Mr Shoestring - A Prince Among Men

Mr Shoestring has presented me with this cute picture he made using some tapestry canvas, and one of my needles and thimbles he snuck off with.  

He is so handy, loyal and true.  There is nothing much he can't turn his hand to, from fixing his little grandson's remote controlled car to building us a new sunroom. 

 The sunroom is my absolute treasure which he constructed using recycled windows, and it has made such a difference to Shoestring Cottage.  The large glassed area is a window we found abandoned at the side of the road when we went on one of our walks.  (It did have a sign on it saying that it was free, we didn't steal it!)

 

I think Mr Shoestring was doubtful that we ever would find a use for it and it languished at the side of the cottage for a few years but eventually I managed to plant the seed in his mind that it could be used to enclose the side of the deck which he had built.  And as well as the large window he had a stash of little orange and green windows which were salvaged when the house next door tragically burnt down.  It has worked out so beautifully; every time I arrive at Shoestring I have to immediately go out and check it.  The stephanotis vine there has had its first flowers and the collection of geraniums is looking good.  There is a pot of edible ginger, still emerging, because it will be interesting to see what it looks like, and another pot with a white ginger and some other fillers.  Even on a cold winter's day it is lovely to sit out there and luxuriate in the sunshine.  At the corner of the house I have planted a grape vine and I have grand visions of it being trained up into the sunroom's clear roof and bearing masses of fruit for us to enjoy.  

But I haven't just been lolling around in the sun room, in fact it's been a very happy time for stitching.  The teacups quilt I had put together has finally been quilted, using variegated perle cottons, and I am thrilled with it.  

    

On the back it has an old duvet cover and also some of the extra hexagons, one in each corner.  

The border uses a border fabric in bright lolly colours which are so cheerful and a different palette to my usual.

 

As well as the teacups quilt being quilted, I finally finished the doyleys and damask crazy quilt, which is surprisingly heavy as I used a green damask duvet cover I found in an op shop for that one. 

 (A little bit obsessed with using old duvet covers for quilt backs at present, such a saving in cost and if you can find one which is really suitable it is a perfect solution to the problem of what to put on the back.  I am very pleased with this one, it is soft and gentle in its tones for the most part but there is still a lot to look at.)  

My collection of old embroideries has only been growing slowly but this week I found this, a canvas work landscape, which is so different from all the others. 

 A hand written note on the back records that it was stitched by a patient in hospital and what I love about it is that it is completely undisciplined as far as the actual stitches go, not at all the regular and perfect stitches you usually see in needlepoint, but this only adds to the finished effect. 

The stitches going in different directions give texture and movement to the landscape and the colours are so subtle.  I suspect this view meant a lot to the person who created this wonderful textile.  Perhaps she could see it from her hospital room.  

And as an antidote to all my florals I have dragged out this piece of vintage bark cloth which I found at the Sally Army shop a few years ago for $2.50.  I have never been able to think what I could do with it, but I finally have had an inspiration and I'm going to intersperse the images of the cowboys and cowgirls doing their thing with nine patches in red and green, to make a quilt simple and so different from my usual.  It's fun to swerve from one colour palette to another from time to time, to shake things up.  (Using up bits and pieces left over from other projects of course!)

I hope all is well with you and yours, and I intend to be back to blogging more frequently from now on.  Winter Deco celebrations are coming up and that will be great fun too.  

Before Covid and After Covid

It suddenly occurred to me yesterday that one day, if and when we finally emerge from these Covid times, we may begin to think of our lives in terms of "before Covid" and "after Covid".  I suspect that I will, anyway.  Who ever suspected that we would become au fait with different strains, R rates and the ways people had approached this menacing virus all around the world?  Or that we would be cut off from our fellow humans in such strange ways, and for such a long time?  Instead of time speeding past as it usually does, it seemed to drag by and it felt as though we were wading through quicksand sometimes.  We would look forward to the weekends, but when they came they were just the same as all the other weekends and we soon ran out of enthusiasm for turning out cupboards and other tedious and virtuous tasks. I have been physically at work throughout the pandemic so far, but Mr Shoestring has been working from home and it seems that the effects on the way we lead our lives and conduct our businesses will be significant and long lasting

This weekend we have emerged from a long time confined to our city.  I think it was approximately 122 days, but who's counting?  We, living in Auckland, were at the epicentre of the outbreak in New Zealand and so not allowed to "cross the border" (doesn't that sound like something out of a novel?) and go to Shoestring Cottage until now.  The weather wasn't great for our first trip in such a long time, but typical Auckland/Waikato spring weather with a lowering sky and humid rain threatening.

 How we missed it.  We were so fortunate that Mr and Mrs Peaceable came and fed our fish, and watered the plants, and generally kept an eye on things for us, and also that one of our daughters, who lives "outside the border" was able to come and mow the lawns once, because otherwise they would have been completely wild.  As it was, the garden was completely overgrown and weed infested when we arrived here again, but it was so good to be back.  

On the plus side though it looks as though the grapes will give a bumper crop (for the birds) this year

and the lilies haven't all finished blooming yet, there are still quite a few spikes to come.

