The winds continued to blow all night; though they died down by morning, that was purely relative, as they were still quite high!

Our deer feed and bird seed had been covered, but by morning, the snow was dug up in each of the spots I’d put them in, and there was very little left.  So we know that we do have deer coming in during the night to feed.

I’ve very glad to here from my husband that the mama and her twins were back this morning, though from the looks of the ground, it was already dug up before they got there.

Even before we had a chance to put more food out, Barbecue came by, soon followed by Hungry Girl, though she stayed away from the feed.  They ran off before my daughter went over with more food, and I never saw if they came back during the day or not.

The birds and squirrels were sure busy, though!

The camera still seems to be working fine again, though I’ve cut down the number of photos I take quite dramatically, so no photos of the chipping sparrows, grosbeaks and chickadees today.

I was busy, anyway.

Since we weren’t going to do the trip to the city we normally would when pay comes in, I focused on more unpacking.  Or partial unpacking, as it were.  There were a couple of small book boxes that had been partially unpacked and waiting in the living room, so I cleared out some shelf space in one of the dividers between living and dining room.  That included finally unpacking a curio shelf I have and getting my daughters to hang it on the wall in my crochet corner.  Much of what I had to move still isn’t in their permanent places, but their permanent places aren’t ready yet.

Almost all the books fit into the one shelf I was able to clear, though some had to go into the wall shelf in the master bedroom.  That space is beginning to turn into a catchall space, and I don’t like it.  Not much choice right now, though.

A bit of re-arranging in the bedroom meant I was able to unpack my cookbooks, too.  Again, they are not in their permanent space, but at least they’re out and accessible.

Then there were the big boxes sitting on the piano.

Ugh.

One, I went through and ended up breaking down a lot of packaging from camera and lens purchases for the burn barrel.  We’d kept the original packaging and receipts in storage for years, and there were even accessories in there.  I found the original packaging for one of my husband’s first smart phones, too!  The Treo.  Oh, how phones have changed over the years!  The other box was one the movers packed.  A very strange combination of things from various rooms, inefficiently packed.  There was even a folding step stool in there, turned upside down and used like a basket, rather than folded closed.  Again, it looks like they just tossed things into the box.

And we’re still missing things.  In fact, I just realized we’re missing both our irons.  I didn’t even think of it until I was looking at our ironing board, leaning against the wall by the piano, wondering where I can put it.  That’s when I realized I haven’t seen our irons in any of the boxes.  We pretty much never iron anymore, so they weren’t something we’d miss right away.

A strange thing to go missing.

Now that the movers have paid up for our broken stuff, I no longer need to hang onto them, so that box got cleared off the piano, too.  The only thing in that box we can try to salvage is the latch hook wall hanging made by my late mother in law.  We’ll have to replace the broken wood hanger.  We should be able to remove it without damaging the mesh.  The rest of the broken stuff in the box is garbage now.

But the top of the piano is clear now, so we can hang up that antique mirror of my mother’s, above it, and eventually put some stuff on display on the piano itself.  Like the creepy, creepy baby doll wearing one of my baby dresses that my mom gave me, and has somehow managed to creep its way into our hearts.

The stuff of nightmares, that thing is.  I love it! :-D

The cats, meanwhile, are very happy to be able to go on the top of the piano again.

Altogether, I finished unpacking 5 more boxes today.  A very good day! As of right now, the only things left to unpack are all in my office.

My tiny little office.

I’ll figure something out… :-D

Granted, I still need to deal with our 90 gallon aquarium, which I’ve left wrapped in the foam pieces I’d taped around it to protect it.  The plan had been to set it up at an angle in the corner, then focus on aquascaping, once filled.  My aquatic plants are doing very well in the 20 gallon tank they’re in now, but when I set up the big tank, I also want to get plants that grow a lot taller for the background, and dwarf grasses for the foreground.  I will need to find someplace to get replacement parts and hoses for my brand of filter first, though, and I’ll also need to check and make sure the additional weight once it’s filled won’t be a problem.  If it were just the piano or just the aquarium, I’d be less concerned, but both in the same general area of the living room? I’d rather play it safe!

Little by little, it’s getting done!

The Re-Farmer