Sunshine, snowflakes, dust and ashes

[gillo]

We have winter weather here - unheard of for late February, according to the more hysterical media. (Daily Express, I'm glaring at you.) In Scotland it's actually serious, but here it's a light dusting and temperatures only a few degrees below freezing

Comments

[ancarett]

Sympathies on dealing with the emotional fallout of loss and also the many levels of stress that come with managing the stuff left behind.

[gillo]

Thanks. It's going to be a gruelling couple of months, I fear.

[petzipellepingo]

Sending good thoughts for cleaning up the mess left behind, I remember my Mom's mess only too well.

[gillo]

The mess is easy. It's the stuff with memories attached that makes for hard work. Thanks.

[kazzy_cee]

Gosh you are getting far better weather than us - it was -9C in my garden yesterday morning. I hope that continues. Snow is falling again here as I type.

I must admit when we moved I decluttered really thoroughly as I couldn’t bear to have the same scale of dross that my grandmother and parents were guilty of keeping hold of when they died. I took photos of things I wanted to remember and then gave them away or recycled them. I don’t want my kids looking at our house and despairing. Good luck with it all!

Cute new coat is cute :)

[gillo]

We've had steady fine powdery snow all day today, but still only an inch or so. More expected overnight.

We could have done some decluttering before Mum died, but it felt too much like going behind her back and would have made her unhappy. My brother is determined to take the old, broken microwave to the tip now - she wouldn't let him do so!

New coat is lovely. But she makes most outfits look cute.

[kathyh]

You have all my sympathies both for dealing with grief and clearing out your mum’s bungalow. I couldn’t express my grief either and there are still moments when it stabs me with pain a year later. I’m not sure it actually gets better but you do get more used to coping with it.

My husband did the probate for my mum and though there is a lot of paperwork the actual process was done far more quickly than we expected. The clear out job was the worst but take it steadily, sob over stuff when you feel like it and laugh over it at other times. We are still sorting the stuff that we brought home as we couldn’t deal with it immediately. A shredder is very useful! If you need any cheerleading just let me know.

Rhiannon is adorable. Many hugs.

[gillo]

Thank you. We're in Wales for a couple of days, making a start. There are receipts for furniture bought 40 years ago, and the guest list for my wedding!

It's not easy, but small bites is the best answer.

As for the pain, weirdly, "Call the Midwife" triggered floods of tears on Sunday, because the 23rd Psalm was used in a very sad bit and we used the hymn version of that at the funeral. Weird how these things creep up and grab you, isn't it?

[kikimay]

Clearing your Mum's space must have been very hard. *hugs*

Rhiannon looks so cute! And she's ready for the cold with that coat!

In Italy you can imagine what this cold has caused: pure chaos. We're not used to these temperatures. And yes, fuck Trump and his ignorance!

[gillo]

It was hard. We are in Wales again today to make a start on the house, which is even harder. Still, small bites, as they say...

Italy's not had the best of weeks. Ah well, I suppose we look less stupid if other countries make really bad electoral decisions too. But really, the Lega?

[kikimay]

I don't know what to say, except that the Lega is basically the Italian equivalent to Trump and, apparently, it's just Trump moment. We need to deal with that.

[gillo]

The Lega seems to think changing its name means the South will come on board. It may be right. Populism is so depressing, appealing to the very worst in all of us. We all need to deal with that vicious trick of encouraging the poor and underprivileged to blame people even worse off than themselves for all their problems, while rick people masquerade as their saviours.