Sometimes in your life there are things that you have around you that are precious.
They may not be financially valuable but they are things that define your space or make you feel whole. For Daisy (and me) this thing is the daisy shaped chimney top. She has a grass green roof and a green chimney and on top of this chimney sits a metal daisy. Its purpose is to keep the rain out of the chimney and stop the stove from corroding – but much more than this, it is the icing on the cake, the final decoration – and the crown which makes Daisy, Daisy.
The original Daisy was quite flimsy and frail, and it didn’t last very long. But the idea had taken root.
When the original daisy fell apart I realised that Daisy the boat was completely undressed and naked without it. It needed a special kind of person to make a new one. The second Daisy was created by The Artist. And it was beautiful. Solid and made to last.
I loved this daisy. And so did Daisy the boat. She was much admired by passers by and other boaters. Daisy the boat is unique and special to me but became noteworthy with her lovely accessory. She was even captured in a special painting which was made of her.
In November 2020 I took Daisy to Northampton Marina as I wanted to be in Northampton to be closer to leather suppliers. Unfortunately, my plans had to change at the last minute as lockdown intervened. I left Daisy boat in the marina proudly displaying her Daisy chimney.
When I returned a few months later I was absolutely gutted (this is an understatement) to find that Daisy was missing her daisy.
A few theories were put forward At that time about the daisy blowing off into the water in the marina. It was difficult by this stage to work out exactly what might have happened to the chimney daisy. Suffice it to say that Daisy left the marina and the daisy chimney top is still missing to this day.
I don’t often place so much emotion into physical things. But with this loss, I felt bereft.
Finally, after months of having a rather ugly pyrex pot on the chimney to stop rain coming in, and on my way to the Thames for the summer, I came across The Artist as I passed through Lower Heyford. He was also very upset to hear about the missing daisy.
The Artist told me he was retired from making special commissions but, as he understood how much the daisy meant to me, he very, very kindly agreed to make me a replacement daisy.
I am extremely grateful to The Artist for doing this for me. Daisy boat now has a new daisy chimney and it is just as fine and beautiful as the old one. Daisy the boat is complete again and resplendent in her new daisy crown.
This time it is secured in place with a padlock.
I don’t know if we will ever know what happened to the old daisy… it is a mystery I would love to solve. I hold out hope that it will return to me one day.
Great to know there is an alternative way to survive the current world tragedy! Judith