Today, I'm mostly focussing upon friends who have troubles of one sort and another - Christopher, Dandelion (who has too much on her mind to be reading this) and *the other one with problems*, you are in my most loving thoughts. That there are three being thought of doesn't lessen the strength of goodwill to each of you.
I also thought I'd show you one of the tidy corners of the kitchen. And, that I consider this tidy - albeit cluttered - maybe shows how there's no hope at all of ever clearing up.
This is where I keep tea and coffee, right by the kettle. You might be able to see that there's a jamjar containing infusers, so that I can make one mug of tea at a time, using the tea of choice from one of the canisters. Some of them contain teabags, most leaves. The pink tin contains coffee beans, and the small plastic lidded box on the grinder is where I put the ground coffee - you can't really grind enough for one cup, unless you have a machine to do it in. The small cafetière was unwashed from last night. The little tray is for receiving the teabag or contents of infuser. At present, I have ten different teas on the go, eight to choose from and two more for those who prefer a more traditional cup. That's not counting tisanes, of course.
The table-top cooker is for when the Aga is turned off - not that it was, this last summer. So I put things on it. I hang up pots and pans so that they're right there when I want them - life's too short to fish things out of a cupboard.
And that explains why I don't think it's untidy. They're all there for a reason and they are all in frequent use. Purposeful clutter isn't necessarily untidy.
And this is a cupboard in the bathroom, built by the Sage to hide a truly hideous fireplace and wallpapered by me. I wallpaper with care and do it well. The bathroom walls, floor and ceiling all slant marvellously and it took ages to get everything right. It is all exactly perpendicular and all the patterns match and there are no bubbles. It needs redoing actually, it's getting grubby. I still like it though, probably because it isn't in the least bathroomy.
The little wooden knobs were made by the Sage, there are four of them. When he'd made the cupboards, he nipped down to the churchyard with a saw, pruned a yew and turned the knobs on his lathe. The whole thing was done in half an hour.
The doors do fit - one was slightly open. I thought that closing it before taking the picture would be cheating a bit, so I left it.
11 comments:
I observe that the cooker needs cleaning.
I won't then.
What a talented couple you are. Wallpapering is hard to do (been there/done that). Cut the wood, turned it and made the knobs? Wow.
Thank you, dear Z. Things are beginning to look up. I actually went for a little walk this afternoon, just down to the non-hornet fig tree and back. The cat came with me, just to see all was well. This is largely attributable to you. (The improvement, not the cat.)
"he nipped down to the churchyard with a saw, pruned a yew and turned the knobs on his lathe"
Very impressive. There's a little piece of Yew in that cupboard.
Good job it wasn't a plumbing job requiring lead though...
I'm sure you'd have been too polite in any case, Dave, dear.
It's the sort of thing that has to be right, Martina, or you see the fault forever. Seeing me bricklay, Dave might be surprised at my sudden insistence on perfection.
"I hold your hand in mine, dear, I press it to my lips" - indeed, Rog. And he didn't sing 'Lead kindly light' whilst clambering on to the church roof.
Chris, dear, I think of you and your pain constantly, and with sympathy. When I had a bad back, I could only lie flat, for a limited time - bed was too soft, it had to be the floor - or stand for a while, or walk. It was exhausting. I do hope you'll be better soon. I shall channel mental energy through your attentive cat.
Like the house tour. I've tried to wallpaper with poor results. Now its only paint for me.
BTW Z, I don't know if "the other one with problems" is the lovely Kaz, but her brave attitude is putting some of us to shame I think.
I do the painting too - all rooms are painted except those which are quite unsuitable for paper.
It isn't, Rog, but only because I've been thinking of her daily for a long time. I admire her so much.
What I get from my woodworker is, "Sure, I can do that." Wading through the clutter in the garage prevents him from getting around to any of the projects he assures me would be no problem for him to do for me. And he's the neat one!
I heartily agree with you about things that are in regular use not counting as clutter. Unfortunately, our coffee table is rarely visible due to the number of things we have in regular use, but I'm totally sticking with that logic.
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