It rained for most of the day. I had to shelter in the doorway to get my morning fix of fresh air, (there was very little view), and it wasn't until much later that we got to see out across the bay. Peter did his stint at the RNLI and in the two hours he was there not a single person came into the shop. Through his doorway he could see the lifeguards sheltering and shivering in their little hut at the top of the slipway.
As it was too wet to do anything at the zoo I decided to carry on working indoors. My first thought was to get on with putting the wardrobe door back. The problem is that not only are the tips of my fingers getting mashed and sore with the right angled screwdrivers but that method isn't even working properly. Peter suggested trying the socket wrench he has for the car but it was too bulky for the job. However looking on line I found a mini version which I bought and it is being delivered tomorrow. Let's hope that it does the job.
Instead I planned to get on with a couple of simple jobs. Who was I kidding? The first one, hanging up the photo montages wasn't too bad. The frames don't have a hook on the back and while the smaller frames could be safely hung by hooking one of the clips holding the glass in place onto a nail tapped into the wall the photo montages are much bigger. Instead I had to thread picture wire under the photos and through two slots in the backing board. Then came the picture hooks. Peter was out so it was a matter of trail and error before I was satisfied with the positioning of the photos. After which I had to carefully fill all the extra holes in the wall.
That was the first of the simple jobs on my to-do list. Next came what should have been almost as simple - making a new cover for my back support pillow. It's one of those V-shaped ones. I had the old cover as a template, a zip and sufficient fabric. Just three pieces to cut out and three seams to sew. At first all went well, the fabric, from my stash of the 'Country Diary' range, was big enough for me to get the pattern symmetrical on both sides and I had a suitable zip. Pieces cut all I had to do was stitch them together and that's when the fun began. The sewing machine came on, the motor whirred and nothing else happened. I adjusted buttons and dials, switched on and off and eventually things seemed to be working. But the thread kept breaking and I noticed that there was mould and rust on the sewing machine. Shock, horror there was more mould inside the case. I had put the sewing machine over by the outside wall in our room and there must be enough damp coming through the wall to have caused this. Lots of cleaning later I began again but still the thread kept breaking. I eventually found that the inside of the bobbin had rusted and the thread was all stuck to it. Fortunately I have spare bobbins and at last I was able to sew the fabric. Job done and the seams pressed I triumphantly put the pillow inside the case ...... only to discover that my generous seam allowance was far too much and the cover was ridiculously big. A quick new seam sewn inside but something still isn't right. Time ran out and I'll have to sort it tomorrow.
Earlier I thought I saw a dolphin which turned out to be a seal.
The rain stopped just in time for me to walk to Pilates and sunset later consisted of a blazing red ball dropping below the horizon.
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