November 2017
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| Cushion made from a small Portuguese hand-loomed rug |
At
this stage, it’s been so long since I’ve had the time or energy to put up a
post on our wanderings that I’m just going to start with the here and now; and
then slowly work back with interesting snippets when I can. Consider this the equivalent of a cleansing
ale at the end of a long and somewhat arduous year or two.
Currently
we are in the Algarve; Lagos to be exact.
Our explorations to find supermarkets in Portimao brought us on a
collision course with a couple of Chinese shops – positively stuffed to the
brim with all sorts of things, especially those you never knew you needed. I was searching for a yoga mat (impossible to
find) to cut up and stuff into my ageing settee cushions for a bit of added
‘oomph’. What I did find though, was floor mats, hand-loomed
(in Portugal, even). And I’ve found more
in Lagos - I'm just so excited!
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| Blue & White hand-loomed rug |
It
seems that these mats, made from recycled textiles and woven on looms in
villages across the country, are very much part of a Portuguese weaving
tradition. Trying to find any
information is difficult due to the fact that they are considered so very
utilitarian, but I do seem to recall finding some in a museum in Faro (Museu
Etnografico) a few years ago now. I’ll
have to dig out those photos but that’s not going to help me give these woven
mats a local name.
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| Yellow light does not show my blue & white quilt off but you get the drift... |
In
the meantime, I’ve settled on a rather nice blue & white “shaggy” number to
liven up the very dull mat we have now in our bedroom. It also goes nicely with the small blue quilt
I made for the bed this year (just showing off, of course). Another, smaller red/white & blue mat
suited the guest bedroom but I hit on the bright idea of making it into a comfy
cushion. So now I have the perfect
opportunity to poke around the shops in old Lagos a little bit more…
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| And whilst I'm shopping I can admire some fantastic street art. Did I really find a Banksy? |
