I've been AWOL for 9 weeks....
I've thought about joining in with WOYWW (hosted by the lovely Sarah @ Sarah's Craft Shed) again for the last couple of weeks, but today I've finally made it. I feel a bit like I've been driving through fog and am just coming out the other side to clearer skies. Grief is a bizarre thing in the way it affects people in different ways, and one of the ways it affected me was with inertia. A need to just stay in one place and not move unless I had to, mentally as well as physically. There were weeks with no stitching, and weeks with lots of stitching, there was a week of mad clearing, sorting, packing, moving to get Mum's bungalow cleared. And weeks of overwhelm - at the sheer amount of stuff my mother had (nearly two dozen boxes & bags of fabric and trim gifted to a local theatre group for costume, for example) and which now needed rehoming, mostly into my house it seems. We hired a Luton to bring everything home and we filled it.... sigh. My dining room has disappeared under a dolls house. Yikes....
Ah yes, the dolls house. The first place we went to declined the offer of our donation, citing a lack of available space for display (to be fair, true), and on reflection we decided to bring the behemoth home to make repairs (turns out some are significant) before sending it to its forever home. We have our eye on a couple of National Trust venues, so fingers crossed they take it.
Crafting wise, it's mostly sorting out books and supplies Mum had. She had a Bisley drawer unit just full of trims, which I'm enjoying stroking (LOL) and coming up with ideas. There was a whole drawer of golden supplies just for Goldwork, and another with loads of silver fabrics and thread too.
I've worked on a few pieces of stitching - I won't go into great detail here at the moment about who/what and when, but will just leave pics of where I'm at with each.
Maybe in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to get to sit at my craft desk and do something creative aside from standard stitching.
Speaking of which, though, I'm a bit busy over the coming weeks. This weekend coming is Big Stitch 24, the first big stitching convention in the UK. Up until now we've had smaller retreats where the maximum attendance I think has been 60 attendees - BS24 has over 200, and from overseas as well as the UK, with a guest speaker (Jacob from Modern Folk Embroidery) and vendors from lots of locations. All very exciting and just 2 sleeps before travelling up to Rotherham... eek!
I'm also away in Brixham for a weekend in August with the girls from school. We've known each other as a group for 42 years, although a couple have been friends since the age of 5. Lots of years. Mr B is going to stay home for a weekend by himself with the fur babies.
And then in September we're off to Tenerife for a few days, followed by a visit to the final Overlander show in Stratford Upon Avon. Time to pick up some campervan conversion ideas for our new van, Gomez.
More on him in a later post.
I think that will do for now - plenty enough to be going on with!
Happy Hopping!
Morti x
7 comments:
It must have been very difficult going through everything and deciding what to do with it all. I'm trying to think ahead for my DD and get rid of as much as I can, but I know there will a lot left for her to deal with. Hopefully that day is far away. The dollhouse sounds awesome, I hope someone gives it a good home! Your cross stitching is beautiful! Have fun at your retreat! I'm going away for a week and leaving hubby in charge of the fur babies! Have fun on your adventures with Gomez! Have a wonderful week, Lindart #15
It's really good to see you, and your update. It's totally understandable that you've been in a state of flux since losing your Mum. I hope you find appreciative homes for the dolls house and the things you want to donate. It took my brother and I weeks and weeks (and more weeks) to clear our Mum's place as there was still tons of Dad's stuff too..... you know men and their tools!! anyhow, enjoy the Big Stitch, and all the other things you have going on. Hugs. Helen #1
I did wonder how you were going but I remember how awful it was clearing my Dad's house. In fact we are just now going through all the stuff we'd kept for a car boot sale from his house & my in-laws holiday home which was sold at the same time (what a frightful time that was!) and said sod it, it's all going to the charity shop. I don't now how many times we have repacked these boxes over the last 2 years trying to find homes for everything. I hadn't heard of goldwork before so I looked it up - your mum was incredibly clever and talented and that doll's house is incredible! I hope you can find a suitable home for it. Have a sunny week, Lisa-Jane #9
It takes as long as it takes with grief, especially when it was your dear Mum passing away. That was a lot of stuff to clear, what a brilliant idea to offer the dolls house to the NT, I’m sure they’ll snap it up. I enjoyed seeing your various stitchy projects but the star of the show has to be Gomez! I look forward to seeing his transformation 😁
Hugs LLJ 3 xx
My daughter has mentioned once or twice about me getting rid of stuff, so she does not have to. I have started to get rid of some stuff, but I need to do more. Grief does effect us in in different ways and there are different stages we go through. Sending love and hugs - and strength for all the sorting! Happy WOYWW. Angela #12
Hi Morti, I know how hard it is. I've still not managed to pass some of my mum's stuff on but getting there. It's an odd thing but I understand what you said about not feeling like doing much. We've hardly been anywhere and I think it's been a combination of reasons but I do still go to the craft club once a month and craft shows when there is one not too far away, even though I really don't need any new stuff but it makes me feel brighter even when something drops through the letter box. Thinking about it I don't know where I would be without the crafting, sad really. Sounds like you have some good trips planned which sound good. Take care and wishing you a happy woyww, Angela x11x
It is so good to see you back. I know exactly what you mean about grief - one day at a time. Enjoy your adventure in Rotherham and I really look forward to what becomes of Gomez (Addams by any chance?). Stay safe and welcome back to WOYWW. Sarah
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