I don’t have a lot of help with housework, just two women for two hours, once a month.  They don’t clean as well as I do, nor as efficiently, but they are quick and cheerful and sometimes it’s a week when I’d be too busy to do much at all, so at least I know that the carpets will be hoovered, the floors swept and the rooms dusted.  In preparation for the blog party, I’ve asked them to come for four hours.  Of course, to use their time most effectively, the rooms have to be cleared ready for cleaning, so that’s what I’ve started on today.

I don’t know how many people will be staying over – I know of two so far, but I’ll get all the rooms ready in case – actually, if they’re all taken, I have to do some emergency sorting out, but that’s another matter.  I’m starting with the bedrooms and working through.  When I do this sort of thing, I clear each room as I go but there are always some things that can’t be found a home straight away, so one room is designated as the lumbar room, and not in a back sense.

Ronan’s room and Alex’s room are done and the landing is nearly done.  Next will be my bedroom, the bathroom and the small room, which needs very little done to it – nor does my room nor the bathroom, come to that, which means upstairs is nearly sorted, taking into account that the bedroom over the kitchen is getting stacked high with Stuff.  Most of the Stuff is pictures.  I’ve disposed of dozens – none of them very special, but Russell could never buy one of anything.  A skilled amateur painter we knew did a number of paintings of the yacht basin in Lowestoft, including the Yacht Club.  We had three paintings of it, all slightly different.  I’ve kept one.  The others are worth almost nothing, less than Russell paid, but I can’t help that.  I must declutter.

Russell had had some oil paintings cleaned and seemed to have had some new frames made and there are other empty frames too.  It’s not easy getting these matched up.  I’ve found two that fit so far, an old one and a new one.  I managed to find some pins to hammer in but I couldn’t remember where we’d put the picture cord we’d found last week, so I went out to buy some.  I still wasn’t able to put the biggest picture where I wanted to, as it was too heavy and too high for me to cope with, so I’ve bodged things a bit.  Even so, I’ve taken down several paintings I didn’t like and replaced them with others.

Russell was the art buyer, almost entirely.  A few paintings are mine but he decided what was to be hung and where.  It was his house and his decision, I never interfered.

Anyway, I also cleared six binbags full of old clothes, which have been put in the Scope bin at the village recycling.  It was all deeply tedious, but I’ve made a lot of progress and done it on my own.  When the family come over at the weekend, they can decide on other things to be kept or chucked.  I don’t throw anything away that belongs to someone else, that’d be rude.