How to tell when it's time to do housework.

I cleaned off my trestle table and my ironing board so I could use them to surround my Sew-ezi table.  I decided to spend some time quilting my big blue and white quilt and I need to support the mammoth  weight of the quilt while I'm working on it.

I put all the bits and pieces that were on my ironing board and trestle table onto my chest freezer, which doubles as my cutting table.  But now I want to make some soup and I need to get into that freezer.  Where can I put that junk highly important bits and pieces?

On the laundry bench?  Nope, that's my ironing space (see previously mentioned repurposed ironing board), a repository for washing-needing-to-be-folded and storage for art stuff that hasn't made it back to the cupboards.

I know, I'll put it on the studio chair aka cat bed.  Oh shoot, that's being used to store quilts, zip pouches, patterns I'm writing and fabrics I'm auditioning.

Maybe I don't want to make soup.

But there are kids to be fed.

Sigh.

It's time to do some housework, isn't it?

(and how, oh how, am I going to work in the smaller space of a boat?)

Fug.

Fug.  That's what I'm feeling.

I think I'm coming down from the creative high that I had going when I was concentrating on finishing my entry for the Living Colour exhibition.  The deadline is tonight but I got mine in yesterday and now I'm just ...... blah.

I'm not allowed to show the whole quilt until it either gets rejected, or, if it gets accepted (here's hoping), until after the opening exhibition in April (I think).  But I can show you a snippet.

The yellow fabric pile in my stash is the smallest one.  But this quilt is SO darn yellow.  Maybe I'm feeling the fug as a comedown from all that bright!

The kids are almost back at school.  Just this weekend to go.  I'm feeling the need for headspace and routine again.  And I'd really like for the housework to stay done for more than five minutes.

Instead of trying to do anything in my studio today I caught up on some blogs, read lots, listened to lots of podcasts (does anyone know of any NZ quilty podcasts?), the kids and I did some inkblot painting - you know where you blob on paint and fold the paper in half?  And generally mooched around.  But in a way, mooching makes me feel worse because I finish the day with nothing to show for it!

Listen to me - what a moaning minnie!

I suppose while mooching I have been thinking lots about what I want 2014 to bring for me.  Especially after reading everyone else's plans in the comments on my giveaway.  So now I'm going to bed early, I'm going to wake up refreshed and revitalised and I'm going to write a more positive post tomorrow about all my hopes and dreams!

Frump

I woke up this morning in a frump - a frowny grump.  I'm tired, the kids are home from school again with snotty noses and headaches and are stretching my patience, 'someone' (no one is owning up) squashed the vacuum cleaner plug so I can't clean the floors and they are crunchy with dirt, I've a to-do list as long as my arm and all of it tedious stuff, four calves to feed twice a day, it's rained every day for about three weeks solid...........see?  I could keep whining on and on but nobody likes a whiner.

So I gave my own butt a kick and decided to be consciously grateful for things today.

The sun is actually shining and looks promising for the whole day.  It hasn't done this for such a long time, it's so lovely.

Those calves that I have to feed twice a day are cute and healthy and that's a big thing.  I know how quickly bottle fed babies can get sick.

My five year old birthday girl wanted a simple heart birthday cake, not a mermaid castle masterpiece, and just an afternoon tea with her cousins - grateful!!  Gotta love the photo bomb by her cousin.

The first bulb is up in my orchard.  I planted heaps but thought the chickens might have scratched them all up so I'm very happy to see this early cheer.  And I can see an iris budding up too.

I've got my design wall up and functioning.  I might put another sheet of flannel covered polystyrene under this one but for now my long quilts can just hang.  So grateful to have a studio space to myself and room to have a big design wall.

Now hopefully I can keep my grateful mood right through the day, especially dinner time!  I'm off to enjoy the sun and get a little vitamin D in my system.