↓
 

Holly Doyne

words, wool, and travel

  • Home
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Projects
    • Cross Stitch
      • Fractals –
        • Flower Spray
        • Fractal Clock
      • HAED
        • Dragnlings
          • The Case of the Empty Cookie Jar
        • Farewell to Anger
      • Heartstrings Sampler
      • Ink Circles
      • Klimt
      • MagicalQuilts SALs
      • Stitchy Witchy
      • Tempting Tangles –
      • WIP
      • Star of David
      • Lou
      • Dance at Bougival
    • Machine Embroidery
      • Flour Sack Towels
      • Quilts
      • Shirts and other garments
  • TFME
    • A Preface
    • Chapter 1 – The Road to Bosnia
    • Chapter 2 – Arrival at Blue Factory
    • Chapter 3 – Settling In
    • Chapter 4 – May
    • A – Task Force Med Eagle
  • Family
    • VierMaus
    • Gallery
    • Knit & Spin
      • Finished Projects 2007
      • UFO’s 2007
      • Finished Socks 2008
      • Finished Socks – 2007
      • Finished Socks – 2006
      • Prior to 2006 – Socks
      • Orphans and Odd-Balls
      • The 1995 Sock Yarn Review
    • Gallerie 2
    • Purim 2006
  • & Images
    • 11 The Terrace
    • Doors
    • 50 Ways
  • Kuwait Diary
    • Diary Entries
      • A – 25 May 03 – The Youngest Yet
      • C – 11 Dec 03 – BOB and Friends
      • B – 05 Sept 03 – Marines to the Rescue
      • D – 04 March 04 – Tempest in a Teapot
    • Background
    • FAQ
    • Gallery
Home→Categories Home→packing out

Category Archives: packing out

Too far to the game

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-07-05 by Holly2019-07-09

Since yesterday was a holiday – the waiting room at UCSF was jammed to the gills with both the Friday and Thursday patients. Since there was little to no traffic, the drive in went smoothly, the clinic was running at full speed and we were able to get out of San Francisco before what would normally be Friday afternoon traffic.

I was tired when we got home. Heading upstairs to finish off (finally) the one quilt, I pulled out the stitching and redid the quilting.

all but the binding

 

and then I moved on to this –

another Liberty Puzzle

with a lot of fun pieces

and decided I was just too tired to think about going to a baseball game. Sent off a message to a fellow member of the group that I wouldn’t be making the game. Then I pulled up At Bat (the app) and sent her off a second message. She concurred as well; Seattle was just to far to go in the next 30 minutes….

Posted in Baseball, packing out, Sewing | Leave a reply

Also in the box

Holly Doyne Posted on 2015-08-12 by Proseknitic2015-08-12

We dropped off books this afternoon in Rohrbach, the next community down the B3 from Heidelberg. Apparently they have added a community bookshelf. While George talked to a neighbor who was walking by, I unloaded books. Sixty of them.

Children’s books in German, adult political books in both German and English and a miscellaneous collection of novels, romance, science fiction, fantasy and mysteries mostly but not complete in English.

I also found these in the box

say what?

say what?

The sheep card is unopened, the two photos have to date from Blue Factory days, the negatives don’t have a date but I am guessing about 1996, 25€ and a tube of K-Y jelly. It is the last one about which I don’t have a clue

Posted in Books & Tapes, packing out, Photos, Uncategorized | Leave a reply

The Book Pile

Holly Doyne Posted on 2015-08-08 by Proseknitic2015-08-08

I waved good bye to our household goods; all boxed up and on their way to California. Actually it was 7 Aug 2014 but this is close enough. Since then, they were delivered. Shifted around several times. Several things have been relocated to storage since the house was under construction . A few things made the trip across the ocean and have (are finding) new homes.

Which still leaves the house here with its invaders (the four footed kind) along with the more than occasional house guest and friend. It also explains why I still have too much furniture here, a partial closet of clothes, knitting supplies and three storages + the garage full of what could most politely be called junk.

George has found a local agency that is similar to the Goodwill/Salvation Army. They take just about anything that can be redistributed, refurbished, gifted or sold. They don’t, however, take books.

You knew I was going somewhere with this didn’t you?

