Yesterday was another day of major clearance, this time in the garage and the garden shed. My friend Rose, a fellow mandolin picker, is plugged in with many local organizations, including the Stratford Horticultural Society and the Avon Trail Society as well as all things trad music. She comes from a large Dutch farming family, so sharing and passing on useful stuff is in her DNA.

In the blazing heat of the afternoon, Rose made two trips to help me gather up the plethora of tools that I won't need in my next abode, from the splitting axe, rip saw and bow saw to a hose reel (with 60 feet of top-quality hose) and a bouquet of long-handled shovels, rakes and other implements of cultivation and destruction. She was particularly delighted with the mattock. We loaded all of it into her SUV and off she went with my last great accumulation of extra stuff.

I kept the small hand tools, including trowels, secateurs, clippers and loppers, that I can use without batteries or instruction manuals. I also kept the lawn sprinkler and the other hose reel with its 100 feet of hose, also of excellent quality. (I hate a cheap hose. lt's never worth the money.)

Today I started giving notice to the various utility companies. Bell Canada, Canada Post, and the local internet provider (which wants its router back) will have to wait until my last couple of days in Stratford, just to add to the complications of that already fraught week.

The big job today is a trip to London to pay Faith's school fees. Moving expenses -- especially the $10K deposit on the Ottawa house -- have put a big, fat crimp in my cash flow, so I can cover only one term now; the rest will have to wait until after the end of the month, when the money for the Stratford house lands. The university likes to be paid early, however, so Faith's tuition is going on MasterCard, which is a thing.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa, Jeff the realtor and SIL No. 1 are engaging a painter and a flooring guy, and ordering pre-finished hardwood. As quickly as it flows in, the money will flow right back out again.