Christmas is approaching fast – just ten days to go, if you’re heading for a British Christmas, nine if you’re doing things Swiss-style and celebrating on the 24th. (We usually take the best bits of both.) And apart from a small collection of cards huddling together on the sideboard, our new temporary flat is looking as un-Christmassy as it did the day we moved in, almost seventeen months ago now.
So this week I’m going to have to get to work. It won’t be a real tree again this year, but artificial ones nowadays are (whisper it) just as decorative – minus the lovely smell, of course, but also minus the mess. And this year, no mess is important.
We hadn’t expected to have two Christmases in this flat – the original plan was to move into the new one in October/November. However, the start of the build was delayed due to extensive road works on the approach road (it takes months to build a roundabout) and here we are. Festive season number two in our temporary home, to be followed immediately by a round of organising, packing, throwing out, and preparing. We’ll learn sometime in January on which date in March we’ll get the keys for the new flat.
So if anybody has any foolproof tips on How to Move House with a Minimum of Work and Upheaval, PLEASE send them my way. The fact that we’ve done it all before in the not-so-distant past doesn’t really help… This time we’ll have to unpack all the boxes and create a permanent home.
But for now I’m going to look for the Christmas tree, a swanky little plastic number we got last year. It’s probably somewhere in the cellar compartment… Or it might be in my younger son’s bedroom, which is being used as a boxroom/general dumping ground for stuff that’s sort of ready to go, or is waiting to be painted for the new flat, or possibly wasn’t even unpacked in the first place… (he doesn’t mind, he’s not here during the week and we clear a pathway to the bed at weekends)
Time to get Christmassy… and time for something else too – you can now read the second section of The Pact, the short story in fifteen parts by fifteen writers. Here it is on Nillu Stelter’s website. My part’s up first this week; I left poor Will in a bit of a pickle, but his problems were only beginning… Next Monday will see the end of his adventure – I’ve no idea what the ending is and I can’t wait to find out!
Hi Linda, wishing you lots of Christmas cheer and that the big move is behind you soon. Thanks for mentioning the story. Am off to read the very last contribution now. Excited 🙂
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Thanks Nillu – can’t wait to read the ending! As for the move, it’ll be murder for a bit and then it’ll be done. At least this time I’m not having to downsize so drastically!
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Sorry to hear you are still in a state of upheaval, but put it all aside and concentrate on Christmas… organisation can wait until the New Year! Merry Christmas!
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Thank you! At least the end is in sight now. We never did unpack properly here. I’m looking forward to exploring my boxes of knick-knacks!
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“Extensive work on the approach road”–oh, I know all about this. Our house in Wettswil (Knonaueramt, on the train line from Zurich to Zug) has had to put up with road construction for several years. And what was it all about?? To widen the sidewalk, for heaven’s sake!! Everything in this country of perfectionists has to be “laid in gold”. In order to do some minimal construction, the roads are torn up many times and filled in again. Zurich, for instance, is the city of eternal road construction. Aside from that (and aside from a few other things I curse), I love it here. LOL. Wishing you a festive and peaceful Christmas anyway!
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Heavens – at least we were only delayed a few months! You’re right, road works are a permanent feature in many places here. Arbon has undergone a major road reshuffle in the past two years and we’re at the stage of being completely resigned to delays now. I hope you have a lovely Christmas season too – wonder if we’ll get snow! We had none at all ‘down’ here all last winter, but that’s unusual.
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I’m afraid I can’t give any hints or tips on moving – I’ve never dared too – the consequence being I’ve lived in the same house for 28 years. I do think about it now and then but just the thought sends a shiver down my spine. I hope it all goes well for you and you get settled in permanently as soon as possible. It sounds like the roundabout will be terrific though 🙂
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The roundabout’s great but I wish they’d built it a year before they did! We moved in 2013 from a huge rambling house to a 4.5 room flat. Decluttering gets to be addictive… Won’t be so bad this time, thank goodness!
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