Tour de Fleece and FO's

Tour de Fleece starts tomorrow and I'm starting with some fibre I was gifted from Heavenly Wools as part of the 6 month ambassador role I've been offered.  I'm going to spin it as a fractal gradient.  I've already prepped one bump.

My planned spin pile, all Heavenly Wools

and this is my ambassador fibre, it's the colourway Daniels on Dark Grey Haunui.  I can't wait to get started on this!

I've also finished some weaving, my tea towels are off the loom and all hemmed and washed.

cotton, not perfect but I'm pretty happy.

I've also finished a pair of jeans and a sewn cardigan, but there will be no photos of that until I've taken them and posted them on the Monthly Stitch blog which I can't do for almost a fortnight.  There's a dress too, but it's been too cold to take photos of that, it's more of an autumn or spring weight.  I will try to get photos this weekend of that.

I've also got a lot done on my handspun jersey, down on the ribbing hem at the moment which then leaves the sleeves and the collar to go.  I'll take photo's of that once the ointment on my hands has properly sunk in, the chilblains are not a happy thing right now.

They're actually worse now, this was yesterday, now they're properly red and like little sausages stuffed too firmly.  Hate the itch so much!

Spinning a Yarn. Blogtoberfest

Didn't get a lot done today, aside from work.  Woke up at 1.30am with an upset middle and a bit of a temp.   Was a lot better by morning, but still not quite right so kept things fairly quiet.

Once my work was finished I did some spinning.  Filled three more bobbins with the black English Leicester.   It's mostly long-draw as the prep was very woollen, can't ply them now as they're too fresh, but they're a lovely chocolate brown

English Leicester singles, woollen spun

I'll probably use this for a blanket, I've got some white half-bred to spin which is also carded and should work well with this.   I'm thinking a striped blanket and will see if I have anything in a colour mid-way between the two.   I do have a lot of fibre running around.

I'm going to take a break from natural colours for a wee bit though and spin up this:

"Buttercup" Merino/Nylon from Wabi Sabi fibres which I picked up at the Wigram Open Day.

This is going to be spun to be socks, probably 2-ply for lace socks as I do have difficulty getting a fingering weight 3-ply.    There's also the fact that there are two 50g braids so it's already split in two.   I'm busy dizzing it right now so it's ready to go.
I'm also going to try really hard not to purchase any more fibre or fleeces so I can reduce my fibre stash, it's overflowed.

Tomorrow will be a bit of work, some chores (as always) and maybe some more knitting or quilting.    I'm going to be taking part in a mystery KAL, I had to order the yarn which wasn't planned as I didn't have anything suitable in laceweight, once it arrives in a few days I'll get beads.   I'm due to cast on for it on Thursday 1st November.

From the seller Sabine on Felt, not my normal colour choice but I think it'll look amazing.

October 7th, Blogtoberfest

What a lovely night last night!   My brother and his wife arrived on time and everything went well for us leaving.  We got there early, partly because I'd forgotten that it's easier to get a park in town nowadays so we had time for a quick wander around town.   The BNZ building is looking very short now and there are so many empty spaces; rather sad.    There was some nice stuff though, the container shopping area (Re-Start) is looking good, and at the end of it on Oxford Terrace we discovered some street art that was rather wonderful!    The most gorgeous eel done in red on the road surface, it's textured too so you feel it as you walk over it and the footpath around had textured art too in various shades.   If the weather is nice on Thursday I may take the boys in to take a look.

Dinner was delicious, we had an entree of scallops, I had the duck (very rich) and Thomas had the backstrap lamb, dessert was sorbet and a creme brulee with chocolate.  Expensive, but if we could afford it we'd definitely go back.  The waitress was lovely and commented on my knitting and asked what I was making.  At the end she asked if I'd finished and I had to say no, socks take a long time to knit!   I think I got about 4 rows done, but as I said it's what I do to fill waiting times without getting twitchy, lol.

Today didn't start so well, George wasn't well this morning gastro bug, he's feeling much better now.  He'll be staying home tomorrow though as one of the activities tomorrow is swimming and even if he's feeling ok he's not allowed in the pool for another 2 weeks after one of those episodes; that and I suspect he got it from there in the first place.  Ian'll still be going though as he's fine.

