kangarooters

I raced out to the get the paper and bread this morning. Yep, it is Saturday again and being the last Saturday of January means the end of the Summer Hols. From here on in there is no reason for lagging about, complaining of 'January-itis' and making excuses for still being in holiday mode. This comes with the 'argh I've wasted a month' feeling of course. 

I'm angry with Australia Day (not in my usual anti-flag waving way) but that everything is open today, the actual Australia Day, and then we have a holiday on Monday in lieu of. So Melbourne goes about its usual business and then gets a day off that means nothing to any of us. We really don't know how to do holidays properly in Australia- which I quite glad of really, we are so half-arsed and it amuses me. By the way the Cottage is open today and closed on Monday...... the irony of it.....

So some work got done this week. Handmade skipping ropes with handles made from vintage silk bobbins for Lyon, some new wax print dresses based on the chemise style we have done variations of in the past and the espadrille stripe cushions and purses, all of which I am trying to get in the shop today. And Ann's fabulous tea cosies covered in vegetables, perfect for a harvest festival! And the new string and twine! Perhaps it was a busy week, for stock in not sales going out! Retail, thy art a bitch!

Every year we troop up to Fryerstown for the antique fair (more trash and treasure with antique fair prices). We went yesterday, which wasn't really the first day this year, but there is no way on earth that I would set foot there on the weekend. Not all the stalls were set up and sadly the CFA hadn't been allowed to do their sausage sizzle yesterday. I think I am a bit over it all and Jen and I both got exasperated by stallholders silly claims. I had one weird encounter whilst buying clamps to hold Clarence the Brown Paper Dispenser on the counter. I had paid for the clamps and had them in my hand and the stallholder was stroking them saying 'oh you got the brass one, it's lovely'. Jen witnessed him doing a similar thing with another customer and we came to the conclusion he is perhaps a little too attached to his tools..... I also bought a tapestry and was told the frame 'was done at FrameRite you know, worth $300 you know', I toyed with the idea of offering to rip the tapestry out and he could have the frame back. The 'carni folk of Fryerstown' (as we like to call them) always have us in fits of laughter, some of them are lovely and some of them just plain weird!

 And in celebration of Australia Day here's a lovely plate I wish in hindsight I had bought.