January 27th to 31st

I'm busy unpacking, finding more treasures and making a tiny little bit of space in the container.
Several empty boxes and wads of packaging paper are taken to recycling and five boxes go to charity, full of things I have been doing without for so long now that I really can continue to do without.

Among the treasures I'm finding are more photos. I find 'selfies' from back in the days when taking a selfie involved running to and fro between the spot and the camera. I think it was somehow more rewarding.

Back then, I actually used to have plenty of occasion to wear such dresses.

I used to do a lot of tailoring too.

And knitting, of course. If I'm not mistaken, that red dress - knitted without pattern - is still around somewhere. I'll just have to try and fit into it again.

 

When I was not sewing or knitting, I busied myself with other crafts, dried flower arrangements being a winter favourite.

The most exciting day in all this unpacking was of course the one when I found some of my art gear!

Just look at the beautiful pastels. The trick now, is to make room somewhere to work. No small feat, but it will be done.

Finding the asparagus pot prompted me to go out and buy some expensive, skinny bunches of asparagus. I had bought the pot in Switzerland, on one of my trips home, at a time when we had asparagus coming out of our ears. 

I took up pottery around the same time as I started drawing classes, in the early 90s.
I'm very happy that the old boot survived the big move undamaged.
Now, I'd better find another 'sock plant' to put in it.
Please note the little mouse coming out of the toe. That was my idea of creating a drainage hole.

A little later I took a few book binding classes. This here was a visual diary, made with water colour paper.
It has remained virgin because I never wanted to mess it up.

With the help of my first computer, scanner and printer, I also created a pocket size diary for my mum, sporting my earliest drawings and paintings - one for each week, if I remember correctly.
I know my mum never threw it out. It'll turn up one of these days.

All of these things, I did besides all the fruit and vegetable picking and packing and delivering, besides eggs and ducks marketing, besides caring for animals and doing housework...........
it wears me out just thinking about it all now.

January 21st to 26th

Among one of the first things I unpack is my trusty Nespresso machine.

This is followed by lots of glassware and crockery which, for the time being, I just stand around on the surfaces.

I find the set of six wine glasses I engraved for Mum many years ago.

When I decide to watch some television, I find that the TV is hiding behind all the boxes and I can't get a glimpse of it from the sofa. I have to heave the TV onto the tall desk. Unfortunately, some of the many cables are a bit short and watching the news is turning into a major exercise. But in the end it's all doable.

I continue to discover various treasures and family heirlooms.

And there is the little coffee set I got many decades ago in Italy. From Italy to Switzerland, then to Sydney and Coonabarabran, the set finally made it unharmed to Tasmania.

Finally, I get the first lovely piece of furniture all loaded up.

Then I find all my cookbooks. Goodness me, I have to rearrange things considerably in the kitchen to accommodate them. They come in four languages in my house. No wonder, there are so many.

Once upon a time, I tried my hand at a little bit of wood carving. Here are two pieces I made for Dad's desk. A pair of matching bookends is still hiding somewhere.

January 26th is not only Australia Day, but 30 years ago today I was a blushing bride.

January 20th

Tuesday 20th January. Today is the big day. But if I thought it was going to be all good and happy, I have another think coming.
Halfway through the morning the tilt tray truck with the full container finally arrives.

But there is no sign of the men who are supposed to be doing the actual unloading. We wait another almost 3 hours before they deign to arrive. By now it is just about lunch time. 

The clear sky is starting to get darker as heavy clouds move in. There is rain forecast for later in the day!

The container finally gets put down and the blokes start to unload everything, stacking it all out in the open. One of the first things that comes out is my very expensive, very large printer, unprotected and covered in dust. I am absolutely horrified and tell the men to put it straight in the house - given the possible showers of rain.

I am not having a very good time in all this as I see things flimsily packed and stacked and all coming out higgledy piggledy. 

There are quite a few teary moments for me when I see precious things handled with so little respect. There are also things missing. I have been told that there was still stuff in storage in Coonabarabran that they couldn't fit into this container, but nobody actually ever told me exactly what. It is still a complete mystery.

I have to be on my toes all afternoon, checking boxes to decide what should come inside directly.

When the container is empty, the truck picks it up and takes it away, then moves my container from the other side of the house to the spot which has just been vacated.

The truck driver has been waiting all this time to take the empty container back. His boss has been on the phone several times, telling him about another job he should do at four o'clock. Well it is just about that time when he can finally make tracks.

The job is nowhere near finished for me, of course, as I now have to decide what goes to the back of the container. Thinking that taking some pieces of furniture directly into the house would leave lots of space in the container for me to move around in was definitely wishful thinking. It looks nearly as full as when it arrived.

It is almost seven o'clock when all is done and the men leave.

It is just starting to rain now! That was very considerate of the weather gods.

The house is now crammed full and I actually have to move several boxes to make a path to the bedroom door where my poor pussies have been hiding and keeping safe all day.

I am absolutely dead on my feet and totally overwhelmed, but I still can't help peeping into some of the boxes late at night and unpacking the odd little treasure.

But more of that later.

This little find - it fluttered out almost as soon as the container was opened - really made me smile. A little reminder of happy times.

January 19th

A beautiful day today but no sign of a container yet. It is promised for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in my garden:

The worms are looking healthy and fat and producing a little amount of worm tea every week which then goes straight onto my vegetables. 
That makes them grow nicely, which in turn is much appreciated by the wallabies who can unfortunately jump into the raised beds.
It is a constant battle.


When they're finished with the few vegetables and herbs, they have no hesitation to start on the flowers. Thankfully, they don't tend to make a complete mess of them - maybe some flowers give them a belly ache.

And of course, some flowers they really can't get to, like the Fuchsias which are suspended in hanging pots. They are putting on a good show at the moment.

January 15th to 18th

The long awaited container is getting apparently very much closer. In anticipation of many things to come, I have to make some space in the house.
The animals are looking on with suspicion, the cats especially. Mitzi makes regular tours of inspection just to check that the food bowls and the litter box are still in their respective places
In the evening, all four of them make sure that I am still around and not going anywhere by piling on top of me - first on the sofa and later on the bed.

Of course, there are more delays and I end up having to drag the little outdoor table inside to be able to eat my meals somewhere in reasonable style -  and to serve coffee to my friend and neighbour when she pops in.

In a way, it was just as well that the container didn't arrive on the promised day as that turned out to be a pretty miserable day weather wise.

The weekend brings some pretty wild weather, but at least the rain is now clearing.