The WENDY HUT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 23 May 1936, Page 10

The WENDY HUT

LETTER FROM BILLIOTS LEARN TO SWIM It seems a long time since I wrote to von, (.'inn, so I decided to-dil\ to go quietly to 111 v own little lmt, the \ illakins and do a bit of typing. Yes, ! can use a typewriter now, although if experts were to see me at it 1 suppose they would call mine a pretty poor performance. Sort of kit teii-on-1 lie-keys or rat -on-hot-bricks business, you know not at all smooth and flowing as 1 am told good typewriting should lie. However, perhaps I will improve in time. Xow let's see what news I have to interest von. hirst, though, tr\ to think this out: A water lily was planted in the middle of a lake. It grew so quickly that it doubled its size every day and on the thirtieth day it completely covered the lake. How much of the lake did it cover on the twenty-ninth day? It's quite simple, really, but 1 asked Wendy and Tink and they took a long time to figure it out. Talking of lakes, you know we have in the Hut garden a lake, or rather a glorified pond, which we use as a swimming pool? Well. Wendv is getting it cleared up and made ready ! for a visitor who is coming soon to . stay with her. The visitor is a very little one—a girl of six or seven years old —but the things she can do are marvellous. Site can float oil the water, swim in it. and swim under it. She can dive down and piclf: up a stone from the bottom —in fact she can do ’most anything'. Her mother says she never tried to coax the baby into the water, dust took her to it and let her enjoy dabbling about in it on line, warm days. Gradually she became accustomed to ii and then, quite naturally, began to do swimming movements something like a little frog. Not instil she was almost as much at home in the water as on land did the wise mother let her have lessons —just to put her on the right lines to become a good swimmer —and now she is quite a little champion. .] hope you all swim? We talked a. good deal about ii a little time ago, 1 know, but L want you to understand what a very useful accomplishment it is, because you never know when it will be invaluable, even to the point, may be, of saving lite. Xow I have used up all the space there is, and must stop. All the best, Hillikins. PAST AND PRESENT STORIES THE DISTAFF SIDE There was a. strong smell of raw wool in village and castle yard when men and boys washed and prepared the fleeces The girls looked on and told one another that King Edward the Elder had commanded his daughters to be taught the use of the distaff, because no maiden was fit to marry till she could spin. The distaff was the staff on which wool and flax were fastened; and it was an ancient word meaning rock. “At my wedding T shall carry a distaff, after tile fashion of the Roman brides,” nodded one of the girls. “It is the custom in my family.” “I be no descendant of the Romans,” laughed another. “I shall carry grains of wheat at my wedding as a sign of plenty.” And so the years went on, and when Alfred tiie Great made liis will he called the female side of his family the spindle, or distaff side, in order

to distinguish it from tlie male side. By now all maidens could spin and this had become their special duty. Tne daughters of kings and the daughters of the poor were united in the great task of spinning, and no maiden was considered lit to be married until she could spin a set of linen—for herself and good line cloth for her husband’s coat.

Indeed, this spinning business became so essential a part of the life of girls and women that their armorial hearings—tlie emblems of the families to which they belonged—were not painted on a sliiclu as were those of tlie men, but on a spindle, called a lozenge. As the years passed, words changed to meet the new fashions. Young maidens were called spinners, or spinsters, and when they married they took the name of wife, which came from an old Anglo-Saxon word wvfan, to weave. To-day machines do our spinning and weaving for us, but those two words, spinster and wife, have never changed, and still remind us of the days when spinning was the work of women. TINKITES* TOYSHOP SWING FOR THE DOLLS’ HOUSE GARDEN Only a few short lengths of stripwood and a few odd pieces of fretwood are required to make this model swing. Make tlie base (A) from a piece of fretwood and mark the positions of Hie two slots for the uprights. The slots go right through the wood and should he made with a small chisel after two holes have been bored for each with a three-sixteenths bit. To the ends of the base screw from underneath two supporting strips 8.8. Cut the strips, six inches long, from threequarter inch by one-quarter inch stripwood. Tlie two uprights are ten incites long, and the lower ends are glued in the

slots in the base. The top part, is a piece oi three-quarter inch by one- . qua! ter inch wood, seven inches long. It is fixed to the uprights by two j screws, as indicated in the diagram. I Cut the two corner brackets for the top of the swing from quarter-! inch wood, to the sizes given at D, and glue and screw them in place. To support the uprights tin the base, four more brackets will be required, two cut to the sizes given at E, and two to tile shape and sizes given at F. The

first diagram clearly shows the positions of these brackets, which must be glued and screwed to the uprights, and also to the base from underneath. q’o make the seat, cut three pieces of one-eighth inch wood to the sizes given in tbe centre diagrams and round the corners of the back and side pieces, as shown. Glue and nail the parts together, as indicated in the first diagram, and make two small holes in each side for the ends of the thin cord from which the seat is suspended. Tbe top ends of the cords are attached to small wire books which hang from little screw eyes driven into the cross bar C. To prevent the doll from falling out of the swing, fix a thin strip of wood across the front of the scat with two nne wire nails. The finished swing can be painted with enamel, In two or three different colours. —The llut Carpenter. EMBROIDERED BOOK CARRIER This week’s lesson is on making a decorated book carrier. The average book measures 8 inches long, 3 inches wide and 2 inches thick,

