Stable

The first floor of the shed/stable in our garden (once a hay-loft) was a teenager den for many years - cleared, designed and decorated by my two children then used as a place where things that grown ups don't know about went on. I reckoned that those things would go on anyway so it was safer if the young people had to troop through our house and grunt at me on their way in. (Not out, I was usually in bed by then.) The unexpected and pleasant side-effect was that lots of young people used to grunt at me in the streets too and some now talk to me.

They stopped being teenagers long ago and I had little reason to do anything about the mess they left behind them. But we're moving, so eight days ago Firstborn helped me get down two of the three old sofas and the table which used to house a tape-player(!), ashtrays, bottles, cans, glasses... Six days ago the Council took that old furniture away. Today I cleared dust and cobwebs - a huge volume of ancient cobwebs - ivy growing through the roof slates, fag-ends, playing cards and quite a few of those cans, then vacuumed the old carpet and cushions, and took in from the house some shelving surplus to requirements in preparation for a final nostalgic gathering of the no-longer-so-young people during our final Christmas in this house.