There are times that spare time allows us to do things. Sadly, most spare time is taken up with sleeping, relaxing and generally living but one can make space in their lives to do something creative.

Yes it is easy to buy a sliced loaf of bread and life won’t end if you do. However, take the time to make your own and taste suddenly comes into the experience and  that good feeling of achievement  flows through your body.

Taking time to design and create a shelf and then hang it on the wall can give so much pleasure and will be a unique installation. This may be slightly more expensive but if recycled materials are sourced then the results are often cheaper.

Preparing that evening meal from scratch seldom causes death and normally brings a new and different taste to the plate but fish fingers, chips and peas (one of my favourite meals for a Friday only) is only right when  bought from the super market.

Learning new skills is rewarding and leads to knowing one’s limits and failings and this seems true. It can also open new doors an an unexpected new path.

Okay, take for example my friend Lucy. She started making things when life bowled her the misfortune of becoming limited in movement. Experiments and trial and error produced some very interesting results. One day her pal, Jan, introduced knitting to her world of crafting. Slowly Lucy became more confident in her abilities and now the clip, clip, clip of needles is a constant chorus to the room. So it just goes to show. Oh and card making is another of Lucy’s latest notches to her skill stick. Brilliant and well played to Lucy.

Apart from bread, a roast dinner, making a box from wood and drawing some childish and naive pictures I am bereft of artistic skill and I find pleasure in others’ abilities. Thats not to say I will not give something new a go but time and costs do tend to harass that process.

Just try and make something rather than buying what other people have made.