Our dining table is literally how life seems to be these days; it’s clean and empty at the start of the week, then as the days pass, the surface blooms with books from the library (The Trauma Cleaner, Exhalation by Ted Chiang), stuff from the supermarket waiting for their turn to be stuffed into the pantry (which needs reorganising too), personal cosmetic stuff (because I log the products I buy, what skin concern they’re currently addressing, and what ingredients they have), art stuff (because the table is the de facto work table too) and home DIY stuff (there was a wall-steamer on the table last week, and shelving from Ikea, and this week, a spirit level to hang art that is yet to be created, if I ever get there).

And where did the time go? We all blinked and we’ve eased past the middle part of the year, and the end of it seems so much closer when you have an actual number of days counting down to Christmas. Nobody book ends their year with the New Year btw. So what do I want for Christmas? What do I want to give? Believe it or not, I usually start my lists in June, and then I start buying when sales happen from September to October. Pricier gifts get purchased when there’s enough money saved. I’ve never really cared about ‘budgets’ and even in this economy, I’m not about to start. I’ve given and I’ve received, and each year has been filled with much (material) joy so I’ll leave it at that. When I’m retired and poor, I may need to gift my ‘art’ as gifts, so I better hurry and start now to perfect it; don’t want to be that crazy uncle handing out crafty, tatty shit.