Spring is sprung.....?

OK.... I do realise that it's still February and spring proper is still a ways off, but I've officially had enough of winter.   

Signs this morning were encouraging... a bright blue, cloudless sky, albeit bone chillingly cold.  However by lunchtime the clouds had gathered and we were treated to an impressive hailstorm.  It's now defaulted to grey and gloomy again, dashing my hopes that winter might possibly be on its way out. 

Daylight savings is still exactly a month away, when the clocks will 'spring' forward one hour and it will be light till almost 7.30pm.  From there it's a mere skip and a jump to warmer days. 

So this afternoon, sitting by a roaring fire while hailstones bounced off the windows, I indulged in a little project planning and listmaking. 

Over the winter months our northeast facing patio never gets direct sun and as a result a film of green algae gradually spreads across the paving stones.   That, allied with dirt deposited by weeks of rain renders the entire space grimy and uninviting.  Currently, all of the patio furniture is swathed in waterproof covers and stored under the gazebo, to keep off the worst of the weather.  The cover of the pergola over the dining table was removed in the autumn and safely stored indoors and the chairs neatly stacked to the side.  The entire area is in hibernation, awaiting a spring awakening. 

By the end of March, I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be able to make a start on a thorough cleanup, restoring it  to pristine loveliness, in readiness for the forthcoming spring and summer.  

This time last year, as we anxiously awaited a date for PP's surgery, I was planning a major makeover on the seating area so that she would have a comfortable outdoor but undercover, convalescent retreat.  This year I only need to make minor adjustments.  I'm planning to add some waterproof curtains to the sides of the wooden pergola, and some new cosy throws to ward off the chill of summer evenings.  I also want to refresh some of the flower garlands which are looking rather the worse for wear.

I also need some solar lighting to dot around the walls, and a new trompe l'oeil scene for the fence at the side of the seating area... this year I'm going for a Mediterranean theme.   So lots of browsing around Pinterest and garden ideas websites.... the perfect way to spend a chilly winter Sunday afternoon.

40 days and counting.....

There's definitely an element of silent comedy going on in my workroom at the moment.  I'm spending a lot of time picking things up, regarding them for a moment or two, then putting them back down in a different place.  This is repeated ad infinitum until one of two things happens.

1.  I make a decision on what to with said item.

2. I lose the will to live and toss it in the recycling bin.

I reckon I'm 3/4 way sorting through all the assorted 'stuff' and have made good progress in the past two weeks.  Having done all the 'easy' stuff (kits, fabrics, trimmings etc) I'm now on the difficult stuff.... assorted bits and bobs which I've used as kit components, a few spare tools, and general odds and ends.  Do I just bundle them all together as a 'pot luck' box, or try to separate them out?  

I'm making inroads into selling bigger, difficult/expensive to post things on FB marketplace, which is brilliant as lovely people turn up at the door to take them away.

I've packaged up a few sets of boxes with different contents as the thought of selling everything individually was just too draining.  The boxes are PACKED with useful stuff in different themes and I expect them to sell quickly as they'll be absolute bargains.  

However, despite emptying the contents of boxes, shelves and cupboards there still seems to be a lot of extraneous stuff cluttering up the workroom and I'm rapidly running out of the requisite energy and enthusiasm to deal with it.  

Nevertheless.... the end is definitely in sight and I'm now starting to work through all the various bureaucratic hoops involved in closing down a registered business...of which there are many.  Next week I'll be preparing the final year annual accounts and contacting my business accounts banking provider etc in preparation for closing them.  I have to make sure I do everything in the correct order.  

Rather worryingly, HMRC only require 7 days notice of a business closure and won't accept any notification prior to that time.  Previous experience of the speed of responses from them doesn't inspire confidence but there's little I can do but stick to their schedule and hope all goes well.

By comparison, closing the website will be simplicity itself.  When my hosting package expires in early April, it should disappear of its own accord.  When that happens my official business email address will no longer work, so I've set up another for  doll-related contact which will be notified to people on my mailing list when I send out the final sale list. 

So lots of loose ends to tidy up and less than 6 weeks to go.  

No pressure then....

À la recherche du temps perdu.....

It's just over two years since we lost Small Dog and I feel it just as keenly now as then.  She was the inspiration for many of my favourite blog posts over the years and I do miss our 'konversayshuns'.

