The biggest wip of them all is my flat. My dad’s been working on it for the last few weeks, while I’ve been staying at my parent’s house. He’s mostly done now and today me and my mum got rid of most of the building dirt. The box of cheap, bulk natural cleaning supplies I ordered a few days ago from here (they not only sell supplies in bulk but have a handy ‘recipe’ page) conveniently arrived at the flat just as my dad was going in this morning. The natural cleaning products isn’t a new thing at all for me, apart from the environmental benefits I’m way to sensitive too chemicals and perfume to want to spray them all over my home, but it seemed like a good thing to buy some in bulk. I get through ridiculous amounts of bicarbonate soda and it mostly comes in teesny little tubs. Hopefully it will take a while to use 5kgs, but perhaps not, you can do anything with that stuff.
Tomorrow – packing and cleaning and maybe even moving. I think I’m more excited now than I was when I first moved in. Maybe because it feels like I can really make it mine now.
Is it ridiculously geeky to take my laptop with me while cleaning? It was basically serving as a very expensive radio antennae.
P.s. Does anyone know where my title is from? Is it just one of those funny things my mother says, or is it, like Matilda Jane, also from something? I’d love to know.
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
that phrase is from a nursery rhyme, so it could be really old. i can’t remember where i heard it, but it’s pretty well stuck in my head and i think of it from time to time. all i know of that rhyme is “to market, to market to buy a fat pig. home again, home again, jiggity jig.”
yup, karen’s got it. I don’t remember the title, but here’s the rest of it:
to market, to market
to buy a fat hog
home again, home again
jiggity jog
to market, to market
to buy a plum bun
home again, home again
market is done
my mum used to say that all the time, too.
Mother Goose: http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/mothergoose/rhymes/tomarkettomarkettobuyafatpig.html
Mother Goose
I was going to say a nursery rhyme, but not clever enough to have said which one.
Your flat looks gorgeous and is making me nostalgic for those old Edinburgh interiors…the fireplace…the wood floors..the tall ceilings…..hoping to get back to live in Edinburgh one day…out of interest what area are you in?
Yes, its a nursery rhyme! I do that one in my baby storytimes at the library I work at!
Ha! I did WIP Wednesday as my house too, before I even saw your post! Wild. :)
Yeah, the nursery rhyme^15.
Quite jealous of your dishwasher. First thing I’m doing when I buy a place (ah, when!)
At risk of sounding slightly odd, where did you get your draining rack? *hopes it’s somewhere universal like Ikea* It looks really aesthetically pleasing, and durable, and I need one. (uh, the draining rack on the far right, not the baskety thing on the actual sink draining board).
Can’t help you with the jiggity thing… good to have your own place again. Be a big girl now… do you know Katie Melua? And what do you think of her?
And, besides, or btw, somewhere you mentioned how beautiful the rib combines with the rest of a pattern. I have had that in my head for hours. You have such a perfect and detailed view on things! That’s great.
haha, my mum says that all the time, too, and now so do I. Commenters already gave the source, so I won’t repeat it.
Yeah we got that nursery rhyme too, but more commonly Mum would say “home James and don’t spare the horses.” Not sure where that comes from.
My dad says that (“…Jiggety jig”) all the time! :)
My family says “Home James…” too. No idea where it comes form either.
Google suggests it’s been a common expression since the late 19th century and there’s a popular song from the 1930s which begins “Home James and don’t spare the horses/This night has been ruined for me”.
Your flat looks really cozy! Very cute! All the best for the re-move!
Wow – all I can say is thank you so much for posting that link to the cleaning stuff. It is like a dream come true – no more having to trek round every shop in town and then make a special effort to go shopping for borax when we are away in a city at the weekend!
Quite inspired me to make soap – it sounds fun.
The flat looks fantastic though, I only wish my house was that finished.
There is one more verse–the first…
To market to market to buy a fat pig.
Home again. Home again. Jiggety jig.
Yep, it can also be done as an ostinato, but I didn’t know the third verse. I learnt it when I was doing my teacher training. I set up half the class with the rhythm “jiggety jig, jiggity jig”, over and over, then the other half chant the rhyme, and it ties in really nicely.
Please don’t be impressed with this, it wasn’t my idea and is the only music l;sson I have ever mastered in 11 years of primary teaching….
Your flat has lovely character and it seems your Dad has done you proud. Hope you’re moved in again soon.
You Dad has done a fantastic job with your flat! What a transformation!
AH! Craftiness runs in the family I see! Well Done Dad!
Love and Laughter,
Amy
The flat looks fantastic, and inspiring.
For lupinbunny: I have the same draining rack – my one was from Ikea. I’m pleased to share the same taste in draining racks with you, Ysolda!
One of the toy characters in the film Blade Runner says that phrase too, it’s what I think of first when I hear it. I never had a copy of Mother Goose when I was little. Flat looks great!