Reading nook

I always think I should read more, and I’ve realised that part of the reason I don’t is that I don’t have a really good reading spot. If I sit on the couch in the lounge, its way too tempting to put the TV on. That just leaves reading in bed, and that’s fine but I tend to give into the temptation to nap. Since I have been feeling inspired to do some home renovation stuff of late, I decided to convert part of my sewing space into a reading nook.

The plan is that when I have a bit of spare cash, I’ll buy a recliner. For now I’ll get by with a bean bag and a pile of comfy cushions. Now I just need to decide what to read first.

Insurance and home renovations

I got my home and contents insurance renewal notice last Friday, and given one of my goals at the moment is to manage my finances better I thought I should do some shopping around over the weekend to see if I could get a better deal. I spent forty minutes figuring out that the only way I can actually compare two products accurately is by downloading the forty page product disclosure statements. Some companies quoted almost $40 per month less than my current insurer, but when I started to look into it there were a number of things they didn’t cover like accidental damage and flood insurance. So accidental damage was an extra, but there was no way to add it to the online quote. Which meant if I wanted to find out how much it was I had to call them, but would I then lose the discount for buying my insurance online? Don’t get me started on the discounts and figuring out how much I should actually insure all my worldly possessions for. So insurance is still on my to do list for next weekend and before then I have to decide what I want in the policy and what I don’t.

Other than that I have been knitting. I’m knitting a scarf to go with the hat I finished last week. Knitting, gardening and installing a new toilet seat. The toilet seat led to a bit of an epiphany regarding home renovations. I’ve been putting off doing a lot of stuff around the house because I didn’t have a big lump sum of money to put towards it. Putting in the new toilet seat made me realise that there are a lot of little things I can do, that don’t cost a lot of money and I can do myself. I can renovate a room by doing one little thing at a time, when I can afford it. It might take me a while, but I’ll get there eventually.

More ugly zips

So, I’m still working on the ugly zip theme, and experimenting with making different kinds of mini bags. I’m quite pleased with the fabric I got to go with the green zips. Other than that it’s been a pretty quiet weekend, watching some movies and finishing knitting a hat. Now I’m working on a scarf from the same wool.

My no TV thing worked ok during the week, though I don’t know that it made me more productive.

 

Ugly zips

I can’t even remember where and when I got them, but at some point I bought a bulk bag of 81/2 inch zips in all different colours.

They’re handy little things, just the right size for putting pockets inside bags or making little pencil cases.

The problem is that some of them are just ugly. Green and yellow ugly. So this weekend, instead of working on the project which I spent all last weekend cutting out, I decided I would make myself do something with the ugly zips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step one – pull all the fabric out of my fabric cupboard and audition it against the zips. Surprisingly there were quite a few fabrics which didn’t look hideous up against the really bright zip colours.

Then to make some little pencil cases.

I think I like the grey and yellow better than I like the one with the green, but both turned out alright.

I’ve had to abandon the sewing room for now, as it is still getting too hot in the afternoons, so am off to do some knitting in the lounge and to struggle to resist temptation of the TV. I’ve convinced myself to try giving up TV (except for one show on a Friday night) for a month to see whether it results in me getting more done. I’m only one day in and already struggling, but really how many home renovation shows do I actually need to watch?