(no subject)

Every year, our town has an agricultural show. This is because we're in the middle of nowhere and are, pretty much, a bunch of farmers. ARRR.

Anyway, at this show, there's always what I suppose is referred to as a display of local talent? There's cake and jam making. There's an art section, for both adults and kids - my bro won a prize in it when he was about ten. Poetry writing, probably even woodwork, I forget offhand.

Point is, every year without fail for oh, the past five years, let's say, I've seen an entry form and thought, "I shall enter this!" Most years, I've wanted to put a painting in. This year, I wanted to put something crocheted, for which there isn't actually a section, and has me slightly annoyed. There's a section for knitting! This is yarnbending discrimination!

ANYWAY. For five years I have picked up an entry form and, for five years, I have actually failed to enter.

One reason is that I never know what I'm putting in, so I think something new may be required (and then I don't know what to do). The other is that I never seem to pick up the form until too late. It seems to go out around a month before the show's on, which is about when I picked it up this year.

I don't know about any other artistic types in town (and boy, are there a lot of us), but having to squeeze my artistic skills out in a small space of time like that doesn't work on me. I'll procrastinate till the night before and then poop something out (apologies for the metaphor). Not literally, I hope you understand. And it might be the best thing I've ever done, but it's not a way of working that I'm fond of.

(I suppose I should've taught myself differently at high school, since that's where this habit formed. I know damn well it did. Homework? Night before it's due. Revision for exams? Night before, unless I thought it was something I could get away without revising for at all, and there were some).

So this year, I was telling mum about this, and I said, "I know: I'll make something NOW, so I am prepared for next year!"

Mum, bless her, thinks this is a sterling idea. I don't because a) I'll be unhappy with it by next year, b) I'll lose it, c) I'll sell it, d) I'll forget I did it at all, and next year will be year six that I forgot to enter, OR e) all of the above.

I only think I'll become unhappy with it if it's a piece of 2D art and I'll only likely sell it if it's a piece of crochet.

I don't really know what I'm going to do, but I've got twelve months to decide. Anyway, I'm glad I didn't enter this year because the rain's been biblical here today (it's rare that it doesn't rain on show day now, sadly), and the park becomes a quagmire at best. Wouldn't have liked to wade through that to go and pick my entry up.

(no subject)

Random other things:

~ It's looking as though my nephew may get called Isaac. Me and mum hoped they'd go for Noah, but my bro says Isaac is the only name that he and my sister in law mostly agree on.

~ My bro helped me move some stuff out of the roof space today (as we are getting insulation at ridiculous o'clock on Monday morning). There was a lot of my school work, which is pretty much going straight in the recycling. There's also half a dozen demijohns, and a whole bunch of stuff that needs sorting. I don't wanna. I want to sleep lots (had a bad night last night because I was worried), and I want to crochet instead.

On the other hand, there was an unexpected yarn stash up there, including some really nice purple yarn that has subtle pink and blue flecks in it.

~ I've got another bracelet made from wire made, so that's cool. They can go in my shop soon!

~ I also have an armful of tumbled stones which are gorgeous, and I am going to turn some of the lighter (weight-wise) ones into jewellery. I think the majority are quartzes but, after internet searches and a handful of mineral books, I still don't know for sure.

(They are translucent to degrees. I turned a torch on some of them in a darkened room, and they showed some translucency. Also they look like bigger versions of the quartzes I used to pick up when playing out as a child. So that's two points in their favour. But I'm not going to sell them as quartz unless I am 100% sure).

~ I got my new glasses yesterday. Had a sight test two weeks ago, and my horrific sight has got worse, so I needed new lenses. Thankfully, it explained ALL the vision problems I've been having recently (gunky feelings on eyeballs, blobs in vision, trouble changing focus between near and distance).

It feels so much better now! Although these frames are radically different to my old ones (they were thin wire, these are chunky metal with plastic sides that are about an inch in height), so I still need to get used to them. But I will. It took me a while with the old ones, I remember (even if it was nearly ten years ago!)

~ Going to go to bed and sleep now, because I feel like crud warmed over. Maybe I will think about what toys I am going to make for my nephew :3