I found this little folding stool in Aunt 1’s store room. Cute huh? I couldn’t resist it. Then again, I have no need of a little stool like that.
What I do have use for is a beach bed for Lainee…
Lainee is too much of a person to lie on the sand when at the beach. Till now she uses my beach chair when I’m in the water and then has a towel on the sand or the second beach chair I got for her…
She’s also been known to use my beach bag as a bed…
Last night I made a new top for the little stool out of an old pair of jeans. Making the top longer so that it would be lower to the ground as well.
I wish I could have re-used the fabric on the stool but I couldn’t think of a way to do it… there is no way to get the stool itself under the sewing needle in order to sew the fabric onto the metal frame.
I used laces from the jeans themselves (at the waist and legs) as ties for the back cause there was no other way to fit the top to the stool. This makes it more likely to loosen with use, but thats ok. I can retighten the laces as needed.
Not sure Lainee likes it yet. I put her on it for a bit last night and she was off it and back to the couch in a flash. However I will try it on the beach. I bet she likes it there.
I was given this little salt pig, or container or whatever you want to call it, by my french neighbours complete with natural sea salt they collected themselves here on Paros. Cute huh?
Only thing is, I didn’t really like the colour of the wood. So… I painted it grey.
The grey isn’t totally perfect with the cream, beige and brass fittings in my kitchen, but its one of my favourite colours. I have throws for the couch in grey… Plus I had it already mixed up in chalk paint for the wreaths I made for my cousin early in the summer.
And since I had the paint out, and I had some wooden spoons which were really plain and I love the painted handle look, I went ahead and painted them.
Much better don’t you think? Some of the wooden spoons are very old. Can you tell?
Of course now the problem becomes how do you store these in a way that shows off the painted bits? Without cluttering up the entire kitchen (which is cluttered enough already with a stack of marble waiting to be painted and my iron and a towel which acts as my ironing board).
This little project is something I did a couple of weeks ago but only just getting around to sharing. Its one of the few creative things I did for myself in a while. But it always feels good to do creative things, even small ones like this.
Being creative is good for my soul.
I am so looking forward to some creative time. Both for my home and art. Tons of ideas. Not enough time to do it all.
(Well there might be enough time if I didn’t laze around on the couch eating ice cream in the evenings.)
I found out the other day that my dad’s grandfather and an uncle died of dengue fever when it hit greece back in 1927-28. Who knew? And obviously, a lot of people were lost during the Spanish Flu pandemic in the early 1900s. I guess we should count our blessings despite all the inconvenience and problems COVID 19 is causing us…
That said, this whole COVID 19 thing is really wearing thin isn’t it? Greece had done so well during the first phase. We had strict lockdowns, you needed to send a text explaining why you were out every time you ventured out of your home. You were only allowed to go out to shop, assist an elderly person, walk a pet or exercise, or go shopping or to a medical appointment.
Then they lifted restrictions and opened the borders.
Welcome to phase 2 of COVID 19. We are now heading back to strict lockdowns as the daily cases rise to levels never seen before in Greece.
Great job guys. Well done. And its not like opening borders helped struggling businesses… tourism was low, too many businesses suffered – so many places didn’t open at all cause the cost of opening was more than they stood to make.
Yet Paros was busy. Okay, perhaps not 2019 summer busy, but busy nonetheless. August only. I rarely went out in the evenings but there were people around when I did, and beaches were busy.
Having become somewhat of a hermit, I’m looking forward to some more quiet times ahead when lockdowns are put in place.
So what have I been doing that’s kept me away from the blog?
Well… in bullet points:
I started a job at Yria ceramics and have been working more or less 8am-2pm 6 days a week for the last month.
Aunt 1 has been moved to the nursing home on Paros. I went to Athens to pick her up in person. She is very happy and grateful and isn’t complaining a bit. Right. And pigs might fly.
I have a tenant in Aunt 1s house and so far all is well with that.
The bathroom apparently works.
I still have to sort out the issue with the other loser tenant who doesn’t pay his rent till he feels like it. I may have a solicitor lined up to begin proceedings to evict him.
I am currently on the mainland, having come here to attend some dog shows in the south of Greece with a friends. Fun was had, awards were won. Then there was an airport strike which only affected 6 airports in Greece… Paros being one of them. So a 5 day trip is now an 8 day trip.
When at home on Paros my days consisted of work, accompanied by Lainee, a swim, a rest, Netflix and the odd bit of socializing.
And mom. Taking her places, helping her with shopping. Eating the food she prepared for me when I could keep up with it. Thankfully Lainee and the neighbourhood cats helped with that.
So there you have what I did do. What I didn’t do was get online much, hence the silence. I guess I just didn’t feel like I had much to say so I didn’t say anything at all.
Hopefully now the summer season is over things will go back to normal and I can be creative (for myself!) again.
junk4joy 