WOYWW 197

(For an explanation of what “WOYWW” is, click on the logo in my sidebar and visit our hostess Julia’s blog, the Stamping Ground, and join in the fun!)

Well, long-time-no-appear, and I thought it would be good to pop in once more and at least show my face (metaphorically), just so you don’t all forget me.

Last time I didn’t have a photo of a messy or tidy workdesk to show you, but I thought this time I’d be brave and share some photos of what my poor old ARTHaven is looking like at the moment!! It’s been some weeks now since I’ve been able to do anything creative in there, and the desk has now reverted to its original office identity as nearly all my creative stuff has been packed away.

Manhattan Island Skyscrapers:

My desk:

What a mess! Last night I dumped a whole lot of frames and canvases on it.

Where my big shelving unit used to be:

I have given most of it away, but you can just see the remaining uprights of the single section in the far right of the picture. You can see my Ikea rails in the foreground, and the disassembled wire cube storage above.

The other corner of the room:

One of those boxes has got all the stuff for making Dad’s album in it. The rest of the stuff is waiting to be packed up properly, and I’ve got 2 tall narrow boxes with all my embroidery and batik frames, bits of dowelling, etc. etc. in them, and they will go as they are. There’s also a large roll of butcher paper from our last move, which I use for drafting out designs on.

Although this looks an awful lot of stuff packed away, there are also boxes of books mixed up in it, and several boxes of odd bits and pieces brought home from Mum’s as we continue our massive clear-out there.

We’ve been working hard over at Mum’s, with both my sister and my cousin (who has been over once, and is coming again on Sunday), clearing loads of stuff and separating it into bin/burn, house clearance, lower-grade auction, decent auction, stuff that us girls want, and stuff Mum wants to keep. The time is fast approaching for the decent stuff to be taken by the auctioneer, and then the stuff Mum wants to keep can go into storage, and Mum herself will go into storage with my sister till the new house is ready!!

Powers of attorney have now been granted for Mum and Dad so my hubby can now sell Dad’s car, and also there will be no delay in exchanging contracts on the house sale/purchase. The sale is going ahead apace, with (so far) no problems, but we’ve had some problems with the purchase of the new place as our surveyor turned up a major problem with the roof – the whole thing has to be replaced at vast expense. However, a settlement has been reached, the job will be done, and we are still going ahead, but it may take a little longer than the sale of my parents’ place. As the completion dates do not need to be linked, this is not a problem, as we are permitted to stay in our own house till May 2014.

Recently we went over to Mum’s when my sister was there, and had a massive clear-out of Dad’s workshop, and despite the pouring rain, my hubby got a vast bonfire going (he managed to singe the neighbour’s fence!!) – it was a cosmic battle of the elements between fire and water, with the flames leaping up into the sheets of rain under a dark and threatening sky, with my hubby dancing around it like a demented gorilla, and I am happy to say that fire won in the end! All very dramatic. My hubby’s back is not so good again, and we’ve all told him off for overdoing things.

I think I am being more sensible in that department. Packing two or three boxes a day (most days – some days I don’t manage to do any) I have made great headway, and once my ARTHaven is packed up, I can tackle the rest of the house. I’ve already made good progress in several of the rooms, and now that a friend of my hubby’s has removed a load of rubbish out of the box room and taken it to the recycling centre in his big trailer, I can sort through the rest of the stuff in there, and use the space to store some of the filled boxes till the actual removal.

Lots to do still, but we are certainly making progress.

Dad had another episode of extreme confusion recently, and was back in hospital for a couple of days, but it appears he didn’t have another infection. We think it was brought on by an unfortunate cocktail of drugs, but these have been changed, and when he came back to the residential home, he was like a new man, back to the best he’s been since he’s been there. My hubby saw him this afternoon and reported that his catheter has now been removed, which is extremely good news, as that particular source of infection has now gone. They reckon his kidneys are now much better. He is still not able to live independently, and never will be, but at least we can have a fairly sensible conversation, even if he does keep coming back to the same thing. He continues to be happily settled there and not asking to come home; he is being very well cared for and always looks smart and clean, with his hair washed and trimmed, so we are very pleased. Mum has been finding all the sorting at her house rather stressful (she keeps saying “there’s such a lot to do!” although she doesn’t have to do any of it!) and I think the uncertainty (as she sees it) of her future is getting to her a bit, but we keep reassuring her that everything is going fine, and soon she will never have to be on her own again. She’s just feeling vulnerable, and this can come over in a lot of complaining and being difficult, but I am quite sure that once she’s settled, she will be fine, and we will be able to enjoy our time together.

I won’t have time to visit many of you on the WOYWW circuit, but just wanted to let you know that I am still in the land of the living!