Lofty ideas

I had a go at sorting out the other side of the summerhouse yesterday and today.    It looks a bit tidier now, and we can actually get to the freezer, so that's a win.    I can no longer reach two of the boxes which need sorting, but that's OK,  I've got plenty of other stuff to get on with.

 

Today I decided to pop up in to the loft, which is bursting at the seams, to have a quick scan through to see if there was anything I could easily remove.   I actually  wanted to get to two sets of bone china, as I've decided to get rid of one of them and to box the other one up in crates.

 

I couldn't quite get to them, but I did manage to chuck a load of stuff through the loft hatch in my attempt.

 

It would have been better not to have dropped the stuff through the hatch,  but it was quite effective.  Apart from the confetti of frayed plastic which covered my landing and bathroom.  I've vacuumed it up now, and moved the stuff downstairs.

 

I've got a few items I was going to post on local freebie/selling groups, but I've decided to tak to the charity shop instead.   

DH broke down all the cardboard, and took the stuff I'd identified as "Tip" and stuffed it all in his car for a TipTrip tomorrow. (We tried to go yesterday, but our enthusiasm was squashed by length of the queue so we came home again, untipped.

I've got a couple of items left that I'm thinking about advertising locally, but I need to work up the enthusiasm.

(elapsed time passes)

I won't bore you with the details, but I've offered one item and decided to send the others to the Tip 

I need some quiet time now.

Spring Cleaning

There was a whiff of Spring in the air, and the weather looked warm.    Time to tackle the first seasonal deep clean of the chicken coops!

I used to do all the dismantling, cleaning, drying, disinfecting, re-mantling of all  the coops in the same day.   I wasn't sure I had enough energy for that,   so I worked out a plan to do it over two days.

Day one went well, better than I expected.

I emptied one of the Cubes (not the one the Girls use to lay in), and scrubbed and  jet washed everything, even the front.    We are in a shaded art of the garden, so everything gets covered in green stuff, and it takes some effort to remove.

I did the spare coop, if I hadn't done it at that point it wouldn't have got done.   Then I did the outside of the second Cube.      I was meant to stop at this point,  but I decided I'd do the poo trays and part of the inside, and I'd leave the nestbox until the following day.

I'd been scrubbing the roosting bars, poo trays, nestbox divider, and coop back, on the patio, and then jet washing them. The patio was striated where the algae had been partially blasted.    So, while I was waiting for the coop stuff to dry enough for me to disinfect with Poultry Shield,    I decided to jet wash (part of) the patio. 

I did one section at a time.  This gave me some satisfaction as I joined up the striations. It enabled me to see clearly what progress I was making,  and it meant I could stop at any time.  I did enough so that we could put the yet-to-be-emptied-at-that-point summerhouse contents out on it.

After I'd done the disinfecting,  and the re-mantling,  I was pooped and didn't finish the patio.

The next day it was cold, and then it rained, and then it rained and it was cold.

It took until Yesterday to get warm enough for me to finish the second coop, which required all the inside cleaning again at this point.  I didn't have the energy to finish the patio.    I did suddently remember that I had a patio head for the pressure washer,  so I got it out of the recently emptied MyShed, and it's sitting in the kitchen waiting for me to go out use it.   We've got a big swing seat thing on the patio, and I can't move it on my own. And the weather is now rubbish.

That's my excuse, any way.  

Shedding

Last week, before we had a go at emptying and reorganising the summerhouse, I decided to have a go at emptying MyShed.

 

DH and I have always had our own sheds, each called MyShed (or YourShed if we are talking about the other person's shed). 

 

MyShed was originally used to store the mountain of chicken parephernalia that we had when we had a flock of girls here,   and a breeding flock and pen of growers at the allotment.  We now have only one small flock here, and we have reduced what stuff we have.   MyShed has gradually acquired overspill from HisShed and other areas.

 

I had a go at clearing it a few months ago, and I did get rid of quite a bit of stuff.  I also couldn't bring myself to dispose of some bits.

 

Last week I was not in the best of moods, and I was looking at MyShed to see what I could remove to create space to take stuff from the summerhouse.  And that was it.

 

Before I knew what was happening,  I'd made a large pile of stuff to go to the tip.  It was full of stuff that I'd looked at previously and decided I wasn't ready to part with it.   I've discovered that being in a bad mood is almost as effective as being in pain, when it comes to decluttering.  That, and the weight of having cleared my parents smallholding and wanting to reduce the amount of carp that my Executors will have to deal with, of course.

