Thanks to everyone for comments yesterday about house moving, lots of people moving here there and everywhere!
No idea how many weeks its been since the first mention of "being careful" which was quickly followed by the first lock-down and I have no intention to count them - too depressing.
It's been a very grey week here in Suffolk and I've not been far at all but it's been a good week for sorting things out from drawers and cupboards. So far I've moved out to the workshop........a chest of drawers and the old dresser top that sat on them and a small table with a drawer. The local facebook page doesn't allow selling and there's no local selling site for out here in the wilds so I'll try and give them away. Still waiting for Youngest Daughters ex partner to come and collect things from the garage, he might want the chest of drawers.
I got a quote from the removal company that moved me from the smallholding to the Very Small Bungalow (I say me because Colin was in hospital that week) and moved us from the Very Small Bungalow to here (Both of us that time) - Blimey removal prices have gone up since 2017. Did you know there is a shortage of cardboard boxes? No neither did I. The governments idea of removing the Stamp Duty until the end of March is good for me and brilliant for the young family buying here(they couldn't afford it if had to have another ? thousand pounds added on) but is making it hard for conveyance solicitors who have everyone wanting to complete by 31st March and the removal companies who are likely to have lots of people all wanting to move at the same time.
Not much of excitement to mention this week although I made up the tin of orange cheats marmalade that was in the cupboard and used whisky to replace some of the water. I'd found a new bottle of whisky in my "wine cellar" (a crate in the garage) when clearing it out last week. No idea when it was bought and what it was planned for - not to drink that's for sure. It should liven up the marmalade a little!
Now I can pack away my jam pan and other preserving bits - won't need them again for a while and all remaining jars that were in a box in the garage can go in the bottle bank.
Yesterday was the dullest day of the week with fog and frost staying all day. I went out in the garden to see if there was a frosted cobweb to photograph but couldn't see one and it was too nasty to stay out for long so just a frosty seed head and a foggy meadow.
So what am I grateful for this week?
- A wonderful stock of books to read
- Clearing out more things and getting boxes packed - less to do later.
- A warm house
The weather forecast for the weekend here is a bit better than the last week- no idea what I'll be doing apart from digging up part of the Chives plant to pot up and take with me and I spotted a self sown Rosemary seedling somewhere too. Plus I need to empty one of the water butts if it isn't frozen solid as I want to load all the gardening tools into one to take with me.
We are paying a goodly amount (a VERY goodly amount I might add!) to move from here, but the other company who quoted, wanted a shade under £7,000 to move us! I know all about the shortage of boxes as that is the reason why we are still packing now (this will be right up to the wire, I suspect, as we only got the elephant sized roll of bubblewrap needed a fortnight ago, yesterday afternoon - when we drove across the county to collect it!) Also with so many people moving, removal companies can be choosy about who they move and really ramp up the price of the difficult (e.g. big) moves, as we discovered.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are getting organized anyway. After spending hours individually wrapping my glass Kilner/storage jars yesterday, I began to regret always using them for storage and not leaving stuff in packets! yet it keeps things fresher.
Do you have a Freecycle group in your area, for offloading things you don't want to take? There should be a Facebook Marketplace page too - lots of our antiques friends sell stuff on there. Obviously you would need to join Facebook.
We are also in the final stages of packing up to move...to an intermediate lodging while we wait for a new house to be built, so most stuff going into storage. Trying to decide what we will need for an unknown period of time is tricky! Plus it's going to be around 40 degrees Celsius all week which just makes it all that much harder. I empathise with you!
ReplyDeleteIt all sounds incredibly complicated and busy. You are very wise to get as much done as early as possible. I didn't know about the shortage of cardboard boxes either but I'm not really surprised. Apart from anything else, people are shopping so much more online and I know my cardboard recycling bag has been more full that it ever has been before.
ReplyDeletexx
It certainly looks cold outside and very misty but sometimes these days turn out into really nice days.
