Tuesday

 So much for sunny days ...

It poured down yesterday but that was the watering duties taken care of so I'm not complaining! Despite the best of intentions I didn't do as much of the bulk cooking as I'd planned, so I will be finishing that off this morning, but on the plus side I did make good progress on clearing the music room and sorting through the decluttered items. As well as a repository for the boxes of decluttered items, the music room had become a dumping ground for all sorts during the lockdowns and that's what I focused on yesterday. 

I think I have managed to clear enough floor space for now. I haven't had to move too much into the dining room and what has been moved there will be advertised this week. With the remainder of the decluttered items I have repacked everything and ended up with fewer boxes so they are currently stacked in the corner of the music room. Most of the time was taken up with reclaiming the space and returning dumped items to their proper places. Once all of that stuff was out of the way it immediately looked better and has spurred me on to continue organising this room to reflect the way I want to use it now, rather than how it needed to be when I was teaching.

The next day or two will be devoted to completing a purge of the music books. I'd already done this or so I thought, an exercise that left the tops shelves of the double cupboard looking like this ... I don't know what Blogger has done to the photo because the original isn't grainy at all! 

This is a ridiculous amount of music to keep now I'm not teaching all the different instruments, and there's more in the single cupboard. I don't need it and at least two thirds of it can go, so I've moved every piece of music into the living room and have started re-sorting. I'm being ruthless this time! 

This afternoon I have a confirmed booking for the Local History Centre which is in Chippenham, about 14 miles away. I've requested access to documents relating to my grandfather's stay in hospital so potentially an interesting session. I'm surprised they have confirmed this date and time as, because the records are still sealed under the 100 years rule, they have to make sure that I only see the information I have requested, and nothing related to anyone else. I've requested 12 documents, all registers, ledgers, and medical notes, so I was expecting them to need more time to get them ready.

That's about it for today, except for piano practice of course, but I will speak to my siblings later if I find anything interesting about our grandfather.

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My August decluttering challenge:

• 1st = a set of plastic measuring spoons (I never use them)
• 2nd = a white shirt (band uniform that is now too big) 
• 3rd = odd balls of wool (going to my sister, who can make use of them)
• 4th = a map quiz book (completed and unlikely to want to do it again)
• 5th = blue cardigan (big holes in both elbows so only fit for the bin!)
• 6th = a pile of half completed puzzle books (going to my friend's sister)
• 7th = large fruit bowl (I don't like it but K does, so it's going to her!)
• 8th = a broken Filofax cover (only fit for the bin!)
• 9th = unopened toiletries (unwanted gifts, so going to a friend)
• 10th = 3 small terracotta indoor pots (gifting them to K)