Tuesday 24 March 2009

the brain training is not going so well.....

i give up...
i was clearly born to be a badly organised person and who am i to fight against the force of Mother Nature?
since my announcement to train myself to be a "doer" rather than a "thinker", i honestly believe my time management skills have become worse
**is that possible i hear Stephen mutter**
well yes dear readers i do believe it is....

take yesterday for instance...
i had great plans to do all manner of useful things but all i actually managed was to start the unpacking of books and the loading of the bookshelves





by the time i had dusted down each book, been distracted by various titles, pretty pictures etc, arranged, rearranged, added china, glass, pictures, moved china, glass and pictures numerous times....
you get the idea
all
day
spent fiddling





and i have now decided that the rest of the wall will not be yet more bookshelves but will in fact house my piano
so i guess i unpacked a small portion of our book collection and made one decision but that was it - the full extent of my day - i did of course wash up, tidy round, feed animals etc but i do that everyday and have it down to a fine art.

i honestly believe that this house will not be finished this year - i have still to choose the bathroom showers, baths and basins, tiles, flooring and the sofa's for the main living space - this has been the hardest decision of all - the beautiful sofa's i dream of are totally impractical for a house in the Highlands which contains cats and dogs and who knows what else in the future..
the covers are not removable for washing and the fabric would make a dreamy cat scratching post - the fact that the price is on the high side makes the dream impossible so the search for a more practical but still appealing seating arrangement began
to say that the search is not going well and that i am starting to fear that when my parents come to stay in May i will be offering them their own personal wooden apple crate to sit on ...... ack
i have searched the internet and am now waiting for fabric samples to arrive from Tesco's of all places - i simply cannot find a sofa with washable removable covers that i like so we are thinking that we will go for the cheaper sofa option that will be comfy, have the look that we are after whilst enabling us to see the dogs leaping about on it without us both dropping dead from heart failure.....
i just need those samples to be the right shade of grey.....

anyway, i digress....
back to the reality of my time management - today i have a list of tasks that need completing and yet i have found myself squeezing in a little knitting when ever i can, which if the item was a gift or something essential would be o.k but the truth of it is.....

leg warmers
yep
my failed to be trained brain has decided that what i need to make my life happier is a pair of hand knitted leg warmers





who would have thought?

t x

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I went through the same sofa dilema!!! When we got Ede-Spookey-as i ended up getting one from Tescos!! Not my normal vintage style,but hey its comfey and i dont worry about Ede making a mess. Lots of pretty cushions do the job and it was in the sale so i felt better about that !Good luck-We are destined to meet one day, Im sure,we seem to have so much in common! Txxx

Fabric Nation said...

I think sorting out book shelves was the first thing I did in our new place. So many decisions: which books at eye level; horizontal rows or vertical stacks; which of my 60s kitchen sink novels to have its cover on display; just how many can I squeeze onto the shelf before being told we have too many books... it looks like you had a very constructive day and achieved a very important task!

Fabric Nation said...

oh, and I forgot to say, if you want to add a liitle more distraction, I have a little competition over at mine!

Anonymous said...

hi - what breed of dog are they? that little one with the white face is adorable - I want to say 'whippet' but are they Italian greyhounds?
lovely whatever they are!

nikinpos said...

Hey, but your photos have just solved my bookcase dilemma! I have too manybooks, but the shelves are quite high so I should stack them in piles like you have done to create more space! Thank you!

nimblejacks said...

books, made way for feltand fishing gear here! A sorry state of affairs. I remember buying some on barns living in our 70s house watching Grand designs in 1997 thinking we could do that and here we are having done it! Leg warmers are fab BTW my 7yr old loves them!!!

driftwood said...

well your book shelf looks fantastic if you can take any solace from that! and I love the colours of the legwarmers, good luck with the other choices!!

julia said...

From one totally disorganised person to another I can totally sympathise, however the bookshelves look FANTASTIC! We've had a cheap sofa for the past 15years, it cost about £250 at the time and we bought new cream loose covers about 5 years ago, the whole lot comes off and fits in the washer and come out like new - vital with all the dirty feet in this house. I do however dream about those lovely big squashy sofas which cost the best part of two grand but we'd be afraid to sit on them!
Julia xx
ps. Fab legwarmers

Kitty said...

So glad I'm not the only one to get distracted so easily - I do that with books. And photographs - I STILL have old photos to sort out from when we moved in 6 months ago! :-O

x

Bobo Bun said...

Tracy - leg warmers, you child of the 80's. I had a yellow pair I used to wear on the walk to High School. Had to take them off at the gate. I Knew I looked cool.

Don't beat yourself up about the bookcase thing - it's normal, arranging shelves always gets us completely distracted.

Oh and the sofa problem. We went for the to hell with it lets get the teal velvet ones we like option as never ever had a new sofa before. Now covered in cat fluff, chocolate stains and not sure what dog stains. I bet you'll find a happy in between choice.

By the way I think the kitchen worktop is painted wood.

Lisa x

Katie twinkles said...

One of the happiest times in my life was when I had knitted legwarmers.......

Why don't you get a sofa for the dogs and some of those massive bean bags for the adults?

Alexandra said...

i am so disorganised too and very easily distracted, love the leg warmers xxx

Vintage to Victorian said...

I'd abandon all brain training if I were you! Call everything a displacement activity and then everything will be an achievement! Train your brain to believe that and you'll be fine!

It works for me! The fact that I didn't manage to do anything I had planned over the last 48 hours (my days off) other than pack and post 2 parcels and take Mum food shopping must mean you're not the only one with a problem though!

Which reminds me ... I'm supposed to be letting you know about the blankets and embroidery, aren't I!!

Sue x

Pipany said...

yes, but just look at that wool!!! tracy, it is gorgeous. It makes me think of soft heathers on moorland. Sigh...x

FuturePrimitive Soap Co. said...

You should take a look at La Redoute online at www.redoute.co.uk We bought a 5 seater and a chair for quite a reasonable price. they do a beautiful deep dusky grey linen range, which is gorgeous...not sure if they still do but look at the 'so home' section.
x

Unknown said...

The shelves look very nice though, I should say time well spent.

julie said...

hi hun
shelves look great, have you tried ikea we have a big comfy sofa from there and the covers come right off and go in the washer, loads of colours available
jules xx

teacakebiscuit said...

Ooh, it took me AGES to choose our couch. I ended up going with microfiber as it's so easy to look after- it cleans up really well if things spill on it, the cat(s) can't scratch it and its cleanable too. I would thoroughly recommend it. It seems to be really hardwearing too.

LOVE the bookshelf arrangement by the way. EEPS! It's so exciting to be at the decorating stage!

acrossthepond said...

I can totally relate to the sofa challenge. After many weeks of searching for the perfect sofa to go in our bright orange room I found one, only to find out that it was the most expensive scratching post that I have ever bought. Our well trained 6 cats who never scratched our old sofa thoroughly enjoy shredding the new one! Slip covers are the way to go I say!