Monday 15 March 2021

Surface Tension

The homekeeping experts all tell you to keep the bedroom calm and free of clutter to enable restful sleep. And in your kitchen, aim for clear worktops, so you have adequate room to prepare meals etc. Leaving Leicestershire was chaotic- my careful planning completely ruined by the burglary. That meant that I had to repack some of the boxes they had ripped open, and my pre-departure cleaning schedule' was abandoned [why spend precious time cleaning the kitchen cupboards which had been flooded and ruined, and were about to be ripped out and replaced?]

This time however, I hope I am better organised. I have one large box of charity shop donations and I am leaving that here, and asking a friend to deliver, once the CS are open again. In the bedroom therefore, the bedside units have gone, and Bob has The Box- I have a plastic crate. The crate will hold all the last minute bedroom stuff on Moving Day [except those lamps*]

All my kitchen cupboards, apart from two shelves [one for basic crockery, the other has tea and coffee supplies] are completely emptied and scrubbed clean. And I am afraid that the surfaces are definitely not clear and clutterfree! 

All my cleaning supplies are arranged along the windowsill. The chicken brick is still in regular use, but 95% of the time is being an impromptu fruit bowl. All cutlery is stored, next to the breadbin, in the basket from a defunct dishwasher. The saucepans and Le Creuset casseroles are living on the hob. 


And no I am not posting a photo of all that disorder! Bob admits that he finds the kitchen situation quite stressful - but I just do not want to spend time at the end of the box-packing and van-loading doing more cleaning. I am glad to get some of it done beforehand.

When we lived in the Midlands, I never got to visit Mr Straw's House, a remarkable NT property showing life in the first half of the last century. After his mother died, suddenly in 1939, William changed almost nothing in the house for the remainder of his life. I watched a documentary where the narrator said "He just lived on the surface altering as little as he could" - consequently the contents of cupboards and wardrobes remained untouched...

The reduction of kitchen items to the bare minimum, everything else packed, has been a useful exercise. I run the dishwasher after our meal each evening. Even for two of us, four forks is proving not quite enough for one day. I packed all my bakeware - but kept the aluminium dishes from a few ready meals and chickens to use in the oven. But why did I not leave myself a loaf tin? OK I have the breadmaker, in regular use - but I'd not realised how many meals I prepare, and cakes I bake, in the loaf tin. 

*The chrome one with the conical glass shade is very special. It came from Jim-next-door. He had it on the shelf behind his chair to shine a light over his shoulder when he was reading, and he gave it to me when he went into the home. He is 95 in a couple of months, and still going strong - but sadly I wont be able to visit and give him a goodbye hug before we leave. 


12 comments:

  1. We visited Mr Straw’s house several years ago, it is absolutely fascinating, but beware of keeping old custard powder. The guide told us that one of the visitors who was a chemist was horrified see custard amongst the old tins in the l larder. Apparently it is volatile when old and could have exploded! Hope the move goes well.

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    1. I shall have to investigate exploding custard powder!

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  2. You are doing amazingly! I am so impressed about your meticulous planning for moving. So organised and strict about it. Moving is SO stressful so anything to avoid the stress is excellent. When we moved to our house, we had done lots of packing but it went on and on and we hired a van one day but it only did about 3 rounds as it took so long to load (as we hadn't had loads of time to get packed). Then I had about a week or so (maybe 2) of getting on the rail replacement bus in the evenings with suitcases of stuff which I just emptied into the rooms as CBC's dad had died the morning after we had started the moving so he went up to Northumberland first thing that morning (after returning the van) for a week. We had starting moving things over the Christmas break as we were moving from our rental house so we were lucky to do it gradually. Still, it did seem never ending!

    I am glad you are able to gradually move things as both houses don't have anyone else to move in/out.

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    1. I remember the complications of your move - and as you say, being able to do it gradually helps

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  3. It sounds like you're really well organised!
    When we last moved we had two boxes of random items labelled "last box upstairs" and "last box downstairs". They were full of the last minute items you can't manage without but oddly didn't get opened first because of the way they were loaded and unloaded, making them not very accessible!
    Mr Straw's house is indeed fascinating, much of the household stuff is recognisable from my childhood. It's well worth a visit and in fact we have been twice. On the second occasion they had a special visit where they opened more of the cupboards and drawers so we could see what was inside! I always find the kitchens the most fascinating part of a visit and it was remarkably similar to the kitchen we had in the 1950's. We lived with my grandmother at the time and all her belongings were most definitely pre-war!

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    1. Oh don't you just feel so OLD when they have stuff in museums that were part of your childhood!

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  4. This is really happening! It seems not so long ago that you had that awful burglary. A whole new chapter is about to reveal itself to us, your excited readers! I do hope that excitement will override stress, most days x

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    1. I think adventure will prevail in the end - and I do so appreciate the people cheering us along

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  5. Your "bedside tables" remind me of how my parents and I started out in this country, when we didn't have money for furniture. :)

    Your packing up is so well organized! I enjoy packing; it's the unpacking and putting away at the other end that I dislike! Hope the move goes well and you have plenty of help with the loading and unloading, etc.

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    1. At least with a 'retirement' move, there isnt the same time pressure to get the unpacking done AND start the new job at the same time. We 'hit the ground running' here and it was hard work at first

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  6. I'm praying for your move, Ang, though I'm not sure when it's going to happen. I do hope all goes well.

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    1. Thank you Nicky. Bob's last Snday is April 11th and we move on Monday 12th

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