Soundtrack to this post: Fashion by David Bowie

I’ve decided to make October my Autumn-Cleaning month. If I were my old self, I would have allotted a weekend, maybe a week. But now I know how long everything takes, especially on the domestic front, so I’m giving myself October.

First things first though: my bedroom. Remember when I spoke of starting to redecorate a month two ago? Well….as usual, my cleaning-lady momentum disappears once the grand intentions were loudly pronounced.

In the last post, I mentioned Maki starting to wear his dad’s clothes. Though many of his things are still packed in the garage (we moved house last January), some of his clothes were still hanging in my closet.  I’m claiming it as MY closet now as it’s expensive to live in California, I might as well get some more closet space out it!  Not really, I’ve always been happy to share…Lord, knows the closets are bigger here than they were in England!

Actually, I’m aware that its more than that.  I am in the long process of reclaiming my life. Life is for the living, or so I like to believe.

And no one gives me more of passionate reminder than Justine. When you’ve got a live-in muse, its hard to ignore the message!

So…with a young girl in the house who likes to play dress-up, how could I resist bringing out the camera to capture moments  of her play? It means that a short-term closet-cleaning job turns into something 10x longer, but also 10x more memorable, and 10x more fun!  “I can wear your clothes for dress-up now. What do you have for me?”

Always with the “what’s yours is mine” philosophy! Apparently, I can’t resist that either.

To the left of this one, you’ll notice my new bookcase. I’m just beginning to fill it up. Bob Lloyd, my master-craftsman friend, made me this beautiful custom bookcase. I just finished staining it this week (my first time staining any furniture, actually) so I’m feeling quite proud. This is the first time I’ve  had a bookcase in my room since marrying Vernon, and its something I’ve missed very much. Old habits die hard.

If a room is meant to be a safe haven, its best to have the things you love in it. If you can’t have your loved OTHER in it, you can make it the way the one left in it likes!

We are getting there…it’a long work in progress. I’ll start filling up the bookcase, and soon I’ll be surrounded by my old friends again.  As those boxes come in from the garage, I’ll be replacing them with this…a box full of Vernon’s clothes and shoes that were still hanging in my closet.

I pulled out a few things Maki might like or grow into, but Vernon had his own unique style. I keep thinking I’d like to bring some of his gear to him at the care home…maybe get him some new shoes just for his enjoyment. But I don’t know if this sort of stuff matters to him anymore, and all clothing gets over-washed there.  All his good quality clothes would be ruined in weeks. Then there is all the cycling stuff he used to order from fancy British catalogs. It’s time to put away the reminders that he won’t ride a bike again. But I can’t bring myself to get rid of these things for good… or the sell the bikes for that matter. (I will if I have to.)

Vernon was very low-key in his fashion approach, but he was consistent. He liked nice quality fabric and just the right fit. I hope he’s comfortable swimming in the too-big, over-washed clothes he’s got now. Does Paul Smith have a discount loungewear line?  We’d be happy to ruin a few kits!

So I didn’t get as far as I meant to with my Autumn Cleaning, what with Justine trying on every garment I put on my bed.  A skirt as a dress? Brilliant!  But I’ve got the whole month ahead of me. And some sweet moments to remember.

A collar as a hood? I must say…an inspired choice!

You make cleaning fun! (Not to mention, making messes.)