It was on 8 August last year that I asked everyone to guess how many books I had left over that needed to be redistributed. No guess below 4000 was allowed and I took pictures of my former studio. The offer was for a dinner gift certificate

Nana guessed an oodleplex
Cat bet me it was less than in her house (I have been there – it is a close call).
Alison picked 4444 (cost of a hearing aid)
Carmen 4567
April – 6289
Isobel – 4882
Mary – 5777
Steven – 5280 (feet in a mile)
Christian – 4997
Kim – 7012

and I started dropping off books anywhere I could manage
9 Aug – 148, 10 Aug 130 = 278, 11 Aug – 67 = 345, 12 Aug 72= 417. It wasn’t till Oct that I managed to off-load a dozen books on Zandra = 429,

And then I headed off to LonCon, Denver, the Legend, the Oasis (Chaos of the Seas), Serenade, before bopping to both Berkeley and Germany before the end of the year.

Won’t get into this year’s travel summary, but over the course of this past year I have managed to drop off another 537 books. Hardly a dent in the pile at 954 which is still looming mightily in the studio.

just a close up of the disaster..

just a close up of the disaster..

from the window size

from the window size

most of the children's books

most of the children’s books

as you enter the room

as you enter the room

Starting today – I am going to make a concerted effort and see how much I can diminish the pile in the next ten days. Secondly – if you want to compare the size of the pile – 8 Aug 2014 is the original post.

I am also going to reopen the bidding on guestimating the number of books. For those of you already in the running – I am going to honor last year’s effort at the end of the run. If you want to enter the new bit of insanity – please feel free to do so as you could be a double winner. Cat? I am assuming that you still want all numbers above the highest bidder to infinity? In any case, please add your vote to the comments on this post.

Posted in Books & Tapes, packing out, Uncategorized | 4 Replies

It is Monday, might as well clean

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-08-11 by Proseknitic2014-08-11

Well, the kitchen is clean. As clean as I can make it considering the water pressure in the sink decided to give up the ghost providing me only a trickle of water, a lot of buzzing with effort. To top it off, the temperature is somewhere between OUCH and cool without my having the slightest bit of say in the matter. I know for a fact that it is not the hot water heater that is creating the problem since the water in the downstairs bathroom (same circuit) is just fine.  So I gave up on even thinking about scrubbing the floor since filling a bucket might take me till I turn seventy. Since I have a flight to London on Wednesday, years before the above mentioned event, I will just sweep, vacuum and call it a day.

Did I mention scrubbing the sink? Some brilliant designer decided that every good German sink deserves baskets. Now, having a metal multi-strand basket liner to the sink just might have saved a few broken items over the years. In return, there are eleven rods in one direction and twelve in the other, crossing on the bottom to make a pretty diamond pattern. Lets see – (11 x 2)+(12×2) + upteen little diamonds on the bottom. See – look for yourself:

 

see all those stupid wires?

see all those stupid wires?

and every single one of those puppies needed to be scrubbed. I am considering hiding the basket. Some easy place like on top of the cupboard or in the broom closet where no one will ever find it. Now that there are just the two of us – I am willing to risk the breakage to avoid this particular shoulder pain.

 

notice the absence of litter

notice the absence of litter

But the kitchen hasn’t looked this good since, well it was renovated.  In fact, when I forwarded the picture from my iPhone earlier to certain family members they weren’t sure whose kitchen I was visiting.

 

Which lead me then to the next project on the list: trash. This is Germany where everyone is big on recycling.We have four separate bins: Gelbetonne (recycle packing, plastics and the like), Bio (garbage), Pap (paper, cartons flattened) and Restmuelle (which is exactly as it sounds). Not included in the above are batteries, electronics, clothing, glass. The upshot is that it is only the rare item that goes in that last bin. In due consideration of the fact that no one is supposed to have a lot of items that can’t be recycled, the Restmuelle is only picked up once a month. Right.

So after a fast run through the house grabbing all the bags and partial bags abandoned by offspring and hubby alike, I wound up with this pile to haul to the garage. Not included are two boxes of papers which desperately need shredding nor does it include more items set aside for those wonderful charity shop people.

six blue bags, two white, jars, boxes and papers

six blue bags, two white, jars, boxes and papers

In fact it was too much for the elevator –

first trip down

first trip down

which meant two trips down to the garage followed by sorting. Leaving about 50% of it as total and complete trash which is not going anywhere tomorrow since it isn’t a trash pickup day.

At this point, I decided I could rest on my laurels.

