~o~
Saturday 14th 53F/11.7C. Bright. The last day of the formerly promised sunshine. It could reach 24C/75F this afternoon. Rain and showers overnight tonight and tomorrow afternoon.
Up at 4.45. I was already wide awake. I have a lot of tidying to do in readiness for my visitor. Who will be staying for a week. Hopefully she will be able to make another dent. In my lifetime collection of untidiness. Detachment from my belongings and those of my late wife, is the trick.
If only I had enough storage I could ignore the problem. Storage is the problem and always has been. I have collected more tools than many small businesses. Few of which will ever be used again. Too many tools. How to downsize which doesn't involve a skip? [Large rubbish container outside the door. As they drive me off in an expensive, chipboard box.]
These tools have saved me a fortune over a lifetime. As I learned to do most maintenance, repairs and replacement. Buying tools as I needed them. Do they still owe me anything? I constantly struggle with this problem. Do I give them away to charity? Sell them for a pittance? It was never possible to hold a flea market here due to poor access and a lack of parking.
How many takers would a small ad for 100 different pairs of pliers bring? 200 different screwdrivers? Dozens of spanners? A dozen woodworking planes? Would I find myself unable to repair the simplest items for want of any of them? This thought torments me every time I think I'll get rid of something.
The cost of hiring a tradesman is far beyond the true value of the work they do. One buys them a smart house, a van, a smart car, a second car, sports equipment, including a boat, family holidays, expensive clothes and toys for their kids. All the things I don't have and never did.
I see their vans with their logos on the side everywhere I go. Outside other people's houses in the week. Parked beside their homes at the weekends. I should have done an apprenticeship. Then I could have had all of these things. Instead of a hovel and a shed full of well used tools and all my untidy memories. The endless searches for just the right tool for the job. Or finding the tool I already owned.
7.00 Time for a walk?
7.40 Just a short walk. The traffic was very light but it is early. I was surrounded in birdsong. The warblers were in fine voice in the roadside trees. Blackbirds singing at intervals. The odd wren scolding the day.
12.00 73F/22.8C. My third load of washing is bone dry after a quick tour on the outdoor rotary airer. I have never seen it going round until today. I have swept, mopped and vacuumed. Dusted polished and tidied. Sorted tubs of recently used tools into their correct trays. 😇
14.00 I collected my guest from the village in the Morris. She had taken the train to Odense and then the bus to the village. We had a good natter to catch up since her last visit at Christmas.
Dinner was a cooperative affair of pork chops, mushrooms, peas and boiled potatoes. Aided and abetted by Bisto gravy. All washed down by an excellent, organic, red wine. Enjoyed at the dining table.
~o~
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