The Magic Cave

My husband and grandchildren used to refer to his basement workroom as the "magic cave" because it held all kinds of tools (many electric and too dangerous for small children) that they would use together. I was always very nervous when they were down there. My grandson, Matthew, often came bursting through the front door hollering, "Come on, Grampa. Let's do something dangerous!". No wonder I worried.

These days I'm still busy cleaning out the "magic cave" and finding the most useless junk imaginable. Why did he keep a long, heavy chunk of fibreglass, or a boat paddle end, or an old bathroom tap, or a ton of wood trim, or a ton of metal strips, etc., etc., etc.?

So far I've counted 3 drills that look exactly the same to me and a zillion screws, bits, nails, nuts, and bolts. Do men really need this much stuff in their workroom? Of course, I know he'd say the same thing about my sewing room.

I don't think we ever look to the future when all of our junk will have to be disposed of by someone else. I know my daughters are worried about my junk and my precious glass collection (they all hate it). We all think we'll live long enough to use up every piece of our personal treasures.

I've always loved doing crafts and have quite an assortment of supplies which I'm going to sort out and give most of them to my sister. She runs a day care and uses lots of craft materials with the children. For a couple of years now I've only worked on 2 crafts, Swedish weaving and quilting, so I should be able to get rid of a lot of things I won't use again.

But I can't give up my crystal beads which I plan to use to make jewellery one day, or my stained glass and equipment that I'm sure I'll get back to once I can't go to Florida for the winters. I've got a lot of nice stuff that will be hard to let go. Sorry girls!