gnomewards bound

I have a nasty habit, over overestimating how much I can get done on holidays, and underestimating how much adulting I will be required to do on those days where I think I have nothing on the agenda besides pleasing myself. Tiny house life throws another curve ball in the mix – one room, one table, six people with projects and games and puzzles, all while stepping over four children’s worth of presents that haven’t yet found a home.

After an exhausting couple of months leading up to the break, we were looking forward to a quite couple of weeks at home. I washed fabric. I stacked my storage ottoman with projects. I tripped over more than one new book. I was all set for a big fortnight of making all the things…and did barely any.

I read a couple of books. We found adventure and the beach. I cast on some socks. The table remained covered in kid stuff. The pigs fence needed replacing. The house block needed clearing. We carted water. And all the while, my fabric remained untouched.

Increasingly frustrated, I was determined to at least finish my gnome. It was the last one, and I did not want to put it away in progress, to haunt my next Christmas. By hook or by crook, it would get done. My self-imposed deadline came and went, but towards the end of the break, I staged a coup, and declared myself dictator and sole resident of the couch. Settled in comfortably with my hoop and stand, laptop beside me with Mystery Road cued up on Stan, I got to work.

I only just scraped it in, but it got done. I wasn’t quite sure the two end gnomes with their additional colours would work – to be honest, I’m still not. But done is indeed better than perfect, and once photographed, my little gnomeos have been packed away in the storage container. Soon, they will be unpacked onto shelves, allocated to the “finished object” box, until this coming Advent. Then, I will pull them out, find their perfect home in our new house, and frame them to suit, ready to grace the walls at Christmas for years to come.