 

I could have donated some bits,  but I was not  in the mood for faffing around so it all went to the tip. 

 

I did manage to  advertise - and sell - a large feed bin. The lady who bought it was lovely,  and it turned out she was going to be using it for chicken feed.   I gave her some of my chicken paraphernalia (I had a spare Chicken Guard auto opener, and some large drinkers, and some small feeders that I didn't want to throw away but couldn't face advertising),  and she seemed happy.

 

We immediately moved some stuff from the summerhouse into MyShed. Stuff which needs cover, but can withstand being in a shed.  It's still a bit of a dumping ground but it's a darned sigh emptier (at the moment) than uit has been for years.

 

DH was mildly spurred on by my pile of stuff,  and he decided to have a quick clear round before we did the tip trip.

  

 

 

Letting go

We are part way through a slow kitchen refit, and are thinking about doing an extension elsewhere in the house a bit later in the year which will have the knock on effect of enlarging our utility area.

 

As a result, we've been holding on to all our "spare" kitchen bits, as we don't yet know what we aer going to need for the utility. 

 

They have all been residing in what we used to call our Summerhouse.  It's been a storage area since my Dad died and my brother and I were emptying my parents house.  Then came the kitchen.  And next..
 

A walk in larder popped up for sale.   I've let two other walk in larders go because we haven't decided what to do in the Utility.   This one, I really really wanted to get.  It matches the one we already have.  It's not expensive.  If we don't use it, we can re-sell it.

Except we don't have anywhere to store it (even flat packed).

So, we decided to empty out the 2/3rds of the summerhouse which currently houses kitchen bits so we could review them.   Our patio was full of kitchen.  It took some time to get the stuff out and sorted,  and then more time to photograph the bits we agreed we would let go.   A few items are  by the gate ready to go to the tip.

Then we packed everything back in the summerhouse, with those "let go" items stored at the front so we can get them out easily.

I created numerous posts on various groups and selling/freebie sites (not Ebay, yet).  Many items I've decided to give away,  as I want them gone more than I want to recoup any money.  

I'm picking the larder up next week on my way back from visiting my Mum,  so I hope some of them find new homes before then (otherwise they will have to go to the tip, which is a shame).

 

One set of superb quality doors has gone today, which is a start (but obviously it's more help if the units go!).

I need to clear out the other 1/3rd of the summerhouse now as it's full of the "non-kitchen" bits and  access to the freezer is now awkward.    I planned  todo it today but the forecast is rain, so that won't be happening. 

 

 

 

Reminiscence and nostalgia

We aren't big on celebrating anniversaries.   We have a small series of particular Events that we remember each year with a nod and a mention.    This year marks a Significant Number of Years since we got together and the Events are worth a bit more consideration, perhaps. 

We've now reached the anniversary second Event which  gets an annual nod.

For the first time in..... ever, possibly,    I spent some time actively reminiscing (to myself), going over this particular day.  (It's quite innocent, just Very Significant in our story).

The reminiscing was quite a pleasant experience, especially as I'd never really thought about it in this level of detail before.   I found it quite moving really, and resisted the temptation to let myself reminisce about later events.

The detailed reminiscing made me realise just how many, seemingly inconsequential, individual decisions provided the right conditions.  Any one of them being different, and the day would have no significance now.

I idly wondered whether we would have got together without this particular day.  After much consideration,    I felt that we probably would have, eventually....  and then I wondered why I would think that. 

I thought back to the earlier Significant Milestone that we have an annual nod to. Yes, that was a key moment but.....there was something else.  

I realised that there was one other day, with its own incredible set of actions and decisions, where our paths crossed and without which we wouldn't be here now. 

It's not like I've only just remembered it this other day, I've told the story of the first time I encountered DH a few times...  but I hadn't really realised its importance.   It's always just been an illustration of what an unlikely couple we are and to illustrate why it's a miracle two such unlikely people would get together.  

We've never thought it worthy of even an annual nod.  I don't even remember the date of it.   I found the realisation of its importance quite shocking. 

 I decided to explore the memory of that interaction in more detail.   I allowed myself the luxury of  mentally putting myself back in that time and place,   and it triggered quite a few memories of the days following.    Such a little stone dropped in a pond,  and the huge  consequential ripples that were created.  

