Seasons turn, planets (obscurely) align and here we are post-summer solstice, at least in these southerly climes, and zipping towards the finish line in 2020. Even though clouds and rain stopped me from seeing Jupiter and Saturn putting on the bling, it still seems a propitious time to look back at the year and… *shudders*
OK, maybe not. I can report, though, that I had a productive spring. Not in the traditional way of springtime being time for spring cleaning. But who can get excited about that? Woo! – my cupboard is neat. Yah! – the skirting boards have been dusted. Clean all the things and then, before you know it, it’s time to clean again. Bah humbug, I say.
But I was productive in regards to crafting…
Craft stuff. It’s so satisfying. Fun to do and lovely to have an actual thing that I’ve made at the end of it, which I can keep or give away. And while, as usual I have more plans for lovely things that I could do, I’ve actually finished some projects which I’m happy with.
I stitc
hed up a patchwork bed runner for a friend’s early spring birthday…
I repair glued and painted a mini globe with black and gold nail polish. I really should have taken a ‘before’ shot on this one, which was not only damaged and hence a clearance item, but that awful old orange-pink map colour…
I sewed some cute, up-cycled bags from old jeans which will be used as Christmas gift bags and I drew portraits of Medusa and the Sphinx – neither of whom look exactly thrilled to be involved, but you can’t have everything…
I sewed tentacular tie-backs for my library curtains (Ia! Ia! Curtains fhtagn!) because they are ridiculous and they make me laugh every time I use them…
And it’s not like I’ve only been doing craft. I’ve been writing and reading and baking and, as I said at the start of the season, gardening.
Super, super productive.
And WAY more fun than cleaning.
And now it’s summer and I’ve segued neatly into a frenzy of making jam and sauce. The lovely productive garden had, er, produced. Mostly cherry plums, which I’ve canned as jam and as BBQ plum sauce and a delicious plum and beetroot chutney. I’ve also made a peach and vanilla jam, nectarine jam, and a lovely spiced limoncello peach jam, which is looking likely to make the acquaintance of my Christmas ham, when time comes for a bit of friendly glazing.
My 2020 seasonal gifts will be jars of jam in up-cycled bags, and I figure that’s a fine way to end out a weird year – by spreading some good will and sweetness in the world.