Word of the week - Space

This week's word of the week is Space. Space in my head and space to get things done.

Peter is away in Turkey visiting a friend for two weeks. He's home next Tuesday.

I need the space.

Not from him, but to get things done (see last week's post) and just to be. 

I made a right mess last week getting the Christmas decorations out the loft, tidying the loft space, before putting the camping gear back up there for the winter.

This all got rearranged mid week and the suit cases are going to the tip and the decorations have been repacked into boxes after clearing space in the loft.

The fans and camping gear are back in the loft and all the baby equipment is in the wardrobe.

This is what the room looks like now. Ready for child 4 and his wife and family to visit next month. The car seats are going to between the two DILs and the baby bath is going for donation.

My craft room is now beyond use, however, I now have space in the loft room opposite to sort through things properly and I will be rearranging the furniture in here to make better use of the room, but that's a job for the new year.

The loft room. Along with my craft room, formally the attic which we converted into two bedrooms back in 2005 for 2 of the boys. The metal shelves contain my late fathers stamp collection which I'm slowly working my way through and the boxes contain old pub and car badges which will eventually be going up on the outside wall in the back garden, now I've been had the space to able to sort through them properly.

Before

After

Peter wants to help me and that's great, but I only need the help at certain key points and in between the house is in chaos. I go out to work during the day and he is left with my mess. It's not just about space, it's about time and appreciation of their being another person in the house. I'm used to being able to do jobs at my own speed knowing Peter won't be hone till 6pm and now that is something he benefits from with me in work all day. Like not having to finish these tasks in one go.

Having space to leave non fridge/freezer items out until after I've had a cup of tea and sat down for half an hour without 'where do you want me to put these things? I need to use the microwave'

Having the space to leave the baby clothes out for as long as it takes me to upload them to Vinted without 'where would you like me to put these for you?'

Leaving bowls filled with bleach to soak without having to tell anyone 'careful the bowls in the kitchen have bleach in them'

Taking my time to go through paperwork and recycling on the dining room table without taking up anyone else's space. This lot sorted by Monday.

Leaving things on the stairs in piles for each room to take up towards the end of the day without having to resort because someone else has taken them up and put them in the spare room for me, which is a great help, but I tend to forget to put them away when they're 'out of sight, out of mind' This lot sorted by Monday.

For almost all of the time we've been together apart from when Peter retired in June 2021. I've spent an awful lot of time on my own while he's been working, going away most weeks for the odd night while we lived in the UK, then when we moved to South Africa it felt like he was away every other week somewhere in the world. His working days could see him come home after 7pm most days having left the house at 7am and after the kids left home in 2014 and we moved to Dubai, I spent a lot of time on my own and had an awful lot of space to myself.

I get space to empty my head in the mornings when I wake around 4-5am and I sit in the back room with my laptop and a cup of tea. I will do the things that are bugging me, like sorting my bag out, getting things together that I need to drop off or do. Get my blogging done, write letters and reply to emails.

I don't want to be on my own, this isn't what this post is about, it's about having space every now and then to just be or get things done without interruption from day to day life. It's not just about the physical space, it's about the space not to have to think about things, to not have to communicate my thoughts, my needs, my intentions.

I've got a week left to finish a few jobs and for that I now need to write a list. There's stuff for charity shops which I will be donating to in Monmouth once the ones that were flooded have reopened. Stuff for the skip. Books for mum, books for work, books for my friend and cardboard for recycling all currently sitting in the hall. It was all in the car/van on Wednesday ready for dropping off.

Old sweet tubs on the top floor to go into work for food tech. Packed in the car by Wednesday.

A combination of Christmas decorations to put up, a tree and some decorations to donate, mugs for the charity shop and a pile of paperwork on the sofa to sort through. Paperwork sorted on Tuesday.

Then finally the rest of the baby clothes to upload on Vinted, a pile of artificial flowers to add to wreath and a box of Christmas cards to make and write and presents to wrap to go under the tree.

My plan is to be finished over the weekend. A couple of hours a day after work is all I need as I have the space to spread out on in and not have to worry about getting in anyone else's way.