I did actually manage to tick a couple of odd jobs off my 563m long to do list over the last few days.

Firstly, I finally hemmed the living room curtain I pinned up sometime in summer. I did it so long ago the pins had all disappeared as I pulled the curtains back and forth over that time, so I basically had to do it again.

Plus, with winter upon us, I needed thicker curtains. I went to Jumbo and bought the thickest curtain they had (which is not that thick at all, but a velvety texture) in the neutral shade I wanted. I figured I could double up the curtains, the thick one behind against the window, the thin summer curtain in front. Double protection from the cold.

Should work, right?

This is the curtain rod I made myself during COVID lockdown when I couldn’t buy anything. I made the backets from some old bits of wood I’d scrounged from somewhere and sacrificed a wooden broom handle for the rod. I put some vintage knobs I’d bought in Holland on the end as decoration. I’m very happy with my DIY curtain rod.

Well, I laid the curtains out on my bed and began to fold, pin and trim off excess. My way. ie use my eye and do the best I can and expect that it will work out okay.

Then I got out mom’s old Singer and got to work.

Mom’s old sewing machine is almost as old as I am, she used it to make us clothes when I was a tiny tot. It’s the machine I learned to sew on, but I hadn’t used it in decades. In fact, I think I was the last one to use it back in the late 70s and it had sat in a closet in our house in Athens since then.

I’d taken it to be serviced when I first got here, thinking I’d keep it in Athens and have my own on Paros for sewing projects. Thankfully I had brought it to Paros on a trip at some stage, cause my old Singer (almost the same age, bought at a trash and treasure market many years ago in Canberra) blew up this summer. The motor is cactus. Apparently, I can buy a new/second hand/ motor on ebay, but so far the ones I found are in England or the USA and the postage will kill me.

So, I’m trying to figure out how to use mom’s again now.

Its way fancier than mine ever was. Dad was a great believer in buying the best you could afford so mom got the top of the range. Mine was fully manual. Basic. Mom’s is smart (for its age!) and can do things like automatic button holes… If *I* knew how to do them, of course.

Anyhow, I hemmed both curtains and washed the summer one which had been dragging along the floor for months (not that I needed to really, I’d cut off the dirty bits!). I then hung them both up together and let the washed curtain dry in place.

I was told by a seamstress neighbour in Athens that it was the best way to do it – wash and hang. Easy. No ironing involved. And that suits me just fine!

Here is the window before and after:

I forgot to mention I made a ‘pelmet’ of sorts from the offcut of the thicker curtain… I’ve been told that if you really want to keep the cold out you need pelmets. Well, I don’t want pelmets, but figured something over the top of the rod would suffice. We’ll see if my theory is correct soon enough.

It’s downright ugly, but if it does the job and cost me nothing but a bit of experimentation, so I’m reasonably happy with it. I’ll be happier if it works, balancing out ugliness with function.

I still have the blackout bedroom curtains to hem. I’d forgotten about them while I had my sewing vibe going. Groan. I knew there was something else I had to do…

The other thing I ticked off my to do list – I finished the bathroom window.

I think I mentioned it before. There were a few gaps between the tiles and the bottom bit of window frame and ants were getting in. I asked my cousin (who was painting my shutters at the time) to have a look at it and when he pulled it off, we found there was an empty gap behind the trim. Just a bit of rubble and a hollow.

Wonderful.

So he put in a strip of wood to seal it off and painted it for protection. It was then up to me to finish the job.

This week I finally found a small piece of MDF thin enough to fit in the gap between the tiles and trim. It was too big a gap to fill with sealant alone. I cut a couple of pieces and used small nails to hold them in place, put the trim over it all and sealed it all with waterproof/paintable acrylic sealer.

Next step would be to sand the entire window and paint it. But for now, at least its a finished looking window again. That’s something.

Yesterday I realised time is running out fast. I had thought ‘Oh, three weeks till I leave for Christmas is plenty of time to get a ton done…” and now I’m leaving in a week and my house still looks like a bomb exploded.

I have a huge canvas I’ve barely begun working on, on the easel in the middle of the living room. I have to work around that. I have the suitcase I’m taking to Holland on the floor and am tossing items into it whenever I come across something I need to take with me there or to Athens. I have the sewing machine on the kitchen table along with all kinds of smaller things I have to either do something with or put away. I have the clothes airer in the living room cause it’s been too wet to dry anything outside. My grooming table, dryer and case are also in the living room cause I’ve been grooming away from home, or at home – which entails taking most things out of the bathroom to fit in the table and dryer. There are boxes with items to sort, put away or get rid of. Some things that need to do to my storage room in the basement. Mom’s ceiling fan which needs to go in my bedroom ceiling. And a whole lot of my own work/art which I have been photographing to put online to sell.

I need more space.

Then again, I’m sure I’d fill that up as well. But it would be nice to have separate places for all the things I do. You know, like dedicated areas…

Hey! One of my neighbours is renovating so I’m going to pick up a ton of old timber bits and pieces! More to add to my collection of stuff. However, this is stuff I can use to make a workbench and a dog drying bench for my eventual grooming room!!!

All good.

NOTE: Just putting it out there… does anyone know how well insulated a refrigerated container might be? I figured it would have to be very well insulated as they are meant to keep things cold even in the hottest temperatures. Will I need extra insulation on it in order to live and work in it in summer? Does anyone have any ideas? I’ve tried looking it up but have had no real luck.

TIA.

z