Poised

The spell of decent weather lasted long enough for me to get an adequate number of coats of varnish on the table top and I am fairly happy with it. Certainly it is a vast improvement on its previous stickiness, though I think I may well indulge in some more sanding and some more coats of varnish to give it a really good finish before the Summer season, we shall see. It is now fixed back to the wall and has its standard bits of clutter replaced.

It was of course Epiphany today and I was semi-tempted to go down to the harbour to watch the curious spectacle of the fully robed Papa standing up in a little wobbly boat clutching icons to his chest while hurling a cross into the water for young men to dive in and race to. Utterly bonkers! I missed it last year because we had had two new lambs born that very morning and there were matters to attend to. Today I didn't go down because it was bloody cold and I didn't fancy standing around at the water's edge waiting for a handful of nutcases get even colder than me.

I had the option of spending time getting the cottage ready properly; putting away the sander, the bags of sandpaper, the brushes, the rollers, the varnish and the paint; dusting generally, scrubbing specifically, making the bed, putting the throws and cushions out on the couch, towels in the bathroom, but I decided against. There is still plenty of time to get that done if the weather doesn't cancel the whole show, and no point whatsoever in doing any of it if it does.