Moving – part 5

The number of things you gather in a few years… this was a big move! The last move! The fifth move in a mere three years time. For the large and heavy items we rent a moving company for part of the day. All the other stuff we stow in bags and cases and we take them by car. Every day a bit.

Unload

We unload in a house that is far from finished. Stow away contents of bags and boxes anywhere. So the empty bag can go back to Bombarral for more. Our son is here for a week and helps carrying, mounting, unloading and packing. We have a lot of fun and he is a great help!

Filling drawers

And slowly I can start to unpack some things and search for a new spot in the closets. Hang the summer dresses in a grand wardrobe. Install new lamps. Make up our new bed with new pillows. Unpack stuff that has been in boxes for nearly three years. Surprises.

And I know, I am such a sucker for stowage possibilities, drawers, baskets, organizers. Such a pleasure to finally lay all my kitchen things in dreamed and defined spaces. A drawer for breakfast things, close to the fridge. A drawer with tea and coffee things where the coffee machine and cooker are to be. One with herbs. One with all the cooking pots next to each other, instead of in and on top of each other in all the crammed kitchen cabinets I lived with. Oh drama, such a blessed overview and space, my mind completely comes to rest.

Patience

The showers aren’t working yet. The tiles for the bathrooms may be finished coming week, but then they yet have to be installed. Faucets mounted. There are no counter tops in kitchen and bathrooms. Once more we are looking at alternative possibilities that are affordable and available and manageable for our working men. Curtains had to be returned and curtain rails did not work properly. All week there are guys working in and around the house. Also when I am in a Teams meeting with my colleagues. Guys that make everything dirty again, day after day. We keep vacuuming. Taking bags with sorted rubbish to the various containers in the neighborhood. Weeding needs to be done in our new lavender field, before spikey thistles take over. Blisters on my hands. We search endlessly for a proper dining table and chairs, as by now we have had enough of the garden furniture we used for the last three years. Searching is not easy as there are not many suitable shops for furniture. And maybe our beloved carpenter can do a better job for a natural wood table top, than some expensive design company in Denmark?

The carpenter still has a lot of work to do. We have ordered book shelving in the living room. A wardrobe for the hall, or mudroom, for coats and shoes. Solar panels must be connected. The outside of the house is not yet finished with plastering. The deck around the swimming pool now really needs to be oiled, as the weather is becoming hot and the wood quickly dries out. Meaning we can’t sleep in, as we have to do this early in the morning while it is still reasonably fresh outside. Yes, the painters are also eager to take on this job. But they can only come on Sunday. And we do not want to see anyone this Sunday. No one. No workers, no noise. Just birds and crickets. And the occasional unavoidable farmers machine in the distance. Nothing else.