We took full benefit of the crappy weather this Easter weekend and went a bit mad cleaning, tidying, listing on eBay and binning stuff.  So cathartic!

We’ve tentatively sold (simultaneously crossing fingers and holding breath as we don’t have a date through yet), and with a baby due in June, we realised we need to clear out the old to make space for the new.

In addition, we don’t have a house to move to ourselves yet, so we’re planning on renting until we find a house we love. Fine in theory, but rental options are limited in the area we’re looking at, and if we move from a four-bed house to a three-bed flat (and acquire an extra child along the way), that space is going to come in handy.

Our loft was groaning with accumulated… stuff. We’re by no means hoarders (Barry may disagree), but living in the same place for years means you inevitably end up keeping a lot of things you don’t need any more. Barry’s brought about two thirds of the loft contents down, but there’s still very important boxes up there that will probably stay with us for a few years yet. Like my uni notes. What if Scarlett shows a flair for languages and she can use my French and Spanish insights? Barry’s fishing rod that’s been used once. Priceless. My clarinet that I haven’t played since 2001? Couldn’t possibly get rid.

We filled both our normal and recycling bins, and had more rubbish waiting to go once they’d been collected.

All of Scarlett’s clothes and some very pink baby bits have gone on eBay, along with golf clubs, the exercise bike, and boxing gloves and pads from when I did kickboxing many, many years ago. We’ve still got boxes and boxes up there of leftover Quickstep we used for the living room and kitchen (they’ll be going on eBay).

Our bedroom currently looks like a jumble sale, but a lot of those bags are being collected over the next few days to make space for more loft crap to be brought down for sorting.

All in all, a productive weekend! Keep everything crossed for us!