Cave Woman

Field of soybeans against a Michigan summer sky - on the corner, up the dirt road from my home

I've been out-of-pocket for a couple of weeks, which included a stay-cation.  During that time, I had company for an overnight visit. My guest room is rather small so I gave up my room for the night. When I moved in a couple years ago I felt it was important to have a comfortable place for guests. During all this time, there's been no other overnight company.   So while I was off work, the guest room was dismantled!  I donated the furniture to a good cause and went to work!

Heavy duty shelving took over the spot left vacant by the dresser.  It filled quickly with all the new boxes created during my recent sort-a-thon. Up went two 6ft CARD tables for various stages of sorting work. No more cluttering up the den!  The two shelves under the binders hold the Tiger collection. The next shelf contains PCs, working sets and binder cards. The bottom shelf is full of cards for trading.

The Tigers' table - predominantly for team set and Tiger organization. Underneath there are two crates of albums.  I'm a vinyl junkie as well.  The window faces east which means no afternoon heating!  I may miss that in few months!

Dragging out the MANY several thousand count boxes and putting them away three or more times a year was getting old.  The inability to dedicate a permanent place for the hobby contributed to the disarray of my collection.  I had no place for scanning when packages arrived. Instead they stacked up on my desk for some other day.   This table is for scanning and trade package prep.

Lifesized Altuve  4/10

A jumbo Finest Altuve propped on the tray behind the laptop keeps me company - and sometimes I have a helper:

Today a comfortable breeze is keeping the room cool. There's a little feeder out front with a weeping cherry just outside the north-facing window, which always holds a little winged friend or two. The house sits back about 125 feet from the road so the yard is deep and gorgeous.  It's a grand view from the table!

I also have baseball and music memorabilia, and 70s pop culture for decor - and a little stereo to hook up. Gotta have tunes while working on cards!  Once it's a bit decorated, I'll show off the whole room. It won't look like the man cave so many of you lucky guys have but it's cozy!  

A new hobby room means the study is reclaimed!  No more piles on the desk with boxes stacked against the wall in what is the smallest room!  At one time, I'd considered an addition to the house. The space needed was already here and available! I'll gladly sleep on the couch if guests need to stay over.

This can only mean the time has come.  With the MLB trade deadline rapidly approaching, it seems only fitting -

THE TRADE BAN IS LIFTED!

I'll begin putting trade packages together over the next three weeks.  I have a handful that remain to be shared and I'll do that with the next couple of posts. Expect another giveaway of sorts.  I am still purging!