A bit of deviation

I don't intend to scribble down bad things in this blog because that just isn't the point of it. (I'll admit I'm not 100% sure what the point is yet other than giving me a bit of a creative kick up the bum.) I think there are enough bad things in the world without me wittering on about the bad things in my life. However I'm going to make an exception this time as I think there is lesson to be learnt and I'll try to keep it brief.

My bag was snatched at the weekend. Yes, yes I live in London, it happens all the time, I should have been more careful. Hold on. I was actually moving and had my eye on my bag. I was cycling home when two lads on a moped went past me and lifted the bag from my basket. Literally the guy at the back put out his hand and took it before they sped off. I was 100 metres from my front door.

Now before we go into too much doom and gloom I was lucky enough to have a kind couple see the whole thing. They took me in for a cup of tea and called the police. Faith in humanity was put back in balance.

I'm not going to bring out the violins by go into what I lost. It was everything. Several nice things that were presents and a number of things I never usually have with me. The thieves had a good win but it is covered by insurance and at the end of the day it is just stuff. But I learnt these things:

1. Just because I am moving at a passable pace does not mean I'm safe. Bit of a shock that one. I assumed that if somebody took a chance it would be when I was stationary.

2. I usually hook the strap of my bag around my handle bars in case somebody takes a chance. The police told me that it was a bad idea because the thieves will get angry, will keep tugging and the chances of being hurt are high.

3. The police told me that muggings are on the decrease while snatch and runs are on the increase as the effort is much less and the chances of being identified are low.

4. Check your bag is covered by your household insurance. It probably is but worth a phone call before anything happens.

5. Keep your keys separate. Luckily mine were in the bottom of the basket. The last thing you need having just been robbed is to have to change your locks as well. I would add that keeping your phone separately is a good idea as well. I couldn't remember my Matey's number and couldn't start cancelling cards until I had got home.

6. Set up the 'Find your ipad/iphone' app on your phone and computer. By the time I had worked out what to do and downloaded it the ipad had been locked and wiped so untraceable. The faster you can get onto the system the more chance the police have of tracking them down.

I would add that the police were great, realistic that I won't get the stuff back but ensured that I had everything I needed to make an insurance claim. They also made it clear that it wasn't my fault and I wasn't a fool for having my stuff with me.

Of course I can't claim to be unaffected by it all. I resent having lost the presents people have been kind enough to buy me as the new items won't have the same emotions attached. It's horrible costing these things up to make an accurate claim.

Oh and the stupid thing that really annoyed me at the time was the loss of the new staple gun that had just arrived. I had planned to tackle upholstering the chair at the weekend but have had to order another. Would have quite liked to see the robbers faces when they saw that.

I'm still here!

Just awfully busy with a lot of projects in the mid way stage. This has the unpleasant effect of leaving the house look a tip and not much to write about. I don't think it is especially interesting to read about and look at pictures of things which still look a bit rubbish.

So in stasis at the moment we have:

The spare 'oom project
Shelves to put up to cover pipes - waiting till I visit my Mum so I can borrow her jigsaw. I could buy one but it seems silly for three cuts.
Hunting for a carpet remnant to replace the truly vile stained matting. - This make take longer than I want as I had no idea how expensive carpet is. Fortunately we have a lovely blue rug which hides most of it.
Bookshelves to find and put up - again waiting to visit Mum to see if she still has my old 'precious shelves' (So called because they held my precious things.) which would do nicely.
Armchair to recover - Doing well on this one. The chair has been stripped as far as possible and I am just waiting on a sample of fabric before making the next move. Sod it! Here are some really bad mid way pics to enliven your day!

I decided to follow what the previous upholsterer did and left some of the original fabric in place. They probably had a good reason. The legs have been sanded down and polished up. I thought this would be a five minute job. Two hours later I was getting there. They have come up a lovely honey colour though which will work well with the blue fabric I am almost certainly going to use.

The new range project
Top secret at the moment but is taking up a lot of time. Rather exciting though and I have discovered a new skill. Gilding. I swear I would cover the whole house in gold leaf if it would come across as a ostentatious.

Oh and I'm making a super hero cape for a 4 year old. Quite fancy one myself. If I were a superhero what would my superpower be?