Major Cleanup is Over

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Daughter Lise stayed with me for two months after John died. She worked from home starting at 5 in the morning (11 am in Denmark) and then spent hours every day organizing our junk. Neighbor Bob took a truckload of trash to the dump, and Sarah and Nathaniel posed with the almost finished garage days later.

As a reward, Lise, David, and I went out to eat several times.

Sarah and grandson Nathaniel came for several hours when in this area of the state. Nate went through things Lise had put aside for him to see.

Sarah, Nathaniel, and Lise

We were happy he wanted a ship model that John had been given from one of the companies he worked for.

I’m blessed in having relatives who will pose willingly when we get together.

We record events of a visit, too. A headlight was out on Sarah’s car. When Lise pointed it out, they knew what tools to use and how to coax it to shine again. I liked the victory pose.

Of course, we all miss John and talked about him a lot. He would have joined in the laughter and teasing if he had been here.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

46 thoughts on “Major Cleanup is Over”

    1. I hope John would be pleased that I am now wearing his collection of T-shirts. He wore a few to the train club, but I’ve taken over the vintage ones. I don’t know of anyone else who would want any of them.

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  8. You look really great in the picture. Happy to hear you’ve had some company. Cleaning and sorting can be a lot of work sometimes. Your garage picture looks nice. Hope you’re doing ok. 🙂

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  9. Iam so glad has been Lise stay with you two month and help clean your house, garage. Your family is gorgeous 💗. Good your think you wearing jhon collection T Shirt! All photos are so great. I like. Nice video. God bless you! 🙏

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  12. How about sharing your sorting secrets, I can really use some good tips. I was especially interested in the bookshelves full of books. I inherited Uncle Gordon’s books, which had been moved from the various parishes, etc. that he lived in during his 90+ years, and the “few” amounted to quite a collection. He was an Anglican priest, and besides his stash of such books, he and I also shared many secular historical subjects.

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    1. John was a book owner. He had religious books in the office, music in the living room, ships in the guest bedroom, and trains in David’s room. He knew what he had and where to find everything. I have about two feet of cookbooks in the kitchen.

      Lise has set up spread sheets to catalogue everything. I know she assigned Nathaniel to vinyl records and ship books. David probably has train books and model trains. Kate must be doing CDs and music. They are supposed to work on these projects when they come to visit. This will be excellent if I can live long enough for them to finish their assignments.

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      1. Sounds good. I do my inventory in a straight numerical system, which theoretically works well usually. Filling orders is much easier that way, a topical system would be a nightmare. Except that I do have my own books, which are loosely grouped as to subject.

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          1. I use AOB, the Art of Books inventory system. It’s well worth the twenty dollars I pay a month. There’s more to it, of course, but if your children do decide to sell John’s books, which can be a very lucrative side-business I will be happy to share my expertise, such as it is .
            I am fazing out my book business, because of my age, but I will retain a small inventory indefinitely. I sell through Amazon, Biblio, Alibris, etc… also eBay. I am happy to share information to help the project.
            WordPress can be employed in setting up a book business as well, as you probably know. I haven’t done so, but it is always an option.

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            1. Thank you for the offer of help. I’ll let Lise know. I suspect they won’t sell John’s books until I’m dead, and Lise made me promise to live another 20 years.

              I did not know that WordPress could help set up a book business. I wonder how many books you’d need to sell to make it worthwhile.

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              1. A WP site can be monetized, I’m not sure of details but it is a feature. I meant that once a business is set up, our WP site can be used to help promotion. Also, there is a pay feature of WP business site option. I have not done this myself, because I can’t afford it, and I never wanted to take the time to establish a formal online store. I do pay annually for my WP, though, as I love to play around with it.

                I do sell enough to break even, and I duly pay my semi-annual state/Ohio tax. I have never owed any tax, but according to the law I have file regardless. IF I were to get in gear and work at it, advertising, etc., I could have a profitable sideline.

                Well, I don’t want to go on and on here unless someone is interested in details. Bottom line, yes, selling online would be well worth the while. Especially since you already have inventory to start with.

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                1. I’m not sure we have THAT many books. John had a number of books in three categories, but probably not enough to start a business. You know a lot about marketing books — all interesting.

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                  1. I probably got carried away thinking in terms of thousands of books. 🙂 I tend to take an item and run with it. Having a bookshop was always a dream of mine, and when I finally accomplished it (a decade ago, maybe) I had two shops and thousands of books. the most I ever had actually listed for sale online was about 2,000. Now I am down to 1,000, and dealing mainly with books that are not in my official inventory. Sorry…I do tend to make a mountain out of a molehill. 🙂

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                    2. Uncle Gordon left me “all” of his books, but by that time he had collected them for 90+ years and moved his existing library each time he moved to a new parish. He gave a lot of his collection to a friend who was pastor of a fellow episcopal parish, as well. His last move was into an apartment near Cleveland. He left me his remaining books AND the metal bookshelves he had. 🙂

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                    5. when we went to Bob’s Aunties’ mandatory formal dinners several times a year, he and I would do dibbs on who got to chat with U Gordon after dinner, and who had to listen to the Aunt elaborate on the eggplant casserole or the hassle of the garbage collection at her apartment. (I always call them the “nutbreads,” but I am not always a nice person.)

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  16. You are so organized now and hopefully can find everything – on the rare occasions I have organized, then I forget where I put things. The plates of food David and Lise are holding make my mouth water, especially the onion rings.

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      1. That is the first order of business for me when I am retired. I feel like the clutter makes me feel like I’m living like a gypsy. I used to know where things were and I might need an index or make a list so I can’ find things.

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