Finishing What I Started

You would think that the winter months would be an ideal time to get on with inside jobs, but somehow this winter I have failed to make any progress with my 'works in progress'. I came very close to buying soap-making stuff today, thinking how lovely it would be to have a stash of home-made soap tucked away. But I looked deep within my heart and admitted - it would just add to the massive list of half finished 'projects' in my life. They are weighing heavy on my conscience, a bit like the chains that Dickens' Marley had to carry around for all eternity. So, I have decided that before I begin any other crafty projects this year, I am publicly vowing to FINISH WHAT I STARTED!

Read on and be appaulled...

Unfinished Project Number 1

So... the armchair. We had been making do with a tiny sofa in our living room and needed an armchair. So I put an add on Freecycle and persuaded myself that I was up for a bit of re-upholstery. I spent a couple of hours ripping off the naff faded red cover, only to loose interest halfway through. So, the puppy ripped most of the foam out of the sides and I bunged a throw over it to hide my shame - and that is how it has been ever since. I can't even sit on it because every now and again I get spiked by a half-removed staple!

I have found some lovely fabric cheaply on Ebay. The excuses are over! I will finish it this spring!

Unfinished Projet Number 2

The Quilt.

I have come so close with this beast. Last year I managed to stitch the squares together, add batting and a back cover. All it needs now is binding around the edges. The truth is that I think I have fallen out of love with it. The 'stitching in the ditch' part is really messy and the lines are not straight, so every time I look at it, all I see is faults.

My mum assures me these are not visible to the untrained eye. Anyway, nobody will ever see it if I don't get on and finish it. I could do it in an evening - so no more procrastination! I will buy the binding fabric (hope hobbycraft still make it!) and finish the damn thing!

Unfinished Project Number 3

The chest of drawers.

This was another Freecycle project. God the arguements Oli and I had trying to fit this into the back of the VW Golf... and I didn't even finish it. As you can see, I got halfway through, burned out the electric sander and had a strop, and have to use the damn thing in this hideous state every day, reminding me of my inertia. The drawers don't open and shut properly, and it is a mess.
But, it is lovely quality and I love the locks on the drawers. It must have a bit of a history - we recon it is 1930's. So I will finish sanding it, paint it a lovely eggshell colour and buy some nice new handles.

Unfinished Project Number 4

My albatross.

I bought this for £22 at an auction three years ago. Oli said at the time I would never finish it. I saw in it the potential to make a lovely and quirky hall chair - it had some original georgian fabric on it but was admittedly in a bit of a state. I insisted and so we bought it and got it home...to find that it was actually a commode...and came complete with chamber pot under the flip-up seat cushion. Perfect! I thought. We can use it to hide keys in!

I spent many a lonely freezing night in the garage getting high on the fumes of Nitromors, burning the skin off my fingers...but the thick varnish took ages to scrub out of the intricate pattern with wire wool and I am sorry to say... I got bored. So now every time we have an arguement, or when poor Oli tries in vain to rein me in from yet another purchase that has 'potential' he only has to say one word: 'COMMODE'. So, this year I will sand it down to a nice natural wood colour, and finish it!

(I should say at the same auction, I also bought a 12ft long church pew, with a plan to slice it in half and stick the end on so that it fitted in our kitchen. After meticulously stripping the varnish off (more Nitromors) I did this, I found that the end didn't fit back on...and Oli promptly used the chainsaw to turn it into firewood - so his lack of faith is not that unreasonable).

Unfinished Project Number 5

Socks.

This one should be an easy fix. I am very proud that I taught myself to knit socks in the autumn, and after much unpicking and swearing, they ended up looking like actual socks. Miracle! But the last step of sewing the toe up proved a step too far, and they are languishing on the giant safety pin. I recon I can do this in one evening...watch this space.

Unfinished Project Number 6

Oh no! Thought I was finished but have just remembered... the bedside cabinets.

Yet another Freecycle impulse collection...they are a pair and I thought they would be really perfect for my planned french country chic guest bedroom. I bought some sparkly glass handles and planned to paint them eggshell blue and add some nice decorative feet. Instead I sanded one, left them in the garage and did nothing.

Phew! They say the key to getting things done is to do one thing at a time.... so I plan to start with the socks, then the armchair. Watch this space!

Emerging Bleary Eyed from the Dark

Reader, if you are still there, I must apologise wholeheartedly for the lack of posts. I got close to posting a festive one about all of the lovely festive baking I got up to, and the rustic greenery and berry decorations which adorned the house...but the truth is, neither actually happened. This winter I have been struck by what is either SAD or just lazyitis, but I am ashamed to say that I have done NOTHING.

In November, we had a delivery of lovely seasoned firewood...



And for months, every evening has basically looked like this....

I have read some fabulous books (Paulo Cohelio's The Zahir, Lucinda Riley's The Girl On The Cliff being two of the best) and doing a bit of college work here and there (floristry), but mostly watching television, sleeping and generally hibernating. It has been bliss! I know most 'proper' gardeners have been flicking through seed catalogues and eagerly planning from their armchairs, but I find I need a total break where I can be a normal person for a few months, where my every waking moment doesn't involve doing mental gardening in my head and I don't have compost under my fingernails.

A high point of the winter was the lamb delivery. Our three lambs went off in November, and two weeks later, arrived ready for the freezer. It is really tasty meat and it is such a luxury to be able to get a roasting joint out almost every Sunday. Mmmm.

Another high point was the greenhouse surviving horrendous gale force winds, in the worst storm for years. This despite the fact we didn't cement the posts in like we should have done. Fingers crossed...

A low point was a fox attack. We lost our lovely drake one night, as the automatic door failed to work on the duck house - our fault for not checking it regularly enough. I heard a lot of quacking in the middle of the night and went to check what was going on - the fox scarpered but sadly had already bitten the drake, who died of shock. Needless to say we now check every night that they are tucked up in bed. We have been lucky that so far (touch wood!) this is the first fox problem we have had. The worry now is that he will be back for more, so we will have to be extra vigilent.

The only time I have ventured outside (other than to feed the animals) this winter has been to take the dog for walks in our local woods.

It's been months since I have touched the garden, which now looks like this:

The 'greenhouse of death' is a black, withered mess

The chooks have been moved out of their enclosure, which in the very heavy rain we have had recently, became a boggy mess.

Instead they have been free ranging in the veggie patch, stripping the rainbow chard down to nothing and the lower kale leaves - but I don't mind.

The pigpen is also a boggy mess on one side. The other side is better drained, and gets the sun, so they like to lie and catch whatever sunlight they can on bright days.

So it would all be a bit depressing - if it wasn't for the little hints that spring is on the way:

I can feel my sap starting to rise...