MID-JULY 2018       NOW WHAT DO WE DO?

After the initial excitement of the new house purchase had died down, we faced the question – now what? The radical de-cluttering of a few months previous had seemed like a good idea in order to present our home in the best possible way. However, the thought that we might have months to fill in hadn’t really entered my mind.

The winter garden did not need much work to keep it looking good.

There was not so much packing still to do that I needed a whole three months in which to do it – and besides, we still needed our clothes, dinnerware, dog utensils and the like.

John could still work in his shed because that had not been de-cluttered yet. Given the valuable contents, he had not wanted it on display in the sale process. He was actually the one who could start to do some packing, but first there were still bowls to turn and boxes to make…

We weren’t game to go on a trip with Bus and leave the house unoccupied – in case something happened that would mess up our sale. Call it superstitious, but…

Mid-winter was a good time for me to settle in with some quilting work – but all my crafting things were in storage. My embroidery – ditto. Not a knitting or crochet needle left in the house. What about my colouring books – no, they were hiding in a box across town. I could go and buy a colouring book, but balked at the expense of decent pencils because mine too were packed away with the books – and the sudokus, crosswords… and so on.

Thank God for the computer! At least I had Solitaire, Mahjong and online jigsaw puzzles.

With all the screen time, a trip to the optometrist for new glasses became necessary. Along with a final session with our wonderful dentist, almost a welcome interlude – something to do!

Earlier in the year, consultation with a neurologist about increasing discomfort when walking had led to a series of tests and screens, squeezed in amongst the house preparation. August saw my follow-up visit to him, and the not-so-welcome news that ongoing deterioration of the old various damaged  L bits in the lower back was now accompanied by some issues higher up, and general compaction of the spine. In other words, it ain’t going to get any better.

The garden put on a final impressive late winter into early spring display for me. I wasn’t going to have plants like azaleas and camellias in the hotter and drier climate of Bendigo.

The spring garden

Some of the shrubs had sentimental attachments: the camellia that had been a wedding present, the white one in front of the unit that my father had won at bowls. There was the beautifully delicate one that had grown from a cutting from mum’s garden – the original a Mothers Day present to her some 35 years ago. I thought about trying to strike cuttings of my favourites, but decided that both climate and  poor soil would make success unlikely.

Mum’s camellia

In September, I commenced the final packing process – at a leisurely pace. It still resulted in an impressive number of boxes stacked up in the back rooms.

With hindsight, John should have done the same in his shed. That was a mammoth task and he kept putting it off…