*deep breath*

I've just made what should feel like more of a decision than it is. I've decided to sell my marimba (MCPV, in the Concert range). I was a keen percussionist at school, getting thrown into the orchestra at 11 and having percussion lessons from 16-18, and so I spent the summer between school and university temping in order to buy a marimba, which I did. Five months into university I got ME/CFIDS, and it hasn't gone away, nor does it show any signs of doing so. My muscle strength is crap, I can't stand for long, I haven't played in an orchestra for nine years, and I've finally accepted that the poor beast just isn't going to get played. It's 207 cm long and 90 cm wide at the low end, and I think I'd be better off with the space, not to mention the money (they're £2400 new, same as ten years ago, and people are generally advising me to ask for half as it's in very good nick). I've started asking around music colleges and percussion teachers, with any luck I'll be able to find a buyer, and I might even try eBay, although I don't know how many people in the Edinburgh area are searching for one there (and it's far too big to throw in the post).

So now I'm getting excited planning what I can do with the space it currently occupies, apart from tidying hell out of it before I can even show the marimba to prospective sellers (papers on top of it, boxes underneath...) I've been yearning after a sewing machine for some time, but never had the space for it before. I reckon I could get a desk in there on the right and make a general sewing corner of it, and another bookcase on the left if I needed it. I may even use the desk from my bedroom, I hate using the computer in there and it just ends up clogged up with stuff (too near the wardrobe), so perhaps I could have an armchair in my room (though is there really any point when it's a one-bedroom flat and there's a sofa which is the most comfortable reading spot?). I'm also going through the flat calculating which bits of furniture could be replaced with better storage, in the no doubt vain belief that the place wouldn't be such a tip if I had more storage. This place really needs blitzing, I've accumulated a ridiculous amount of junk over the years.

I expected the idea to hurt, but I think it got past that stage years ago. I got ill so soon after getting the marimba that I never even got a chance to bond with it. I'm actually finding the idea liberating (which seems faintly blasphemous), though it could just be an attack of nestiness, wanting to change the flat round a bit. Of course, if anyone suggested that I sold my beloved piano (1924 Bluthner boudoir grand in rosewood), I'd bite their arm off!

*deep breath*

I've just made what should feel like more of a decision than it is. I've decided to sell my marimba (MCPV, in the Concert range). I was a keen percussionist at school, getting thrown into the orchestra at 11 and having percussion lessons from 16-18, and so I spent the summer between school and university temping in order to buy a marimba, which I did. Five months into university I got ME/CFIDS, and it hasn't gone away, nor does it show any signs of doing so. My muscle strength is crap, I can't stand for long, I haven't played in an orchestra for nine years, and I've finally accepted that the poor beast just isn't going to get played. It's 207 cm long and 90 cm wide at the low end, and I think I'd be better off with the space, not to mention the money (they're £2400 new, same as ten years ago, and people are generally advising me to ask for half as it's in very good nick). I've started asking around music colleges and percussion teachers, with any luck I'll be able to find a buyer, and I might even try eBay, although I don't know how many people in the Edinburgh area are searching for one there (and it's far too big to throw in the post).

So now I'm getting excited planning what I can do with the space it currently occupies, apart from tidying hell out of it before I can even show the marimba to prospective sellers (papers on top of it, boxes underneath...) I've been yearning after a sewing machine for some time, but never had the space for it before. I reckon I could get a desk in there on the right and make a general sewing corner of it, and another bookcase on the left if I needed it. I may even use the desk from my bedroom, I hate using the computer in there and it just ends up clogged up with stuff (too near the wardrobe), so perhaps I could have an armchair in my room (though is there really any point when it's a one-bedroom flat and there's a sofa which is the most comfortable reading spot?). I'm also going through the flat calculating which bits of furniture could be replaced with better storage, in the no doubt vain belief that the place wouldn't be such a tip if I had more storage. This place really needs blitzing, I've accumulated a ridiculous amount of junk over the years.

I expected the idea to hurt, but I think it got past that stage years ago. I got ill so soon after getting the marimba that I never even got a chance to bond with it. I'm actually finding the idea liberating (which seems faintly blasphemous), though it could just be an attack of nestiness, wanting to change the flat round a bit. Of course, if anyone suggested that I sold my beloved piano (1924 Bluthner boudoir grand in rosewood), I'd bite their arm off!