2018: Tackling my spring to-do list, a happy heart and very sore feet!

May 14 2018
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Back in early March I wrote a post called Operation: BLISSFULLY HAPPY that detailed my plans over the next 1, 2 and 10 years. I’ve also been updating and tackling my to-do list for my entire home as I go here with the weather causing changes and adjustments. When spring FINALLY arrived I hit the ground running and put myself to work starting with my wood shed!

Tackling my 2018 spring and summer to-do list, cleaning out the wood shed, apreparing it for hay and making a pile of trash to take to the dump. Cleansing my life with fire, purging myself from a horrible and toxic relationship by burning what he left behind.

This shed started off as my grandpa’s machine shed where he kept his tractors etc. It remained his machine shed for DECADES. From there it was taken over by my folks’ golf course and housed mowers for years upon years. From there it became my wood shed as I used to heat entirely with wood.

So, as you can imagine (after nearly 80 years!) this old shed desperately needed to be cleaned out!

My grandpa kept everything he owned neat, tidy and safe, but he also KEPT everything. My father, on the other hand, was organizationally challenged to the point of it almost being hard to believe. My ex was somewhere between them but I’m convinced that he felt that throwing actual trash away was simply beneath him.

Tackling my 2018 spring and summer to-do list, cleaning out the wood shed, preparing it for hay and making a pile of trash to take to the dump. Cleansing my life with fire, purging myself from a horrible and toxic relationship by burning what he left behind.

SO, here I am, finally tackling a project that has been bothering me for at least ten years, even long before I owned this place. Now that I’m single I can finally sell, throw away, give away, burn and purge without another human being’s laziness keeping me from it.

(And now that I can finally DO these things that I’ve wanted to do for so long I’m gonna have to learn to pace myself lol!!)

My mom has felt the exact same way about this shed for many years so, not an hour after I dove in, she was right there beside me. Honestly, half of the stuff on those back shelves I didn’t even KNOW WHAT IT WAS.

Ancient tools, parts, pieces off of hydraulics from golf course mowers, a lifetime supply of used air filters, endless, ancient, gas cans and oil cans filled with god-knows-what.

And, in the mix of all of this, was trash from both my ex and from my dad and four empty skoll cans that MIGHT have been antiques! Fortunately, I have some friends that have a MAJOR affinity for old tools and machine parts so nothing went to waste (or to the dump) that was not actually trash.

(I should have taken pics of their old trucks here in the yard, it was like we all warped back to the 70s lol but considering that I am Grandma’s House DIY I guess this being my crowd really shouldn’t surprise me at all!)

They stared with their own WTH looks at the total randomness of what I had going on. At one point, all three of them, standing there with stuff in their hands, were asking me, “Where did this come from!?” Boys, I got no clue!

Tackling my 2018 spring and summer to-do list, cleaning out the wood shed, preparing it for hay and making a pile of trash to take to the dump. Cleansing my life with fire, purging myself from a horrible and toxic relationship by burning what he left behind.Tackling my 2018 spring and summer to-do list, cleaning out the wood shed, preparing it for hay and making a pile of trash to take to the dump. Cleansing my life with fire, purging myself from a horrible and toxic relationship by burning what he left behind.

The biggest job was not the trash or the endless-whatever-stuff actually, it was the two feet of wood chips that covered nearly half of the shed and the literally three hours of shoveling because I just NEEDED it all cleaned out.

FOR REAL: The ground floor of this shed hasn’t been seen in years!

I wanted it down to the dirt for one very important reason that I have mentioned several times on the blog here. This wood shed is my horse’s future hay and grain shed so I wanted anything that was otherwise TOTALLY GONE.

I was going to be moving my wood to my garage (that was the old plan) but this endless winter meant I had no wood to move and also, I’m so totally DONE with wood.

And by DONE I mean – I’ve already sold the wood splitter you see in my photos here. Am I throwing a tantrum? YES I AM! And I am really looking forward to installing another form of heat for my home later this fall and never again compromising on something when my gut told me it was a bad idea. NEVER AGAIN!

(What I really need is just a margarita on a beach somewhere!)

Moving on to the final reveal: A spectacular, empty shed that is so clean I have literally walked down here every day since I got this done to just stand in it. It makes my heart SO glad!

Tackling my 2018 spring and summer to-do list, cleaning out the wood shed, preparing it for hay and making a pile of trash to take to the dump. Cleansing my life with fire, purging myself from a horrible and toxic relationship by burning what he left behind.Tackling my 2018 spring and summer to-do list, cleaning out the wood shed, preparing it for hay and making a pile of trash to take to the dump. Cleansing my life with fire, purging myself from a horrible and toxic relationship by burning what he left behind.

The big shelves in the back I’ll be disassembling and reusing, the little old bead board cupboard sadly did not survive being moved. The pile of stone and lawn mower have both been sold along with the wood splitter which means I am a breath away from having my “new” car paid off which means I am MONTHS ahead of my I-hate-bills-and-playing-interest-timeline.

And now we’re moving on to my sad truth: I SHOULD sell my Corolla because I am an actual adult and I do not need her ๐Ÿ™ Seriously, this is terrible. I love my first car, my favorittessst car EVER. My Corolla! My obsessive ridiculous absolute MUST-get-rid-of-things-I-do-not-need actually may break my own damn heart!

I HATE things that I have to dust or feed or move or that make my life harder or that I must take care of or pay for and that never helps me in my life in any way shape or form… well now I know suddenly exactly why I kicked my ex out.

What I could ACTUALLY really use on my little farm is a 4 wheeler. That would ACTUALLY be a thoughtful adult purchase that my Corolla could help finance…

Adulting is hard.

