Why is this concept so strange?

Anyhow, it shouldn’t come as a surprise since I have said it before, as well as often. I mean, is a chef expected to enjoy gardening, an architect bricklaying, a winemaker whining … hmmm. Well, you get the idea.

In fact I’ve been sewing for about 40 years now and have never really enjoyed it. Though I do enjoy the results, because I’m actually very good at it. But there are people who sew much faster and better than I do and, frankly, I prefer to leave it to them when I can. The thing I do love are the materials and colours and turning them into something lovely. But I am far too much of an impatient perfectionist to take any joy in stitching up each seam, gathering, top-stitching, hemming and what-have-you. Every time I make a garment I sweat blood over every stitch, my shoulders end up in knots and I feel totally exhausted.

But it is that time of year once again when I look through my summer wardrobe and go … shit. So this past weekend I cut out a few things. I’m being practical rather than worrying about “street image” and starting off with a couple of comfy linen dresses and two light cotton nightdresses. You know, in case the next PET scan doesn’t come out as hoped and I end up housebound again this summer. And as I suspected, it’s been hell. But hey, I’m going to end up with some new clothes that didn’t end up costing me anything but time.

As you can see, Loki has been lending a helpful (not!) paw…