Everything Must Change

After more than 25 years in our current home it's time to move on.  It's the usual set of motivations for people in retirement: fewer stairs, closer to family, move while we're fit & healthy, etc.

Our house is the one with the car parked on the drive.  From a hobby perspective I've had a great painting desk on the middle floor with lots of natural light.  The room also doubled as a home office.

The room hasn't changed much over the years.  I've re-organised the desk top layout a few times but the £3.00 second-hand desk has remained a constant. Here's what it looked like when the estate agent came round to take some photographs:

Having transferred all my paints to a rented storage space I'm pleased to say that this didn't involve too much hassle.  The various items I use regularly fitted nicely in those black, stackable "banana trays" that supermarkets use for fruit deliveries and display.

There was a downside to this.

I always thought I was a relatively tidy hobbyist.  I prided myself on not having too much stuff; selling my excess at shows or on eBay.  No more!

It turns out that I have really useful boxes of 15 mm terrain, tool boxes full of armies, a set of TSS tiles (enough for a 6 by 4 ft table), a relatively small lead pile, display pieces, competition trophies, and at least three different sized table mats.  I knew I had a lot of painted figures but the rest was a surprise.

To complicate matters, all the above were either too awkward to leave to the removal people, too small to transfer without boxing, or too valuable (to me) to risk even the slightest damage in transit.  So I moved them myself.  Ultimately, this is the cause my shame.

For the first time in decades I saw all my hobby stuff in one place.  I was shocked to see just how much there was.    Despite my best efforts I have accumulated lots of stuff and I'm going to have to have an another sort out when I empty the storage space.

Here's a canal side view of our house (the one with the sloping grass lawn) as a final memento of many happy years in Warrington.

There won't be any more posts until after we've moved and are some what settled in our new home.  So, in time honoured fashion, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.