I think I must have something of the hoarder in me - but this morning I had a rush of blood to the head - no doubt due to the heat, and as I had taken my big Passap knitting machine, and the stand and all the tools, yarn etc. to the workshop to give a lesson on Saturday, now it has to come back in.

I got the machine and things from the car to the front door first thing, then I began to go through boxes, tins and stuff just lying until I had access to the corner of the room behind the dining table. I stacked the chairs, I carried in four machines which have been blocking the hall for ages, set them upright in the corner, replaced chairs.

I have one of those soft buckets with two handles as a rubbish bin - that was filled and emptied three times, I found 15 year old paperwork to dump, songs to file - spiders ....

The table top is now piled with relieved looking stuff, under it huddles things yet unsorted, with an air of anxiety. There is visible carpet - well - visible in need of a good cleaning almost carpet, and space for the machine - maybe two machines to be set up.

Now I just need to move the ladders and tool box out of the way - my husband has been working on the outside of the house panting the rendered part, improving the seal on the windows, and now is stripping the many layers of paint off the metal parts of the porch to make the pattern clear again, in preparation for repainting.

As it is now 15:30 I need to sit in front of the fan to dry off, drink several pints of water - and maybe consume some mint chock chip ice cream. Then the machine can be brought in and set up again. I might even be able to think about doing some knitting for myself. Just not today.