SATURDAY OCTOBER 21   NOW WHERE DID I PUT THAT?

After two days of solid unpacking and ordering of belongings, John took himself off to bowls, having already sussed out clubs, joined the one of his choice and even bought the uniform.

I continued excavating boxes. It couldn’t possibly take as long to empty these as it had to fill them – just felt that way.

We had amassed impressive piles of flattened boxes and mini mountains of bubble wrap, out on the patio. Would have to work out what to do with all that – be nice to sell it, Had cost me a small fortune to buy in the first place.

We had emptied daughter’s trailer of my pot plants, putting them temporarily in the shade of the largest tree in the back yard. Redistributing them to proper placement was another job waiting in the wings.

With husband out of the way, I fancied some background music to work to, being in the habit of playing the sounds I prefer when he was at bowls. The big sound system had a rats nest of cables and wires between its components including two independent speakers. When packing in Melbourne, I had labelled each lead and made a careful diagram of which wires went where, so I could set it all back up again. But…where the hell had I put the diagram? It never did resurface. Trial and error over a frustratingly long time saw me eventually get the sound system working again. I was very proud of myself – until a helpful family member commented that it would have been so easy, had I just thought to take photos of the back of it all, on my phone, before dismantling. Nup – didn’t think of that.

Sound system in background

Today’s other great achievement was finally emptying the last box occupying our big dining table. Tonight we could eat without a cardboard wall down the middle between us.

John had not enjoyed his bowls as much as expected. As an unknown quality, he’d been placed in a lower side, which rather affronted him. Then, to rub it in, he hadn’t even played well.