Things move apace

The weather has packed up a bit and it has been breezy and a bit cool over the last couple of days – my lovely sister Dee is here with us helping get sorted for the garage sale we are having tomorrow morning, so of course it is chilly: non-Wellingtonians only ever visit at the times when Welly’s reputation for being cold and windy can be maintained. Frankly, in many ways, this is good as it means the city doesn’t get overcrowded with people wanting to up sticks and come to live here. If you don’t believe me, look at how HUGE Auckland is – see, too much warmth and sunshine and the place is bigger in size than Greater London and it’s full up. Well, in comparison to Greater London, it is practically empty of course, but in NZ terms it’s teeming!

I digress - was it ever thus? Preparations for the garage sale are in full swing. The lounge is now filled with little discrete islands of items for sale – jugs, candlestick holders, serving dishes, china, kitchenware, electrical goods, … There is a bin of items for sale at $1, a stack of framed prints, a bin of children’s toys about to be augmented by a large bag of Kirsty’s stuffed toys that she has said she can do without now she’s 37 (whether her parents can let ALL of them go is another story …) There is a bin of towels, a stack of sheets and duvet cover sets.

David has pulled down everything from the mezzanine shelf in the garage and Dee and I are sorting through that. A couple of the boxes are Dad’s stuff, and I need to look through them and see what I can bear to let go now. It is 11 years since Dad died so maybe it won’t be so hard. He is as firmly in my memory as ever and I only look at his stuff when we are having an annual or bi-annual garage clear out. But I digress again.

Last things to sort and price today are clothes (lots), books (hundreds) and tools (not so many – after all we are decidedly not DIYers anymore). Then it’s the practical stuff to do: pick up trestle tables, go to bank for change float, sweep and clear garage, set up and set out. So my question is – why are we still all in bed?