After all – I made the early run to

11 Aug, added 67 books

11 Aug, added 67 books

since if I go before 0600 I can drive the car to the shelves and not have to schlep all that weight.  278+67= 345 donated to the Neuegasse shelf

and the guess list grows longer:

Alison 4444 (cost of an object)
Carmen 4567
Cat – TNTC (but less than her, so I guess she is taking all the really high numbers)
April – 6289
Isobel – 4882
Mary – 5777
Steven – 5280 (feet in a mile)
Christian – 4997

And, since I didn’t think the impact was all that clear – here is a photo of the books-in-boxes through the window

yes, lots of boxes and there are 10 you can't see

yes, lots of boxes and there are 10 you can’t see

 

 

Posted in Books & Tapes, Home, packing out, Uncategorized | 2 Replies

Reprise –

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-08-10 by Proseknitic2014-08-10

Ok. I was going to give you a long and happy rant about how I finally have MY house to MYSELF. Sounds like a cat doesn’t it? Purfectly happy without all those pesky humans about who don’t deliver food on demand or proper respect. But it seems like everyone is still confused on what is going on.

Point 1: We are not moving. Repeat. Not moving. We shipped household goods because I had a shipping entitlement. Normally you have to make a final shipment within 12 months of military retirement. Exceptions are ok in some circumstances, but the Kaiserslautern Office is not granting them to anyone remaining over here unless they are a government employee on orders. I, obviously, am not.

Point 2: The stuff, as I have aptly named it, is going to CA because George owns a house there. There is a large garage which will become storage for the foreseeable future. This will not create a problem because there is no car in the US. The Eldest and College Guy will be living in the house while pursing further education.

Point 3: Except for the occasional visit, I have no intentions of living there. And trust me, my adult offspring no more want to share a house with George & I than we want to share with them. It is one of the joys of being an adult – not living with your parents. The flip-side is that few parents want to perpetuate adolescence even one day beyond the biological minimum.

Point 4: George is still working in Switzerland. Our home will continue to be Heidelberg for several years. I have lots of traveling yet planned for the next couple of years and most involves Europe/Africa or arrivals/departures from same on ships.

So to sum up – stuff shipped. We aren’t moving. I would move to California and start paying state income tax because?????

Ok – on to the house. Today’s joy was to start on the kitchen and laundry. This was after I finished sorting out all the kids books and the left over boxes from the terrace. Several hours, a bit of screaming, and a late night snack later most of it was accomplished along with listening to a series of history lectures, dealing with audio files and knitting. Can’t forget the knitting.

Tomorrow I need to update Roll Calls for two cruises, finish the kitchen, see how many bags of trash can fit into the garage and drop off more books.

Next – the guess the  book count list
Alison 4444
Carmen 4567
Cat – TNTC (but less than her, so I guess she is taking all the really high numbers)
April – 6289
Isobel – 4882
Mary – 5777

I dropped off 130 this morning. So that is 278 gone and no visible dent in the pile of boxes. I think I will take another couple of pictures of the incredible non-shrinking box heap in the morning. Seeing is believing.

Posted in Books & Tapes, Home, packing out, Uncategorized | Leave a reply

Books

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-08-08 by Proseknitic2014-08-08

Ok, so the house is now almost as empty as when we moved in. The three flew out yesterday which means I am here, all by my lonesome. I could get really snarky and make nasty comments about moms being left with cleanup but I think you already know my feelings about that. Should I mention that I had also organized help for the next two days through one of the charitable organizations that I know in Rohrbach. The young man made the mistake of showing up to check on dates/times late Monday afternoon while I was taking a nap. The DH mentioned it to me more than a day later: I have no idea why he drew on his German ancestry to be haughty, prejudicial, and nasty. But he decided that the kid didn’t “look good” and sent him away which is likely going to mean that there is no way I will have any help. The kid should not have stopped by – I told him specifically NOT to come back before Friday but if anyone had bothered to ask me…..(off soap box. Do I look like someone with no brains or in needing of “male protection for my own good?”

That leaves me with thousands of books in boxes which need moving, shelves to be dismantled and an incredible amount of trash to be policed up and sorted on my lonesome. Not a happy bunny here…  First, the starting point

first batch of shelves headed to garage

first batch of shelves headed to garage

more empty space

more empty space

empty studio

empty studio

 

By partway through the day, I could see visible progress, both on the terrace and in the studio

 

about 1/3 of the way through moving the boxes

about 1/3 of the way through moving the boxes

 

 

I started  at 0800 this morning and did fine till I was down to the last 50 or so boxes of books when I found a number which still have to be sorted by separating out the German and English kids books since I have specific places to take those. I also managed to identify a number of cartons that will go to Kleber Library either end of this month or in Oct. The rest of the books are just going to have to be donated/swapshelved at the rate of 50-100 a day on those times when I have enough energy to get up before 0600 while parking is still available to accomplish the drop offs. There are two swap shelves, so it should take me only a year or two….