ReplyDeleteI know you love reading and I thought you might like this that my Brother sent today "his 10 year old G.D. Danellia won a prize at the library/school for writing a story "LIBER THE LION"
So pleased you have done a lot more clearing up.
Enjoy the weekend everyone.
Hazel c uk 🌈🌈🌈📕📕
I suspect both my neighbours here could supply you with all the cardboard boxes you need as, like many young families, everything is delivered to them and there isn't a day goes by without them having a delivery. I am not even sure how they fit it all into their houses as they are only the same size as ours.
ReplyDeleteI expect removal men are making a fortune out of this and unfortunately the prices won't come down after March 31st.
Three inches of snow here but lovely day today.
ReplyDeleteExpensive but it's hard to do without them. Friends moved just two doors down from where they lived. We decided it was so close we could do it between us. No need for a removal company. It was only a few yards...
ReplyDelete18 HOURS later...
I guess the shortage of cardboard boxes for moving is cause and effect? Love the eerie silence in your frosty photos.
ReplyDeleteYou were brave to go out and take those gorgeous photos but oh how mystical they are! xoxo
ReplyDeleteRegarding removal costs increasing. I remember my mother saying that when they moved in the 70's from one address in St Albans to another address in St. Albans it cost the same amount as their big move in the late 1940's from West Calder near Edinburgh to Kent.
ReplyDeleteLove that frosted seedhead - beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHauntingly beautiful photos Sue...worthy of a frame? x
ReplyDeleteHi Sue - what a lot you have to do to move! People still seem to be posting on Facebook marketplace, or the local Things for Sale In ..., also Gumtree. Some of the Freecycle groups seem to be operating and others are saying they won't ( I am on three Freecycle groups). I also see people putting offers for moving boxes, and requests on Freecycle, so worth a try. Do you use ebay? I sold a lot of my dad's furniture on there last year. I am trying to guess where you are moving too as it is close by. I don't suppose you have any spare sage plants in your herb patch? I'd love to be able to help you move as I have lots of spare time but Covid has messed everything up for everyone at the moment. Best wishes. PatC
ReplyDeleteHiya, haven't heard from you for a while.
DeleteI'm moving from from one side of the A140 to the other! Sorry The only sage here is HUGE!
It may have been a dull day, Sue, but your photos are really lovely, with such tremendous atmosphere and mood.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos Sue. I am aghast at the price of moving judging by some of your comments.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you with the moving ahead of you. I hope you are able to find an affordable moving company. You are wise to pack a bit everyday as I'm sure that will help a lot.
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are beautiful. I love them both but there is something especially nice about the foggy meadow!
When I moved here 6 years ago we did it by tractor and trailer, 8 miles. Fortunately it wasn't raining.
ReplyDeleteSorry the movers are so expensive, I always like to get an early start on packing and ask the local supermarket to keep boxes for me, they flatten them and cram them into 1 box, if you have a small shop nearby you could ask to take some from the customer packing area.
ReplyDeleteI love frost covered trees and bushes. Things look like they are covered in little diamonds.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Beautiful photos ... and I guess it is Week 40+ by now unfortunately :-(
ReplyDeleteYep, everyone is going to want to be moving at the same time aren't they, and at last we have had some serious interest in the smallholding, so we could be joining in with the countrywide shift around.
My main move though will just be from the flat to my new little annexe so not far at all and mostly once again done with my care for all the small stuff and perhaps our Mitsu for the larger stuff. Oh and I made up all my cheats marmalade too ... and then sold all my jam making stuff on Facebook Marketplace. Any future batches will be small and easily fit in a normal pan.
Having not moved for a few years now (I have moved around for most of my life)out of curiosity, I wonder how much it would cost to do it now? Although probably no help to you (thanks to present conditions) card shops are a valuable resource of card boxes. Wonder if you could ask on your local FB community page?
ReplyDelete