Progress Report

As you will quickly spot, these top two pics were taken before the GREAT SNOW descended.

This is how the 'public' end of the caravan looked in October, after some destruction work had taken place. A couple of weeks ago it had progressed to this.
Lots of paint and some stitchery. The back cushion I re-covered in pieces salvaged from a fabric sample book, the seat cushion in curtains which I acquired some other way. Can't remember for sure if they were from a village jumble sale but they have been in stock for a while, awaiting their moment of glory.
Since then the heavens have cast down upon us with great enthusiasm and we have nearly 18" of snow to wade through. It is very light and easy to move but no sooner have you cut a crisp neat path than more descends and fills it in again. So my trips across the garden have slowed somewhat. Still, I did want to show off my most recent masterpiece! My dad's old office chair is a memento I have hung onto for seven years. Now, finally I am delighted to give it a new look and a new purpose. I will take huge comfort from using it, knowing that under that kitschy covering lurks the worn original tweedy brown upholstery, now free from cigar fumes, admittedly, but still, to me, the old man's second home

To finish, a slightly underwhelming image: unless, that is, you can accept that there is a small pink glow emerging from the fire. The gas man has finally cometh and I have real live flames on demand from the gas fire and the hob. The end of the beginning of this project is firmly in my sights now!

My good intentions

...have come to nowt! I had such high hopes of moving into the new HQ in an orderly fashion. Finishing Job A before commencing Job B, that sort of thing. Showing a smooth transformation from attic to caravan.

However,we are now part way through the third week since the gas was to be sorted,
the flue from the fire, the hob, the to-be-disconnected boiler are still awaiting attention,
so the painting and varnishing isn't finished,
the holes in the floor can't be sealed up,the mouses could still get in...
My papers and fibres and textile supplies would not like than much.

So I am moving the less precious bits and pieces down the metal ladder from my present abode, through the house, stopping to put wellies on, gathering them up again and heading across the garden to store them neatly away in another great big heap.
Believe it or not I am throwing some bits and pieces out along the way - turns out there's a limit to how much I can tart up.
Very soon now, I hope there will be some more upbeat pics again.

Meanwhile, I am off to the Hirsel at Coldstream on Saturday to display my wares with lots of lovely talented artists and makers - hope you can make it along and indulge in a little Christmas shopping...

Mellow Autumn Returns

Well, OK, it's a bit patchy but it's glorious again today - crisp underfoot to start with and the sun glistening through the trees in our bird-busy garden.

This should be a post full of my own pics but for reasons of negligence yesterday and absence today, I have 'borrowed' them from the www instead.

Yesterday was a happy day at St Abbs - good range of yarn-rich stalls, hand dyed yarns, hand spun yarns, dyed fleece, peg loom in action, spinner in action, knitters and needle-felters - and that was just the stall-holders. I waxed lyrical about the delicious space dyed cotton perle I had on sale, and lovely customers delved into the button selections, and gave the hand spun skeins a squeeze and eyed up my flappy hats. The sun shone, the hall was warm and the cakes and tea were very impressive! But I left the camera at home....

For a couple of weeks, I have been meaning to photograph the little ash tree we have at the front of the house, displaying its autumn foliage and bright orange berries. But I've left it a little late now.
Today, Hugh (the resident twitcher) is away training folks in the less-than-gentle art of off-road driving and has the camera with him. So here's a library picture to be going on with...But I could not capture for you our latest visitors, a flock of maybe 25 waxwings, who have found their favourite feast and moved in for a few days.
I borrowed this image without permission from this gentleman's blog. If you follow the link you can read more about the waxwings in the south of the country in January this year.

Enjoy your day!

We have power!

Yup, as of today Tart HQ has lights which work! Not that it's fit for Tart work yet as there's a way to go. However, I have at least taken some in progress shots so you can see what's what.

Now, being a BIG caravan, designed for at least four people to holiday in, it was pretty well equipped, even if it did have a large leak right above the draining board. That has been fixed, and I dragged the oven/grill out and it's heading for the recycling plant at Hawick. It was the worst element of the whole van and would never have looked clean. Besides which, I want to be left with just the hob so that I am not too tempted to move in permanently.

This first pic was taken when we went to see it at the caravan park - there are two mournful dogs peering out of our old Discovery and wondering what an earth we are up to now.
It looks like this today. The cupboards minus their fronts are to become my bookshelves. The taps will not be functional as there's no practical cheap way of connecting them to a water supply and having drainage too.
There's a thin partition wall between the kitchen and what was the bunk bedroom. I took down the other wall of the bunk room to open it up into what was the living space. So it has gone from this
to thisto this!
The wee rectangle on the back wall is a little memento - an unpainted section of the original flowery wallcovering. And I fixed up the spotlights as soon as the electrician had gone.
My window looks over the fence, across the fields and down the road towards Hawick. How much work will I get done?

Enough caravan, it's back to sewing in labels and gathering props in readiness for the trip to St Abbs on Saturday morning. By the pricking of my thumbs...