 

On my right side

On my right side

on my left

on my left

 

while I was at it, I put the dining room and living room back together and took a picture of the terrace

living room

living room

dining

dining

terrace with all book boxes gone

terrace with all book boxes gone

 

The next large task is to tackle all the window ledges followed by the rooms downstairs…..

 

 

Contest

It is been a long time since I did one of these. The payout will/be dinner for two or = value in yarn. I looked at all the boxes of books and realized I have no idea how many there really remain to find new homes. So my proposal is simple – make a guess before the end of Aug on how many books there are in all the boxes. I will post numbers as I distribute them as to how many each time. At the end, we all can add the numbers.

As a general rule, 95% are paperbacks. The Xerox boxes on the one side number 54 and have an average of 30 books per box if you want somewhere to start. The larger boxes in front them of which there are two have about 80 paperbacks each. I didn’t make a count for any other box, but they range from small publishers boxes which contained 4-6 paperbacks on inbound to wine boxes, beer cases and some pretty hefty filling boxes (just ask my aching shoulders).

I mentioned the boxes on the left.  The brown box piles  average of 49″/117cm tall in the front.  That portion of the piled boxes front is about 95″/228cm deep from the back wall. I have yet to haul in the five boxes needing to be sorted. Additionally, there are 73 English language kids books that have already been separated out.

No guesses below 4000 will be accepted…..

 

If you are a fellow cruise person – specialty restaurant or shore side. Non cruiser? Gift certificate

Posted in Books & Tapes, packing out, Uncategorized | 3 Replies

Bye Bye Truck

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-08-08 by Proseknitic2014-08-08

I was fairly awake this morning when Nicko, Mike & Cisco – aka the moving guys – arrived shortly after 0800. This was about an hour early than we had seen them on prior days.Their plan was simple – load five containers this morning. While the truck makes a round trip to the warehouse with a driver, the three will pack the remaining household goods. When the truck is back, they will finish with a load and go.

All of which sort of went over my head since I was still recovering from seeing the rest of the family off at 063o this morning. Made sense, given three people and full luggage to just drive up. Rest of the plan is for me to take the train to Fraport and pick up the car when the movers are finished.

The packing list for today isn’t all that long – clothing/linen. Three locations – College Guy’s stuff, our bedroom and the trunk in the back hall.  Take apart the beds and furniture that are going and pack/wrap them.  Prep a few (more than three) spinning wheels for transport.

Let me just detour for the photos here…

living room with books gone and couch yet to be done

living room with books gone and couch yet to be done

corner couch being packed

corner couch being packed

backhall empty

backhall empty

ze couch in the container.

ze couch in the container.

half of the garage completely empty

half of the garage completely empty

 

The guys were completely done by 1800 and I was on my way to the Bahnhof. My attempt to buy a ticket and depart from Suedstadt/Weststadt was foiled by bright sun and an unreadable electronic delay never mind that the system was convinced that I wanted the rail/bus combination through Darmstadt (answer – not in this lifetime). Did I mention that there is rail maintenance work being done of the line between Mannheim and Frankfurt? I thought not but the end result was a 20-30 minute delay in all the main trains. It was after 1900 before my 1846 train to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof actually arrived which then left me with a train to SBahn change.

 

2030, at the airport – the car wasn’t hard to find. The Eldest had done this:

the space number

the space number

the section, row and level number

the section, row and level number

and I was home, exhausted around 2200. Why go through this? Gas up – a few liters, parking 25E, train 18E, gas back. shuttle doesn’t go early enough would have cost ~20E/pp and the train the same. In either case luggage can be a real pain. They had a fine time….

if you note the large amount of space due to trading miles for upgrades

if you note the large amount of space due to trading miles for upgrades

And the end result on the shipment?

Total weight? 17457.  My limit is 18000, but the previous number includes ~500# of professional books so I actually could have packed & shipped more!

