My mother had a Royal Doulton figurine called The New Bonnet of which she was extremely fond. A young woman dressed in a full pink skirt with a dainty foot peeping out from its folds, shows off her new green bonnet decked with flowers, long ribbons flowing down. She wears a plain white frilled cap with a white stole round her shoulders. She smiles with satisfaction, delighted with her new bonnet, anticipating happily the first time she would wear it.

My mum left the statue to my daughter and it travelled across the world to NZ where in time it got broken quite badly and nobody knew quite what to do. I had the strange feeling that I was somehow letting my mother down. One Friday evening I was watching The Repair Shop and marvelling as Kirsten lovingly and painstakingly pieced together the bits of a broken bowl until it was restored to its former glory.

If only there was a Kirsten in Auckland I thought who could piece together our girl with her bonnet. I searched it up and was amazed to find that not far away in Glen Innes were Wrightway Studios where exceptionally talented artists spent their days mending and repairing the broken artefacts of Aucklanders.

I took the statue in to them last October and they’ve just finished it this March. It’s been absolutely worth the wait because she looks amazing and I defy anybody to see the joins. It is without doubt an invisible mend and I am full of admiration for those gifted people with their exceptional skills. In a world full of so much destruction, it’s wonderful to have a place dedicated to repair and renewal. And now I no longer feel that I’m somehow letting my mother down.