shadows of echoes of memories of songs

Ages ago I posted about things that needed fixing. Yesterday I finally finished fixing my suitcase (I've not exactly been very proactive about fixing it... I managed to saw the original rivets off a couple of months ago, and managed to find some screws a few weeks ago, and yesterday I finally got round to not only sawing up a small block of wood into two chunks into which the screws could go but also actually putting these elements together and finishing the job). So it's only taken me about four months to fix the damn thing, though I've used it in the meantime (it was fine as a suitcase, just didn't stand up properly). I'm really glad I've fixed it though: it only cost me £3.50 from a charity shop and I've now been using it for 4 and a half years so I think it's doing pretty well.

Last week addedentry's wardrobe fell apart (it was one of those cheap wood-frame-and-canvas-cover jobs, and the pole that holds the clothes was propped up on about 5mm of pine at each end, and basically the weight of clothes on it finally dragged it through that 5mm of wood), and yesterday we a) fixed the wardrobe (by turning the bit of wood with the support for the pole upside-down, so the pole's got a new bit of wood to rest on) and b) put up a metal clothes-rail by actually drilling into the actual wall. This is the first time we've actually drilled anything without help from proper grown-ups, and it hasn't fallen down yet, even with addedentry's clothes on it!

( boring rambling about rearranging the house, feel free to ignore )

Anyway, all I really wanted to say was that I was pleased that we'd finally got round to fixing some things and moving some furniture around and generally making the house a bit more manageable. And this whole burst of productivity seems to have been unlocked by getting the curtain rail up in our bedroom (that was the first thing on the list & I think it was causing us to put off doing everything else...), so we have timscience to thank! :-)

Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by broken things: things I want to fix, but don't quite know how, or don't have the tools. I don't want to throw them away (or even recycle them — repair is better than recycling) but I never quite seem to have the time/energy to fix them, or if I have the time/energy then I don't have the tools to hand, and by the time I get to the point of working out what I need, the shop that sells the tools is closed, or it's too dark to do things outside, and ... basically, "for want of a nail, FAIL".

One strategy would be to plan better: to decide "this Sunday I am going to fix the Broken Doobrie, which means I will need a thingummy and a whatsit, so I have to buy the thingummy from Sprockets 'R' Us before Sunday, and borrow the whatsit from Fred when I see him on Saturday." But that would require knowing in advance that I'm not going to feel too tired and miserable on the Sunday in question to do anything more energetic than stay in bed reading Chalet School books; and at the moment I feel like I can't take awakeness for granted, let alone feeling-up-to-doing-things-ness. (I generally feel guilty about not "feeling up to" doing things, as though it's just a question of willpower; but for once I have an actual excuse, which is that it's hard work making a whole actual human being, and sometimes I will just have to sit down and rest.) The other strategy would be to make sure I have all the thingummies and whatsits in the house to start with so that when I do have the time and the energy I've already got the tools. This is probably less efficient (there are lots of tools I will probably only need very rarely, so the sensible thing to do would be to borrow them rather than spend money on them and then have them taking up space) but on the other hand might result in things actually getting mended, which would create more space (because things could either be used by us rather than stored in a 'things that need fixing' pile, or given away to be used by someone else) and save money.

What I'd really love is some kind of regular 'fixing things' drop-in session where people could get together and bring their broken objects and fix them together, sharing tools and workspace, actively helping each other learn how to fix things, or just being companionable while they fix their own things. I don't know how I'd go about organising such a thing, though (and I don't really have the time or energy at the moment). I fail at Big Society. But, in the meantime, here are some examples of the sort of things on my mental list of things-that-need-fixing:

( Scattert peaces of a broakin pot )

Advice welcome but not demanded/expected!