Bursting At The Seams

Over the holiday break more and more treasures found their way to Shoestring, so many in fact that it is bursting at the seams.  (Perhaps we will have to change the name and call it “Treasure Magnet” instead of Shoestring?  Nah.)  Some things were Christmas presents and therefore it can truthfully be said that I was not technically responsible for their acquisition, but many of them I have to admit to having purchased myself.  We may need to introduce a policy of “one thing in, one thing out” at Shoestring.  Otherwise there will be no room for us there. 

My sister (who obviously knows me better than I know myself) gave me these beautiful navy blue hand crocheted gloves for Christmas, which has necessitated the creation of an entirely new art deco weekend costume.  They appear never to have been worn and it seems a pity that somebody went to all the bother of making them, and possibly never wore them.  It would be sad to let them go to waste, after all.  So they now have a navy hat, blue and white shoes and navy costume to go with them.  The accessories can really make or break an art deco outfit after all, so we wouldn’t want to let any slip through our fingers would we?

  

Also a present from my sister are these

I have a collection of china with violets and these are so dainty and delicate, they are different to anything else in the collection so far.

And speaking of collections, I fear I feel another collection coming on.  When I found this lovely article in the Salvation Army store and dragged it home

 it just begged to go with these ones which I already had.  

Don't they look pretty together?

Since then I have seen several more items which would be good additions but so far have resisted the urge.  (Though I am secretly hoping that they will still be at the market next time I go back.  If so it was obviously meant to be.)

And in the garden we have this (also a Christmas present from somebody who knows me so well)

For now it houses cuttings of my favourite pelargoniums, but I am on the hunt for some suitably flamboyant and vibrant “potted colour” for the three pots.  

And just in case you should think Mr Shoestring has been entirely neglected in this frenzy of acquisition, he is grinning like a Cheshire cat every time he sees his Michelin man bakelite ashtray.  He saw it months ago in the antique shop up the road and has visited it on a regular basis ever since.  Eventually a kind benefactor took pity on him and purchased his heart's desire for him.  Now he just needs to polish up his new treasure and it can join his other bakelite.  Bliss for Mr Shoestring. 

Kindred Spirits - They Are Everywhere!

Because the weather was so ghastly at Shoestring during our holiday I had the idea of dragging out an unfinished quilt top started years ago and beginning to quilt it.  I remembered that the inspiration to make this quilt had actually come from an expert quilter who had a gallery near Shoestring Cottage, where I had travelled with Mrs Peaceable to take a course in machine quilting.  When I admired a quilt on display in her gallery the kind owner of the gallery (Madam La Poste) had shared with me the secret of how to make my own version of the quilt.

And here it is in the process of being hand quilted - probably about 10 years after it was commenced

While Mr Shoestring and I were walking round the town on our holiday we happened to spot the lady herself, and I felt I must thank her for her help and let her know that I was (finally) in the throes of quilting my own version.  When we fell into conversation it emerged that she was a mad keen crazy quilter also, so we arranged to meet the next day to compare notes.  I was astonished to find that we had so much in common, even down to the sorts of quilts we had made and the techniques we preferred.  (Madame La Poste's work was fine and detailed where mine is rather coarse, slapdash and hasty by comparison.)  She showed me several techniques to add variety and interest to the crazy quilt I am working on at present.  Her work includes beading, which I have not used so far, and as soon as she said goodbye I was furiously adding some beading to my blocks.  Also she presented me with these beautiful motifs which are hand dyed or even entirely hand made, and she told me how to go about dyeing my own notions for including in quilts.

These are all notions which Madame La Poste has created or dyed herself

A hand made bead butterfly - how skilful is that?

It was difficult to contain my enthusiasm and it has to be admitted that there was a lot of interrupting (on my part) in case I couldn't get out my thoughts in time, before we moved on to the next important topic.  We exchanged books and magazines with inspirational articles in them and it seems that there is yet another kindred spirit close by - bliss!

Onwards And Upwards At Shoestring Cottage

The weather was relentlessly dreadful during our holiday at Shoestring.  It got so bad that I got into the habit of putting up my umbrella and walking down to the culvert to despondently watch the storm water flow swiftly past.

As the days went by and I counted down those remaining until the resumption of the working year the weather remained dreary and dolorous.

The mountain was constantly shrouded by storm clouds and mist. That was a shame because it put a dampener on plans to climb to the top of the mountain and spend time outdoors, but it was good for progress on the home improvement front.  Sadly for Mr Shoestring, he slipped over on the back steps early on in our stay and had an enormous bruise on his nether regions to show for it.  Resisting all suggestions regarding pain relief and medications, he preferred to treat his bruise as though it was some kind of exotic visitor and followed its progress with daily inspections and admiration of its ever-changing hues.  It truly resembled a tropical sunset on some days - perhaps to make up for the sunsets we were not seeing.  (I think Mrs Peaceable was rather horrified when he showed it to her late one night when we were enjoying a soak in the hot pools, but she is a very accommodating and tactful soul and made suitably admiring comments.)

Here is the end result of Mr Shoestring's labour.  He has created new "floorboards" for the kitchen, toilet and laundry, made from plywood but very authentic looking.  On New Year's Eve Mr Shoestring and Lord Raglan had a slight disagreement about the best method for creating these mock floorboards.  Mr Shoestring worships and reveres Lord Raglan and usually follows to the letter any suggestions Lord Raglan may care to make regarding carpentry, so it came as rather a surprise to those assembled to hear him disagree with Lord Raglan's opinions on this subject; only time will tell whether or not Mr Shoestring was correct in his approach to this problem.  In the meantime Lord Raglan is trying to usurp Mr Shoestring's position as lawn grower, and is constantly sending messages regarding his superior lawn and the fact that tuis are nesting in it (ha, a likely story).

Here is the beautiful little Singer sewing machine hand basin so kindly donated by The Dancing Queen, all plumbed in and ready for action.

 Laboriously picked out lettering

Because things took so much longer than we expected he did not do the new flooring for the bathroom but that is a good thing in some ways, because I am very fond of the black and white flooring there and would have been sad to see the last of it.

After all the trauma of the renovations Mr Shoestring somehow hurt his back on our very last morning at the cottage and I am ashamed to admit that I couldn't help thinking what a blessed relief it was that this didn't happen at the start of our stay, heartless creature that I am.  Now that the bruise is starting to fade we have the sore back to contend with and I don't think the two conditions together would have made for a very relaxing holiday - not to mention the lack of progress on home improvements.