The Shift


The removal men arrived today with all of our furniture and possessions. I wasn't happy. I stood for about three hours in the cold, silently seething, saying 'house' or 'barn' as a Generation Game-esque conveyor belt of items for the home that I neither want nor need rolled past me. And like most of the Generation Game contestants, I can't remember much of what went past, although I do remember a bag of cuddly toys... 

 Nearly everything has gone directly to the top barn, where it will probably stay. For years. Matching Phase Eight dresses and heels- why? When? About a thousand antique books- why? What for? My stamp collection, and a box of forty-one model windmills! Enough crockery and pans to cater for an army, literally. Ridiculous.

 It dawned on me that I've spent a lifetime gathering these things, and now these things no longer fit my life. All I need is food and waterproof clothing. And my technology. 

 The most exciting new arrival is the bread-maker and a bag of Co-op strong white flour- now, I do have a use for that. I'm using that already. As our gite building work progresses, we will eventually need some of the rugs, mirrors and items of decorative interest. And most of the furniture will be useful.

 The arrival of our things represented a shift. A shift of things, but, more importantly, a shift in thinking and being.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The tower finds itself in high demand

Image
I've been asking Kevin to hurry up and finish the work on the south wall for AGES as I wanted the tower in order to paint the north wall. FINALLY, he scaled it and reattached the flailing planks and the loose edge-tiles. He also finished and painted the outside of the little window frames, installing mosquito nets too. It's such a relief to get all of these little jobs done! But was I to get the tower? No. Kevin fell into a frenzy of loose tile fixing all around the house! Eventually, I did secure ownership of the tower and repainted the grubby-looking north wall. No, you can't see the finished job, as, to be honest, it's still a bit grubby. And, after our aerial efforts concluded with no dramatic falls, we returned to some familiar territory of bygone renovation days: fluff puff! We have never managed to finish our master bedroom, mainly because we were waiting for a stretch of good weather in order to build the second dormer window. However, due to Covid-19, we didn&#
Read more

The sad ending we never expected to see

Image
You'd probably guessed, but we've sold up and moved back to England. Six years of renovating in our Correzian paradise had to come to a sudden end due to the folly that is Brexit, and the plague that is Covid. These unpredictable twin horrors meant that we could no longer flit between two countries with ease, and neither could our family and friends.  I thought you'd enjoy seeing some of our last views of our little French farmstead.  What do we miss the most? Friends Freedom Stunning scenery Great restaurants Beautiful villages Vide greniers Good wine at good prices Sunshine Empty roads Over and out. Thank you for following our adventure.
Read more

Renavoidance?

Image
Don't ever buy a property with 8 acres of land. Unless you have a vast array of top grade farming machinery. I'd like to be sharing with you our achievements with the renovation (and I know that's what you're here for!), but most of our time has been spent mowing, strimming, raking and visiting the dechetterie. Our ride-on mower has more or less given up the ghost, and I really don't think it'd be worth mending/servicing it. I'm not sure how we're going to continue to tame the land with just two push mowers and a scythe. We've decided to leave a lot of our land as meadow, with creative paths mown through it. Farmer Joel has very kindly mown and gathered hay, but this has exposed acres of dry, unpleasant stubble. And you wouldn't believe the amount of dust and grass seed that's kicked up during the processes of cutting, turning, lining up and baling! The time of dust coincided with the time of refreshing the exterior white paint. Thankfully, n
Read more