Photo: Chris Grayson
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This huge bell from the Presentation Convent sits in its alcove in the yard beside St. Mary’s. The Virgina Creeper that surrounds it is bare and creepy looking in Winter.
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A Conundrum
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A New Sign
Rasa’s popular nail studio has an elaborate new sign.
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An Old Craft
I bought the below d’oiley in Vincent’s charity shop. You have to be close to my age to remember these and to appreciate the hard work that went into making them.
The first time I saw one of these was in a convent parlour. The nuns had a period of recreation in the evenings when they sat around reading or doing craftwork. Pieces like these were often what they produced.
There was much skill involved in crocheting these centrepieces. Usually a cut glass bowl sat in the middle and the “swans” surrounded it.
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An Old Schoolbook
Recently a friend gifted me this old treasure. I looked it up online and while it wasn’t possible to put a year on it I’d say it dates from the 1940s or 50s.
It seems to belong to a series of readers, each named after a saint. I’ll give you a few sample pages next week, but the style of writing seems to be very preachy and aimed more at the teacher than the young reader. Thank God schoolbooks have come a long way since.
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A Fact
Rubik, who invented the puzzle cube that bears his name, once confessed that after he invented it it took a month before he could solve it a second time.
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