This is a 'school night'!

Yes, I start work tomorrow (sob), so it feels a bit like the last night of the summer holidays when you're at school.  Got to lay out my uniform (well, something smart) and books (well, P45, birthcertificate, etc), have an early night and no drinking (not that that applied when I was at school obviously!  Hmmm). . . . and well, I might finish the wine I've already started.

So, here's what we've been doing with my last few days of freedom . . . . 



My sewing room - just ignore the ladder which is our stairs for
the moment, apart from that it looks quite cosy in there.  So,
kitchen curtains are done and now I'm doing the bedroom ones.



And here they are.  They still need the hems doing and the lining
sewing in, but I've broken every sewing machine needle I have
doing them, so it'll have to wait until I've got some more.  The pattern
is embroidered on with wool, so where there are several layers it
is really thick and that's what's done for the needles.

 

This moring we had a sort through our stored furniture and decided
to get this set of pine drawers out.  Bob's Mum bought these ages ago and sanded
and varnished them.  They were a little 'orange', so Bob decided to have
another go and they look much better (you can see them in the photo above).  They
date to the mid 1800's so a similar age to the cottage.  When Bob took the knobs
off we saw the original finish - white paint covered in varnish and worked to look like oak!




We also found this corner cabinet which Bob made before we moved.
The elm is from a village called Shelton (our surname), so we had to
make something for ourselves from it.  It has survived storage really well
and looks just lovely, we just need to find a corner for it - surprisingly difficult
as there aren't many right-angle corners here!  Not everything has survived
so well - I re-caned a little chair (another of Bob's Mum's purchases) before we
moved.  It took me ages, but looked quite good finished . . . the mice liked it too!

 

And we've tried the bath - had to put the immersion on to heat
the water because the solar's not doing anything at the moment.
Oh, what luxury - it's wider, deeper and longer than our old bath,
so you can really submerge in it.  I can't wait to get a cold now and
need a hot bath!!  Not really, but it is nice to have.