I got some quilting done today, all the spokes on the quilt are now pieced and I set up on the floor to pin it all together

Pretend the bits of carpet between blocks is charcoal Kona solids, which is what it will be.

I got a good reaction from George so that's good, I rather like it myself too!

Quick photo's of knitting and spinning progress over the last couple of days

Just one repeat of section 3 to go, looking good!

Fronts of Central Park Hoodie now onto main cable chart in the ribbing!

2nd bobbin of English Leicester singles, still a way to go on this.

And finally a picture of my crinoline which is currently hanging to get some of the crinkles out.

It might take a wee while, it was pretty crushed when I got it, but it's better than it was.

Things that we're happy about, plus updates

New duvet cover to replace the one youngest cut with nail scissors; love it!

George's new hiking boots for his camp in May; he loves them, we didn't love finding them so much; not many options in hiking boots for kids unfortunately.

Not the most flattering photo, but love the dress.  This is my annual bonus at work, a Merino/Possum dress in a dark smoked blue.

Latest Vintage Purls installment from the summer sock club. Not sure if I'll be able to go in for the winter one, need to save for the garage etc.

As well as this I've got all bar one carpet quote in and the final one knows he has to get it in tomorrow as we have to make a decision.   We're going dark grey no matter which quote we pick and extra heavy duty 100% wool loop pile.   House should be warmer this winter!

Spent more money than planned this last month, George's camp required things we didn't have so as well as the shoes there was some clothing and wool socks too, plus the camp fees.   I've cast on a new hat for him too in a singles yarn which is a mix of acrylic and wool in lime green; good colour for teachers to spot him.
Spent today turning up hems on his trousers for this winter.   On Sunday I finished 5 woollen t-shirts for it as well; they suggested thermals, we don't do thermals.  I firmly believe wool is much better; especially if you get wet.  As a result of that spending I'm putting some things on Trademe as I come across them to try and improve our finances, especially as we have other things to do like some fence posts to replace.

Ian's mittens are much wider than George's despite being same weight of yarn and same needles; it is a different yarn though and not sure how it'd look on smaller needles as the fabric is fairly dense already.  He's happy enough with the size so far so I'm just going to keep going; once George's hat is finished.

I've finished spinning my latest lot of singles, so now just have to ply.  The yarn is Merino/Silk/Alpaca/Mohair and will be a 3-ply.   I've also dyed some Mohair for the guild's challenge this year; I'll be spinning it as singles to make a shawl; loving the colour!
There will be photo's later, too dark at the moment, but it's a beautiful purple with oomph!

Got to keep trying to get hold of the EQC chap; his phone was busy yesterday and today and he didn't phone after I left a message.   We need to show him the quote we have and what it includes so he knows what we're expecting him to match on; we're also hoping that he might be able to use the company that did the quote as they did go beyond the call of duty and I'd love to be able to reward that.  Also need to know if we should put the carpet down as soon as we can or if things will happen soon with EQC if we should do them after that; can't wait too long though.

On a kitty note Star disappeared again yesterday; found her this afternoon.  She was locked in our garden shed poor lass.   She forgave us really quickly though and I'd hope she learned a lesson too.

Quotes

I seem to be spending a lot of time getting quotes at the moment.   The chap from Skyline garages just left, got one from Fair Dinkum for the kitset only already, and another 2 being worked on as well.   Haven't heard from one place, but hopefully with 4 it'll be enough to get things underway.    Have no idea on timelines for any of it yet, but I'll be jumping up and down again tomorrow.

I didn't go to spinning on Saturday, have a sore throat courtesy of youngest I suspect so decided not to go an infect everyone else.   Instead I helped get more stuff out of the garage so we've now got it to the point where everything in there is either junk or stuff that Thomas has to decide if he's keeping or not.
Despite not going spinning I didn't feel too bad about that as I finished the first lot of fibre on Friday night so the first bobbin is full!

On Saturday night we played Talisman with Thomas' mother and sister and for a wee while George joined in.  Between my turns I dizzed another 100g of the fibre I'm spinning so that it's ready to go as well.  We had a great time, that game is always heaps of fun, and I won!   First time I recall doing that.   I also started crocheting another dishcloth, this one out of Elann cotton, this one will go into a pile for later gifting seeing as I have plenty already.

