Preparing for the New Arrival

Last weekend was the clearing of the clutter from N s room . Monday night clearing from under the eaves in the attic . Friday am ( yesterday ) clearing the junk from the shed , including the placing of a ton-weight kiln and a gas heater in the back lane to find them gone within minutes . A useful disposal system that , saved a trip to the dump or a call to the council .
And , finally ( or not quite finally ) the clearing out and weeding of the coats in the downstairs hall cupboard . Another bag for the greyhounds charity shop and we each now have a peg with two or three coats on . Eminently sensible . Previously opening the cupboard was a heavily stressful experience , attempting both to unhook a coat , pull it through the darkness past sixteen wool scarves , five denim jackets and a hat ,whilst at the same time keep Alice from helping herself from the little bag of Gravy Bones situated on the floor . She would snaffle a few , dump them on the sofa and work her way through them as you finsished the coat retrieval process.
This morning was a dream , door opened easily , cast an eye in , select the right coat suited to the grey skies and freezing temperatures rather than just the only one that would come out , unhook it in one single handed movement , close the door and apply said coat . Alice didnt even try to grab a treat , seeing that everything round here is changing . Result !

What's it all in aid of though , you may wonder. I myself wonder why we don't do this clutter clearing more than once in a blue moon . Its a task , there s no doubt , but how much time does it really take once you stop procrastinating and dig out a pile of heavy duty bags . The charity shops win , storage space increases ten fold and you feel somehow Light and Airy as you waft through the house .

Its in aid of the fact that having paid to have stuff ( and a lot of it ) in storage for over a year , we have now faced the fact that unless we take deciseive action this Stuff would still be in storage at the time of our demise sometime when . Seemed to make sense to shift a few things round . Most of the stuff ( which originally lived in D s cottage ) is long since forgotten , though I have a distinct memory of the gigantic water bed , which is my incentive to put pressure on to take action , and now the cold weather is upon us he can recall a warm padded coat . We also recall a washing machine , a large sofa and a million bits and pieces of this and that .....
So there you have it !
All will be revealed when the van rolls up on Thursday at nine thirty . A man is booked to fix up the bed , a complicated process involving hot water and pumps .
Oh but before that we have to dismantle the king sixed wrought iron framed bed from our room and transfer it to N s room , having first dismantled her bed and stored it somewhere ( eek ) . On Wednesday night . Foreseen hitch , where will we sleep on Wed night ? A mattress somewhere perhaps ? On a sofa with Alice ? Who knows .

I'm also amusing myself with thoughts of how much the cats are going to adore the permanent warmth of the water bed , and how much they may resent the way it rises and falls like a lake when a new body climbs aboard .

Watch this space .....