Storage Solutions

This morning I am taking a break from all things Christmas to talk about a basic need we all have:  Storage Solutions.

Since we moved into our home in early 2008 we have been accumulating boxes in the unfinished side of our basement.  Boxes that have not been upacked, boxes of memoribilia, boxes of holiday decor, etc.  You name it, it's down there in one big heap.  You know what I am talking about, right?  We all have boxes and piles of stuff in our basements or storage sheds or garages.

Well last week my husband was on vacation and he simply can't stand to lounge around and do nothing.  So he decided to tackle the basement chaos. 

Take some plywood, a few 2'x4's, and some power tools:

Add to that a handsome, handy husband:

And he begins to build.

This guy of mine really is a jack-of-all-trades.  If you will indulge me a few moments of boasting, seriously, this man can build anything, fix anything, tile, paint, rewire, and create just about anything at all.  (As long as it doesn't involve heights, right sweetie?)

Below is the beginnings our new storage wall.   See that mess behind it?  That is some of what I am talking about.   I wish I had taken a photo just to the left of this.  That is where the bins and boxes were piled high on the floor.

Here is the area where the storage is going.  This is to the left of the laundry area and leads to a door down at the other end.  Whatever storage is built here needs to be narrow and long.

And now this is what I have.  I am simply tickled pink!

It might not look that imposing in the photos, but it reaches floor to ceiling and stretches 8' long.  He kept it at just 2' deep.  This is deep enough to accomdate boxes, yet narrow enough to leave plenty of room to walk between the shelves and the wall across from it. 

Sure we could have gone out and bought shelving units (we actually did shop around for them), but why spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars when about $50 and an afternoon of work can create this?

I can fit 5 very large plastic tubs underneath.  Plastic most obviously goes directly onto the floor in case of water damage of any sort.  (knock on wood)

Here are my Autumn Florals temporarily awaiting a plastic case, or most likely a plastic trash bag.  Large trash bags are great for storing wreaths, you just put them inside and close with the drawstring.  Also, here is my large dutch oven amidst the toys.

Our steam cleaner fits up on top, with Barbie gear below:

See that space in the photo below?  Just beyond the new shelves?  That is where my guy is going to build an identical set of shelves.  Gosh, I feel so loved.  And I'm being completly serious about that.  Everytime I go down there to do laundry, I get a warm fuzzy feeling looking at all of this organized wonderfulness.

Thanks babe.  I love you.

A Pickin' and A Grinnin'.

This past weekend my husband and I ventured off to Lorain County to go apple picking.  Time was when we could bring the kids, but  now that they are 15 and 20 and lives of their own, we are on our own.  This is bittersweet.  I realized as we were picking apples that I never did this with my kids.  We went to pumpkin farms when they were kids, but never did apple or strawberry picking.

The sweet part of the bittersweet is that Steve and I spent the afternoon together taking the drive to the country.  It was a very chilly day, but I loved it anyway.

We went to Rex Gee's Orchard.  There were half a dozen apple farms down this stretch of country road, but this one was the only one that proclaimed "Pick your own apples."

There were a number of varieties to choose from.  I think we ended up with Golden Delicious, Melrose, Empire, and Courtland. 

Check out the color on these Melrose:

This next pic looks like fallen branches, but it's actually a tree that must be growing up from a stump.

Nature has a way.

Here is our load of apples.  1/2 bushel for $15.

I have no idea if that's a good price or not, but it was worth the adventure!

Now that I have all of these apples I need to get crackin on those recipes that I have been saving.

Recipes for Apple Cake, Apple Bars, and canned Apple Butter.

Yummy!!

opposites attract

 

One of my favorite things in life is the outdoors. A sunny day, a warm day, being surrounded by trees & flowers, birds chirping, green grass, a soft breeze, little wispy clouds dotting the bright blue sky - these are a few of my favorite things.

I was raised to be in the outdoors. We were not an adventurous family in that we weren't snowskiing or bungi jumping, but we did spend a lot of time in nature. Whether it was hiking, walking, bike riding, or camping, we all learned to be in tune with nature and enjoy the outdoors.

My husband? Not so much.

Hubby is a city boy, born and raised. He's all about the indoors, which I guess you learn to be, growing up within the city limits of a major, metropolitan city. His idea of outdoors was taking out the trash, riding to the baseball diamond, or cutting the lawn. I have tried over the years to introduce him to the outdoors. He has endured several family camping trips, but I use the word "endured" very lightly. "Suffered through" is more like it. "You want me to sleep outdoors? In a tent? You want me to go to the bathroom where? You expect me to eat food off of what?" I think he almost passed out the first time he saw us using a real stick to roast our marshmallows. A real stick. From. A. Tree. Oh, and you can't forget his obvious glee when a camp worker had to come and shoot a skunk near our tent. In broad daylight. With a shotgun. 30 feet from our campsite. Highlight of his camping trip that year!

To Hubby, being out in nature ranks right up there with posing for a picture:

 

So my love of the outdoors and his not love of the outdoors brings us to where we were this past Sunday afternoon. Me reading a book on a blanket in the backyard, and hubby in front of the television. It was a gorgeous day. The sky was blue, the sun was beating down hot, and the breeze was cool enough to keep you comfortable. This is when I decided that the current state of our Sunday afternoon was NOT OK. So I marched right in and said to hubby "Hubby, get your shoes, we are going down into the Park. It is way too nice of a day to be a-wasting!"

Because he loves me and always wants me to be happy and because he's the best guy EVER, we headed off to the Metroparks. Of course as luck would have it, we no sooner left our street than the skies clouded over and the nice, cool breeze was not so nice anymore. This did not deter me, I was a woman on a mission. We will be outdoors and we will walk in the park dammit! We decided to hit the trails behind our local Nature Center.

This is the inviting path that greeted us at the park. How could anyone resist this?

 

We passed a pond/wetland and saw tiny baby ducks and heard bullfrogs croaking. It was so peaceful.

Forget-Me-Nots: my favorite flower from my childhood home.

We spotted a young buck in amongst the trees. He had the cutest fuzzy antlers growing up out of his head. I hid behind a tree and snuck up on him.

This is the beautiful path we followed as we looped around and headed back out of the park.

As we left the park we passed this stone:

How true this is! Even though we don't share the same love of the outdoors, we do share a greater love: the love for each other. He endures my outdoor "adventures" for that very reason. Because he loves me. And the end result of the afternoon was we were able to spend time together, alone, amidst the beauty and wonder of nature. So peaceful, so right. I truly did receive far more than I sought when I dragged my man to the park that afternoon.

lordie, lordie, look who's 40!

Today is my hubby's birthday. The Big 4-0. I wonder if he feels any different. I tried to ask him about it last night, you know, just to compare notes. I got the usual "i don't know". When pressed a little further, I got a sarcastic "what do you want me to say? My life is half over, or maybe more than half over?" Well, I guess we know how he feels now.

All kidding aside, I want to wish my love a very Happy Birthday. He deserves it, he has put up with me since we were 18. Which means for more than half of his life. Hmm, based on our recent conversation that's a negative thing right? Hmmm.... Anyway I just want to say he is the most wonderful man ever. He loves me like crazy, treats me like a princess, and I love his sense of humor. You might have lived half your life baby, but we have so much more to go and I look forward to every day with you.