Posted in packing out, Uncategorized | 2 Replies

and the next step

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-08-06 by Proseknitic2014-08-06

There were three packers today – the two from yesterday plus one more. Their plan today was to pack – just pack and they split up the load accordingly

Lets take for example the back hall. This is where we were at the end of yesterday.

yesterday with most of the media still to be packed

yesterday with most of the media still to be packed

and here is where we were at the end of today with everything prepacked and clothes positioned for the morning.

looking toward the rest of the house

looking toward the rest of the house

the back hall, looking toward the kitched

the back hall, looking toward the kitched

then there is the living room where the only thing left to do is take apart one couch and wrap two chairs.

the living room

the living room

The dinging room is now packed completely

the dining room

the dining room

and both the downstairs hall and the bedroom being used as a consolidation location is packed

 

the downstairs hall

the downstairs hall

the plan for the morning is that once again, our three musketeers will arrive, load up five containers and one will head with his load for Wiesbaden while the other two remain and disassemble furniture and pack the small amount of clothing that is going into the shipment. By the time the truck has made a round trip, the rest should be ready to load.

Meanwhile, George, the Eldest and College Guy area headed to the airport in the car. After looking at all of the options considering that there are three of them with “relocating luggage” at least on the part of one, it turned to out be easiest just to have them drive and I will take the train to pick up the car when through here for the day…..

I am looking forward to a nice, relaxing train ride.

 

Posted in packing out, Uncategorized | Leave a reply

Loading – Day 1

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-08-05 by Proseknitic2014-08-05
the truck

the truck

Imagine my surprise when the two man crew showed up with their van. Not a small one this time, but a larger one loaded with five containers. Four of these were empty and the fifth was loaded with packing materials. The usual drill on these moves (trust me I have completed more than an handful) is pack for multiple days, then load and go. Not this time apparently. They felt that it might be nice to have some room to move around. That and our road prevents really huge trucks. Add in the fact that their staging warehouse is Wiesbaden more than an hour away and you start to see the challenge.

End result is that for the first couple of hours, they loaded containers from the garage. One contain completely full of plastic bins and boxes – almost all of which were generically labeled wool on the inventory. The outside of this container was marked as Studio/Garage unlike the next two which were simply labeled house and hold furniture. That is 3/5. Then there are the endless inventory lists – as each and every item gets its own numbered sticker and entry on the list.

my rubbermaid tubs

my rubbermaid tubs

mostly furniture

mostly furniture

furniture

furniture

The next couple of hours – the guys loaded out from what was already packed before tackling more bookcases after lunch.

studio

studio

and so – here we are at the end of moving day 2.

empt book cases

empt book cases

more empty bookcases

more empty bookcases

empty living room bookcase/schrank

empty living room bookcase/schrank

Tomorrow – they claim it is only going to be packing with three guys to load on Thurs….

 

Posted in packing out, Uncategorized | Leave a reply

Prepostioning

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-08-04 by Proseknitic2014-08-04
the studio

the studio

It isn’t like we haven’t moved before, multiple times in fact. So it shouldn’t surprise you at all to find out that I have a few opinions on how I like things organized (a few? eyes rolling from various family members). So it occurred to me that it would be best to have things organized into groups and those groups needing to stay together in common locations. I have already mentioned at least some of this organizational frenzy, I am sure of it.

As you noticed – College Guy moved most of the studio/craft materials that were already in bins down to the garage. I had moved all my professional books to one location. This left multiple opportunities to go for more of the same.

small stuff

small stuff

So we moved (the Eldest and I) all the kitchen stuff into the dining room (which first required George and I to unearth the table) to join dishes and other dining essentials.

kitchen stuff

kitchen stuff

We emptied the remaining items from the office shelves to the living room, along with all the collectables that were hiding in various cupboards (with hedgehogs getting tucked in where ever there was room). Added additional photos found to the photo bins.

opps - lots of mugs and headgehogs

opps – lots of mugs and headgehogs

multiple  years of photos.

multiple years of photos.

Which just left the upstairs issue of media. Solved that one by hauling it all out of the living room and into the back hall.

all the media on shelf

all the media on shelf

looking forward to the morning.

Not.

 

Posted in packing out, Uncategorized | Leave a reply

What is up with all the rain?

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-08-03 by Proseknitic2014-08-03

This is not Hawaii where the temperatures are always the same and it rains every morning between 0200-0400.  This is Germany. It is not supposed to have consistent weather. And it is most certainly not supposed to rain each and every evening complete with frequent enough thunderstorms to interfere with my life. There is enough going on in my life, thank you very much.  I keep thinking that after a day of attempting to deal with house and packing preparations it shouldn’t be too much to ask, a few hours of quiet and nice weather.

I could sit on the terrace after supper and just relax. Ok, with headphones on to drown out George’s high volume NPR from his iPad but still I might just like to sit for a few minutes. Or take a nice walk down the street without having to be drenched, carry an umbrella or have the light coating of dust accumulated from the day turn from light zombie grey as I stagger from sidewalk to shelter to slimy mud. Better to be thought the walking dead than lack of hygiene, never mind that one gets completely filthy when clearing out cupboards from which I am unearthing treasures not seen for years.

