1000 Silk Ties

In 2008 as part of frugalista project my mum and I began collecting old silk ties from op shops.  We set a challenging price limit and were very careful not to let any polyesters into the mix.  I would take one end, she would take the other.  Then two other friends joined the fun and we all had a great time swapping them and building up our stash of silks, having a quarter of a tie each.  We quickly became expert at remembering whether we had a particular tie already; you would be surprised how many duplicates we would have had if we weren’t so vigilant!  Most ties were rather sombre plains, paisleys, spots and stripes.  Some were novelty ties (teddy bears, santas and cartoon characters being very popular).  It was hard to find enough brightly coloured ties to enliven the mix and we became obsessed with ties, fighting the urge to chop the ends off particularly vivid and attractive ties worn by strangers.  We would scrutinise and pass judgement on the ties worn by weather reporters and news readers.  Tragic really.  To make the quest even more difficult Mr Shoestring developed an unhealthy interest in the ties (particularly the precious colourful ones, such as rare Versace exclusives) and would try to snaffle some of them when he thought he could get away with it. 

Then the fun started.  We didn’t know exactly what anybody else was doing with their ties and to give us more incentive to complete our projects a date was set for an exhibition!  Oh no!  As the time loomed ever closer I began to wonder what I had  been thinking of to agree to this madness but it was a great reason to press on and work on my projects every day.  In the end one quilt was not completed in time for the exhibition but the other one (a crazy quilt) became an obsession and once it was completed (just in the nick of time) I missed working on it and immediately started another.  On the new crazy quilt there will be an ambitious “rainbow effect” plan, just to make it more interesting.

You can see from the photos that we all created very different objects from our ties and one thing which was great fun was to seek out the same tie fabric in projects made by different people.  Some ties were great favourites and used by all of us, others were only seen once. 

The exhibition turned out to be a great way to encourage us to finish our projects and to all get together and see what wonderful things the others had created, it was creative fun and well worthwhile.  Crowds of interested people attended and enjoyed seeing our collective efforts.  (I was alarmed to hear one kind elderly gentleman offer his entire tie collection but fortunately his generous offer was gently declined.  I don’t think we could have coped with any more silk ties, I still have a huge stash of assorted leftovers from the first lot.)  Imagine my alarm though when the next challenge was announced – luckily a two year interval before the next exhibition and surely enough time to make something extra special with the theme of “Second Hand Rose”?

A Small Confession About A New Obsession

Now, I must confess that lawns never used to hold much appeal for me.  I could appreciate that when the grass was freshly mown the garden looked better but I wasn't going to lose sleep over it.  Perhaps that was because Mr Shoestring was usually the one who looked after the lawns.  At Shoestring Cottage though I have a cute little hand mower which makes a pleasant clattering sound when used and because the smaller area makes lawn mowing more pleasant I have begun to notice the kinds of grasses (or more to the point, weeds) in the lawn.  In fact you couldn't really call it a lawn, there are a lot of undulations, bald spots and of course the entire spectrum of weeds known to New Zealand botanists.  Shoestring Cottage may house the national oxalis collection too; I know I have the miniscule, medium and jumbo sized varieties.  Plus paspalum, don't get me started on paspalum.  So now something must be done.
It is astonishing how many varieties of grass seed are available in the local hardware shop - sturdy, utilitarian, durable types or the enticing emerald green soft velvety sorts, what to do?  Then there is the problem of the birds - about 200 of them sleep in the ivy on the side wall and of course nothing would please them more than a delicate light supper of freshly sown grass seed and then perhaps an early morning healthy repast of more seed - if any seed remained that is.  So before anything more is attempted a bit more research needs to be done - best not to rush in.  Perhaps oxalis and paspalum aren't that bad after all.

Getting My Jugs Out

Ever since I bought my first home when I was 19, I have loved old ceramics.  At that house I had a collection of old jugs hanging from the ceiling in the microscopic "kitchen", which was actually created in the old pantry of the house.  Those old jugs have travelled around with me to another bungalow, a grand old farm kitchen, an inner city 10th floor apartment (where they marched along the top of the built in kitchen units), and now to the kitchen at Shoestring Cottage.  That kitchen will soon be remodelled.  (But dear reader, you will be pleased to hear that the "new" kitchen has been kindly donated by my sister in law Lisa, who is installing a new kitchen, so there will be no unnecessary expenditure.)  Until then the old jugs are all hanging out together at Shoestring Cottage and catching up on old times.  You will see from the photo that there is a McAlpine refrigerator jug, very useful and sturdy.  It is amusing to see reproductions of these jugs for sale now in design stores in central Auckland, in much the same way that there are reproduction of "swan" vases available.   The squirrel "jug" must have been designed for drinking beer I think - there is no pouring lip on it - and it was kindly given to me by my sister who scoured the second hand shops looking for lovely homely things I might appreciate. 

Well my dear friends, you will be sad to hear that poor Mr Shoestring has been feeling singularly unwell.  He has had a sore back and has been unable to enjoy many activities he usually takes for granted.  (Thank goodness he is finally beginning to feel more like his usual self.)  This weekend he was able to climb up the ladder (loaned by friendly new neighbours) onto the roof and I needed to clamber up also, to lift up the sheets of roofing iron so he could enter the roofspace.  This was so we could search for a source of the dripping water which had been falling on me in a monotonous fashion in the middle of the night this weekend, when we experienced a torrential downpour similar to that we experienced last weekend.  We believe we have found it and corrected the problem.  It was a very exciting experience and Mr Shoestring is even now grinning at his recovery.  While Mr Shoestring was in the ceiling space he discovered some blackened timber beams and this confirmed what we had suspected - the reason the top had been taken off the chimney was that there had been a fire and the owners of SC did not want any repeat performance - it must have been very exciting, not to mention rather terrifying.  We are going to contact the local voluntary fire brigade to see if they have records of when this formidable event occurred.