Tapete da casca do milho

My two darling neighbours had passed the house and told Nath that they were going up to gather husks from the corn in order to make doormats. (These husks were from last year and now dry and ready to use) I could not miss out on this opportunity, to take some pictures and get involved.

I love that these two woman at 80 years of age still have a purpose in life, they never sit still. Even though they battle to walk without their sticks, it does not mean they sit back and wait. Life goes on......

Nothing goes to waste, every part of the corn is used. The corn itself is removed from the husks and then that is ground into different textures according to their use. Some going into making bread, others for the chickens, pigs too want their share. Then comes the husks - this is what we worked on today, we removed the inner leaves that are lighter and cleaner and the remaining outer husks will be fed to the cows. The empty cobs once dry, are also used to start a fire or as extra fuel for the fire. Don´t you just love it - I think this is all so fantabulous.

Maria will now wash the leaves and put them out on the eira to dry. Then the fun begins, when we transform the leaves into doormats. Nature works its magic to perfection. These natural mats will last exactly a year until the next season and by this time they will be looking a little tired and scruffy. The cycle continues these mats will then be placed on the compost.

From what Maria has told me there use to be many more sheep on the island and they would take the fleece from beginning to end - meaning a knitted garment. Strangely this is now viewed as a lot of work and they would rather go down to the Chinese shop and buy a synthetic jersey. This makes me sad as the skills for this process will die out shortly. Most of the young ones have no desire to do anything their parents or grandparents did before.