Moving House

After living in the same house for 28 years we moved in 2003. We had to get rid of a lot of things, especially antique furniture which was too big for the new house. Kevin sold many tools and has gradually bought replacements! Lots of nicknacks went too - some of them to Helen.

Now she is moving house too. She has only been in her unit for 8 years, but she has been staggered by the amount of STUFF she has collected. A lot of it has come to us.

We moved house again in 2005. This house is bigger (need it for the stuff WE have) and boasts a very large workshop and storeroom. These are rapidly filling up, not least by boxes belonging to Helen. She has also returned some of the nicknacks she collected from us in the first place.

Moving house involves a lot of effort - not least for hapless parents. My contribution has been negligible. I have bought a few bits and pieces, went with her to look at a replacement for her lounge which is going to the new unit and helped organise where things are to go. Kevin has borne the brunt of the labour.

In her new unit Kevin has helped her prepare walls for painting, helped paint and put up picture hangers and curtain rods. At the old unit, now to be rented out, he has replaced an exhaust fan, painted around it, made a frame for the bathroom mirror, repaired scratched floorboards and repaired a shelf in one of the wardrobes. Today he has bought, stained and varnished new quarter rounds for the living area - she had a termite invasion a couple of years ago which left the old ones a shell. He has cut a piece of board to replace a section of sink cupboard back which has rotted and will replace that tomorrow.

Graham and he will collect the replacement lounge tomorrow. It needs to have some wooden blocks removed. They may leave delivering it until the weekend.

The tenants move in on Monday. Helen plans to clean the carpet tomorrow afternoon. Kevin hopes she doesn't find anything else for him to do.