The Little World

Or do tidy up. Choose whichever piece of gratuitous advice you like – the price is the same.

There is a danger to the business of tidying up a hobby workshop – you may succeed. Then you have a tidy workshop and nothing actually doing. This is a very sad situation.

I’m sitting here on the Thursday of a Frugal Week with all my little tasks accomplished and no new cheap projects out on the build table. The determination to save money for a big splurge at the hobby shops is strong – yet there is all this pent-up power and nothing to get traction on.

I suspect that the best outlet for this would be a walk in the park with a plastic bag collecting twigs. They can form the trunks for scale trees. I have a bag of green foam sprinkles and a can of spray glue. I don’t need trees right now for the layouts, but there will come a time when they are going to be necessary. Access to a Treebank will be handy.

This sort of scale ennui must come to all sometimes – when there is no more kit and a long time until a birthday or Christmas. If I can survive a week I shall be saved by my Tuesday Soviet visit to the Scale Model Club Of WA.

On a philosophical note, never finish completely. Like the superstition that says one must never do something perfectly for fear of angering heaven, the idea of being completely finished with everything also suggests that you risk divine interference. I mean – if you’re all done, why wait? Go now. Or they’ll send someone or something to fetch you…

On a less macabre note, not finishing everything entirely or not being completely cleaned up is a good way to get your mind to run actively from one project to the next. I value a good night’s sleep as much as anyone but I also value the time in the dark before sleep reviewing the day’s work in the Little Workshop, Little Studio, or at the Little Desk. Setting your mind to rights about what tomorrow’s tasks will be is also a good idea. You might be jumbled and anxious the night before, but you’ll generally have a clear plan of action by the morning. I think the brain can process things while you sleep.

I know the kidneys can do their thing – ask me about 4:00AM…