Ahem…

In my defense: those photo albums were on my list. I need to downsize my rows of large albums into something that will be easier to move and store. That’s why I went to the stores in the first place because I knew you can find lots of photo albums, most even unused for a fraction of the price you pay for new ones.
The hairpins, well didn’t actually need them, but I only have a few elastics and it would be nice to do something else with my hair than just braid it out of my face.
Two dresses and a t-shirt… or actually two t-shirts and a dress, since one of the dresses is so short I’ll probably wear it with jeans or thicker leggings. Okay, I do have enough to wear. But it still fits into my closet with ease, so I thought I’d get away with it. My husband likes it when I wear nice clothes, so it’s not just for me (I’d probably be in leggings and wider dresses if it were just my decision). Oh, and one of the dresses still had the tags of the real shop on it, so for 5 euro that was a really good deal, I think.

But the yarn… hmn. I need to knit faster. A lot faster. Because the basket is overflowing right now.
And that planner… Totally uncalled for. But so typical. I tend to buy planners and notebooks when life gets crazy and/or scary. I guess it gives me the reassurance that I can handle things as long as I have the means to write it all down (I hardly ever do – who’s got time for that?).
I was very happy to find the filofax perforator though because that means I can start designing and printing my own inserts again. You know, since I don’t have anything more important to do.

I was also looking for two small chairs for the bedroom. Didn’t find any that fit the bill, so I guess I still have some more thrift shopping to do in the future. Oh my…

Last week… Goodness… that was some week! So busy. But I don’t have many pictures to show it, but I was too busy to take them. There was a lot of work on the computer. Bookkeeping (catching up after a few weeks of letting it go) and editing. And then there was the house. T. did most of that, but I’m the one holding and handing stuff, so a lot of time went into that too.
But. We finished the technical space, moved the washing machine in there. That freed up space for a dishwasher in the kitchen, so we ordered one and T. installed it right after it arrived. I’m not sure if I’ll use it every day (we try to save on electricity/gas bills and have to work out the difference between using the dishwasher and heating water), but it was a lifesaver this week.
The rest of the week was spent on the back room.

We left off here two weeks ago:

But this week we cleaned it up,

added wallpaper

and a laminate floor

and then we hung some curtains and moved in (also got a new bed)

I think I’m going to do a big ‘reveal’ post with better pictures and some befores once it’s really finished and decorated, but I really wanted to show how far we got this week. We still have a long list of small things to finish, but the big renovation project is done. So happy about that.

Oh. Knitting? Um, yes. A little bit, while working on the house (hence the filthy jeans)

This week?
A little bit of editing that needs to be finished this week and hopefully some writing.
But mostly cleaning and organizing. I won’t show pictures of the mess in the rest of the house. It’s just too much. And then there’s the shed and the garden and… well, I’ve got my work cut out for me.

Edited to add: Well, it seems this week (and the next) will be a little bit different. My husband just got a call that there was an opening in the hospital’s schedule. His operation will be this Friday. So glad we’ve got that downstairs bedroom ready!

Linking up with Jeannie Gray Knits’ Makers’ Monday

Well, last week was not the best week ever. I have an ear infection again and even though the leaflet that came with my eardrops states there are no side effects, I do feel tired and sick. T.’s heart acts up again too, but now that we know what it is and that something will be done about it (eventually – stupid waiting lists), it’s not as scary as it was before.

Anyway, we did manage to reach an important milestone in renovating that back room on Monday. The ceiling is in! It’s really starting to look like a real room again.

Also on Monday, I played around with some mini plants as a gift for my mother’s birthday that evening. Made me want to buy some for myself. I love to buy baby plants and see them grow. Some of my biggest plants started out tiny. But I behaved. I already have a lot of plants and I can’t take them with me when we move. Then again, the girls will gladly take them off my hands (they all have their father’s black thumbs). So maybe I will let myself have some of these little ones to play with.

I couldn’t decide what to knit (besides hats) and realized I actually needed some more dishcloths. Not the most exciting thing to knit, but it feels satisfying to make something I need.

I prefer a clear blue sky, but clouds can be beautiful too… (hmn, I could philosophize about a deeper meaning here, but I think I won’t)

We spent the weekend doing smaller chores (instead of wallpapering the back room). I still felt sick and did a bit of organizing around the house. T. had to move around some pipes (heating, water, gas) to finish our ‘technical space’ (where our air system, central heating boiler, solar system and washing machine are/will be). That resulted in this mess (keeping it real 😉 ), that I will be cleaning up today.

I also have to finish some editing and of course the bookkeeping. No time to get bored 😉

I’m tired, probably getting sick (again) and it’s (too) hot outside and inside. I have to finish bookkeeping and taxes for my husband’s businesses. I actually have been working on that almost all day already and there are still some things on my list that I have to check off and then I have to clean and organize and cook and …

Well, before I start whining (I already did, didn’t I? – so sorry) let’s take a moment to dream about three things I’d rather do today:

1. find myself a good spot on a beach or something – shadow and a breeze that’s all I need – and just knit and read all day

2. set up a sewing space and start making that basket of fabric into something. It’s been too long and the urge is getting stronger (but my time is limited)

3. work in the garden or rather: go out to buy lots of fun plants and put them in the garden

Well, maybe tomorrow…

linking up with Carole Knits’ Three on Thursday

1. Cleaning and organizing. After all the traveling and the scary times in between, I’m finally trying to get a grip on my household tasks. Ahem… I had things under control back in October, but fell off the bandwagon during the holidays in December and never really got back to it. Add trying to finish renovations in every room in the house to that and you can imagine I’ve just been doing damage control these past few months.
Today I started on my kitchen cupboards. Deep cleaning and organizing. Oh my…  The hard part is letting go of stuff.

Hmnn, this is an ‘after picture’, but there’s still too much stuffed in there, don’t you think? I”d better sort through it again…

2. Knitting! A few weeks ago I felt I lost my knitting mojo. I just didn’t feel like picking up my needles. I even considered giving up on the 52 hats challenge. But I’m back at it. Still a little behind, but I’m getting there.

3. Writing. I’m *this* close to finishing my next novel (it’s been a while since the last one was published, but this will my eleventh). Just waiting for the final scenes to play out in my mind. And then I need to find time to write it down, of course.

Linking up with Carole Knits’ Three on Thursday

I never meant to stop blogging, but somehow it happened.

These past two months were kind of weird. My husband had some health issues again, so we went through a lot of doctor visits and examinations. The last one was yesterday and we hope to hear next week whether or not he has a heart condition.
We did make our planned trip to Curaçao in June, but we weren’t sure about going (because of this possible heart condition) until a few days before we went. But it was a good decision. He recovered quite well and is feeling a lot better than before we left. Our plan to move permanently to the island is stronger than ever and we picked up working on getting the house ready to sell where we left off in April.

I didn’t knit much. In our last minute decision making I tossed some acrylic yarn in my suitcase, but that felt way too scratchy in the heat. So instead of knitting up a storm (as I hoped I would) in June, I fell behind in the one-hat-a-week thing. I also noticed I fell even further behind in posting the hats I did make. What can I say, except what I already said: weird months.

Anyway, I’m trying to catch up again. I prepared hat posts and will be posting them in the days (weeks) to come, but I will also try to blog about other things.
I have to admit though I once again feel like I’ve lost my blogging voice, so please bear with me while I try to find it 😉