My tin sign says 'today' today

Week 1.  Post market recovery.  

Somewhere between breakfast and morning tea on day 1- hey, how about participating in a vintage and handmade market?  Frantic stocktake.  Finds stuff everywhere, even some unmounted drawings. Stuff in drawers, behind other things. In two weeks. Yeah, why not?

Note to self: think these things through.

Of course, being the maker and acquirer that I am, it doesn't take deep excavation to find more stock. 

So today was spent finding and making, framing and mounting prints and drawings.  With breaks for walking the hound and drinking tea on the veranda - although I actually gave up on the last cup because the ever-blasting wind blew leaves into my cup and had a good shot at blowing the biscuit off my plate.

Some steampunk airships are midway done.  More mounted chessmen - including one who shall be named 'chuck' because his base is partially the chuck from a drill which I found, with several other exciting bits, at the local salvage yard.(Along with a tin sign which says, rather concisely 'today'.)

There's considerable progress on a model of a boy in a boat, however it's proving quite complex and unlikely to be finished in time.  After last weekend my lounge room is bereft of adornment (to a point) and that one may stay with me for a while before I let it go.

In between: put more soil on the potatoes; planted more lettuces and Chandler strawberries; noted that the never-fail parsnips are living up to their name; idly pondered how one human being will possibly be able to consume that much rhubarb; basked in the (temporarily) tidy and comparatively minimalist lounge room; gave the Dyson (garage sale, of course) some new filters before a thorough workout; played with the puppy; slept late a couple of times; cruised the op shops, garage sales, tip shop and salvage yard; and continued to wonder why those men from the gas company are all over town digging holes in footpaths and verges, looking thoughtfully at them and then filling them in.

One could be forgiven for thinking that they don't know where anything is, but I was a bit worried when they dug the same hole in the neighbour's verge twice, two weeks apart.  What could have changed?  Or could they not recall what they saw the first time, what with all the excitement and all. Those pipes can be tricky if you don't keep an eye on them.

Now I have 30 Bad Alice bags to fold, label, bag and price so I can pack them into a vintage suitcase to take to market.

Raiders of the lost Perth tip shops

Sunset, West Coast

I've just returned, with a good friend and fellow treasure hunter, from a whirlwind tour of the tip shops in Perth - well, the metro area, anyway.  It was a most enjoyable, if hectic, couple of days, but I do have a critical observation to make.

Dear freeway drivers:  YOU ARE NOT INVISIBLE.  Picking your nose whilst driving at high speed is, to say the least, uncool.  The shiny tinted things in the doors and at the front are made of glass and others can see you.  Stop it, you disgusting little beasts.

Concern, South Coast

There. I feel much better. 

Now, to the business at hand:

It's not actually all that easy to work out where the tip shops are.  The main ones we found, after interweb research, a quick survey of Facebook friends and asking family were at Mindarie, Balcatta, and Cockburn.  Given the short timeframe and the kilometres involved, this was where we concentrated our efforts.

I would love to hear of others in WA, and how they measure up to the comparative shopper.

Coming out on top for us was Balcatta.  It had the disorganised hustle and bustle which suits the intrepid hunter and the eclectic and downright weird stuff which we like to see.  There was, literally, something for everyone and everyone was there, from the pearl and faux leopardskin Nedlands grande Dame to the man who stopped in the rain to tell me a joke. ('A man went to the doctor and said he thought he had water on the brain.  The doctor gave him a tap on the head and sent him home.') Hey, I was in the plumbing section and holding a brass tap. There was context.

It became apparent that there was unlikely to be anything of serious dollar value hidden there, as I saw when someone asked for a price on a pretty little plate only to have it (literaly) snatched from his hands to be sent off to be appraised.  As the person who worked there said, there would be 'no Antiques Roadshow moments' there.  I asked what happened post-appraisal but alas, there was no response. I was just interested to know - but maybe they didn't.

Things I left behind....

