18th October 2024
Like all treasure some comes easily and without baggage…. Washed up on the beach or in the garden like our wonderful coral doorstop. Some is hidden … you don’t realise it’s treasure at first. Other treasure you need to work for like it’s saying “I could be wonderful but I have issues”. We have found all sorts.
The beautiful original coral stone walls of the house have delivered, with coral fossils popping up in unexpected places. Barbados is a coral island and these old properties were constructed of the material they had available. You can see wonderful examples of huge fossilised coral reefs in the cliff walls of gullies like the Whim in St Peter and beaches like Bottom Bay, St Philip … just down the road from us. Here are smaller examples in our walls … treasure.
From one ancient natural product to another … wood. We are quite needy in the decent furniture department so it was with fingers, toes and everything else crossed, that we inspected these antique chairs found upstairs in the master bedroom … will there be holes, cracks, splinters or God forbid termites? Whoo hoo they are in good nick. A dust and an oil and they really are stunning .. instant treasure indeed. They are now in pride of place downstairs.
From coral to wood to clay. The Earthworks pottery studio is situated about halfway up the island. A visit to the actual studio is well worth a visit. It’s an actual working studio with racks and racks of stuff some of it covered in dust… it’s like a treasure hunt. The pottery is beautiful, each piece a one off, they are much sought after and treasured. In fact we have many of their pieces at home, for example we were given their coffee cups as an engagement present.
https://www.earthworks-pottery.com/
Many properties in Barbados have handcrafted ceramic house nameplates as indeed does Pollards Mill. Earthworks also produces stunning housewares. So we were thrilled to find two wonderful and highly individual hand wash basins in the house … however this treasure came with a major caveat …. they both have issues .. thankfully not with the basins themselves but their surroundings… check out this car crash …
You gotta laugh. Even the plumber chuckled as he rubbed his hands … What a total botch … wrong in so many ways. So we have some remedial work to make that sink shine ….
This one is not too bad in comparison … just a minor taste clash …busy busy busy…
Last but not least and not a natural thing, very much man made is our very plain looking, unpromising, slightly tired, divan based bed. Initially it did not look up to the job. We have both always fancied a four poster … the bedroom sort of calls for one …. Maybe in time when the property has started earning some money, we will treat ourselves. In the meantime under the unassuming appearance, it’s a real treasure, it’s massive, so very comfortable, made even better by our pillows from home. We fall into it, exhausted and sleep so well.
So toodle pip, that’s enough treasure hunting. We WILL make our treasure shine… all of it … one step at a time.
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