Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Moving of the Books

HS and I yesterday moved several thousand million books from the living room which is to be refloored, and several hours later, most of them were stacked up the stairs, along the upstairs hallway and in other rooms upstairs. Today I moved several hundred thousand artworks upstairs because they can't deal with the dust that will ensue in the flooring process.










And the amazing sight of empty bookcases was seen in the land. And blank walls, looking forlorn and a bit grubby. The bookcases have almost all been moved, seizing the opportunity to set them up better. They'll never be empty again.

And Marigold, anxiously guarding the ancient wall to wall rug which is to be hauled joyfully away on Wednesday.

This is the part where I fervently wish it were All Done, and I'm so tired from the general stresses of the week plus the heavy lifting, though HS did a huge amount of work in his free time. I had fed him a hearty lunch first, to make sure his energy was fueled.

But at this point everything I want to do is somewhere else in a safe place. Likewise paperwork is carefully stored. Somewhere.

And I have plans for quite a few of these here books, which will not be missed, heheh, evil chuckle. One the other hand, we did make a few nice discoveries in the process of moving them. A couple of terrific First Day Covers (stamp collectors know what these are) that Andy prizes which had gone missing years ago, between books. A great battered Giles annual which we fell all over laughing at yet again. If you don't know the cartoonist Giles, look him up on google or Amazon. Very very funny even years later.

A while back when I was sorting and winnowing my own books, I found a couple of Japanese 19th century woodblock prints which I love and had been wondering for ages what happened to them -- put for safety into a big art catalog. So sometimes it pays to clean! not often enough to make it a regular event, let's not get carried away here...

4 comments:

  1. I love moving for just that reason, it gives you an excuse to organize and clean. :)

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  2. I think books are the hardest thing to move..always heavier than expected..and always something catches the eye and has to be pursued. I applaud your single mindedness in getting so many books moved in one go! Good for you!

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  3. When you are moving books, and they seem heavy, just remember that they are really just blocks of repurposed wood. Logs.

    Liane

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  4. Lordy, moving books has got to be one of the heaviest jobs on Earth for booky people. Your anonymous friend is so right, they're logs! But isn't it fun to find the things put away 'for safekeeping' inside them!

    Grey will gradually become a lovely shade of oyster, and before you know it.

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