WORK COLUMN.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVIII, Issue XIX, 8 May 1897, Page 587

WORK COLUMN.

What a dear soul the little housewife was. How she enjoyed doing these things, how she would take the hugest hammer for tin tacks, and persistently use her husband’s best chisels as screw-drivers, which is a distinct trial to the masculine mind, even in the very early days of married life. We were always in such a violent hurry, too; every venture which was undertaken in ‘ George’s ’ absence had to be finished before his return. I think she would have felt it to be almost an act of in • delicacy if any of our projects had been witnessed in an unfinished condition. I particularly remember this kind of flurry taking place during the ornamentation of a certain table which was so effective and pretty in its way that I give it here, in case any of you should like to emulate our decorative enthusiasm. It was a square, uncompromising four-legged deal table, with a lower

shelf as well as its top, It was so plain that it suggested all sorts of possibilities in the way of ornament, so varied, indeed, that it was a long time before we could make up our minds stall what particular course to pursue. However, we were chiefly guided by the materials we had at hand. ‘I have some bits of embroidery,’ she said, which were made for brackets, and I don’t like them on brackets, so they shall go round the bottom shelf,’ and they did, with a nice little fluffy frill of silk immediately below. The table legs themselves were neatly covered with mahogany-coloured velveteen and a kind of handkerchief drapery, the ends of which fell in cascades of the same material, was festooned round the top, revealing as it fell, a three-inch wide flounce of deep, butter-coloured lace. It was a pretty table, and we were immensely proud of it on its completion. On it we placed a photo frame, also of our own manufacture, combining to make quite an artistic piece of furniture.