On Wednesday it's the 1 year anniversary of the big quake here in Christchurch, I've decided I'll be remembering by pulling out the quilt I was working on that day and getting more of it done; I feel that's a better way to remember it for me than going to one of the public things.   There have been a few items on TV remembering and they're hard to watch but I've still watched them, and I've recorded them too.  I think it's going to be hard to watch them for some time yet, for me at least, but I don't want to forget.   Remembering is important to me.

Finishing on a happier note, I decided to try something new when I got the groceries.  Jules Destrouper Butter Crisps.  Horribly expensive, but they are incredibly yummy!  No preservatives or any nasty things in there, flour, sugar, butter, eggs, salt and baking soda.   Now I need a waffle iron that can do the really thin ones!  I am in love, but it's not something I can afford regularly.  Probably very bad for the diet too, but at the time I didn't care!

Things are slowly happening

I think the first update has to be on the Tom Cat. He got to the cat shelter and then escaped from his cage! He's not been fixed, they've set up loads of traps to catch him and I'll let them know if he turns up here again. He's a wiley wee sod, got to give him that. Apparently even if he doesn't get trapped over there he certainly won't be short on food.

On the garage front we still don't know what's happening; this is what it looks like at the moment.

We've got approval from insurance to put the stuff in storage; we are on a wait list for storage which will probably be around 3-4 weeks.  We'll have to wait and see.
I've rung EQC again, no response from the chap who came out to look, so rang the main number who have (I hope) referred it urgently to Fletchers.   I rang them yesterday, so I'll give them a week before chasing it up.   We were doing some measuring last night and Thomas leaned against the worst wall; he wasn't thinking, but it moved and you could hear it too.   Not a good thing to listen to.

I've not knitted much, but I have finished the crocheted dishcloth for Thomas' Mum.  It turned out quite well luckily, though I did have to add to the side edge as it was getting too long.

It's 100% cotton and I'm not blocking it as it'll be used for dishes.

I'm now about to get back to the spinning for a bit while watching Black Swan.  I'm still working on the same as last time, except the bobbin is almost full

 and I still have this to fit in there; don't think it'll make it, but I'm going to push it as far as I can.

Just one more week

Of school holidays that is.   Busy week coming up, probably much like the last week.  I know I have a meeting with another member of the Weavers and Spinners guild on Monday morning as well as dropping the boys to their holiday programme, dropping off some work and tidying at bit.   The afternoon I'm visiting a friend and I'll have to get things ready for the next morning as well.  Dropping George off at Grandma's after the holiday programme so we don't have to worry about him while Ian's having his dental surgery in the hospital.  Might see if Grandma can drop George back home after I get Ian back as I'm not sure if he'll be up to toddling across town to get his brother after that.  2 teeth to come out and a filling as well; hoping they also seal the rest of his teeth.

Friday night I got confirmation we have a hedgehog on the premises as the cats alerted me to something outside and I looked out the bedroom window to see Hedgie toddling into the garage.    I decided to rescue him as he wouldn't find much edible out there and could get hurt; my rose pruning gloves were pulled on and out I toddled.  I found him in the back corner attempting to get under an old office chair; he'd got himself stuck!   So after a bit of shifting around of stuff I managed to pick him up and took him outside near our deck so he could hide under it.   No photo's I'm afraid, I figured he was already stressed sufficiently by me picking him up.    He seemed very healthy though, no sign of fleas or mites and a good turn of speed too.
He should be happy in our garden, lots of slugs and snails.

Yesterday I went to the guild to a gap filling event.  As it was cold and windy outside several of us headed into The Colombo (Sydenham Mall) and spun there after getting permission from the business next to us.

My wheel is the one on the left; I didn't bring my camera so had to use the one on my phone.   I'm spinning very fine Merino/Silk as I was in a previous post.   I'm almost halfway through the first bobbin; then got 2 more bobbins to go after this one is complete.   I found some more of the fibre in the stash which means I can make a 3-ply yarn; more work, but I love the way a 3-ply looks.

Today I let Thomas sleep in, but had to sneak back to get the camera when George spotted this wee guy on the window.

Isn't he gorgeous?  You don't normally get to see these guys from the underside.  I had to use the flash as otherwise there was no real detail, downside of that is we can now see just how many scratches are on the glass.

