Too Much Stuff.

It poured with rain all morning while I sorted out the fridge and freezer. After removing all the things in the fridge that didn't really need to be there, like jars of pickle, I was able to transfer most of the stuff left in the chest freezer to the fridge. The fridge is now full to bursting but I do have a good idea of where things are. I cooked up some turkey and pork mince for the cats and they spent the day trying to sneak into the porch where the saucepan was sitting on the cold concrete floor. Then came the job of hacking away all the ice in the freezer and clearing everything out ready for its removal tomorrow.

Having said I was on top of the packing I've now reached the stage of mild panic. I spent the afternoon boxing up kitchen stuff. That took time as I  tried to sort and clean everything before packing but I'm almost at the stage of opening cupboards and putting the contents in boxes. I'm not sure if I'll get round to my exercises this evening as I'll pack a few more things before supper.

I took a walk around the garden in the late afternoon when the rain had stopped. My eye was caught by flashes of white as our neighbours' flock of doves sparkled against the grey clouds. 

It's not easy trying to focus on flying subjects.

Off now to throw put a few more things in boxes.

Still Packing.

I had another of my early starts today. My morning exercises were done in the moonlight  and by 7.30 I had painted the bare patches of wall in the kitchen including going over the family height marks. A second coat at the end of the day has made it look a bit more respectable.

I had to pop into town to pick up a couple of sports vests I had ordered from Asda in anticipation of joining a Pilates class once we're settled in. I quite like going to Asda for a change as they are a bit cheaper than Tesco's and best of all there is a walking space marked out between each parking space. Much better than the usual trying to slide between cars once you've parked. I also made a stop at the charity shop to leave some stuff and once again there was a traffic warden. This one was looking at my number plate even thought I had left the boot open so I made a point of saying that I was unloading. Luckily a volunteer had followed me out of the shop and took the last bags of donations from me so I didn't have to worry about that traffic warden. (I've just checked and you are allowed 20 minutes to load or unload so I wasn't doing anything illegal.) 

Back home I finally seem to be making headway with the packing. As it was a dry day, sunnier in the morning but warmer in the afternoon I began gathering and labelling things in the outbuildings. There are still a few outside things to label and a run or two to the dump while the filling of boxes continues.

I decided that I only need a day to empty and defrost the freezer so switch off is tomorrow morning. I've been through the freezer already and fished out some long forgotten items which went in the bin for collection tomorrow. There's a strict rule at the dump of no food items, stops rats I suppose, so today was my last chance to throw out any food. I almost never throw out food, between the boys, cats, dogs and compost heap the most that would be left would be some chicken bones. Tonight and probably tomorrow, I shall be having red cabbage, carrot and swede mash, vegetable samosas and some chicken.

Cold.

It's been quite wintry today, a dry morning followed by icy showers and some hail. 

While I was shifting stuff around in one of the bedrooms I found this butterfly sitting on the wall. Some species do overwinter but I haven't decided where the best place for it would be. It really needs somewhere dry but not too warm. If it's still there tomorrow I might move it to one of the outbuildings. I'm not sure which species it is, possibly a peacock or a tortoiseshell, as I didn't want to disturb it and cause it to use up energy. 

Having spent the last two evenings stretched out on the smaller sofa I've decided that it won't do. There's only a difference of 18 inches  between it and the bigger sofa which is so much more comfy. Due to a few claw marks on the leather (bad Speedy) I can't offer it to the furniture charities so I'll pop it up for free on a local site or else I will have to break it up and take it down to the dump.

Turning Cold.

This morning it was breezy with some rain and some sun. By the afternoon it had brightened up enough to make me think it would be worth putting some washing in the machine. By the time the kitchen curtains were washed I hoped that even an hour in the wind would help with the drying. Later on I was taking a break from the never ending packing. "Aah" I thought, "How nice to hear the rain on the conservatory roof." Then "Aargh, the rain - my washing!" I ran outside to find it wasn't rain but hailstones, lots of them. They didn't help with the drying and now I'm hoping for better conditions tomorrow. I've also taken down and packed the sitting room curtains so the room is sadly bare and echo-y. 

During the afternoon Jack came round on a quad bike towing a nifty little trailer. We'd offered some unused alkathene piping and other building bits and pieces to Paul the other day and Jack had come to collect them. Jack also took some rolls of unused wire netting and a big stack of old school trays. That's the outbuilding almost cleared which is how we're supposed to leave it.

It's raining again and having been outside for a moment I can confirm that the rain is icy cold. Better go and put the heating on. Thank goodness the cats have their cosy cat nests.

Move One Done.