and we will suppose that those for which you are making the carrier are of this size. If you want it for larger or smaller volumes, you can alter the measurements accordingly. Take a piece of crash, !) inches long aiul 17 inches wide. The front of the carrier is .decorated before it is made up. To find out where to arrange the decoration, measure 3 inches away from one short side and pull out one thread. Now measure 4,] inches away from the first drawn thread and pull out; another. Pull out two more threads at right angles to the first one, one inch away from tlie long sides of the crash. This gives you a drawn thread panel; 7 inches wide and 4J inches deep. i Outline this panel with stem-stiteh-ing in bright green wool. Lay a cup, measuring about 3 inches across, in the middle of the panel and pencil round. Now lay a sixpence on this circle and pencil round. Repeat about 11 times, grouping tiie tiny circles something like those shown "in the sketch. Work. j them in buttonhole stitch with yefiotv wool and give each an orange satin stitch centre. Work the rest of the big circle with green stem stitch, then add pairs of daisy loop leaves on either side, to complete the wreath. Draw your initial in the centre of the wreath and work it in blue wool satin stitch. Finally work a single flower, the outline made by pencilling round a six-. I pence, in each of the four corners of the panel. ! Press tlie embroidery under a damp doth with a hot iron, then make up the. cover on the wrong side. Fold over a flap at either end of the crash, 21 inches deep, and stitch along the top and bottom. Turn to the right

hide, hem the extra half-inch along the top and bottom edges of the carrier on to the wrong side, and press. _ Make two handles from 12 inch lengths of blue blazer braid, blanket stitched with bright green wool, and sew, one to each flap at the points marked with crosses in the diagtam. Wendy’s Dressmaker: « THE ISLAND OF CHAPELS One of the most historic islands in the world is Patmos in the Aegean Sea. It is about ten miles long and six miles wide in’tlie widest part, yet there are over three hundred chapels on it. Indeed, it is impossible to walk very far. or to look in any direction from any point, without seeing a chapel. Patinos is volcanic, bare and rocky,

and rises to a height of 800 feet. The harbour of Seala, where lies the port of the same name, almost divides the island in two, only a narrow isthmus being left. Above the port is the famous Monastery of St. John, which was founded by St. Christodulus in the eleventh century. It is more like a fortress than anything else and the embalmed body of its founder is in a chapel of the Church. It is said that Patmos was the place of banishment of St. John the Evangelist and a grotto is still shown where, it is said, this holy man received the heavenly vision. The grotto is reached through another chapel which is dedicated to St. Anne. The population of Seala is about 4000, and the houses are better built than those on other islands. Once there was a fine library, at the Monastery, containing something like a thousand books but this number hag, now been reduced to two hundred. At one time pirates used Patmos as their headquarters and the islanders tell many strange and terrible stories of the doings of those bad men.

TINK’S CROSS-WORD PUZZLE Solution to last week’s puzzle: — ACROSS 1. You often write with this. (Pencil). (>. Belonging to us. (Our). 7. Because. (As). | 8. Part, of 1 verb “to be.” (Am). 10. Ties together (Binds). 12. Short for “Edward.” (Ted). 14. You have to do this at school. r ■ (Sum). 15, Kindled. . (Lit). 17. Point —pit back. (Tip).. 19. This day. (Today). 21. Preposition. (To). 22. Upom. (On). 23. We all like a cup of this. (Tea). 25. It goes' on"pies. (Pastry). DOWN 1. Kind of fuel which might be “tape.” (Peat). 2. Negative word. (No). 3. A young fox. (Cub). 4. Flower —also a girl’s name. (Iris). 5. Animal. (Ass). 7. Let in. " (Admit). 9. This fruit easily, changes to lemon. (Melon). 11. It has a kernel. (Nut). 13. Part of verb “to do.” (Did). 10. How baby says “good-bye.” (Ta-ta). 18. A bunch of flowers, (Posy). 19. Short for “Thomas.” (Tom), 20. Affirmative word, l: (Yes). 24. Preposition. (At). Another with slightly different clues: — J ACROSS 1. One does this in arithmetic —they are foreign noblemen, too. 5. Used when skipping. 7. “So try” to make it a tale. -11. Part of verb “to be.” 12. Loyal. . *. 13. Black substance. 14. We.all do at meal times. 15. Rodents. 1(1. Short for “editor.” 17. Soldiers are—or. it may be a “dream.” ;• ' IS. Another word for 12 across. 20. One-does at night. DOWN 2. Endeavour, 3. Therefore. 4. Reposed. 6. A portion. 7. Guides. 8. Business. 9. Not at home. 10. About. 13. James in short. 15. Mister in short. 17. Every one. 19. Because.