The zietgeist of the common potato .

ME: " I am sitting here in the middle of this potato field collecting potatoes that the farmer has missed . I rub off the worst of the mud and hold up the hem of my hessian dress to collect enough for us to eat today . The dress itself is made from a potato sack " .

YOU: " What ? " .

ME: " Its cold out here and my makeshift shoes are oozing water " .

YOU: "Now you have overcooked it " . "You were doing OK until we got to the potato sack but you totally blew it with the shoes ". "Unless makeshift shoes are part of the fashion zietgeist on the street at the moment there's not a chance in hell that ....

ME: "Alright , alright perhaps I'm not actually in a potato field at the moment ".

YOU: "What's this all about " .

ME: "Simplicity and a return to basic values " . "It's about how classic design is often simple design : a Zippo lighter , a Bic biro , a nineteen twenties Singer sewing machine " .

YOU: "Ah" . "Let me stop you there , I know what this is about " .

ME: "Oh ".

YOU: Yes , I've heard you bang on about classic design before but the sewing machine is a new one " . " Am I anywhere close ? "

ME:  " NO ! " " Well yes actually " .

YOU: "Go on then  run it past me " .

ME: " Well I wrote about how we were cooking and eating all our meals at home , that I was reading more and that I was doing more craft projects " . "It's sort of led on from there " .

YOU:  " And ? "

ME: " I 'd like to get an allotment and grow my own veg and I'd like to alter , repair and make clothes to my own design " .

YOU: " And have you done anything about this ?"

ME: " Yep , I've bought a nineteen twenties singer sewing machine " .

YOU: " Manual " ,

ME: "YES and it's beautiful . " It came yesterday , it's cast iron and painted black and gold " . " It has all the original gadgets and instruction book and a heavy wooden case like an old fashioned attache case " ." I've used one before ". " It feels like a real possession as few things that I've owned before . It has real heft . Genuine weight . It  is heavy but it is also heavy with potential and my intent . I can make things precisely to my specifications and my own style . There will be a sense of achievement and something to put on my back against the cold " .

YOU: " Oh God , we're not going back to the potato field are we ? "

ME: "No " . " It could easily be a cheeky little sundress , in fact that is probably a good simple way to start " .

YOU: " Well we await developments " .

ME: " Paper patterns , potatoes all the essence of simplicity in their way ......

YOU: "Enough ! " "Just let me know how you get on and leave out any twaddle about vegetables , OK ? "

ME: " Fair enough ".