Having set the alarm for 8.00 this morning I was awake at 6.00. The day was barely breaking as I did my exercises and this evening the light had almost gone as I finished off the evening exercises. A sort of full circle.

The removal men were here at 9.00 to take all the stuff that is going into storage. It took the two men a full two hours as there were a lot of pictures that had to be brought down individually.

Once they had gone the place looked a lot emptier. The sitting room is back in disarray as I emptied the wooden cupboard which filled 10 boxes and packed the rest of the loose stuff. As well as doing that I moved the big cupboard in the kitchen so that I can paint the wall behind it and paint the skirting board too. I don't like leaving things undone. Another job that had to be done was to check that the porch doors could be locked. I put in new locks a while ago but we've never bothered to use them. (Any burglars reading this, please note that the new owners will no doubt be vigilant in locking their doors.) The front door worked fine but I had to chisel out a new rebate for the lock on the inner door. That's another job done and out of the way.

As we are working on emptying the freezer I made a blackcurrant and apple crumble using our own frozen fruit. Red cabbage and prawn toast are also featuring on tonight's menu though the pork joint that was put in the fridge to defrost didn't and will have to be cooked tomorrow.

The other thing I did was to use masking tape to mark out the size of the new sitting room. It's quite big and in theory we could fit in both sofas but that would make it rather crowded. I did some furniture shifting and put the smaller of the sofas where the larger one was. I usually put my feet up at the end of the day and I want to see how that works on the smaller sofa.

We've had the usual frustrating time trying to sort out the change of address for various things. I can't do the electricity until the last day as they need the final meter reading. Peter had the best time ever trying to inform the tax people. You can do that on-line but it takes forever as you have to set up an account providing all sorts of details etc. Instead he tried phoning. He got through but then had half an hour of muzak, for which he had to pay for each minute, until the line disconnected. He did however have the satisfaction of telling BT that we no longer required their services. When they asked why he gave them a detailed account of the terrible service we have had from them which did make him feel better. (We were with BT because whichever provider you have they still own the lines and out here it makes a difference.)

Sunny.

Another bright and sunny day. My day has been spent packing and getting together all the boxes etc. that will be going into storage tomorrow. I keep on changing my mind about what is going where. Ideally I would like to get all the heavy stuff put straight into the garage but I won't be 100% sure about how dry the garage is until I actually see for myself.  

There was yet another document for me to sign in the presence of a witness so in the afternoon we went over to the stables next door so that Paul could be the witness. The burnt down barn is now fully repaired with contented horses in the big loose boxes.  

This morning as I tried to concentrate on playing my guitar I kept getting distracted by birds near the stream. First I noticed the shadow of a bird foraging amongst the undergrowth and had to keep looking up until I finally saw the bird itself, not sure what species as it was only a fleeting glimpse. Then a Blue Tit came and sat on a branch that dipped into the stream and had a very splashy bath. I tried sneaking off to get my camera but twice it spotted me and flew off. Then there were 2 male blackbirds behaving strangely. They were both in the leaves under the brambles about 2 feet apart. One of them would rush towards the other, turn and retreat and then the other would do the same. They kept this up for quite a long time. I wonder if they are the same 2 male blackbirds that I used to see together in the trees? 

Sunny Start.

The day started bright and sunny with a warm breeze coming from the west. It looked like a good day for drying washing. 

When I went around the back of the house, having already got the washing machine started, the cows seemed to have a different idea of the day's weather. 

There was a lot of buzzing and coming and going by the bees taking advantage of the warm weather to carry on stocking up for the winter.

As I crouched down enjoying the sun and listening to the hum of the bees and the babbling of water in the stream I heard yet another noise. A frog or possibly a toad was uttering a single croak every now and then. Although I never saw the frog I was able to pin point its position to this patch of grass just inches from my feet. What a lot to see and hear in one corner of the garden.

By the time the washing was ready to hang out not only had the sun and the breeze disappeared but the air was redolent with the smell of cow poo. Somebody was doing some serious muck spreading nearby. Not wanting the sheets to smell like a cow shed instead I draped then over the rayburn and a couple of chairs. With the oven door open and the hotplate lids up I was able to get the sheets dry enough to iron. As part of getting things ready to go on Friday I emptied the drawers of an antique mahogany desk and moved it from our bedroom into the corridor. It's amazing how much bigger the bedroom looks without that one piece of furniture. I also took down an oriental rug that was hanging on the corridor wall. I'm so grateful that soon I will no longer have to hoover our rustic walls stone by stone. There was a bit of moth damage to the rug so before I rolled it up I gave it a spray with flea spray. It was quite an old can and was probably something that isn't used anymore (I seem to remember fly spray that had a similar smell) but I guess it will kill off any moths or caterpillars.