A dragon might well be happy here: I have this glass/crystal ship from Kuwait (tucked away in 2004); there are multiple DvDs of TV series from Battlestar Gallactica through Xena, Wonderwoman, MASH and CSI; there are CDs with and without cases; there are records – as in Vinyl dating from the 1960s and 70s. It is our horde of media and I haven’t even told you about the cupboard of movies.

The young man who spent the afternoon on Friday attempting to pack out the back hall and succeeded in boxing audio books and five shelves worth of books is going to find them completely filled again. The downside is him feeling like he has lost ground. The upside is that he isn’t going to have to empty cupboards, balance on ladders to avoid falling into the flatscreen which is strategically placed to block all access to the living storage which just might explain the lack of cleaning. But it is progress.

vinyl, movies, tv series.... on what was empty shelves

vinyl, movies, tv series…. on what was empty shelves

 

In the morning we “simply” need to clear off the dining room table and preposition any/all of the kitchen contents that might be getting packed as well as rounding up the rest of the shelf critters and a thousand and one hedgehogs. I am hoping it takes less than all day.

<h4>Joris = Tabaluga</h4>

I will let you judge for yourself. There is this critter/dragon that I thought might be kind of fun/cute to knit after seeing him at Schoppel. His Dutch Designer has the pattern available in Dutch and English through Ravelry. Apparently if you want him in German, you have to buy the Schoppel Knitting Magazine (which turns out to be cheaper than buying the pattern direct and includes a number of lovely other ideas). Tabaluga is a character designed by Peter Maffay who debuted in 1983. I know we still have a couple of the albums that we got when the Eldest was little.

Head and body down to the arms

Head and body down to the arms

This afternoon when I started, then finished his head I was struck with the similarities. I’m planning on finishing the body tonight, just leaving arms and legs for tomorrow as my reward knitting for being prepared for Tues.

almost finished with the body

almost finished with the body

Posted in Books & Tapes, Knitting, packing out, Uncategorized | 2 Replies

Cat & Elephant run from the Packers

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-08-01 by Proseknitic2014-08-01
Cat & Elephant

Cat & Elephant

 

And here it is – the first day of packing. The pre-inspection guy took lots of pictures, made an estimate of what was to be packed and agreed to have two packers start today with the specific purpose of packing all the books.   Of course, when the two showed up this morning from Wiesbaden, they had been told almost nothing. Certainly they had no idea that they would be packing out a household that was going to be close to the weight limit with more than 1/2 of it books.  Not being any dummies – they called for more boxes and started on the studio.

looks different?

looks different?

Besides the studio, they also finished the side hall.  To make things better, I took apart the pegged bookcases since they were about ready to collapse anyway.

just the books, man

just the books, man

After lunch, George’s office and the back hall (main bookcases) were on the agenda for the afternoon.  And that was the point at which we started moving around the critters living on the office shelves.

hedgehogs, fund blocks, ships blocks and mugs

hedgehogs, fund blocks, ships blocks and mugs

You see, we have things, stuffies, critters living on the various bookshelves. Perhaps they are there to guard the contents, landed there for lack of a better place or sought it out themselves to play hide and seek.

mostly Sigikin

mostly Sigikin

Some of them are new – such as these various ships’s blocks.

Independence, Mariner, Radiance

Independence, Mariner, Radiance

Some have been around for a fair number of years – like this mug that the Eldest and George bought for me when we lived in St Paul.

Elf Mug

Elf Mug

There are hedgehogs

critters no longer able to hide behind books

critters no longer able to hide behind books

& and beer steins both from Oktoberfest and some that just might have come from one or another of George’s long since died relatives.  But then I came to Cat & Elephant. They were hiding among the hedgehogs and Rosenthal mugs to avoid being packed up with the books.

After inquiring to all four offspring – Ms Marathoner acknowledged that she was probably responsible for Cat but couldn’t see that it would be safe living with a golden retriever. Maus declared it wasn’t her. College Guy said he was responsible for a handmade mug out on the terrace but he didn’t remember Elephant. The Eldest said it was College Guy and the other two agreed.

Meanwhile – the characters awarded themselves a trophy along with the right to a California move.

probably from about the same era

probably from about the same era

Posted in Books & Tapes, family, Military, packing out, Uncategorized | 2 Replies

Comparison

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-07-31 by Proseknitic2014-07-31

This is going to be short – and mostly pictures from the end of today vs what I might have started from or perhaps the all time low of in the middle of the whole mess.

