I am sitting comfortably in my leather armchair and this is placed in front of my computer. I feel quite low, a little below the keyboard but that is fine, I can still type comfortably.

Things are back to normal now. What do I mean? Well, I live in a lovely home, a one bedroom flat and the owner decided that she wanted to paint the flat from top to bottom. There's nothing wrong with this and I have been living here since September 2002 so I suppose the time had come for the flat to go through a phase of rebirth!

I just knew that the painting and decorating would lead to organised chaos! I had to move everything into the middle of each room so that the decorator could slowly work his way around the four walls including the ceiling and the skirting boards. It felt nice and I loved that smell of fresh paint.

My living room was by bar the worst to deal with. I had over a hundred books on my shelves and there was just no room to move anything. So, this got me thinking. I had decided that now was the moment that I had to take some positive action and actually start getting rid of stuff starting with all my books. I was thinking that I would just bin them but then again that would have been a tremendous waste so I got in touch with the British Heart Foundation and they were terrific, a great source of help when I needed it most. They advised me that they could collect all my books for free and sell them with the proceeds being donated to their charity, a great result.

I booked the collection for the following day and in the meantime I was placing all the books into black bin bags and believe you me, they weighed more than a ton figuratively speaking. That was a good experience. I got rid of other things but mostly it was my books. I love books and I love to read but I came to the decision that I would keep just a few of my favourite books. The majority of my reading I would now do on my Kindle device. Those Kindles can actually store over a thousand books although I must admit I do like the physical kind where I can actually feel the texture of the pages.

I had tuned into some of those programs where you have people hoarding all their possessions and you cannot even gain entry to the house; I was a million miles away from that set of circumstances. What do they call that when you declutter? Is it a form of Feng Sui? If so then I definitely experienced multiple doses of Feng Sui!

Moving forward and a couple of days and a few hours I feel great and my flat has suddenly become more welcoming than ever. I love my flat and I like the idea of going through a declutter from time to time. Space is nice, it gives you the opportunity to stretch your legs and relax.

That's it! I guess the smell of fresh paint will diminish within a few days or weeks! I don't mind it though. Now I can sit in the corner next to the window with my Kindle device and choose a favourite book to read, a hot cup of tea in hand, handkerchief at the ready for that dripping nose! No, not tears! I rarely cry when reading a book! Oh the words! I need a break. Back soon!