It's time again, it's arrived, those final two weeks before "The Big Move"
I'd promised myself to be more organised this time, to not spend the last few hours throwing the last remaining items unsorted into black plastic bags and stuffing them into the car while forcing the boot door closed with three heavy weights.
This time, however, I have my partner to assist in this painful process. She has been incredibly good at sorting out various things around our "soon to be old" home.
The lounge and kitchen now resemble a chinese laundry as Cathy starts "processing" the various curtains, towels and assorted items in order to get the full deposit back.
I've been handling the daunting financial aspects of the new rental, getting a temporary bank loan, making deals with the letting agent, changing the utilities. It's a painful process.
We have the inventory of the current rental at hand, a bulky set of papers cunningly crafted by an "independent organisation" when I first moved in. The detail of this inventory is indepth and often inventive.
A clock radio which has never worked is labelled as "in working order", a couch which is clearly beige, is noted as being "pink". I hope it wasn't pink when I moved in!
Some groups of items are referred to as "assorted books / various blankets", while others are so carefully described we can no longer find them.
The detail is as much a blessing as a curse. It's the realm of the Devil himself!
(The rental here is fully furnished, so we have to leave it exactly as it was when we moved in.)
Moving home in this manner is akin to taking apart a large jigsaw puzzle with your toes and reassembling it with your elbows.
What amazes me is that I arrived in England with two backpacks of possessions. Everything I owned in the world fitted into a single passenger sized car backseat, with room to spare. Heck, I hauled it around the tube for 8 hours.
In just one year I have at least three full car loads.
Cathy, on the other hand, has enough stuff to fill the hold of a 747 (bless her little cotton socks)
We're talking decades of collection here folks!
Not that I mind. We live an eclectic life and have decided our way of furnishing our new home will be "bohemian"
We shall continue to live with interesting clutter in our new abode.
May this move be over soon and celebrated with a steamy bubble bath and champers!
