Maybe I should get rid of the conkers…

My mum sent me this article from the New York Times about silk made from spiders’ webs.
What I like, apart from the fact that it makes my current project seem a little less foolhardy and tedious, is that they were so careful about looking after the spiders:
“…[t]hey set up a system in which the spiders [...]

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For the protection of the household

I have developed a late-blooming love of conkers.

Obviously I missed out on the childhood finger-bashing and experimenting on vinegar vs other hardening substances, but I’m starting to embrace it wholeheartedly. Mainly, I like the texture and the colour (Batman tells me I have conkers hair which is nice). I have a conker in my handbag [...]

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Setting the Scene

I’ve discovered gladioli. I mean they were there before, of course, but I didn’t know I liked them.

They’re tuning into the kind of Whistler Chinoiserie vibe I seem to be in at the moment.

I have a stronger than usual urge to buy a chaise longue (I never thought the urge could get any stronger, to [...]

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Stitch by Stitch

I’m having quite a productive few days while Batman is away, I’ve even managed to (so far) maintain the illusion of being able to feed and take care of myself.
In the midst of the aforementioned Agatha Christie marathon I have been tatting away like fury.

It all looks terribly impressive, doesn’t it?

You’d never tell that half [...]

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Tea and Toast and Murder

Ok, I’m ready!
I have stopped pining for the end of summer and I am now completely ready to embrace winter. It may have been helped by the purchase of these particularly encompassing slippers.

I am now particularly loathe to do anything that would require me to leave the house or remove them for any reason.

Batman is [...]

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Everything I touch…

…turns to chaos!
I’ve been having one of those weeks where everything I touch goes a little wrong.

This particular experiment is the result of my trying to rescue some apples by making apple sauce. Except that I got distracted and left them on for an hour and carbonised them to the bottom of the pan.
I can [...]

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Old Friends in New Places

I had a lovely time over the last few days when one of my school friends came to visit. We went exploring, got a bit of culture at the museums (it’s always good looking at stuff with experts, this time I learned about bones and butchery techniques), had heaps of gorgeous food and even had [...]

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Because I’m your father…

(Don’t worry, this is a ‘Nooooooooooo!’-free post and everyone leaves with the hands they came with.)

Work on the Beige Extravaganza is continuing slowly, but (I’d like to think) surely. I did some testing/swatching for one of the pieces and frustratingly it ended with Batman being right.

This meant that I had to unpick F through l [...]

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New Year

I have to say, I always find that September has more of a New Year feeling than January. I’m sure it’s all the years of education mingled with religion, but every September I feel the need to buy a new notebook and start again.
It’s probably the same impulse that makes me read the Unclutterer blog [...]

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The Hardest Part

There comes a point in every project where the initial enthusiasm has worn off and the excitement of seeing the finish coming over the horizon has not yet started. I seem to have reached that point with all the projects I’m working on at the moment, and I’m struggling as a result.

I’m trying to take [...]

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