Twenty yards of trash

I ordered a ten yard dumpster, but they didn't have one available, so they sent me a twenty yard one. Good thing! Sherry had her nephew and a friend of his out yesterday to Lou's, and they filled half the dumpster and cleaned about half the basement. The basement is 800 square feet, and it was filled with boxes 3 deep of old paints, pieces of wood, wooden cut outs, ceramic greenware pieces, and just plain trash. A lady starting a ceramic store had already picked up the usable greenware and bisque after it was listed on craigslist.

Today it was back to the basement. We had Sherry's guys again (17 year olds saving for cars), Steph, Dan, Ralph, and 3 other guys that are relatives or friends of Steph and Dan. They all wore masks and gloves, and went up and down the steps about a zillion times. We split the crew, and some worked on the basement with Sherry supervising, and Ralph went in the attic and handed down boxes to others. I was the sorter, making executive decisions as to what can be sold for money. Not much. Most it it was out and out trash- bags of old clothes, yarn empty appliance boxes, broken small appliances. There were 5 Xmas trees! Mom wants one to put outside a window for birds to roost in. The others were put outside, and a man passing by stopped and took them.

Another man who scavenges metal took the junk metal. People in a huge truck came and took the wood scraps for kindling. The attic and basement and sunroom were a lot of trash and a very few treasures. It was incredibly sad, going thru and wondering why on earth items were saved.

Lou didn't handle it well. He wanted everything gone before he'll leave to go to assisted living, so we're not wasting any time. I want him safe and settled before the bad weather starts. He did some yelling and some cursing, and retreated to his bedroom. A hospice nurse came by, and she was talking to him.

I just keep telling him that I swore to Sam that I'd make sure he was well cared for. His hospice nurse told me that nothing I do will make him happy, so just do what I have to do. My friend Barbara gave me good perspective. She said that he knows that no matter how much he yells at me, I'll come back, so I'm his soft place to fall. I can live with that.

I fell the other night. I missed a step, tried to move fast to catch my balance, and it a brick wall with my right hand- the same hand I hit when I fell in Kennedy Hospital last spring. For a day or so I thought I'd fractured it, but of course nurses are the worst patients and I wouldn't go get it looked at. It feels better each day.

And that's the week so far. A little crocheting, some reading of quilting boards, but not a bit of sewing.
Holly