A red hat

 

Julia and I went searching for veranda chairs for our new house in Woodstock.  We stumbled across this fabulous building called the African Co-op that was full of lovely stuff, locally made.  Lots of quirky ideas, pencil cases made out of Lays crisp bags that had been recycled and laminated with plastic – big globe lights made up of the colourful recycling of bright plastic containers – greens, blues, pinks and yellows.  There were vintage sections within the store selling lovely jewellery and quirky clothing.  In one of the stops we found a gorgeous red felt hat…I put it on Julia's head and simply knew it must be hers, but left it there…we kept looking in other places and found a white lacy skirt that she loved but that was too big – I could have easily taken in the elastic for her but also knew that she would be getting something similar at xmas from me – a white lacy dress I am jazzing up with sequins and beads to present with fairy wings as a fairy outfit.

So I asked her – if you could choose – would you have the red hat or the skirt….immediately without hesitation her face lit up and she said the red hat!  So we went back to the stall and picked it up and i put it on her head – she caught a ladies eye who pointed her out to her friend and said to me – she is so cute in that.  She turned out to be the owner of that particular stall – I asked if it was a vintage piece and she said that the hat wasn't she’d bought it for herself but didn’t feel it had suited her in the end – I love it – it reminds me of a pair of beautiful grey woollen felt slippers that had a ladybird on them when she was little!  It was just one of those special mother daughter days – we shared a giggle between ourselves with the hat on her head as we left the store!

And in case you are wondering why she is crossing her arms – those are her angel wings….its a Waldorf thing!  She got the most exquisite report today – not a proper mainstream one – it included a story written for Julia and us to read to her that Delia made up and encapsulated Julia's qualities, then a separate letter just for Nev and I…. on leaving school today Delia said the most beautiful thing to us – she said thank you for giving me such a special gift this year!…and she meant Julia.

I will scan the story and send it to you xo