Still, there were lots of interesting things and the prices were good.  The parking and drop-off organisation was - well,  not there, really, and if you are going there just to buy you can save a lot of time by NOT following the signs and instead taking the 'commercial truck only' lane to the carpark (which is just inside the gates to the right as you enter). Otherwise, prepare to spend a lot of time tangled up in the people having their drop-offs peered at, while you watch others scuttle off with fabulous finds.

It takes time, patience and a sense of adventure but all in all a lot of fun and good stuff for $10.

Next was the Mindarie Regional Council operation at Tamala Park.  The organisation of parking and drop-off was excellent.  There was heaps of space and some nice stuff but I was surprised that there wasn't as much stock as I expected for a major regional operation.  There were heaps of people coming and going and so perhaps the turnover was really high.  The furniture items were pretty good but there weren't a lot of the smaller miscellaneous items, the crockery, glassware, books, etc.  Really, people, when the jigsaw puzzle spills out of the box it's a fair thing to sweep it up and get rid of it. Chances are that there are only 999 of the 1000 pieces which may ever find their way back into the box, especially after the first week or so. When several jigsaw puzzles have intermingled, it's OK to clean it up.

The furniture was marginally cheaper than Balcatta, but there wasn't as much of a range.  We'll certainly keep it on the list for next time.

We went to Cockburn on the way home, it's a fairly new looking arrangement and really hard to find, due to a complete lack of signage.

We finally gave up and followed a dump truck.

It was way more expensive than the others and the smallest in terms of stock.  Most of the prices were a tad on the high side even for a locality near the trendy opshops of Fremantle, but perhaps the locals are used to that.  The guys working there were friendly and helpful and they were the only ones who helped we dainty girls with bulky and heavy furniture. It's really, really organised and tidy, if you like that sort of thing.  Certainly worth a look if you're passing.

and things I COULDN'T leave behind....

A bit deco, a bit mid century, a bit retro.

A happy, happy weekend.  On Friday, I walked into the first opshop for the day and saw an adorable coffee table, needing minimal work.  A bit deco, a bit mid century, a bit retro.  Needs to lose the ghastly brittle varnish, and a gentle resurrection of the surface in a couple of spots, but a Nice Item.

Saturday's garage sales took us to a builder who was selling up excess stock, and among the plasterboard and other stuff we discovered some seriously good, but seriously BIG bits of timber. Some looked ex-railway (still with metal fittings), some would seem to be ex-jetty - is it wrong of me to pick something I'll need a forklift to move?  It's on till next weekend so I'm considering some mid-sized pieces. I know a man with a forklift.

Although I'm sad that Cull's House, on Middleton Road here in Albany has been sold, I'm happy that the contents sale was handled by a friend of mine, who knew what he was doing, and that I got some interesting little bits.  This is one of the oldest and probably most original house in Albany.  Many of the contents were original  and there were some great old quirky bits and pieces for sale.

I hope that someone thought to photograph the interior of the house before the contents were moved out.  It's so important to document this stuff. The house was built by Matthew Cull in 1872, and occupied by the family for 117 years.

For those who want to read more here is a link to the entry for the house on the State Heritage Register.

 

 

 Also gathered was a really nice box full of old PMG canvas post bags. (PMG was the Post Master General -  the post office or what we now call Australia Post) There is even a bag of sealing wax, used to seal the lock on the bag, and some of the little stamps and holders.  If anyone wants vintage sealing wax, I would appear to have cornered the market.

   I found a whole lot of old Public Works Department (PWD) maps of Albany, which make for interesting reading.  I love those old maps, some of these have annotations in pencil with the lot prices  and other little notations.  There's so much texture and feeling to these old documents, so much more soul than a computer generated map.

 

 

There were also some old galvanised  jugs, and old blue enamel pot, and a very old indeed religious picture in a sweet old frame, with the back of old boards held in with handmade nails.  

 

Not to mention a dear little handmade box, looks to have been made from a crate, with a glass top and a black velvet and lace cushion within.  Looks to be depression era or earlier, meant for display because the back was nailed on with the same very old handmade nails.  I don't know why I wanted it but I just did.

There was some confusion about a bench for a wringer - wet clothes on one side, eventually slightly less wet clothes on the other.  No wringer attached but a nice rustic piece.  I may have run out of money. And space.