ineke.co.uk

A month ago I moved house – I’m sure the stress was nothing compared to those buying somewhere (I’m only renting in a house share) but it was an entirely stressful experience! The letting agency made everything about 50 times more difficult than it should be, cancelling appointments we were on our way to or being an hour late for ones we were already at, and far too many other things to list. It was definitely not an enjoyable time!

But now we’ve been here a month I think we’re settling in pretty well. And as is the way when you do something like this, everyone’s standard “how are you” question for me at the moment is “so how are you guys settling into the house?”.

To start with I had the same answer every time, it’s really lovely, a lot more modern and therefore warmer than the last place, nice and homely, but oh, it’s tiny. And it really is small, every room (other than the downstairs toilet of all things) really is quite little. Kitchen space is completely minimal, and in the smallest of the bedrooms, I only have a hanging rail as there’s no space for a proper wardrobe! (To give you an idea, the length of the room is the length of a single bed plus the width of the doorway, and the width is too narrow to fit a single bed lengthways – that’s the best way I can describe it!)

But a few days later it struck me. That tiny little bedroom, could well be the size of the house that my Compassion sponsored child lives in. And not just him, his parents and siblings too. The entire family could be living in a dirty space, the size of the space that I cram with my worldly rubbish and little old me. Who am I to complain? My room may be small, but I still have space for most of my things in there, it’s heated, water tight and clean. I also have a bathroom, kitchen and living room, with safe running water, electrical appliances, internet – so much more than my sponsored child has.

My tiny room is great, I have nothing to complain about.

So last Wednesday, I did a 5k jog (and actually jogged for over half the distance!) around the Tower of London! I ran with 2 wonderful friends, Nisha and Jamie, who agreed to come with me! And considering I haven’t exercised at all this year, I don’t think a time of 42 minutes 21 is all that bad! Of course, Jamie showed us all up by going on and doing 10k much faster, but still 🙂

Other than the rain, the exhaustion, the pain, it was a great day! We’re already overwhelmed by how much we’ve raised and how much people have supported us, but if you wanted to add to that, you can sponsor us here

And because everyone loves a good photo, I thought I’d share a few of them too 🙂

So we’re in the process of moving, which is the best way to motivate a clearout EVER!

I’ve already got rid of some kitcheny things, and as a house we are fast becoming Oxfam’s main supplier, but below are some things I’d love to either give to someone who could use them and enjoy them, and one thing (so far) that’s up ‘for sale’.

Ideally this would be people *I know* in Surrey or Romsey to avoid postage… yea, this blog post is only really aimed at people I know in real life – sorry!

For Sale
2 Man tent, made by Blacks, quite a few years old but well looked after. Only for sale as last year I bought a 3 man for a bit more space.

Giving away
Various music books:

• Flute playalong with CD books? (I guess they’d also work with any other instrument in C at similar pitching eg violin?) I have Shrek 1&2, Beatles and Grease!
• Violin Disney Movie Magic – no CD (again, most instruments in C should work?)
• Abracadabra Violin 1&2 (starts at beginner level and works up a bit)
• The Young Violinist’s Repertoire Book 1 Violin & Piano parts (little indication of level but all pieces are in 1st position)

Boot’s own brand hair straighteners (to give you an idea of quality, they were only £10 when they were new!)

…I’ll try to keep this updated as things get added/removed and repost it on facebook/twitter as appropriate