Older, but no wiser

Insularity strikes again - I realise I have no idea whether DIY – Do-It-Yourself – is a generally understood term wherever English is spoken, or whether it is peculiar to these shores. Whatever; DIY has been occupying most of my spare time for the last 3 weeks or so, redecorating our bedroom, fitting new furniture, and now going through all the little finishing off jobs, like planing the bottom off the doors because the new carpet is thicker than the old one was.

This afternoon’s task was creating a structure to support some triangular glass corner shelves in niches either side of the bed, using only the minimum of material necessary to provide support. Ideally, something as simple, delicate and unobtrusive as glass itself; although that ideal couldn’t be realised in practice, it was the concept which drove the design.

I get totally focused on the task when I have something practical like this to do. Driven, to the point of single-mindedness where all else is incidental. Unfortunately, all else in this case has included blogging…

A few hundred years ago, my ancestors might have made with their own hands many of the artefacts of daily living, even their own dwelling; those items which they couldn’t make they might well have obtained by barter. I find something immensely satisfying in doing the same, continuing a tradition of self-sufficiency, seeing around me the works of my hands, especially when the design is also my own. It’s a way of satisfying the deep desire to create.