Hellos and goodbyes

Hi my dears!

Sorry for the long delay - and sorry for worrying you - it's been a strange few weeks.  I was a bit under the weather for a couple of weeks (I seem to be catching one cold after another at the moment) and then when I got better enough to feel like moving, the spring cleaning bug bit.  We decided to ditch the old leather sofa with its dead springs and get something more modern and comfy and easy to clean - with 2 dogs, something with washable covers suddently becomes a priority!  

We took the plunge and went to IKEA rather than saving for something more pricey and living with a dusty sofas for another couple of years.  Assembling it did take a couple of evenings (especially as there were some bolts missing from one box) but we were pretty pleased with the results.  The ottoman is stuffed to the gunnels with my crafty bits and hubby's board games...

Here's our new suite (you'll have to forgive me for not whacking the cushion on the chaise before taking this one!):

We have also rearranged some furniture so that we can at least make a start on the next stage of redecorating the house - moving the kitchen.  This means the study now has a piano in it - which in a small space is a bit of a squeeze but it is manageable. I hope now that we have some proper shelves for all our bits of paper, we will be less inclined to just pile things on the desk, as it becomes such a dust trap.  

We hired a skip to get rid of the old sofa - and some furniture waiting in our garage to be got rid of - along with heaps of stuff that just needed to be binned.  Before coming here we had moved house quite a lot (moving in together, then to a second rented house) and just piled all our stuff into each house.  Our wonderful friends and family helped with all these moves - so appreciated - but most of them are as sentimental as I am, so our attempts to bin things during the moves were often met with, 'oh you CAN'T throw THAT out!!' from all corners!  

LWH is the smallest house we have lived in, however, and some of it just had to go.  We don't have space to hang on to everything. I can't tell you the relief we felt piling it all up to be binned.  It did bring home to me, though, just how wasteful and throwaway our society is and how much junk we accumulate. 

Following the DIY and the throwing out frenzy, the house is a bit emptier but needs a good scrub ready for the family to come over for Easter day. I get to see both my brothers as well as Mum and Dad which will be lovely, as it has been too long since we were all together. 

I really feel like treasuring family at the moment, as my husband had some awful news on the weekend - his cousin's son, who was almost exactly the same age as he is, died on Friday evening.  I'm sad that I never got to meet him;  I've met his mum and dad on a number of occasions - warm, loving people who are quick to smile and to make friends - and by the tributes on his facebook page, their adored son was very like them.  He was a music lover and by all accounts a kind, helpful, thoughtful man - a profound loss to his parents, brother, partner and all those around him.

I hope all of you are having a lovely spring and I look forward to catching up on all your blogs soon!  Hopefully I will manage a few more pics in the next post....

Love


Hazel xxx