Saturday 25 June 2011

I didn't develop a black eye, I didn't have concussion (or a scalp wound, or fainting, or hallucinations, or memory loss, or a need for emergency admission to hospital). I just needed to stop the haphazard, reluctant, slightly resentful, somewhat frazzled, utterly disorganised activity that was getting me nowhere, and to have a cup of tea, sit down for a while, stop being so dramatic, and have an early night.

So today, have I had a productive and well-organised bout of packing? No.

Have I packed anything at all today? No.

Do I care? No.

Well, packing up a life after 30 years in this house is quite a taxing job on every level, and it's all too easy to find excuses to put it off.


PS A Somerset estate agent (not my vendor) sent me details of 21 properties today. 21! And they were all, every one of them, most definitely not for me. No, no, no. Many of them were painted peppermint green or Germolene pink. All had weirdly-elongated doors due to abuse of the wide-angled lens; I'm not fooled. Count a row of the the kitchen floor tiles and you can work out that they extend to 5 feet across, not 15. The word 'super' featured frequently; estate agents have their own peculiar take on the common adjective. Super house; super garden; super kitchen; super material to crumple into a ball and hurl at the wall.....

9 comments:

jabblog said...

Aarghhh! Save us all from estate agent-speak!

It's good that you're taking a small break from packing - the dogs and cats don't enjoy it any more than you do.

Hope the following week is more productive and less stressful.

June said...

I had to Google for an image of "Germolene pink," and it is what I thought it would be. You have to wonder, don't you, what would move someone to paint his/her house that color?
And there always seems to be at least one *pink* room. Odd.

the veg artist said...

I was born in the house that my father had been born in. A Pembrokeshire cottage painted Germolene pink! Now, please, nobody faint, but if I'm remembering this right, the colour came from the white of the limewash mixed with pig or cattle blood. Rural areas back in the day didn't have access to fancy paint charts, and had to make do with materials they had. The tradition stuck, even though the paint now comes ready mixed from a tin!

Catherine said...

Not an easy task to pack up one's life! Good luck!
xo Catherine

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid that the word super, and the historical mixing of animal blood with limewash is out of the realm of the Aussie culture,but we can relate to throwing things mainly cricket balls. Given a scrunched up ball of something, most Australian men would probably hand-pass it.
Hang in there Rachel.

Anonymous said...

At least you are showing no signs of your injury which is a good thing. Twenty one properties? Tell them to leave you alone, you can do better on your own. Good luck with the packing, I'm sure I wouldn't know where to start.

Dartford Warbler said...

That perfect house is out there somewhere......

One of our local estate agents has an amusing way of putting "quite" and "quintissential"in front of every description. "Quite lovely...." Quite beautiful", "Quintissential country cottage...." "Quintissential cottage garden...." Do they think it sounds up-market and posh, I wonder. It just makes me chuckle to read it!

Marcheline said...

Oh, poor you! I hope this transitional period of craziness passes quickly, and that you find yourself the perfect home soon, soon, soon. Hugs!

Anonymous said...

For goodness sake - I go away for a few days and come back to find that you have sustained head injuries (but hopefully no brain damage!).
ps we're watching cricket being played at Taunton - it's glorious weather there!!

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