It’s funny but the more we box up the more I realise I don’t actually need all that “stuff” that just seems to clutter our lives. Yet when it’s lying there I cannot imagine being without that peaked cap we bought in Italy that says “Italia” in big bold letters across the front. Despite the fact I have never been bold enough to wear it in public, I might just want to one day. I could say the same about so many things: The Gaggia coffee machine that, like everything Italian, looks fabulous but never worked properly, the dab clock radio with a menu so complicated that if my life depended on it I couldn’t program a radio station. Don’t get me started on the mandolin that someone gave me…

It’s only because we are about to leave for so long that we have had to de-clutter, and it’s very liberating and I wish we had done it sooner. Various articles and books extoll the virtues of de-cluttering and downsizing and like so many self help mantras they are put off for another day but now that we are in the process I am getting a taste for it.

The boys have found it harder to part with their Playmobil, Lego and guns and stuff that they never play with anymore but we have managed to sneak things out although there will be hell to pay when they realise. As they seem to grow out of clothes every couple of days getting rid of clothing was easier than expected, I wish I could say the same for me! Although I drew the line at the 80’s camel overcoat, I have noticed it’s only when something is gone that you’ll admit it looked bloody awful on you, is that a bloke thing?

So onwards and upwards to a newer, lighter and less encumbered life.