A whiff of Spring?

Spring must be in the air.

The back door is open, letting cold fresh air flood the kitchen.   It's cold, unless I position myself in a shaft of sunlight.

I can feel the stirrings of the urge to Spring Clean, and I decided to start small and manageable.

This morning  I had put a kitchen stand thing on the top shelf of my wardrobe.  had had to clear the shelf to do it.  I couldn't reach the back, so I had to get up on steps.    Once I was up on steps I could see the layer of dust on the top of the wardrobe, and that's what started me off.]

Firstly, I went through everything that was on that shelf. I binned most of the stuff that I had forgotten about. I reorganised the rest.  I moved some other stuff up here.   

Then I tackled the wardrobe tops.  I took everything down,   cleaned the wardrobe, and then reviewed the stuff that had stored up there.  One of the wardrobes has spare hangers on it, and they always get into a not.   I found a neat way of storing those.    I binned some stuff.  I put a couple of Ikea bits to one side to offer on our village freebie page. 

One of the things up there was a teddy bear that was given to me by my youngest Uncle and his wife when I was 6?   I remember opening the Christmas wrapping paper, and finding this enormous, golden furred teddy bear, about the same size as me (that's what I remember, I'm not sure it's true).  I was so happy.

Ted stayed with me all my life.  During my teenage years, his splayed arms provided the perfect sized shoulder to sob into.    In my early adult years, he lived on my bed, in a series of rooms that I rented, and then in the house I bought.  When my (now husband) moved in, he (Ted, not my husband) lived on other things in the bedroom.  

When we moved here, he still lived in the bedroom, on various things, usually at the back, covered in other stuff,  until he ended up sitting on top of my wardrobe.  I'd put a couple of other toys up with him originally, to keep him company.  I must have decluttered them at some point as they weren't there now, and he was lying on his back right at the back where he couldn't be seen.   Poor Ted.

Today, I looked at him  and gave him a cuddle, and  thought about that day when I got him.  I thought about my Uncle and my Aunt (who died a few years ago), and I thought about all the times I cried into Ted's shoulder.   

I decided he might fancy a spell on the spare bed, so that's where I put him.

He needs a clean, he's not looking his best... but to me he's the same lovely Ted he's always been.