Everything started on this other day, and without it, I don't think we would eventually have gone out together.

For a brief time, I thought about us as we were then.   The emotion of the memories were quite overwhelming.   I remembered places in very bright detail.  Events and conversations and people that I haven't thought of in years.    The fragility of it was breathtaking.    It could so easily have just been nothing 

Because of that other day interaction,  DH was one of the faces I recognised in a crowd.    I don't recall him ever recognising me.     I don't actually know if he attaches any significance to that other day crossed path.  His recognition of my existence might have been much later.  

As I carried on re-living it, additional memories surfaced (for the first time) :  my friend C was concerned I was developing a crush.  I didn't think I was and didn't understand why she was saying that;      She told her friend M, who then teased   me about it (and I didn't really understand what he was getting at, as my interest wasn't like that). 

I thought about how we were, back then.  The reminiscence turned into a short bout of nostalgia, and I found myself crying a little. 

We've been so very lucky.

****

When I decided to write this post, just to preserve my memory of it,  I put some music on (which I very rarely do).    I found myself blinking tears away again.   Apparently relevant or pertinent bits from the songs pulled at my heartstrings,  just like they did when I was a teenager (although not the same songs, and not for the same reasons).

Under pressure

I've had a flare up of my "back" issue, and none of the things I've learned at the Pain Management Clinic is enough.   My blood pressure decided to join in the party,  along with my stomach,   and I've been struggling to do anything.

 

I started on some bp medication last Friday, so I hope that brings the numbers down soon. 

 

Instead of being able to spend a significant amount of time decluttering (yet again),  I've had to focus on some other stuff.     I have been trying to do short bouts of decluttering as part of my distraction method or pain management,  and I guess I've cleared at least one large wheelie bin full of stuff,  and a wheelie bin 's worh of cardboard and packaging.     Not all has been binned, most of it has been offered as free and has been collected.

 

The one advantage of doing this while in pain is that I don't have the patience for nostalgia.   I find that instead of keeping some items because of their nostalgia value, or becuase they might be useful, or might be valuable eventually, or because they would be difficult to replace....  I find myself thinking "who cares?!!".  

 

Manwhile...

 

DH has been busy putting the replacement drawer fronts on the drawers,  and has replaced a door with two drawer fronts connected together.  He is limited on what else he can do, as there's some shifting and shunting required, and I'm not up to it at the mo. 

Plans

A few steps forward, ish, this week.

The two new kitchen wall units arrived. The hanging rail for them (not from the kitchen company), did not.   We had loads of drawer fronts arrive, and DH has been busy fitting them. It's not been without its challenges. If it could go wrong, it has!

One of the fronts wasn't in the order, not even on the delivery note.  The company sorted it out easily enough, but it will be another week or so before it is delivered.    We'll probably be ready by the time it arrives.

I also realised I'd missed a pair of drawer fronts off, and I'd also missed off a replacement for a chipped drawer.   I also realised, too late,  that I'd assumed we could cut down an existing door for one part, but I'd completely ignored the fact that the unit concerned  is a gloss finish whereas everything else is matt.  So that's a couple more bits that I need to get.  I'm sure there will be other bits, so I thought I'd wait and see before placing another order.

Separately,  the bits for the under sink plinth drawer arrived and DH fitted it.  It works really well, and I'd thoroughly recommend drawerboxes.co.uk.   

We've also been working on plans for an extension.  We actually engaged an architect some months ago, but things didn't go to plan (pun intended) as the poor chap was ill for a while. We only got the outline plans a week or so ago, we are nowhere near submitting for approval.  The builder is coming this week to give us his views on what we are trying to do.

We've agreed (between ourselves) on the overall size of the extension, and the changes that will be necessary to accommodate it.     We're also in agreement that there are 3 places to put the lift, and we're sort of in agreement about the most likely place.  We've agreed on some internal wall removals both upstairs and in the downstairs utility room area.

We haven't yet worked out how we will do the downstairs bathroom layout (which is a practical thing rather than a fundamental disagreement),  we haven't agreed on the items that are going in the downstairs bathroom,  and we haven't talked at all about the utility layout.  We haven't agreed about windows, or door placement.    I'm anticipating a lot of agreements,  some mild differences of opinion,  and quite a few arguments.   

We've been together 40 years, and we still argue about most things. 

