My not so little dirty secret

I was perusing over my to-do list this morning and realised I pretty much ticked all the easy and fast items and am now left with all my dreaded ones... Among them my tax return both here and in France, sewing some blinds, I am having a total mental block on that one but still insist I'll make them and won't buy any and clearing and decorating the third bedroom for the baby... The decorating isn't really what bums me out, the clearing is. Well this room does look like this at the moment :




Yes, this is our guest room / studio ... For months now guests had to sleep downstairs in the sofa bed of the living room, and not much sewing has been done for lack of space... Let's say it : it is a proper junk room... I thought we would manage to clear it and decorate it before I go in 2 weeks time for a month, but I really do not think it is going to happen... Which means I'll have to do it when 8 months pregnant. Not sure that child is ever going to have a bedroom! On a brighter note I think I chose the fabric for the blind (another one...) and the wallpaper, still debating on the colors though, waiting for swatches to arrive and make final decision.

I am not the tidiest person in the world, nor the most organised, which is too bad because my wildest fantasy is to have a boutique smeeling house tidy at all times, fresh flowers in every room, cake in the oven, homemade jam in the pantry and inhabited by kids wearing hand sewn clothes... Now, as for the boutique smeeling house that would be simple enough : lots of candles lit at all times, but they are neither very health friendly, nor eco-friendly. The tidiness I just don't have it in me... fresh flowers ends up dead flowers sitting around the house... Not much of a baker... I guess Jeanne has a few handmade pieces of clothing (more of that later). Before the age of blogs you could kid yourself in thinking that nobody really did all this... But then you discover that actually some people do... and have 3 kids... and work... and write craft books... But then they probably have to give up on something really valuable like playing blitz on Facebook, or spending hours trying to pick wallpaper on the internet to finally realise that really you need to see them in the flesh to decide on anything, or watch enlighting TV shows such as the Hotel Inspector...

The to-do-list? 56 to go but not going anywhere fast...

Addictions, addictions...

Here is a sneak peak at what I have been working on for the last 2 weeks : a baby blanket for my future nephew or niece, nephew according to his mum who insists he has been flashing its male attributes during her last two scans... We do not know if we will have a boy or a girl, nothing flashing at me during scans, I usually struggle understanding what's the head and what's the feet, let alone spotting anything more detailed! Anyway, mothers know best so I used mainly blues and greens, but added a few purples just in case it would be a fascetious little girl after all. Only a few more rows to go and I'll be able to reveal it!

I had forgotten how addictive those blankets can get. Mind you I easily get addicted... TV series, games ( I have been known to delete all the games on my computer just so I would stop playing them... No need to say that internet is an issue and Facebook a constant temptation...), yarn and fabric stashing, Japanese craft books and craft books in general, are among the many addictions I've developped over the years. At least crocheting blankets is a pretty industrious and rewarding one! And it just becomes perfect when I can combine it with watching the said TV series while doing it, but it will leave me a bit worst for wear as I will always have to crochet one more row, and then another before I finally go to bed...

When this one is finished? Well I guess I will have to start one for our baby! But what I would really love to make would be a big one for myself in that luscious baby cashmerino yarn, it would cost a fortune and take many, many hours, so it will be my reward when all my not quite finished projects are sorted... which could... well... take forever...

The to-do list? 58 tasks to go.. And I didn't start with the most dreadful ones...

Urban courgettes

I have been thinking about writting a blog for about 3 years now... Put it down my To-Do list a few days ago and as I was really eager to tick a few entries today decided on that one! But obviously , despite having thought about it for 3 years, wasn't too sure what to write my first post on... Crochet? That would have been the obvious one as this would be my number one interest, well after my little girl obviously, but she probably does not fall in the interests category! Why I chose to write in english even though I am a french speaker? Well, not too sure myself, I guess I do think in english part of the time and it just feel right, but then, that might change when I realise that thinking in english is way easier than writting in english. So what was the exciting event of the day? Cooking my first home grown vegs! 3 beautiful courgettes grown in our tiny garden thanks to the well know London's sunshine! Turned them into delicious (if I say so myself...) rice, tomatoes and sausage stuffed courgettes, which seems to be going down really well with Jeanne who is eating one, supervised by super Dad, as I speak! Well... I guess I should go and join them!

Oh, should I give you a little update on the To Do list? 7 down, 2 up, 62 to go!