Inspired by the clearing up and throwing out of rubbish from my parents' house, I did a little more in my own home this morning, if only to make room for the stuff I have brought back. I only managed to throw out one big bag's worth, but let's face it, when you're a hoarder, every little helps.
Then we set out in the van to James' flat in Highgate, and he accompanied us to Hilary's new pad in Belsize Park. She has moved into a lovely light attic room at the top of a semi, and up a spiral staircase, and is in need of furniture. My mum had an old cast-iron treddle Singer sewing machine in her bedroom - she used it to make all my clothes when I was little, and pedalled away at great speed to great effect! It is a bit of an antique now, and she left it to James, knowing his interest in furniture. Its home for now is in Hilary's room - good job we could take it to pieces, we would never have got it up the stairs. When in place it looked lovely, and I had to laugh when Hilary announced she would keep her computer on it - so she will be sitting at the sewing machine built for use before electricity, happily e-mailing and surfing the net.... my mum would have found that funny!
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Early start..early finish!
Back home in St Albans earlier than expected! I was up at 6am blogging, then got bathed and dressed about 7am, followed by everyone else: Clive was moving and cleaning my dad's metro ready for a photo, Adele and Dave were up a ladder emptying the loft, the skip arrived at 8am, not as big as we expected, and we had filled it by ten past nine! My dad's collapsing wardrobe and chest of drawers were helped to disintegrate a little more..followed by my dad's chair, the one he sat on in the kitchen, which really needed condemning, that went under the sledge hammer and into the skip..what a way to say goodbye....
All my mum and dad's clothes were bagged up and taken to various charity shops, cupboards and drawers emptied..it is scary how a whole lifetime for two people amounts to so little..what is precious to one person is worthless to another..and something that is worthless can mean so much....of course I was the only one to shed tears, everyone looked at me like I was mad, or just embarrassing. Of course I'll bin my parents' belongings if it has to be done, but please expect me to be sad...
All my mum and dad's clothes were bagged up and taken to various charity shops, cupboards and drawers emptied..it is scary how a whole lifetime for two people amounts to so little..what is precious to one person is worthless to another..and something that is worthless can mean so much....of course I was the only one to shed tears, everyone looked at me like I was mad, or just embarrassing. Of course I'll bin my parents' belongings if it has to be done, but please expect me to be sad...
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Yes, it's time!
This morning, sitting at my laptop, at my parents' house in Bristol, at the disgusting hour of 6am because I can't sleep, I was reading other blogs, and just decided it was time again........to re-create my blog..the same but different. I feel I am holding my breath and typing quietly so no-one can hear...it feels so daring...but, anyway, I'm back.
Some of you know, some of you don't, why my last blog disappeared suddenly overnight - to cut a long story short, I had problems with work and was suspended, subject to a disciplinary process and was re-instated with a written warning on my file, because my blog was seen as a gross breach of confidentiality. I don't want to discuss this on my blog; my place of work will not be named again - deleting my blog made me very sad but I was given no choice.
The process was extremely painful and the shock waves are still reverberating at work...but it is still a job I love and I am doing to the best of my ability. Anyone who wants to know more must e-mail me separately!
I deleted my blog around May 12th - my last entry was May 9th, the day I was suspended and sent home. The shock, the pain, the awfulness of discovering what had led to this..when I thought I was sharing my work in order to give a better understanding of what I do and how much it means to me: inadvertently I had shared too much and others didn't view it in the same positive light...
Still, it's a learning curve, but others please be warned, be careful what you say in your blog because it is in the public domain and anyone can access it from anywhere at any time....
A brief update of the last three months - the day after I was reinstated in my job, my father collapsed at home and was taken to hospital. Four weeks later he died, once again, like my mum, suddenly, and before we could get there. Oh the joy of your mobile ringing while you are driving down the M4 to be told you are too late......
Today, five weeks on, I am here with my brother and our spouses, to continue the process of clearing the house in Bristol, and getting it ready to sell. This weekend is serious clearing - a skip will arrive soon, for the rubbish, and later on today we will instruct an agent to put it on the market, subject to probate. The years of driving to Bristol every weekend will soon be over..and not a moment to soon..I have to share with you the fact that since April I have clocked up 4 speeding tickets, totaling 12 points on my license, and I am probably going to court to plead for them not to take my license away! I could lsoe my job!!!! And I thought my little 1.2 polo was safe....mind you, one ticket was got in a certain Landrover Discovery....
Anyway, here I am, back blogging, but maybe not so often, and not so detailed! But back any way. Hello.
Some of you know, some of you don't, why my last blog disappeared suddenly overnight - to cut a long story short, I had problems with work and was suspended, subject to a disciplinary process and was re-instated with a written warning on my file, because my blog was seen as a gross breach of confidentiality. I don't want to discuss this on my blog; my place of work will not be named again - deleting my blog made me very sad but I was given no choice.
The process was extremely painful and the shock waves are still reverberating at work...but it is still a job I love and I am doing to the best of my ability. Anyone who wants to know more must e-mail me separately!
I deleted my blog around May 12th - my last entry was May 9th, the day I was suspended and sent home. The shock, the pain, the awfulness of discovering what had led to this..when I thought I was sharing my work in order to give a better understanding of what I do and how much it means to me: inadvertently I had shared too much and others didn't view it in the same positive light...
Still, it's a learning curve, but others please be warned, be careful what you say in your blog because it is in the public domain and anyone can access it from anywhere at any time....
A brief update of the last three months - the day after I was reinstated in my job, my father collapsed at home and was taken to hospital. Four weeks later he died, once again, like my mum, suddenly, and before we could get there. Oh the joy of your mobile ringing while you are driving down the M4 to be told you are too late......
Today, five weeks on, I am here with my brother and our spouses, to continue the process of clearing the house in Bristol, and getting it ready to sell. This weekend is serious clearing - a skip will arrive soon, for the rubbish, and later on today we will instruct an agent to put it on the market, subject to probate. The years of driving to Bristol every weekend will soon be over..and not a moment to soon..I have to share with you the fact that since April I have clocked up 4 speeding tickets, totaling 12 points on my license, and I am probably going to court to plead for them not to take my license away! I could lsoe my job!!!! And I thought my little 1.2 polo was safe....mind you, one ticket was got in a certain Landrover Discovery....
Anyway, here I am, back blogging, but maybe not so often, and not so detailed! But back any way. Hello.
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