Now we've moved into our 'new' house (built 1938) all our furniture is either too big or too small for the spaces. And, as we're downsizing, we have duplicates of some items - even six different types of desk!  Here are details of the desks:

1. There's a very old piece of oak furniture with a desk part top middle, with a small cupboard underneath and glass display cupboards at each side.   
2. There's a modern computer desk with shelves for tower, printer, paper and a drawer for pens etc.
3. Another items has three drawers and a roll down lid covering the pigeon holes - everyone who see this absolutely loves it!
4. A four desk has three drawers at the side and big top surface.  It's very useful for crafts and is unique as someone has applied marquetry to the drawers.  I'm loathe to part with this as it has a matching coffee table and I'll never be able to get another one like it.
5. The fifth one was probably originally a gramophone cupboard with lift down lid at the front for desk and speaker, and storage below for records.  This items has intricate Chinese-type carving on the front.  It looks like the sort of piece which is either valuable or two-a-penny - not sure which at present!
6. The sixth one is delicate looking side table with a leather top, one drawer and spindly legs.  It would look very good in a window or perhaps in a hall.

No 1

No 3

No 5 - with beautiful Chinese-type carvings

Elegant desk no 6

As you can see, all these desks have different functions and are nice in their own right, so at the moment we're hanging on to all of them.

A friend said that if we can't decide what to keep and what to get rid of then put the items for sale at a good price.  Then if they go and we subsequently regret it then at least we didn't just give it away.



Ideas for getting rid of the furniture include:

• eBay
• Local auction houses - Bamfords and Hansons (both charge about 18%)
• Local advertising: newspapers, newsagents, local magazine.
• Gumtree, Preloved and similar sites.
• Charity shop
• Freecycle.    

Already a large dining table with six chairs and a two-seater sofa have been sold on Preloved.  

This site seems to take longer to sell things than perhaps on eBay. But it's free and I don't get bombarded with queries.  In the past we successfully used Preloved when we sold the wheelchair and the two mobility scooters.

Several small items have been given away on freecycle.

We also have a beautiful china cabinet which just doesn't look good in our house.  It should do as it's from a similar era to the house, but somehow doesn't look its best, but at present am not sure how to best sell it.

And then there's this rather nice sideboard: 

I've just found half an article on why life is so much easier once you past the dreaded 4-0. The whole article would have been far more interesting but the piece which remains does throw up some interesting ideas ...


If you worry less about what people think of you, you can pick up an astonishing amount of information about them.  You no longer leave conversations wondering what just happened.  Other people's minds and motives are finally revealed.

People are constantly trying to shape how you view them.  In certain extreme cases, they seem to be transmitting a personal motto, such as: 'I have a relaxed parenting style!'; 'I earn in the low six figures!'; 'I'm authentic and don't try to project an image!'.

Eight hours of continuous unmedicated sleep is one of life's great pleasures.

There are no grown-ups.  We suspect this when we are younger, but can confirm it only once we are the ones writing books and attending parent-teacher meetings.  Everyone is winging it; some just do it more confidently.

There are no soul mates.  Not in the traditional sense, at least.  Apparently each person has not one but more like 30 soul mates walking the earth.  Soul mate isn't a pre-existing condition, it's a earned title, made over time.

You'll miss out on some near soul mates.  This goes for friendships too. There will be unforgettable people with whom you have shared an excellent evening or a few days.  Now they live in Hong Kong, and you will never see them again.  That's how life is.

Emotional scenes are tiring and pointless.  You and your partner know your ritual arguments so well, you can have them in a tenth of the time!

Forgive your exes, even the awful ones.  They were just winging it, too.

When you meet someone extremely charming, be cautious instead of dazzled.  By your forties, you've got better at spotting narcissists before they ruin your life.  You know that 'nice' isn't a sufficient quality for friendship but it's a necessary one.

People's youthful quirks can harden into adult pathologies.  What's adorable at 20 can be worrisome at 30 and dangerous at 40.  Also, at 40, you see the outlines of what your peers will look like when they're 70.

More about you is universal than not universal.  Apparently we are 95% cohort, 5% unique and knowing this is a bit of a disappointment, and a bit of a relief.

But you find your tribe. By your forties you no longer want to be with the cool people, you want to be with your people.

Just say, 'No'.  Never suggest lunch with people you don't want to have lunch with.  They will be much less disappointed than you think.

You don't have to decide whether God exists.  Maybe he does and maybe he doesn't.  But when you're already worrying that the security services are reading your emails it's better not to know whether yet another entity is watching you.


If you're invited to lunch with someone who works in the fashion industry, do not wear your most 'fashionable' outfit - wear black.

If you like the outfit on the mannequin, buy exactly what's on the mannequin.  Do not try to recreate the same look by yourself.

It's OK if you don't like jazz.

When you're wondering whether she's his daughter or his girlfriend, she's his girlfriend.

When you're unsure if it's a woman or a man, it's a woman.

From Stella magazine

... and here are a few ideas from the Daily Record (not a paper I'm used to reading): http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/40-reasons-to-enjoy-turning-40-967618.
And: http://microrrelatososhortstories.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/recap-thinking-about-turning-40/