I have had an enforced break from working myself into the ground – an unexpected visit from my folks has made me STOP. My Dad has got some business meetings scheduled on Monday and Tuesday in the West Country so they came down for the weekend and popped over from Devon to see us today.

At last they got their Christmas pressies – that’s the last time I shop online for stuff that’s important to arrive on time. They seemed pleased with their haul – hopefully that’s so.

So, instead of helping DM to fit a register plate and chimney, we had to call it a day after the overmantle went up safely because the folks were due to arrive at any moment. Instead of getting covered in soot, metal shavings and other delightful stuff, I was pottering round the Duchy nursery, Trago and the farm shop with my folks.

When we got home, I had no photo ideas but inspiration came when I went to shut the hens in their coop, a glint caught my eye from the veggie garden and some of Mad Maureen’s old tat jumped out at me. I hit on this idea (again for some warped reason, best known to the dark recesses of my mind’s innermost workings) – utilise some of the old tat to make a photo.

Of course, I have photographed her rubbish on a number of occasions before – the duck toilet brush (a particularly spectacular thing, that one), the scary lampshade and a few other things besides. I decided today that it had to be at least reasonably photogenic old tat.

I’ve done things falling through the air many times before and always been pleased with the results. This time is no exception – an old, very tarnished brass sundial, some glass marbles out of an old glass lamp that shattered, scattering them everywhere when I tried to chuck the whole thing into the wheelbarrow yesterday, all of it left behind by the bonkers one.

Quite honestly, I really just liked the rat-a-tat-tat of the marbles falling onto the brass sundial and of course, when it’s a Sunday evening and you’ve got nothing better to worry about, you can keep dropping the balls until you feel like stopping.

Reuse, recycle and reduce – yep – I approve of that – here’s some reused junk, with a recycled idea on a ‘reduced’ medium (reduced because you only use one, not lots of them).

Now that fireplace has to wait until next weekend – let’s hope we actually get it done before it’s too warm to run a fire!

it was a lot colder last year than it has been today!