Pony and Pigeon Power

I reached the point where I was so frustrated with my appalling internet connection that I vowed I would invest in a pigeon loft and train carrier pigeons to convey all of my messages. I had all sorts of correspondence to deal with following the trip to Uttoxeter involving expiring customs carnets on demo machines, arranging a 2014 quilt retreat and longarm quilting enquiries. The Wifi was getting progressively worse but I needed to be in the right frame of mind to call customer services, based in India. In the end, after I had resorted to sending text messages and getting friends to send emails on my behalf, it proved relatively easy to remedy. The router needed to be reconfigured - I have no idea why - and finally things are working smoothly again. 

My Landrover went for its annual service recently but since then its turbo has become sluggish and I now have randomly activating wipers/squirters. If I go over a bump, the wipers decide that it is time to give the windscreen a quick wash. I listened to a radio programme all about Highland Ponies and decided that they were probably less temperamental than the Landy but it would take an awfully long time to drive a cart all the way to Birmingham for Festival of Quilts.

Since it was a 3-day weekend, I plucked up the courage to install my longarm machine upgrade. This involved dismantling the whole frame to fit new, smooth rails, adding a hydraulic table-lift, and setting up a 2013 APQS Millennium. Tania helped me to man-handle the 14 ft long poles and then I had to work my way through the instruction manuals methodically. These were actually very well presented with step by step photos but I simply find things like that befuddling. I slowly got everything worked out apart from reassembling the frame as I need help to manoeuvre the extremely long poles back into place. 

What really took time was the decision to dejunk my workshop. I simply cannot work in a muddle and I felt that things were getting over-crowded. I got rid of cardboard boxes for items that were now out of warranty, decided to clear out magazines that I was not going to re-read and even ditched scraps and odd bits of poly wadding that I had to admit that I would never use. I had to fit in a few odd chests of drawers, folding tables and porter trolleys for exhibitions that needed to fit in more neatly. I created rather a mess before I could see an improvement. I really should tackle some of the cupboards and wardrobes in the house in the same manner but now that my workshop looks more inviting, I will be too busy sewing. I even found the leather eyelet punch that was “lost”!