Beautiful Books

Day Thirty Seven.

Inspired by my trip to the library to sort out the floppy disks, I decided to go back and have a look at the books (and get warm, ha!). I know I have a lot of (as yet) unread secondhand books in my bookcase. I know that. But it's still nice to think about borrowing the special hard-backed library ones! Think I might have a book fetish...

I picked out quite a variety:
Delia Smith's Vegetarian Collection - I am hoping that this will inspire me to cook some lovely meals, as the photos alone start the saliva flowing. Most of the dishes in the book look more exciting than my cheesy cauliflower bake (see my recent blog post)!

Overcoming Your Smoking Habit: A self-help guide using Cognitive Behavioral Techniques - yes, I must admit that I'm struggling a little despite my earlier success...

Earth Grids: The Secret Patterns of Gaia's Sacred Sites - sometimes my curiosity leads to interesting google searches, but often the results can be quite far-out and without enough evidence for the scientist in my head. So I thought I might get more backed-up evidence from a 'proper' book. Hmm, maybe I'm old-fashioned...

The Hive: The Story of the Honeybee and Us - we're hoping to keep bees when we settle in at the smallholding, and I've always been fascinated by the creatures. This book is bound to inform and inspire.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, author of 'The Tipping Point' - described by the author as "a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, "Blink" is a book about those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good." I started reading a borrowed copy when I was in the States this summer, and although I only made it to page 40 before I had to return it, I found myself learning a great deal from this work. I can only assume that there will be many more gems in the remaining 245 pages!

There's something motivating about having a deadline by which to read one or more books, it begins to feel like a personal secret mission. I'm excited and itching to start reading, so without further ado...

I'm off! :)

Exorcising the Attic

Day Thirty Five.

There's been a growing feeling that something is weighing down on me, a dark shadow is looming over us both. Sometimes figurative speech is as close to the mark as you can get. It's emanating from the attic. Where all the carefully packed boxes are, gathering dust. They've been there, virtually untouched, since we moved them out of our last house. Possessions have a weight, possessions drag on the psychology of the owner: with ownership comes a strange costly responsibility.

I feel it!

I have so many things. Thus the reason for this 'de-cluttering' theme. Apart from his tools (he's a builder) and brewing equipment, Phil tells me he owns about two boxes' worth of stuff. I can believe it. He's not a lover of books, as I am; he has no crafty hobbies (whereas I have far too many!); he has no instruments other than a beaten up guitar (strung backwards due to left-handedness) - I have three violins, two guitars and a miscellaneous banjo, amongst other things... When Phil moved in with me at our last house, he arrived in a friend's Land Rover, and before I knew it he was calling out "OK, cheers for the lift - see you!" I was thinking "Where's all his stuff?" Then he burst his way into the sitting room, scarcely visible behind the biggest box I've ever seen, and that was it. One (albeit giant) box, and he was moved in.

Back to the task in hand. Up in the attic I counted twenty boxes in all, mostly books, but the other random things included: one hand-operated Singer sewing machine, an ancient and huge accordion (which is unplayable due to its awesome weight!), a chimney flue (?), a box of random CDs which I have kept as back-up in case my laptop dies), some camping equipment and a big bag of tangled miscellaneous cables.

I have no desire to get rid of any books at this stage,but I am looking forward to going through the boxes at the smallholding - who knows, the books could serve to insulate our sitting room walls once we have renovated the house and put up a whole load of shelves! Our current plan is to prepare the items we plan on taking to the smallholding, ready for when the snow disappears. We want to clear most of the stuff out of this house, ready for the last touches prior to putting it on the market. We are so lucky to be able to move all of the boxes out before the sale!

Phil helped me to get everything down, and we carried it all into our spare bedroom (recently vacated by a tenant) - I know it's all still there, but it feels good to know that it's gradually working its way towards the door. Phil even sorted through his cables and has minimised the camping things, so the pile is getting smaller.

After I'd swept the attic, I climbed down the ladder, closing the hatch behind me. "No need to go up there again," I thought to myself, and you know what? I think the heaviness started to fade.

PS - No photos, I'm afraid. You wouldn't want to see a picture of our attic anyway. And capturing that 'dark shadow' I mentioned? Impossible with a flash :)