Paige vs. the Basement

If you have been following my blog, a few weeks ago I posted about needing to go into my basement for a tornado warning. I mentioned how I would rather have the tornado take me away than spend any time in my basement.

Today I cleaned out that basement.

And I lived to tell about it.

This is my view as I descended into the abyss.

After about an hour of work, I wasn't so keen on continuing.

But I didn't have much of a choice.

This is what I was up against. Sorry for the poor lighting; there are only two lightbulbs down there.

View of the stairs going up.

View from the stairs looking left. That little stuffed dog gives me nightmares.

View from the stairs looking forward. Yikes.

There is a really scary cabinet in the darkest corner of the basement. I dared open it today, shined the light in, and found....plates!

I have a better picture later.

This is the result of my labor: piles of broken fans, lamps, picture frames, window screens, christmas trees and wreaths, insulation, random tubs full of who knows what....all left by the previous owner.

And, of course, what basement would be complete without 27 cans of paint?

There were some buried treasures, though. I found this sweet lock box, in which I was hoping to find gold or silver or something else equally wonderful.

Instead, I found....

Gift tags. Who locks these away? Do they think the Grinch is going to steal them?

These dishes were a nice surprise, though. They have pale blue flowers around the edges and in the middles, and there are a lot of them.

My favorite find was this sweet stop watch. It's legit, and it even works!

The next post will be another baking adventure! I've gotta get out of the basement and into the kitchen!!