4. IT'S IN THE HEADLINES

The following morning, I wake up to a knock on the door. I quickly check my watch to see what time it is. It is barely past seven. I get up and quickly go downstairs. I must look a terrible mess. The courier guy is standing in front of the door. Patiently waiting with his clipboard in his hand. I open the door and greet him, trying to fake being awake as best I can. He laughs a short laugh before greeting me in his friendly way.

He takes the heaps of books to his vehicle while I sign off the different waybills. When everything is loaded in the van and the paperwork is done, he bids me goodbye and leaves.

I close the door behind me and make my way through the narrow pathways to the kitchen to start the day with a strong cup of coffee. While the kettle is boiling, I look around the rest of the kitchen. I almost start laughing when I realise the small boxes stacked neatly on the kitchen counter contains delicate cups and saucers. I do not claim to know much of anything regarding antiques and collectables but I know my grandmother had an insanely expensive cup and saucer she saved in a glass cabinet in her living room. I could never understand why one would have such a delicate item in your house that was so expensive that you would not use it.

On the other counter is more containers with delft plates. I know enough to know that these would have a specific stamp at the bottom that would determine if it is an original or a remake. The plates are packed neatly into four large see-through containers. Each plate is wrapped in a sheet of soft paper and then placed on top of each other, separated by a sheet of bubble wrap.

So, this will be today's task. Listing and shipping plates and cups and saucer sets.

I make myself a cup of coffee that I enjoy at the table with some rusks. I like to open the door to the kitchen. The sun falls into the doorway and it lights the kitchen in a different way. It looks like a picture from a magazine.

After my morning coffee I set about cataloguing the plates and putting them on a site for porcelain items. I do the same with the cups and saucers. Some of the items are truly very beautiful. I search each item to somewhat determine the value of it.

After cataloguing all the items, I leave them in neat stacks in the study where I took the pictures. I then go back to the kitchen to clean the area where the stacks previously stood. Every time I clean a space and it becomes clutter free, I feel accomplished. I clean out all the cupboards. I wash and dry all the plates and cups and glasses in the cupboards and stack them back into the dust free spaces.

There are a few empty cupboards in the kitchen that should be for groceries. Right now, the only real food items in the house are inside the fridge. I wash the floor and go up to the bathroom to have a bath.

When I am clean and fresh, I walk down to the study to see how I can order groceries to come to my house. I am amazed at the different stores that do home deliveries. I make sure to order enough things so I do not have to order again anytime soon. With the kitchen cleaned and tidied up there is enough space to fill the cupboards with anything I may need in the foreseeable future.

After ordering groceries, I check on my messages. The spoons were delivered successfully and Alexander is very excited to see the others. The ones I have sent him is valued higher than he initially thought. He sent me a proof of payment for the amount the spoons were valued at. I quickly check my bank account. The money is already reflecting in my account as well.

I continue to read Alexander's messages. He asks that I send the rest of the spoons also and he is interested in anything else I may have.

I make up the waybills for his shipment and check the rest of my messages. The plates were a sure hit. As was the cups and saucers. At this rate I would be able to clear the house in no time.

The days in the next few weeks are all filled with the same activities. Identifying a room in the house that needs to be cleared. Dividing the room into sections, because it is too overwhelming to work on the room as a whole, and concentrating on one section to clear it.

I am amazed at how little actual garbage there are in the house to throw away. Most of the clutter the old lady hoarded were very valuable items. Almost everything I list is sold within the same day. Single items from each stack stays for a few days more, but overall, everything sold in the end.

The days when I felt too overwhelmed to clear a section of the house, I spent researching the worth of some items. This house was a treasure chest.

By the end of the second week, according to the spreadsheet I kept of all the transactions, I had made enough to pay off the house in one payment. There would also be a little left to buy some more decorative things for the house. It would be nice to add my personal touch to the house.

Of all the places I discovered in the house, my favourite places had to be the stone fireplace in the living room and the tiny storage room underneath the stairs.

I always loved the idea of a small house beneath the stairs. I use to think if I ever had a little girl of my own, I would absolutely convert the space under the stairs into a tiny house for her.

I have cleared the whole ground floor. The house looks bigger and more homely now that all the clutter is gone. I only have to still do the attic and the basement. I will do them next week. Right now, I am content with the ground floor being cleared and cleaned.

After I make myself lunch and a cup of coffee, I go to the study to check on messages. Everything I sold are already sent out. There is nothing that needs to be picked up today. The messages I received are to thank me for sending the items and to let me know that they were received in good order.

I open the news page on the internet to see what today's headlines are.

SERIAL KILLER SENTENCED TO THREE TIME LIFE

I completely forgot that his trial was yesterday. He only got three life sentences. My heart races and I need to calm myself down. I remind myself that he will not be able to find me. He cannot send anyone for me. He doesn't know where I am. He is in prison now for three life sentences. My heart calms down and I can breathe easier. I don't read the article. The headlines are enough.

VOTING DAY SET FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

I doubt that I will leave the house for that. If they allow me to vote online, I will most definitely give my vote. To whom I do not know yet.

PAPER FACTORY BURNT DOWN.

I wonder if it burnt more than another kind of factory would have.

RARE ANTIQUES MAKE ANOTHER APPEARANCE

The picture in the article is one of the spoons I sent out. The one with the large ruby at the end of the stem. For a moment I stare wide eyed at the picture. A rare find that made another appearance? I wonder how long the old lady had these items.

As I read through the article, I gather that this spoon was last seen about sixty years ago. It was kept in a museum in Italy for a very long time. About sixty years ago it was stolen and they could trace it as far as Spain about ten years later. After that it disappeared altogether. Until now.

The article does not mention my name. It only states the person's name who bought it from me. It also says he only paid a fraction of what it is worth since the seller thought it was a replica. Even if some of the information in this article is fabricated, I am glad that my name is not being mentioned. I am sure if I had every single item in this house appraised, I would have received far more for everything I sold, but I just wanted to clear the house and whatever I made from it was good enough for me.

The article ends with the buyer telling the journalist that he bought all the spoons he could find after discovering the authenticity of this specific spoon.

Oh dear. Alexander is sure enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame.

I wonder if any of the other items I sold were also long lost valuables, searched for by many over the last few decades.