And yes, the packers should arrive to start the process in the morning. I have no idea if I will still be sane tomorrow evening!

But first – a small hat –
Solid color sock yarn on size 2.25mm needles. 108 Stitches. Smallest size. The original pattern is “berry” so this became Snowberry. Pictured on a doll before being sent off to the newborn it was made for.

smallest size

smallest size

Snowberry, pattern from Drops

Snowberry, pattern from Drops

But what you really need to see is the following:

First – George’s Office –

as it is

as it was

as it is

as it is

The downstairs hall –

partway through before

partway through before

after

after

The back hall –

several days ago

several days ago

today

today

also today

also today

The Studio

Studio last week

Studio last week

studio now

studio now

Then I had to find all my professional books (they don’t count in the weight allowance)

hall

hall

professional books consolidated

professional books consolidated

and while we were at it, rather than take a risk of packers dropping photos – I took a few extra plastic bins….

photos

photos

I’m not bothering at this point with showing you the dining room or living room. Those shelves are sorted, but I will do the “empty shelves and piles of boxes tomorrow….”

Posted in Knitting, packing out, Uncategorized | 6 Replies

Less than 48 hours

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-07-30 by Proseknitic2014-07-30

Till the packers come and I am much more interested in playing the occasional computer game, reading a book or making sure that I have a high quality copy of my audible purchases on a backup drive.

There are those times when the brain just gets a bit overwhelmed and I don’t want to even look at any of my dozens of free floating lists or the anxiety will just scale up sooner. Of course there are always those other errands to run which get in the way of doing what I want.

What do I want anyway? Oh yes, for it to be the 11th of August and have this whole mess behind me. Meanwhile, I walked another loop of the house making sure that the appropriate cupboards are all emptied, that a few more containers are packed and stacked, that another few bags of “stuff”are leaving for the charity shop.

I even restrained myself. No holler, yelling or screaming today. Just mostly begging. That seems to work. Flattery – that works even better…..

Posted in packing out, Travel, Uncategorized | 2 Replies

More coins – still no fountain

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-07-29 by Proseknitic2014-07-29

Where is the ability to make a wish when you need it? I have a variety of coins to contribute to the cause, but no flashing, falling, shiny water in which to pitch my bounty.

Not a marble gargoyle spitting, a stone maiden pouring or even a carved young boy peeing into a basin any where near here. Other sources of water, yes but I can’t see turning on the outside faucet and tossing coins at it only to have them all land back in m face. Dealing with any like situation in the house is what led to the washing machine catching repeatedly in the middle of a cycle and refusing to rinse clothes for the Eldest.

Coins, as we found, are not welcome in washing machine innards.

So I will just have to stare at my multiple pots of coins and make a wish – that perhaps they were all in a currently negotiable coinage?

Posted in packing out, Uncategorized | 4 Replies

Found objects

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-07-28 by Proseknitic2014-07-28

It is totally and completely amazing how many treasures appear when one is organizing and cleaning. Now we will completely ignore the yarn, fiber, patterns and fabric treasures. We all know about those hidden jewels, most of which are not all that hidden but easily forgotten: yarn bought by the bag at Ally-Pally because it was such a good deal with no project in mind; the rest of the bolt because it cost the same as 4 meters, those bright pretty braids of hand dyed wool seen hanging at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. All of which tells you how long some of those treasures have been hiding in bags, bins or cabinets.

But some found objects bring back good or interesting memories –

the long missing US pay-as-you-go stateside phone

the long missing US pay-as-you-go stateside phone

For example, there was this phone I purchased in Reno while at Renovation in 2011 which disappeared into the house sometime last fall. So there I was in the US this past Jan without a stateside phone. It turned up in the “important basket” on the dining room ledge. Now I remember putting it there, in a place where I could easily find it.

Then there are the various knitted objects – socks which saw a lot of use and a couple of hats which I think may still be pristine!

There is a princess dress still to be hemmed

costume for one of the girls? some time in the 90s?

costume for one of the girls? some time in the 90s?

A mitten (one of four) which I remember being on small hands that first winter we lived on Schlossberg and the kids went sledding down the cobble stones directly in front of the house.

hand puppet/mitten also mid 90s

hand puppet/mitten also mid 90s

And then there are the treasures which I brought back from various deployments, including handknits from BosFam (Bosnian Family Coop) of which Alison is going to have her pick this coming Decemeber

socks bought at BosFam ~1998

socks bought at BosFam ~1998

Posted in Knitting, packing out, Uncategorized | 7 Replies

More Coins –

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-07-23 by Proseknitic2014-07-23

no fountain.

