New Year's Resolution?

[Toddy]

Whats tatting?

And its a 3D printer

So it is
and tatting is a footery faff of a thing, tying wee knots in pretty patterns using a tiny wee shuttle. In French it's well named, Frivolitié. I am patient making things, I have even woven an entire miniature basket from linen thread, with tiny beads in it too, but tatting does my head in.

M

 

[Toddy]

Mary, you of all people ought to know the unwritten rule of unfinished projects...

For every one taken from the uncompleted pile and then completed 2 more take its place on the pile

I live in hope. I'm at the stage of apologising to my sons that if I croak it that I'm really, really sorry that they'll have to clear out my stuff.
I had an Aunt who was like me; it took my cousin three years to clear her house of good things. I swear I'm not doing that to my boys.

My sons laughed at me and told me just to enjoy my toys They'll deal with it and they're hoping it's a long time in the future

It would literally be brain-deadness for me to live in a house (or garden) without stuff, I'd be bored to unhappy tears in days living without what those souless interior design fashionistas call clutter.
I think humanity's stuff, tools, toys, equipment, books, etc., are the clearest indications of healthy, interested and creative minds.
We think, we make, therefore we are, kind of thing
A room with nothing but a tv and a couple of sofas and a just so perfectly positioned coffee table and a blingy ornament, is a waiting room, and life's too short to want to hang around waiting rooms.
Well, I think so.
I'd still like to reduce the UFO pile a bit though. There are five quilt tops there just needing batting, backing and me sitting down long enough to quilt them altogether.
That's only a wee part of the pile too.


M

 

[daveO]

Sounds like you need to do some Swedish death cleaning or whatever it's called. I've been hinting at my dad about it since he has an entire barn full of crap that I will one day inherit. All useful stuff apparently

 

[Broch]

It would literally be brain-deadness for me to live in a house (or garden) without stuff, I'd be bored to unhappy tears in days living without what those souless interior fashionistas call clutter.
M

I know exactly what you mean but we have such a variety of interests that we wouldn't be able to move if we left it all out. And there's the problem - having to put away and get it out again makes completing anything too difficult. But, I have a master plan. We have a small out-house (think a very small stone and timber croft!) that I have used as an office for years - now I'm retired I am going to do it out into a studio so Mrs B can have all here 'needlework' (sewing, cross-stitch, embroidery, knitting ...) out and it can also house my kiln, art work, photography, carving and whittling and even my micro/electronics toys. OK, so my metal bashing will still be in the workshop but that's different; it never did take up house space. We'll still have 'the current project' in the house though.

I call it WIP (Work In Progress); I assume UFO is Unfinished Objects? or something similar?

 

[Toddy]

Sounds like you need to do some Swedish death cleaning or whatever it's called. I've been hinting at my dad about it since he has an entire barn full of crap that I will one day inherit. All useful stuff apparently

Not a snowball's hope in hell
Instead of it being a burden, and it isn't really, it's just things to do, think of it as potential
I'm pretty sure it took my cousin so long because he was having fun finding all the good things and happily passing them along to family and friends. For someone who is sociable by nature, as well as very able with his mind and hands, it ended up not just therapeutic but a lot of fun.

He actually wrapped up and posted a spinning wheel to me Weirdest looking parcel you have ever seen

M

 

[Toddy]

I have bookcases in every room in the house bar the bathroom and the downstairs loo. I think that's normal. I have neighbours who only have books in the loo, I think that's utterly repugnant.

Right now my desk (in the living room (far too busy to be a 'sitting room') ) has my laptop on it, my watercolours, a cathedral window quilt I'm piecing, an origami piece that has me stymied (sigh) and some crochet squares for a blanket....then there's the pile on the floor beside me and scattered around the room, having just added them up, are five open books that we're reading.
It's like gloss painting, keep the open edge moving

M

 

[Tengu]

Do more conferences and become a Great Scholar.

(My tutor knows me as an Enthusiastic Scholar...)

Get paid work. (Though I am still unsure what that is.)

Actualy paint more Warhammer stuff. (I have a UFO pile too)

 

[daveO]

I have bookcases in every room in the house bar the bathroom and the downstairs loo. I think that's normal. I have neighbours who only have books in the loo, I think that's utterly repugnant.

