Getting all Martha Stewart over here

I returned from Jaipur at the end of October, in the middle of a renovation of our study, so our home was in an absolute muddle, and the explosion of my three India-souvenir-stuffed bags all over the apartment didn’t help a bit! Slowly but surely we’ve been finding a place for everything (and ditching whatever doesn’t fit), and despite the chore list, I’ve really enjoyed our recent run of super-domesticated weekends. In fact, I’m even going to blog about them!

I spent the whole of last Sunday hand-rolling and stitching the hems on three 3m-long curtains from beautifully soft dhoti fabric which I found at Khadi Ghar in Jaipur. Hard work but so satisfying to see those billowing volumes, and a great way to close off wardrobe space without having to install doors.

Then, over the weekend I tried my Auntie Betty’s recipe for shining copper and brass with no elbow grease at all. It is seriously magic! Just fill a kitchen sink with warm water, add two sachets of Tartaric Acid (about 60g) and a splash of dishwashing liquid. Immerse the pot, and the shine is almost immediate! Rinse in boiling water and wipe, et voila! Shiny pots and pans.

OK, so maybe those two bursts of energy don’t sound all THAT domesticated, but in my defence, I didn’t take photos of the wall painting, the picture hanging, the new computer installing, the new bedlinen, the cupboard tidying and the cushion rearranging, nor the giant boxes of things sent to charity shops, but I think I may now qualify for my Martha Stewart Brownie badge, don’t you?