The Best Laid Plans

In an attempt to deceive myself into thinking that I actually can achieve stuff, I returned to list-making this week. And really, by the end of the day, I have lots of ticks on the list. Fie on those of you who quibble at 'have a cup of tea' and 'eat a slice of cake' being separate 'to do' items - you can indeed have one without the other, unnatural though it may seem.

One of my best ticks was the result of a friend ordering some soaps and asking me to giftwrap them; usually, I enjoy wrapping, but with my current short attention span, hatred of detail, and total utter lack of the tiniest smidge of patience, it can quickly lead to the air turning blue with cuss words delivered at Billingsgate volume.

So you ask ''Went the day well ?'' and I can answer: sort of. Here are some pics of the custom-wrapped soaps - between really bad natural light (it didn't stop raining all day) and the despised eco light bulbs, I simply could not manage a half-way decent photo ...




In addition, I was chuffed that I noticed before adding to the oils today that something was different about my caustic soda: it was cloudy in solution, and then a layer of crystalline sediment formed at the bottom of the bowl; upon examination of the container, it turns out it is now 'drain cleaner with caustic soda' and not just 'caustic soda' any more. I do wish people wouldn't fix what ain't broke.

Luckily I still had some proper caustic soda, so the batch of Vanilla, Honey & Cinnamon is gelling under cover as we speak; and the Spiced Honeyed Orange awaits cutting. But my brilliantest, bestest Xmas idea has gone irretrievably awry in the making - technical issues that I cannot as yet resolve. So, the 'to do' list being all ticked, I can justify a glass of wine as reward and/or consolation and also an aide to thinking outside the envelope or pushing the box ....