A Progress Report

. . .  on the house, that is, not the current book I’m working on, though I am working on that, too.

The unpacking in my new house is proceeding, albeit at a slow pace. Weirdly, although I have much more storage in this house than I had at the old house, it’s been hard trying to decide where everything goes. I’m talking mainly about the kitchen, which is where I’ve been doing most of the unpacking. There is plenty of space — it’s the organization that’s the tricky bit.

In the old house I had a walk-in pantry, and everything was at my fingertips. I had a wall of narrow shelves for herbs and spices, and two walls of deeper shelves for everything else. Now I have a cupboard that is called a pantry, and drawers for everything else. And my herbs and spices don’t quite fit into this drawer . . . 

As much as anything it’s a reorganization of my mind. Do I want these plates stored in a drawer in the kitchen or on the other side of the bench in the old dresser I brought with me from the old house? And then, where do I keep the things I used to store in that dresser? 

Decisions, decisions. . . 

But the unpacking and reorganization is helping me continue the decluttering process, and I’ve already taken several boxes to the charity shop.

I haven’t touched the many boxes of books yet. I plan to get new bookshelves built first. At the old house there were two full walls of bookshelves that I built myself (using metal brackets fastened to the wall) and they’ve gone now, so even though I have a number of free-standing bookshelves (nine at last count — four over 6ft), there still isn’t enough space for all my books. So the culling will continue, but not just yet. The books can wait — as can the setting up of my guest room — this is it at the moment. 

Speaking of the old house, I guess I was grieving a bit at leaving it after so long, but the new owner sent me photos of the house as it was a week after I’d moved — and it’s a shell of its former self — literally. So that helped me to let it go. The photo below is of the room that used to be my bedroom. 

Thank you to all the people who’ve commented on this blog and written me emails wishing me well in my new home. I’m very happy here now — it’s warm and comfortable, and beautifully light. Even though it’s been cold and rainy or overcast for days, I still don’t have to turn on lights in the daytime. And my indoor plants are thriving.

As is Milly who is currently outside  on the deck, keeping an eye on the birds sitting in the trees in case they decide to trespass on her territory.