It's been a busy weekend as we are in a wrk cycle but today has seen Nigel and I and his brother and wife clearing the flat. It is something I think we were all dreading but actually it went a lot more smoothly than certainly Nigel and I thought. There were lots of things my sister in law and I could get on with which were practical and non-contentious... we only had to make decisions about whether each item was a charity shop, sale or rubbish and we worked well together, had a laugh at times and managed to sort a tremendous amount out. We both came away with treasures too - of the unexpected kind. A lovely blanket for the cats, two telescopic umbrellas (we had been going to buy two for holidays) a cushion to help my sciatica and Viv's children at school have more costume jewellery than they will ever need. I did have a little cry when I came across her button box. I have no idea why button boxes are so important and so moving. I used to play with my mom's for hours and still have it. Seeing her's just brought tears to my eyes as every button is a memory for her really and the irony is she has no memory left. It was put back in a drawer to be dealt with another day. Whilst we did the practical stuff Nigel and his bother went through all the sensitive things, the things with real memories and decided what to keep, what to take, what to lose. What was wonderful was you hear such horrible stories of families fighting about things they all want and it wasn't like that at all. It was smooth and lovely and much of it is now done. We have piles for charity shops, piles for possibly selling for her and we have some things we need to have valued. There is nothing of any value at all but we may raise a hundred pounds or so which will pay for a few hair appointments and chiropodists if nothing else. The main thing is we have broken the back of it and with support from each other, the boys have dealt with doing it whilst she is still alive.
In other news we went to see The Upside on Friday which we thought would be pretty rubbish but was actually very good and we both enjoyed it and then we went to have a pizza afterwards - the first meal out we have had this year as we are trying to be very good and restrained both food wise and finance wise. (we have both lost weight - Nigel 5lb and me 12 lb! just by eating less rubbish)
I have- of course - also been scrapping ... The Fabulous Fall album is almost ready to be split into two separate albums now.
This is another Animal Kingdom page prompted by the idea to make your own flowers. I used to make these scribble flowers a lot of years ago. It was fun to make some again to decorate this page
This is Alton Bay - a late addition to our trip through New Hampshire in the fall
and this is us on North Bridge. I just loved the photo of us reflected int he water with all the fallen leaves and I used a wonderful free cut file from Paige Evans and filled the leaves in with different patterned papers
Today I am thankful for
- a hobby which brings me so much joy
- a job well done by the four of us. There is still a lot to move and sort but Nigel and I will do that over the next few weeks.
And finally - some more doors
What fun using some earlier techniques like the flowers coming back to your pages. A scrapping friend just asked me the other day what "old" techniques I would like to see come back to my pages. I told her paper-tearing. But maybe I'll give the scribble flowers a try :-)
It is wonderful when family members can go through items--some with so many memories packed into them---and not quibble over things. That's the way family is meant to be. <3
Posted by: Barb inAK | January 30, 2019 at 06:59 AM