WHITTLING MY WAY THROUGH THE MONTHS OF HIBERNATION

 

What do you do through those dark months when we are told that depression is at its highest? When we are also told to stay at home because the bogie man pandemic is on the loose, that having friends round is simply not allowed, and your only choices seem to be between Netflix and Facebook. Thankfully I don’t have that particular choice having neither Television nor an Internet connection. There are times when the latter would be practical and negate having to log-on via the village shop Wi-Fi to read emails or upload this blog. It is a personal choice, which is easier to make when one lives alone. So what do I do during those dark months? It’s simple, I create. If it’s good enough for God then it’s good enough for me. When he found himself going through a dark patch the first thing he did was to create a bit of light. Well barring power cuts, and I do have plenty of candles, light is easier to come by these days. Warmth in which to work is a little more time consuming than the flick of a switch. The elements must be braved and peat brought in from the stack, as well as kindling chopped. If I’ve put a shovel full of smokeless coal on the previous evening then wood may not be needed. The studio soon became yet another fire to light and space to heat, so the kitchen being the warmest place seemed the logical choice. Choosing what to do in this restricted space was evidently going to have to be small, and what better than something miniature. Luckily I’ve already been through this thinking process in previous winters, so have two doll’s houses to play with. If grown men can play with model trains then I can play with my houses. The original house I bought from a friend when I was in my late twenties and had already added a considerable amount of furnishings. The second house is one of my own making which required a total internal makeover. Here I added a moulded ceiling upstairs and beamed below, and altered fire places as well as widening a chimneybreast. All materials are reused or reclaimed so small offcuts of wood that would have normally gone as fire lighting are now whittled, sanded, painted and polished. My croft house kitchen is not a large one and the table measures 78x144cm so the cabinet equivalent of window box gardening. I also manage to find a little space to chop vegetables, roll out pastry and eat.

A list of furniture produced over the past six weeks would include; mahogany dining table and bookcase, two mahogany pot cupboards, a wall hanging food cupboard, a bed, two side tables, cloths horse and ironing board, three upholstered easy chairs, a tripod wine table, a cricket table plus the framing of several miniature water colours. Having made a bookcase I realised that the only tiny books I had where both religious so set about making some miniature bound books. My fingers are getting less sensitive these days and so handling such small objects can be tricky at times. I often looked on with envy at young people texting on their phones with such extra ordinary finger coordination, but more importantly, can they whittle. If I keep my hands occupied I am less likely to get into trouble, and although some would not agree, it does, at least in my eyes, help to keep me sane. This work for the most part is done in silence since my only form of entertainment, the radio seems to have become contaminated with a virus, and uninfected programs are increasingly difficult to find. Whoever said ignorance is bliss must have first acquired considerable knowledge.