Packing Up Is Hard To Do

It was just four years ago this week that our loft conversion was completed. It's a lovely room with a fabulous en suite bathroom and great views over the garden. But we're moving on and, as we started our packing at the top of the house it was the first to get the full treatment.

Here's how it looks today now that Paul and Sarah have told us which of the boxes in the attic they want to keep and which are to go into store. We were able to empty all of the cupboards beneath the eaves and put everything into about twenty boxes ready for the removal men. We'll miss this room;  at the top of the house it was a safe haven and we used it as a guest room and sometimes for ourselves as a cosy weekend retreat.

We found Sarah's favourite Poochie and Rag Doll up in the attic and, after a quick session in the washing machine, they're all set for the trek up to St Andrews after twenty odd years here in Southport. Paul's guitar and amp are all set for the trip to Rochester (God help his new neighbours) and today we got all our patio pots together ready for the journey to Framlingham.

We're likely to be homeless for up to five months and everything is going into store but the removal firm have no facilities for looking after plants and, as we've got a huge collection (this is less than half), we've arranged for a gardener to tend for them in Suffolk until we get there. It's costing over £300 to ship them there but the alternative is to lose them all and start again from scratch which is not an attractive prospect.


We've arranged for the conservatory here to be decorated before we leave; it was one of just two things that really needed doing and we don't want to leave the new owners with anything that looks less than immaculate. But it's been a hell of a job arranging it. The weather has kept putting the decorators off but finally, yesterday, the scaffolders arrived and erected the scaffolding in preparation for the painting. Just one problem. When I got home they'd left. They'd erected it in the wrong place - an area that doesn't need decorating and now they can't get back for a couple more days. This job seems to be fated and it's annoying that doing something at our own expense for which we'll see no benefit has caused so many problems. The second job is to re-grout some tiles and that's all in hand for next week. Our timetable has us completing the packing by then so maybe, just maybe, I'll get a chance to get out with the metal detector before we leave. 


It's twenty three years since we last moved and this last twenty three years has been the most active phase of our lives with the children growing up. So consequently we've got so much more stuff than we ever had in the past and packing it has involved planning with military precision. It's a good job that Marion is so well organised. We've got a timetable written down that covers every day now for the next two weeks. So far we're sticking to it precisely. Let's hope that everything continues to run smoothly.