Discombobulation

I don’t really know where to start with this entry, apart from to say that I am pleased to be able to update the blog, as The Shed is now equipped with WiFi, and so I must put it off no longer.
We have now been living in The Shed for four days. There are many good things to report. The weather has been very helpful. The cockerel next door has not been too noisy, and I can see lots of little birds being busy in the hedgerow nearby, which is nice.
The washing machine is working, the kitchen area is slowly taking shape and the Four Little Seymours are still at school. For now.
But I must confess – this “moving into The Shed” business has really thrown me.
There I was, all cocky and ready for the challenge, and now, here I am, feeling a little like I have been spat out of a cyclone and am now sitting in Oz with a house on top of my head.
We moved out on Saturday. We woke up in the Funny Little Bungalow that day, and slowly, after a delay whilst Big Seymour went off hunting cut-price building materials that were “too good to be missed”, we finally started emptying our house at about 2pm. This meant that once the beds were in place in The Shed, then the kitchen table too, and after the “co-axial super dooper wotsit” cable had been prettily dangled along the tops of the leylandii thus providing The Shed with its WiFi, our work for the day was done. Sunday was going to be busy.
And so, after a relatively comfortable first night in our temporary home, we cracked on with the major task of fitting the rest of our stuff into our old living room, which has become the new Baghdad, and which is now Out Of Bounds to all of the Little Seymours henceforth and herewith.
Now, apart from New Baghdad, and a few bits in the kitchen, the rest of the Funny Little Bungalow is empty, presenting a sad and dejected (and decidedly mouldy) picture of desolation and old age.
It’s weird to think that a week ago, the Four Little Seymours were living and sleeping in The Dormitory, surrounded by their books and their toys. They knew where their clothes were. Their walls were decorated with certificates and scribbles.
Now, if I look in through the window of that room, I can see rafters, dust and debris, after Big Seymour finally took his hammer to the old place. We are now one ceiling down, four to go, and I can see why we had to move out.
So, progress is definitely being made up at the Funny Little Bungalow, whilst down in The Shed, we are having to adapt to a whole strange new way of living.
Storage is my biggest problem. I vow to have a massive clear out of clothes – they’re everywhere. And when the Four Little Seymours’ garments are having to be stored up a ladder on a cramped mezzanine space in single drawers, then less is definitely the way forward.
The slow cooker has been a godsend, because the gas oven that Big Seymour was sold last year is actually a pile of old tat. And on Tuesday, before I remembered where the slow cooker was, I had veggie burgers barbecuing nicely on the bonfire, and tasting very slightly of the old cupboards we had just disposed of.
The Four Little Seymours, however, are currently seeing the whole experience as an adventure. Their bedroom area is above ours, and so far, they seem to have slept well. It’s bound to take its toll soon though, having a twelve year-old sharing a small space with her three younger siblings. But on Sunday night, I was amazed when she chose to read them all a chapter of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe before they all went beautifully to sleep. And as I tried to do the ironing with a broken board in the half light below them, I was encouraged to think that maybe all this forced togetherness will make them closer…

The Four Little Seymours break up for Easter tomorrow. The Shed will be well and truly tested then. Six people. One room. Let’s hope the weather stays kind!

But more importantly, good weather would benefit Big Seymour, too. Because over Easter, he plans to remove the roof of the Funny Little Bungalow completely. In eighteen days. And re-build it, too.
That is his mission. It’s ambitious. But judging by the way he gleefully destroyed the Dormitory ceiling last night by jumping his way through the rafters like a naughty kid with an ASBO, I think he’s rather excited.
Life is certainly not dull. :-/