I was wrong

The snowmen now look like ghosts. Wearing top hats. I am doomed.

Frustration

You know when you have an idea in your head, and just cannot make your hands produce what you want them to?????? I am there right now. I cannot paint. I can do walls and blank things. But all those little intricate ideas I am trying to paint onto wood? Hah! Forget. I am about to throw myself on the floor and have a major temper tantrum. Of epic proportions. My penguins look like they have been moth-eaten. And the angels look as though they live in a rubbish dump. With rats who nibble on their extremities. The snowmen are passable, only because they are white with black hats. And do not require fiddly painting. I can cut out the wood. I can sew anything. But I cannot paint. If I were sensible, I would find someone who cannot cut out wood but can paint, and we could combine our talents. Shriek.

Rocking chair

I tried to change the name of the blog. There I was thinking I had done it, but it doesn't think so. I have no idea if you can do that sort of thing anyway. I decided on "Rocking chair reflections". Well, there is a rocking chair in the lounge, and I do reflect a lot. And I am older. Not old, mind, but older, so I can justify the rocker. And I found some wool. I knit scarves in autumn. I could well resemble the drawing by tomorrow. The highlights need redoing as well. Painting continues.

Painting part 2

The painting continues and the kitchen is worse than ever. Tonight's supper was whatever could be cooked in the microwave. Nuked in other words. Hopefully by tomorrow, the majority will be painted and I can get back a bit of order instead of chaos. There has to be an easier way of painting. My hand is not steady when I do little things. So frustrating when what is in my mind does not translate into art. Maybe I need a really small brush. Mum needs to go back to Hobbycraft for more wool (she is still crocheting blankets) so I could look and see what they have. I am rabbitting on here.

It is raining, and I have been to book club this evening. I have always read voraciously, but since Geoff died, I either fall asleep as soon as I pick up a book, or, if I am wide awake, my mind wanders all over the place, and I can't concentrate and have to re-read chapters, and so I am not reading anywhere as much as I want or need to. Never mind the 3 books I have dropped in the bath in the last week. Impossible to read till they have dried out a bit. I have a growing mountain of books waiting to be read, and while it is always nice to know they are there, I really do need to read them. Books are such an important part of my world. From childhood, when I used to read by torch light under the blankets, through every stage of my life. I always believed you could never be lonely when you had a book to read. Enough now. I am off to attempt a chapter or two.

Kitchen workshop

My kitchen is somewhere under the wood and paint. And piles of craft stuff. I know where the sink is because I have to wash the paint brushes. And the kettle is there. But the rest???? I need a workshop. That is quite clear. I have to shift boards about with drying paint, and trays of bits waiting to be sanded. Then there is the saw. It in no way resembles kitchen equipment. And it cannot liquidise or mix. On the other hand, maybe I should have sliced the butternut for the soup on it. Or bread. I hadn't thought of that. I wonder.....

Everything is either coated with sawdust or paint splatter. And I am getting to the stage where I want the "bits" to finish things off. I have NO idea where they are. Somewhere in the bowels of my sewing room cupboard, but I need a rope round the waist before I venture in there, so I can be pulled out when I get stuck among the mountains of vital necessities. Vital essentials for me, that is. Others may think I have lost it. Ok, I admit I love being creative. I love making things. I scrapbook, sew, make quilts, and make wooden things. I love trying new creative projects. I like learning how to do new things. I would love to paint, and will try one day even though I really do not think my talents lie in that direction. But in the meantime, my kitchen is lost. I used to have a magnet on my fridge saying " A tidy house is the sign of a misspent life". I think I need to find it. At least no-one would think this a boring place to be.

About the painting. I thought I would save time by painting everything that needs to be the same colour, and then moving onto the next colour etc etc. I have discovered that this might be good in theory, but it pre-supposes you have just 3 things to paint. Not a couple of hundred. I would need a church hall to lay everything out in the proper order. But hopefully some will be finished soon. After the painting comes the sanding again, and then the spraying. Then the glueing of bits on to the finished creations. Sigh. I could be here forever.

And more things

1. Neighbours who fix drainpipes for you
2. Butternut soup
3. Long chat with my sister
4. Unexpected emails
5. Freshly laundered linen

Blogging Mums

I told you all last week that I had stumbled upon a whole new world of blogging Mums, and I am learning so much from them and their cyber (I think) communities. When I can work out how, I will put a list of the ones I read on the blog. I am fascinated by their pride in being stay at home mums (SAHM) and their delight in being women who have faith. There does not seem to be the same stigma as there is here if you decide to stay home to raise your own children. I know that modern day economics in the UK mean that to just get on the property ladder means having 2 incomes to finance a house, but there is so much to be said for being around to delight in the home and your family. And a great deal to be said about the way SAHMs here are regarded as second class citizens.