One man's toilet is another man's soundproof nagging bunker

I'm lucky enough to have a mancave though with a comfier chair than most loobraries can offer

 

[Paul_B]

We were just talking about wildcamping. A five year old son loves camping but has never wildcamped. I suggested we went out and slept under a large tarp one night in summer.

We'd talked about using tents. A ul 2 man for child and partner. I'd use a tarp and bivvy like the old days before child and car camping. However I suggested our kid would prefer a tarp.

So not sure what to take, 2.4m square plus 1.2m x 2.4m or a single, large square tarp. I think it's a DD 4m x 4m. We'd just use a groundsheet, mats and sleeping bags. Camping in the Lakes so a big tarp might not be suitable. Also only have trekking poles to lift it up. Might be too low for a 4m square tarp.

Still taking my 5 year old out on his first wildcamping trip would be special. IMHO a tarp based trip would make it even more special.

 

[Toddy]

How about seeing if anyone has an IPK kicking around ?
They're still under a tenner on eBay though.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/British-...590679&hash=item2a80ea4940:g:9qgAAOSwFyhZ53NU

It's adjustable and robust enough that he can play tents with it in the garden, or practice in the house (my two turned the dining table and chairs into a fortress, I'm sure your lad would be similarly inventive )

M

 

[petrochemicals]

I have bookcases in every room in the house bar the bathroom and the downstairs loo. I think that's normal. I have neighbours who only have books in the loo, I think that's utterly repugnant.



M

Yep there is nothing wrong with newspaper.

 

[Toddy]

I'm told it polishes nicely



Seriously though, disposable is fine, but not ...nah.

M

 

[Paul_B]

How about seeing if anyone has an IPK kicking around ?
They're still under a tenner on eBay though.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/British-...590679&hash=item2a80ea4940:g:9qgAAOSwFyhZ53NU

It's adjustable and robust enough that he can play tents with it in the garden, or practice in the house (my two turned the dining table and chairs into a fortress, I'm sure your lad would be similarly inventive )

M

I've got plenty of tarps. Sil-nylon and tough enough for our five year old. No garden to play about with them. However I've mooted the idea with my other half about setting up a tarp in our boy's room semi permanently. A kind of indoor semi permanent camp before the real trip.

The question is what tarp(s) to use? One big one for three of us? Or a medium tarp for my partner plus child and micro tarp for me with a bivvy (doesn't cover me in a weatherproof way without the bivvy since I'm 6'5" / 1.96m)?

Lakes is tolerant to wildcamping but a 4m tarp is perhaps too big. Should have bought a 3m tarp instead.

 

[Paul_B]

Poles are an issue too. Trekking poles suit me because I was happy not sitting up. Not so for a five year old. Taller poles that would be suitable (light, long, strong and with a bit of adjustment) would be too expensive. Anything else too heavy.

Might need to buy pole links such as BPL-UK sell. Plus buy more trekking poles since we don't own enough pairs of trekking poles. Two adults carrying 6/8 poles to create 2 tall and 2 short ridge poles / 4 tall ridge poles is crazy.

 

[Toddy]

Have you seen the brollies that the carp fishermen use ? They have some that make really good shelters for overnight.

M

 

[Macaroon]

Why would you need ridge poles? Use cordage and guy tight.

 

[Paul_B]

Poles at the end of the ridges and guyed out or at one end and a tail lifter outside the tarp. Or two poles just back ration the front on either side to lift the front, back to the ground.

 

[erehwon]

More plans than resolutions, once the snows have gone get a basic traditional bow and teach myself to use it, learn to cook using a dutch oven, add some turkeys to our other birds and learn to raise and dispatch them for the table and finally attempt to naturally tan the skins from our meat rabbits, another busy year ahead................

 

[daveO]

I went for a walk today and got depressed by the litter. To be fair the storm has made it worse but it was pretty bad to start with. My resolution is to do more about it. I picked up 26 cans to recycle today as a start.

 

[Trig]

I picked up 26 cans to recycle today as a start.

After 26 cans i dont think you'll be fit for anything, never mind to start !

My resolution was to force my self to go out more when i cant be bothered. So yesterday, despite trying to put it off, i headed off up a Corbett. Lashing rain and wind, which became lashing snow and hail at the top, i became a yeti, my water bottles froze, and on the way back down i went up to my knees in bog several times.

Perhaps i wont stick so strictly to it, and allow myself some leeway