Friday 24 October 2008

bullet points

Brief Update as things are busy busy Chez Moi.

Friend visiting for a week from Sunday…here are my current preoccupations:

· Much cleaning is ensuing…place was getting a little Withnail-ish for my liking
· I am concerned about the lack of heating upstairs
· terrible rattling noises are coming from the dormer in the bedroom which she will be sleeping, mainly because of the howling maelstrom outside
· the window in there is still letting the rain in (thankyou my efficient landlords)
· I need to scrub the bath, even though it will still look like a hippo has been wallowing in it because the enamel’s worn away, at least I know it is clean even if it doesn’t look it

At least I thought to get some curtains for the window in her temporary bedroom, which cost me £3 (love you charity shop!) and have been washed today, so just ironing and hanging them to do tomorrow, all being well. I’ve mopped the floors, hoovered half the house (other half tomorrow) and shaken out all of the rugs:



Dad’s sweater is coming on, albeit a little slowly, but there is only so much grey stocking stitch a girl can stand in one session.



I felt the need for a little pizzazz in my life, a little less “working to a pattern” and fretting about gauge, so:



I’ve gone a bit freeform. It’s scarily addictive. This will hopefully be a hanging to go over the fire in the lounge, I’ve decided much as I love the picture of Inverie Bay, it doesn’t work where it is currently. As soon as I work out where its new spot is, I’ll shift it.

Other stuff:

· Sewing machine died, in the middle of making a case for my DPNs. Not amused, but I finished the case by hand, and sent the machine off for a wee holiday to Ayr with a nice man called Sandy. He told me the foot pedal was full of spiders. How embarrassing. :-)
· I’ve begun stocking up on quilting kit (see above for minor hiccup in timing.) Because what I need in my life is another fibre hobby, naturally. Ahem.

· I haz a sofa! Well, sort of. I picked up a sofa and two armchairs last week in the village saleroom. I must admit, it is as ugly as sin. However that’s what throws were invented for, it is comfy and I am not short of a crocheted blankie or two to throw over it. How much? £40. For the lot. I also snaffled two bedside cupboards FINALLY, another £40 then a tenner for delivery. £90 total – yay me. Credit crunch? Moi? Only thing is, because the sales and deliveries and that are all run by the Initiative volunteers, they’ve not been able to deliver it yet. Fingers crossed it arrives tomorrow…

· My train packed up yesterday on the way home from work. Arrived at Saltcoats, after coming past some fairly dramatic waves, the sort that make me want to make a hearty donation to the RNLI and thank my lucky stars I’m not a fisherman. We pulled in at the station, usual OP, then *click* out went the lights. Eventually they were restored, and we proceeded on our way. A sheepish announcement came over the Tannoy from the guard – “We would like to apologise for the delay. This was caused by a wave breaking over the train and cutting off the power.”

So…let me get this straight. This is First ScotRail we’re talking about, and this line is one of many that runs close to the sea up here. You’d think they would have come across this problem and sorted it by now, surely... So anyway, my train had a fit of the vapours because it got wet. That is kinda funny J but it does make me hope a nice tasty job comes up closer to home soon, because if the train is going to die each time the sea looks at it sideways, it could be a very long winter of commuting ahead…

· Speaking of the “W” word (work, that is, you with the dirty mind at the back, stop it) they’ve announced redundancies. Oh great. The guy who sits almost opposite me is one of them. He doesn’t seem to be too worried, but even so. Gulp. I hope its not catching. I have visions of having to return to Staffordshire and live in Mum and Dad’s shed, condemned to endless evenings watching EastEnders. Either that or packing the yarn and moving to some semi-derelict black house on a wee island somewhere where I can survive on a barter economy and maybe growing vegetables, with the wind howling and me huddled round a peat fire at night-times to stave off hypothermia.

· My hair has gone insane. I think it’s the weather.

· It is raining. Again. I know this is Western Scotland and it rains a lot, but really? It’s a miracle the whole western half of the country hasn’t rotted away or dissolved. However, on the positive side, I think I am becoming more accustomed to it. I am growing webs between my toes and my gills are coming on a treat.

· I have burned my way through almost half a ton of solid fuel and almost quarter of a ton of coal in an alarmingly short space of time. I need to devote some time to timber-hunting on the estate (I can help myself to any fallen wood) and I also need to knit faster so I have more woolly jumpers and hats.

· I think I have tennis elbow from shovelling coal (coalman’s elbow?)

Enough already…time for more freeforming before bed. Night all.

~*~

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