Life in the fast lane ...

I have cast iron reasons for not having blogged, I do, I do ...

For some time now we have been plotting to leave London and move to the country. But selling up and buying something new is not all that easy right now. Funny that, who'da thought it?

Basically the story goes, we are not tired of London, but we may tire of life a little quicker than we'd like if we don't find somewhere to live that is conducive to us taking more exercise than a gentle stroll to the supermarket and back three times a week. So we decided we should make the leap, especially as I now have three grandchildren of an age to be better suited to outdoor activities, than creating havoc in a twelfth floor tower block apartment. Or rather, they are perfectly suited to creating havoc, but I'd rather they didn't have the occasion.

Of course, as soon as we make up our minds, the property market goes into freefall, the economy takes a nosedive, and the future is neither bright nor orange. But, heigho, we are going for it anyway. There are all sorts of things going on which I am not allowed to hex by mentioning before, in that time-honoured phrase, 'we have exchanged contracts'. However, I'm sure it's not tempting fate to say that as a consequence we have spent more time on the M3 Motorway between here and the New Forest, which is where we hope to end up, than in our own comfy goosedown.

In between I am tackling that room in the house which is laughingly known as my study, sorting stuff out, chucking and packing. Now I have moved often in my 'interesting life' (like the Chinese curse) and have always tried to work by the three-pile rule: everything is to be sorted into three piles, one to keep, one to give away, and one to throw away. The theory is that the 'keep pile' should be the smallest. Well, I have to be the first to admit that's not going to happen with my study. I am a bookaholic, and although I am trying to find things to sell on Amazon, most of my extensive collection will be going with me. So to make up for this weakness, I am attempting to catalogue my books as I pack. There is a good reason for this, other than simple masochism. I have been known to buy books twice, having forgotten that I have already bought them once. And although my shelves are (mostly) reasonably in order, there are enough of them for that to happen even so. Don't ask me how many, that I hope to know when I have finished cataloguing. Hopefully then, when I am tempted by a book purchase, I can quickly check my catalogue, thus saving me from wasting money that could better be spent on a book I don't have yet!! It's a good theory. ;)

So I do have an excuse, I do, I do ...