Fabric artiste

For a few weeks now I've had my eye on a some skirts made by a local lady and sold at the Saturday market. Each time I've been down there though I've been busy and not really had the time to spend trying on or choosing a design (they're all individually made and unique). I had however, managed to get her business card and contact details . . .

. . . so today I called her up and arranged to go up to her house (where she works from), take my time, try on those I liked and decide whether I liked them enough to buy one.

I did (surprise surprise!)

Only thing was, it didn't fit quite right. No problems - R fitted it for me, pinned the required alterations in place then set to the sewing machine to work her magic.

Et voila - 20 minutes later - and a few photos - I had a perfectly fitting one-off skirt to add to my wardrobe!

And this is R - the fabric magician and wonder woman at work doing the alterations. It's nice to know old fashioned values still exist.

In other news - I have been rushing to get together a resource consent to replace my (perfectly good, functional, efficient and aesthetically pleasing) fireplace with a council approved clean air burning space heater. I live in an old colonial cottage that is over 130 years old so am never going to contemplate putting in anything other than something that suits the era and style of the house. (I had this fire put in to improve the efficiency of the old open fire about 15 years ago and agonised for quite some time about finding the right fire to balance aesthetics and functionality)

Long story short - got to the council today armed with all the necessary paperwork and ready to hand over the $200 required by council to lodge the application when I was told that my current fire (the perfectly good, functional, efficient and aesthetically pleasing one that I am very attached to!) has another 12 months before it must be replaced. Woo hoo!!! It may only be one more winter but it's a stay of execution I'm very happy with!

So all in all - skirt + fire + lunch with friends = a very good day :)