Ahh, sparkles...I am always on the look out for extra sparkles for my chandeliers but if and when I ever find some they are quite expensive or I can only find one or two droplets. Oh the heartbreak. Then, my friends, around my birthday at the end of November I discovered the most wonderful, wonderful shop in Exeter called Otto.
Yes, this shop has been there for a long, long time and people have said to me "What, you didn't know about it - it's so you!??" and "I can't believe you've never been , it's right up your street."..blah blah blah...
Well, I went.
Oh such treasures. I also found a large glass jar of droplets. Heart in mouth I asked how much they were, expecting anything from £1 to £5 each only to be told they were 50p. Ooh. Not having much money on me I picked out 4 and went up to the counter to pay. The owner who I had been chatting with for sometime (the sweetest American lady) then told me that I may have them as a 'welcome to Otto' gift as it was my first visit. Such kindness.
I then spent the next few weeks kicking myself for not going back later that day and buying more.
Tom, Lucy, Alice and Matthew went up to Exeter between Christmas and New Year and I asked (read begged) them to go and see if they could buy me some more. Surely they would still be there. "Buy as many as you can!" I whispered to Lucy and I will pay you back (yes my daughter has 3 jobs and has more money than me!) She came home with the above brown paper bag with 25!! Yes that was Twenty Five. Most of the jar had been sold (darn it for not going back that day) and that lovely owner (I might even marry her) said to Lucy that she may as well have all the rest for £5! Some of them needed fixing but I still loved them.
Holy Moly I have loved that brown paper bag of five pounds worth of glass. It has just been sitting by my corner for a while so I could just peep into it, smile and imagine what my chandeliers will look like. Then they were all lovingly washed; new wire added where necessary and today was the day they were put on the downstairs chandelier by the front door.
Not such an easy job on the old arms I can tell you.
Mmm it could be more iridescent - I'll have to work on that. Tomorrow it's the one upstairs turn to have it's adornments. Little things hey?
