Hairballs and projectile vomit.
The daily rewards of a multi-cat home!
Years ago, when I moved into the big house outside Seattle, I purchased some colourful rugs through Novica.
The idea of purchasing direct from the artisan appealed to me. The prices were very reasonable and there was a great selection to choose from.
The rugs I selected were hand knotted wool dhurrie rugs from India.
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My shipment arrived promptly and each rug had a note attached from the artisan.
Novica is the sort of online store I could become addicted to and in a weak moment I purchased other rugs, for decorative purposes.
This I rationalised by telling myself I was supporting struggling artists.
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The decorative rugs were from somewhere in South America. Peru, perhaps.
Pot holders more recent purchases from our very own Maria Wulf:
fullmoonfiberart.com
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This little rug has been with me for some 40 years, purchased on a trip to Tunisia.
It’s as well we had limited baggage capacity as the souks were filled with interesting and attractive crafts.
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It’s not that I’m a great shopper.
It’s that I get very enthusiastic when I see things I like.
My other Tunisian rug and a plate from Turkey, perhaps. (It was a gift)
The black plate is Burmese lacquer-ware.
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Nabeul ceramics. Still intact after all these years and miles.
Market places may be the best place to meet regular people. With a single surprising exception, I never met anyone who was unfriendly, even when I was clearly not intending to buy from them.
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The strange exception was a woman who came up to me in a Saigon market, scratched my arm and melted into the crowd. No words were said and there was no wound. It was just odd.
Also from Novica the elephant batik from Indonesia. Thailand, possibly.
I adore elephants.
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At the time of my Novica shopping spree, I was already a slave to several cats, but the fosters all lived downstairs in their own cat-proof (in theory) suite, so the rugs remained, if not pristine, at least in decent shape.
Ten years later came the great consolidation. My rugs made great protective wrapping for pictures.
After 5 additional years of heavy cat traffic, these rugs still look respectable which is quite astonishing, really.
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Those rugs may represent my best-ever investment!
These days I no longer exchange gifts, so I have no occasion to browse through the vast Novica inventory but having mentioned it, today I did.
There are literally thousands of items, such as this dog made in Kenya from re-cycled flip-flops. It sells for $49.
(There is a cat too)
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What about a pretty lacquer-ware box from Kashmir? for $24.
Whatever the artist gets, it is obviously significantly less than $24.
There are lots of items made from re-cycled parts. It is a joy to see that some people take seriously the predicament our planet is facing.
This is such a fun catalogue. I like to chose a country and scroll through it.
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Or a particular item: Bracelets
There are hundreds in a large range of prices. This one comes from Guatemala.
Handmade re-cycled paper and beads.
All of this work: $24
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As usual, I’ve been hi-jacked by a subject I hadn’t even thought of when I started.
Dee Dee will criticise me harshly for not posting the re-cycled flip-flop cat.
Actually, I didn’t think it worked as well as the dog. At least that is my defense.
Here’s a panda instead.
Thank you, Carolyn, for such an interesting topic – Rugs! All very beautiful and it was a good choice to buy them. I just hope the cats appreciate them.
Joanna
A fascinating site!
I love these rugs. They are beautiful, good quality and handmade, which I like the most. Beautiful!
O-oh, Lily and His Nibbs might argue about whose catnip it is! Rugs that still look this good after all these years were definitely a good investment – love them all! Novica? Now I’m definitely going to check it out 😉.
The rugs are all lovely, and I can see why you treasure them.
Perhaps the woman who scratched you in Saigon thought you were American? She may well have had a grudge against that country.
Best wishes, Pete.
Possibly. English speakers were assumed to be American. But the French had not been popular either. Colonials. Who could blame them for their feelings. Vietnamese women were tough, though. When they had a disagreement the claws came out and it got physical. I admire many things about the Vietnamese but I much preferred being in Cambodia.
I’ve never heard of Novica, but when I get back to Oz in 2025, I’ll look it up as I love rugs and have none. Yours are all really lovely, Carolyn.