Bathroom and Kitchen Completed

That is apart from OH doing some decorating in the bathroom.

Now that the kitchen and the bathroom have been scrubbed out.  Off into the dining room tomorrow.  In fairness this room is more untidy than unclean as it was not that long ago that I set about it.  It is the middle room and does tend to be used as the "dumping room" where things get put down and not picked up!

Then it will be onto the front room.

I am hoping some Christmas decorations will go up sometime next week once I have retrieved them from the back bedroom and the tree from the attic.

Need to get the front room ready first though. Primarily get my books into some order in there as well as the cleaning. I have a full set of William Caxton Red Vellum with gold blocking Encyclopaedias.  My Dad bought a set when I was tiny, and I used them a lot.  Mum and Dad got rid of the books - I think they were sent to the Charity shop.  I loved those books and have sourced a set of my own.  They need to go in the front room with all my Classics (all nice books with lovely covers and gold blocking). All heavily read. When I get the time, I am an avid reader and used to curl up in front of the fire and read by firelight as a youngster.  Happy days, but I do need a fire!

We have had a duplicate meal of yesterday which has done the job and warmed us up.  Been another cold day today, and the temperatures to drop further according to the forecast by the end of the week.

Tomorrow we are having a bought Pizza and then apple crumble and custard for pudding.  Have to have a change from the stew.  What is left of the stew is going into the fridge until himself gets peckish and wants something to eat.  

I am looking forward to the rest time over Christmas.  Christmas will not be anything special this year, will be celebrated quietly and I am hoping to do absolutely nothing apart from playing with my crafting.  I think I have earned that rest.  I have so many UFOs to finish.  The yellow/gold blanket I have been crocheting is more or less finished.  It needs a border and maybe some fringing.  Hopefully that will get sorted over Christmas.  

I am however, planning on making Christmas related things through the year for next year.  Had planned on it this year but got severely side-tracked.  So, I intend to start as I go on from Christmas this year until Christmas next year.  As I grow older, I am becoming slower at doing things, but I do try and do a good job.  This is also the view I will take with regard to food as well.  Will squirrel what I can away from the beginning of the year.  As I have said before, preserving is a year-round thing for me as I always make use of what I come across. I do not feel that I have produced as much as I should have this past year due to one thing or another.

I also need to look at the garden and get that planned and sorted and my stepdaughter on board to do some watering up for me if and when we are away.  She is an avid gardener and loves plants.  I taught her how to garden when she was little, and it is something that has stayed with her. 

The caravan is still down in Cornwall. I am very much looking forward to going back. I would live down there if I could.  Perhaps it would be easier as all my things would then be to hand without me having to choose what I am going to take with me! I had hoped to get back this year, but it did/will not happen.  Hopefully things will pick up for everyone soon.  It is a worry with all the hikes in food prices and energy prices and very concerning.  In the interim you can only do what you can do without over-extending yourself financially, which we do not intend to do.  I do wish I had a proper fire though.

I do have plans at the weekend to out the pantry and paint it out.  It was supposed to happen a while back but did not get to it - within a hairs breadth of sorting it out before being dragged off on something else.  I want to get that all sorted out in readiness for Christmas and to try and get some of the food stores currently held elsewhere back into the Pantry.  That is the hope in any event.  Under the stairs is totally full.  Then I will know exactly what I have.  I do miss having a freezer or two though as most of my initial preserving was based around this, with me making many items and freezing them myself.  Still situation is what it is and have to pull up the big girl trousers and get on with stuff.  There is always a way of obtaining what you seek I am a great believer in that. It is not the journey that is important (although it plays its part).  It is arriving at the destination at the end of the day and priorities in the course of that journey.

Once the front room is sorted, I will probably set up my embroidery frame again and also see if OH can fix my freestanding craft lamp or get it repaired for me.  I would like a magnifying lamp (now so I can see and differentiate between the colours mainly at night), so will see what happens.  I did used to have an industrial one, but I am not sure what happened to that.  I think OH borrowed it and it never did arrive back but the magnifier on that was superb.

We have a visit to the tip tomorrow to get rid of a lot of rubbish.  I have made more donations to the Charity shop again today and no doubt there will be more to go tomorrow.  I am having a right old sort out.  

I also have plans to trim up the Bay tree this weekend and the wayward grape vine (will save the stems and make some wreaths).  Waste Not Want Not.    I need a spray or wreath for the front door and also a wreath for the back door as well.  

I also plan on going to look for some greenery for Christmas decorations next week. I have Bay leaves, Holly with Berries and Ivy in the Garden. Just need to source some other wildings (apart from what I already have prepared to hand). I did find some spray paint when I sorted out the small cupboard in the back room, so no doubt some of that will also be used. I will not be able to craft as much as I had planned due to time restraints, somehow or another, my carefully laid plans have gone up in the air a bit. However, I have realised that there is a lot that I can do during the year to come on the crafting front which I will not have to pay out for as I already have loads of materials, kits, UFOs, fabric, wool, crochet cotton etc. to hand and I intend to focus on getting a lot of these projects out of the way with.

When I was sorting the bedroom out the other day, I came across the pine blanket chest that my dad rescued from his friend who was outing it. Dad did it up and used it for storing his camera equipment in.  I keep linen in it. Not sure from where it originates from, but J was originally from Plymouth in the West Country. What I had not appreciated was that this is indeed a relatively old chest as it has a candle box in the top (I think that is what it is).  It runs the length of the chest and is a narrow long lidded box that sits at the top of the chest.  I am pleased to have it, nonetheless.  I love old furniture; it has a lot more character. 

My dining room furniture is all pine.  I have had all of it from new.  The dressers I have had some 42 years and the dining table and chairs about 25 years.  It really needs stripping down, cleaning and re-finishing.  Trouble is I am not sure whether it was finished with an oil or with a varnish.  I am not sure how to tell either. I am in two minds to have a go myself.  I have never done anything like this though so really would not know where to start.  It is something that I would quite like to get sorted sometime next year if I can as they are beautiful well-loved dressers that I use a lot.

Right had better get on lots to do still.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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