MY HOLIDAY HOBBY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22332, 1 February 1936, Page 4 (Supplement)

MY HOLIDAY HOBBY

KATHLEEN ODEY (Honours Member), "Whakamarama, Tauranga. During these holidays, my spare moments have been spent on a very interesting hobby, one of which I am sure I shall never tire, lhis is the art of preserving, and keeping as near to Nature as possible, the lovely leaves and berries, etc., that one finds on rambles by beach and countryside. Every minute I have spent on this pastime has been filled with delight and interest. One of the most successful and prettiest attempts was that ot the copper beech, which retains its lovely colouring even after preservation For these I obtained a sixpenny bottle ot glycerine from the chemist and put it into a bowl with about one and a hair cups of luke-warm water. Care must be taken when arranging the sprays of leaves not to bruise or crush them as they will wither. When choosing the sprays from the tree in the first place, pick only those that are perfectly formed and have just reached their full maturity. I left mine in the above mixture for a little over a week until the solution had nearly disappeared. . After lifting them carefully out, lay them aside to dry for one day, then carefully seal the ends up to exclude the air. During the process the leaves change slightly in colour, but that is the effect of the glycerine. Another plant that gives us lovely leaves in the late autumn is the common blackberry, and these respond to the same treatment as the beech, and they repay us for the trouble we take as they are charming arranged either by themselves, or with some vivid scarlet flowers. Another favourite is the snowball tree, which flaunts her gay bronze and red leaves in autumn. These are beautiful in a large bowl, with those lovely russet cbysanthemums, which bloom when the leaves* are at their best. ' When at tho Mount one day I picked a bunch of those funny little fluffyheaded grasses that grow in the sand. These I am going to clip in a solution of vivid orange dye, and then when tlioy are dry, arrange them with my copper beech in a tall vase. After wo have collected our leaves and grasses our thoughts will naturally turn to the type of vase to use. May I add a word of warning ? Never put your treasures in short vases, but keep mainly to tall vases or bowls. If at all possible, set ;off their lovliness in brass ot copper for this surpasses even the most priceless china. A lovely sight I saw one day was a largo gleaming copper bowl, filled with loaves and sprays of the rod English honeysuckle. Another was that of a plain copper jug in which were arranged-several heads of raupu from the swamp, and a few sprays of berries. The effect was charming in its simplicity. One of the pitfalls to avoid in arranging tho leaves, etc., is never, never put artificial flowers with them, however scarce the other ones may. be. There is so much pleasuro to bo had from this hobby that I am going to set about experimenting with the garden flowers and I hope I will he successful I hope others may have the same joy in this pastime as I have.