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.