The spring cleaning has begun – at home, I mean. The idea is to thoroughly do one or two rooms each week, starting, this week, with what we call the laundry room. We have a wardrobe in there, and the original idea was, we stored the winter clothes in it in the summer and the summer clothes in it in the winter. So, yesterday, we emptied from it suits that hadn’t been worn since 2004, a hundred shirts that ‘Might fit one day,’ 50 towels, a rug, four winter coats worth keeping, George’s bedding (for when my nephew comes to stay), two pillows, five old photographs, a painting of the Nautical Museum by Gill Bennett (if anyone wants to buy it, let me know), two paint trays, and five ground sheets. It’s a big wardrobe.
Then, there was what was on top of it; loads of boxes that ‘Might be useful one day.’ Actually, they were very useful to package up the 101 old glasses we never use, some old crockery, and various other things that might break in the bins and become a danger to the stray cats. Then, there came the other cupboards, the things on shelves, the shelves themselves, three buckets, several broom handles that I ‘Might do something with one day’ and other paraphernalia of no use to mouse or man.
It was a lovely day for emptying, cleaning, throwing out and replacing, and this morning as I passed through on my commute to work, I looked at the room and felt slimmer. Next to be emptied, cleaned and restocked, I reckon, will be the spare bathroom where the WC doesn’t work, and where, if we use the shower, we have to empty the water tank before the water runs hot, so we use the room to store other people’s suitcases. We shan’t be throwing them away, but we will give them a brush to get the winter dust off. After that, it’s open season on the rest of the house, when we feel in the mood, while out in the wider world, as mentioned yesterday, people are preparing their houses for Easter. We are also preparing ourselves for our annual MOT health checks next week, and I’m keen to tell you about our excellent experience with a private imaging clinic in Rhodes, but more about that another time, because now, I want to stand in the laundry room and listen to the echo.
