It's a lot harder to get rid of stuff than aquire it, don't you think? Buy something, and it's put right into your hands or delivered to your home. A couple of cicks on eBay and you've bought yourself a bargain. It takes a lot longer to sell something: take and upload your photograph, write your copy, set the postage, wait to see if it sells, pack it up and take it to the Post Office. I find it a lot easier to fill up my home than empty it.

But, I've got to make space (if only so I can stop tripping over things and find enough space to sit down on my chairs and eat off my dining room table) so some of it's got to go. Probably about half of it.

I packed up three big boxes of stuff and took it to the Salvation Army shop, a nice place where I once picked up a fabulous 36-piece Wedgewood breakfast set for not much money at all. Closed. Next day they were open, but they don't take donations after 3.30. Next day, open but they'd had too many donations that day so I had to put it all back in the car again. Drove around the corner and found the British Heart Foundation shop. Lovely people. They even sent out the team to help me unload it all. I'll be going back there.

But for the moment, I'm off to eBay to sell a pair of shoes. It's curiously rewarding to watch the house slowly empty itself again.