I was reminded of this quote (which I wrote out several million times when learning the art of calligraphy in my dim and distant past) when I was perusing the blog of Mrs Thomasina Tittlemouse earlier. She is showing off some beautiful heirloom tablecloths (among other things) with exquisite embroidery work on them - so, so pretty. I was musing how things made by our ageing (or long gone) relations are so durable, well made and stunningly handsome, but it is probably more to do with the fact that they have lasted so well because they are of quality, hence the quote. Perhaps there were shoddily-made items floating around, but they have never been handed down so we get to look back with rose-tinted spectacles. Maybe I should damn well make sure the pile of poop which I churn out on a regular basis makes it through to the next century by burying it all in an airtight time capsule for Oliver. Heh heh heh.
Actually, talking of calligraphy (yes, stay with me, we were), I am going to see if I can find my old calligraphy practice sheets, because I was watching this programme about real roman life the other night, and there was a lot of looking at roman lettering, and I remembered how much I loved to use this style when doing calligraphy. It is so geometric, and cleverly worked out so that it is even, and pleasing to the eye. The programme, by the by, is worth a look - and certainly has altered the rosy-posy view I had of the way the romans lived.
I really could blather on - I have caught bits of some quite odd programmes lately which have tweaked my little grey cells. Off to wrestle Oliver to the table to exercise his - wish me luck.
Ooh, some pics: Because I have taken some.
Needing another colour here - have got silver on order, but I am toying with purple's opposite number on the colour wheel - yellow.
Wedding anniversary tulips - gorgeous.
Oh, and here are the letters generated for Mark in his PC Scrabble game the other night:
Haaa haaaaaaa. He started again.
Yes, it's interesting about the durability of things. The base fabric of my tablecloths is a good quality linen and they were certainly used and laundered regularly, probably at high temperatures, by their original owners. One of the cloths has a laundry mark written in ancient indelible ink that is still very clear so whatever the ink used was made of it's more durable than so called permanent ink today which seems to wash out despite its claims to do otherwise! This is actually good news as I always seem to find it on clothing that it is not meant to be on! I think a lot of things pre 1st WW were made to last in a way that they simply are not now although that is not to say that handmade articles today won't be as robust as their predecessors of previous generations if made with good quality materials and looked after. And that of course is the other thing, I think people looked after stuff more carefully probably than we do as a generation. But I am sure the moth and damp got to all sorts of treasures of the past as well - it's just that we don't know about it because they are long gone. Keep going with your creative output - not for you to dismiss it! - that stuff is tomorrow's heirlooms and who knows who will be writing about your ripple blanket et al in years to come?! I jest not! E xx
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