Sunday 3 October 2010

Boredom Threshold

Sonata:

I can't cope with boredom better than anyone else . I always have two books with me on train journeys and at least three crosswords . Not that I'm often bored on journeys actually. One's fellow passengers are a constant delight and the rare exception can easily be banished by an Ipod . And big stations or ferries are vastly entertaining .
But this week was exceptional . After a couple of days feeling pale and peculiar , I had a day's course on speech development in small children . ( "They learn from you , they learn from each other ". Golly ! ) One Powerpoint presentation followed another , with a pause for lunch ( Can't some people eat a lot , when it's all laid on?) And then yesterday was spent watching a Dutch party conference , all 6 hours of it , in mounting disbelief at the naivety of reasonably normal looking people , till I was reduced to yelling "Wake UP!!" at the screen . And it's not even my party ..... I weedily vote Green , since , as a foreigner , I can only vote in local elections anyway .

So today called for hyper activity .

There were buttons to sort


Material to admire and put away


Pieces to be cut out for next quilt while current quilt's border and backing had to be chosen


and last quilt's photos put in file .


My new toy had to be played with which resulted in the beginnings of a patchwork cat .


Pumpkin soup had to be made and a chicken roasted .

My latest audio book had to listened to . Many thanks to mountainear ( to be found on our sidebar ) for the lead to Audible.co.uk !

A teetering pile of guddle had to be put in tidy new boxes .....

"But this is what you do almost every weekend ", you'll say and you'd be right . But it's never boring . In fact it's oddly relaxing to potter about achieving not a lot .

But what's your idea of a good Sunday ?

16 comments:

Martha said...

Pretty quilts! You seem to be MUCH more organized than I am!

I love having time on my hands...rarely am I bored, but when I am, it's excruciating!!

Rattling On said...

I once fell asleep while at a training conference, along with many others. I had to swot overnight in order to pass the exam the next day! Sundays are best when I do bits and pieces, or a good stint of crafting. I used to iron all day, but do it on a Monday evening now so as not to spoil the weekend!
Natty machine.

Tania said...

Pottering is the cats pyjamas and always the activity of choice!

You just whizzed me back to a whole 'nother world upon the sighting of your sewing machine. I was involved in the redesign of that John Lewis logo. It may look like a piece of straightforward type - but oh my giddy aunt - the hours and days and months involved...

Peace Thyme said...

You know. I love Sunday's. Cause it is time for family, even tho I might be chomping at the bit to sew or knit or something like that.

Yesterday, we took a ride up the mountains to look at the beautiful aspen leaves in all their golden splendor.

You know, I think kids could do with more boredom. Makes their brains work and think up something to do, to make, to write, to sing. A lot of things have been invented because someone was bored or frustrated!

Marcheline said...

I hate training seminars with a towering passion that only rivals my hatred of school buses. Don't ask.

Your pictures have me bamboozled. The quilts are millions of little squares.... and yet your quilt patches are diamond shaped.

I'm not good at math and this disparity is giving me a headache. Please explain the diamond shaped quilt patches!

As I work straight through the weekend, I'd have to say the perfect Sunday would be to not have to work Sundays!

Deborah said...

S&S, I know you're Scottish, and therefore speak an entirely different language, but what on EARTH is a 'teetering pile of guddle???'

This was an astonishing post. A pink sewing machine. A day remarkable for its bizzareness. Evidence of an extraordinarily rational, logical and tidy mind. Humour. Bitchiness. I could go on, but it's too late in the evening.

Wonderful. I really should come here more often.

Deborah said...

Oh, and my idea of a perfect Sunday is pancakes with a newspaper followed by a bicycle ride in the sunshine, a large cappucino at a sidewalk café,a nap, dinner made by someone other than me, a good movie, and bed with a book and a man minus pyjamas.

Friko said...

food and drink, feet up, book under nose and a good walk in between. O, and of course, a good thriller on the box in the evening.

My, aren't I easy to please.

Kate on Clinton said...

Love your quilting! I've tried some small piece, but nothing so neat and pretty as yours.
A good Sunday is one that starts with a clean home, has no agenda and when whims are taken.

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Marcheline - The diamond shaped pieces are to make stars , like the little purple one next to the box .
Deborah - Bitchy ? Moi ? And the fellow student who ate two bowls of soup , three ham rolls and two croquettes , a banana and a big glass of buttermilk probably needed every single calorie .
As for my being rational ; like everyone who is not currently sectioned , I have the odd rational moment .
"Guddle " , was simply my mother's word for clutter , but not neccessarily a Scottish expression .

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

I hardly ever get bored but when it does happen it is because I have handed over control of my time (as in work or duty). That's fine. It is part of how it goes. When I choose I garden, cook, read, talk, drink wine or, as of now, am stumblingly trying to make my first quilt. May never blog about it if it proves too embarrassing!

Carolina said...

A good Sunday?
Any SUNday is a good one for me
;-)
(idiots and children are easily pleased)(or was it: idiots and children speak the truth?)(anyway, I'm easily pleased) (and I often speak the truth)

mountainear said...

'Guddle'? What is this guddle? I think I have an idea - the piles of stuff that take root on the ends of tables and dresser, pleading 'sort me out, put me away'. Am I right?

Pottering is great, taking time to appreciate one's surroundings, achieve a little or a lot and to end the the day with a sense of love and well-being.

Liz Hinds said...

That sounds wonderful! And you achieved so much.

gemma @ loz and dinny said...

Aaah Sunday, perfect Sunday ... sleep in, brunch and an opportunity to sort through a stack of buttons without interuption of any description but particularly the "I help, Mummy" variety... beautiful quilts!

BumbleVee said...

I've never been bored in my life... I'm one of those folks that can sit and watch the birdies in my little fountain... look at the deep blue of the sky against the brilliant yellows of the fall leaves.... notice the pelicans soaring on the thermals so high up you can hardly see them... ... wander around the house looking in the gardens for some little thing to photograph...dig a bit... sit a bit more and then... oh, I dunno... check out what to make for supper or check out some blogs... write a letter ...the list is ennddlleessss ... never a dull or boring moment... always plenty to occupy me.... maybe I'm easy to entertain....