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Stages of a disaster…the further joys of unpacking.
Most of this exercise has been a matter of shuffling things out of the way long enough to sort through things & tuck them somewhere else … so that we can unpack another box. It’s rather like trying to change clothes in an airport bathroom when one doesn’t wish to touch the floor (D. provides this analogy, as he is still somewhat scarred at having had to change into a business suit in a bathroom in the Newark, New Jersey, airport.) It’s a bit cramped, but we’re making it.
As you can see from the post: we now have desks! Our two bookcases also came flat-packed, and were assembled quickly, since we were VERY careful about where all the pieces belonged. Some of you have expressed horror about the number of boxes in our little flat — many of them are clothes but most of them are books! We gave away loads of books before we packed, but thought that some of these we could not do without — now, having been without them for two solid months? Well, we now understand what we can do without a bit better. We’ve already contacted a librarian, and are in the process of the Great Giveaway. This is part of a process of simplifying that is really very good for us on many levels.
Aside from the earlier reported broken glass and now the base of our cake tray, nothing has been broken, which is a flat out miracle. The glass … well, we’re down to 3, and we started (13 years ago) with 8, so it’s not as if breakage wasn’t expected, although we have loved the cobalt blue glass. The cake plate has always looked precarious, and the hollow ceramic base neatly snapped from the platter, so we figure we’ve acquired a vase of sorts in the process, and now like our cake plate all the better.
In a flat this size, storage is at a bit of a premium, as you can see when you notice that there are all manner of things stacked above the kitchen cabinets. We don’t hold out much hope for this resolving any time soon, as more foodstuffs will need to come into the house, now that we have a good accounting of what we had shipped (Yes – we’re odd. We shipped things like whole oats, rye, and barley, as well as dried fruit, spices, tea, nuts and seeds – we’d just gone shopping when we found out we were moving – it seemed like a good idea at the time to just pack it up. Anyway, in some cases it turns out that our “oddness” was a Very Good Thing, as we are finding it difficult to procure some items we like to have, and we’ll be asking family members for a few Care Packages soonish anyway).
We also have a good idea of what we should have left home (a cutting board or two, florist supplies [??] and some very thin cotton shorts which we likely won’t ever wear here), but we have found true happiness in using our own stainless steel pots & pans again. It was blissful this morning to cook in a frying pan which was both large enough, and which had a thick enough bottom to adequately distribute heat to all parts of the pan!
Our goal is to have everything settled by next weekend (being realistic – and that may still not include having pictures and artwork hung) and to have things settled so that D. can ride his bike to classes next week – meaning we have found everything but the bike helmets. We’re hoping that we didn’t leave them back in California somewhere…
“Then the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to be true, after a fashion!” said Bilbo.
“Of course!” said Gandalf. “And why should not they prove true? Surely you don’t disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don’t really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!”
“Thank goodness!” said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar.– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
– D & T
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So do we ever get to see the Cobalt Blue Glasses that remain? I have to admit quite a bit of Curiosity.
Who would have been the curious one in Pooh?
And good luck finding the helmets.
I think that we will go through a similar Weeding Out of Stuff when we eventually move. Many many boxes have been packed and in the back shed for much much longer than two months, It will be interesting to see what treasures we uncover after we start going through stuff.
There is nothing like moving for making you see what you can live without. My first big move — from Miami to California — I remember sitting and looking through six boxes of junk I’d paid dearly to mail. That was first lesson in learning to pack carefully, and it’s stood me in good stead.
Good luck with the dishes, and remember: I’ve got half a dozen oven-proof baking casseroles just waiting for you to give them a home.