Lament

Ok, just to warn you, I'm going to have a bit of a poor old us moment. As my blog is my happy place where I edit out most of the nasty and dull realities of life this rarely happens here. I want happy and I know that's one of the reasons anyone stops by to read and look. But - today I need to just say it as it is.

I started the day with a whole list on paper and in my head of to do's. Pleasurable to do's, necessary to do's, boring to do's and everyday need to be done to do's. You get the picture I'm sure. It's my final day off before the working week looms so I always seem to screw up Monday's. I try to fit so many things in and then I flit here and there doing nothing very well. Day wasted and each time I say to my self "don't do that again". First thing I thought I'd get going on the dress I cut the pieces for ages ago. Most marvellously I saw that I'd cut two front pieces the same and the same for the sleeves too. As it was only a curtain panel I don't have enough to cut more shapes so I did a patchy job on the bodice panel. By the time I got to the sleeve I gave up and moved on to something else.

I made hot choc and cut a slab of cheery cherry cake to stop awhile and ponder. 

Now this is where the real lament starts. As I've mentioned before we are a family of broken stuff. Both our cars literally blew up this summer, thankfully my mum gave me hers to help out. The Rayburn which heats the house and water broke completely in March. Then in July our back-up plan for hot water (the immersion heater) blew up too. A friend mended it (really I should have known it would go wrong as he tells so many tall tales, but I believed him this time). Two weeks later with no hot water and freezing cold I'm fed up with being resourceful. A plumber was booked for Friday, but turned up on Saturday and the whole tank split. He'll be back this Friday to install a new one, please let it work as I miss hot bubbly baths while drinking wine so so much. I think we'll still all be washing with a hot kettle at the kitchen sink. 

This morning I thought I'd finally found someone to mend our Rayburn. Funnily enough we have a Rayburn that has been discontinued, you can't get parts for and no one wants to mend it. After a long chat about how he could do it, but it would still probably break I've been left to try and find a secondhand Rayburn, find someone who can carry out our old monster and then get someone else to install it. My dear mum has offered to lend us the money for all of this or it would never be happening.

I feel wearied by the tedious nature of this stuff and trying to solve things. The upside is that we're all spending more time together as we huddle downstairs by the woodburner. I cook warm hearty stuff to pad out our jumpers for a bit of extra warmth too. 

I'm even planning my making around fireside pursuits. I fancy a change from my knitting tonight so I emptied out one of my forgotten and needs finishing baskets today.

Following Sophie's lead on Fading Grace I quickly cut squares of fabric, rather than cutting fabric hexies to speed things up. Now I could get on with the hexie plates quilt tonight or start handquilting the feedsack squares I patched a while back. No idea what to do with these other than make them into a useful cloth for trays and stuff.

 

Whatever I make, I know I'll be sat by the fire snuggling with my girls, a small black dog and my man.