In knitting news I've finally actually done some!   My first Mermaidia sock is complete.  I made it much shorter as I wasn't sure how much yarn I had left; turns out I could have done at least a couple more pattern repeats, but I'm actually really pleased with the look of the sock at bobby-sock length.   The only thing I'm not sure about is that they seem slightly longer in the foot than my original pair despite being the same needle size; it may just be that this yarn knits up differently, it has bamboo instead of nylon in it.  The yarn is Wandering Cats Yarn Jungle Cat in the Vampire colourway; it's more pink than red, but I figure that's due to the bamboo component.

It really isn't easy to take good pictures of your own feet.  These will be lovely summer socks.  I've cast on for the second one and will be taking it with me to the hospital on Tuesday; it's a fairly easy pattern to knit.

Of small boys painting

This morning we insisted the boys spend some time outside and when Thomas asked Ian what he wanted to paint he said he wanted to paint their hut.   Thomas found some paint and then the boys had to brush down the hut before starting.

While they were doing that I took some more test shots with the camera; tried out sports mode on Star kitty

I was surprised just how quickly the next shot was taken, though she had her eyes closed so I'm not posting it here.   I also took some photo's of our Peony's as they're likely to be going, the area they're in is infested with kikuyu grass and I'm figuring that the best way to deal with that is simply to mow it down on a regular basis.  I'll try to move the Peony's as I do love them, but most don't like being moved and of course I'll have to make sure there's none of the kikuyu in there too.

Aren't they glorious?   They do well in Christchurch because we get the hard frosts, this was one of the first honey bees I've seen so far this season which is a worry, though it could be due to the clover in the lawn not yet being in flower.   Love the photo's this camera is taking, that bee was really clear!

The painting didn't last all that long unfortunately, Ian started painting his brother and he was just globbing the paint everywhere so Thomas stepped in; this is what Ian looked like at the end

it's too bright to really see, but there's paint on his face, legs and all over his clothes.  He then tried to take my camera to take a photo, but for some strange reason I wouldn't let him.   No way he's getting this camera to play with, I might let him use the point and shoot, but not the good one.

Spent the afternoon working and then got some plying done.   I've plied off some leftovers at the end:

This is 66m of Alpaca/Merino/Mohair plied with Merino/Silk.  Yummy!

The 2 I actually planned were the 3-ply Wisteria BFL Superwash

211.5m in this one, I don't know what weight yet, will know after it's washed and whacked later in the week.

and finally:

This is Alpaca/Mohair/Merino and is plied, but still needs skeining up.  Loving the colours in this, reminds me of oil on the water.    Hopefully I'll get it plied tomorrow.

In knitting news, Thomas' final sock is now past the heel turn, yay!    So just 35 rows of stocking stitch then an interminable amount of 2x2 ribbing to go.   I'm hoping to get it finished this week so I can cast on for the Baby Surprise Jacket.

School again tomorrow, not sure about soccer for Ian at least as he's got a nasty cough, it's not too bad during the day but tends to kick in during the evening and I suspect that vigorous exercise is not ideal.   Got Ian's student led conference after school too, that'll be interesting.

Of old fashioned goings on

Sunday was a day that could easily have shown up in someone's diary from 100 years ago for some parts.   Sure there was the usual computer time for me and Ian (George lost privileges; more on that later), lunch was out of a can and cooked on an electric stove and we went to boot camp, but aside from that...

The day started with a sleep in, which was lovely.  However when I got up George wasn't anywhere to be seen and Thomas had no idea where he was!    He went out to find him, and a wee bit later came back towing a small boy who had 4 plastic bags full of clothing and a sleeping bag.   He'd run away cos we are "bad parents", especially Mummy (me) as the previous night both boys had been trolls and I'd taken away all electronic entertainment privileges.   The only thing missing from the picture here was the stick over his shoulder to tie the bags to.   So, there went any chance of him earning back computer/xbox privileges for the day and instead he embarked on stage 2 of old-fashioned things.  He's been reading his dad's old cub book a lot recently and he decided he wanted a sling-shot.   Luckily we had a downed branch from the peach tree so some trimming and he had the right shaped piece of wood; he then whittled the bark off it and helped his dad attach some elastic and a leather offcut to it using the hot glue gun (this bit's not authentic, but hey, he's 8).
A wee while later and he had something to practice with and Thomas set up a target for him.

I think he's done a fantastic job and he's really proud of himself.   He knows the rules, no aiming at people (there's no ammo in the photo facing me) and no aiming at windows; check what's behind what you're aiming at too.

The afternoon was spent with him practicing and me working while Ian got some computer time after he earned it back.   Once I'd finished work I got the second half of Wisteria spun; now there's just the white to spin up and the plying to go.

It's so pretty, I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished object, well the skein anyway as it'll be a while before it gets knit up.

Today is wet and nasty, got to spend some of it out dropping off work and I'm going to get a new camera; I've decided on the Canon EOS550D.   I was looking at the 1100 in the range, but I can see me outgrowing that fairly quickly so the 550 it is.   Thomas has agreed to me getting it on HP and then I'll pay it off with my spending money.

WIP:  Thomas' sock is 16 rows off the gusset shaping.    Ian's jersey hasn't moved at all, so it's still about 1" into the back and Central Park Hoodie also hasn't moved.   I desperately want to cast on 2 new projects but I'm resisting.  

Spinning Saturday

I actually started this spinning last night; this is the roving I started with.  It's a Superwash BFL by Family Roots in the colourway Wisteria if I remember correctly.  I got this as part of the NZ spring fibre swap on Ravelry.

Isn't it lovely?  
I got half of it done at the guild this morning after the AGM.  Still got the other half to go and then I'm going to spin a third single of undyed BFL to make a tabby 3-ply.

I think it should look quite good.  I've decided to spin a bunch of singles and then do a whole lot of plying.

While I was at spinning this coming years committee was elected; I'd put my name forward and I'm now on the Christchurch Guild of Weavers and Spinners.   I don't know what I'll be doing yet, possibly the blog or else maybe the sales table.   In some ways I'd prefer the blog, I'm fairly comfortable with blogging by now and I'm happy to take my camera along to meetings and get a few shots.  Really will have to consider a better camera if I do end up doing that though; the current one really isn't up to the job of good photos.

One bit of bad news, my most worn socks now need repair.  They're my Noro Silk Garden socks, they tend to wear faster than others simply because they're a single and also because they go with everything, I do wear them more often.  I can repair them easily enough, but it won't be in the same colour simply because I don't have a lot of the yarn left over so there's only a couple of colours left in the ball.

An at-home weekend

well, mostly at home.  Friday was a public holiday here and while most people were off to the agricultural show I went to Mum's place to do some knitting with her.  I also reminded her to spend her voucher for some yarn at Skeinz.co.nz.  Normally she knits for the boys, but I think I've persuaded her to knit for herself.  This is a good thing, I found a pattern that I have in my magazine stash that she likes for DK yarn and I'll give her a copy of it; luckily it's not one I have in my queue so I won't breach copyright seeing as I'll never knit it.  She's actually got 2 less jerseys now as a result of my visit.  I left with 2 of hers that she's not been wearing as the shape wasn't right.   I'm longer in the body than she is and also have a little more in the chest department so these particular jerseys suit me quite well.  The surprising thing is that they fit as she's also considerably smaller in the girth than I am (she's not fond of sweets like me).

While there I finished Thomas' first sock and started on the second one; got to get him to try it on but it should be fine.  Once it's tried on I'll get a photo and also cut the yarn.  I also got one pattern repeat done on my Central Park Hoodie's back ribbing.

Today we got mail again so a pair of shoes arrived from the NZ Sale website; these are Stegmann sandals with leather upper and lining and although they're a trifle snug in these socks I'm pretty sure in my usual 4-ply (fingering) socks they'll be fine.  I much prefer leather for my shoes.

I really like them and the heel isn't too high either which is good.  The styling is classic too so will fit in with my vintage aesthetic.   Sure I still have a lot of clothes that are most definitely not vintage (workout gear springs to mind here), but I am working on it.

In other news today I've been spinning more of the alpaca/mohair/merino and it's yummy.  Thomas expressed a desire for it to be his, until he found out it's unsuitable for socks.   Might make it into a cowl I think; then if he wants it he can wear it on the motorbike to keep his neck warm; no lace though; that wouldn't go down well at all.

Of course it's only 1/3 done; the other half of the roving needs to be spun yet and then the plying which will then give us a 2-ply yarn.   It won't be suitable for cables, but maybe something with geometric lace might be sufficiently ok for a man.

Full on!

