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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

You should always throw as you go


Bad Ischl
When we arrived from Australia we had quite a bit of stuff that we knew we would need – but that did not fit into the apartment. This included our Scuba gear, tool sets and (I kid you not) – 50 cartons of books.

The books remain almost untouched because there is simply nowhere to put them. We have a big bookshelf that is full of some of the books we brought with us and the books we have bought since we have been here.

There remain –in the basement – 43 cartons of books.

To this has been added enormous piles of stuff including old towels, old sheets, old rugs and the accumulation of 4 years living in an apartment.

Also there are the 8 chairs which go with our Nicholas Dattner dining table. For a change of scenery we got new leather chairs but we cannot throw the other chairs away because they go with the table – which is very special.

It is made from a single piece of timber from the old Goldsbrough Mort wool stores in Melbourne and has its provenance detailed on a bronze plaque underneath the table.

To this we can add the roof racks which I bought for the car three years ago in anticipation of driving with our bicycles to various scenic places in Austria. Needless to say – this has not yet happened.

It is now very difficult to get into the basement so I have decided that the time has come to make some ruthless decisions. This is the penalty you pay for not adopting a throw-as-you-go policy.

To be continued 

5 comments:

  1. I don't recaLL ever seeing provenance on a table before, much less on a bronze plate. The nice table that we picked out shortly after getting engaged is stiLL in our possession, and I "threatened" my wife that our marriage would end if she ever decided to get rid of it. The chairs to the table slowly self destructed with the help of children, especiaLLy the older son. Interesting, his wife gave us a replacement table and chairs for current dining room.

    Wow, that is alot of books. I love books. But now I think I love my iPad more. My iCloud wiLL conveniently contain 50 cartons of Kindles.

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  2. :( oh dear... 2 years ago our cellar was floodded during heavy rainfalls, so we ended up throwing out A LOT OF THINGS.. we were so happy that our cellar was almost empty... and now, 2 years later.... Well, I'm having a hard time to think about where to put the 3 cartos from our next Szigeti Sekt delivery....

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  3. The problem with chucking books, is that immediately after you chuck them, you find you want/need them. And despite the furphy that everything is available on the internet, it is not so....

    I guess you can only hope for a flood to damage all irretrievably and force your hand.

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  4. esb: We wanted a really good tablet at would last for 100 years (I am not sure why). I still can't get used to reading books on my iPad.

    Simon: See separate email cobber

    Rozalin: Perhaps I need to go down there with a hose.

    Merricks: That is so true - and why we probably will not throw them away.

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