The Big Clean Out - Day 9

It's been a while since I got back into cleaning out. And I found the best time to get back into it is during an afternoon thunderstorm... today. I decided to tackle the last room on my list: The Office. Yep, I wanted to bring upstairs the plastic set of drawers and put them in here, filling them with things that I could use during the year. Then, sort out the top shelf of the non-fiction bookcase by moving my photos of the UK from it and putting all my hand-written stuff in its place. The magazines that match the 51 classic novels I was given for Christmas a few years back were moved to the top of my medium bookcase (next to my Mt To Be Read) and then, it was time to put a few things back that I had tossed on the floor to see if it all fitted... fortunately, it did!

Last night, we had a stinking hot night! And I mean, it was rotten! I had the fan on 2 and the spray bottle of water next to Stevie in case she needed cooling down during the night (which she did once or twice; poor little thing!). She also needed rescuing from behind the new stereo unit! I let her have a flight around the living room - as usual - and she misjudged the cage and ran into the curtain; sliding straight down the back of the unit in the darkness of the skirting! I could hear her screeching her head off as though to ask where she was! And after moving her cage, the end table, a large vase of silk flowers and then sliding it out from the wall, Little Miss Stevie walked out from the side with a little coaxing from me. She jumped up on my hand and then my shoulder and didn't leave there while I put everything back. She snuggled right up close and nibbled my ear in the attempt to make sure I wasn't going anywhere soon; and neither was she! I had to laugh though as I panicked a bit because I couldn't reach her from over the top of the unit; and I wish I could have.

This morning, when I had a look, I could see that there was a lot of room for her to move around and she would have been okay. I most definitely have a tough little bird. This afternoon, while the storm grumbled around us, I got some reading done of 'Under The Dome' by Stephen King. I've been reading about 50 pages a day (which is around one full chapter). There is so much happening in this book that it is very much like 'The Stand' but it's all situated in the one small town; not spread out across the whole of the United States. But I'm finding that a lot of the characters are now being killed off or are dying... whittling it all down the few that are going to survive to the end. What's keeping me reading is that I'm wondering exactly who is going to be there in the end; and who's not. I found out this morning that Mum finished Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451' and she loved it. She said that it was like reading poetry and she wants to read more of his stuff. I've recommended his short stories to her; and will have to lend her 'The Day It Rained Forever'. She will love it.

Well, there's still some washing up to do and the kitchen table to tackle. What I'm not looking forward to is shopping tomorrow. Shopping in the rain... blech! Not the best time to go, but if I don't, I won't have any food to cook for tomorrow night or snacks to take to the Logan Art Gallery on Thursday morning.