Since when is it Christmas?

Christmas has really taken me by surprise this year, which is probably what I say every year. I have not watched any festive telly or done any Christmas grocery shopping. I have been so absorbed in painting my cottage that I have not thought about anything else. I sent half a dozen Christmas cards and was horrified at the cost of stamps. My gift shopping was a bit half hearted if I am honest but this year it is going to be all about being with all 3 of my children for a few days.

I put some bedding on the top half of guest bed - now it needs a nice quilt. The whole room is a bit bare but soon it will literally be full of junk. I got a couple of extortionate quotes for moving my stuff from the barn so hopefully I will find a man and van cheaper somewhere else. My house is tidy because it is mostly empty but soon I won’t be able to move and it still needs more “character”. 

I did not bother to decorate for Christmas since I will be in Scotland but I did unearth a couple of the kitsch ceramic trees but no batteries. 

I spent the work week figuring out a project that got more and more elaborate. It is a hanger for embroidery machine templates with pockets. I forgot to take photos apart from the revolutionary overlocker piping because it was all a bit intense but when it is finished I will write instructions (retrospectively, of course!) 

I am not one for New Year resolutions but… I must take more photos next and get back to posting on social media.

Happy Christmas 2024 to anyone who actually reads my weekly ramblings xxx

At Last - Painting is DONE!

It was Fergus’ 23rd birthday this week and he had an important gig in Glasgow but I missed both. It felt a bit weird not to be with him on his birthday for the first time and I did not make a Dalek shaped chocolate cake. At least he got to to spend time with his sisters - they are all so close at the moment which is lovely.

At work I finished a couple more customer quilts that will go to their recipients by Christmas. 

Speaking of Christmas, I had a long weekend and did some festive shopping at last. I did rather well in the Oxfam bookshop and the local health-food store but I have not completed my mission and I forgot to buy stamps. 

I went to retrieve some tartan blankets from the storage barn, where to my dismay, everything was damp and mousey. I must get it all shifted in the New Year before everything gets totally ruined. 

On the DIY front, I put some shelves up and they are relatively straight. Considering that I did not have a spare pair of hands or a spirit level, I will take that as a success. 

I am happy to report that all painting jobs are now complete as I tackled the bathroom and lobby. They were not very big but a bit mouldy and the old paint did not want to be covered up. There will be NO more painting unless I have to do touching up or damp patches reappear. I was very grateful to get help from a work friend fetching a guest bed from Facebook Marketplace. Now I have somewhere for visitors to stay so my chums can book themselves in for a visit to Devon:)

When Nessie met Santa Paws

Not only was it a busy week at work finishing a hexie quilt, supervising part two of the DIY elephant quilt and being on hand to help with classes, each evening I forced myself to paint my bedroom. I had to keep shifting the bed out of the way to avoid getting paint on the quilt which is protected from Nessie by an old, cotton bedspread in dire need of a good wash;)

There was a big blowy storm and I was worried that the roof might leak onto my new paint but so far all is well. I can still see where the bad ceiling patch was and a professional decorator would find my ceiling painting efforts a bit streaky but it is all so much fresher. 

There was supposed to be a Dickensian Evening on Tavistock on Friday but quite a few of the outdoor activities were cancelled due to the weather. I took Nessie into town and we had a look around the market and nicely decorated shops but got utterly soaked and the festivities were pretty soggy. She did get to meet Santa Paws at the Doggy Deli. She sat still enough for a photo before getting her treat but I should have told them not to switch the lights off because she is almost invisible in the dark.

It is such a relief to have finished painting the 4 main rooms of my cottage. I have some shelves to go up then must work out how to move my junk in. It is really tidy now because there is very little in it. Let’s just say, it will not be difficult for me to go for the cluttered Victorian look!

DIY, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

 

I had a busy week supervising a DIY quilter whose first ever quilt was an ambitious foundation pieced elephant. She did really well but did not quite finish after 3 days so she may have to come back to finish the job. She left me with a family heirloom hexagon quilt to complete with a dense feather design.

Each night I went home, got changed, had leftover spagbol, took Nessie for a walk in the park then painted the rest of my sitting room green. It was a tricky job because bumpy wallpaper makes it difficult to cut in neatly along the ceiling line. I put masking tape along the ceiling but when removed, it took away the ceiling paint so there was a lot of fiddly touching up to do. 

An easier job was to apply tile stickers in the kitchen. I don’t know how well they will last but they look cool.

I cleared my room, shifted the bed and proceeded to paint the empty end. There was an old damp patch on the ceiling which I tried to seal but the paint fell off so I have ended up removing the dodgy area and hope for the best that I will get new paint to stick. I am determined to complete it by next weekend which will be 4 freshened up rooms. The bathroom and lobby can be done later, or sooner;)

On Sunday I had a day off painting, having scrubbed myself clean apart from filler encrusted into my fingers. I went on an outing to IKEA in Exeter which was fun, wandering through the room sets. I bought some shelves but need to glean more information from the Screwfix staff on how to attach them to the walls without pulling the house down. 

Now that it is December, I should try to put DIY on hold and do something about Christmas cards and shopping…