The Stone Polishing Machine part II
When my Aunty Marjie (1906-99) went back to New Zealand in the '80s, she had to clear out her flat. One of the things she came across was a box labelled "Bits of String Too Small to Use". As you can imagine, quite a bit of 'Aunt Loot' came my way. Why don't I know anyone I can pass mine on to?! Part of this bounty was a stone polishing machine, complete with instructions in her own fair hand and a supply of the necessary powders. A stone polishing machine is not very big. It's smaller than a toaster but quite heavy. All it is is a little motor with a rotating drum attached. You fill the drum with stones and abrasive powder and set it to tumble for a while. There are different grades of powder. You start rough (like sandpaper) and get finer and finer to produce a more and more lustrous shine.
The machine itself was in a beige envelope. The packets of powder and the instructions were in an old shortbread tin. They came with me everywhere, but I never looked at them or even thought about them until one day on Freecycle there was a request for - a stone polishing machine!!
Yay!! It was worth moving it with me through all those house moves! I answered the Freecycle post and arranged for this chap to come round. His 13 year-old daughter was paralysed in her legs, but loved sitting on a beach and looking at the pebbles. He thought that on days when she couldn't sit on a beach she still might enjoy playing with pebbles, polishing them and so forth.
I don't know if he was early or I was just being hopeless but I hadn't actually dug out the machine by the time he arrived. It was a very distinctive package and there was only one area of the cellar where it could be so I wasn't worried about finding it. When he came, the big beige envelope came to light pretty fast, but by then I'd actually forgotten what the other bits were in, so it was a slightly worrying hunt with him saying, "Don't worry, I'm sure I can track some down...." and helpful things like that every 2 minutes.....
When I opened the shortbread tin, I had no idea what was in it. I wasn't even sure it went with the stone polishing machine. At that point I didn't know what I was looking for at all! Finding the powders and the pencilled sheet in my aunt's writing was a wonderful moment. I was utterly perplexed though as to how come I'd never opened the box before.
I hadn't seen that bit of my aunt's writing and, as with every little memory of the dead, it seemed infinitely precious to me in that moment, just when I was on the point of giving it away. I was tempted to photocopy it, but that would've meant a trip to the shops and the man was in a hurry. I'd already held him up enough with what must've seemed to him like a hopeless rummage amongst my junk. So it's gone! I don't need a picture!
Maybe this process will be possible.......
The machine itself was in a beige envelope. The packets of powder and the instructions were in an old shortbread tin. They came with me everywhere, but I never looked at them or even thought about them until one day on Freecycle there was a request for - a stone polishing machine!!
Yay!! It was worth moving it with me through all those house moves! I answered the Freecycle post and arranged for this chap to come round. His 13 year-old daughter was paralysed in her legs, but loved sitting on a beach and looking at the pebbles. He thought that on days when she couldn't sit on a beach she still might enjoy playing with pebbles, polishing them and so forth.
I don't know if he was early or I was just being hopeless but I hadn't actually dug out the machine by the time he arrived. It was a very distinctive package and there was only one area of the cellar where it could be so I wasn't worried about finding it. When he came, the big beige envelope came to light pretty fast, but by then I'd actually forgotten what the other bits were in, so it was a slightly worrying hunt with him saying, "Don't worry, I'm sure I can track some down...." and helpful things like that every 2 minutes.....
When I opened the shortbread tin, I had no idea what was in it. I wasn't even sure it went with the stone polishing machine. At that point I didn't know what I was looking for at all! Finding the powders and the pencilled sheet in my aunt's writing was a wonderful moment. I was utterly perplexed though as to how come I'd never opened the box before.
I hadn't seen that bit of my aunt's writing and, as with every little memory of the dead, it seemed infinitely precious to me in that moment, just when I was on the point of giving it away. I was tempted to photocopy it, but that would've meant a trip to the shops and the man was in a hurry. I'd already held him up enough with what must've seemed to him like a hopeless rummage amongst my junk. So it's gone! I don't need a picture!
Maybe this process will be possible.......
posted by susanna at 3:02 AM
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