Every time I turn around, the coins seem to be proliferating. Laundry room, living room, floors and hiding in corners of rooms.

My challenge of course is going to be sorting them out – then remembering to take those which are spendable with me….

Posted in packing out, Uncategorized | Leave a reply

ninety-nine boxes of books in the attic

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-07-17 by Proseknitic2014-07-17
deceptive

taking a deep breath and pulling down the door

99 boxes of books
take one down and
sort it all out
98 boxes of books in the attic

its like that the whole way back

boxes and boxes of books

98 boxes of books in the attic
98 boxes of books
take one down
and sort it around
97 boxes of books in the attic

and feels more like progress

staging the boxes

97 boxes of books on the terrance
97 boxes of books
take one out
and take it downtown
96 boxes of books on the terrace

boxes of books looking for new homes

boxes of books looking for new homes

Posted in Books & Tapes, packing out, Uncategorized | Leave a reply

What to do

Holly Doyne Posted on 2014-07-07 by Proseknitic2014-07-07

with all the books? You saw the first piles yesterday.

Several solutions are possible

1)

the swap shelf in Neuegasse, Heidelberg

the swap shelf in Neuegasse, Heidelberg

2)

organize on shelves and have the packers set them for bringing along

organize on shelves and have the packers set them for bringing along

3)

tuck into the shelves in the studio

tuck into the shelves in the studio

4)

pile up in boxes to deal with later

pile up in boxes to deal with later

5) put in the car and take to Landstuhl Library and Kleber Library
(you don’t need a photo for this!

Posted in Books & Tapes, packing out, Uncategorized | Leave a reply
June 2022
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« May    

Recent Posts

  • and adding an Eagle
  • Mostly stitching
  • negative, negative, negative
  • Local Testing
  • Superspreader events

Archives

All Pages

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Projects
    • Cross Stitch
      • Klimt
      • Stitchy Witchy
      • Tempting Tangles –
      • Ink Circles
      • MagicalQuilts SALs
      • Heartstrings Sampler
      • HAED
        • Farewell to Anger
        • Dragnlings
          • The Case of the Empty Cookie Jar
      • WIP
      • Fractals –
        • Flower Spray
        • Fractal Clock
      • Star of David
      • Lou
      • Dance at Bougival
    • Machine Embroidery
      • Flour Sack Towels
      • Quilts
      • Shirts and other garments
  • TFME
    • A Preface
    • Chapter 1 – The Road to Bosnia
    • Chapter 2 – Arrival at Blue Factory
    • Chapter 3 – Settling In
    • Chapter 4 – May
    • A – Task Force Med Eagle
  • Family
    • Knit & Spin
      • Finished Projects 2007
      • UFO’s 2007
      • Finished Socks 2008
      • Finished Socks – 2007
      • Finished Socks – 2006
      • Prior to 2006 – Socks
      • Orphans and Odd-Balls
      • The 1995 Sock Yarn Review
    • VierMaus
    • Gallery
    • Knit & Spin
      • Finished Projects 2007
      • UFO’s 2007
      • Finished Socks 2008
      • Finished Socks – 2007
      • Finished Socks – 2006
      • Prior to 2006 – Socks
      • Orphans and Odd-Balls
      • The 1995 Sock Yarn Review
    • Gallerie 2
    • Purim 2006
    • Gallerie 2
    • Purim 2006
  • & Images
    • 11 The Terrace
    • Doors
    • 50 Ways
  • & Images
    • 11 The Terrace
    • Doors
    • 50 Ways
  • Kuwait Diary
    • Diary Entries
      • A – 25 May 03 – The Youngest Yet
      • C – 11 Dec 03 – BOB and Friends
      • B – 05 Sept 03 – Marines to the Rescue
      • D – 04 March 04 – Tempest in a Teapot
    • Background
    • FAQ
    • Gallery
  • Kuwait Diary
    • Diary Entries
      • A – 25 May 03 – The Youngest Yet
      • C – 11 Dec 03 – BOB and Friends
      • B – 05 Sept 03 – Marines to the Rescue
      • D – 04 March 04 – Tempest in a Teapot
  • Cross Stitch
  • Shirts and other garments
  • Heartstrings Sampler

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
©2022 - Holly Doyne - Weaver Xtreme Theme
↑