And in a normal year we would be returning to school, college, university and work after the long summer holidays. Which this year would have been splendid, with some of the hottest, driest weather for years all across Europe. We would be ramping up at work, with students signing up for assessments and starting their new term of work, and the eleven plus cohort making a final push for the red tape with the exams in early September.
But this is not a normal year. We have Covid 19. We are in the middle of a global pandemic and we are all just staggering around dazed at what has happened to the economy of the world. People don’t want to go back to work, although most must, and parents are worried sick about letting their children go back to school when no one knows what the virus is going to do this winter.
Our business closed in March and we had hoped to reopen come the autumn but it hasn’t happened. A few parents are contacting us to restart tuition, but not in large enough numbers to make the business viable. And the thing is, we haven’t got it in us now to make this work again. This is one blow too many. So it’s over.
Luckily though the sales of paintings and the little alternative business I have set up is doing reasonably well. So today as it was a cool Sunday and I had the urge, I took the opportunity to reorganise the last section of the Studio, the sewing, spinning, weaving section in the mezzanine - the Sheepy Sheep Shop.
Fleece from this year’s shearing along the wall, and the carder clamped to the old desk I bought at auction in Doddington. The loom I’ve had since the 1980s and last warped by Paul is sitting expectantly on the table I bought from a second-hand shop in Crowborough and is ready to be warped anew.
All I need now is a project!
The overlocker Tamsin gave me for my birthday sits in pride of place on the repurposed dog grooming table we brought back from the Bahamas, supported by the scavenged chest of drawers originally used in Crowborough, now containing sewing notions. The Ikea tubs hold fabric supplies; nothing to stop me now!
Useful shelf unit donated by Alexander contains more sewing notions, threads, patterns, knitting needles and so on. The BerninA sewing machine Chris bought me in the eighties still doesn’t show its age much and is pressed into service often.
A trolley from Ikea which has now been pressed into service as the Spinning Repository and holds spare bobbins for all the wheels, repurposed dog combs and slickers for yarn preparation, my niddy noddy from Ashford in England, and the like. In the background sacks of fleece from Karmen, Dora, Larry and the rest of the lambs. In the foreground a decorative basket holds 700 metres of handspun destination Ireland!
The Ashford drum carder was a coup I never expected to manage, but there it is! Very labour saving, and almost free! I think it must be three decades old, but it came from a lady living in Morlaix who was selling her mother’s spinning gear. Always a great way to pick up a bargain! The Louet Klik loom has been sadly underused during its life, but that’s about to change. Chris and I bought it when we were homeschooling the children, and I used it to make a few tapestry type weavings before giving up and packing it away. More recently, two years ago or so, Ingrid reminded me how to use it, and we made a few scarves together. Ready to embark on weaving some of my handspun this winter, as we aren’t going to Spain.
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