Getting on with stuff

 I find that it is challenging to achieve anything significant at this time of year. Outside it is freezing cold and most definitely uninviting. Inside 30% has encouraged inactivity by lighting a fire. I have to resist strong urges to settle on the sofa with a book.

I must still have the embers of my work ethic glowing somewhere deep inside me as I seem to have, reluctantly, got my mojo working.

This morning I started with some admin. I made the final payment on the new bike and then drafted and printed* a couple of pro-formas to cover the likely sale of my shotgun. I then attempted to get the 5 Series booked in for its MOT test and a recall notice** and this is where things went astray.

I had tried to get the car booked in yesterday, but had missed the call back from the BMW Dealership. I found them to be equally busy today, and, again they promised to call me back. I had stupidly given them my land line number, and this meant that I was restricted to being within earshot of the home phone until they called back. Unfortunately they didn't call until the late afternoon, and I was left struggling to find things to do.

I settled on applying some home made leather conditioner to one of our sofas. This went well and the treated leather looked and felt beautiful, but the jar was far from full when I started. Within a short while I had an empty jar and a half finished sofa. 

This was bloody annoying as I had all of the ingredients to make up a new batch of leather conditioner, but they were all outside in the store room ... note previous comments about staying within earshot of the home phone.

Eventually I was free from being shackled to the phone and I made up another batch of leather treatment. Here is a quick summary of the method.***

• The recipe uses beeswax and vegetable oil at a ratio of 1 : 3.5
• The mixture can be scented with fragrance oils, if desired
• Melt the beeswax using a Bain Marie method. Note: do not use your best saucepans.
• Once completely melted, add in the vegetable oil and stir well until the mixture is clear
• Add in the fragrance oil, if required 
• Remove the pan from the Bain Marie and carefully pour the mixture in to a jar
• Allow to cool overnight and the conditioner is ready for use.

I used a couple of ounces of beeswax and about seven and half ounces of vegetable oil. This produced about half a pint of leather conditioner, which will last me a good while ... more than enough to finish the sofa.

My final accomplishment was to draft a to do list. Oh my God! It is massive and none of it looks like fun

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* This sounds like a few minutes of effort, but by the time I had recovered the printer from the store room and struggled unsuccessfully to get the little bastard to connect to the home wifi, it took the best part of an hour.

** Replacement of the EGR Cooler

** NOTE: The ingredients are potentially flammable and should never be exposed to a naked flame. There is a risk of fire and consequent injury and damage when making this product. You do so at your own risk.