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Saturday, 26 July 2025

Saturday 26th July - tidying up

I was sitting in my usual place on the settee wondering what to draw this morning. 

I was procrastinating, by writing about not drawing, and then just got on with it and drew what I could see;


We have a terrible habit of using the hearthrug as a sort of staging post for things waiting to be dealt with. They can lurk there for days, weeks even. As I drew I started realising how utterly irritating I was finding all the machines and tools lined up in front of me.

BB kindly carried them off and put everything away;
Well, what a difference! We both feel better for having tidied that patch. (Now for the rest of the room...)

Patchwork

I have returned to the hexagon quilt I started back in the Autumn of 2023. 


It's a sort of 'as and when I'm in the mood' project. At the moment I am in the mood, so I'm making patches and adding them, one or two a day. Each patch is completely finished before it is added to the quilt; the padding, backing and quilting all done, so the patches become little padded hexagon 'pennies'.



That way the actual quilt is always 'finished'; no raw edges, pins or tacking threads to be dealt with. I am using it already as a cover for my knitting bag.

Music 

I'm watching/listening to the Vivaldi and Bach prom concert from last night as I tap away at this blog post. Glorious. How do they play so fast for so long? And those swift, mercurial changes from loud to soft? Such skill and musicality.

I enjoyed listening to Susan Calman championing recorders on the BBCSounds 'Artworks' programme the other evening. I learned to play the recorder at school, and spent many a Friday teaching recorders at primary schools. I had no idea they were such a versatile instrument until I listened to the programme. 

Now, if I had listened to this;

Charlotte Barbour-Condini plays Music for a Bird by Linde on the Recorder at BBC Young Musician of the year, 2012, Woodwind final.




12 comments:

  1. The quilt looks lovely.
    We have a staging area too. It's so frustrating, but things tend to just sit there for a while until I get tired of seeing stuff sitting there lol. Things were tidy when Baby A and daughter were here, but already the table is collecting things lol

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    1. Our house; corners, surfaces, chairs, table, just seems to silt up... what we're lacking is a place for everything, so having everything in its place is an impossibility!

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  2. I sometimes miss having a hearth and a mantelpiece...but I am truly grateful for my little bungalow and its efficient radiators

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    1. The fire hasn't been used for years; it's a coal effect gas one. Now, of course, we can't use a gas fire at all because of the oxygen. Still, it looks good!

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  3. Funny how certain spots accumulate random items. And usually it takes a few minutes to sort it all out. It's a good feeling to know it's done.

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    1. As you say, clearing it up just takes a few minutes, so why do I let it all lie around for so long?!?

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  4. Our entire house is a random selection of things. I have no wish to live a minimalist life, but sometimes ours is just too maximalist.

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  5. I have found that clutter is magnetic. After you clear a surface it stays clear until you put just one thing on it. Once there is just one thing there then others are attracted to it and each additional thing increases the strength of the magnetic field so that more and more things are attracted.

    I take solace in something our daughter’s friend (a practicing psychologist) told her. She said that very organized people have messy houses. The reason is that if you feel that everything has a place but you haven’t decided where a particular item belongs then you put it aside until you can decide where it should be put.

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    1. Now that is an interesting insight that I can appreciate!
      Also the idea of magnetic clutter appeals.

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  6. I have nightmares remembering when my sons were at junior school and in the "Recorder Orchestra". My youngest son played slightly better than my eldest but only just. Funny they have both gone on to be really musical and the youngest did a degree in music and earns a living from music. I am still haunted by sudden very loud sounds coming from the recorders making me drop things or spill my tea! Regards Sue H

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    1. I managed to get my recorder orchestras sounding pretty good by the end of the year... they suddenly got the idea of CONCENTRATION!
      I solved the problem of squeaking in year 1 and year 2 by sticking masking tape on the thumb hole!

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