Well-heeled hobby for Iris

Ninety-eight-year-old Iris Bale is a bit of a magpie – her home in the Peninsula Club Village is packed with second-hand finds, especially clocks, china and artworks.

But her rare outings to local op shops these days are more likely to involve hunting for high heeled women’s shoes.

For nearly a decade, Iris has been decorating shoes with material, ribbons, beads and other items. – she has dozens of them, creating a colourful splash in her workshop.

The shoes are not designed to be worn, but as artworks, and making them gives Iris a lot of satisfaction and absorbs her totally.

“When I’m working on my shoes, my mind and thoughts are only on that,” she says.

The only other thing that comes close is gardening – something she does whenever the weather, and her health, allow.

Other village residents know about her hobby and bring her shoes to decorate.

Iris also gives the finished shoes away.

“A local vicar who lives here came and took a pair, which had Jesus on them,” she says. “With Christmas coming up, I will be giving everyone who wants one a shoe.”

Using a walker and no longer having a driver’s licence, keeps Iris around home a lot.

Although she says the fun has gone out of modern op shops, “because they are too organised and tidy”, she still visits them when she can.

“You have to leave your money behind in a second-hand shop – you always see something,” she says.