After school (and we have only 38 days left of official curriculum school for the year, but we’ll also have an extra week or two of short sessions of completing the spelling and maths courses) I told Nick that I was planning on doing some work at the manse – clean-up, sort out, throw away, pack, etc, in an effort to officially move out as well as start cleaning it to make it habitable for our successors. He said if I waited a little while that he would come too – a way better option for me! I made supper preparations while I waited, and then by 1 o'clock we were ready to go. The boys played in their old room for a while and tried to be helpful in other ways – Caleb did a bit of vacuuming. Nick cleaned the downstairs bookshelves which were thickly coated in dust, then cleaned the books and reshelved them, clearing a bit of lounge space. That was a big job. He also packed some books from his office. 
I packed books from the lounge wall units, and then started in the diningroom with sorting and tossing. I pulled most of the school things off the walls (and a few bits of paint, oops). Once that was mostly done I went up to the boys room which I had been dreading, but I found it was actually quite easy once I lost my fear of simply throwing toys away. Things that are still good or in full sets I am keeping to redistribute, but all the little bits and pieces I have tossed. It was great! When I had exhausted what I could do in there, and pried off the three or four dead centipedes which had sunk their claws into the carpet, I started on the fearsome three cupboards in the passage which are absolutely loaded with old stuff, mostly unusable. I finished the first one and got halfway with the second, but by then it was 4 pm and time to go. We had let the boys walk down to the swimming pool just before 3 pm – since they are both able swimmers we figured it would be okay for them to be at the pool without adult supervision (although of course the lifeguards are always about). They had loved their swim – the town weather is warming up now to make it a great afternoon activity again.
I packed books from the lounge wall units, and then started in the diningroom with sorting and tossing. I pulled most of the school things off the walls (and a few bits of paint, oops). Once that was mostly done I went up to the boys room which I had been dreading, but I found it was actually quite easy once I lost my fear of simply throwing toys away. Things that are still good or in full sets I am keeping to redistribute, but all the little bits and pieces I have tossed. It was great! When I had exhausted what I could do in there, and pried off the three or four dead centipedes which had sunk their claws into the carpet, I started on the fearsome three cupboards in the passage which are absolutely loaded with old stuff, mostly unusable. I finished the first one and got halfway with the second, but by then it was 4 pm and time to go. We had let the boys walk down to the swimming pool just before 3 pm – since they are both able swimmers we figured it would be okay for them to be at the pool without adult supervision (although of course the lifeguards are always about). They had loved their swim – the town weather is warming up now to make it a great afternoon activity again. 
1 comment:
It seems so strange to think that I sat in that room over a year ago.
Our afternoons at your house are some of the clearest memories I have of St. Helena.
Post a Comment