I spent the afternoon working on cleaning out the attic (this is an ongoing process subject to weather conditions, but the section I did today really needed it). Our attic is very small - it's over the whole house, but the area between the downstairs ceiling and the current roof (which was added post-purchase by Dad) is pretty low, about 4' at the highest and rapidly sloping down to both edges, so you have to crawl. Also the floor is slanted because it's the original roof, and the sharp ends of nails from the roofing poke out of the ceiling every six inches or so.

In short, it's the most fun place in the house!

I did maybe 1/8 of the whole attic today, and was inspired to do an inventory while I was at it. So for pure anthropological interest, here is the current contents of Mom's attic ( forward section, trapdoor side )

I say "anthropological interest" because home inventories are some of the most fascinating documents I ever got to look at while doing research.¹ And in general I find the stuff we surround ourselves with, and the emotional capital we invest in it, fascinating! There's a reason I have a hoard-brooding tag on my journal.

I actually thought about doing the "100 Things" meme when it was first going around, about 100 Things - or to put it in BBC terms, A Personal History in 100 Objects - but I decided it's not like I needed *more* ideas for journal entries.

But hey, anyone want to do a variation on that? Several things that would have been on my 100 Things list are in that inventory anyway. If anybody leave a comment asking about something on that inventory, I will tell them a story about it! (Either in a comment or a new post, depending on how much I have to say.)

¹And also learning the term "provisionally discarded" in an archeology class has actually helped me a lot in the ongoing 'don't turn into a hoarder' battle - I can "provisionally discard" things without having to decide now, and then if a year later they're still in the 'provisionally discarded' storage - either because I didn't want them or I forgot I still had them - they go.)