality of stacks of boxes of “stuff” and stacks upon stacks upon stacks of books. (In our defense, we’re all avid readers and research is a major part of my job, so there’s something of an excuse in there!)

But I have to admit, it was a bit of a weird feeling – you spend the first half of your life acquiring things and building up the makings of your home, then suddenly you find yourself teetering on that peak of the “other side” of life, the side where you move in the opposite direction and “deaccession” things, like museums do from time to time. It’s a weird feeling (I know I’m repeating myself, but it is!).

At first it felt positive, like I was trimming the fat and getting down to fighting weight (pardon the ridiculous cliche), then all of a sudden it felt like I was slowly closing the curtain of my life. I don’t like that feeling and it’s much too soon to feel that way, so I’m focusing on the fact that I really do prefer a simpler existence and am working toward retaining just enough to fit into that diminutive cottage I dream of living in someday.

It’ll take a while to get to that point fully, I know, but I’m working toward it.

Anyway, all psychological assessments aside, DD caught the “clear-out fever” and started going through some of her things. I guess you’re never too young to thin the herd of “stuff” that tends to accumulate.

In doing so, she came across her flute that we had bought for her in middle school. Music is in her blood; she plays lots of instruments (and was a music major at one point in college), but her true musical love was and is the French horn, which she still plays in bands, ensembles, and pit orchestras. When she found her flute during her clear-out, she decided it was the one and only instrument she no longer wanted to keep.

After cleaning it up, she tested it by playing it. This interested Daisy enormously, since she hadn’t heard the flute being played before. She immediately went into Investigation Mode – cautiously at first, then in full-on Daisy Mode.

The “head-tilting curiosity” mode.

“Investigation Mode” begins….

Hmmmm….are you making it sing like that?

Investigation Mode intensifies….

My, aren’t you the tall one!

Challenge accepted! Begin “Daisy Mode”…

Full-on Daisy Mode! You’re mine!!

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Oh No! Invaders!

Hi blog buddies, Daisy here, commandeering the blog from Mommy, who has been very negligent about blogging for me. She says that between all the work she’s had lately, the renovations on our house, and looking for new furniture/window treatments/pictures for the walls, the weeks keep slipping by without a new blog going up or reading most of our blog buddies’ blogs.

I say she’s got her priorities wrong.

Anyway, “those people” are invading my house again. I’m sure you’ve all had these invaders around at some time – those guys with tools who go poking around in places my family never pokes around in. All over the house. Everywhere.

The first people were particularly annoying guys because they went into every room. And they made my family turn our house upside down.

My family calls them “electricians”, and apparently they were upgrading the entire house because our fuse box and wiring were so outdated, we were told that we were “sitting on top of a fire”. I don’t know what that means, but by the panicky look on Mommy’s face, I assume it’s not a good thing.

Our fuse box was 50 years out of date, the house wasn’t properly grounded (I really don’t get that – it looks to me like it’s sitting right on the ground….), the whole system was below current code, and there’s aluminum wiring in some outlets and switches that was causing what Mommy called “flickering lights”. I thought it was a fun light show, but it just gave Mommy that panicky look again.

So in July my family emptied out all the furniture that has “stuff” in it and boxed it all up. They unloaded all the bookcases with outlets behind them and there were stacks of books all over the place. All the furniture had to be moved away from the walls, so we now have pathways to get places.

Okay Daddy, I approve of your technique here. You may proceed.

It’s been an upside down wreck around here for two months. Some of the stuff has been put away, but we still have lots of boxes around and furniture that’s not in its right places because the painters came next and the walls had to be clear. Now Daddy’s ripping up the foyer floor and putting down a new one….then the carpet guys have to come…. Will this insanity never end?!

It took the electricians two days to do all they needed to do. It took the painters four days to remove tons of wallpaper and then paint all the rooms Mommy wanted painted. It took Daddy two weekends to remove all the old builder’s floor moldings and put down some nice bigger ones. Who knows how long it’ll take him to do the foyer, since he can only work on it on weekends? Hopefully the carpet guys will be done in a day, but then how long will it take to get all the boxes unpacked?? And what about the furniture delivery guys and the ones who pick up the old furniture??

How long is a pup expected to live like this?!

What’s worse is that every time those invaders come, I have to be kept on leash because I keep barking at them. I wanted to nose around in those little boxes the electricians kept opening up in the walls, but everyone yelled “NO!!” and that’s when the leash came out. How can I supervise if I’m constantly on leash?

I guess I’ll just keep supervising Daddy’s work, he doesn’t seem to mind. 🙂

We’re part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop!