Today is Monday.

Monday is usually Housework Day, after the ravages of the family all being home over the weekend. However as Dad & Lad were out on Saturday I got a few chores done then, and as such had time this morning to catch up with a few other outstanding things.

Such as Ebay. I'm not a regular Ebay seller, but I do like a clear out for money every so often. I have a few books and yarns I want to list today and they'll be up tonight( under seller name dmc.hodge, if anyone is that interested) but there's also a huge heap of toys and such sorted out in the attic, just waiting for me to take pictures of them and list them. It doesn't make sense for me to carry everything down from the attic, take pictures then return it all up there, so I have rigged a studio area upstairs too. Plenty of space and the light is good. Plus it ensures that the kids don't decide that they want the toys they outgrew a couple of years ago returned to them!

Studio area....



It's not exactly hi-tech, and I may refine things a bit by (a) ironing (!!!!!) that piece of curtain lining and (b) stapling it to the window frame a bit higher, but it's good enough to give me a picture as sharp as this one without using flash or having to fiddle the light balance via Photoshop. For November in Scotland that's really very good.



So for the last hour I've been taking pictures of toys. Mostly Playmobil. Did I ever mention that I collect vintage Playmobil? Over the course of several years I've amassed one heck of a lot of really rare collectable items, as well of course the vast Playmo swamp that the kids own. Now is time to get rid of some of the duplicates.

(Hmm, might write more about my sad toy collecting habits another day. I'm sure you'll all really enjpoy that!)

On the domestic front I'm pleased to report that the Storecupboard Challenge is going well, and in fact last night's casserole was one of the best I've made in ages. We adults will finish it off tonight, and the kids will have their all-time favourite of Egg and Bacon Rice with Peas, made with a very frosty looking pack of lardons I discovered in the freezer and some of the rice mountain.

Of course, another big bonus of using up all your surplus food is that your grocery bill plummets. I'm hoping that between a month of this and a good solid bit of Ebaying I'll not only be able to cover my SkipNorth costs, I'll put a big dent into the cost of Woolfest next year too, and some left over for family treats. I just paid for four Christmas panto tickets to see Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the Kings Theatre in Edinburgh, and also tickets for Mairi and me to see Sleeping Beauty at the Scottish Ballet in the New Year. (This last she will LOVE...can't wait to see her face!) But tickets for this sort of thing are seriously expensive, alas. I need some spare cash!

Back to the attic.......