And just when your family leaves, it is time to start taking care of your parents too, so if you can't be home, it means paying someone else to do what no-one can do quite as well as you can. I feel I could be about to leap on a soap box. That can wait for tomorrow. I need to go and cook. I will be back.

Reasons

Even though I haven't posted my 5 reasons to be thankful every day, I still wake up and lie there going through new ones each morning.

1. Daughter's play scheme being such a success
2. Son's happy face after helping at Crusaders
3. Autumn leaves starting to fall
4. Answers to prayer
5. Coffee in bed early in the morning (brought by Mum!)

Not much news

Hello. I don't have much to report. This has been a quiet week, but that is good for a change. I have sorted out more stuff, more phone calls, more appointments, and more application forms. It has been fairly autumnal weather, with rain squalls and sun alternating rapidly for the past week or so, and I am still refusing to put on the heating, but am definitely wearing more clothes!

The good news is that I decided to see what I had put away for Christmas (the shops are full of Christmas things, but I am not ready for carols yet) and my lounge has resembled a shop all day. I can, however inform you that I have FINISHED my present shopping. It is the 4th October. Miracles do happen. And everything is wrapped. Smug is good. I took Mum to Podington today for coffee and their Christmas shop is under construction and opens on the 7th October. Maybe I should go and do my Christmas cards now. Oh heavens, I have to do the annual letter and that is not going to be fun. DIANAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Or I could just put the blog address in the cards, and then everyone can look up what the year has been like for themselves. Now that is a great idea.
The wooden things are in the prosess of being painted. Mum has been helping as well, which has been good. It was so frustrating at first but then I realised that, with no small brushes, it was impossible to do detail, and it wasn't that I was a total failure. I will show you some of the finished masterpieces when they are done.

Sunday

Well, the weekend is nearly over, and it has been surprisingly busy. Good kind of busy. Saturday was Matt's birthday and although I did remember it this year (a change after the last couple of years where I have spectacularly forgotten) and popped in to see him, he and his 6 uni friends who came to celebrate were still asleep. At noon. Enough said. Apparently they rolled in at 5am.

The afternoon brought an unexpected trip to watch the Saints play at home. A friend had 2 spare tickets, so David and I went along. They were dire. Unspeakably dire. A team of school kids would have put on a better performance. They could not pass a ball, catch a ball or kick a ball. They lost. But I had a good time, and watching Bernie (the mascot dog) was fun. I was told not to bother to take a coat, and right in the middle of the game the heavens opened. It rained sideways. As in under the stand covers too. I was less than impressed, and the guys started praying for sun in case they had to deal with an irate wet woman on the hike back to the car. Luckily for them it dried up just enough to get back without getting drenched.

Last night was lovely. I went to Liz and Jon's for "drinks and nibbles" with Nicky, Bob, Pete and Glynis, and we really had a great time relaxing and chatting. Good wine and excellent company.... who could ask for more. Soon it will be time for fires too. It is much cooler, but I am still resisting turning the heating on. I do wish I had a real fireplace.

Today was The Great North Run and there is nothing nicer than lying in bed on a Sunday morning, watching all those MAD people go out and run a half marathon. The world's largest. 50 000 people. Mind you, I think I would like to do it once. Just once. Maybe I will start running again. Maybe I will think about next year. Maybe. I seem to remember it being on my list of things I want to do before I die. Sigh. It is a very very long list. Most years I get to cross fo a good few things on it, but then I go and add even more to the end of it too. The list includes books I have always meant to read but never quite got around to. Places to visit. Things to learn. Things to experience. Dreams. Things to get round to doing, or making. There are hundreds of quilts in there too. Somehow, I don't think there will be many crossed off this year.

I found another blog. Well, I found a whole community of bloggers really. It is amazing when you go from one to another, and there are all these people out there with so much to say. One was very thought provoking. I have been back to it a few times this weekend to reread what she says. I will add the link for you to go and check it out. Look at the "30 days of nothing" and related posts. Just read through what Tonia has to say at Intent and see what you think.

So, after a Spring Harvest gathering at lunch time and church at the Christian Centre this evening, tidying the house for tomorrow and catching up on my emails etc, it has been a good weekend.