I was thinking of her earlier as I created one unholy guddle* in my erstwhile workroom, trying to organise my closing down sale.  I think it would have gone something like this....

Scene: Sandra's workroom.  Piles of boxes litter every flat surface, including the floor. Sandra sits marooned in the middle of the chaos, staring out of the window.

A faint furry apparition appears and gradually takes a corporeal form.

SD: *tetchily* Blimee murm.... yoo wood knott bileeve the trubbl ai had getten heer.  Ai hadd too fil in a form in tripplikit.  The bewrockrassy in doggie hevven is getten ridikewluss.

Me:*surprised* Oh, hello SD!  I wasn't expecting you here today.  How lovely to see you....

SD:*impatiently* Wel no... and yess.  Of korse itt is luvly but ai wos fourst to kum.  Ai koodent jusst leev yoo in this messs.  Whott on erth is goen onn?

Me:*gratefully* Things have got out of hand I'll admit.  I think I'm going a bit mad. 

SD:*quietly* Kno chainj ther thenn....

Me:*defensively*  Look.  I know how this appears, but it will all get sorted, I can assure you.  And whe...... 

SD:*taking charge* Ai wil stopp yue ther.  Ai kno it musst be difikult fore yoo.... klosen doun yore bizniss and awl.  Plus yue doant hav me arownd to helpp.  Reemembr all thoas tymes I wun Employea of the Munth.... gude tymes.   Butt yue hav to moov onn. 

Me:*reflectively* I think you only got Employee of the Month once, but that aside, yes, you're right.  I do have to move on.  And I am, honestly.  I'm just a tad beleaguered at the moment. It's all a bit too much....

SD:*sympathetically* Aim knott surprysd.  Yuve bean poorlie and AI havent bean heer to giv you the Healen Porr and lett you stroak me for ours.  And now yuve maid a rite mess in heer and kant sea the wude fore the trees.  Yue ar ovurwhelmd with stuf.

Me:*tearfully* Yes. I've lost the plot.  I should just concentrate on one thing at a time instead of trying to do it all at once.  And now everything is such a mess I don't know how I'll ever sort it out.

SD:*calmingly* Its okai.  Aill hellp.  Jusst knosentrait on wun smol area att a tyme and kleer it.  Eithr put things to sel or bak in the bocks on the shelff.  Yue doant hav to do it orl at wuns.  Trie 30 minitts then take a brake.  Hav a kup of tee and a biskitt.  A REELI GUDE biskitt....knott the wuns we yewst to hav at manijment meetens.   Plai Wurdle.  Pik up weemails. Then go bak to itt fore anuthr 30 minitts.... and sew on. 

Me:*brightening* You're amazing SD.  Yes, break it down into bite sized chunks.

SD:*with the air of a job well done* See!  Itts knott difikult.  Yue KAN do itt.  

Me:*determinedly* Yes. I can.  Thank you SD.  How can I ever rep....

Small Dog gradually fades away... her lovely, bright eyes lingering for just a few seconds more.

Me:*resignedly* Right.  Better get on then.  Might just have a cup of tea and a biscuit first though.....

Makeover planning.....

I've lost count of how many makeovers I've carried out in my workroom.  One of the most dramatic was several years ago, when I upcycled an unloved mahogany bureau cabinet into a thing of beauty.

Since then I've posted about my lovely room several times, perhaps most memorably HERE. 

So, as the room is gradually being cleared in preparation for my final sale, I'm turning my mind to how it might look post-retirement.  I will still need a space to be creative.  I have a few boxes of undressed dolls which I'm looking forward to transforming.  In fact, while I've been poorly over recent weeks,  I started watching the BBC series Marie Antoinette, which features a range of mouthwatering costumes I'd love to recreate in micro-miniature.

But I digress....

I'd been thinking of getting rid of some of the storage, most notably the run of cupboard base units at the back of the room.  But that seems shortsighted.  I can store my sewing machine, Cricut, and other stuff in them, now that all my molds and dollmaking tools have been sold along with my kiln.  That would provide some much needed floor space.

I might also re-arrange the shelves along the wall.... I've already freed up load of space on the two shelf units which flank my bureau, so the books I want to keep might all fit on those, rendering the other shelves redundant.  I have a spot in mind for them in one of the bedrooms. 

Plans are fairly fluid.... I will probably change my mind several times over coming weeks.  But it's heartening that I now feel well enough to think about planning and re-organising.

I do love a project, but in the meantime.....