Lindy Whitton Studio

It’s been a busy week! I’ve kicked off retirement with a few projects which has The Writer a bit worried- he thinks it’s just going to be one project after another and maybe he’d better go out and find a job again to keep out of my way! I had planned to start gently but I’m so used to squeezing the maximum productivity from my spare hours that I’ve just gone a bit beserk.

Monday started nice and gently with a trip to drop off my pension claim forms ( I’m now a pensioner!) and then down to Blackman’s Bay for a spot of snorkeling. It was a sparkling day and it was only enhanced by the thought of all those other mugs in their stuffy offices whilst I breathed the salty ozone and soaked up the sun on the hot rocks after swimming in the seaweed beds amongst the fishes. Just how retirement should be!

Abstract ink cards

Abstract gift tags

I followed that with some card making using a sheet of ink abstract doodlings and felt pretty pleased with my day.

Tuesday I did a BIG grocery shop to stock up the pantry after two years of living on whatever The Writer thought we might need that week. When I got home I couldn’t stop myself from rearranging the pantry which inevitably led to an all out assault on the kitchen cupboards . The IT Geek caught me at it and wanted to know how long it was going to take since he wanted to make lunch – I gaily replied – “about half an hour”. He laughed derisivly and grabbed an apple to sustain himself. It was a sound move as I finally wiped down the last shelf three hours later.  All this necessitated a guided tour of the kitchen for the rest of the household as I managed to reshelf and redraw every single item by the time I was done! The IT Geek could sense I was in an organising mood so cashed in by getting me to help him put together a flatpack wardrobe and then get rid of his old one.

Wednesday I looked at the old wardrobe still sitting in the middle of the lounge room and decided it was too heavy to move over the paddock to the storage shed . What to do with it? I pondered on the fate of the wardrobe while spending the morning helping my niece clean her house (she’s in the middle of house moving ). Got home around 2’ish grabbed a sandwich in one hand and the circular saw in the other and headed outside to repurpose the wardrobe as a customised entertainment unit for the IT Geek who has every game machine from his first Nintendo up to the latest PS4 and has run out of space in his bedroom. Around 8 pm I dusted off the sawdust, packed away the tools and crawled to the shower! Dinner at 9pm.

Thursday I painted the unit – which you will not see a photo of as it is not a thing of  beauty despite it’s absolute versatility with 10 moveable shelves and a clever little gap I built in for all the cables to easily connect to the TV. Then off for a walk with The Writer . After that it was a good 2 hours as dusting and cable assistant to the IT Geek as he unloade the old shelves of all his gaming equipment and reloaded the new unit which looks pretty great. Then I had to find a home for his old glass shelving unit – you haven’t seen my house so just imagine a second hand shop that’s outgrown it’s accommodation. There’s not a spare inch now both sons are home again so it requires a lot of ingenuity to fit another bit of furniture in – but the thought of hauling the darned thing across to the Potter’s shed to join all the other rejected furniture was just too daunting and I started moving potplants and whatnots until I had a space in the lounge room. The Writer could be heard muttering in the background  but I just ignored him! Mission accomplished I finally started in on a large painting I need to finish by Saturday morning. Just couldn’t settle on the subject so had been procrastinating all week hence the many projects. Anyway this is what it looks like so far – a lot more to do tomorrow!