Very busy today.  Started by going to the guild for a lovely mornings spinning.  I took Sheepie who was much admired; apparently I'm the first to finish using my challenge fibre.
Today I should have been spinning my cotton but instead I decided to leave the swearing at home and took in some of Pat Bradshaw's batts to spin.  This particular lot is not really a batt; it's more of a roving and is a blend of Alpaca/Kid Mohair and Merino.   Not quite as fine as what I normally get from her, but lovely in its own way.
Roving:

The blue bits are the mohair and they're working out really nicely.  Here's the first lot of singles, not finished as I still have some fibre in this bag; and another bag yet to go.

You can see my full circle skirt there; I've got some photo's of that, not very good ones unfortunately as my camera doesn't do action shots very well and there was a lot of wind that day!

I was twirling too, as you do with a full circle skirt; lol.  Another shot gives you an idea of what it really looks like, but in this one the light was bad, sigh.

This afternoon was very busy indeed.  Ian had his two birthday parties and Thomas had to go to his nephew's 21st.   I got Ian to his first party which was a Harry Potter themed party; he came back with a dragon egg which he gets to hatch in a few days; and he has a potion too; no idea what that does.   His second party he was late to, but he and they didn't mind.   He had a BBQ tea there and got to watch fireworks; boy was he bouncing when I arrived to pick him up!    Right now both boys are watching next door's fireworks through their window; only downside is we don't know where the cats are.   Really hoping they're ok!
Thomas went to the 21st after dinner and got back before I picked Ian up, so that worked out well.

In other news I'm attempting to set up the new computer; Firefox is up and running, Thunderbird is being a stubborn so and so and refusing to accept the original profile from this computer.   Might have to delete the whole thing and start again I think.

And last, but not least, I'm no longer using toothpaste.   Now, before you go "ick" let me explain.   I've made some tooth powder and I think it's working just as well and it's cheaper.   It's not mint flavoured, this is cinnamon and once you get used to the flavour it's rather nice.    I got the recipe from Wendyl Nissen's "A Year of Living Like my Grandmother".

A Finished Object!

First up is one that my Father-in-law made for me; this is to help me when I'm darning socks; it's a sock egg made from a random bit of wood he had in his stash.   It is cracking slightly on one side so I hope that doesn't get any worse, if it does he's promised me a new one, I hope this one stays ok though as I love the grain on it.

I can't test it yet as all my socks are currently in one piece; but I'm sure it won't be long before I need to use it.

My finished object is Sheepie.   I'm not going to do a lamb just yet cos for some reason Sheepie has always felt like a boy.

Isn't he lovely?   I really like his eyes; real sheep eyes.    I think he'll go in the sewing room to keep an eye on my fibre.  One nice handspun and handknit sheep with a little commercial yarn and some embroidery floss.

So tired!

Last night was a late night due to Rugby World Cup final; which thank goodness, we won!   I did some spinning during the game, back to the cotton and this is how it's looking so far:

 Quite pleased with it so far, definitely not as easy as wool fibre, but still not that bad on this wheel.  Main problem is that it is taking a long time.   I will get it finished though before I move onto something else; might do some BFL next.
So, late to bed and then a 1.30am wakeup call from youngest who has a nasty cough at night and wet his bed.   I got up to change that out and his cough got worse, we ended up dosing him with cough medicine; blessed silence, until 8.30am when he wet the bed again; I had to get up then to catch up with the washing at least.
First load of washing out and then back to C25K; after last week I went back to the first week just to get my fitness up again, will do week 1 again on Wednesday, then week 2 from Friday to the end of next week I think.   I then mowed the lawn, so that's more exercise.  Thomas at the moment is preparing for his wargaming tournament next weekend and is pretty much spending all his time on that.   I've been doing everything except the cooking pretty much.

To Christine Chu who emailed me about her plan for a healthy app.   I think it's a great idea; at the moment I don't have a smartphone so couldn't use it, but I am planning on getting one when our credit card is paid off again.   Hope it comes on Android as that's what I'll be getting.   I'm struggling with the healthy eating; a love of sweets and dairy does not help on this concept.

Tomorrow school is back, both boys are looking forward to it; so am I.   Tomorrow I'll be dropping off some more fabric to the Sallies, going into work and hopefully pin-fitting my full circle skirt.   I might also do some vacuuming; I don't want to, but once that's done then the bedroom is tidy and clean.