GETTING READY (FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS REALLY)

Another day of planning our move and already it's seeming like a monumental hassle.

It may be the case that my sister doesn't have room for the snooker table at her holiday house so I listed it on Trade Me. The table is in very good condition and, to buy new today it would cost over $6k. I've listed with a reserve of $2k to test the waters. The problem with a table of this size and weight is that, because of the heavy slates it requires at least 3 people to move it. It also has to be professionally dismantled and reassembled unless at least one person knows what they are doing. Fortunately YouTube has quite a few videos explaining the procedure but still - it's a fankle not made any easier by our remote location.

I bought some deck stain yesterday to paint the front deck that I managed to discolour with the water-blaster. I was going to paint it today but the weather looks a bit dodgy. Ditto for the paint and sanding paper I bought to tidy up some edges on the house particular up near the roof. I need reliably good weather to tackle this - hopefully next week.

I need to level out the earth underneath the house where I've been excavating and then I'll have to refit the weatherboards I removed to create an entranceway. Once again, this will be dependant on some dry weather.

I think I resolved the laundry situation by putting the unplumbed washing machine/dryer and laundry sink contraption into the shed - out of mind. This will hopefully stop The Old Girl's plan to get a plumber and builder in to fit them and rebuild the laundry. Sheesh!

I'll buy some suitable house-washing detergent soon and use the water blaster (on a low setting) to gently clean the outside of the house. This will also hopefully prevent The Old Girl from wanting the house painted before sale. Ditto goes for the kitchen and bathrooms. I tell you - if you ever want to buy a house buy one from her because she's happy to spend a fortune making everything nice before selling. I'm of a different mind. As long as everything is clean and tidy then anything a prospective buyer doesn't like becomes a negotiating item for sale price reduction - usually way less than the cost of renovation.

I won't sell or give away the kayaks yet and need the trailer for taking rubbish to the tip and giveaway items to the op-shops so will turn my attention to stuff inside the house. Anything we don't want or cannot fit into the new residence can be given away at the last minute. Anything we want to keep or sell we will transport to Wellington and put in a garage-type lock-up at one of the storage centres. There will be a greater chance of selling things in Wellington rather than here up north.

What I will have to do though is go through all of the storage and file boxes we have in the study, in the shed, in cupboards and in the attic and declutter if not actually throw it all away. This is an old person thing really, getting rid of memorabilia and other records at the end of your life that only have value or importance to yourself. Family records I will give to my sister who is the 'family historian' but work records and old property, banking, travel and other records will have to go. It's amazing what stuff we hang on to.

I'll have to seriously downsize our book collection as there is no way that we will have room for three bookcases worth in the future. It's a shame as we have a good collection. Paperbacks will be easy as I'll take these to op-shops or the tip but the larger, hard-cover books will be a wrench to get rid of. Unfortunately, in the modern digital age there's not much premium placed on books anymore. We'll keep a bookshelf worth of 'treasures' and give away the rest.

In the study, on top of the cupboards we have boxes of computer gadgets and connections that are also now obsolete due to the modern wireless age. I'll sort through these and match up where I can to the various unused laptops, printers, monitors  and other gadgetry that is stored in the shed. Thee'll be no point in trying to sell these so will go the FreeStuff  or the tip store.

The attic will be a real challenge as I've stored dozens of suitcases and bags up there full of clothing, shoes, kitchenware, glasses and Robert's go only knows what.

I'll have to think about how to get rid of the vinyl records CDs, DVDs and Play Station games I have. I don't really want to give these away for nothing although my nieces' children are growing up so may want the Play Station consoles and some of the games. I think I'll pack the rest up and take to Wellington and over time, sell them through Trade Me.

It's going to be an interesting couple of months but I wouldn't recommend it.