The birds looked askance at us, as though we had invaded their own domain, and I noticed that instead of a thrush having one special place for cracking open snail shells, there were snail shells dotted all around the areas where there was a brick or stone to use as an opening tool.  I was so sad that we had missed the flowering of the roses (apparently this year was a bumper season for them), and also the irises and spring bulbs and most of the lilies, but we have to be optimistic and remember that there is always next year to look forward to; that's part of the territory when you are a gardener, you need to be prepared for a lot of unforeseen knock-backs and for things not to work out quite as you had planned. 

During the lockdown Mr Shoestring and I fell into the habit of visiting a nearby park every evening on the way home to get a bit of air ("spreading our legs" as our Minister of Health once mistakenly put it in a press conference, a thing he will never be allowed to forget, I feel sure), and we fell in love with the pigeons there.  We began to take food for them with us every day, and sat on our special seat to feed them.  (We were quite aggrieved if we came to the park to find somebody else on our seat but tried to bear the disappointment with good grace and not glare at the interlopers.)  Within a few days they began to expect us and would come down in a huge flock, the susurration of their wings a delight albeit a bit alarming to begin with.  I was so fascinated by their varied plumage, their strange orange little eyes (though not all were orange, you would be surprised how many different colours their eyes can be) and the different personalities we could identify in certain birds.  It was the highlight of my lockdown life for a while there.  I sent off for a couple of books about pigeons so as to learn more about these delightful and amazing creatures and was saddened to read that it is a bad thing to feed them.  We did stop feeding them, but it was a wrench, I must say.  

Now that we are allowed back to shoestring cottage I was so pleased to see a related pigeon sort of a bird in the back garden this morning.  I haven't identified it yet (actually there was a pair of them), but I feel honoured that they have graced us with their presence.  

As soon as we were allowed to go to shops again Mr Shoestring and I trawled through our favourite op shops and visited some new ones as well.  There were so many treasures there, or perhaps we were just starved for them.  You might notice a certain bird theme emerging in the things I found and this is my pride and joy.  Not one, but four images of birds, and all of them different.  

I saw it one weekend but thought it was far to spenny, then spent the following week agonising over whether it would still be there if I managed to go back again the next weekend.  Thankfully it was; even though we had to queue to enter the op shop because of Covid social distancing rules, I wasn't going to let it slip through my fingers a second time.  It seemed to suit this one, another which I spotted as soon as I was set free to prowl about the op shops after lockdown. 

Also I found this charming little dish, 

very similar to another one I bought a long time ago.  

I figured it was by the same maker, but when I put the two together it turns out that though similar, they are not the same birds, and are not by the same makers.  Then this morning while at another op shop I found this beautiful print of a thrush, which I was so excited by.  

And a souvenir little dish (probably an ashtray, I'm thinking) of heavenly Marine Parade in Napier, the scene of so many of our Art Deco festivals.  (We have booked to attend in February 2022 but it seems as though it may be cancelled again, so sad.).  

Our best op shop find after we were allowed "out" again was this shelving unit for the apartment, Mr Shoestring spotted it and refurbished it by repainting the metal parts and oiling the wooden planks.  It is ideal for the apartment because the shelves are narrow, and don't take up too much space.  $35 well spent, for sure.  

Whenever I go to an art gallery, garden or museum, or visit a new city or even country (looks like that will not be happening again, so pleased that we made the most of our chances), I am ashamed to say that I am just a sucker for the merch.  Never mind the pictures, take me to the souvenir shop.  I'm a cultural desert really, masquerading as an interested observer of culture.  I had collected quite a few souvenir tea towels on our travels which I was too frightened to use.  (Mr Shoestring and I have ongoing battles over how tea towels should be used; he seems to feel that they are best employed in the most messy, oily and stain-producing ventures.). Once we got to the cottage this weekend I decided to make some of them into cushions and I am so pleased with the way they have turned out.  

If you have a similar stash of souvenir tea towels (or if you are lucky enough to have some vintage ones still in pristine condition), it's best to remember to use horizontally oriented ones rather than the vertically oriented pictures, because they make a much more useful cushion.  Also, instead of buying expensive feather cushion inserts I've found that you can use older feather pillows - they will go through the washing machine without the spine of the feathers being broken and plump up perfectly as cushion inners.  

 I had left over mattress ticking from the upholstery of furniture which made nice backs for them and I also made a colourful tablecloth for the outside table, using a remnant (from an op shop of course, how did you guess?), which will look so pretty with hydrangeas on it.  The colours are a lot more vibrant than they appear here, I'm getting to grips with a new computer and all the associated problems; it's a steep learning curve for a luddite such as myself.  

I hope that wherever you are, life has been treating you kindly since we last "talked", and that you have a great holiday season and the best New Year ever.  These surely have been uncertain times and it's sometimes a struggle to travel one day at a time, looking for all the small pleasures which add up to make our lives full.  

