Nope, Harriet, can't seem to "grow" in that area!
Re: interesting buttons...I am not a seamstress, but would not be above sewing on a few ordinary buttons if I wanted to save the buttons from an item to be donated. I do have a button jar and once I sewed my odd collection of buttons on a kitchen curtain. That was cute and I used it for a long time, like maybe a decade or so!
Have sandals that I love, but the heels are worn down. Does anyone repair shoes anymore? I guess I'll drop them in the shoe recycle bin.