Home

We're in. Picked up the keys on Sunday and our landlord was running around the place trying to fix everything that had broken in the last couple of years, while finding more things to fix all the time. Not major stuff. I think the inventory included things like a leaky tap, a broken window winder, some cracks in the walls that needed filling and repainting and some blinds coming loose from the window frame. Oh, and the front screen door handle is broken, and it is locked shut. That one defeated even our handyman landlord, and a locksmith should be coming some time this week.

On the plus side, the carpet and blinds are only a year old, as is the programmable gas heater, it has gas cooking and the master bedroom is huge (fortunately for our king size bed).

I drove down to the house first thing Monday morning, and the removalist arrived a couple of hours later. There wasn't too much problem, only a large bookcase that used to be in Scott's shed wouldn't manoever around a corner in the hallway, so another room had to be found for it.

There came a point when the house was full, but there were still another 20 boxes or so to be unloaded. The removalist looked knowingly at me: "Moving from a bigger house to a smaller one?" Well, we don't have a huge garage to stash stuff in anymore. I'm glad I got rid of a lot of stuff. Wishing I got rid of more. "Stack it up in the backyard. Once I get some of these boxes empty, it'll all fit" I said, optimistically. Thank God it was fine weather.

And so it began, sucking up my stomach so I could fit down the hallway, I began finding boxes marked kitchen and unpacking them, in the hope of being able to boil a kettle some time that afternoon. I started around midday. Didn't find the kettle until 2.30. Empty boxes with only wads of packing paper left in them began filling our backyard. Made my way to the bedroom. Found bedding. I have my bed back! (At the apartment they pushed two single beds together and called it a double!)

At some point I decided I needed some music and my eyes lit upon a box with the word "stereo" on it. After unpacking about 50 obscure Asian ornaments and wooden puzzles, I found one speaker. Scott came home from work and started flatpacking the boxes which appeared to be growing at an alarming rate across the backyard. We made a carbonara for tea and sat in the backyard with a bottle of bubbly. mmm.

Yesterday more of the same. Our clothing came out of boxes and I was reminded how badly I need a new wardrobe. (The contents, not the furniture). Then the books- arrgh. Spent the afternoon lugging books back and forth between bookcases and tossing more boxes into the backyard, which kept getting blown around. Scott got home early and joined in the fun.

By 8.15pm we'd had enough. Walked around the corner to the takeaway to find it shut at 8pm. Jumped in the car and drove down to the next suburb and got our first feed of fish and chips here.

Anyway, it all fits. Just. I showed you, sceptical removalist man! The place looks nice, heaps of character now we have put our eccentric touch on it. Now I just have to do something with those Asian ornaments....