My new house, version one, fell through, as the seller pulled out of his purchase, and I am nearly in version two, a town house with integral garage, and apart from that very similar to my present place, but without anyone under it. There's a room behind the garage which will be my studio for books, sewing, knitting machines and so on, and a utility room for the washing machine and freezer. There's no loft, but an extra bedroom which will have the loft function.

I've been clearing the loft here, lots of stuff I hadn't remembered I still had, resources for teaching, old magazines... These are being sorted into recycling, keep, pass on to friend, tear out relevant articles and recycle. The wheelie bin is nearly full again.

Why I had put a dead kettle up there I cannot imagine. I had even taken the plug off. Possibly because there was no place to recycle it.

I have been boxing books. Unfortunately, the supermarkets now get their wine in sixes, not 12s. 12 bottle boxes were just the right size for books. Sixes are too small. The storage place's small boxes are too heavy when full. The floor is becoming invisible, and I feel like singing "Climbing over rocky mountains" from the Pirates as I move about.

When I have title to the new place, I'll clear the books across there, empty the boxes and come back for the next tranche. I won't get the removal men into until the small stuff has gone. And then I'll get the stuff from Dad's place as well.

Penny