It's getting to look a lot like Christmas

I arrived at the flat to see a seasonal sight -

A search for the decorations and lights was needed, which meant diving into the under-eaves storage. First, the happy outcome -

 It took quite a while to find the lights in what I've been thinking of as my hell-holes -

These are "after" - after pulling out the bags, checking what's in them, wondering whether some can go in the bin [various papers did!] and which fabrics I'll part with, next time, and where to pass them on to. Progress!

And this is "during" -

During which I discovered things I'd pretty much forgotten about -

Embroideries onto a full skirt, late 1990s

Prefelts stitched with lines of a poem, cut up, and stitched onto gauze -
but not (yet?) further felted; late 1990s

Random piecing of silk strips, into strips; basted up but not quilted

A technique I developed, based on Alison Schwabe's workshop, early 2000s
- very seasonal, don't you think?

 The bag for the charity shop includes the shoes I wore during my 2012 MA show -

Thank you, shoes, you complemented my work and gladdened my heart. [Yes, I've been reading the japanese tidying book...]

Eventually the decorations came to light and it was time to close up the storage bins (let's not call them hell-holes any more) and have a nice drink and decorate the tree -

Thank you, Tom, for getting the room this far - and for tidying up the accumulation around the edges.