On Thursday after supper, Eldest, Youngest and I were hanging out in the kitchen. I was sitting on the sofa knitting, Youngest was experimenting with a new chocolate cake recipe, and Eldest was in a lot of pain and trying to distract herself by reading but holding the book was too difficult so she was sitting at the table.
Result was that no one actually did what they intended, but did we have a party!!
The girls got to discussing comedy and, because I couldn't be bothered watching the You Tube episodes of what they were discussing, they started enacting it...people pay to see Eldest in action and here's me with a free viewing!!!
The pair of them 'took off' comedians, did skits, fenced, sassed each other, played bits of films, spilt chocolate batter, danced and sang and roared laughing at themselves for about an hour and a half- it was the most hilarious free show!
The chocolate cake was eventually got into the oven, the book was rescued from under the table, Eldest retrieved her slippers from the Fluffster Dog who was chewing them, and Youngest started in on the frosting. At this point things became rather heated as one wanted chocolate icing and the other wanted coffee, so they compromised with mocha.
Unfortunately Hoover Dog got a bit overexcited with all the activity and started chasing his tail, whereupon he got a paw tangled in the phone cable and knocked it off the desk. The clatter startled him so he raced under the table, taking the phone with him and wrapping the cable around Eldest's legs too. Youngest dived for the broadband box-thing before it hit the floor, forgetting to let go of the utensils she was holding...and sent mocha icing all over the Hub's desk, the broadband yoke, phone, floor, etc etc...
Well, as you can tell, she saved the broadband, the dogs cleaned up the spilled icing, and the flex was untangled, but...the excitement wasn't yet over!!!...
Despite the icing mishap, there was still enough to over-ice the middle of the cake, and as she stood back to admire her work, the top layer slid slowly sideways, cracked in half and departed off the plate in opposite directions!!
Plate tectonics 101!!!
Both girls and Hoover dog tried to rescue it, the girls winning by a very small margin!
Eventually I got a chopstick and speared one side of the cake to keep it together in order to spare Youngest's anguish, whilst they started eating the other side, aided by their father who arrived home from work at the crucial moment, for some reason doing a Johnny Cash impersonation and singing 'Ring of Fire' at full throttle! (well its better than Elvis and 'Jailhouse Rock' which is another of his...)
Another quiet evening....not!!!
Behind the table I am using the grey trolley table as a cutting space. You can laugh, but the Hub pulled it out of a skip in the Industrial Area a few years back! The height is adjustable, and there is a pull out section (here pulled out) which extends the surface. Sometimes I sit at it but I also transfer the sewing machine onto it at standing height if I want to machine quilt as I find that easier on my back. Very useful!
Storage...sometimes all pushed under the work-table, but I hauled the boxes out looking for yellow fabric. The chair is also out of a skip- at the Recycling Center, this time! I love the big African baskets, of which I have several; I can hide a multitude of sins in there! Many, many years ago I even found one of my children in an empty basket hiding from me because she had been bold!
My lovely old pine cupboard, and plastic drawer trolley.
Terribly tidy and well-organised contents...I DON'T think!
Sewing space right by the cupboard, with extra expandable desk lamp. Those are cookery books, by the way, my sewing books are out in the hall. All the threads and notions are to hand in boxes and cartons on the table.
More storage out in the hall, right by the kitchen, along with a load of houseplants which have to be battled through if I want something out of the end white drawer!
And opposite the above cupboards, the quilt frame with this week's finished quilt top. I love hand quilting but as it is so time consuming I have begin teaching myself to machine quilt. The Hub planed down 2''x2'' lengths of timber to make my frame fifteen or more years ago and it has done good service. Five minutes after I finished putting the quilt up this morning Ben-dog (black Labrador) came galloping in covered in burrs and ran along underneath the quilt. So first I had to catch and de-burr him, and then crawl under the quilt to de-burr the backing! Aargh!
So there you have my workspace. I like being in the kitchen with people around, and also it is warm in the winter with the range which means not having to turn on the heating during the daytime. Perhaps one day I'll have a dedicated Studio, but I'm in no hurry...as long as the children keep their bread and jam away from my fabric!