But it is also kinda wonderful because I am sore in the best way and my heart is glad as only working outside to improve your own home can do. I have a blister, bruises upon bruises and VERY tired feet but I can’t wait to move my horses down here!

They’re gonna run around and buck and fart and trip because, despite what people would have you believe, they are actually totally lovable morons. Horses have like NO depth perception so their antics in new areas is so comical I’m gonna pull up a camping chair and open a beer for the show.

Since the big shed clean out I’ve hauled four loads to the dump and also totally cleaned out my garage of all the trash my ex left behind there too. A couple of hours of organization and it felt like I had a brand new garage – I totally twirled and danced because there was suddenly SO MUCH SPACE!

Guys and gals, I am almost completely rid of every last bit of crap my ex left behind and have already moved on to fixing the projects he either completed incorrectly or never completed at all. I was told that realistically it would be YEARS before I got to this point.

Bahahahaha!

Have we discussed how stubborn and busy I am yet? Cause yeah I’m totally getting all this stuff done if it kills me cause I honestly just CAN’T WAIT!!

Tackling my 2018 spring and summer to-do list, cleaning out the wood shed, preparing it for hay and making a pile of trash to take to the dump. Cleansing my life with fire, purging myself from a horrible and toxic relationship by burning what he left behind.

Comments

  1. May 14, 2018 at 5:31 pm

    Good on YOU Tarah. You did the work. It is YOUR home. YOU are the one making it work for YOU.
    Joy

    • May 14, 2018 at 6:30 pm

      Thank you Joy, it feels SO good! I am so relieved to be able to just be me again with my own home!

  2. LLDS
    May 14, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    LMAO…..”knew suddenly exactly why I kicked my ex out”. Oh, Girl…. Sometimes you just don’t realize what you been putting up with til you don’t have to, right?

  3. May 15, 2018 at 12:54 pm

    That is great that you are getting rid of all the trash figuratively and literally! Nothing more soothing than lots of space!!

  4. May 16, 2018 at 7:38 am

    Great work! And we’ve burned wood here for almost 25 years, so I know how much work it is. I would miss the quick, dry heat in winter, but I would NOT miss the dust and the mess and the huge amount of work!

    • May 16, 2018 at 9:28 am

      Thanks Michele, yeah it was a tough winter for me doing it alone. I think if we had had a more normal winter I wouldn’t be quite so crabby about it lol but that darned winter just wouldn’t end!

  5. May 16, 2018 at 10:09 am

    Oooohh, doesn’t that just feel grand!?! So happy for you.

    • May 16, 2018 at 10:10 am

      Thank you! And, YES, it felt so wonderful and such a relief!

  6. May 17, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    Wow you go girl. Taking out the trash is freeing. Found you on Blogger’s Pit Stop.

  7. May 18, 2018 at 7:38 am

    Congratulations on finally being able to tackle your projects just the way you want.
    Thank you for joining The Really Crafty Link Party this week too!

  8. May 18, 2018 at 9:19 am

    Congratulations on tackling a big job and getting it done! Woo Hoo

  9. May 18, 2018 at 1:23 pm

    Tarah, You have been busy lol. I can relate to your wood situation when I divorced the ex I moved back home from Texas to Colorado I rented a house with just a wood stove for heat my daughters were 3 and 5 and I didn’t get home from work till way after dark then had to come in get a fire going and the house warmed up. I was lucky we have a sawmill and a coal mine nearby so I would borrow my Dads truck and go get coal and small slabs for firewood. That was defiantly a learning winter lol. I am remarried now and we have a wood stove now I have help with the wood. Or I should say he has a little help with the wood haha
    I haven’t stopped by in a couple months ( things have been really crazy here) so I just realized you went through a divorce, I am so sorry although I know just how wonderful it feels to be free of the worries and the abuse ( whether it is mental or physical). Life just gets better now. Thanks for stopping by bloggers pit stop.

    • May 18, 2018 at 3:21 pm

      Yeah I think if I didn’t have to do it alone again I would consider continuing to heat with wood but, regardless, I am definitely getting rid of my ancient wood stove as it only gives me radiant heat. Currently I am looking into replacing it with a pellet stove which I like the idea of, but I will have some serious backup by next winter – probably electric baseboard heaters for just in case.
      Yes, I did get a divorce and I am very glad its over lol. It does feel absolutely wonderful to finally be free and to finally be able to really finish and fix my home!

      Thanks for coming by, have a great weekend!

  10. May 21, 2018 at 9:45 pm

    Oh my goodness, Tarah! You did an amazing job! I can’t imagine taking that task on, but you have absolutely rocked it! I’m so happy for you. Thank you for sharing and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Community!

    • May 22, 2018 at 8:50 am

      Thank you so much April!! And thank goodness spring/summer has FINALLY arrived!

  11. May 22, 2018 at 4:41 am

    There is a lot of interest in your massive shed clean out, we are going to feature it on the next Blogger’s Pit Stop. A job well done.
    Kathleen
    Blogger’s Pit Stop

  12. May 27, 2018 at 7:42 pm

    Hi Tarah: If you are considering electrical heating, you might want to think about off-peak heaters. The co-op sells the electricity at a reduced price because there is less demand for it at night, then you store it in bricks within the unit and use it as needed. An extra advantage is if the electricity goes out you still have a good supply of heat. I’ve had the electricity fail for five days and my home was still amply heated.

    • May 29, 2018 at 10:54 am

      Oh wow Tom, now that is definitely something I will keep in mind! Thank you!

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