spring cleaning

We climbed into the attic the other day. Danny and Cate were thrilled to do it. I was freaking out. The ladder is old. The attic is old. It's dusty and dark. I didn't want anyone to fall off the ladder or heaven forbid, through the attic floor (not like that was actually going to happen but it might).

We made it up and down just fine. This barn made it down with us. My dad made it back in the day. We hosed it off and let it dry in the sun.



There were a few plastic horses inside. Also some army guys.



We found these canisters of square American logs. Now we can build houses like the pioneers.



This old lamp was up there too. We suspect that either my dad or his dad made it. Seems like that's pretty much the truth about everything around here.





The next day we climbed back up (a Valium or two would have been nice but I didn't have any on hand) and retrieved this end table. I stuck a hose through the opening and lowered it down to Grama Bama.

The kids sprayed it off and then wiped it dry.



We have proof that my dad actually built it.



Notice that Cate is wearing the same skirt from the day before. I can't blame her. If I had a pink sparkly skirt I might wear it two days in a row too.



We headed into the back yard that afternoon for a little more treasure hunting.

{For those of you who don't know, I live in my Grandma's house. She lives in heaven now though. I've been sorting and resorting through tubs and boxes of her stuff for many years. Grama Bama wanted to have a peek at some things so that's what we did.}

Here she is reading the diary of my great grandma Mary. That's my dad's grandma.



I found a stack of Grandma's hankies. They've probably been in that plastic tub for over 10 years and you know what? They still smell like her. Her lotion or her perfume or her soap. I don't know what exactly it is but it definitely is her. It was lovely and sad at the same time. I zipped them into a baggie so that hopefully they'll still smell like her in another 10 years.




This isn't anything from the attic or the plastic storage tub. It's a wind chime that my mom's friend made for her. She used Grandma's old jewelry. The chime sound is from old knives and spoons clanging together. Isn't that a cute idea? This charm probably belonged to my grandpa.



I found some books I wrote as a youngster. I'm a published author. I bet you didn't know that.



We found Grandma's old phone and I tried to teach Cate how we used to make phone calls back in the olden days. This is the phone Grandma had when I moved to her house right before I started college. We had to buy her a new phone because back then you could register for classes on a touch tone phone and she didn't have one. I went to college before people registered for classes on the computer. I feel very old sometimes.



And I saved the best for last. I found these pictures of my studly stud muffin. Isn't he dreamy? Look at that smile! See why I fell in love with him?

Too bad it's supposed to rain the next few days. Spring cleaning outside is way more fun than inside.

**A little update: My father has informed me that the barn was made by his father, for him to play with when he was a boy.