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Brrr! It's getting cold ...

SATURDAY:  There's no doubt winter's well and truly upon us, is there?  Last night was the first frost for many, many  months, and I'd to crack the ice on the makeshift birdbath this morning.  I made sure I topped up the peanut feeders for the hungry little birdies.  This morning I got the boring things out of the way - laundry, hoovering, paying bills - and spent a little while messing about with making a Victorian purse puzzle.  If you've not come across these before, and I hadn't until a couple of days ago, they're easy to make once you figure out which fold goes where. 

If you head over to YouTube there's a short video by Leapling Studio, titled 'Make with Me: Victorian Puzzle'.  The only slightly tricky bit is creating the windmill shape, but once that's understood then you've cracked it.  I'm not much good at drawing, but I splashed watercolours paints and coloured pencils over a square of sketchpad paper, and am still trying to conjure up an underwater scene.  I'll add metallcs for shimmer and shine.  

Apart from messing about with arty stuff, I'm trying to do some clutter-clearing.  Listing clothes I don't wear on eBay, taking broken or outdated electrical equipment to a recycling point, and passing on books I started but didn't like and never finished.  I reckon I've got more ruthless about novels that disappoint as the years have gone by.  I used to grit my teeth and plough on, but now I'm more likely to take them to the charity shop for someone else to (hopefully) enjoy.  I recently finished the fifth of Robert Galbraith's Strike series, and am in the library reserve queue for the latest, plus the new Richard Osman.  I'm 127th in line for the Strike novel and 211 for Mr Osman's!  Maybe Santa will bring me a book token and I can read them sooner?  Fingers crossed, eh?  
On the subject of reading, I've just started 'The Mercies' by Kiran Millwood Hargrave.  It's apparently based on a true story that happened in the early 1600s and concerned a remote Norwegian island.  All the men went out to sea, fishing, but a violent storm caused them to drown.  Leaving the island's women to take up their late husbands, brothers and fathers work, and to show an independence of spirit that wasn't welcomed by wider society.  The king at the time was a fan of our James I, who himself was a fanatic about fighting supposed witchcraft, and the Norwegian king summoned a Scottish witch hunter to deal with these strong minded, capable women.  It seems many women were condemned as witches and killed because of that misogynistic mistaken belief.  I'm looking forward to really getting stuck into 'The Mercies'.  It's looking promising.  
SUNDAY:  I was going to write more and take photos of the Victorian purse puzzle now I've added more detail to it.  But Saturday's been and gone, and it's now Sunday evening, and the artificial light's not bright enough to take a decent picture.  Anyway. I'm warm and cosy, full of pasta and about to soldier on with online Christmas shopping.  So that's all for now. Bye.  
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