PS:  And please forgive random, wandering message and poor quality photos and what not, out of touch with communication and coming to grips with a new laptop is a bad combo! XXXOOO

The Simple Things That Delight And Charm Us Now

During that time which we knew as "lockdown", (even though we were not supposed to call it that, because it sounded negative, and we were supposed to use more pleasant descriptions such as "social distancing"), so many things which had previously seemed somewhat ordinary and mundane, such as visiting and entertaining friends, working in the garden (if you were trapped in the city and unable to visit your garden), cooking for those outside your immediate bubble, all assumed suddenly greater significance and became so desirable and so much anticipated.

One of the greatest pleasures this weekend was being able to have girlfriends around again.  I used to fantasise about this while we were in our most strict social distancing phases and so even though  friends this weekend were only going to call in briefly (to drop off some fresh fish, imagine the luxury!), I wanted to make it special for us.  I baked them a cake, and made sure to serve it on my prettiest (even if unmatched) plates, and then the three of us were able to set the world to rights, even if there was a bit of interrupting and talking over each other because we were slightly overexcited after so long in captivity.

Now that we have finally been able to relax our restrictions somewhat it has been a joy to return to Shoestring Cottage.  One of my dear friends (who must have become confused, and believed that I had a birthday this month), left this beautiful little painting on card for me, near the front door.  I love to see bees working in the garden, and I particularly like foxgloves (though they are a noxious pest in parts of the country, I know), so it was perfect to find it when we arrived at Shoestring this week.

Look at the close up of the bumble bee, to me it seems to have a very purposeful expression on its face.  I am going to find a frame and keep this forever, it is so endearing. 

When I went into the garden I was pleased to see that the real bees are also still working feverishly and even to see one in the depths of the gladioli, I should think it must be amazing to be in this colourful environment when you are working.  Glowing and golden. 

To be honest, these gladioli have been a bit of a mistake on my part.  I seem to remember that they were heavily reduced at a garden centre, and I felt for them, they were looking a bit moldy and I knew nobody would ever buy them, so I took pity on them and bought them and took them home and planted them.  Little did I realise that they would grow to be immensely tall, easily three metres high some of them.  And of course I planted them near the part of the garden which I want to be all pink and purple, resulting in some hideous clashes of colour.  Mind you, there are also the orange canna lilies nearby (which I just cannot remove, no matter how hard I try), and a purple salvia, and this lemony brugmansia, which never seems to stop flowering, despite officially being a tropical plant.  It has been such a long, warm, dry season and surely the rain must come soon.  Also the cold, unfortunately.  

I love the way the ends of the flower petals are all curled and waxy and trendrilly before the flower actually opens.  

And then when the flowers do open they are almost translucent, and seem to glow, especially when night is falling.  

Thinking about my friend who gave me the bee and foxglove card, I am full of admiration to people who are artistic, and can paint and draw.  Perhaps that is why I collect all those landscapes from the opp shops, I look at them and imagine how important and significant the scenes depicted must have been to the people who painted them.  I must admit though that I don't much appreciate it when people or equipment are included in them, and I was forever grateful to my friend who took one of them home and painted out a tractor and some people, who were ruining an otherwise perfectly pleasant painting. 

Thought the skies were grey today there was still such a lot to look at in the garden.  I can never go past geranium leaves with their wonderful colours, especially the intensely greeny yellow ones which are my all time favourites. 

But these ones are great too, and they have a lovely pink blossom so that's an added bonus.  

And these ones for the sheer variety of colours included in the leaf.  I remember there was a stage (maybe in the 1990s) when designers of tapestry canvases used geranium leaves to great effect and I feel quite nostalgic about that, and would like to attempt one for old time's sake. 

Another surprise this weekend was that (in between cutting things back mercilessly and pruning things to within an inch of their lives), I discovered what I am certain is a grape vine, coming up between the bricks in a path in the garden.  I can't think where it came from, unless there was a grape vine in this garden a long time ago and it has suddenly sprung back to life.  I don't think it would have grown from a pip, though I have been growing mangoes, avocados and date palms from seeds recently, not to mention a peach or two, andt would be very interesting if it had grown from a seed.  Though I think grapes need to be grafted if you are going to get good fruit, so only time will tell.  

Our neighbours have just come to the end of Ramadan and kindly gave us cookies and Turkish delight when they were able to end their fasting period.  The Turkish delight is in beautiful shades of rose pink, green and apricot, and so pretty.  The apricot coloured pieces were banana flavoured, the green ones mint flavoured, and the pink ones rose flavoured.  Mr Shoestring was very pleased, as he adores Turkish delight and doesn't often get the chance to feast upon it.  

This weekend I worked diligently away upon that quilt I'm trying to finish (wretched thing), but it occurs to me that I need a break from this sort of quilt and I have a craving to get back to crazy quilting again.  Just looking at this one piece of crazy quilting nearly had me dragging out all the old silk ties and kimono fabrics, but I must be strong and not start anything else.  

And that was my weekend.  I hope that  wherever you may be, you have been able to find enjoyment in some simple pleasures this week, especially in view of all the changes that we are experiencing, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and all its unforeseen consequences.