Some years ago we lived much closer to the South Pole, where it was cold and windy. We had a separate garage which was a very bleak place to be in the evening in the middle of Winter. That's where my husband was relegated to work on his electronics hobby!
The alternative of working with soldering irons and electronic bits and pieces all over the lounge room wasn't on the agenda of this houseproud wife.
Needless to say, interest in that hobby waned. One day a friend offered some good advice: "You need to do something with your hands. You are using your brain all day teaching students and need to do some handwork to relax."
At the time, we had a male colleague who was very good at tapestry - so good he had won prizes for his work. So hubby decided to take a leaf out of his book and a new hobby was born. He took to tapestry like a duck to water and enjoyed "painting with thread".
He was so prolific that we spent a fortune on framing in the first year! I needed to slow him down a bit, so the suggestion was made that he tackle cross-stitch ... and he liked that even better ... and I could do things with the finished project other than framing.
And so began a number of years of beautiful cross-stitches being produced. They became cushions and calendars, and box covers and wall-hangings. They made ideal gifts - for the many students' weddings, for the family, for friends ... and some I liked so much I refused to give them away!
But then there was that kit! It was a beautiful fan and listed amongst the requirements to complete the project: "Cardboard and glue". Those words were enough to shut my mind down and to put the beautiful completed cross-stitch in a drawer
... for a very l-o-n-g time!
Fast-forward a decade and I saw that project in the drawer (yet again!!!). I've used cardboard and glue hundreds of time, so what was the hang-up? Paper craft may not be my favourite but I really needed to do something about completing that kit after all these years ... and get over my phobia. Would you believe it only took me an hour to put it all together. Why oh why was I so stupid and left this beautiful piece uncompleted when I could have been enjoying its beauty for the last ten years!
Unfortunately hubby's eyes deteriorated and he couldn't see to do cross-stitch so hasn't done many at all since this beautiful fan. With successful cataract operations, he sometimes says he would like to get back into the hobby again.
The moral in the story of course is to tackle things head on and don't be stupid like me!
And yes, all the above are my husband's lovely work!
Happy stitching!
Val