The first block in the west wing storage room - the one I forgot I had. Near 500 books culled down to a large box. We moved everything downstairs yesterday. Today I packed.
It is a bit like the toe bone's connected to the foot bone or downsizing tetris, but all my personal possessions, except for kitchen and garden items, have somehow got to fit into this space. I have five more boxes, a set of sturdy garage shelves, one of those wardrobe style suitcases and some over the door hooks. Will I be able to do it?
It is true there are two more shelves of books, one of art books and philosophy, already installed in one of the bedrooms in the caravan; and one of novels, which will go in the other bedroom. There are maybe half a dozen manual style books to go in the garage, and a poetry book and the last Venice Biennale catalogue for my bedside cabinet at the caravan.
And last but not least the last culling of books that I thought I might need but never have. I'll parcel those up and they can go in the British Heart Foundation container in the university car park, just around the corner. They are mainly about costume and although I am interested, it's not a priority.
What have I kept? My poetry and art books, both eclectic with large gaps, but the embryo of a future collection. Some philosophy, politics and culture books, mainly anarchism but others too, again with big gaps. Some sentimental books: my mother's copy of the complete works of Shakespeare, given to her by her mother on her seventeenth birthday; school prizes; a hard backed copy of the Ingoldsby Legends and one of wild flowers inherited from the eighties phase of my life.
And my knitting books, of course. Histories, techniques, dictionaries and directories. A few pattern books, but not many.
The next base block will be the bits and pieces of art and ceramics, also heavy and packed in situ. We bought the heaviest pieces down yesterday to lay at the bottom, wrapped in old curtains to protect them, covered with my collections of pottery, filled with little bits and pieces picked up on the way. Very few now, as I've gradually chiselled away at them over the past two years. I'm hoping they will all go in one box, too.
The next layer will be linens, towels, clothes and shoes. Maybe that will creep into a third layer: hard to tell. Some items will go into the suitcase, so they can be pulled out quickly if needed. Then all the yarn storage boxes beside them, with light things on the very top, raffia paper bins and baskets and the like. I'm wondering about bedding? What will I do with that?
The shelves will hold all those precious or awkward things that won't fit into boxes, and essentials like the packet with the little brackets to adjust the shelves in the bookcases. It will be great when these next bits are done, because then everything can start expanding outwards to fill the house again. A very much leaner and more minimalist house!
