Monday 11 February 2008

Stripping today

Yes - stripping down rush chairs, prior to re-seating them. Some jobs are just too messy to do indoors, so you have to wait for decent weather and be prepared to drop everything else if the sun does come out. Someone a long time ago had covered the worn-out rush seat pads of these 3 chairs with fabric, to make them look upholstered. Presumably they couldn't find anyone at the time to re-rush them. Anyway, the fabric has done a very good job of containing every little scrap of broken, disintegrated rush, and as soon as I pulled out the nails and removed the cloth, a fine powdery dust started to escape. Once I started attacking the actual rush pad with my Stanley knife, huge clouds of what looked like smoke were released, and I had to make a quick makeshift facemask from the scarf I was wearing.
Smoky chair
Above - not smoke, but powdered rush!

Aineko followed me outside and sat patiently on the picnic bench while I worked. She's good at her job. When I'm inside, working on the computer, she comes and sits on my lap. She's a companionable cat, which is nice.

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