On my birthday itself we cycled across the island - from Brodick to Blackwaterfoot, and visited the standing stones of Machrie Moor. It was a pretty long and tiring journey across the hills, but well worth it in the end!
Sunday, 24 June 2012
Isle of Arran
My birthday coincided nicely with our trip to Scotland (for Jane & Myles wedding in Edinburgh). Two days after the wedding we set off to the stunning Isle of Arran, just off the west coast of Scotland and very easy to get to from Glasgow.
On my birthday itself we cycled across the island - from Brodick to Blackwaterfoot, and visited the standing stones of Machrie Moor. It was a pretty long and tiring journey across the hills, but well worth it in the end!
On my birthday itself we cycled across the island - from Brodick to Blackwaterfoot, and visited the standing stones of Machrie Moor. It was a pretty long and tiring journey across the hills, but well worth it in the end!
Friday, 22 June 2012
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
What lies beneath....
So far, I've had a few little surprises whilst exploring this little chair. Bought for only a couple of quid on Ebay, I should have realised it was to good to be true!
I knew it had a bit of a crack at the back which led to a bit of a wobbly movement, but this could be fixable - what I didn't know was that the wobble was something more.
Firstly though, I had fun ripping out the old nails of the nasty black leather that someone in more recent times had slapped on, and low and behold, underneath was the original Edwardian work. Under the black leather was the original stuffing (a mixture of straw and paper - pic 1) as well as the hessian base and hand-sewn edges. This was quite an exciting find as I'd just assumed this would have already been stripped by the last upholsterer, but luckily enough they had left it there, and completely intact!
These won't be re-used though, it seems the last owner had left the poor chair in the garden and in wet conditions, so it had totally lost its oomft... and was not a comfortable thing to sit on in its current state!
After stripping everything off, I then had to take the chair legs apart and fix where the crack was at the back. It was at this point I discovered one leg was longer than the other. No joke. This was an error that would have happened when the chair was manufactured - there was absolutely no sign that the leg had been cut shorter, and everything else on the frame was completely straight and at the correct angles.
So now I am going to have to do a bit of woodwork to get the little chair sorted out... which will take me more time than I was expecting! But it all adds to the project, and I have a feeling this will be something I will feel very proud of at the end of the day.
I knew it had a bit of a crack at the back which led to a bit of a wobbly movement, but this could be fixable - what I didn't know was that the wobble was something more.
Firstly though, I had fun ripping out the old nails of the nasty black leather that someone in more recent times had slapped on, and low and behold, underneath was the original Edwardian work. Under the black leather was the original stuffing (a mixture of straw and paper - pic 1) as well as the hessian base and hand-sewn edges. This was quite an exciting find as I'd just assumed this would have already been stripped by the last upholsterer, but luckily enough they had left it there, and completely intact!
After stripping everything off, I then had to take the chair legs apart and fix where the crack was at the back. It was at this point I discovered one leg was longer than the other. No joke. This was an error that would have happened when the chair was manufactured - there was absolutely no sign that the leg had been cut shorter, and everything else on the frame was completely straight and at the correct angles.
So now I am going to have to do a bit of woodwork to get the little chair sorted out... which will take me more time than I was expecting! But it all adds to the project, and I have a feeling this will be something I will feel very proud of at the end of the day.
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