Weekend organisation plans - mending a treasure
How is it the weekend again already? [Insert crying face emoji here - haven’t figured out how to do emojis on my keyboard yet!] Seriously it seems like just yesterday that I was typing up my gardening plans, and here we are again, staring down the barrel of another two-day intermission from the weekly grind. This is our last weekend of the year before things start going bananas, so my plans are pretty mellow. There is something that has been on my list for a while though and I finally have the tools I need to tick it off the list. But first let me tell you a short story (please indulge me).
The year is 2010. Younger, slimmer, less grey versions of myself and Jamie step onto a cruise ship in Los Angeles, ready to set sail for Mexico on our honeymoon. It is our first long-haul overseas trip; we are excited, nervous and a little giddy after a two day spin around Disneyland (but that is a story for another day). The cruise ship is shiny, enormous and we feel like tiny little hobbits as we walk around exploring. Everything is larger than life, even the “welcome” pina coladas (I took two - true story!) that we soon realised were not complimentary. Haha how naive. OK this is taking too long - the point is, we were on our honeymoon and had an amazing adventure sailing from LA to Mexico and back, over seven magical nights. Our last stop was Puerto Vallarta which was magnificent, and we found ourselves in a beautiful store where all the souvenirs were certified hecho en Mexico (made in Mexico) by local artisans. It was paradise and not just because of the air conditioning - everything was gorgeous, and very, very expensive (to us). After much deliberation we settled on a plate that we both loved - it was nearly US$400 and we felt a bit sick as we handed the money over. Were we being ripped off? What if there was something even better in the next store? Most importantly, how would we get it safely home? We had baggage handlers on the cruise ship, at LAX and at Auckland Airport to consider. We packed it safely and miraculously it made it home in one piece. Fastforward…
The year is 2018. The plate has sat safely in various places around our home, surviving overzealous cleaners and curious visitors for 8 years (almost to the day actually). It has been relegated to the back of a shelf, thought to be out of reach of little 14 month old hands. Alas, it was not out of reach. By some terrible fluke, Otis somehow managed to reach to the back of the shelf and lift the plate out (without any potential obstructions halting his progress, quite a feat really) before dropping it on the floor, smashing it to smithereens. I am proud to say that my first action was to comfort Otis and reassure him that it was ok, he wasn’t in any trouble at all. It was of course my own fault for not being more careful with where I had put it.
Now what to do with a broken plate? I decided regular gluing would look a bit shit really for such a special item, and therefore not worth it. But I had seen a Japanese mending technique that I was keen to have a go at. Kintsugi (literally meaning “golden joinery”) is a Japanese art form in which broken pottery is repaired with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. I purchased a kintsugi kit and it arrived yesterday, so that is my very low-key plan for the weekend. Mend the plate. Save a treasure. Well hopefully anyway!
I will of course share my progress, possibly on Instagram stories, even though it could be something of a rollercoaster and end as a complete fail.
The point of this blog post is to illustrate that there is room in every home for precious items, and that there are some things in life worth saving. I wouldn’t go to this effort for a dinner plate or a broken glass, but a precious memento of our honeymoon that can take me right back to the warmth of Mexico and the sound of waves lapping at the cruise ship - that is 100% worth trying to repair and keep. Do you have stuff or broken items that could be cleared out to make room for your precious keepsakes? I can help you clear those out - contact me to have a chat about the clutter that is keeping you from enjoying your most cherished items.