 

 

 

 

 

Visits

Mum came to stay for a week.   DB and I had bought her an ultralight carbon fibre rollator for her birthday present, and it was fantastic.  Bright red,  superbly styled, turns on a sixpence, and really is the lightest rollator in the world.  It's by ByAcre, a Danish company,  and it is... amazing.  She loves it!

The week passed quickly, in a good way.   We try and make these visits feel like "normal", so we spend a lot of time just doing normal stuff, as if Mum has popped in from across town.   We drink a lot of team chat a lot,   do a bit of shopping,  watch a bit of TV, and go out occasionally.

This time we caught up with a couple of uncles and an aunt-in-law while Mum was here, and that was very enjoyable. We're very grateful that Uncle C and Auntie P came over, it's a bit of a trek for them.   Separately, our lovely cousin and his equally lovely wfire popped in to say hello.

 Mum is struggling with the stairs, so we are looking at accelerating our plans for installing a lift.  There will be a time when she won't be able to come and stay any more, so we want to make the intervening time as visitable as possible.

We  played lots of Scrabble.  The RNIB version, with large tiles which sit securely on the board, is fantastic.  We all have sets now.     Mum plays most days with one of the other residents at her Home, and it's really made a difference to her.     I'm so happy that I suggested a game when she was last here.

DB and I are off to see Mum again this week, and we're staying at a local place (like an Air B&B, but direct).   We have two places that we favour, one near where Mum lives now and one near where she used to live (when Dad was still alive).     This particular place,  we have stayed at many times over the last few years, the hosts are wonderful.    There is a downstairs bedroom and bathroom, so Mum can come to stay overnight as well, and we're hoping she'll do that this time.  It extends the time we get to see her, and again we can do "normal" things together.

 

 

Failures and Successes continue

The decorations went back in the loft today.  We completely failed to do anything about  clearing that part of the loft while they were out, which is a bit pathetic.     We had some reasons:  we were ill, which pushed everythign behind, then it was Christmas, and then there was stuff and then... well, here we are.

 

My Mum is coming to stay and I've had to excavate the guest room.   Stuff was binned, stuff was charity shopped (well, it's in the boot of my car waiting for me to go to the charity shop) , stuff was stored neatly... and some stuff was put in a pile of other stuff in the box room, waiting to go in the loft.  Except there isn't any room.

 

We did go up there together, took a look at that end of the loft, and agreed on how we could improve the storage.  But doing it will have to wait until Mum has been and gone,  and then my grandson has been and gone.    I may engage help in getting stuff out, which will, hopefully, leave me enough energy to review and organise.  We'll see.

 

On the Success! front, we've done yet more stuff to the kitchen.  DH has trouble with the concealed drawers, mainly because I fill the drawer below too full.  We were discussing the tip-on (push to open)  runners which are part of the two under plinth drawer units we bought.   We have a couple of concealed drawers which have already have tip on runners, and we discussed making all the concealed drawers have tip on runners.  We bought some bits to see if DH could do a conversion:  I bought some preloved tip on runners from Ebay, and DH bought some bits to convert the actual drawers from the Blum Warehouse.  We did 3 to start with, and it turns out that  they work really well. 

 

We then decided to go ahead and do all the concealed drawers,  so I bought more preloved runners and DH ordered more bits.    I then bought an additional mahoosive concealed drawer (as part of my continuing efforts  to try and move everything to its final home), which was a Marketplace bargain. This was so big (900 wide and 500 deep) that I had to buy a longer preloved runner, and DH had to order yet more bits.

 

DH also fitted one of the plinth drawers (the other is going under a tower unit, and we have to raise the tower unit to the correct height first).    It works really well,  and will look great when we put a front on it.

We weer so pleased with it that we've now ordered a made to measure plinth drawer for under the sink unit as well.   It'll be another week or more before that arrives.

  

We're still waiting for the Blum Warehouse bits to arrive, they were on shutdown until Monday and then didn't have everything in stock at that point.    In the meantime, DH has installed the runners, all of which arrived really promptly.   My mahoosive drawer enabled me to move many many lots of contents around, trying to stick to my mantra of everything being in a sensible place.    I'm tempted to write it all down here for my own nostalgic reference, but it's not exactly scintillating stuff.

 

The base units now have the right things in them,  and most of the units are in the right place.  One run needs a reshuffle, and I guess we will do that when we get the replacement fronts, which I ordered at the same time as ordering the two wall units.

 

I don't imagine we will make a huge amount of progress over the next week as I'll have other priorities.