A moving experience

I’m in, and about time too. My new home is greatand at last I feel like I can start the new year for real rather than camping out with a bed, a table, four chairs and a suitcase of clothes.

Moving this time around required putting my life on hold, and to achieve that I needed to put almost my whole world into storage. My goodest and bestest friend Ms C made the initial move and reserved a storage unit for me. It was a good start although she underestimated the scale of my collected possessions quite considerably. It did not matter, the team at Big Yellow were helpful and pretty soon had my booking changed to something on a far grander scale.

“The guys turned up and did the deed, carefully packing up my life and taking it to storage where I sealed it in with a padlock”

Next I needed to hire a van. Well, it was an easy choice and I got back to my old friend Julian at He-Van. He estimated what size van I would need based on moving me the time before and he got it just right. On the appointed day the van and tow guys turned up and did the deed, carefully packing up my life and then taking it to the storage unit where I sealed it in with a huge padlock.

I thought it would be there for a few weeks at most but in the meantime mum had two minor strokes and life went into a spiral of terrible rail travel and hospital visiting.

I’m pleased to say that Mum is now on the mend and by the time this reaches the streets she should be back in her own home with an extensive care package in place to make her life as easy as possible and hopefully to get back to some kind of normality. If you know my family you will understand that normal is not that appropriate and adjective to describe us.

When word finally came that all was well I was in a position to call up the guys at He-Van again and get them to release my life from storage.

I met them at Big Yellow, filled in the documentation and unlocked the huge padlock, and there like an Aladdin’s Cave lay me life, somewhat dustier than I remembered but mine all the same. Once again the Big Yellow gang where charming and helpful and I would highly recommend their efficient and surprisingly affordable services.

The He-Van He-Men loaded up and shipped my world back to my new lair and there it all lies. Some is unpacked, some not, and the place is a mess, but it’s mine all mine and I love it.

I now have to try to find some space in my crazy life to sort things out, to clean things and put them in the right place. I have to hang my collection of pictures, sort my mountain of theatre programmes and rationalise my massive batterie de cuisine – all this and work, eat and play.

Down in Somerset a similar process is in place as Mum prepares to return to the house that has been home for the last 30 years. But things will have to change for her. The stairs are no longer an option so a bedroom needs to be made downstairs. The kitchen will need to be made accessible with her newly adopted walking frame – the one thing she fought so long not to use – and a ramp is being installed at the front door. Stuff will have to go, there is no doubt, and that will be hard. Whilst I am making space for the objects that ground my existence she will be forced to start shedding those that have long been a part of her life.

I wish I could live without what most people would call clutter but I find it hard. Watching now as Mum starts to shed hers will, I hope, make me more moderate in my aquisitiveness.