List of items to do with moving house

boxes

worry

dust

lost items found

items lost

cups of tea

money concerns

nostalgia for old house

regret at leaving

excitement about new house

breakages

lifting

smell of cardboard

relief that it's over

learn to love your boxes

one box a week

chaos

irregular meal times

worries about parking

stress

newspaper and bubblewrap

newsprint

lorry's engine running

trip to the dump

Champagne

discovering lovely things I'd forgotten I owned

fear of theft

a fresh start

change of address notes

new things

logistics

ditching

unwanted

dead tired

break from routine

wondering if the day will ever end

sound of cardboard tearing

tape and the smell of tape

sound of ripping tape

things put together that are not usually together

Embroidery watch

This is the sewing I keep at work. Sadly, we're not allowed to listen to streaming internet content, so no BBC7 in my lunch hour. I may have to buy some sort of MP3 player. Don't ask for better pictures -- there are none.

Short list of words that I will be consciously asking if I need to write this week

almost
nearly
really
quite
some
very

Things that happen when it rains

• There is a rush to get everything inside
• A curious emptiness
• Damp clothes
• Clamminess
• Drips off umbrellas
• Constant noise
• Cars swooshing
• It's not so bad once you're in it
• Wanting to be indoors
• A drop falling off a leaf
• Rushings in gutters
• Scallop shaped waves run downhill
• Blurred light reflections on the road at night
• It gets dark early
• Bruised flowers and soft fruit
• Wet shoes
• Dust puffs up where the drops hit it
• The smell of wet dust
• Wet and muddy footprints near the door
• Dirty floors
• Long columns of water
• Uncertainty about how long it will last
• Sheep go to shelter, or do not go to shelter and we think it means something
• Fish jumping
• Chills and coldness and aches
• A dripping nose
• Wet hair
• Whispering as the rain falls on the ground
• Streams of water in places previously dry
• Mud
• Lying in bed hearing the rain falling on the roof
• Worrying about things left outside and about water getting into places where it should not be
• Puddles
• Being splashed by cars
• Clots of dead grass in drains
• Squelching on a lawn
• Soaked trouser cuffs
• Slippery surfaces
• Landslides and floods
• Rain diamonds on grasses
• Spray
• Deciding we don't have to worry about the watering
• Accidentally standing on a snail
• High winds lashing rain against the windows
• Feelings of safety and security because the weather can't get in
• Stamping in puddles while wearing wellies
• Making damns and streams from a mud puddle
• Falling rain showing up in the light of a streetlamp
• Longer stopping distances while driving
• Not being able to dry clothes

Indicators of warm weather

• short sleeves and trousers
• bra straps showing
• bumble bees on flowers
  
• sticky tarmac
• cars with windows down
• other people's music
• a curtain flapping out of an open window
• people describing the outdoors atmosphere as 'really chilled'
• slow walking
• deep shadows
• sunbathers on towels in the park
  
• a longing for cool drinks
• the smell of cucumber
• clinking of ice cubes
• lethargy
• sunburn
• traffic jams; the smell of hot cars; scorching my legs on dark leather upholstery
  
• aromatic plants
• not being able to sleep in the heat and throwing off the covers and sleeping under a sheet
• cold showers
• sound of an aeroplane overhead
• sound of a lawnmower or a strimmer
  
• children shrieking and splashing
• scent of pine woods
• buzzing insects trapped indoors
• ants circling
• not trying to keep warm
• prickly heat
• seeking shade
• heat haze
• stillness
• bird song
• crickets ticking and flies buzzing past your head
• flowers make splashes of bright colour on brown and green background
• drying grass heads
• things flipping and flollopping into the pond
• flower heads turning towards the sun
• creatures rustling in the shade
• the sun is warmer than the air
• the grass is damp
• ice cream vans
• air conditioning shivering my skin and fans whirring and drying out my throat
• thin cardigans
• not wanting to touch white paper or white sewing
• strawberries, cherries, raspberries, melon
  
• dust outside
• bare feet
• treading in water and leaving footprints on the terrace
• finding tea very refreshing
• not wanting to be near supermarket freezers; and seeing that all the other people in the queue have bought meat and drink for a barbecue
  
• not drinking enough
• Pimm's; white wine; cider; cold beer; gin and tonic with lime
• vegetables and herbs from the garden
• very soft butter
• food spoiling in the sun and outside air but no-one can be bothered to clear it away
• horses crowding into the shade and standing with their heads down
• trying to get some air through the house by opening all the doors and windows. Closing all the doors last thing at night, and opening them all first thing in the morning
• putting my face against something cool
  

Stitches

This is my first go at sashiko embroidery -- it's a beginner level sampler that I picked up at the stitch fair at Ally Pally last autumn. I think I might sew this panel on to my black cotton shopping bag.

It comes from Euro Japan Links. They offer more advanced samplers, and I'd like to try them out. As you can see, this effort was a bit wonky, but I'm sure I'll improve with time.
I'd like to try this sort of sewing on some denim -- I've got a pair of jeans with a busted crotch; and if the tailor at Manuela's Retoucherie says 'No', I'm going to cut the legs up and make me some panels.

Ways for Clare to make work bearable

1. Adjust your mode of transport -- if it's fine, walk in. If it's not, get the train. Check for train problems before you leave. Wear comfortable shoes for gettig to work. Empty your handbag regularly so you are not carrying un-necessary weight. Keep an umbrella and a waterproof at work.
   
2. If you're running late, don't worry -- phone in and apologise. It's not going to get you there any earlier.
3. Choose five outfits for the week -- most of my clothes can be edited up or down depending on the weather. Keep a pair of black shoes, and a pair of brown shoes at the office.
4. Have five photographs on your desk, and change them each week.
5. Buy sandwiches from the van, and have snacks available (unless there's something particularly nice to bring in).
6. Keep handcream and a nailfile and a lip salve on your desk -- those are things you like to have by you, and there's no shame in that.
7. Keep a needlework to do at lunchtime.
   
8. Work out how much spending money you have and enjoy it. Take a look at how long you must work for certain things.
   
9. Be positive.
10. They have a library downstairs, so there will always be something to read at lunchtime.
    
11. Have something to do that is not obviously not work for those times when there is no work to do.