Where I Hang My Hat

You remember last year we visited the wilderness of the World Heritage listed area on the west coast (post here). While in Strahan we bought some Huon pine blocks, wood shavings and a couple of plank pieces. For the rest of our journey they filled the car with their rich heady smell. 

I have used the shavings as a natural insect repellent in the hens nesting boxes and also in wardrobe sachets to protect our clothing and linens. Some of the blocks we gifted to a wood working friend and here as you can see, is what we intended the rough cut planks for.

Over the years we have collected hooks, knobs and all sorts of bits and bobs. You never know when something is going to come in handy and I can't bring myself to just throw things on the scrap heap especially when I think about it's provenance. 

Somebody kissed their wife goodbye one morning back in 1880 and went to the foundry and spent a cold winters day making the small ornate window furniture. He cast it and then it was mounted onto the fixing plate with a sturdy hinge. A builder sourced it from the foundry and fitted it to a little home in South Launceston where it hung quietly for 100 years watching generations come and go and renovations all around periodically. In those days it hung up the other way, the hinge allowing it to fall flat and snug against the window until someone inserted their forefinger into the perfectly shaped and fashioned groove under the furled leaf shape to lift the window.During one of those renovations it was finally removed and for 30 years it sat heavy, dull and dirty in a box till it found it's rightful place to shine again.

Do I wax to lyrical, do I place too much importance? I don't know, just seems to me that in a world where giant behemoths of trucks scoop tonnes of ore from the ground in a single swipe and hundreds of door handles are cheaply cast in their thousands that we should do some homage to sweat, toil and craftsmanship of yesteryear because we are in danger of becoming very blasé and casual and it is this state of mind that allows us to become the "throw away society"

The timber has been simply coated with bees wax to bring out the golden honey colour. The assorted fittings were polished and buffed and appreciated for their unique qualities. It's not everyone's style and it's a bit "rustic" but to me it tells a thousand stories and memories of our holiday is just one of them....